“Today, children are child prodigies! They achieve incredible things that their senior colleagues cannot do” – Sotnikova

Olympic champion Adeline Sotnikova said that now children who practice figure skating perform incredible elements that their older colleagues cannot do.

On Tuesday, the Adelina Sotnikova Cup took place at the Arktika Palace in Moscow. Sotnikova is the Sochi 2014 Olympic champion in women’s single skating.

— Tell us about the competitions currently taking place.

— My tournament is called “Adelina Sotnikova Cup”. I designed it this summer, while I was developing a plan for the competition. Many thanks to the Moscow Figure Skating Federation for supporting my idea. 10 years after my victory at the Olympics, I wanted to give joy and happiness to children so that they would strive for medals at the Games.

In addition, the medals of our tournament are made in the style of the Sochi 2014 awards. I would like them to also feel this Olympic atmosphere, so that these competitions encourage children to new achievements. Children are our future, we want to give them the best.

— Which children did you invite to the competition?

— We invited guys from the third youth category to the first sports category. Anyone could apply. I did not expect such a number of participants. There were more than 600 applications. I receive a lot of warm words from skaters, parents and fans for organizing this tournament.

— Do you think young skateboarders have changed in recent years?

– Children these days are generally child prodigies! They do amazing things that their older colleagues can’t do. They have maximalism, they are not afraid of anything, they move forward.

—You were also once called a child prodigy.

— If you compare me at a young age to today’s children, I am far from being a child prodigy. I skipped the Lutz-Rittberger and Salchow-Rittberger waterfalls. And now kids that age are doing quadruple jumps. The difference is colossal,” reports the correspondent, according to Sotnikova.