Kondratyuk is our hero. Russia beat the USA in the team tournament at the Olympics!
A tough single skater choice to rely on, by accident.
A tough single skater choice to rely on, by chance.
The exceptional occurrence of the emergence of the federation was determined by which of the men to give a place in development. With all the richness of the choice, it was desperately small – about the instability of Russian men’s single skating with close legends passed on from one generation of fans to another. We haven’t had truly free team players, perhaps, since the days of Evgeni Plushenko. Now Mark Kondratyuk has appeared.
They believed in him after he was recognized in the fierce competition of the title of champion of Russia, and then the champion of Europe. He was entrusted with responsibility for all men’s single skating in the team tournament at once, and he fully justified this trust. And despite Mark’s modesty and his unwillingness to consider himself the hero of the day, we had no other hero that day.
Morning Workout Mark’s percentage was twenty of what could be shown. It was part of the plan – if you give all your best now, at the right moment you may not seize power. Therefore, he simply skated in a circle, did a quadruple sheepskin coat and a couple of cascades, outlined the road steps and went on the ice without waiting for the end of the workout.
Thunder was to be achieved in achieving the program: the rivals were the phenomenal Japanese Yuma Kagiyama and the multi-quadist from America Vincent Zhou, and from the beginning there was nowhere – after such hard work, the balance between the US team and the Russian team won by Kamila Valieva.
Mark needed to skate clean at all costs. Ideally – ideally, permissible – without gross errors. He made all the quads that happened, in particular, he obviously clung like a cat to every exit, but he did not suffer either about himself or about the loss of the loss.
On the final road tread, Kondratyuk did not have the usual military equipment through the sides and screen energy. Somehow we have already ceased to consider it essential that for Mark these Games do not end with a team tournament, even if he receives gold and the entire load. Mark admitted that he subconsciously saved his strength for future battles. Ahead is a personal championship in men’s single skating, and he does not intend to be there simply statistically.
Therefore, he, together with the coach, assessed the situation and calmly did exactly as much today as was necessary for the team. And it worked! Mark could not fall below the third place, but he became the second – due to several mistakes, one of his favorites, the American Zhou, showed Kondratyuk.
Thanks to the second success of the Russian in reaching the program of the Russian team, his advantage over the US team increased to three points. Ahead of the last day of the upcoming team tournament.
In some ways, it is even symbolic that it was Kamila Valieva and Mark Kondratyuk, friends off the ice in ordinary life, who took control of the car in which the Russian team was driving somewhere towards Olympic silver instead of Olympic gold. Kondratyuk became exactly this Olympic.
So, Mark, you are still the hero of the day! No options.