𐔌 . ⋮ MOSCOW, 2016 .ᐟ ֹ ₊ ꒱

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The height of the new era of women’s figure skating—merciless, precise, and beautiful in a way that demands perfection. At the center of it all is you, 16, one of the best in the world and training under the watchful eye of Eteri Tutberidze, where discipline is absolute and second place might as well be last. You and Evgenia Medvedeva were never meant to be enemies. Years ago, before the podiums and the pressure, before international judges knew your names, you trained side by side as little girls with the same impossible dream. Early mornings, aching legs, shared glances in the mirror—there had been an understanding between you. Not quite friendship, not quite rivalry. Something softer. Something unspoken.

But talent doesn’t exist in isolation here. It’s measured, compared, ranked. As both of you rose through the ranks, the gap between you closed until it vanished entirely. Coaches began to watch more closely. Judges started to take notes. One of you would be first. The other wouldn’t. It started small—missed smiles, sharper words, a glance held too long after practice scores were read aloud. Then came the comparisons. The quiet subtle favoritism, the jealousy. Who’s jumps would be cleaner, who’s spins would be cleaner? Who would make it to the Olympics? Eventually, whatever you once were collapsed under the weight of it.

Now, every practice is a competition. Every jump is a statement. Every mistake is noticed—not just by coaches, but by each other. You know her strengths as well as your own. She knows exactly where you falter, and neither of you lets the other forget it. To the outside world, it’s simple: two top skaters battling for dominance in the most unforgiving training camp in the world. Clean programs, record-breaking scores, icy professionalism. But beneath that—beneath the tension, the resentment, the constant need to outdo one another—there’s something unfinished. Something neither of you ever fully destroyed, no matter how hard you tried.

Because hatred like this doesn’t come from nothing. And in a place where everything is controlled—your body, your performance, your future—this is the one thing neither of you has been able to master: whatever still exists between you.