Magazine

"The rivalry is growing, and that's good"


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Daria skating on Lake Baikal, a massive lake in the Russian region of Siberia.

Skating was her life for over twenty years. The former Team Paradise captain Daria Rastvortseva looks back on her years of synchronized skating.

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How is life after a synchro career?

"After the end of my sports career, I took up creative projects. I work in the field of Social Media and Marketing, and I sometimes appear in TV shows," explains Daria Rastvortseva, team captain of the Team Paradise (RUS) until 2017.

Having skated with the Senior Russian champions for eleven years, Daria was team captain for two years before ending her sports career.



When she looks back to her years as an athlete, her best synchro memory was the 2015 World Championship in Canada.

"It was the first time that our team took a World medal. It was unforgettable. I remember sitting in front of the TV and waiting for the other teams to end their free programs. We didn't have any big hopes. But other teams performed not very well, and we realized that we had a chance to take a medal.

Therefore, when the last team finished their program, there was so much tension. We saw the points and then realized that we had won the bronze medal. It was the first time that Russia had climbed to this level. We were crying, jumping, laughing... at that moment we were the happiest people in the world! The year after, we won the gold medal."

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"Synchro skating is becoming more and more popular in Russia"
After her synchro career, Daria quickly got married and started working. "Also, I've found several fitness coaches on YouTube, and now I am training at home to keep fit."

The pandemic and the border closures in Russia last year changed her plans. But then she realized that it was an excellent time to discover her own country. "I fell in love with it. This winter, I have visited Baikal lake. I've never skated on such smooth ice... even professional skating rinks cannot be compared with it. Incredible. Thanks to the pandemic for this!"


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Synchronized skating? "That was a good page of my life," says Daria.

"Synchronized figure skating is becoming more and more popular in Russia. New teams appear all over in different cities. I think this is a good sign. The rivalry is growing, and that's good. This forces even high-level teams to keep working and not relax. And it helps at the big international competitions," explains Daria.

Even after a few years of retirement and the pandemic, ice remained in her life. "Sometimes, I give figure skating master classes and train children."

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