Foreigners are strenuously pretending that the medals of this tournament mean at least something.
Crying out of happiness Luna Hendrixvictoriously beating his fist on the ice Kaori Sakamotosensationally hooking bronze Alice Liu – from an emotional point of view, there is a great temptation to call this world championship in Montpellier (at least in its female part) a delightful tournament…
But the harsh and objective reality is inexorable. No matter how hard various American journalists try to assure us that “there are no problems” – without Russia, a female figure is worth almost nothing.
No matter how cute, sincere laughter Sakamoto is at the top of the pedestal, everyone understands that her victory is artificial.
Abroad, and especially overseas, almost the main advantage of the competition was called the presence of real intrigue in the struggle for awards. Without the Russians, this intrigue really was. But you can do this in almost any form – cut off the top three (or as in pairs in general, the top 5) – you are guaranteed to get intrigue, since the second tier is always more competitive and numerous.
Which does not negate the fact that only one girl demonstrated a level that is somehow related to the fight for World Cup medals. Kaori Sakamoto looked like the absolute favorite and confirmed her status, although she did not break the record Alina Zagitova by sum from Saitama-2019. Yes, the Japanese woman already has bronze at the Olympics, so it cannot be said that she does not know how to fight Russian girls, but objectively without doping and unprecedented pressure on Kamil Valiev Kaori had no chance to get into the top three.
With the rest of the medalists it is even more sad.
With the scores of Hendrix and Lew, it’s hard to get into the top 2 even at the Grand Prix stage, not like at the world championship of a healthy person. Almost got on a podium Mariah Bell – a beautiful and radiant girl, but all her cascades were 3 + 2. She is fourth, just three points behind the top three.
This is the strength of this tournament. Complete fake. In everything. And as programs and rentals of pseudo-leaders. And in the reaction of the public to supposedly champion performances.
Figure skating in women’s singles rolled back, maybe not for 20 years, as I noticed Tatyana Tarasova, but certainly in some dopyeongchang era. Only three girls entered the triple axel (Lew and Yu Yon – both failed Higuti fell), there were no quad attempts at all. Moreover, none of the girls did a combination with a triple loop.
That is, there is even a level Medvedeva and Zagitova seems unattainable.
Russian girls can be complained about for imperfect ultra-si technique, short careers, and similar looks. But to consider Montpellier-2022 as something other than total degradation does not work with all the desire. Of course, the details will be forgotten, but the result will remain. However, the charming, positive and generally good figure skater Sakamoto will forever go down in history as an artificial champion.