Doronina Wants to Lead Russian Ladies Back to the Top
Not long ago, Russia's figure skaters in the ladies discipline were a force to be reckoned with. Irina Slutskaya not only won Olympic silver in 2002 and bronze in 2006, but also a whopping seven European titles between 1996 and 2006, and two World titles in 2002 and 2005.
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Great article! I think Doronina has goods to be a star, only if she can deliver.
Outstanding piece by Tatjana Flade.
I really liked Alina Leonova at JW, but was less impressed with Doronina. I'm more inclined to see Leonova as having the better potential.
That said, I don't see either one challenging for the World podium in the forseeable future. My favorite Russian lady at the moment is Katarina Gerboldt, and not necessarily for her skating skills.
ITA!! Gerboldt is the one to watch this upcoming season. She is a bit choppy despite those long legs but she skates clean. She's also very pretty. Check her out on Youtube. However, she will not be able to come close to the Asian gals not to mention the US gals.Originally Posted by chuckm
It is so interesting to me to see when countries go through such notable gaps in leadership. Have yet to figureout why.... though, specifics like money,... the exudos of coaches... money.... surely/obviously play a role. But on a country level... One would have thought for instance that China would have by NOW had a more prominent crop of ladies skaters after Chen Lu's success. For Russia, I wonder if the duration of Slutskaya's prominence served in some way to discourage some from thinking they could ever 'get their chance' Appreciated the article/update...
I think the fall of the Soviet system had a lot to do with it. Nevermind the fact that until Butryskaya/Slutskaya, Russia never had ladies that really challenged for the gold.
I liked what I saw of Tuktamysheva at Russian Nationals though. I liked Leonova as well - but I think Tuktamysheva has more potential, but she's still SO young, so it's hard to know if injuries or other issues will stop her progress
I tend to think that things run in cycles. I think that the days of Russian dominance in skating...in any discipline...are really over right now. In regards to the ladies....I think that we are in the era of the japanese/korean (well just Yu-Na really) dominance.
Things move so quickly. Just when we say Japan has all the best ladies, we look around and see the next generation from other countries nipping at their heels.
I do think that Russian dominace of dance took only a brief breather and will be back in full force by 2010.
Eys, and in pairs.
Their dance/pair Junior fields are very deep.
Half of the Russian Pairs team is a contender, but a chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
I don't know what weakest link you are talking about, exactly. The fact is that the Russian junior pairs field is in fact quite deep. They finished 1st, 2nd and 4th at JW worlds without a team that won a bronze medal at Skate America in its first senior event. And another teams beat Sheremetieva/Kuznetsov at Russian Junior nationals.
Whether any of these teams can make it onto the senior level is a tossup, but they are certainly doing well in Juniors, much like the American ladies (and the Japanese ladies before them...and who's dominating the ladies scene at the moment?)
Not to be cynical (but arguably a bit of a 'realist')... but it certainly doesn't hurt when/if money$/support/funding is available. Look at Canada... a fair amount of timing and exceptional talent... but to come to fruition, probably has not hurt that Skate Canada seems to have the push to Vancouver to keep the federations coffers fuller (including to support the athletes).
Thinking four years out... the 2014 Olympics will be on Russian soil... Sochi.... tell me if anyone thinks that the powers that be in any/all of the sporting federations in Russia won't be making some concerted push starting in the next couple years, to get Russia back on the map big time, in skating... especially singles. Bet we'll see the most promising of the 12-14 year olds start to get funding, support, coaching... to prime the pump for a showing that had better not be 'embarrassing' to the motherland in 2014... uh.... just a thought.
Russian Pairs and Dance teams have the same problems with partner-switching as US and Canadian teams do. They have early success at the Junior level, then after moving up to Senior where the going gets tough, they break up and re-form, sometimes over and over again. Sometimes the reason is growth, sometimes injury, and sometimes inability to get along, but it happens in all federations.I don't know what weakest link you are talking about, exactly. The fact is that the Russian junior pairs field is in fact quite deep. They finished 1st, 2nd and 4th at JW worlds without a team that won a bronze medal at Skate America in its first senior event. And another teams beat Sheremetieva/Kuznetsov at Russian Junior nationals.
Whether any of these teams can make it onto the senior level is a tossup, but they are certainly doing well in Juniors, much like the American ladies (and the Japanese ladies before them...and who's dominating the ladies scene at the moment?
With the ladies, there have been many talented Russian junior skaters (Naidenova and Kropotina, to name two) who did well in the JGP and even made the Final. Naidenova never developed into a strong Senior skater, and Kropotina just disappeared. So even when Russia has had a promising young skater, there is no guarantee for the future.
Last edited by chuckm; 07-15-2008 at 02:56 AM.
I think that in some cases, the national training system is a key factor, as when Bin Yao revolutionized China's pairs training. However, I think that the individual characteristics of the skaters can also be a strong factor. To become a champion figure skater is an act of will, as much as it is an act of talent. It is also an act of willingness, that is, willingness to undertake the long, grinding training that is necessary. Sometimes success owes a lot to the particular coach and/or choreographer working with the skater. I think ascertaining the prime cause of success is not simple; rather it is what physicists call a "multi-body problem" lol. Sometimes it has to do with a new judging system.....lololololololol
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