ST.PETERSBURG, March 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Bronze medallists in ice dancing at the Sochi Olympics Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, who also won gold in the Sochi figure skating team competition, will perform together at the Saitama World Championship for the last time, a source close to figure skating circles told Itar-Tass at a show of the Olympic Champions held in St. Petersburg.
The duet is performing together for the last time?at the Saitama World Championship. After the championship, Nikita Katsalapov will skate with Viktoria Sinitsina, who is now a partner in a duet with Ruslan Zhiganshin. Famous coach Nikolai Morozov will work with the new duet, the source said. It did not say what Elena Ilinykh was planning to do.
Rumors about the duet break-up had been circulating in the lobbies of figure skating championships for several years. Both skaters managed to forget about differences for the sake of great honor to perform at the Olympic Games. Both worked in the Olympic season as they had never worked before, Katsalapov said.
The Russian Figure Skating Federation intends to officially inform about changes in ice dance duets after the world championship in Saitama.