Cards on ice: with spectacular numbers, Pleskacheva won the stage of the Russian Grand Prix

In recent years, Russian figure skating has produced many stars in women's singles, and it seems that another one is on the way. Lidiya Pleskacheva presented two unusual programs in Krasnoyarsk — one about an actress and burnout, the other — ballet, directed by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, with a spectacular ending in the form of throwing playing cards out of her sleeve. As a result, Lydia managed to beat a number of titled athletes, including Alisa Dvoeglazova and Alina Gorbacheva. The men's victory was won by Pyotr Gumennik, participant of the 2026 Olympic Games.

Marine theme

Lidia Pleskacheva works for Svetlana Panova. This coach has trained many talented figure skaters, the most famous is Ksenia Sinitsyna. But her staff has always been underestimated. Lydia may also have to go somewhere, but so far her collaboration with Panova is beyond praise - interesting choreography, a sense of music, and the flight of jumps.

In Krasnoyarsk, Pleskacheva jumped only triple axels (and both successfully), but she can also do quads. At the age of 16, she is considered a junior according to international rules, but in Russia she can already compete in adult tournaments. So this is a real contender for the medals of the Russian championship.

"I did not expect such a result,— TASS quotes Pleskacheva. — I thought that not everything would turn out so well for me. I was hoping for a top three, but I somehow looked at the first place like that, I thought: well, dream on. What helped? The support of my coaches and loved ones. They believed in me, and I believed them.

The more experienced Anna Frolova and Veronika Yametova, whose career was revived by Evgeny Plushenko, competed for silver. Yametova won by 1.5 points due to the fall of her opponent from the headquarters of Evgeny Rukavitsyn. Although even with him, Frolova could win and joked in the waiting area for grades that by the age of 30 she would definitely learn how to do the rest of the elements like the path of steps to the highest level.

But that's about it — Yametov's Pirates of the Caribbean sank Anna's Titanic (the maritime theme was popular in music in Krasnoyarsk). And the favorites, the winners of the Russian championship of the last two years, Alisa Dvoeglazova and Alina Gorbacheva, are completely off the podium — in fourth and sixth places, respectively.

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A mistake on the sheepskin coat and an unsuccessful quadruple ejection deprived the Russian pair of Grand Prix gold.

Strange rules

The men's main favorite, Peter Humennik, won. He landed seven fours in two days, but half of them are far from perfect, hence the 287.23 points that are not the highest by his standards. A couple of years ago it would have sounded crazy, but our men set themselves a high standard. Peter finally won his first victory of the season, but three short turns in the free skate make him feel euphoric. Uncool people will look even more closely abroad.

"Humennik's rivals are not the first division," Ilya Averbukh, silver medalist of the 2002 Olympic Games, world and European champion in ice dancing, said in an interview with Izvestia. — But any victory gives strength. Peter had a stressful Olympic season. It couldn't help but have an effect. But it's great that Peter continues to get in shape. The main peak should be at the Russian championship.

Nikolay Ugozhaev from the same Tamara Moskvina school won the second place without question, but Dmitry Khromin trains him. The first three fours in the free skate — lutz, sheepskin coat and flip — turned out great. But it was not enough for the second half of the program.

The bronze medal went to Daniil Samsonov, who rose from sixth place. However, his rental wasn't perfect either. The main loser was Artyom Kovalev, who lost two elements due to the new rules and did not understand what was the matter after seeing the ratings. But the fact is that in one program you can't do both a cascade (sequence) with an axel and a cascade with an oiler — don't try to understand why, it's just that there are intricate rules in figure skating. Artyom would hardly have reached the bronze, but he would have been taller.

In two days there was a revolution in dancing and a return to the basics. On Saturday, October 31, the long-term leaders of the national team, Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, lost a rhythm dance for the first time since Victoria Sinitsina retired from figure skating. / Nikita Katsalapov, that is, since 2021.

But on Sunday, Elizabeth Pasechnik and Dario Cirizano could not cope with the burden of responsibility. The leadership pressed down, and they started their free program with a fall. Then we made a few more mistakes and dropped out of the top three altogether. Irina Khavronina and David Narizhny, who were well appreciated abroad, did not get into it. As a result, Stepanova / Bukin miraculously stayed in first place, although they scored 10 points less than Vasilisa Kaganovskaya / Maxim Nekrasov at the last stage.

Krasnoyarsk has shown how quickly the hierarchy in Russian figure skating can change. Previously, this was not enough for the Russian Grand Prix, but this season opens up new horizons.

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Russian Grand Prix, 3rd stage (Krasnoyarsk)

Men

1. Peter Gumennik — 287.23

2. Nikolay Ugozhaev — 265.57

3. Daniil Samsonov — 251.12

Women

1. Lydia Pleskacheva — 224.82

2. Veronika Yametova — 213.45

3. Anna Frolova — 211.97

Dances

1. Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin — 193.98

2. Ekaterina Rybakova / Ivan Makhnonosov — 184.14

3. Anna Shcherbakova / Egor Goncharov — 183.69