Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov | Page 211 | Golden Skate

Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov

LittleLotte29

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
When is the like "end date" in pais skating? At what age do pairs usually retire? Because they are in their late twenties right? Or isn't Max already 30 or something?

I'd be surprised if they compete past the next Olympics, 2018. They need to, at some point, leave room for the up- and coming skaters....

That is usually me who is pesimistic by pretending being realistic ;P But, guys, did you forgot who became Olympic champions in Vancouver? Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, after two seasons break, 31 and 36 years of age, setting two world records (for short program and combined total score). Nothing's impossible then ;D

I'm not even convinced that they will make it to 2018. That is, they have achieved their goal. Do they really need a 2nd gold medal? Perhaps they do, but 2018 is pretty far off...

To tell the truth, they've already had 2nd gold medal. In newspapers they are usually called "two times Olympic champions". Well, I don't think Team Event is equal to individual competition but they have a right to this title. I just wonder how many pairs have two Olympic champions titles - Gordeeva/Grinkov, Belousova/Protopopov, Brunet/Brunet, Rodnina/Zaitsev (Rodnina herself has 3 Olympic titles), Artur Dmitriev has two titles. They have already made a history, haven't they?

Things like that.... and all the skaters also say : I don't think further than next season.
And frankly said you can't really plan further.

But many skaters do. I don't know if Tania and Max will be able to compete in Pyeongchang, but look at Pang/Tong. They decided to stay in sport until Sochi despite that judges didn't like them as much as they like some other pairs ;P and try. They finished fourth, one mistake less and podium would have been theirs once again. They still were able to have gorgeous throw jumps, spins and lifts at 4th level.

then Liza just disappeared last season.

Liza had and still has a serious injury. I hope Tania and Max will stay health :D
 

saray

Rinkside
Joined
Jul 2, 2014
i think what motivates them is the desire to skate as a pair because they skated together only for 4 years. max said once they have so much to offer to the fans and want to skate as long as possible. i wish them health, nothing is more important.
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
All the points made here by everyone are very sound. Yes -- Hongbo and Xue hung in there and got better and better and finally won (deservedly)! And I’m glad to be reminded of the pairs that did go for a second Gold and succeeded. I guess I would just hate to see V&T fall from grace and NOT get the Gold.
As for my ruminating that Max might, in time, want to do something else, he’s been skating for 26+ years and knows everything there is to know. That makes him an expert and if he were to experiment with something else, he might long for the familiar and return to skating. So for the foreseeable future, I think I should just relax and stop speculating!
 

svetik

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
i think what motivates them is the desire to skate as a pair because they skated together only for 4 years. max said once they have so much to offer to the fans and want to skate as long as possible. i wish them health, nothing is more important.
saray, I think, you're right. V/T just want to skate together, 4 years not long enough. Maxim's mum said the same, that they want to keep skating together. I hope, they stay healthy, that's all matters. I doubt, Maxim would go in politics. He said, he wasn't interested in politics.
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
After Max posted on his Instagram pictures with past skating champions – like Denis Petrov and Lu Chen, I watched two of Petrov’s and Bechke’s1992 Olympics performances on You Tube. Some beautiful skating – especially from Petrov, some interesting moves, some really awkward moves. I’m going to watch some of Lu Chen’s programs too. Because V and T are skating royalty now, and often rub shoulders with other champions, it’s nice to look back at those who came before. The quality of the videos leaves something to be desired, but at least we have some record to study.
 

Maggie

Rinkside
Joined
May 11, 2014
After Max posted on his Instagram pictures with past skating champions – like Denis Petrov and Lu Chen, I watched two of Petrov’s and Bechke’s1992 Olympics performances on You Tube. Some beautiful skating – especially from Petrov, some interesting moves, some really awkward moves. I’m going to watch some of Lu Chen’s programs too. Because V and T are skating royalty now, and often rub shoulders with other champions, it’s nice to look back at those who came before. The quality of the videos leaves something to be desired, but at least we have some record to study.
Yes Nessie I have watched a lot of old videos as a result of following posts from Instagram. Some great skates and some champion skates that seem amateur now. So interesting to see how the sport has developed. I am giving away my age now but my first memories are watching Irina Rodnina on B&W TV as a child. That is where I learned to love Russian skating.
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Yes Nessie I have watched a lot of old videos as a result of following posts from Instagram. Some great skates and some champion skates that seem amateur now. So interesting to see how the sport has developed. I am giving away my age now but my first memories are watching Irina Rodnina on B&W TV as a child. That is where I learned to love Russian skating.

How lovely! I’m no spring chicken either but I don’t know if I’d know without a lot of searching just which skaters to look for – and where and how to begin my history lesson (or review) without some of these names from the past who are touching base with Max and Tati now. So that’s why I’m thrilled that Max and Tanya are so outgoing and active and some of the old “stars” are so welcoming to them.
I saw Dick Button on the street the other day, with some friends. (He lives 4 blocks from me in a very fancy building! I do NOT live in a fancy building!) But I was thinking, if I see him again, and have the guts to do it, I would ask him, “Could I ask you about Volosozhar and Trankov.? You said they’re powerful and one of the better pairs skaters today, but you noted specifically that they have ‘zero sense of body position.’ I just don’t understand what you mean. How can this be? Their posture and presentation seems extremely beautiful to me. Please explain…” I’ll probably never bump into him again so it’s all sort of hopeless, but that criticism bothers me a great deal.
 

LittleLotte29

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
but you noted specifically that they have ‘zero sense of body position.’

Oh my, where and when did he say such a thing? I agree with you, Nessie, in my opinion they have excellent presentation and posture and indeed superb dancing skills. They just feel the music... Every music (according to me ;p). Especially Tania, she is so gorgeous as a pair skater, she's got everything - talent, posture, proper figure and mental traits which makes her unusual. Of course, Maxim is great, too (however, in my personal ranking of the best male pair skaters the first position belongs to Eric Radford, it's just my opinion and I'm not fond of Meagan and Eric as a pair, I just like them). But Tatiana and Maxim are wonderful as a pair so I can't understand his statement.
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Oh my, where and when did he say such a thing? I agree with you, Nessie, in my opinion they have excellent presentation and posture and indeed superb dancing skills. They just feel the music... Every music (according to me ;p). Especially Tania, she is so gorgeous as a pair skater, she's got everything - talent, posture, proper figure and mental traits which makes her unusual. Of course, Maxim is great, too (however, in my personal ranking of the best male pair skaters the first position belongs to Eric Radford, it's just my opinion and I'm not fond of Meagan and Eric as a pair, I just like them). But Tatiana and Maxim are wonderful as a pair so I can't understand his statement.

here is the reference to the article -- mostly about the Protopopovs -- in the NYtimes. If you can't get to the article,l maybe I can copy and paste the text.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/sports/olympics/restoring-a-pairs-skating-dynasty.html?_r=0
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Excuse me, but I am going to try to watch some videos of Dick Button skating to see how his body position is....
 

Devochka

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 3, 2014
I have no idea what that dude even means..."zero sense of body position"? They seem beautifully graceful to me. :think:
 

LittleLotte29

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
here is the reference to the article -- mostly about the Protopopovs -- in the NYtimes. If you can't get to the article,l maybe I can copy and paste the text.

I've got no problem with reading reading it, don't worry. :D
 

LittleLotte29

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
Excuse me, but I am going to try to watch some videos of Dick Button skating to see how his body position is....

Yup, I'm going to do it, too, but I probably know what did he mean. As you can see here, Protopopovs were graceful, charming, endearing and so on - and they had a plenty of time to show it. You know, on this video they are skating to Meditation from Thais, it is slow melody, technically their program is so much easier than the present ones. And because it is so, they had plenty of time to show how great edges, sense of body position or style they had. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to offend Protopopovs' legend, they were magnificent skaters and bring another life to figure skating but that was years ago. Now, figure skating is much more of the technique, Tatiana and Maxim have to show several different, very difficult elements at a faster rate and they just don't have enough time to be as "graceful" and have "equal style". According to me, they have. It is especially difficult to show now and they do it wonderfully.
And, sorry, Dick Button is from the same generation as Protopopovs :) Maybe Dick Button just don't like present figure skating?
I just hope you know what I want to say :p
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Yup, I'm going to do it, too, but I probably know what did he mean. As you can see here, Protopopovs were graceful, charming, endearing and so on - and they had a plenty of time to show it. You know, on this video they are skating to Meditation from Thais, it is slow melody, technically their program is so much easier than the present ones. And because it is so, they had plenty of time to show how great edges, sense of body position or style they had. Don't get me wrong, I don't want to offend Protopopovs' legend, they were magnificent skaters and bring another life to figure skating but that was years ago. Now, figure skating is much more of the technique, Tatiana and Maxim have to show several different, very difficult elements at a faster rate and they just don't have enough time to be as "graceful" and have "equal style". According to me, they have. It is especially difficult to show now and they do it wonderfully.
And, sorry, Dick Button is from the same generation as Protopopovs :) Maybe Dick Button just don't like present figure skating?
I just hope you know what I want to say :p

I understand what you're saying, totally. Excellent analysis and excellent points. Yes, skating is MUCH FASTER now and I love (and admire greatly) that speed. And V and T happen to be PARTICULARLY fast skaters. I did watch Dick Button’s 1952 Olympic performance and his spins were pretty amazing. Yes, his body position was good but the arms are held in such a funny even silly way, like someone about to pick a delicate flower. As you say, skating has changed dramatically. Button must acknowledge this to himself, but still his criticism is harsh. I will make it a point to study, as you have, the Protopopovs’ style.

A little off-subject: I also watched last night some of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Pairs Competition. Saw some skaters I’d never heard of or heard little of. Why? Because US television coverage of the Olympics is often so jingoistic. They waste time broadcasting all sorts of debatable and obscure sports like curling, or biathlon (shooting at targets while skiing!), but with figure skating, they only show you the favorites (if you’re lucky) and anyone American – even if they are not at the highest level. You could miss a great 4th or 5th place performance if the person (or couple) isn’t American. It bugs me. I want to see the best skating; it’s not important what country a skater is from. Of course, at Sochi in 2014, the Russian skaters were so accomplished that the program producers had no choice but to pay close attention.
 

LittleLotte29

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 3, 2014
A little off-subject: I also watched last night some of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics Pairs Competition. Saw some skaters I’d never heard of or heard little of. Why? Because US television coverage of the Olympics is often so jingoistic. They waste time broadcasting all sorts of debatable and obscure sports like curling, or biathlon (shooting at targets while skiing!), but with figure skating, they only show you the favorites (if you’re lucky) and anyone American – even if they are not at the highest level. You could miss a great 4th or 5th place performance if the person (or couple) isn’t American. It bugs me. I want to see the best skating; it’s not important what country a skater is from. Of course, at Sochi in 2014, the Russian skaters were so accomplished that the program producers had no choice but to pay close attention.

Don't worry, you are not alone :) Our TV showed the Olympics in a similar way, it was so annoying. One competition on different channels, more advertisements than skating and the worse of all - they showed 1st group, than a few minutes sledging (I think it is so called in English, isn't it?), a few minutes of speed skating (because we had a gold medal in this discpiline, they were repeating it constantly), a few minutes of another disciplines, a documentary about lack of speed skating track in Poland, some journalists' talks about lack of speed skating track in Poland, and coming back to show the last group. Exhibiton was the worst of all - journalists were sitting in the studio - behind them big screen which showed gala - and talking about LACK OF SPEED SKATING TRACK IN POLAND. Guys, I got it, we don't have any speed skating track, but let me watch gala! They showed it when Yuna Kim ws performing. An exhibition of my life, really :bang:
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Don't worry, you are not alone :) Our TV showed the Olympics in a similar way, it was so annoying. One competition on different channels, more advertisements than skating and the worse of all - they showed 1st group, than a few minutes sledging (I think it is so called in English, isn't it?), a few minutes of speed skating (because we had a gold medal in this discpiline, they were repeating it constantly), a few minutes of another disciplines, a documentary about lack of speed skating track in Poland, some journalists' talks about lack of speed skating track in Poland, and coming back to show the last group. Exhibiton was the worst of all - journalists were sitting in the studio - behind them big screen which showed gala - and talking about LACK OF SPEED SKATING TRACK IN POLAND. Guys, I got it, we don't have any speed skating track, but let me watch gala! They showed it when Yuna Kim ws performing. An exhibition of my life, really :bang:

Whoa – that sounds as bad as our coverage! I was away so I had set my television to record the Olympic gala. Obviously there was one particular pair whose performance I wanted to be sure to catch. Since V and T were the biggest stars of the Sochi Olympics, it was not surprising that they were scheduled to skate last which I kind of expected. The producers were so dumb, they allowed the gala to end a precise hour but the most important champions hadn’t even skated yet! I bet the knuckleheads in the studio didn’t even notice their stupidity. I was so furious I was ready to throw the television out the window! If it had been Shaun White skateboarding, they probably would have let the program go over a few minutes! But the produces were so uninformed that they didn’t realize WHO they cut out of the program. Incompetent dopes! Actually your story is at least funny. Mine is just idiotic.
 

svetik

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
http://instagram.com/p/r-GYsIuVae/?modal=true

Both women look fabulous! Excellent and classy taste...

Nessie, I think, Tanya looks beautiful,I don't like Maxim's t-shirt. V/T went to the fashion house of classic suit on Wednesday, then they went to the party which was held by that fashion house. maxim went to place, where his dad use to live yesterday, but I am not sure, whether Tanya went with him or not.
 

Nessie

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
Nessie, I think, Tanya looks beautiful,I don't like Maxim's t-shirt. V/T went to the fashion house of classic suit on Wednesday, then they went to the party which was held by that fashion house. maxim went to place, where his dad use to live yesterday, but I am not sure, whether Tanya went with him or not.

Hmm. Interesting, re where Max's father used to live.
and Yes Max's shirt looks funny -- sort of too long, like a dress. I like to see his hair instead of baseball caps all the time. He sure likes those baseball caps! But Tati looks fantastic. This dress and red pants get my vote for the best clothes she's worn.
 

svetik

On the Ice
Joined
Jun 28, 2014
Hmm. Interesting, re where Max's father used to live.
and Yes Max's shirt looks funny -- sort of too long, like a dress. I like to see his hair instead of baseball caps all the time. He sure likes those baseball caps! But Tati looks fantastic. This dress and red pants get my vote for the best clothes she's worn.

I agree with you, Tanya looks fabulous. I think, she has got a nice style, I like it.I am not sure about Maxim style sometimes.
I know, Maxim brought a house for his dad on Pskov region, that's where Maxim went there on Thursday, because, he did put a picture on his instagram saying it's Dad's house. I don't think, that trip was easy for him.
 
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