Alena Leonova Leaves Morozov To Join Rukavitsin

Good news, everybody: Alena Leonova is the latest skater to escape from Morozov's clutches!

From next season, she will be coached by Evgeni Rukavitsin in St. Petersburg.

According to the story I read, she will be joining the likes of Konstantin Menshov, Maria Artemieva, Gordei Gorshkov and Polina Agafonova. (I hadn't heard it anywhere before now, but I take it this means Polina A has left Urmanov and Kositsina).

Here is where I found the news on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152071741873450

And for our Italian speakers (of which I now know there are many!), here is the original story that the Facebook photo is linking to:

http://skating-ritmica.forumfree.it/?t=50456884&st=90#entry555671912

So, that is now TWO gorgeous skaters that have finally seen sense and ran a mile! :yay:

I had half a mind to post this in the Ilinykh/Katsalapov thread, but thought it would get buried in all the gossiping!

CaroLiza_fan

too late, should have done that in 2012

sky_fly20 said:

too late, should have done that in 2012

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I totally agree with you on that. But, it's always a risk changing coach, and perhaps she just didn't feel confident enough then to make the switch.

But, better late than never!

CaroLiza_fan

CaroLiza_fan said:

I totally agree with you on that. But, it's always a risk changing coach, and perhaps she just didn't feel confident enough then to make the switch.

But, better late than never!

CaroLiza_fan

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she switched at the wrong time
now she will be fighting with Sotnikova, Julia, Anna, Tuk
the next season Serafima, Maria, Proklova and Medvedeva will now be senior eligibles

in a way, this 2014-15 season will be her last chance for redemption
same for Tuk

CaroLiza_fan said:

I hadn't heard it anywhere before now, but I take it this means Polina A has left Urmanov and Kositsina.

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Polina Agafonova left Urmanov about a year ago!

sky_fly20 said:

she switched at the wrong time
now she will be fighting with Sotnikova, Julia, Anna, Tuk
the next season Serafima, Maria, Proklova and Medvedeva will now be senior eligibles

in a way, this 2014-15 season will be her last chance for redemption
same for Tuk

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True, but this was going to be the case for this coming season (and quad) no matter when it was that she changed coaches.

The only difference would have been that Alena would have had more experience under her belt with her new coach.

CaroLiza_fan

hanca said:

Polina Agafonova left Urmanov about a year ago!

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Thank you, hanca. I had never heard about that until now. (Hey, it's hard to keep up with absolutely everything, you know! )

CaroLiza_fan

Anyone who leaves Morozov is better off. I wish her luck with Rukavitsin, though I think she should have made the switch much sooner. It's going to be hard for her to catch up with Radionova and Proklova, now that they've made the minimum age requirement for almost every competition.

fleeting said:

Anyone who leaves Morozov is better off. I wish her luck with Rukavitsin, though I think she should have made the switch much sooner. It's going to be hard for her to catch up with Radionova and Proklova, now that they've made the minimum age requirement for almost every competition.

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No, she will stay junior for 1 more season
Proklova only turns 14 this year

sky_fly20 said:

No, she will stay junior for 1 more season
Proklova only turns 14 this year

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Ooh, good catch! I was going off memory and thought she turned 15 this year.
Maybe Alena can catch up to Radionova...

sky_fly20 said:

she switched at the wrong time
now she will be fighting with Sotnikova, Julia, Anna, Tuk
the next season Serafima, Maria, Proklova and Medvedeva will now be senior eligibles

in a way, this 2014-15 season will be her last chance for redemption
same for Tuk

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What do you mean "she switched at the wrong time"? She would be fighting against those ladies no matter when she would switch the coach. The bottom line is that the girls are gradually becoming age eligible and it is getting more and more difficult for Leonova to beat them. Whether she will or won't change coach and when will not make slightest difference. Last season it was Sotnikova and Tuktamysheva becoming eligible, this season it was Lipnitskaya, next season it will be Radionova and Pogorilaya and the following season it will be Sakhanovich, Proklova, Sotskova and Medvedeva. All of them have full set of triples (without 3A obviously), all of them have 3-3 and most of them either another 3-3 or 3-1Lo-3 or 2A-3T. Leonova even at her best had only 3T-3T. The last few years she started struggling with edge jumps (take notice that she does as many toe loops, flips and Lutzes and just rarely Salchows and loops. That means that she can't do seven triples FS as the others do and therefore technically she has no chance to beat them. Her only chance was to catch up on her second mark, but recently her programs have been a bit empty.

I disagree that 2014-15 season will be Leonova's last chance for redemption. I think she has already lost her chance. Even if someone messed up at the nationals, there will be Sotnikova, Lipnitskaya, Radionova and Pogorilaya eligible. She would have to be extremely lucky that someone would be injured/not able to compete at nationals and someone else mess up to get sent to Europeans/worlds. In my view, Tuktamysheva has better chance. I know that she has not been skating well this last season, but at least she has all jumps, she is not avoiding any jumps unlike Leonova and she has more difficult 3-3 than just 3T-3T, therefore technically she can compare herself to Sotnikova, Lipnitskaya, Radionova and Pogorilaya if she delivers. All she needs to do is actually deliver.

fleeting said:

Ooh, good catch! I was going off memory and thought she turned 15 this year.
Maybe Alena can catch up to Radionova...

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Alena has no chance to catch up to Radionova. She doesn't have the technical content, and Radionova got to the GPF this season so her PCS will be now decent too. She got her reputation now.
Radionova's personal best is some 10 points higher than Leonova's personal best, and Leonova's personal best was achieved about 2 years ago; she doesn't skate that well any more. Leonova best international competition last season was Europeans with the score 178.15, whereas Radionova's best international competition was junior worlds 194.29 and then 191.81 at NHK trophy. In fact, Julia has not scored as low as Leonova's season best in her whole season. Radionova's lowest score was 183.02, whereas Leonova's best was 178.15. That's speaks volumes!

Can she please change her country as well? I will miss her from the international arena.

hanca said:

Alena has no chance to catch up to Radionova. She doesn't have the technical content, and Radionova got to the GPF this season so her PCS will be now decent too. She got her reputation now.
Radionova's personal best is some 10 points higher than Leonova's personal best, and Leonova's personal best was achieved about 2 years ago; she doesn't skate that well any more. Leonova best international competition last season was Europeans with the score 178.15, whereas Radionova's best international competition was junior worlds 194.29 and then 191.81 at NHK trophy. In fact, Julia has not scored as low as Leonova's season best in her whole season. Radionova's lowest score was 183.02, whereas Leonova's best was 178.15. That's speaks volumes!

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It's definitely wishful thinking on my part, but I would miss seeing her. Perhaps she could look for another country to represent as mentioned above?
I'm a total sucker for a skater who everyone assumes is done and then defies the odds.

fleeting said:

It's definitely wishful thinking on my part, but I would miss seeing her. Perhaps she could look for another country to represent as mentioned above?
I'm a total sucker for a skater who everyone assumes is done and then defies the odds.

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I love an underdog too. And especially one that surprises everybody!

Like, how many years were people writing our Jenna off, and then she started improving and even won a couple of Senior B's, before tailing off again.


I'll really miss Alena too. Her "Pirates of the Caribbean" programme from a few years ago is still one of my favourites. Plus, she is seriously HOT!!!

Not sure if Leonova has any alternative nationality claims. But, she can always get around that by marrying a foreigner. Let's face it, she'll have no shortage of guys queueing up to help!

Hey, I would do it myself, except I've already offered myself up to another... (See this post)

CaroLiza_fan

EDIT: Just noticed - 1,200th post!

Hey, I would do it myself, except I've already offered myself up to another... (See this post)

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omg!!!

The problem with Leonova changing country is that the Federation probably won't release her. Why should they release past world silver medalist? Would USA release her? (Probably, after letting her wait for 4 seasons!)

ETA: she is also already 23 years old. If she had to sit out two seasons, that would make her 25 years old and that's nearing to her retirement. Saying that, she is quite small, maybe she could switch to pairs. She can't be possibly worse than Gerboldt.

hanca said:

The problem with Leonova changing country is that the Federation probably won't release her. Why should they release past world silver medalist? Would USA release her? (Probably, after letting her wait for 4 seasons!)

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I'm getting Morgan Matthews flashbacks at that. I still feel terrible for her about the crap the USFSA put her through that basically pushed her to retirement because she was out of options.

And who knows? With Sotnikova, Lipnitskaya, Pogo, and Radionova, they have three top finishers and the backup. Unless one of them has a worse than Wagner at US Nationals blowup, she's firmly fifth in the senior Russian circuit and that's still excluding Proklova who also beat her at Russian Nationals.

I think it's great she finally left him but I agree...it should have happened sooner.

The field has likely passed her by at this point. If she improves she has a chance to do decently on the GP and maybe get a few more medals there, but I don't think she'd make it out of Russian nationals which means no more trips to worlds and probably none for Euros either. Russia's field is mind-bogglingly deep and has been for the past several years.

Alena's time was after that silver medal at worlds in 2012 but she completely fell off the past two seasons. She showed some signs of life at nationals and Euros this year but I feel like she's missed her opportunity. Age was the one advantage Alena had over Adelina/Liza/Julia, etc. but now that's gone. All of them plus Elena, Anna and about three or four other junior newbies are eligible now which means, 9 times out of 10, Alena will be passed over for a spot to one of the bigger events.

I wish her all the best but I don't think she should get her hopes up too much. :disapp:

fleeting said:

I'm getting Morgan Matthews flashbacks at that. I still feel terrible for her about the crap the USFSA put her through that basically pushed her to retirement because she was out of options.

And who knows? With Sotnikova, Lipnitskaya, Pogo, and Radionova, they have three top finishers and the backup. Unless one of them has a worse than Wagner at US Nationals blowup, she's firmly fifth in the senior Russian circuit and that's still excluding Proklova who also beat her at Russian Nationals.

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Proklova is not age eligible yet for this coming season (2014-15), but to be honest, Leonova should have been beaten not only by Proklova but also by Sakhanovich and Medvedeva. They both skated much better than Leonova too. I felt that Leonova was a bit held up, probably because they needed third eligible lady for Europeans and Tuktamysheva and Pogorilaya messed up.