Today, on the 22nd of January, in Tallinn, Estonia, European Figure Skating Championships continued with ladies’ short program. Russian Alena Leonova fell on her first combination, but otherwise showed clean skating. Her result is 58.26 points and 5th place after the short program. Alena Leonova commented on her performance in the interview given to the All Sport news agency.
Q: Alena, why did you put the triple Lutz into your program instead of the triple flip you used to do before?
A: I and my coach decided that it would be safer. I always either fail on the Lutz or take off with the wrong edge. We did a little counting and saw that even a poorly performed flip can yield more than a good, but wrong-edged Lutz. But I did the flip well!
Q: And what happened when you did the combination? You did the first triple toeloop very well but then fell on the second one.
A: I don’t know. To tell the truth, I thought that maybe I would do a little mistake on the combination. But I landed on my heel and tumbled down. It didn’t upset me, though. I had other elements to do and concentrated on them.
Q: You say you weren’t upset, but when you finished you slapped on your forehead quite expressively.
A: I should have done the combination, that’s why! Well, all right, I’ll do it tomorrow. I promise! (laughs)
Q: What are your objectives at these Europeans?
A: I want to try and come in among the first three. Last year I finished fourth, and now it’s time to move forward. I mustn’t give ground.
Q: Your position after the short program isn’t too bad for it, is it?
A: For me short program is the most important program. It should be skated clean to have a surplus of points, so that would be easier to skate free one. Today I more or less managed to do it. At least it wasn’t a failure. If not for this combination…
Q: Why did you change your Barynya dress?
A: It occurred to me that a tricolor costume looks a little bit too patriotic. Everybody has already learned what our flag looks like (laughs). Seriously speaking, the new dress suits the Barynya style more. By the way, I had my hair cut a little, too! After the Europeans I’m going to re-dye my hair. But the color change won’t be too drastic, so that people recognize me. There will be no other changes made before the Olympics, I think.
Translated by Mikhail Sharov
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