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Kavaguti proud to win for Russia
(China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-22 09:43
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TALLINN: Japanese-born figure skater Yuko Kavaguti revealed her pride at winning for her adopted country ,Russia, as she stood on top of the podium with pairs partner Alexander Smirnov at the European figure skating championship on Wednesday night.
It has been a long journey for the 28-year-old, branded a traitor in her native country when she changed her nationality in order to pursue her dream of Olympic gold.
After living and training in Russia since 2003, Kavaguti (pictured front) teamed up with Smirnov in 2006. She received her Russian passport in February last year and changed the spelling of her name from Kawaguchi to the more Russified Kavaguti.
But the girl from Aichi could not stop smiling and repeating "Spasiba" (thank you in Russian) after she and Smirnov shocked three-time defending champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy of Germany to win their first international title.
And standing on the top of the podium, Kavaguti said she was proud to listen to the Russian anthem.
"Next time I don't only want to hear it (the anthem), I want to sing it," she said.
Smirnov, 25, paid tribute to his partner's driving ambition.
"I've never had a partner like her," he said.
"She's a very extraordinary person. She's very hard working. It's nice to skate with her."
Two-time world champions Savchenko and Szolkowy had held a narrow 0.20 lead from the short programme but paid for errors in their routine to the soundtrack Out of Africa.
Dressed in bright red, Kavaguti and her partner gave a technically strong and emotional performance to Valse Sentimentale and The Blue Danube.
A stumble by Kavaguti on the landing of her triple toeloop jump was the only blemish in the 4 1/2 minute routine which earned them 139.23 for the free skate and 213.15 overall.
The title completes their set of Euro medals after silver last year and bronze in 2008. The pair also won bronze at the Worlds last year.
Savchenko, who missed training earlier this month suffering from suspected glandular fever, looked slightly out of form as she two-footed her landing on their throw triple flip and doubled her triple salchow jump.
The Germans scored 137.60 for the free skate and 211.72 overall.
Szolkowy said: "We're a little bit disappointed but not that much. We came here to win again and skate clean. We had some small mistakes but overall it was a good performance."
Russia's Maria Mukhortova and Maxim Trankov took bronze for the second year.
AFP
