Hello again! The second day of my stay in Saitama has drawn to a close. I woke up in the morning in a very good mood and went to breakfast. To tell the truth, once again I didn’t find anything substantial to eat. So I chewed some lettuce, drank coffee and ate a hand-made yoghurt which I prepared by adding muesli and jam to a plain insipid yoghurt. After breakfast I fetched my belongings from my room and went to practice. It took me about 20 minutes to get to the rink. No sooner had I entered the building than I understood that it would be very hot on the ice. And indeed it was rather stuffy there. Another thing that impressed me was the huge stands, which most likely were going to be packed next day. On making the first round on the ice I understood that its size was rather small. The ice itself was much softer than that in Novogorsk. On the whole, my first practice went off well, but when I was leaving the ice I was dripping wet. After a half-an-hour ... Read more »

Hello, dear readers of my blog! I’m very sorry that I haven’t updated since the beginning of the summer and made you wait for so long. It was because I spent all those months in different summer camps, where I was thoroughly preparing for the new season, and unfortunately had no time to write blog entries. I hope for your understanding, because now I’m back and ready for new experiences and new impressions.   

Of course, you could read about the camps and my new programs in my interviews. It surely wasn’t enough for you to take a dive into my summer, but I’m not really feeling like going back to that time. The new season has begun, and some skaters have already taken part in competitions. Now it’s my turn. By a chance I have found myself in Japan, where I will participate in the most cheerful and team-oriented event of the season, namely Japan Open. So, let me ... Read more »

Hi, my devoted fans! The season is over, and I think you’d be interested to know how my life goes after switching to another coach. 

First of all I’d like to say that I’m happy that the season ended the way it did. Because even I couldn’t have imagined that I would place 4th at Worlds – and not simply 4th, but almost 3rd! Then, I’d like to thank all the fans who were supporting me during the competitions, because it was you who encouragd and heartened me on the both days. I had never thought that it could actually be so easy to perform on the home ice. And finally, I can’t wait to tell you about my first practices under the guidance of Nikolai Morozov.

I came to Moscow the next day after the gala in St. Petersburg. Immediately on arriving I smoothly passed a medical examination (only,... Read more »

Greetings to all from Moscow! We have finally reached the season’s last event. Frankly speaking, it was hard to keep in shape for an odd month. But now all the preparations are over and all that’s left is to show everything that I am able to do. Me and Ksenia Makarova were the first skaters to put at the official hotel a week ago. While staying here and practicing at the Megasport, we had enough time to try out its both rinks, visit Moscow’s center and fetch our new uniform.
... Read more »

I think you’ve already heard the news: this season’s World Championships, the most important figure skating event, will take place not in earthquake-torn Japan but in Moscow. During the time that it took ISU to make the decision I was feeling very agitated and anxious. First they said that the Worlds would be cancelled, then that the tournament would be postponed to October. Frankly speaking, I was ready to accept any case scenario, even to compete in autumn. I even found some advantages in it, because in that case I would be able to start working on my new programs right away. But the Worlds will take place in April, in Moscow, and moreover, at my favourite ice palace. I’m glad that I won’t have to travel far (by the way, my mother said that she wouldn’t have let me go to Japan anyway, because she was scared of the radiation hazard), and I am eager to rehabilitate myself on the Moscow ice for my poor skating in the Grand Prix event at the same ice pal... Read more »

Hi, all my fans and figure skating lovers. I’d like to apologize for upsetting you with my performance at Europeans. Unfortunately, the tournament was very hard for me. Four days before leaving for Bern I came home feeling tremendously tired. I thought it was because of the intence practices, but took the temperature to make sure. It turned out I had 38.5. I felt so bad indeed I even thought of calling an ambulance, but ultimately phoned up our FS Academy physician. He told me what cure to take. I took to bed for two days, missing all my practices. Then I crawled out to the ice, but it still was very hard for me to skate. And that was how I felt when leaving for Bern. By the way, we were leaving the next day after the terrorist attack in the Moscow’s Domodedovo airport. But I wasn’t afraid. I always feel easy in airports and planes. Apropos, the plane by which our Federation’s offcials were to return to Russia broke down. There was something wrong with it’s engin... Read more »

Hello, my dear fans. My preparations for the Europeans are in full swing now. Very soon we’ll leave for Bern. I’ve been in love with Switzerland since I came there to a training camp last summer. I’ve already checked up the weather forecast for the days of the competitions, it promises above-zero temperaure. I’ve been warned, though, that it will be very chilly at the rink, so I think I’ll have to to take my fur coat with me. We’ll leave on January, 25. The championships will have already started two days earlier by then, but ladies, as usual, will compete last. But I’m actually glad to have so much time to prepare. As always, we’ve resolved to change a dress. My coach Alla Piatova decided that my short program costume is inappropriate. She didn’t like its peach-color. So, I’m going to have a new dress. I will try it out for the first time at the Open Championships of St. Petersburg. To tell the truth, I’m not so enthusiastic about such things before major events, as... Read more »

Now that my Chinese Thursday is nearly over, I’ve once again switched on my laptop to tell you about today. In fact, nothing interesting happened, except the practice. I awoke at 8.30, switched off the alarm clock and kept on sleeping. When in China, I always feel drowsy for some reason. And the people here seem to me somewhat sleepy… Anyway, next time I woke up it was nearly 9. I remembered that I had arranged with Katya to go and have breakfast together. I jumped out of my bed and in mere five minutes fixed myself up. The breakfast, as usual, was buffet-style. After the breakfast I returned to my room to prepare for the practice. It didn’t take me long, and then I didn’t know what to occupy myself with, because there was still more than an hour left. I lay around a bit, then did my face and suddenly remembered an important thing.

At the accreditation each of us was given an envelope with two invitation cards in it: one for the opening ... Read more »

Hello, everyone!
As you see, I’ve decided to share with you my impressions of the first day spent  in China at the Grand Prix event. We arrived at 7.30 in the morning, local time. By ‘we’ I mean myself, Katya Bobrova, Dima Soloviev, Serezha Voronov and two Russian judges. Our coaches were travelling by another airline’s flight and arrived two hours later. So, we skaters had a chance to rest from the coaches’ company at lest on board a plane. During the flight I forced myself to sleep, so that I wouldn’t have a sleep disorder in China (the lag time was 5 hours). Time flashed by in the arms of Morpheus. I awoke only when they announced landing.

 

As always, we were met at the airport and taken to the familiar hotel Nikko (I had stayed there last time I came to China). After obtaining our accreditation we even had time to have breakfast. On entering my room I saw that my roommate was Lyuba Ilushechkina. Sh... Read more »