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| NBC / YouTube Screenshot |
It is the 2022 Olympic scandal everyone should be talking about but chooses to ignore: Alexandra Trusova’s medal meltdown. There was no shortage of drama during the women’s event in figure skating. The lead-up to it was tremendously intense. Enter the moment that Russia’s Anna Shcherbakova won the Olympic gold medal. Thus, defeating her training mate, Alexandra “Sasha” Trusova.
[The following is an opinion piece/analysis.]
Anna Shcherbakova’s victory came on the blades of a heartbreaking skate from Shcherbakova and Trusova’s beleaguered training mate, Kamila Valieva. Olympic viewers watched as a crushed Valieva emotionally headed backstage after her shocking free program. Valieva and Anna Shcherbakova’s training mate, Alexandra Trusova, watched it unfold first-hand. Her response was to cry out and refuse to go to the podium amid an epic meltdown.
Some viewers (this one included) initially thought Trusova was valiantly lashing out over Kamila Valieva’s tragic collapse in the free program. After Valieva’s scores, the so-called “Russian Rocket” appeared angry and inconsolable. Her frustration seemed a symptom of self-righteous indignation in the face of what Valieva had endured in the wind-up to her first Olympic Games in the individual event. It wasn’t.
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| NBC / YouTube Screenshot |
Rivalry Rears Its Head
Alexandra Trusova was angry and lashing out, alright - over her scores. Valieva’s performance sealed Anna Shcherbakova’s fate as the new Olympic champion as the last one to skate. A moment already brimming with bittersweet victory for Shcherbakova was hijacked by Trusova’s all-out hissy fit and tantrum over the results.
Trusova was so indignant that she would not go out to receive her silver medal, she declared her hatred for the sport of figure skating and claimed she would never step on the ice again. After some minutes-long coaxing, Trusova eventually hit the ice for the stuffed animal ceremony. Her expression was undeniable. It was pure defiance.
As Alexandra Trusova held her flowers during the ceremony, her middle finger distinctively stood out. Trusova was photographed alongside a jubilant gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova and ever-classy bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto. Sakamoto and her teammate, Wakaba Higuchi, both magnanimously congratulated Shcherbakova. Sadly, Shcherbakova’s own teammate did not show such grace.
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| NBC / YouTube Screenshot |
The Critics Remain Silent
In light of the spectacle, no one in major media nor figure skating Twitter has criticized the incredibly myopic nature of Alexandra Trusova’s poor sportsmanship. Her tirade stole the righteous thunder of Anna Shcherbakova’s much-earned victory. Instead of hugging and congratulating Shcherbakova as a classy Evgenia Medvedeva did when Alina Zagitova won Olympic gold in 2018, Trusova rioted.
Her outburst was so egregious and long-winded that Alexandra Trusova kept the coaching staff from being able to congratulate Anna Shcherbakova justly. Trusova’s unsportsmanlike conduct has not been widely criticized. She has yet to apologize for her poor sportsmanship and indefensible tantrum publicly. In interviews afterward, Trusova has continued to posture over a defeat she earned.
To date, Alexandra Trusova has not issued any public apology to Shcherbakova. If there is one, please leave the link in the comments below. Spectators online insist the blame for Trusova’s deplorable actions lies elsewhere, namely on the shoulders of her coaching team and the false belief they did not try to get Trusova to abandon her risky strategy. Any attempt to pass the ruble from whom is truly responsible.
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| NBC / YouTube Screenshot |
The Stubborn Truth
The truth is that Alexandra Trusova fell during a triple Axel attempt in the short program, and her free program featured an imbalanced revelry in jumping and nothing else. Trusova only landed two quads cleanly. The same as Anna Shcherbakova, who only attempted two, skated with magnificent artistic expression and ultimately won the competition. Trusova went after five quads to tie Nathan Chen’s record.
To many, it would have been fair to assume that Alexandra Trusova’s goal did not seem to be winning the gold. Only when Trusova unleashed her epic tantrum did her desire to be draped in gold entirely emerge. Or rather, it reared its head. If Trusova wanted to win, she would have had to abandon a skating style that has drawn criticism from objective spectators.
Alexandra Trusova’s skating skills were completely absent from her silver medal performance as she went from one side of the rink to the other, jumping in near repetition. There was no artistry, and it has nothing to do with Eteri Tutberidze demanding it be that way, either. Ahead of the free program, Trusova’s former coach and four-time Olympic medalist, Evgeni Plushenko, commented on his one-time student’s stubbornness, telling RIA Novosti:
“I’ve had a problem with that. We can say that [we] did not cope with the character of the figure skater. As the Olympics showed, Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze and her staff did not succeed to the end. Trusova is a maximalist who believes that it is impossible to lower the raised bar of complexity anywhere and never. I am convinced that at the Olympics it is impossible to go to the elements that have not been worked out one hundred percent.
At the World Championships in Stockholm, Sasha decided to jump in the short program of the triple axel, which she could not do. When I decided that I needed to do without such a risk, Trusova was offended. She said [we] had led her astray. Coaching is thankless. He’s always wrong when a skater makes a mistake.
Five quads in Beijing - This, of course, is an exorbitant level, but if Sasha had not made a step-out on the toe loop, even with a lutz not finished by a quarter, she would have become a champion. If Trusova wants to win gold at the Olympics, she must learn to hear the coach.”
There you have it, and Evgeni Plushenko has no reason not to tell it like it is. Alexandra Trusova left him to return to former coach Eteri Tutberidze after one season away from her. What Plushenko says debunks any talk of it being Team Tutberidze’s fault that Trusova’s lack of skating skills and overzealous focus on jumping was their folly.
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| Olympics Channel / YouTube Screenshot |
High Stakes, Big Breaks
It was Alexandra Trusova’s gamble, and she paid the ultimate price. Sadly, so did Anna Shcherbakova. Her moment was stolen by the antics of someone who, from all outward appearances, was a friend to the Olympic champ. For that reason, and so many more, it is a shame that so many have given Trusova a pass. A standard for sportsmanship is well-established and should be respected.
Trusova, being 17-years-old is not an excuse to behave badly. Evgenia Medvedeva was 18 at the 2018 Olympics, and she still carried herself with dignity in one of her toughest moments. Anyone who was 17 once should also know that behaving the way Trusova did is inconceivable. There is no excuse for it, and without a public apology to Anna Shcherbakova, it is irreconcilable.
Quite frankly, if Eteri Tutberidze were the cruel taskmaster that Twitter claims she is, Alexandra Trusova would have been kicked out of Sambo 70 immediately. Trusova would not have been indulged the way she was or has been since then. Trusova deserved to be met with disciplinary action upon returning to Russia.
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| Olympics Channel / YouTube Screenshot |
Consequences
Alexandra Trusova should not have been at a reception for Russia’s figure skaters, holding court between Kamila Valieva and Anna Shcherbakova. The middle position is for the winner, not the loser, let alone a sore one. Regardless, Trusova insisted on taking “center stage.” How can there be a healthy skating environment at the infamous “Kristal’nyy” with Trusova around in the aftermath?
Without Alexandra Trusova making a public apology to Anna Shcherbakova and a show of remorse, how can Shcherbakova be asked to train alongside her? It is unconscionable. For reference, when Anna Shcherbakova placed third, behind Alexandra Trusova, at the 2022 Russian Nationals, there was no such outburst from the true Queen of Ice. What Shcherbakova has displayed and what she has gotten are two different things.
Anna Shcherbakova is the epitome of class and dignity without appearing frosty or emotionless. Shcherbakova is a titan among tin. It is her doing if Alexandra Trusova quits singles figure skating, as she swore in anger. Twitter will undoubtedly try to blame Eteri Tutberidze, and they will have to ignore Evgeni Plushenko’s lamentations to pin it on her.
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| NBC / YouTube Screenshot |
Final Thoughts
It has been established, including by her own omission, that Alexandra Trusova is not a student who listens, and her rebellion got her second place. Sorry, Twitter. If you want someone to blame, put a mirror up to Trusova. Sometimes the truth is staring you straight in the face if you dare to look. Many of you may prefer your narrative. A mirror does not lie, and neither does the truth.
Alexandra Trusova’s medal meltdown is a tragedy on many levels. Like many, I was rooting for Trusova to do her best at the 2022 Olympics. I literally cheered when she came off the ice after her free program. While results may always be out of an athlete’s control, their attitude is, and in this instance, it betrayed her. Instead of being remembered for her quads, her tantrum eclipsed it all.
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