Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

[bwayrose7]

Some excellent photos from the open practice:
https://fotki.yandex.ru/users/kkfksenia/album/225269/?&p=1


Oh, so now a situation like with Zahorsky and Massot couldn’t happen? If they could indeed go anywhere, except OG, from November of next year, they should definitely switch feds as soon as possible.


Yes, and for their fans, and to make a laughing stock of Rus Fed if they’re still in 4th overall tomorrow.

Success is the best revenge, I always say And correct me if I'm wrong, but if they were to switch to another federation as early as next year, and apply for citizenship there, wouldn't they have a chance at Olympic eligibility in 2022? They're young enough that they could probably stay in that long, if they had the willingness and the finances for it.

 

[Spiral]

Success is the best revenge, I always say And correct me if I'm wrong, but if they were to switch to another federation as early as next year, and apply for citizenship there, wouldn't they have a chance at Olympic eligibility in 2022? They're young enough that they could probably stay in that long, if they had the willingness and the finances for it.

Yes, they said in the interview even before Nationals that they were willing, and I'm sure with their talent they'll have no problem finding a federation to support them. I myself don't know what the rules for changing federations are - up to now it seemed like every federation could do in each case whatever it liked - but Uhh says it's been changed recently, and then what you say is indeed correct. Personally, this makes me very happy, because while what's going on at Rus Nats is no surprise for me at all, but this decision is, if only national federations will have to abide by it. I'd so love to see Ruslena beat all the Russian teams at next Europeans and Worlds and Rus Fed being unable to do a thing about it!

 

[cathlen]

Rus Fed already got their karma last year when their chosen teams finished 10th and 11th. They’ll get it again in Helsinki, and in Korea, and so on, but it won’t help IZ. Nor would it make Rus Fed mend their ways anymore than the rout last year did. They’re thoroughly corrupt, and it’s not about the placements for them, it’s all about money and nepotism. The one thing IZ could possibly do is go over the fed’s head to the Minister of Sports, although if Rus Fed can’t hold on to them beyond November of 2017, I wouldn’t bother with it at all, if I were them. They only supported IZ during their first year when Soloviev was out with an injury, and nobody knew if he’d be able to skate competitively again. The only reason IZ get lower scores internationally now than the other Russian ID teams is because Rus Fed actually supports its other teams.

Neither S/K nor S/B splatted at Worlds, so no, karma still didn't get to them yet. But it will. Possibly at Olympics, when it will get clear a top Russian team will have to fight for top10 placement, instead of top3 or at least top5 On a bright side, I do agree with statements, that it was the best performance of SD this season, that's actually good! I wan to see a clean, well performed FD as well

I was kind of prepared the Fed may dump Ruslena again. After last year, when I was completely shocked, there's nothing Fed can do to suprise me anymore. If Ruslena want to compete at 2022, I would consider changing countries too. To one with less power, but one that will probably support them. After seeing how well & smooth Hurtado/Khaliavin partnership went, and how good prospects they have, I really think skating for small, but supporting Federation might be exactly what they need. But I'm getting ahead of myself, I'll wait for FD results first. Though I don't expect to see Ruslena in top3...

 

[Marta25]

Neither S/K nor S/B splatted at Worlds, so no, karma still didn't get to them yet. But it will. Possibly at Olympics, when it will get clear a top Russian team will have to fight for top10 placement, instead of top3 or at least top5 On a bright side, I do agree with statements, that it was the best performance of SD this season, that's actually good! I wan to see a clean, well performed FD as well

I was kind of prepared the Fed may dump Ruslena again. After last year, when I was completely shocked, there's nothing Fed can do to suprise me anymore. If Ruslena want to compete at 2022, I would consider changing countries too. To one with less power, but one that will probably support them. After seeing how well & smooth Hurtado/Khaliavin partnership went, and how good prospects they have, I really think skating for small, but supporting Federation might be exactly what they need. But I'm getting ahead of myself, I'll wait for FD results first. Though I don't expect to see Ruslena in top3...

Well, if this really happens the Russian Fed has only themselves to blame. I also don`t expect I/Z to be on the podium and even if they win Bronze, it`s not guaranteed that they will be nominated to the Euros team. Re Olympics, I`m expecting one of the American teams to end up on the podium, probably the Shibs. Olympics aren`t in Sochi this time, the Russian skaters aren`t going to receive any bonus points for skating at home and the Shibs have Zueva which usually means strong politics.

I was very surprised that Khaliavin received his release as soon as he did. I think he and Monko have been in the national team since Juniors which usually means that they received some sort of funding and he was in the top 10 at Worlds back in 2015. But getting Elena released would be a whole other matter, she is an Olympic medallist and one of the most talented ice dancers Russia has, even if according to this year`s Russian Nats judges she has worse skating skills than Stepanova and Sinitsina.

 

[Abraxis12345]

This blaming of the federation is not doing I/Z any favors because a large reason why the federation refuses to give them the PCS at Nationals is because they cannot be trusted. In the past three years, I/Z have be given the opportunity to work with the some of the best specialists and time and again, have shown up to competitions undertrained and unprepared. Six months working with the best lift specialist yields exactly one new lift? Especially when Igor is planning for a set of brand new lifts? They had begun working on their programs long before anyone else yet they show up to the test skates and skate America looking like a mess? With that kind of output, why should the federation continue giving them money?

 

[Duality]

This blaming of the federation is not doing I/Z any favors because a large reason why the federation refuses to give them the PCS at Nationals is because they cannot be trusted. In the past three years, I/Z have be given the opportunity to work with the some of the best specialists and time and again, have shown up to competitions undertrained and unprepared. Six months working with the best lift specialist yields exactly one new lift? Especially when Igor is planning for a set of brand new lifts? They had begun working on their programs long before anyone else yet they show up to the test skates and skate America looking like a mess? With that kind of output, why should the federation continue giving them money?

And how S\B and S\K can be trusted? Russian Fed spent a lot of money on S\K, more than on anyone else and they managed to spoil it all, had a scandal in USA and didn't show any worthy results, worthy that enormous funding they got from Federation.
S\B messed Worlds already twice.
What money Federation gave to IZ? They spent their own money or sponsor's money on almost everything.
And let me remind you that in their first season together when S\K were a complete mess they still got the second PCS at Nationals.
Yeah IZ are the only team that got worse PCS and GOEs than internationally.

 

[Abraxis12345]

And how S\B and S\K can be trusted? Russian Fed spent a lot of money on S\K, more than on anyone else and they managed to spoil it all, had a scandal in USA and didn't show any worthy results, worthy that enormous funding they got from Federation.
S\B messed Worlds already twice.
What money Federation gave to IZ? They spent their own money or sponsor's money on almost everything.
And let me remind you that in their first season together when S\K were a complete mess they still got the second PCS at Nationals.
Yeah IZ are the only team that got worse PCS and GOEs than internationally.

It doesn't matter if I/Z spent their own money or a sponsor's money. The fact is, they worked with these specialists and have nothing to show for it. It's like the Harvard Business School student who shows up to a Goldman Sachs interview dressed in a wrinkled suit and doesn't even know what the company does. It doesn't matter if they paid full tuition while another student had a scholarship. At the end of the day, student A has a degree that most people would kill for yet can't be bothered to look his best for the interview. If it was between student A and student B who was only there because of connections but showed up in a clean suit and prepared, I'd advance student B to the next round.

 

[bramweld]

I'm assuming that you don't know but I'll say it here again. Progress takes time. It appears to me as well that the training regimen involved making them stronger and fitter, but things did not go as planned. They had their problems working with Igor. Lena was injured not only before TEB but while at Igor. There were also health issues. It was not for lack of trying on their part. If persons really want to insult their hard work and commitment, this is not the place. There is a Russian ID thread and a Russian Nationals ID thread, take your pick. And please have a good day now :cool14:

 

[Khoai]

I am quite puzzled why they take so long to improve. 2 years and they still stay the same.

 

[Marta25]

I'm assuming that you don't know but I'll say it here again. Progress takes time. It appears to me as well that the training regimen involved making them stronger and fitter, but things did not go as planned. They had their problems working with Igor. Lena was injured not only before TEB but while at Igor. There were also health issues. It was not for lack of trying on their part. If persons really want to insult their hard work and commitment, this is not the place. There is a Russian ID thread and a Russian Nationals ID thread, take your pick. And please have a good day now :cool14:

I didn`t know that Elena was injured during the summer, poor girl

 

[Mattieu]

I am quite puzzled why they take so long to improve. 2 years and they still stay the same.

I felt that in the first season Elena was fired up to prove Nikita was wrong to dump her. But somehow since then, she has lost motivation.
It shows it is not their training conditions/environment that is to blame, as Ruslan has improved lots!
I feel Elena has lost her fire and desire, she has lost her path.

 

[Abraxis12345]

I felt that in the first season Elena was fired up to prove Nikita was wrong to dump her. But somehow since then, she has lost motivation.
It shows it is not their training conditions/environment that is to blame, as Ruslan has improved lots!
I feel Elena has lost her fire and desire, she has lost her path.

Isn't it funny these injuries suddenly show up when people have been saying all summer that Elena would throw a hissy fit and refuse to train if Igor pawned them off to Greg or Fabian?

 

[bramweld]

I think when you see your federation using you like meat, it takes a toll. But say what, I am a fan so I choose to believe she'll find her path. I know this may seem shallow, but a large part of ID is appearance. The Russian Federation loved Lena when she was a pea sized little girl, after she blossomed into a woman, things changed. They cannot fathom of what to do with someone who doesn't look like Navka 2.0.

Katsalapov was king and he had no intention of working his but off ala Scott Moir to work with his lady. He chose the easy way out. It began with telling all that he could tell in the skating world that he's so done with her, trying out with Khoklova, then trying out with Sinitsina right after the OG.

His initial exit interviews were the most unkind and rude, similar to his tactics with Zhulin. Also it was all planned to make this public news right before their very last WC together in Saitama, Japan. He took every opportunity he could to hit her where it hurts because he and his support group wanted it that way. The public embarrassment was huge. So yeah, she's probably only just now coming to grips with things. So yeah, if they're not your cup of tea, leave them be, there are so many other fan threads here. So as I said I'm a fan, not an uber or follower but I'd like to believe there is a pot of gold at the end of all this for her. That's it.

 

[bramweld]

Isn't it funny these injuries suddenly show up when people have been saying all summer that Elena would throw a hissy fit and refuse to train if Igor pawned them off to Greg or Fabian?

Actually, if you saw the bruises on the instagram photos, you'd know they weren't being conveniently made up. Lena for better or worse doesn't like to discuss her struggles. Its just her way.

 

[Mattieu]

The Russian Federation loved Lena when she was a pea sized little girl, after she blossomed into a woman, things changed. .

I think your sentence needs rewording
The Russian Federation loved Lena when she was a pea sized little girl with a strong desire to win, after she gained enough weight to seriously impact her skating and lost her work motivation, things changed.

 

[Marta25]

Well, her interview after the Tallinn Trophy didn`t sound like she has any intention to give up and she shouldn`t.

 

[bramweld]

I think your sentence needs rewording
The Russian Federation loved Lena when she was a pea sized little girl with a strong desire to win, after she gained enough weight to seriously impact her skating and lost her work motivation, things changed.

When I consider that she battled through her initial struggles and gave those performances she did in 2013/14, I'd say this statement is a bit callous. Also even with her maturing into a woman, it was Katsalapov who'd show up at test skates in poor form, messing up his twizzles almost every single year. He had no interest in her as a partner after she dumped him. After that, he worked on improving himself not on improving their partnership. He only started really working on his form when he teamed up with Sinitsina. Katsalapov in essence sabotaged that partnership, that is as clear as day. So all these attacks on Lena are pointless and unbalanced. Blame can easily be placed at the feet of each of these athletes.

Look, its either you like I/Z or not. But trying to figure out the why behind a lot of what we see could lead us in endless circles.

 

[Abraxis12345]

Well, her interview after the Tallinn Trophy didn`t sound like she has any intention to give up and she shouldn`t.

That's nice but she should have learned by now that you are not going to get to the podium if you are skipping training because of the slightest boo boo or sniffle. I mean a bruise? Really? What athlete doesn't have bruises?

 

[elif]

That's nice but she should have learned by now that you are not going to get to the podium if you are skipping training because of the slightest boo boo or sniffle. I mean a bruise? Really? What athlete doesn't have bruises?

We should leave that to doctors. After all Maxim Shabalin's career ended just to prove that.

 

[alithia]

We should leave that to doctors. After all Maxim Shabalin's career ended just to prove that.

This is exactly what this person wants though.