Olympic champion Adelina Sotnikova and World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva finished sixth and eighth, respectively, at the Russian Championships on Saturday, hurting their chances to be named to Russia’s three-woman team for the World Championships in three months.
Olympic team event champion Yulia Lipnitskaya also struggled and was seventh.
Sotnikova, 19, dropped from fifth after the short program to record her lowest finish in seven Russian Championships appearances. She fell in the short program and twice in the free skate.
In Sochi, Sotnikova became the first Olympic women’s figure skating champion without a prior Olympic or World Championships individual medal. Sotnikova sat out top-level international competition last season while injured.
Tuktamysheva, 19, fell on a triple Axel attempt in the short program and turned out of the landing in the free skate.
Last season, Tuktamysheva swept the Grand Prix Final and World Championships after finishing 10th at the December 2013 Russian Championships.
Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva and Lipnitskaya have not been at their best this season, all going winless in Grand Prix competition in the fall.
Yevgenia Medvedeva won the Russian Championships on Saturday, following her victories at Skate America and the Grand Prix Final in the fall.
World Championships bronze medalist Yelena Radionova and Anna Pogorilaya were second and third, respectively, and are in prime positions for three to-be-named spots in the European Championships in January and Worlds in March and April in Boston.
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