Radionova: "I give myself a B- at Worlds"

[SarahSynchro]

I agree that Lena needs a new choreographer who could help her with her posture issues and wouldn't use cheesy music for her programs.

I often wonder what sort of magic Shae could do for her.

 

[Violetti]

I also liked Elena's dress at Worlds, all her Lp dresses this season except that red belt.
She is a skater developing into a star. She was a star junior skater but not quite yet a star senior skater. She could be one some day if she stays healthy, gets better programs and skates perfectly.

 

[viscacha]

I think not only Elena, but some other Russian skaters (Yulia and Alena) also suffered from the unsuccessful programs this season.
Even though they tried so hard to cater to AMERICA but totally failed to capture the right image of AMERICA.
Choices of music, theme, and dresses were off the point and pathetic…
Reflecting their national character, they tend to choose the music too dramatic, sentimental and heavy. (Adelina’s LP, for instance.)
As the season progressed and as these routines were repeatedly performed, our appetite for such themes and music diminished.
I watched the gala after the Russian Nationals 2016, but gave up midway because of the exact same reason.
Evgenia’s free program this season is also dark, but has some detachment and abstract by which we were intrigued.
I don’ care for Evgenia’s skating style, but the program itself is profound and something we expect from Russian female skaters (like Yulia’s Sochi seasons’s programs).
I cannot imagine Japanese female skaters do the same programs, except for Marin maybe…
By the way I do support Elena's skating to Bollywood dance music!

 

[Skater Boy]

Unfortunately, it looked better on the cake than it did on Elena.

I was wondering about the fs dress; I liked her euro dress. but it looked like my attempt at a spring engagement cake including the silly bows or attempts at bows. as for the comment about her charisma - she has a lot and she did save that horrid Titanic program -so it didn't sink amazingly. But her growth seems to have caused havoc with her jumps but she is an aamzing fighter just stunning.

 

[Skater Boy]

The flowing light blue with the pink highlights was more evocative and lent the program some romance. The worlds one is just too much like a costume from the back of wardrobe you rent out on Halloween if you wanted to dress up as "Little House on the Prairie".

isn't this the second reference recently to Little House on the Prairie or maybe third??? I think the cake reference was more accurate. But again the problem is she keeps growing so much.

 

[moriel]

I think not only Elena, but some other Russian skaters (Yulia and Alena) also suffered from the unsuccessful programs this season.
Even though they tried so hard to cater to AMERICA but totally failed to capture the right image of AMERICA.
Choices of music, theme, and dresses were off the point and pathetic…
Reflecting their national character, they tend to choose the music too dramatic, sentimental and heavy. (Adelina’s LP, for instance.)
As the season progressed and as these routines were repeatedly performed, our appetite for such themes and music diminished.
I watched the gala after the Russian Nationals 2016, but gave up midway because of the exact same reason.
Evgenia’s free program this season is also dark, but has some detachment and abstract by which we were intrigued.
I don’ care for Evgenia’s skating style, but the program itself is profound and something we expect from Russian female skaters (like Yulia’s Sochi seasons’s programs).
I cannot imagine Japanese female skaters do the same programs, except for Marin maybe…
By the way I do support Elena's skating to Bollywood dance music!

That sounds like your personal taste only not a universal thing, and also a bit hmmm... reflecting national character?

 

[Alex D]

Elena is stronger than you think

I think we need to stay realistic and not expect miracles from skaters who grow up. Our society tends to only see the medalists these days, but in reality winners can not only be found on the podium, but also below.

Elena went through a growth pattern and yet she was competing close to the top and did not fail at all. Yes, her jumps especially the Axel are, based on the change in her physics, not that great anymore, the take offs have big issues and that results in the bad landings, so she needs to find a way to fix that. But, this kid is still one if not the, strongest teenager of the past years. Nobody, had her strength to fight through puberty and with two clean programs at Boston, she might have had a shot on a medal too.

I still believe that Titanic was the right program for worlds in a Western country, but it could have been choreographed better. At times, the music was not that well aligned to her movements, especially if we compare this to Rika Hongo in the FS or Mirai in the short. If this would have been better, then her strong appearance would have been able to shine much better, as Elena is a very artistic skater, with great expression and personality, but now also physical strength.

If you see Elena at the ice rink or backstage, then you see a completely different body type, than two - three years ago. It´s just not realistic to now expect that she would really do attempt that Quad Sal or the other jumps with perfect take offs and landings. I would honestly even go that far and say, that many other skaters would have thrown the towel this season, but not Elena. She did qualify as a Russian for Worlds (the toughest nationals after all), even won a GP event while winning medals at the GP Final and the Europeans and now came 6th at Boston.

Just look at skaters who went through the same changes to their body, hardly anyone is still around or even close to where they once were. Elena is and while she did not win a medal at worlds (in one of the best ladies fields since many years btw.), that young lady is a big fighter and those who write her off, will soon see the rise of the phoenix


With all due respect, I often feel that people are way to harsh to skaters, I doubt she will call this season a failure, but a success.

Growing up in itself is an uneasy period. In addition, I have to finish school this year and lots of effort has been spent for this. Hence the difficult season, I have to get everything done at the rink and not forget my studies. I'm happy that I held out through the season. Officially it hasn't ended and there may be more competitions, but I'm happy that I was able to stand through.

 

[MaiKatze]

This World Championship Ladies Event was the exception of the rule, it was absolutely magical and amazing. A top event, if there ever was one. All the top Ladies were on, all the top Ladies deserved a medal. That some didn't get one is only natural, as there are only three. Also a few factors like location, skating order, ect. do influence the judging, whether one likes it or not. (I can see different outcomes of the top three in Russia, Japan, or even a neutral location with no top skaters in the top 10) I think it was interesting to see what happens when nearly all of them are clean. Because the 'set' top three (Evgenia, Satoko, Elena) did not end up on top, even when they skated similar to their earlier competitions (although I must say, I found Elena a bit disappointing, her SP seemed not as joyous as before). These three are the consistency queens - but, in the case of Satoko and Elena, this competition showed them their vulnerability, when the field delivers. It can only help Elena, I think her goal is probably gold in 2018. Let's see what happens next season.

 

[Ophelia]

I give her programs a F.

 

[OS]

Elena grade A- talent, A+ sincerity performer
Program C not quite D for me after watching Jorik Belgium dude's spectacular version. This program jumped 2 grades from what it was.

I only wish she had camp it up more deliberately... to the point of making it a satire. Imagine the major p*ssh take of glorious nation of Russian on American pulp fiction grandiose can add to her pcs from the eastern block judges. Suddenly we have art baby!!

 

[sabinfire]

I give an F, for FAB!

 

[SarahSynchro]

I admire Elena for being a fighter with a never-give-up attitude. I'm sure she'll be gunning for the 2017 podium.

 

[Batsuchan]

Thanks Tyranid for translating!!

I already wrote a super long post on my thoughts about Elena (after seeing her at Worlds) here...
http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...na-Radionova&p=1420394&viewfull=1#post1420394

...so I'll just summarize.

Considering that I was quite worried Elena wouldn't even make the Worlds team because of puberty struggles, her season actually went pretty well. She is the one skater who has managed to beat the eventual World champions over the past two seasons! :agree:

I'm an Elena uber, but I agree that there are many things she needs to work on:

1) Programs
-Totally agree that "Titanic" was terrible, even worse than I imagined
-Lena definitely needs better programs. I think something upbeat that she can dance to would be good. Something that capitalizes on her charisma and megawatt smile.

2) Jumps
-In the practices, she had some beautiful jumps and combos, like this:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDn6dvKCIZu/
She skates very fast, noticeably faster than the other skaters, in practice, so the good jumps cover a lot of distance, and the height was decent too.
-But she also had LOTS of pops, and a few falls. She was, by far, the most inconsistent jumper among the top 6 ladies I saw.
-Given this inconsistency, I was even more amazed than usual by her ability to skate a mostly clean-ish LP. If I were to make a guess as to how she does this, I think that if she goes full-out for the jumps, they either turn out great, or she pops them. So in the actual competition, she goes more for control, and that way she can always make sure to complete the jump, but the landings are often messy.
-But given that I did see quite a few nice jumps, I am hopeful that with a little more time and practice, she'll be able to go full-speed and nail the landings.
-In practice, she did 3Lz+3T-tano, and 3Lo+1Lo+3S-tano, so maybe we'll see these jumps in her programs next year

3) Arms need a lot of work
-Personally, I didn't see much about Lena's posture that bothered me. Sure, she does lean forward a lot when doing her crossovers, but I think that has to do with her body type. I feel like her build is similar to Alexandra Stepanova's and that they do their crossovers similarly.
-Definitely needs to work a lot on being more graceful! Ballet bootcamp time!!

4) Funding
-At the end of last season, Lena's coach Inna Goncharenko, talked a lot about how Lena did not have enough money to hire all the specialists she wants. They couldn't even hire someone to cut Lena's program music, so Inna did it herself. (In case you were wondering WHY the Titanic music was sooo bad!) It seemed like things got a bit better after that, and I'm glad to see that others (Anton Sikharulidze) are helping to raise funding for Lena, because she needs it! :yes:
-I just hope that the internal politics at CSKA don't become a problem.

5) Coaching
-There has been more speculation on the Russian forums that Lena might leave her coach. I hope it's just that--idle speculation. Like all the other times this rumor has come up in the past.

6) Elena the adorable!
-Even though Lena's competition performances were disappointing for me, and she has a lot more to work on, she still impressed me with her adorableness at the practices. She smiled for the fans trying to take photos by the railing, she looked up and smiled if you called her name while she skated by, and she looked so happy when the PA system announced her name and people cheered. And I gave her a gift and she wore it!!

So I'm going to keep rooting for my gangly, sloppy cutie with the big smile...though I'm hoping she'll one day be a swan! :agree:

GOOO Lena & Inna!
http://cska.ru/upload/gallery_570d0ff028b95.jpg

 

[angecinth]

Elena Radionova: I give myself B- at worlds

elena is charismatic
she will earn her world title

 

[curious]

Elena skated two clean programs and ended up fifth. That just shows the depth of the field this year. She is a good skater who just needs better programs and a little more refinement. I hope she gets something a little more upbeat where she can actually show off some of her performance abilities. All of the potential she showed as a performer in her last junior season has been wasted with heavy classical music that was too big for her (Rachmaninoff) and a downer like Titanic. She needs something like All That Jazz or some other show tune that she can really sell.

ETA: Here is the little performer I loved when I first saw her--tacky costume aside. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS3G_yp8oXw

More like the skating depth in the women competition(the best I have ever seen). Skating first in the final group did not help her.

 

[Alexz]

elena is charismatic
she will earn her world title

Elena is that you? Re-login under your real name please.

 

[Vash01]

Really, it's her programs which let her down this year. She could be so spectacular with the right vehicles but her packaging was just ho-hum this season. I for one will be thrilled to never see that Titanic program again. Hoping she can blow everyone out of the water next season with more refined/sophisticated and less frenetic programs.

ITA. She really needs music that brings out her best qualities. I hated the Titanic music so much that I didn't even bother watching her skate more than once (per competition, of course). I was still thrilled to see her skate live in Boston. She is such a delight, and such a competitor!

IMO skating first in the last group hurt whatever chances she may have had to medal, and they were not very high to begin with, because it was such a great competition. She is so mature for her age! She did not mention that and accepted the judges' marks without complaining.

She does need refinement but she is only 17. She has the time to work on finer points of her skating.

 

[jenaj]

Elena is that you? Re-login under your real name please.

Why do you say that? Elena does have charisma. She is the only one to beat Med this year. A world title was not and is not out of the question for her.

 

[boskil]

Elena is that you? Re-login under your real name please.

 

[Alexz]

Why do you say that? Elena does have charisma. She is the only one to beat Med this year. A world title was not and is not out of the question for her.

Not being mean here, just pulling your chain and poking fun. Great first post! Oh, I have not a slightest doubt about Rad. Lena is indeed a very talented skater. We just all hope she will come up with a better program and choreography along with a better music choice.