Russian Aliona Kostornaya, who was the world’s top singles figure skater when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, reportedly said she began training in pairs’ skating last year and may compete in the discipline.
Kostornaya, 19, has trained and performed in at least one ice show with 20-year-old Georgy Kunitsa, according to Russian media. She said the pair has thought about competing but not yet committed to it, according to TASS.
Kostornaya last competed in November 2021. She missed the December 2021 Russian Championships due to a broken hand, effectively ruling her out of the Olympics, and then underwent hip surgery this past September.
In the 2019-20 season, Kostornaya swept the two biggest international events — the Grand Prix Final and European Championships — before the pandemic canceled the world championships.
Kostornaya was part of what NBC Sports analyst Johnny Weir coined “the Troika” of Russian women to make their senior international debuts in 2019-20. Kostornaya, Aleksandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova were the world’s top three skaters when the pandemic hit.
Shcherbakova and Trusova went one-two at the Olympics.
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