Biography of Alena Kostornaya
Alena Kostornaya is a new bright star in Russian single figure skating, European champion, multiple winner of Grand Prix finals and other prestigious international competitions. Having become Eteri Tutberidze’s mentee, in three months she transformed from an inconspicuous young athlete, first into a confident team favorite, and then into a world record holder, one of the ten best single figure skaters on the planet.
In the photo: Alena Kostornaya
Figure skater Kostornaya will become a doctor thanks to a fan’s gift. Now the girls are friends
European champion and winner of the Grand Prix final Alena Kostornaya recently gave a long interview where she talked about almost everything.
One of the most interesting was the story of how friendship with a fan influenced her choice of life path. Alena decided that she would skate until 2022, and then devote herself to medicine. It all started with a gift from a fan - a book.
“I was greatly influenced by my new friend Yana, who gave me books on neurosurgery. She works as an operating nurse at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute of Emergency Medicine. When I began to closely communicate with a person who sees operations with his own eyes every day, I began to have a different attitude towards this profession. And I loved her much more. I am very grateful to Yana, because before I did not have the opportunity to find out the details from behind the scenes of medicine,”
- Kostornaya said in an interview with Sport BO.
Sport24 contacted a female doctor who spoke about the gift that influenced the fate of the figure skater.
Yana graduated from medical college in Moscow with a degree in nursing. While she has a short break from studies, she works at the Sklifosovsky Research Institute in the operating unit, in the neurosurgical operating room. This is necessary to have experience. Next year she plans to enter Moscow Sechenov University or Pavlov University in St. Petersburg and connect her life with neurosurgery.
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A post shared by Yana Barinova (@yanibarinova) on Feb 10, 2019 at 8:35am PST
During her studies, the girl won the academic Olympiad, which helped her get a job. Yana also has a certificate that allows her to work in the operating room. Sitting at a post and standing during an operation are completely different things.
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A post shared by Yana Barinova (@yanibarinova) on Oct 24, 2019 at 7:22am PDT
She became interested in figure skating in 2011.
“A classmate took up this sport in her first year. She told me how the training goes, how she jumps, how she stretches. I became interested. Three or four years ago I became interested in rhythmic gymnastics because a friend was doing it. The girls were compared, and someone said that one of them looked like Alena Kostornaya. I thought I should see who it was.
She was then still just a baby in a black velvet suit, skating in the second sports category. Then, in 2014, I was very captivated by her gliding, ability to hear music, and jumping. Four years later, I heard about her again and thought: “Oh, Kostornaya, something familiar.” I started searching and realized that from that little girl Alena had turned into one of the strongest figure skaters in the world. Now I’m listening to Tatyana Anatolyevna Tarasova’s comments about her and I understand that this is something. Nobody skates like Kostornaya.”
, - Yana recalls.
Alena’s favorite program was last year’s free program to music from Romeo and Juliet. This year I liked “Twilight” - her favorite composition was used in the program.
Their correspondence acquaintance began long before the real meeting. From a previous interview, Yana learned that Alena likes neurosurgery. I decided to recommend some literature for reading.
“I wrote her a small selection of books that I myself read when they were not yet popular. I didn’t know whether he would answer or not. After 3 weeks, Alena followed me on Instagram. Of course, I was very surprised. Then she started watching my stories. I sometimes do surveys there on medical topics. For example, I show a tool and ask if they know what it is for. Alena answered correctly very often. But we didn’t communicate.”
In January, representatives of the fan club invited Yana to go to the airport to meet Alena after the European Championships. The girl decided that she needed to get acquainted and see the athlete live.
“I started thinking about what to take with me. I settled on the first book that I read myself – James Doty’s “Compass of the Heart.” It tells about a boy who became a great surgeon. I was very worried and gave it as a gift with the words: “I want your acquaintance with neurosurgery to begin with this book.” On March 7, Alena wrote: “Hello. You gave me a book, I read it.” She said that she really liked it. I even started to follow some of the advice from the book.
She says she saw me and thought the face was familiar. Then I came across it on Instagram and realized it was me. Then we laughed about it.”
It turned out to be much easier to communicate further. During one of the meetings, Yana and her friend taught Alena the basics of surgery - suturing and simply holding the instrument in her hands.
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