Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova takes a break at the CSKA Moscow practice rink.
Russia’s Adelina Sotnikova has grown up. The European silver medalist, who turned 17 on July 1, finished school this spring and now has entered the Sports University.
“I am studying to become a coach,” she proudly revealed. “The classes will start this fall, but I already enrolled.”
It seems like she has been around forever, but in fact, Sotnikova completed her first full senior season last spring.
The Muscovite has prepared her programs for the Olympic figure skating season and showed them for the first time in public during a local show on August 17. The short program is set to a modern version of Carmen, and for the long program she returned to her Introduction et Rondo Capriccioso program from the 2010-11 season.
“This is just my music,” Sotnikova explained.
Obviously, she has fond memories of the Saint-Saens piece as she won each competition she entered including Junior Worlds, the Junior Final, and Russian Nationals (senior level).
However, she is using a different arrangement and a new choreographer for the current program. Former ice dancer Peter Tchernyshev choreographed both the long and short program for the three-time National Champion.
Following the end of the season at the World Team Trophy in April, Sotnikova got her new programs in May, then went on vacation. From mid June to early July, the reigning European silver medalist took part in a training camp in Latvia.
“There, we worked a lot on the programs,” she noted.
The teenager also got a new show number to Oblivion by Astor Piazzolla where she portrays a bird. She went to Mao Asada’s show in Japan in July and was back training full-time in Moscow in August before she joined the training camp of the National team in Sochi.
“We are now preparing for the season and everything is going according to plan,” Sotnikova said.
The skater focuses on her own work and tries not to pay too much attention to what people say and write about her.
“I’ve stopped reading the internet forums three years ago,” she shared.
Sotnikova’s plans include competing at the Lombardia Trophy in Italy, Cup of China in Beijing, and Trophee Bompard in Paris. The teen hopes to qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final in Fukuoka, Japan.
