Krympress reports:
Classes at the Moskvich school under the leadership of Natalia Dubinskaya were beneficial to Elena-already at the age of 10 she gave great hopes, and in her arsenal there was a stock of triple jumps. However, the Ilyins continued to pull in the direction of dancing on the ice that seemed fascinating and beautiful to her.
In 2005, an ambitious athlete nevertheless achieved her own — under the leadership of Ilya Averbukh and Irina Lobacheva Elena began her career in paired figure skating. Her first partner was Nikita Katsalapov, who had previously also gave great hopes for the lonely. Fairy figure skating is a popular discipline for which you can not only conclude a bet, but also get Fribet for registration.
It was not destined to exist for a long time and fruitfully — Nikita and Elena could not master new elements and technology together, although one by one they did it at the highest level. Constant quarrels and mutual reproaches caused their separation in less than a year.
After the unsuccessful experience of joint performances with Katsalapov, Elena for a short time was tandem with Ivan Bukin, but this attempt was unsuccessful. Ilyinh decided to radically change the approach to business, and moved to the United States. There, her coaches were Marina Zueva and Igor Spilband.
In the United States, the Ilyins were not able to find a new partner for himself, but work under the guidance of new mentors lasted two long years. The trip to Moscow in 2008 changed everything — during the usual campaign to the ice palace, Elena met Katsalapova, who had been paired with different girls throughout the time, but never found a suitable partner.
In the fall of the same year, the Ilyins and Katsalapov reunited again, this time under the vigilant gaze of the new mentors of Oleg Volkov and Alexander Zhulin. This time, the union of two former loners surpassed all expectations — after fourth place in the Russian championship among juniors, the couple won a convincing victory in the Russian Cup final.
Elena and Nikita were able to transfer successes in the inner arena to the international level. During 2009, the Ilyins and Katsalapov won several victories at the stages of the Grand Prix among juniors, won the silver medals of the Russian championships and the Grand Prix finals in Japan, and also won gold medals at the Hague World Cup.
It was an important step on the eve of the Olympic Games. Under the leadership of the new mentor, the first successes came-bronze at the Japanese Grand Prix and third place at the European Championship. At the world championship Ilyins and Katsalapov became the best Russian couple, taking the final fifth line.
Season 2012/2013 turned out to be rich in trophies for the young duo. At the home stage of the Grand Prix, Elena and Nikita stopped a step away from the gold medal, losing only to the Canadian pair by the Vertya/Moir. Competitions in Japan were dramatic, where, after the first stage, Russian skaters occupied the third line. The Ilyins were poisoned in the midst of the tournament, but decided to continue the performances. As a result — second place and a ticket to the final of the championship.
The final of the Grand Prix took place in Sochi, but for Elena and Nikita, the competition did not bring joy-the sixth final place. The couple was able to rehabilitate themselves for failure at the Russian championship (silver) and the European Championship (silver). At the world championship, the duet of Ilyin and Katsalapov again had a failure — the ninth line and a serious lag behind the leaders.
The Olympic season for an already experimental couple began ambiguously. Despite three silver medals at the Grand Prix in France, the championship of Russia and Europe, Elena and Nikita made several serious mistakes and personally deprived themselves of the highest test awards.
At the World Cup in Japan in the media, information appeared that this is the last joint tournament of the newly -minted Olympic champions. According to Elena herself, at that moment she was on the verge of a nervous breakdown, but their coach Nikolai Morozov in every possible way refuted these rumors. At the competitions themselves, the couple made a serious mistake that did not allow her to rise to the podium. So the glorious pages of the joint performances of the Ilyin and Katsalapov ended, which officially announced the cessation of cooperation.
Ruslan Zhiganshin became the new partner of the Ilyin. The result of their joint work was several prizes at various Grand Prix and regional competitions. However, it was not possible to achieve something more in the European and world arena. Three seasons, Elena’s partner decided to complete his professional career. Aktau native did not appear on the ice for almost two years, after which she herself announced the departure from large sports.
Elena could find a new couple and continue performances at the highest level, but a series of failures and personal problems caused a career completion. Be that as it may, the Ilyins will remain in the memory of fans of figure skating as a very bright person who, with his achievements, proved professionalism and love of sports.
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