Aliona Kostornaya, the world’s best figure skater last season, left coach Yevgeny Plushenko for former coach Eteri Tutberidze,on at least a months-long trial basis, in the latest change for a top Russian woman.
Kostornaya said that she realized this season if she was with Tutberidze, she would be able to push herself to do more, according to a Russian TV interview transcript published Saturday. Tutberidze said she wants Kostornaya to get back her triple Axel, a jump she performed in 2019-20 but not this past season.
Kostornaya, the favorite for the 2020 World Championships before they were canceled, was not on Russia’s three-woman team named on Monday for this season’s world championships later this month.