I know, I don't have think they would do that but it would be nice if they did. It is not like if Julia or Adelina or Liza need another medal from Europeans, whereas someone like Serafima or Evgenia would really appreciate it to be able to compete there, even if they didn't go to worlds. And it would help them all with the world ranking because only one championships points are counted anyway.
State of Russian Ladies in skating: 2014-15 Season
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I know, I don't have think they would do that but it would be nice if they did. It is not like if Julia or Adelina or Liza need another medal from Europeans, whereas someone like Serafima or Evgenia would really appreciate it to be able to compete there, even if they didn't go to worlds. And it would help them all with the world ranking because only one championships points are counted anyway.
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But one of the reasons Europeans has the prestige it does, is precisely because it is treated as a very serious event, and that all the best - barring certain exceptions caused by injury or similar - skaters are sent/go. If countries start to send their "B-team" - no matter how good those skaters are - the competition will start to lose its prestige. There is no inherent value - a competition has the value it is given. Treat it as less important - and it becomes less important.
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I like the prestige Europeans has with every country sending their "A" team. I'd like to see 4CC start receiving the same respect.
On the other hand, I think Europeans and 4CC should have an equivalent amount of cache; both could be excellent redemptions for skaters who don't come in the top 2/3 at their Nationals or don't get selected for the Worlds team. Not that Euros is responsible for the fact that 4CC is less respected, but I think it's a shame that a Euros win is seen as more "respectable" than a 4CC win when who competes there is solely determined by geography. 4CC is typically more of a "B" team event, while Euros is more of an "A" team event, which is why a Euros win is more valued. I'd like to see both events viewed equally in prestige.
Maybe if Hanyu is healthier this year he can compete at 4CC and that will help give the event more value?
On the other hand, I think Europeans and 4CC should have an equivalent amount of cache; both could be excellent redemptions for skaters who don't come in the top 2/3 at their Nationals or don't get selected for the Worlds team. Not that Euros is responsible for the fact that 4CC is less respected, but I think it's a shame that a Euros win is seen as more "respectable" than a 4CC win when who competes there is solely determined by geography. 4CC is typically more of a "B" team event, while Euros is more of an "A" team event, which is why a Euros win is more valued. I'd like to see both events viewed equally in prestige.
Maybe if Hanyu is healthier this year he can compete at 4CC and that will help give the event more value?
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Asides from the whole puberty issue, its clear that Liza will dominate this upcoming season , 3A or not. The only other lady in the world right now who might challenge is Adelina, she has the power to do a triple Axel or a quad toe if she sets her mind to it.
That's true but if you have some 6 or 7 skaters at their A team? I am not suggesting them to send someone who struggles but what if for example they all do very well? Last season it was relatively easy, with Adelina sitting out the season with injury and Evgenia and Serafima not eligible yet. But what if no one is injured, you add two (maybe three if Sotskova moves to seniors too) and suddenly it is a bit overcrowded.
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My Russian friend said the fed only want Evgenia to move to senior, they might want to keep both Serafima and Sotskova in JW to save spots. But if the girls want to move senior, they couldn't stop them, could they?
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Yes they could because the coaches work under RSF and they make all the calls... If not they might fire the coach or maybe force them to move NOCs
I love Liza, but I don't really think it is clear she will dominate, though I certainly think she will be a major factor if she is anything like she has been this past season and I would love to see her up there. She can hit the 3A, but she is not consistent with it yet. Maybe she will be consistent with it this coming season, but it seems to surprise her when she hits it. I really don't get where people seem to think Adelina, who has not been on real competitive ice since the Olympics, is the only one who can challenge Liza or is the big force to be reckon with. I am trying not to let my sheer dislike for Adelina's skating blind me, but imo she had better hope Elena has puberty issues and Julia does not have it together. Otherwise, if Liza, Elena, and Julia are on their game, that should pose problems for Adelina, Olympic Gold Medal or not. It could have been easily justified to put Julia ahead of Adelina in the 2014 Russian Nationals. Adelina was not some dominate force before she sat out last year. This is not me hating on her. I am just trying to be realistic. The reality is it is hard to know what this coming season will bring so I might be surprised and so be it. No one would have predicated Liza doing what she did this past season so I guess anything is possible. However, hitting 3A or 4T require more than just her putting her mind to it. Has Adelina ever had either of those jumps?
I'm not sure but given the depth of the Russian ladies - would someone really go against the Fed's wishes? That sounds like a good way of securing that you won't be on the Euro/Worlds team unless you blow away all the other skaters at nationals - PCS points can magically disappear.
Agree. I don't get the Adelina talk either, she had a phenomenal Olympics yes but she's been inconsistent in the past and the fact that she's been off of tough-competitive ice for over a year probably hasn't helped + she was injured and doing a TV show. Is her mind focused on being a champion figure skater or is it focused on interests outside of the ice? And what's always the question with Olympic champions, are they going to be able to keep up their drive since they have already won their ultimate goal?
Adelina will certainly not be dominant. He pre Olympics senior career was a just a model of inconsistency. She hasn't competed since so its clear if she will be lower level inconsistent, equal level inconsistent, or better! Popping flips and leaving out combos prevented so many gold medals its actually surprising she basically always medaled.
Yeah, someone on the other forum told me this too. That it was rumoured that one reason Sima moved back to St Petersburg was because it made her chances of moving into seniors higher.
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That certainly makes more sense than the "she broke up with her boyfriend" explanation. Which makes sense if she's 25, not 15.
She and Adian are definitely over. Whether that played a part (big or small) in her moving back to St Petersburg, only the people closest to her would know.
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This surprises me a little bit since the Fed had no issues with letting Adelina, Liza, Julia, Anna, and Elena move up to seniors after one successful junior season/as soon as they were eligible. For Adelina, Julia, and Elena this makes sense because they were the undisputed top junior lady from Russia on the international stage the year prior to moving up, but Liza and Anna were only the 2nd/3rd strongest junior ladies in Russia prior to moving up to seniors, and in the senior nationals during their junior seasons they placed 5th and 6th, so they did well, but it wasn't like they were on the podium and got the nod to go to seniors that way. They both medaled at the JGPF and JW as juniors too, but so did Serafima, both this season and last season. Sotskova I understand a little bit more but she has a SB in the top 24 and won the JGPF last year and still did well at the JGPF (4th) and JW (5th) this season. They are both old enough to go fully senior this season too, I see no reason to hold either back really and especially not Serafima.
The reason is there in your post--they might not want Sima (or Maria Sotskova and Alexandra Proklova) to move up because of those ladies you mentioned--Liza, Adelina, Yulia, Anna, Elena. The field is much more crowded now. While it's difficult to predict the future, it seems like they won't need Sima in seniors. Meanwhile, in juniors, their team seems less secure than it has been in past years. Tsurskaya is untested, and Sotskova and Proklova are good but inconsistent. Sima's their best bet.
Totally different situation from 2010-2012, where their best ladies (Adelina and Liza) were stuck in juniors. They moved everyone to seniors ASAP because the alternative was a rather weak senior team.
...all this being said, unless Russia is really attached to a JGPF title (of all things), I don't see a problem with moving Sima to seniors. She can still go back to Jr. Worlds to win them that title.
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Russia having a separate junior nationals for JW selection makes it that much simpler for girls to compete on the senior GP during the fall and then still get a chance to compete to make/at Junior Worlds. Due to this, Sima staying in juniors doesn't make sense and if Sotskova wants to go senior too then she should be able to...is the Russian Fed really so attached to the saving GP spots for the likes of Artemieva and Gosviani? There's enough space for 9 girls to each get 2 assignments, of these only 3 have even secured 2 assignments each with certainty:
1.) Tuktamysheva
2.) Radionova
3.) Sotnikova (as a comeback skater)
Among the rest, the following ladies have only secured themselves 1 assignment with certainty, but are likely to get 2:
4.) Medvedeva
5.) Pogorilaya
6.) Lipnitskaya
7.) Leonova
So even if ladies 4-7 each get 2 assignments (it is likely) that still leaves room for Sakhanovich AND Sotskova to both move to seniors and get 2 assignments each if Russia maxes out its spots (which it probably should, given Cesario's retirement and Gao's likely retirement/absence from the GP circuit, Carolina not returning, Vicki Helgesson's retirement, etc). Further, only 5 US ladies (excluding Cesario) are in the top 24 SB list while 8 Russian ladies are (7 of them in the top 10!) and only 4 US ladies are in the top 24 World Standings list compared to Russia's 7 ladies.
Point is, the statistics and competitive results show the reality, and both Sakhanovich and Sotskova are more deserving of getting senior GP assignments than the likes of Miller, Nagasu, and Chen from the US who competed internationally multiple times the past season and didn't score as high or place as well at competitions as Sima or Mariya, and yet there's a good possibility that all 3 of those American ladies will each get 2 senior GP assignments while Sima and Mariya are stuck in juniors...
1.) Tuktamysheva
2.) Radionova
3.) Sotnikova (as a comeback skater)
Among the rest, the following ladies have only secured themselves 1 assignment with certainty, but are likely to get 2:
4.) Medvedeva
5.) Pogorilaya
6.) Lipnitskaya
7.) Leonova
So even if ladies 4-7 each get 2 assignments (it is likely) that still leaves room for Sakhanovich AND Sotskova to both move to seniors and get 2 assignments each if Russia maxes out its spots (which it probably should, given Cesario's retirement and Gao's likely retirement/absence from the GP circuit, Carolina not returning, Vicki Helgesson's retirement, etc). Further, only 5 US ladies (excluding Cesario) are in the top 24 SB list while 8 Russian ladies are (7 of them in the top 10!) and only 4 US ladies are in the top 24 World Standings list compared to Russia's 7 ladies.
Point is, the statistics and competitive results show the reality, and both Sakhanovich and Sotskova are more deserving of getting senior GP assignments than the likes of Miller, Nagasu, and Chen from the US who competed internationally multiple times the past season and didn't score as high or place as well at competitions as Sima or Mariya, and yet there's a good possibility that all 3 of those American ladies will each get 2 senior GP assignments while Sima and Mariya are stuck in juniors...
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