2012 Russian Figure Skating Championships

The 2012 Russian Figure Skating Championships (Russian: Чемпионат России по фигурному катанию на коньках 2012) are the national championships of Russia for the 2011–2012 season. The winners will be crowned the 2012 Russian Champions. The senior competition will be held from December 25–29, 2011 in Saransk, organized by the Figure Skating Federation of Russia. The junior competition will held from February 1–4, 2012 in Balashikha. Skaters will compete in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies singles, pair skating, and ice dancing.

The results may be used to help determine the teams sent to the 2012 European Championships, the 2012 World Junior Championships, and the 2012 World Championships. Top pairs teams Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov along with Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov appealed to the president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, Alexander Gorshkov, to release them on medical grounds from participating in the championship, which is part of the selection process for the European and World Championships. Gorshkov said the pairs had earned their berths by virtue of their strong Grand Prix results and granted their exemptions from the Russian Championships.^[1] Nikolai Morozov, the coach of Grand Prix Final bronze medalist Alena Leonova, said she had also already earned her place in the team and could have missed the event but she chose to compete.^[2] The team to the European Championships was named on December 28.^[3] The World team will be announced following the results of the European Championships.

Senior Championships

Schedule of events

Subject to change. Local time, UTC/GMT +04:00:^[4]

• Sunday, December 25
  • 14:00–14:30 – Opening ceremony
  • 14:45–16:15 – Short dance
  • 16:30–18:30 – Pairs short
  • 18:45–21:15 – Men's short

• Monday, December 26
  • 14:00–16:30 – Ladies short
  • 16:45–19:45 – Men's free
  • 20:00–22:00 – Free dance

• Tuesday, December 27
  • 16:00–18:25 – Pairs free
  • 18:40–21:30 – Ladies free

• Wednesday, December 28
  • 16:00–16:30 – Medal ceremonies
  • 16:45–19:15 – Exhibitions

Results

Men

Evgeni Plushenko placed first in the short program, with Artur Gachinski and Zhan Bush in second and third respectively.^[5] Plushenko won his ninth national title.^[6] Gachinski won silver and Voronov climbed from fifth after the short to take the bronze medal.^[7][8]

Ladies

Adelina Sotnikova placed first in the short program, Ksenia Makarova was second, and Julia Lipnitskaia third.^[9] Sotnikova won her third national title, Lipnitskaia won silver, and Leonova took bronze.^[10][8] In the free skate, Lipnitskaia earned the highest TES (technical elements score), followed by 12-year-olds Radionova and Medvedeva,^[11] who were ineligible for junior international competitions.

Pairs

Vera Bazarova and Yuri Larionov placed first in the short program, with Anastasia Martiusheva / Alexei Rogonov and Ksenia Stolbova / Fedor Klimov in second and third.^[14] Bazarova and Larionov won their first national title, while Stolbova and Klimov won silver and Martiusheva and Rogonov the bronze.^[15][8]

Ice dancing

Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev placed first in the short dance, with Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov and Ekaterina Riazanova / Ilia Tkachenko in second and third respectively.^[16] Bobrova and Soloviev won their second national title, Ilinykh and Katsalapov won silver, and Riazanova and Tkachenko held on for the bronze although Pushkash and Guerreiro were third in the free dance.^[17] Riazanova was injured a couple of weeks before the event; she sustained a concussion and a broken nose when her partner accidentally elbowed her in practice.^[17][8]

Junior Championships

The 2012 Russian Junior Championships will be held in Balashikha from 1–4 February 2012.

References

External links

• Starting orders and results at Figure Skating Federation of Russia
• Mordovia Sport
• Results and Protocols