2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Shayuki]

Whoa. I did not know that they were that close to Kanysheva, definitely improves their status overall, imo.
More like:
Kanysheva / Sinitsyna
Shabotova / Frolova
Ryabova

and we have no idea how Eteri's girls will do?

Yeah, who knows. I myself would have Shabotova up there above Frolova but it's hard to really know..

Unfortunately, I don't see any of these skaters having an enjoyable performing ability. Sinitsyna might be the best but she still certainly doesn't have enough depth for me either. The next season's JGP will be quite painful... Muravyova waiting room. Should have born a month and 5 days earlier, you...

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Haha, the worst is when it's like Tsurskaya (11 July) or Akatieva (7 July)
The 2020-2021 JGP season should be good, with both Muravyova and Samodelkina eligible

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

But it‘s true, isn‘t it? We don‘t know whether they will be able to jump quads when they grow up. Puberty might be harsh to them but it also might not. Everyone declared Evgenia to be done for once puberty hit her and guess what? It didn‘t happen. Likewise, people declared Elena Radionova to become Olympic Champion in 2018 but puberty hit her hard with all this growing and resulted in her not even making the Olympics. Had Polina not been injured, she could have very well risen to the occasion and become Russian 3rd and gone to the Olympics, Worlds, Europeans... She could have had loads of medals. But that’s a whole lot of coulda shoulda woulda. In the end, we don‘t know anything. Trusova looks crazily determined to keep her quads and she might as well be able to. If she keeps working as dedicatedly as she does and if she‘s lucky. Evgenia wasn‘t lucky to be injured in the Olympic Season. Otherwise she could have won Gold. Again... Lots of coulda shoulda woulda. We‘ll see how all of these girls cope with puberty. I wish them luck. They‘re talented. They don‘t deserve injuries to hamper what otherwise could be a great career. But Tsurskaya is right. Wait and see what will happen to them.

I think it will be a very long time before the quad will be an element needed to win in the ladies event. Women have been landing 3A's since 1989 Worlds, but I think that competition was the only major (world or Olympic) event that a skater needed a 3A to win; any other time, a top competitor landing a 7 triple LP could have won. If Polina can get consistency on her big jumps, and present better programs, she will be hard to beat.

 

[skatenewbie]

Nebelhorn entry list is out, no Russian ladies so far but RusFed they sent 1 men and 1 pair skater. i guess they might add it later for ladies or just sent all 3 (Panenkova, Sotskova and Radionova) to Finlandia

 

[Fluture]

Nebelhorn entry list is out, no Russian ladies so far but RusFed they sent 1 men and 1 pair skater. i guess they might add it later for ladies or just sent all 3 (Panenkova, Sotskova and Radionova) to Finlandia

I don‘t get why Radionova doesn‘t do as many challengers as she possibly can do. She‘s not that bad that she can‘t compete, she‘s actually still quite good just not for Russian standard. So, why not seize the chance and skate at Nebelhorn Trophy if no other Russian lady goes there? She could very well end up winning. Same goes for Panenkova and Sotskova. Why cram all three of them into one competition - Finlandia - when one of them could go to Nebelhorn?

 

[Spirals for Miles]

I don‘t get why Radionova doesn‘t do as many challengers as she possibly can do. She‘s not that bad that she can‘t compete, she‘s actually still quite good just not for Russian standard. So, why not seize the chance and skate at Nebelhorn Trophy if no other Russian lady goes there? She could very well end up winning. Same goes for Panenkova and Sotskova. Why cram all three of them into one competition - Finlandia - when one of them could go to Nebelhorn?

They could of course add them later, the way Tuktamysheva and Samodurova were to Lombardia.

 

[Fluture]

They could of course add them later, the way Tuktamysheva and Samodurova were to Lombardia.

Ah, yes, that‘s a possibility, thanks for reminding me.

I think that Panenkova might want to choose a later event since she might need some more time before an actual competition, getting her programs ready, dealing with the coach change... But if nothing changed with her physical condition, she could very well win her Challenger Event. She‘s not the best at interpreting the music yet but she‘s consistent and has a very difficult jump layout. I‘m curious how her programs will work out. Isn‘t she skating to Skyfall and Lara Fabian? I like the first choice, don‘t like the second. Just not a fan of Lara Fabian. But Skyfall could suit her well.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Yes those are her programs. The Lara Fabian song she said was her favorite and that’s why it’s her program.

 

[Fluture]

Yes those are her programs. The Lara Fabian song she said was her favorite and that’s why it’s her program.

Well, then that‘s fine. If it‘s her favourite, she will really connect to it! I always like when a skater loves what they’re skating to, even when the music doesn’t do a lot for me.

 

[Sugar Coated]

I assure you, Russia won't run out of junior ladies for JGP anytime soon. And international experience won't be valued very much at all when assigning JGP spots, considering that everything's going to come down to performance during the next season's national competitions as well as the test skates.

Looking at next season, we have as top talents:

1. The second-year eligibles:
Alena Kanysheva
Ksenia Sinitsyna
(Chistyakova?)

2. Most notable newcomers:
Kamila Valieva
Daria Usacheva
Maia Khromyh
Anastasia Shabotova
Anna Frolova
(Medvedeva?)

3. An assortment of older skaters who didn't qualify for senior GP spots, newcomers that haven't been accounted for etc.


If I'm being honest, the newcomers for the next JGP season are quite strong in comparison to what currently is there. I don't think that the vast majority of these non-Eteri skaters will be very relevant for next season's JGP.

It’s not about assigning them at test skates, it’s about giving them experience under pressure. Alina described her legs shaking at her first competition she was so nervous but that it was easier by her senior season. Of course they won’t run out of talent. But these are 13 year olds who may look good on video and at smaller competition but have no experience under pressure with a large audience.

The best skaters may not be the best competitors when it comes down to pressure. What happens if someone you know to be highly talented doesn’t skate clean during test skates? Are they done for or can you give them a chance at one competition to see how they do? Or is their entire season determined at test skates? What about someone like kostornaia, who wasn’t even invited to test skates. If they had given 7 girls 2 slots and not given her a chance they would have missed out on the 2nd best girl in the world.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

They can all get competitive experience. There are other competitions besides the JGP that they can be assigned to (eg. Cup of Nice, Russia-Chinese Youth Games). The best skaters should get the spots. It shouldn't matter about spreading the wealth, because you can never spread it enough. If we can complain about someone like Vasilieva not getting a spot (although she has one now) we could also complain about Kostyuk. If Kostyuk were to get spots, we could complain about, say, Alexandra Cherpakova.

 

[hanca]

It’s not about assigning them at test skates, it’s about giving them experience under pressure. Alina described her legs shaking at her first competition she was so nervous but that it was easier by her senior season. Of course they won’t run out of talent. But these are 13 year olds who may look good on video and at smaller competition but have no experience under pressure with a large audience.

The best skaters may not be the best competitors when it comes down to pressure. What happens if someone you know to be highly talented doesn’t skate clean during test skates? Are they done for or can you give them a chance at one competition to see how they do? Or is their entire season determined at test skates? What about someone like kostornaia, who wasn’t even invited to test skates. If they had given 7 girls 2 slots and not given her a chance they would have missed out on the 2nd best girl in the world.

I absolutely agree with you. I do think it is the federation’s job to think about the future and therefore it makes sense to spread the JGP among nine skaters, even if it mean that only five would have two assignments, to give as many of them competitive experience as possible. But some posters here naively think that it is important to have full Russian JGPF. What for? As if Russian federation cared for fifth or sixth place at JGPF! For Russian federation anything worse than medal is considered a failure.

 

[Shayuki]

It’s not about assigning them at test skates, it’s about giving them experience under pressure. Alina described her legs shaking at her first competition she was so nervous but that it was easier by her senior season. Of course they won’t run out of talent. But these are 13 year olds who may look good on video and at smaller competition but have no experience under pressure with a large audience.

The best skaters may not be the best competitors when it comes down to pressure. What happens if someone you know to be highly talented doesn’t skate clean during test skates? Are they done for or can you give them a chance at one competition to see how they do? Or is their entire season determined at test skates? What about someone like kostornaia, who wasn’t even invited to test skates. If they had given 7 girls 2 slots and not given her a chance they would have missed out on the 2nd best girl in the world.

Well, they had different plans at first and then had to scramble to get Kostornaya to the last 2 JGP competitions. Not everything goes according to plan... Kostornaya was also fortunate that several skaters such as Gubanova, Fedichkina had poor showings during JGP. It's not something to rely on. Kostornaya's quite a special case.

When it comes to pressure, the Russian girls tend to compete so much and so heavily from such a young age that these skaters will be able to handle pressure, even though international competitions always are quite different of course. If they couldn't handle pressure, they probably wouldn't be in conversation for JGP spots. And this will likely become even moreso the case in the future as the general skill level of the skaters is consistently increasing. Zagitova herself didn't really go through that entire experience, however. If she had been raised in Moscow with such early age results, she wouldn't even have been invited to competitions.

Still, if we're thinking about next season, I don't think there'll be very many repeats outside of Sinitsyna and Kanysheva. There are so many good new girls.

They can all get competitive experience. There are other competitions besides the JGP that they can be assigned to (eg. Cup of Nice, Russia-Chinese Youth Games). The best skaters should get the spots. It shouldn't matter about spreading the wealth, because you can never spread it enough. If we can complain about someone like Vasilieva not getting a spot (although she has one now) we could also complain about Kostyuk. If Kostyuk were to get spots, we could complain about, say, Alexandra Cherpakova.

No, I don't think we'd complain about her not having spots. Or even Chistyakova. This year's age group's so weak, there's not much to spread wealth to. Kostyuk indeed is one, but she can be a bit of a disaster a little too often.

 

[Anni234]

Seems like Lena Radionova is skating to Amy Winehouse

https://www.instagram.com/p/BnCGEd8FfWF/?taken-by=lenok_radionova

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Well, they had different plans at first and then had to scramble to get Kostornaya to the last 2 JGP competitions. Not everything goes according to plan... Kostornaya was also fortunate that several skaters such as Gubanova, Fedichkina had poor showings during JGP. It's not something to rely on. Kostornaya's quite a special case.

When it comes to pressure, the Russian girls tend to compete so much and so heavily from such a young age that these skaters will be able to handle pressure, even though international competitions always are quite different of course. If they couldn't handle pressure, they probably wouldn't be in conversation for JGP spots. And this will likely become even moreso the case in the future as the general skill level of the skaters is consistently increasing. Zagitova herself didn't really go through that entire experience, however. If she had been raised in Moscow with such early age results, she wouldn't even have been invited to competitions.

Still, if we're thinking about next season, I don't think there'll be very many repeats outside of Sinitsyna and Kanysheva. There are so many good new girls.


No, I don't think we'd complain about her not having spots. Or even Chistyakova. This year's age group's so weak, there's not much to spread wealth to. Kostyuk indeed is one, but she can be a bit of a disaster a little too often.

Yes, only consistent skaters are even high enough to be considered for JGP spots anyway. Not sure why that'd suddenly change so much depending on where the competition is -- I can definitely see a bit more nerves, but not enough to make them bomb or need it to be critical for them to all have JGP experience as soon as possible. Internal competitions are much harder anyway.

My point was just that there will always be skaters that we can complain about not getting spots, because there'll never be enough spots for all the skaters. Chistyakova could be a star in the US, and in Russia she's only mentioned because she's with CSKA.

 

[Shayuki]

Yes, only consistent skaters are even high enough to be considered for JGP spots anyway. Not sure why that'd suddenly change so much depending on where the competition is -- I can definitely see a bit more nerves, but not enough to make them bomb or need it to be critical for them to all have JGP experience as soon as possible. Internal competitions are much harder anyway.

Good point also. Taking a look at last season's Moscow elder age championship for instance.

Alena Kanysheva won with 195.89 points
#5 Ksenia Chistyakova 186.92, #10 Viktoria Safonova 180.92 points #15 Anastasia Mukhortova 172.28 points

Let's compare to the first JGP event. #15 had 125 points. 175 would have gotten 5th, 172 7th.

So if anything, they should be rather relaxing, easier competitions.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Maybe it's the pressure of representing Russia rather than themselves? Or having to earn a second event? But if one skates at the same level as internal competitions -- they'd be fine.

 

[Sugar Coated]

Good point also. Taking a look at last season's Moscow elder age championship for instance.

Alena Kanysheva won with 195.89 points
#5 Ksenia Chistyakova 186.92, #10 Viktoria Safonova 180.92 points #15 Anastasia Mukhortova 172.28 points

Let's compare to the first JGP event. #15 had 125 points. 175 would have gotten 5th, 172 7th.

So if anything, they should be rather relaxing, easier competitions.

Traveling across the world to compete in a foreign country is not the same as competing at home. The travel itself is something that affects competition. There is jet lag and competing in unfamiliar rinks, staying in unfamiliar lodging, as well as an added sense of pressure being in an unfamiliar country to represent your nation.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Traveling across the world to compete in a foreign country is not the same as competing at home. The travel itself is something that affects competition. There is jet lag and competing in unfamiliar rinks, staying in unfamiliar lodging, as well as an added sense of pressure being in an unfamiliar country to represent your nation.

But the competition itself shouldn't be more than what they are used to.

 

[Sugar Coated]

Well, they had different plans at first and then had to scramble to get Kostornaya to the last 2 JGP competitions. Not everything goes according to plan... Kostornaya was also fortunate that several skaters such as Gubanova, Fedichkina had poor showings during JGP. It's not something to rely on. Kostornaya's quite a special case.

My point about kostornaia was not her getting a 2nd spot but rather a 1st spot. She was 16th at junior nationals and not invited to test skates. She shouldn’t have been given a JGP spot at all if only the top 7 prospects were given spots. But they gave 9 girls spots so she was able to prove herself, earn a 2nd spot, and medal at JGPF.