Today was the first day of the competitions. Alena did 3F+2T, 2A, singled her Lutz and received 56.08 for the short program, which allowed her to come first. Ksenija Doronina (55.36) is in the second place and Liza Tuktamysheva (51.56) is in the third. Senior Ladies’ free skating is scheduled for 18.00 Thursday. Alena will skate first in the second warm-up.
The traditional Cup of St. Petersburg starts today in Alena’s home city. It’s first event will take place at the Academy of Figure Skating from September 9 to 11. In spite of the fact that this event is of a rather low level and scope, a number of Russian national team members are going to participate in it in order to have an opportunity to skate their new programs at a competition. For Alena this event will also be the first one in the new season. Senior ladies’ short program is to start at 14.30. According to the sortition, Alena will perform 3rd among ten contestants.
This season is a special one for figure skaters because of the Olympics. That’s why all their programs are already complete and all that’s left to do is working on the elements. St. Petersburg’s Alena Leonova is no exception in this respect. Last season she really made the grade. She won Junior Worlds and proved herself at the senior level, placing 4th at Europeans and 7th at Worlds. Alena sure understands that now she is expected to come up to the expectations which her last season’s success has raised. During the test skate session in Novogorsk she did a 3+3 combination, which is a must for those who dream of the Olympic podium. A year ago Alena could hardly do the combination, but now it seems to pose no trouble to her.
‘I skated well in Novogorsk. I did everything of what I am capable at the moment. Of course, I failed to do some elements clean. I was not very good at the short program, but the free skating went off much better. I work very hard now. The 3+3 combination has become stable’.
But only one element, however difficult, cannot ensure success at the Olympic Games. In order to be really able to compete with Asian skaters, who now set the fashion in ladies figure skating, both programs must look truly harmonious.
‘I must keep on working on my programs to exclude any failures. I need to work more on the spins, because I’m not very good at this element at the moment. I need to pay more attention to the step sequence, too’.
Today Alena returned from Novogorsk, where the test skate session for single skaters had been held. By the way, it was the first time she participated in this traditional check-up for the Russian top skaters, so it was all the more thrilling for her. There were some mistakes made during both programs, but on the whole the coaches and other figure skating specialists who watched Alena perform were thoroughly satisfied with what they saw. Tatiana Tarasova appreciated the Chicago free program, choreograped by Olga Volojinskaya. Technical specialists pointed at Alena’s good physical shape and endurance. Alena’s coach Alla Piatova was satisfied with the test skate, too.
Valery Artyukhov, the chief coach of the Russian national team, conveyed his impressions to the All Sport news agency: ‘We liked Alena Leonova’s performance. Her programs are interesting and compicated and it’s obvious that she likes working. Of course, some things are a bit crude for the time being, though in the free program she did a clean 3+3 combination. But the main thing is that her programs look very effective’.
