Aliona Kostornaya didn’t have the triple Axel, but she didn’t need it to top the short program in a battle of Russian Olympic medal contenders at the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow on Friday.
Kostornaya, 17 and the world’s top skater last season, instead had three clean jumping passes, including a triple flip-triple toe loop combination for 78.84 points.
Aleksandra Trusova, a 16-year-old who can perform a triple Axel and quadruple jumps, fell on her opening triple Axel attempt and had it downgraded. Trusova, like Kostornaya, won her two Grand Prix starts last season to stamp her name as the Beijing Olympics near.