Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin | Page 458 | Golden Skate

Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

Problem is there are already 3 Russian teams entered in Zagreb - Challenger entries can be flexible, but technically they are only supposed to have 3 entries from each country.

Maybe this rule only holds for GP events, because I've seen that there are six (!) Estonian ladies competing at this event. And there were four American senior men and ladies each at the US International Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City.

I think it would have been great for Ruslena if they could show one more flawless set of routines in competition before nationals - and defeat SB who'll be at the Golden Spin in the process.
 
Maybe this rule only holds for GP events, because I've seen that there are six (!) Estonian ladies competing at this event. And there were four American senior men and ladies each at the US International Figure Skating Classic in Salt Lake City. ...

The rule does not apply to the federation that is hosting the Challenger.

Per the Announcement for the Challenger Series:
... Participation is open to all Skaters/Couples of ISU Members with a maximum of 3 entries per category (except for the Host Member) ....The participation of Skaters from the Host Member into the respective ISU Challenger Series in Figure Skating event is not limited.
http://static.isu.org/media/349017/cs2016-17_announcement-final.pdf (see page 3)​
 
The rule does not apply to the federation that is hosting the Challenger.

Per the Announcement for the Challenger Series:
... Participation is open to all Skaters/Couples of ISU Members with a maximum of 3 entries per category (except for the Host Member) ....The participation of Skaters from the Host Member into the respective ISU Challenger Series in Figure Skating event is not limited.
http://static.isu.org/media/349017/cs2016-17_announcement-final.pdf (see page 3)​

Thanks for the info! It was very kind of you to look it up!

It's a pity, though, that IZ won't be able to do another challenger then.
 
I am fine with IZ not doing another event. Russian Nationals is about 4 weeks away. I would rather them take this boost of confidence and train. They had great skates here, keep the momentum going in training and come out at nationals guns blazing.
 
Well, if they skate their FD like they did in Tallinn, then even I like it :biggrin:
I'm very happy for them that they finally went through a competition without any mistakes. Elena looked like she was crying after their skate.
Now, it's training those levels until they can hit them in their sleep.
 
Interview with Elena after Tallinn http://translate.googleusercontent....nestus&usg=ALkJrhiP1KDeL1XMgJgEgz-bxQW4X9WvyQ
As I understand it from Google translation, she is saying that they plan to skate also the next Olympic quad.
Yes, a member on the Navka forum published this non-Google translate of the question (in Russian):
Journalist: How long do you want to skate?
Elena: At least till the next OG, and I think one more cycle. We have the energy to go for it, sometimes well, sometimes not, but we feel each other, we’re happy with our team, coaches, the group in which we’re skating. I think we should continue going forward. I’m still young, I’m only 22, so it’s just a beginning.
Another member of the Navka forum who knows Estonian said that Elena had said, “At least two more Olympiads (Vähemalt kahed olümpiamängud veel).”
This is great news indeed! :hap57:

This Estonian site has lots of great photos from their FD in Tallinn:
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/galerii-sotsi-olumpiavoitja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#6
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#11
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/galerii-sotsi-olumpiavoitja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#2
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/galerii-sotsi-olumpiavoitja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#3
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#28
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#27
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#24
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#20
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#19
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#18
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#17
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#15
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#14
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#13
http://sport.ohtuleht.ee/772215/gal...tja-loi-tallinna-voistlusel-platsi-puhtaks#12

Somebody posted a complete set of the TEF press-conference pics, along with the Q&A. Apparently it was all in English, then it was translated into Russian for this site, and here is the most interesting part translated back into English by me, lol. I put my own notes regarding the corresponding photos in brackets.

Question from the auditorium: Elena, how do you make your partner move faster, and Ruslan, how do you manage to hold her back? [That’s when Ruslan raised one eyebrow, smiling slightly, as Elena turned to him laughing, and then in the next photo she is laughing on his shoulder. The person elaborated]: Because when you start the swing, you do a jump and then you just take off. And your turn-over in the end – it was very impressive.

Elena [she was obviously being diplomatic]: It’s a very interesting, great question! It can happen in different ways. I don’t even know how. I think we simply feel each other. He holds me back a bit, but then when I feel that I want to move faster, he follows me. It’s the feel of the partner. But sometimes he has to calm me down, like today. I’ve already mentioned that I was very nervous. And when I’m holding him by the hand, I feel that I’m in reliable hands. So that’s how it is. I generally need somebody to support me in life. It’s very important [for me] to have a man’s hands in life.

[She clearly means “hands” in the metaphorical sense here, beyond the support in dance holds and lifts. Ruslan looked down at that point, and I first thought that her praise made him feel shy, but then I read that he asked Tatiana Flade what Elena had just said, so he must have felt a bit shy because he wasn’t following what she was saying exactly. That’s when Elena turned to whisper in his ear. And then he looked moved, I think, and she was laughing.]

Here’s the link to that photo report:
http://twizzle.com.ru/2016/11/22/gp-tropheedefrance2016-ilinykh-zhiganshin-press/

Gorgeous SD photos from TEF by Florence Lécrivain:
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153922994765178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923001105178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923001385178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923002480178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923002615178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923002575178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923002820178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923003905178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923004330178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923004065178/?type=3&theater
https://www.facebook.com/florencele...71081140177/10153923004435178/?type=3&theater

I'll repeat all the links with spaces in the next post, because this one is getting too long.
 
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Lol I am so happy to hear they are considering to stay for another Olympic cycle. This is the best news today indeed. :) :dance:

And so many beautiful photos. I especially liked the photo report and the pictures there. Very beautiful Lena and Ruslan.
 
Well hopefully with all that time ahead of her, we can convince her to wear a body suit. She has such a lovely figure, but all that body shaming has her wearing these frumpy outfits all the time :( The girl would rock it!!!
 
If they want GOE, they need to change 3rd lift and spin. While positions are beautiful, first part of spin looks slow and labored. 3rd lift very generic, they can add different exit maybe. Lucky for them other russian couples have lift problems too. For next year they should change every lift like Ilinykh/Katsalapov did with Black Swan. If I were their coach, I would work on from now for lifts. Olympic year is not that long to undercontrol lifts.
 
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If they want GOE, they need to change 3rd lift and spin. While positions are beautiful, first part of spin looks slow and labored. 3rd lift very generic, they can add different exit maybe. Lucky for them other russian couples have lift problems too. For next year they should change every lift like Ilinykh/Katsalapov did with Black Swan. If I were their coach, I would work on from now for lifts. Olympic year is not that long to undercontrol lifts.

The problem with the spin is that there is no preparation for it (which helps with the transitions score), so it takes them a couple of revolutions to get the position settled. I hope that can be smoothed out with more practice.

The straight line lift seems to always be a problem, I wish they would go back to using Ruslan's spreadeagle as the base like they did in the first season. He's very stable in that position, they got better ice coverage, it looks more spectacular and the only time they had a problem with it was the freak accident at Euros when she caught her blade on his trousers.
 
The problem with the spin is that there is no preparation for it (which helps with the transitions score), so it takes them a couple of revolutions to get the position settled. I hope that can be smoothed out with more practice.

The straight line lift seems to always be a problem, I wish they would go back to using Ruslan's spreadeagle as the base like they did in the first season. He's very stable in that position, they got better ice coverage, it looks more spectacular and the only time they had a problem with it was the freak accident at Euros when she caught her blade on his trousers.

Change of direction is another problem with spin. It was not smooth last year either.
 
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