News/Features:
The latest on Elena

 

Elena 4th at Cup of Russia,
points short of making GP Final

November 25, 2006

Elena Sokolova finished fourth at the Cup of Russia but it wasn’t enough to advance to the Grand Prix Series final in mid-December.

Sokolova finished with a total of 13 points in her two GP Series events (Cup of China 4 points, Cup of Russia 9).

Sokolova was second after the short program skated to “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini. Both her spiral sequence and her combination spin were graded a level four by the technical panel. And she was successful with a triple toeloop-double toeloop combination, a triple loop and double Axel.
Sokolova finished sixth in the free skate.

“I wanted to do a triple-triple combination, but I was too close to the boards and decided to do a double, otherwise I would have left the ice through the hole for the camera”, Sokolova said. “It was better than in China (at the Cup of China). Not technically (jump-wise), but we’ve worked on the level of the elements. So basically, I’m pleased.”

Elena just misses Worlds medal;
has personal short, free programs

March 25, 2006

Elena Sokolova finished fourth at the World Championships and set personal highs for overall and short programs.

Elena bested her short program by .10 for a 60.98 score. Her overall record is 177.85, better than her previous mark by .06.

It's the second time this year Elena has set personal highs in a competition. She set personals highs for short, freeskate and overall at the European Championships where she earned a silver medal.

Had Elena had a better than sixth qualifying round she easily could have medaled.

Elena wins silver at Europeans;
sets personal scoring marks

January 19, 2006

Elena Sokolova tuned up for the Turin Olympics with a silver medal finish at the European Championships.

Elena set personal highs for overall (177.81) points, free skate (116.93) and short (60.88) programs.

That broke all her scores in the 2005 World Championships.

The overall total is a whopping 12.72 points better than she recorded last year at Worlds and her free skate was 11.47 points better.

Elena skated to a modern version of “Romeo and Juliet” and landed six triple jumps.

“I did all my jumps and did everything for a high level. I am happy,” Elena said.

Elena in 2nd at Europeans;
sets personal best in short

January 18, 2006

Elena Sokolova is in second place after the short program at the European Championships in Lyon, France.

Elena scored 60.88 points and trails teammate Irina Slutskaya (66.04) by only 7.79 points.

Elena set a new personal best in the short program. Her previous high was 59.63 points at the World Championships last year.

Elena performed a dramatic program to the opera “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini.

Elena landed a triple Lutz-double toeloop, a triple loop and a double Axel for her jumps. Her combination spin and spiral sequence were awarded a level four.

“I’m happy with my performance, with everything. It was good to beat my personal best today. But it still wasn’t the best I can do. My coach always says that I’m the queen of practices, and I just hope to be as good in competition.”

Elena wins 3rd national title;
headed to her first Olympics

December 28, 2005

Elena Sokolova won the Russian National Championships and was named to the national team and compete at the European Champions to be held in Lyon, France.

It was Elena’s third national championship in the past four years. She finished second last year.

Elena is expected to compete for Russia in the Turin Olympics.

It will be Elena's second Olympic Games. She finished 7th in the 1998 Nagano Games.

The 25-year-old has competed in four World Championships.

Elena finishes fifth in GP Final

December 17 , 2005

Elena Sokolova finished fifth in the Grand Prix Final at Tokyo. She was fifth in the short and the free skate.

Elena advanced to the finals by winning Skate America and getting enough points at Eric Trophee Bompard.

Elena’s short program earned her 52.30 points. She was penalized when she under rotated her triple loop and it was downgraded to a double.

That was too far to advance in the freeskate where she earned 97.78 points for a total of 150.8 – only 11 points off of third place and a medal finish.

Elena will now concentrate on competition and finessing her programs leading up to the Torino, Italy Olympics scheduled in February.

Elena earns spot in GP Final

November 20 , 2005

Elena Sokolova earned a berth in the ISU Grand Prix Final with her sixth place finish at Trophee Eric Bompard.

The placement earned Elena three points, enough to slide past several women with 14 points.

Elena gained 12 points by winning Skate America in the first competition on the Grand Prix schedule.

Elena wins Skate America

October 22, 2005

Elena Sokolova won Skate America at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, N.J., the first Grand Prix event of the season, and set herself up among the early favorites to contend for an Olympic medal at Torino in 2006.

Elena built a big enough lead in the short program to hold off American Alissa Czisny. Elena scored 105.08 points in the free skate to win by four points with a 163.02 total.

She skated to a techno-modern version of “Romeo and Juliet” from the musical by Gerard Presgurvic.

Her performance included several strong combinations that helped her to victory. Elena added a double loop on the end of her triple Lutz-double toe at the beginning of the program. She later added a double toe on the end of her triple toe.

"When I skated "Notre Dame" (her former free skate) I feel myself like Esmeralda," Elena said. "Now I'm Juliet, like Juliet in our [modern] times. I really understand she's fighting, fighting for her love. I'm fighting for my love - my love for figure skating."

Elena was quick to exhibit her humor during the post-skate press conference. A reporter noted that Juliet doesn’t win in the end. Elena with a smile on her face, said: “From what side (do) you look? They’re still together!”

It was the sixth appearance at Skate America for Elena. She has finished second once and third two other times.

"It's my first (competition) this season and I usually skate pretty good in the United States, which hopefully will help me for the Olympics," Elena said.

"The season is like a line; it goes up and down, up and down. Hopefully all downs will be in the practices."

Elena built her big lead with a startling short program one night earlier. Skating to “Turandot” by Giacomo Puccini, she nailed a beautiful triple Lutz-double toeloop combination, a triple loop, and double Axel.

Elena’s spins were stronger than last year. Elena earned a level three for her flying camel spin and the layback spin and her combination spin was a level four.

“I’m absolutely satisfied with my (short) performance,” said Elena .“Of course, it could be better, but I think from one competition to the next, it will be better and better.”

Elena wins Silver at Russian Nationals

January 8, 2005

Elena Sokolova earned the silver medal at the 2005 Russian National championships at St. Petersburg.

It’s the first time in three years Elena has not finished first at the national championships.

Elena finished well ahead of the rest of the field and is poised to battle it out with Irina Slutskaya at the European Championships Jan. 25-28 at Torino, Italy. Elena won the bronze medal at Europeans last year.

Elena wins Grand Prix medal

November 7, 2004

Elena Sokolova won her first Grand Prix medal in four years when she won the Bronze Medal at the NHK Trophy this weekend at Nagoya, Japan.
Elena last won a Grand Prix title at Cup of Russia in 2000.

Elena wore a new pair of skates and, the misfortune of having her car stolen in Moscow in August with her old pair of skates may have been an omen.

“You never know when something like that is going to happen. The person actually did me a big favor because I got a new pair of skates after using the same ones for four years,” Elena said. “I skated with my old boots for four seasons, and something could have happened anytime. Now there was no way not to change boots,” said Elena, who always looks at the bright side of life.

The 2003 World silver medalist performed a sensational performance to “Don Quixote” by Leon Minkus in the short program and came back with a solid free skate to Romeo and Juliet Overture by Tchaikovsky.

Ironically, Elena said the short program was harder because, “It was hot out there, and I was tired at the end. But I’m happy with my program for my first competition.”

Elena’s next competition is at the Cup of Russia November 25-28. Another high finish could vault her into the Grand Prix Finals later this year.

ESPN will televise the NHK Trophy on November 15 from 9-11 p.m.

March 24, 2004

Elena Sokolova

Elena Sokolova, the 2003 World Silver Medalist, finished second in her qualifying group behind Sasha Cohen at the World Championships in Dortmund, Germany.

Sokolova won the Russian National Championships and was third at Europeans. She had to wake up at 5 a.m. for a 6:30 practice session because of her early skating time.

“Of course it was hard but in Moscow it’s already two hours later, so I have an advantage,” Sokolova said.

Sokolova successfully landed all seven of her triples in her long qualifying program. She opened with a triple Lutz-triple toe and included a triple Salchow-double toe.

Sokolova suffered a concussion in the summer of 2002 and considered quitting skating but her mother convinced her to stay in. Since then Sokolova has done her best skating winning two national championships, a silver in the 2002 Worlds and Europeans and a bronze this year at Europeans.

The ladies short program is Friday and free skate is Saturday.

Elena Sokolova is among the MCE skaters featured in the 2004 Blades On Ice Calendar. SEE MORE

Strong free skate lifts Sokolova to third

February 7, 2004

Elena Sokolova performed a sensational free skate and climbed all the way from sixth to earn the bronze medal at the European Championships at Budapest, Hungary.

Sokolova was sixth after the short program but her second place finish in the free skate saw her jump over three other skaters to finish third behind Hungary’s Julia Sebestyen and the Ukraine’s Elena Liashenko. Sokolova finished ahead of Liashenko in the free skate but couldn’t make up the difference to earn her second straight silver medal.

Skating to "Notre Dame de Paris" Sokolova landed a triple Lutz-triple toeloop combination in the opening seconds. The followed that with a triple flip and combination triple-Salchow-triple toeloop. She performed an ambitious program that also included a triple loop and extraordinary high double Axel.

The marks, as high as 5.8 for technical merit and 5.9 for presentation, pleased Sokolova. "I went out and really fought, and that was very important to me," Sokolova said.

"It was perfect, the best," Sokolova said of her performance. "I was not angry, but I wasn’t satisfied with myself (after placing sixth in the short program). I don’t care about the result now, I’m very happy that I didn’t just skate well but the best today. I had nothing to lose. I went out and really fought, and that was very important to me."

Sokolova’s next competition will be the World Championships in late March. She won the silver medal at Worlds last year.

Elena wins second Russian national title

Elena Sokolova won her second title at the National Russian Championships Friday in Moscow.

Elena won the short program and finished second in the free skate, but it was enough to give her the Gold Medal. She used her last year's free program "Notre Dame de Paris".

Her marks for the free skate ranged from 5.3 to 5.7.

Elena finishes 7th at Challenge

December 5, 2003

Elena Sokolova finished seventh at the International Figure Skating Challenge at Auburn Hills, Michigan.

It was Elena’s second competition of the season since undergoing knee surgery right before the Grand Prix season began. She finished 9th in her first competition - Skate Canada over a month ago -- right after surgery but apparently tried to get back on the ice too soon.

Elena will compete in the Russian Nationals and try to earn a berth on the World team. She won the silver medal at last year’s World Championships.

Elena at Skate Canada

November 1, 2003

World Silver medalist Elena Sokolova, recovering from knee surgery late in the summer, finished ninth at Skate Canada at Mississauga, Ontario. It was Elena’s first competition of the season.

Elena was fifth after the short program but fell four places. She accumulated 132.61 points in her first competition under the new judging system.

Elena had arthroscopic surgery on her knee prior to the season and had only several weeks to prepare for the International Figure Skating Classic at New York’s Madison Square Garden in early October. She finished sixth in that competition.

Elena among "10 Most Beautiful People"

The globetrotting lifestyle of a competitive figure skater allows Russian, European and World women's medalist Elena Sokolova to do maximum impact shopping.

"I love Italy," she says. "But the best jeans are in the U.S."

She says she dresses to be different. "I try to be unusual," she notes. "If everyone will be in skirts, I'll be in jeans."

Cosmetics -- Chanel and Dior -- are best bought in France or at a duty-free shop. Although they mostly stay in her makeup bag.

"In normal life. I prefer to look really natural," says Sokolova, 23. "I don't use a lot of cosmetics."

To keep her skin glowing, she visits a salon in Moscow for a monthly facial.

An absolute must for her is a great manicure.

"Nice nails are really important," she says. Pre-competition manicures are essential.

So is a positive attitude. "Everybody needs to love themselves," Sokolova states. "If you are happy and your eyes are shining and your face is glowing, everybody will see you're happy. It think it means a lot."

Sokolova tests knee during exhibition