Alexandra Trusova, vice-champion of the Olympic Games, did not take part in the national team next season. This is more of a formality than a reason for panic – the list consists of top skaters following the results of the last national championship. Alexandra missed due to health issues. The Russian Figure Skating Federation has already announced that it will submit to the Ministry of Sports an additional list of titled athletes who, for various reasons, did not participate in the competitions of the season. There is little doubt that Alexander Trusov will be in it. Previously, under the same conditions, Evgenia Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova entered the national team.

True, after that neither Zagitova nor Medvedev went to competitive ice. Does this mean we can say goodbye to Trusova as an active figure skater?

Among experts and fans, there is an opinion about Sasha that she is a figure skating fan. A kind of machine, a jump terminator, the meaning of life is to study quad jumps. “For the first time in the world, I want to do something,” said 13-year-old Sasha. She spoke and did it, getting into the Guinness Book of Records three times for doing a foursome sheepskin coat, a lutz, and a somersault.

At the same time, he almost never publicly formulated specific goals regarding major tournaments. Winning the Olympics, the World Championships, the European Championships – it all seemed like minor worries to him. Not to mention the championship of Russia. Who thinks this? These dreams should be left to those who cannot aim for the unique. Or he subconsciously believed: it is enough to first do something in the world, then collect them all in one program, and then not a single title will be valid.

The truth turned out to be more complex and unfair. The Beijing Olympics completely destroyed Trusova’s image of a girl who just wanted to jump. Leaving the triple axis out in the short program, he skipped everything he wanted, but that didn’t get him Olympic gold. Thus, Sasha faced the biggest disappointment of her life.

It turned out that the jumps no longer warm him on the cold ice and help him come to training every day with peace of mind. And even the departure from the group of Svetlana Sokolovskaya from the group of Eteri Tutberidze, reminiscent of the Olympic drama, into the comfortable environment did not help to reset morally and get full-fledged training with renewed vigor.

Now Sasha Trusova literally has a balanced and, perhaps, happy life. She has many admirers, her loved one is nearby, she has the opportunity to do the job that used to be so pleasurable, with pleasure and without the same fuss. There are ice shows with the main roles, their own books, dances, photo shoots in hot images. She drives herself, goes on vacation without her family, and is generally more independent and self-sufficient than ever before. In general, she has already proven everything to everyone. Everyone but yourself.

The problem is that Russian figure skating in its current form will not satisfy her ambitions. Even if they are beautifully filmed by Channel One and paid for with high prize money, it can only offer it inner beginnings. This was a welcome incentive for many, but not for Sasha. It is as if a person who once saw the light of a real sun was offered to sit under a lamp for the rest of his life.

The only thing that seems to be able to drag Trusova into the whirlwind of training and the necessary regimen for usual results is the opportunity to compete for genuine high-profile titles she doesn’t have yet. That is, if Russian athletes were allowed to participate in international competitions tomorrow, Trusova would fly from Thailand on the first flight to catch up with evening practice. But for now, he only has a chance to become the champion of the internal Grand Prix series. A very weak motivation to enter the water where he once nearly drowned with renewed vigor.

That is why we are waiting for the development of events with the participation of Russians in competitions, and, of course, we do not stop waiting for Sasha herself. After all, we also once saw the sun on his face – without it, the landscape is not at all the same, you see.