The figure is a variation of the basic circle and the two skaters interpret the pieces moving on a chess set. (Credits: Ville Vairinen - 2022)

The "flower" was first presented in 2019. This creative circle figure was invented by the junior team Sunrise 1 from St. Petersburg, Russia. This weekend, the team showed that they had further improved and complicated it to match the program's theme.

The Sunrise 1 junior team definitely has a successful free program.

First, this performance allowed the team to move up two places (from 4th to 2nd) at the Marie Lundmark Trophy on Sunday. Secondly, the program contains an amazing creative pattern from their well-known circle (see below)! 

"Marie Lundmark Trophy was a great experience for us. The organization and conditions of the competition were perfect. Also, we haven’t been participating in international competitions since the beginning of 2020, that’s why it was really exciting and thrilling!" said the team.

"Our short program wasn’t perfect. We had a big mistake at the beginning of it. But after that, we managed to pull ourselves together and continue our performance. In the free program, we’ve done everything, showed all elements as they have to be, but of course, we still have something to improve," explained the team after its performance in Finland last weekend.

In Sunrise 1's free program to "The Queen's Gambit", a Netflix series, the Russian team presented a new creative element inspired by their first creative circle in which the skaters are very close and are leaning on each other.

"Our circle is our calling card, which we call "tsvetochek". In English, it's "flower". Our coaches fully created it in 2018, and since we've been improving it every year, adding something new," said the team. 

In this new variation, two skaters are in the middle. "All new ideas and variations come from our coaches. Exactly this one with two girls inside of element was based on "The Queen's Gambit". We wanted to portray a game of chess, so the girls move imaginary chess pieces, as it was in the series."

The team doesn't have any difficulties executing "flower" on the ice because they practice it constantly. "But in the beginning, like all elements, it had some problems. It took somewhere about two months till stable performance," continued the team.

How would you feel if a team took over your figure in a program?

"We don't mind different teams to try our wonderful circle as a challenge. It's interesting to see how teams do it with their own peculiarities. But still, we don't appreciate the use of our circle by other teams in their programs for competitions. The flower was invented by us and is associated with our team."