2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Sam-Skwantch]

I guess, I’m just worried they will take a skater of Sasha’s caliber and skill and not package her properly on the senior level...

Properly?

 

[AshWagsFan]

To say I don't like the program I understand it, but way to much pantomiming? There is actually only one moment of pantomiming in the beginning and I find it very cool. she is 14 after all not 25. If someone 25 years old done that I would have said yes this is more for EX rather than competitive program. Or maybe I have the wrong definition of pantomiming.

Well if the trend continues with so many new Junoirs coming up there won’t be enough space on the GP for someone who is 20-22ish. As only 3 Russians can attend each event.

Plus I don think the fed will be giving challengers to someone who can’t earn a GP.

Alas we are in an age where more and more junoirs will start landing quads and 3A and there just won’t be room for older skaters in Russia.

I think Med will be the last skater we see competing by the age of 20.

Not necessarily, there’s not always going to be EVERY talented junior breaking out on the senior level... injuries happen, mental health can get the best of them, and sometimes, inexperience can cause break downs at major championships when it’s a skater’s first time.

So these skaters that are growing older should stay in the game if they’ve made it this far, unfortunately, not every talented youngster can make a lasting impact(Yulia, Serafima, Tsurskaya, etc)-also I hope Tsurskaya has a really good season but she didn’t step up the way ppl expected her to on the senior level due to injuries and her disease(I wish she made the Olympic team)

But it’s also Russia, so they’re won’t be that many issues lol

 

[moriel]

Seems like scary stuff (from Google Translate)! Someone who can read Russian please give a translation.

In short:
- recently, were were some news about top speed skaters using thyroid hormones.
- Netherlands fed say they got info on the use of those hormones during the last olympic season
- in russia, an athlete (presumably a figure skater) that changed coaches in may said the followng:
- many athletes use them, usually mouth to mouth stuff, older girls teach younger girls or their moms
- main reason: "since its not forbidden, then its not harmful"
- usually, they are used during puberty to control weight gain.
- the interviewed athlete claims she used those hormones.
(then a huge discussion about effects and whatever, and how Russia should petition WADA to get it forbidden)

 

[AshWagsFan]

To say I don't like the program I understand it, but way to much pantomiming? There is actually only one moment of pantomiming in the beginning and I find it very cool. she is 14 after all not 25. If someone 25 years old done that I would have said yes this is more for EX rather than competitive program. Or maybe I have the wrong definition of pantomiming.

Properly?

Yes, I would love to see a Sasha skate with the projection that Kostornaya uses, she’s a good performer but she has the potential to be GREAT all around. She’s already got the jumps, now she needs the performance wow-factor!

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Yes, I would love to see a Sasha skate with the projection that Kostornaya uses, she’s a good performer but she has the potential to be GREAT all around. She’s already got the jumps, now she needs the performance wow-factor!

Her performance and projection is already better than Alena in my opinion and rather noticeably at that

 

[AshWagsFan]

Her performance and projection is already better than Alena in my opinion and rather noticeably at that

I guess we all have our own opinions lol... I’m wishing for the best for all three tbh

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I guess we all have our own opinions lol... I’m wishing for the best for all three tbh

Alena is very lyrical and flows lightly with the music and has a way of turning her figure skating vocabulary of movements into beautiful matching highlights for the music.

Sasha on the other hand has shown decent performance and projection. I’ve never seen Alena perform with such charisma as this.

 

[Anemoia]

In short:
- recently, were were some news about top speed skaters using thyroid hormones.
- Netherlands fed say they got info on the use of those hormones during the last olympic season
- in russia, an athlete (presumably a figure skater) that changed coaches in may said the followng:
- many athletes use them, usually mouth to mouth stuff, older girls teach younger girls or their moms
- main reason: "since its not forbidden, then its not harmful"
- usually, they are used during puberty to control weight gain.
- the interviewed athlete claims she used those hormones.
(then a huge discussion about effects and whatever, and how Russia should petition WADA to get it forbidden)

Unfortunately that’s not something surprising to hear . But for some reason I don’t think it’s Medvedeva (I don’t believe she would risk talking about this matter?) . Even though she gained some weight after the olympics , especially from the waist up you can see her growth , something that’s normal of course! ( she still is petite though with tiny legs ). I hope she(and other girls ) stay away from this stuff . How can they say it’s not harmful

 

[DeeDee18]

Unfortunately that’s not something surprising to hear . But for some reason I don’t think it’s Medvedeva (I don’t believe she would risk talking about this matter?) . Even though she gained some weight after the olympics , especially from the waist up you can see her growth , something that’s normal of course! ( she still is petite though with tiny legs ). I hope she(and other girls ) stay away from this stuff . How can they say it’s not harmful

it said it was a junior not part of the national team...

 

[Shayuki]

Her performance and projection is already better than Alena in my opinion and rather noticeably at that

Thanks for saying this. :agree:

Kostornaya is quite graceful and has far superior skating skills, but when it comes to projection and plain musical ability, Trusova's quite noticeably ahead.

 

[Tolstoj]

The entire season in which she was an Olympic gold medalist as well as World Champion? Okay, let's look at that. Which Russian lady can say the same about this entire past season?

But Alina didn't skate well; she choked, and Osmond beat her.

So what? What does what announcers say have to do with whether Osmond is World Champion or not?

Well last season was a little unusual for the russians cause Evgenia had to deal with several injuries which made her more vulnerable (but she still won everything until Europeans), Anna Pogorilaya and Elena Radionova used to be top contenders and they weren't last season.

Osmond deserved the gold at worlds no doubt, but the way the other post was written it implied that is normal to see more mature skaters winning worlds which isn't true if you look at this Olympic cycle.

2015 - Liza Tuktamysheva (18 yrs old)
2016 - Evgenia Medvedeva (15 yrs old)
2017 - Evgenia Medvedeva (16 yrs old)
2018 - Kaetlyn Osmond (22 yrs old)

I'm not going to mention previous Olympic cycles cause Ladies Figure skating used to be very different (Russia wasn't as dominant, Japan was still relying on Asada, Ando and Suzuki, performances were meh most of the time...)

Thanks! I missed your post due to another exchange I was having.

And to Tolstoj, how many of those 15-17 year olds finished on the podium in every single competition they competed in the entire season, with as many or a greater number of competitions as Osmond? There are reasons why she is currently ranked #1 by the ISU, made up of her consistent competitive results from the past two seasons, and she deserves to garner greater respect.

As for Alina's arm variations, I do like the arm variations used in her flip combo, especially the tano on the 3F. But imo, the wow factor diminishes with each additional jumping pass and competition.

Alina Zagitova won every competition besides Worlds.

Evgenia Medvedeva won everything on the previous 2 seasons (the Olympic seasons she had injuries, and yet 3-4 gold medals and 2 silvers).

I'm not trying to diminish Kaetlyn's success, she was great and deserved to win worlds, but it happened because Alina bombed the free program, just that.

PS: Alina has two arms above on the flip, not one. (so not exactly a tano but whatever i've never liked using Tano or Rippon, since these arm variations existed even before they were born)

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Throwback to the epic Sasha vs Anna dance off

 

[kwanatic]

Throwback to the epic Sasha vs Anna dance off

Hands down, Anna.

She's got much more rhythm and ease than Sasha...

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Hands down, Anna.

She's got much more rhythm and ease than Sasha...

Agree...She’s not really the tiny boss of the dance floor but I gotta give Sasha credit for staying in there.

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Is there footage of Anna vs Alena

I know there's footage of Sasha, Anna, and Alena dancing together, but I don't think there's anything of just Anna and Alena. She's improved a lot recently, but poor Alenka doesn't have much rhythm for abstract dance moves

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Wasn’t there an interview where she said that she didn’t have much natural musicality and faked most of it? I was surprised; it’s hard to tell just by watching her

 

[chopinskate]

Wasn’t there an interview where she said that she didn’t have much natural musicality and faked most of it? I was surprised; it’s hard to tell just by watching her

Musicality can be trained. There was a dancer of SYTYCD who said she didn't have a natural talent for musicality, either, IIRC... You could never tell with her.

 

[Castiel]

it said it was a junior not part of the national team...

They did this update after questions about Med.

 

[Mawwerg]

Seems like scary stuff (from Google Translate)! Someone who can read Russian please give a translation.

Sounds scary but unfortunately there are nothing more. The described problem if it exists is under WADA's responsibility. And there are nothing about Med or stress fractures.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

And there is nothing that proves it is true either. No definitive evidence or names.