Reigning European champion Alena Kostornaia will miss the Russian National Championships this week in Chelyabinsk.
Alexander Gorshkov, President of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia, told Russian news agency TASS that “Kostornaia has not yet had time to recover from her illness and gain the necessary form for the performance.”
Earlier this month, the 17-year-old figure skater tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to miss the fifth stage of the Cup of Russia series. Before that, she won silver medals at both the fourth stage of the Cup of Russia series and the Rostelecom Cup.
Kostornaia has twice won the bronze medal at Russian Nationals and last year placed second. The Russian Championship is a qualifying tournament for the European and World Championships; however, this season, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the International Skating Union (ISU) was forced to cancel the European Championships. The World Championships, scheduled to be held in Stockholm at the end of March, are still expected to take place.
