Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov: ‘We take a break, and then we will wait and see’
During the two days of the ice-dancing competitions in Gangneung world records have been updated four times. Are , that ice-dancing, where there is no jumps, throws and complex lifts, is boring and conservative.
The day before the Canadian pair Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir received 83.67 points for the short program. No one has ever scored so much. French Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron won the free dance today, also with a record number of points (123.35). With a total score of 205.28 points, they remained world champions for a few minutes, until they were dethroned by now three-time Olympic Champions from Canada, who scored the total of 206.07 points.
After the first day 2014 Olympic Champions and silver medalists of these Games in the Team Tournament Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitry Solovyov still had bronze medal chances, having become the sixth in compulsory dance. Unfortunately, in struggle for the pedestal not everything depended on our skaters. Today, after their good skate, they managed to climb only one step up. Above were two American duos Maia Shibutani / Alex Shibutani and Madison Hubbel / Zachary Donohue.
Bobrova and Solovyov came to the mixed zone of the Gangneung Ice Centre much later than it was scheduled.
– We talked with the doping officer, which happens often lately, Ekaterina says with a smile.
– Yesterday Alina Zagitova was not able to train for the same reason. Don’t you think this whole situation is highly politicized?
Bobrova: No, I do not think so. Simply our athletes now are under the increased attention. Yesterday, the media reported that doping officers interrupted Zagitova’s training session. The Italian figure skater had exactly the same problems, but no one was curious about that. Everybody is going through numerous doping tests, a lot of samples are taken. For me, it is better than to become disappointed in someone later.
– Are you happy with your skate?
Solovyov:
– We did all we could. Katya and I, we are maximalists and we are always dissatisfied with something, but today we really have nothing to blame ourselves for. These are not just words. We worked hard during the whole season. We did not rest, did not succumb to human frailties, had conquered every sickness. And now we can honestly say to each other that we did our best. Of course, it’s a shame to be out of the top three. But, I repeat, we gave our all. Therefore, we have no disappointment.
– And a feeling of injustice?
Solovyov:
– It is not for us to judge. We try to do our job well each program. Everything else is none of our business.
– You won a bronze medals at the 2013 World Championships, last year you were third in the free program. What prevented you from climbing the pedestal this time?
Bobrova:
– It is wrong to compare what was four years ago and now. We have different programs, different competition, different judges. I agree that we had a chance to win a personal medal at this Olympics. And we did everything we could to use it. It’s not our fault the other couples are a little stronger.
Solovyov:
– Other guys also performed at the peak of their abilities. There was a sharp battle, in which we took the fifth place.
