Elena Radionova

I wonder what kind of sponsorship can Lena get. Nike has Adelina, Adidas has Yulia, so those two big sportsbrands with good cash to spend won't probably search for other skater now. And if any other brand does some fishing now, I fear they might be interested more in Liza (as a World champ). But honestly, I envision Lena more in some luxury brand campaign. She has that supermodel vibe And wouldn't it be cool to open some glossy magazine and have an ad with Lena in it? She would definitely sell hair related products well,I'm sure I'm not the only one with rather serious Lena-hair envy

This is giving me a whole new insight on Russian skaters. I was always under the impression that the skating federation over their covered the skater's expenses, at least the top skaters.

janav said:

I wonder what kind of sponsorship can Lena get. Nike has Adelina, Adidas has Yulia, so those two big sportsbrands with good cash to spend won't probably search for other skater now. And if any other brand does some fishing now, I fear they might be interested more in Liza (as a World champ). But honestly, I envision Lena more in some luxury brand campaign. She has that supermodel vibe And wouldn't it be cool to open some glossy magazine and have an ad with Lena in it? She would definitely sell hair related products well,I'm sure I'm not the only one with rather serious Lena-hair envy

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I wholly agree with you! I don't think the Russian Skating Federation can provide the financial support to Lena's team as much as expected for the new season. Possibly "favoritism" may play a part in it.

winky97 said:

This is giving me a whole new insight on Russian skaters. I was always under the impression that the skating federation over their covered the skater's expenses, at least the top skaters.

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Maybe before Sochi? I have heard Sochi team got good treatment. But after they won someone meddled with the prizes for medalists. I am not surprised that after Sochi they cut down the funding.

Noolan said:

Wow, her conditions are worse than I thought. Prior to this season Lena's parents had to pay for all the additional specialists they involve in their training. The music is mixed by Inna's friend who's doing it for free. "It's an amateur production", Inna says. She says Lena would love to go to US for training like Yulia and Liza did this season, but they don't have the money for it. Inna says Lena would love to work with Lambiel, Zueva, Lori Nichol or Morozov, but she can't afford it. And Lena's ice time was really inconvenient this season. She was on ice at 8.15, so she had to get up at 5 in the morning.

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There's a full translation on FSU here thanks to TAHbKA:
http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/ind...can-always-leave-for-better-conditions.95691/

This is so upsetting! From the previous articles, I knew that the conditions in Goncharenko's group were very bad compared to Buyanova's group (where all the specialists are paid for, and you get more ice time), but I felt like Lena was not really aware of this disparity. But now to know that she wants to work with other choreographers and can't because it's too expensive--that is heartbreaking! Since she is so artistic/expressive, I feel like she would so enjoy working with other choreographers and trying something new--and I think they would really enjoy working with her too.

Perhaps I'm feeling extra bummed because Lena posted this message on VK which makes it sound like she's struggling with some difficult times:
https://vk.com/wall33602606_5271
I can't help but think these two things are connected, though maybe I'm wrong...

Well, I think it was good that Goncharenko put this out in the open in the interview, because perhaps if more people know about Lena's lack of funding, she might find some sponsors, and it will put more pressure on the Russian Fed to give her more funding. Perhaps finding private/corporate sponsors might be better, because with the Russian economy struggling, I'm not sure how much the government will spend on figure skating, now that the Sochi Olympics are in the past.

Sigh...When I was following Mao's career closely, money was never something I ever thought about, because by the time I started following her, she had plenty of sponsors and enough money to train abroad and hire foreign choreographers...I guess this just reminds me how tough/expensive the sport really is...
Actually, if Mao had decided to retire, I think Lena might have actually been able to get some sponsors or commercials in Japan! She is very popular there, and if you recall, that designer at Chacott Japan made her a blue & gold FS costume (as a gift). I know Evgenia Kanaeva (rhythmic gymnast) did a yogurt commercial there. But now that Mao is working toward coming back, I don't think Japanese companies will want to be supporting someone who would be a rival to Mao.

But I agree with janav, Lena totally should be doing some hair commercials! :yes: And mascara ads! (I totally have Lena hair AND eyelash-envy!)

And since most of my post was pretty downbeat, here's an *adorbs* photo of little Lena that I found (with Adelina in the middle, I think, and two other girls I don't recognize):
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CFnLj-RVAAAT-jS.jpg

I think another problem here is the Federation still doesn't see Lena as one of the top three. The top 3 are Liza, Yulia and Adelina and they get all the support they need. Lena is still treated a bit like an overachieving junior. I guess a solid 15-16 season will go a long way to convince the Federation that she's here to stay and that they need invest in her future.

Noolan said:

I think another problem here is the Federation still doesn't see Lena as one of the top three. The top 3 are Liza, Yulia and Adelina and they get all the support they need. Lena is still treated a bit like an overachieving junior. I guess a solid 15-16 season will go a long way to convince the Federation that she's here to stay and that they need invest in her future.

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Actually I think Lena disadvantage is that she was too young for Sochi, hence much less coverage on her even though she isn't less talented. Liza has better jumps and she has been over the puberty, while Lena has to face it next season.
So even though she is consistent, the fed would be like "wait until she has done growing to see". And since she wasn't at Sochi, thus the money on her isn't enough. Now that Sochi is over the fed might have less funding. The only way is to have some sponsors.

Meoima said:

Actually I think Lena disadvantage is that she was too young for Sochi, hence much less coverage on her even though she isn't less talented. Liza has better jumps and she has been over the puberty, while Lena has to face it next season.
So even though she is consistent, the fed would be like "wait until she has done growing to see". And since she wasn't at Sochi, thus the money on her isn't enough. Now that Sochi is over the fed might have less funding. The only way is to have some sponsors.

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Yeah, Yulia and Adelina are famous, so favoring them is an obvious choice even if there's no guarantee that they'll keep bringing medals. And Liza is stable and grown up, so compared to Lena she's a much safer bet.

Noolan said:

Yeah, Yulia and Adelina are famous, so favoring them is an obvious choice even if there's no guarantee that they'll keep bringing medals. And Liza is stable and grown up, so compared to Lena she's a much safer bet.

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I doubt the Russian Skating Federation was giving Liza a lot of funding and support after her hard times. After all, they put her on their B team for this past season and it seems I recall reading that everybody but her team in the Mishin camp had given up on her. Plus, I have read Mishin complain about Liza's training conditions as well. I hope Lena can get some of this extra financial support she needs. I would love to she what another choreographer could do with her.

winky97 said:

I doubt the Russian Skating Federation was giving Liza a lot of funding and support after her hard times. After all, they put her on their B team for this past season and it seems I recall reading that everybody but her team in the Mishin camp had given up on her. Plus, I have read Mishin complain about Liza's training conditions as well. I hope Lena can get some of this extra financial support she needs. I would love to she what another choreographer could do with her.

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hopefully yea =D
after all, this season she was the #2 no doubt, and showed very good results.
As there are tons of good girls in russia, i hope the fed will not neglect Elena because adelina may come back strong and yulia may recover from last season.

It's disheartening to realize Lena's funding situation isn't so great, even though she's the #2 skater in Russia (and arguably in the world). I'm Ashley Wagner's fan, but I hope she and her coach don't make statements about the Russian girls having it easy in the future.

Maybe Lena will get some sponsors soon--after her results this year, and considering how much star quality the girl has...

moriel said:

hopefully yea =D
after all, this season she was the #2 no doubt, and showed very good results.
As there are tons of good girls in russia, i hope the fed will neglect Elena because adelina may come back strong and yulia may recover from last season.

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You hope they will neglect Elena?? I'm guessing that's a typo!

Yes, I think Adelina and Yulia don't have to worry about money because they are very popular in Russia and have sponsors. Liza rightfully should get full support from the Fed now that she's proven she's survived puberty AND is the world champion.

I actually think the Russian Fed likes Lena a lot--remember, they invited HER to skate in the 2011 Worlds gala and Sochi Olympics gala--not Pogorilaya, Medvedeva, Sakhanovich etc. However, since there are so many good girls, Lena's going to have to get through puberty successfully before they fully support her financially and with politicking, etc.

The one thing Lena has going for her this season is that EVERYONE expects her to do badly. So if she does struggle with puberty, it's not a big deal--it's just what has happened to all the other girls. On the other hand, if she does pretty good, then it's great!!

Hopefully it all works out for her. She's in New York for vacation. Hope she has a good rest and brings it this coming season.

Batsuchan said:

You hope they will neglect Elena?? I'm guessing that's a typo!

Yes, I think Adelina and Yulia don't have to worry about money because they are very popular in Russia and have sponsors. Liza rightfully should get full support from the Fed now that she's proven she's survived puberty AND is the world champion.

I actually think the Russian Fed likes Lena a lot--remember, they invited HER to skate in the 2011 Worlds gala and Sochi Olympics gala--not Pogorilaya, Medvedeva, Sakhanovich etc. However, since there are so many good girls, Lena's going to have to get through puberty successfully before they fully support her financially and with politicking, etc.

The one thing Lena has going for her this season is that EVERYONE expects her to do badly. So if she does struggle with puberty, it's not a big deal--it's just what has happened to all the other girls. On the other hand, if she does pretty good, then it's great!!

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ouch, missed a don't there =D
fixed

winky97 said:

Hopefully it all works out for her. She's in New York for vacation. Hope she has a good rest and brings it this coming season.

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https://instagram.com/p/3Hv2KNQYW2/?taken-by=lenok_radionova

OMG!!! Lena is in my city!!!! OMG, if I ran into her, I would totally freak out. Though I haven't seen Tanya/Max, Elena I., or Daisuke Takahashi, so the chances of that happening are pretty low, I'm guessing...

I hope Lena has a good trip! :yup:

Going back to the funding situation--I know some skaters have used sites like Kickstarter to raise money...I wonder if Elena's team would ever consider something like that. I mean, maybe they wouldn't be able to raise enough to hire a star choreographer, but if even a hundred of her IG followers and fans donated like 10 USD each, that would be enough to get a professional to cut Lena's music, at least...I would totally donate some money if I knew it would get to her directly (and not get swallowed up by the Russian Fed)...

Batsuchan said:

https://instagram.com/p/3Hv2KNQYW2/?taken-by=lenok_radionova

OMG!!! Lena is in my city!!!! OMG, if I ran into her, I would totally freak out. Though I haven't seen Tanya/Max, Elena I., or Daisuke Takahashi, so the chances of that happening are pretty low, I'm guessing...

I hope Lena has a good trip! :yup:

Going back to the funding situation--I know some skaters have used sites like Kickstarter to raise money...I wonder if Elena's team would ever consider something like that. I mean, maybe they wouldn't be able to raise enough to hire a star choreographer, but if even a hundred of her IG followers and fans donated like 10 USD each, that would be enough to get a professional to cut Lena's music, at least...I would totally donate some money if I knew it would get to her directly (and not get swallowed up by the Russian Fed)...

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Looks like she is in Minneapolis now. I would totally donate to Lena. I should probably be focused on my US skaters, but I adore this girl and want to see what she can do with a little polish. Alright, who is that Migel dude?

winky97 said:

Alright, who is that Migel dude?

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He is famous russian dancer, TV-star. (He is known mostly by young girls like Lena. Sima and Zhenia also like him )

Hmm, can't help but feel she's actually there for work Minneapolis isn't really a tourist destination, seems weirdly specific. Is there some coach or choreographer in Minneapolis?

As for donations, I think Patreon is the better way to do it for figure skaters. With patreon you don't donate to any specific cause, you're just donating money to that person in general.

Noolan said:

Hmm, can't help but feel she's actually there for work Minneapolis isn't really a tourist destination, seems weirdly specific. Is there some coach or choreographer in Minneapolis?

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Migel?

Forpost said:

Migel?

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He looks a bit clueless on that photo. Like he has no idea who Lena is and what's going on in general. But who knows.