Prominent Russian figure skating specialist Alexei Mishin, who currently coaches Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, suggested that US athletes received “extra help” from the judges at the season-opening Skate America event in Las Vegas.
Tuktamysheva took bronze at the Grand Prix event in Las Vegas, finishing behind American rival Bradie Tennel, while Russian 15-year-old Anna Shcherbakova took gold.
If Shcherbakova’s superb quad-jumping dominance was unquestionable, Tennel’s silver medal left some pundits mouth-opened, as they believed Tuktamysheva had been underscored in both her short and free programs.
Talking about his skater’s performance, Mishin said that the judging was “strange,” also suggesting that it was enormously difficult to compete against American athletes when they have home soil advantage.
“Yes, that’s true, the judging was very strange,” Mishin said. “But, being a politically correct person, I don’t want to ask why the so-called home soil advantage reaches an enormously hypertrophied level here.
“It’s very difficult to beat US skaters competing in North America. This is not because they are much stronger, just simply because even the walls help them to win at home. But, despite all the difficulties, we will try to qualify for the Grand Prix final.”
The 2015 world champion Tuktamysheva received low components scores and had serious deductions for two jumps, which the judges considered to be under-rotated.