Russian Nats Preview

[gsk8]

by Anna Kondakova

The 2007 Russian National Figure Skating Championships will be held Jan 3-7 at the Ice Arena in Mytishi, Russia. Over the past several seasons, Russian figure skaters and ice dancers have lost their dominate position in the sport as a whole. In a roundabout way, this change might have been beneficial for a new generation of the Russian skaters. [More]

 

[Kasey]

Thank you for the preview, it's very detailed, and makes a lot of sense. The only thing I wish had been done differently, since I am a huge Griazev fan, is that some statement could have been made about the various injuries he has had to deal with in the past few years, including knee surgery in the off-season. The way this is written seems to imply that he is merely a headcase, rather than maybe having legitamite reasons for lacking more consistancy this year.

 

[hockeyfan228]

Wow -- can Anna do US Nats, too? That was great!

Happy New Year, Anna, and to all Golden Skaters!

 

[iloveaxel]

Wow

The best preview I've ever seen. Thanks!

 

[Jaana]

The best preview I've ever seen. Thanks!

Yeah, WOW, that was a fantastic preview!!! It will be so exciting to hear about the results...

 

[Kasey]

Also, reportedly, Mikhalova/Sergeev won't be competing because of an injury to Sergeev in practice recently.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Ana - Excellent review of the Russian Team this season. There is a presentation of Dobrin on Youtube in one of the GPs. He seemed to complete the quad sal, and I was very much impressed with the whole skate regardless. It's worth a look at. If he lands it in Euros, he could be on the podium.

Joe

 

[demarinis5]

Thank you so much for your detailed preview.

 

[slutskayafan21]

The preview is very good and it really typifies has far Russian skating has fallen from what we are used to year after year. This is a very atypical group of Russians with really only Domnina/Shabalin looking like a serious medal threat for this year, although Petrova/Tikhonov might be a dark horse as well.

The singles fields have become a bit of a joke for Russian standards.

 

[NansXOXOX]

Thank you, Anna.

It's a pleasure to read such an informative and well written article. :agree:

 

[Anna]

Thank you for the preview, it's very detailed, and makes a lot of sense. The only thing I wish had been done differently, since I am a huge Griazev fan, is that some statement could have been made about the various injuries he has had to deal with in the past few years, including knee surgery in the off-season. The way this is written seems to imply that he is merely a headcase, rather than maybe having legitamite reasons for lacking more consistancy this year.

Kasey, thanks for correction, it completely slipped my mind that he had a surgery off-season I remembered that he was injuried last year, but never give an injury as an excuse for not skating well (and anyway he was so much on-and-off last year that it was hard to attribute the problems to the injury alone), but I forgot abou the surgery

 

[dorispulaski]

Wonderful job! Very interesting especially to hear how well Petrova and Tikhonov were received on Skating with Celebrities.

One quibble:

more experienced American team of Kimberly Navarro and Brent Bommentre at the Karl Schaefer Memor

Navarro and Bommentre are older, but not more experienced. They were a new team in the 2005 2006 season and finished 5th at U.S. Nationals. I saw them at their first competition, which was Lake Placid 2005.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

.Navarro and Bommentre are older, but not more experienced. They were a new team in the 2005 2006 season and finished 5th at U.S. Nationals. I saw them at their first competition, which was Lake Placid 2005.

They are an upbeat dance team - no sturm and drang passion - but enjoy dancing a la Astaire/Rogers. As you said in another post, that doesn't go over with European judges.

Joe

 

[gio]

Thanks Anna!!!

It's a pity that Russia is becoming every season weaker in all 4 disciplines. :disapp:

 

[dorispulaski]

After the popularity of the Russian version of Skating with Celebrities, I hear many young Russians are taking up skating! I expect to see a resurgence of excellent Russian skaters quite soon!. (and am looking forward to it)

 

[ATW27]

What happened to Romanovskaya & Grachev? They are not mentioned, and we have yet to see them this season. Are they injured? Retired? Anyone know?

Andy W.

 

[Kasey]

What happened to Romanovskaya & Grachev? They are not mentioned, and we have yet to see them this season. Are they injured? Retired? Anyone know?

Andy W.

I think I read somewhere that he had a pretty serious back injury....whether it is just still injury, or if they are truly no more (like someone has suggested at another skating board), I don't know. If they have split or retired, they will be missed, I really liked seeing them last year.