2020 Rostelecom Cup

2020 Rostelecom Cup
Type:Grand Prix
Date:November 20 – 22
Season:2020–21
Location:Moscow
Host:Figure Skating Federation of Russia
Venue:Megasport Sport Palace
Champions
Men's singles:
Russia Mikhail Kolyada
Ladies' singles:
Russia Elizaveta Tuktamysheva
Pairs:
Russia Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii
Ice dance:
Russia Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov
Navigation
Previous:
2019 Rostelecom Cup
Next:
2021 Rostelecom Cup
Previous GP:
2020 Cup of China
Next GP:
2020 NHK Trophy

The 2020 Rostelecom Cup was the fifth event in the 2020–21 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at Megasport Sport Palace in Moscow, Russia on November 20–22. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of men's singles, ladies' singles, pair skating, and ice dance.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a large number of modifications were made to the Grand Prix structure. The competitors consisted only of skaters from the home country, skaters already training in the host nation, and skaters assigned to that event for geographic reasons.[1] However, the event became controversial after apparent COVID-19 spread among attendees led to suggestions that it had been a superspreading event.[2]

Entries

The International Skating Union announced the preliminary assignments on October 1, 2020.[3]

Country Men[4] Ladies[5] Pairs[6] Ice dance[7]
 Armenia Anastasia Galustyan
 Azerbaijan Vladimir Litvintsev Ekaterina Ryabova
 Belarus Alexander Lebedev Viktoriia Safonova Viktoria Semenjuk / Ilya Yukhimuk
 Estonia Eva-Lotta Kiibus
 Georgia Morisi Kvitelashvili Alina Urushadze
 Hungary Ioulia Chtchetinina / Márk Magyar Anna Yanovskaya / Ádám Lukács
 Lithuania Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevičius
 Russia Dmitri Aliev
Petr Gumennik
Makar Ignatov
Mikhail Kolyada
Artem Kovalev
Andrei Mozalev
Roman Savosin
Evgeni Semenenko
Ilya Yablokov 		Anastasiia Guliakova
Alena Kostornaia
Elizaveta Nugumanova
Sofia Samodurova
Anna Shcherbakova
Alexandra Trusova
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva 		Kseniia Akhanteva / Valerii Kolesov
Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev
Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii
Yasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko
Anastasia Mishina / Aleksandr Galliamov
Apollinariia Panfilova / Dmitry Rylov 		Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva / Egor Bazin
Ekaterina Mironova / Evgenii Ustenko
Annabelle Morozov / Andrei Bagin
Anastasia Skoptsova / Kirill Aleshin
Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov
Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro
 Ukraine Oleksandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin

Changes to preliminary assignments

Discipline Withdrew Added Notes Ref.
Date Skater(s) Date Skater(s)
Men — October 9 Belarus Alexander Lebedev [8]
Ladies Armenia Anastasia Galustyan [9]
Pairs Russia Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev [10]
October 9 Israel Anna Vernikov / Evgeni Krasnopolski Russia Kseniia Akhanteva / Valerii Kolesov
Men October 16 Georgia (country) Irakli Maysuradze November 12 Russia Artem Kovalev [11]
Ice dance Georgia (country) Maria Kazakova / Georgy Reviya October 28 Lithuania Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevičius [12]
Ladies — Estonia Eva-Lotta Kiibus [13]
Ice dance November 4 Russia Ksenia Konkina / Pavel Drozd November 7 Hungary Anna Yanovskaya / Ádám Lukács [14][15]
Men November 12 Russia Artur Danielian November 12 Russia Evgeni Semenenko Recovery from surgery[16] [11]
Pairs Russia Daria Pavliuchenko / Denis Khodykin November 13 Russia Yasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko Respiratory infection (Khodykin)[17] [18][19]
Ladies November 16 Russia Evgenia Medvedeva November 16 Russia Elizaveta Nugumanova Recovery from injury[20] [21]
Ice dance Russia Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko Russia Ekaterina Mironova / Evgenii Ustenko COVID-19[22] [23]
Russia Alexandra Stepanova / Ivan Bukin Belarus Viktoria Semenjuk / Ilya Yukhimuk
Men November 17 Russia Alexander Samarin November 17 Russia Ilya Yablokov Recovery from injury[24] [25]
Pairs November 18 Russia Alina Pepeleva / Roman Pleshkov — COVID-19 (coach)[26] [27]

Results

Men

Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Mikhail Kolyada  Russia 281.89 3 93.34 1 188.55
2 Morisi Kvitelashvili  Georgia 275.80 1 99.56 4 176.24
3 Petr Gumennik  Russia 268.47 2 96.26 6 172.21
4 Andrei Mozalev  Russia 266.69 6 86.01 2 180.68
5 Dmitri Aliev  Russia 265.11 5 89.62 5 175.49
6 Evgeni Semenenko  Russia 260.78 7 83.42 3 177.36
7 Makar Ignatov  Russia 260.78 4 91.82 7 168.96
8 Roman Savosin  Russia 250.07 8 82.35 8 167.72
9 Ilya Yablokov  Russia 242.52 10 79.15 9 163.37
10 Vladimir Litvintsev  Azerbaijan 239.79 9 81.55 10 158.24
11 Artem Kovalev  Russia 212.50 11 77.67 11 134.83
12 Alexander Lebedev  Belarus 182.30 12 62.88 12 119.42

Ladies

Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Elizaveta Tuktamysheva  Russia 223.39 2 74.70 1 148.69
2 Alena Kostornaia  Russia 220.78 1 78.84 2 141.94
3 Anastasiia Guliakova  Russia 199.03 4 70.07 3 128.96
4 Alexandra Trusova  Russia 198.93 3 70.81 4 128.12
5 Elizaveta Nugumanova  Russia 191.52 5 68.47 6 123.05
6 Eva-Lotta Kiibus  Estonia 186.00 9 57.88 5 128.12
7 Sofia Samodurova  Russia 184.81 6 68.01 8 116.80
8 Viktoriia Safonova  Belarus 184.57 7 64.25 7 120.32
9 Ekaterina Ryabova  Azerbaijan 167.85 8 58.58 9 109.27
10 Alina Urushadze  Georgia 150.68 10 55.86 10 94.82
WD Anastasia Galustyan  Armenia withdrew 11 52.06 withdrew from competition
WD Anna Shcherbakova  Russia withdrew from competition

Pairs

Rank Name Nation Total points SP FS
1 Aleksandra Boikova / Dmitrii Kozlovskii  Russia 232.56 2 78.29 1 154.27
2 Anastasia Mishina / Aleksandr Galliamov  Russia 225.80 1 79.34 2 146.46
3 Apollinariia Panfilova / Dmitry Rylov  Russia 210.07 3 73.84 3 136.23
4 Yasmina Kadyrova / Ivan Balchenko  Russia 204.87 4 70.62 4 134.05
5 Iuliia Artemeva / Mikhail Nazarychev  Russia 200.77 5 70.11 5 130.66
6 Kseniia Akhanteva / Valerii Kolesov  Russia 176.63 6 67.50 6 109.13
7 Ioulia Chtchetinina / Márk Magyar  Hungary 163.77 7 58.60 7 105.17

Ice dance

Rank Name Nation Total points RD FD
1 Victoria Sinitsina / Nikita Katsalapov  Russia 217.51 1 91.13 1 126.38
2 Tiffany Zahorski / Jonathan Guerreiro  Russia 206.91 2 84.46 2 122.45
3 Anastasia Skoptsova / Kirill Aleshin  Russia 199.25 3 79.75 3 119.50
4 Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva / Egor Bazin  Russia 193.18 5 76.10 4 117.08
5 Annabelle Morozov / Andrei Bagin  Russia 191.00 4 76.21 5 114.79
6 Oleksandra Nazarova / Maxim Nikitin  Ukraine 188.25 6 74.86 6 113.39
7 Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevičius  Lithuania 182.56 7 72.43 7 110.13
8 Anna Yanovskaya / Ádám Lukács  Hungary 163.65 8 61.34 8 102.31
9 Ekaterina Mironova / Evgenii Ustenko  Russia 152.14 9 56.47 9 95.67
10 Viktoria Semenjuk / Ilya Yukhimuk  Belarus 146.38 10 56.22 10 90.16

COVID-19 spread and controversy

Improper mask wearing at the 2020 Rostelecom Cup

Despite some precautionary measures being taken, the Rostelecom Cup's organization came under criticism for, like many other Russian domestic competitions held during the season, allowing a large audience and insufficient enforcement of mandates regarding social distancing and proper mask usage. A focal point of criticism was the decision to hold the traditional post-competition banquet where many skaters were documented not wearing masks or socially distancing at all, as well as sharing food from a communal buffet; in addition, several skaters who competed at the event were photographed in the following weeks at a birthday party for retired Russian skater Alena Leonova.[2]

Several Russian skaters who competed at the event subsequently reported contracting the virus in the weeks afterward, including Dmitri Aliev, Alena Kostornaia, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Victoria Sinitsina, and Nikita Katsalapov.[28][29] Estonian skater Eva-Lotta Kiibus later also reported contracting COVID-19 at the event and was still suffering effects two months later.[30]

Irina Rodnina, a three-time Olympic pairs champion for Russia and current State Duma member, strongly criticized the handling of the Rostelecom Cup and cited it as an example of the government needing to more aggressively fine people for non-compliance.[2] After the event, an American journalist questioned Jan Dijkema, president of the ISU, whether the Figure Skating Federation of Russia would be sanctioned over their disregard for safety protocols. Dijkema acknowledged "the regrettable news about the situation involving positive test results for COVID-19 of certain Russian Skaters [sic]," but denied the ISU taking responsibility over the situation due to the 2020–21 Grand Prix series' semi-domestic nature.[31]

References

  1. ^ Associated Press (August 4, 2020). "Grand Prix figure skating series downsized to localized events". CBC.
  2. ^ a b c Роднина о банкете фигуристов после Гран-при: в Европе за это штрафуют [Rodnina on the banquet of skaters after the Grand Prix: in Europe they are fined for this] (in Russian). RIA Novosti. December 4, 2020.
  3. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21 assignments announced". International Skating Union. October 1, 2020.
  4. ^ "ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2020: Men". International Skating Union. October 1, 2020.
  5. ^ "ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2020: Ladies". International Skating Union. October 1, 2020.
  6. ^ "ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2020: Pairs". International Skating Union. October 1, 2020.
  7. ^ "ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2020: Ice Dance". International Skating Union. October 1, 2020.
  8. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Men". International Skating Union. October 9, 2020.
  9. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Ladies". International Skating Union. October 9, 2020.
  10. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Pairs". International Skating Union. October 9, 2020.
  11. ^ a b "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Men". International Skating Union. November 12, 2020.
  12. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Ice Dance". International Skating Union. October 28, 2020.
  13. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Ladies". International Skating Union. October 28, 2020.
  14. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Ice Dance". International Skating Union. November 4, 2020.
  15. ^ Ermolina, Olga (November 7, 2020). "Казань принимает четвертый этап Кубка России – Ростелеком" [Kazan hosts the fourth stage of the Russian Cup – Rostelecom] (in Russian). Figure Skating Federation of Russia. Outside of the "competition", Anna Yanovskaya - Adam Lukacs, who represent Hungary, but constantly train in Moscow, will show their programs. This dance couple will also take part in the November Moscow Grand Prix "Rostelecom Cup".
  16. ^ Samokhvalov, Anatoly (October 22, 2020). "Фигурист Артур Даниелян успешно прооперирован в Германии" [Figure skater Arthur Danielian underwent successful surgery in Germany] (in Russian). RIA Novosti.
  17. ^ Samokhvalov, Anatoly (November 17, 2020). "Тренер: Ходыкин переболел ОРВИ, из-за чего пропускает этап Гран-при" [Coach: Khodykin has had ARVI, which is why he misses the Grand Prix stage] (in Russian). RIA Novosti.
  18. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Pairs". International Skating Union. November 12, 2020.
  19. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Pairs". International Skating Union. November 13, 2020.
  20. ^ "Евгения Медведева не выступит на этапе Гран-при в Москве" [Evgenia Medvedeva will not perform at the Grand Prix stage in Moscow] (in Russian). TASS. November 16, 2020.
  21. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Ladies". International Skating Union. November 16, 2020.
  22. ^ "Фигуристы Степанова и Букин пропустят Гран-при в Москве из-за последствий коронавируса" [Figure skaters Stepanova and Bukin will miss the Grand Prix in Moscow due to the consequences of the coronavirus] (in Russian). TASS. November 16, 2020.
  23. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Ice Dance". International Skating Union. November 16, 2020.
  24. ^ Samokhvalov, Anatoly (November 17, 2020). "Александр Самарин пропустит Гран-при в Москве из-за травмы спины" [Alexander Samarin will miss the Grand Prix in Moscow due to a back injury] (in Russian). RIA Novosti.
  25. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Men". International Skating Union. November 17, 2020.
  26. ^ Rogulev, Alexander (November 18, 2020). "ФФККР не будет искать замену Пепелевой и Плешкову на этапе Гран-при" [FFKKR will not look for a replacement for Pepeleva and Pleshkov at the Grand Prix stage] (in Russian). RIA Novosti.
  27. ^ "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2020/21: Pairs". International Skating Union. November 18, 2020.
  28. ^ Goh, ZK (December 3, 2020). "Tuktamysheva, Aliev test positive for Covid-19; out of Cup of Russia finale". Olympic Channel.
  29. ^ "Никита Кацалапов объяснил, почему его дуэт с Синициной снялся с чемпионата России" [Nikita Katsalapov explained why his duo with Sinitsina withdrew from the Russian Championships]. Zvezda (in Russian). December 22, 2020.
  30. ^ Pahv, Peep (January 30, 2021). "Eva-Lotta Kiibus: koroonaviirus tekitas kurnatust, taastumine võttis aega ja võistlema tulek oli paras eneseületus". Delfi (in Estonian).
  31. ^ Hersh, Philip (March 16, 2021). "Reigning champ Nathan Chen doesn't hide his anxieties about getting to, competing at figure skating worlds in Sweden". NBC Sports. NBCUniversal.