The key facts

  • Ilya Averbukh believes that Trusova's main rivals at the Grand Prix stage in China are two Japanese figure skaters
  • The ISU Grand Prix stage in China will take place from November 6 to 8
  • Trusova received an invitation as the first substitute after winning in Almaty with a total of 226.01 points

Assessing her chances ahead of the stage in China

Olympic silver medalist in ice dancing, choreographer and program designer Ilya Averbukh said that Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova (Ignatova) is capable of fighting for gold at the ISU Grand Prix stage in China. His words were reported by Championat.

Averbukh's words and Trusova's path to the tournament

“In women's singles, Sasha's main rivals are two Japanese figure skaters. If she skates the way she is skating, I think a fight for gold is possible,” Averbukh said. The ISU Grand Prix stage in China will take place from November 6 to 8.

How Trusova got onto the stage

On September 20, Trusova performed at the Russian national team's test skates with a free program set to music by Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein from the series Stranger Things: she executed a quadruple lutz, a triple loop, a triple salchow, a triple lutz–triple toe loop combination, a triple lutz–triple salchow–double axel combination, as well as a solo double axel. On October 10, the skater won the Challenger Series event, the Denis Ten Memorial, in Almaty, scoring 226.01 points in total across the two programs. This result allowed her to take first place on the substitutes' list and receive an invitation to the Grand Prix stage in China. Earlier, according to Gazeta.Ru, a foreign figure skater said that she admires Trusova.