2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[melgirl25]

It seems that many fans did not understand my words, I never said that Medvedeva was inferior to Konstantinova and Somodurova; I said that the pressure was too much for her, and that was why she was going to lose.

It is something very simple, in the russian nationals Medvedeva will fight for a place in the world cup, will fight to prove that she still wants to be russian, will fight against her former "friends", will fight to show that she still has a future in 2019, her technician will be the only foreigner in a competition full of Russians who do not like americans very much; and the worst, it will not be anyone's favorite, all russians will want to see Zagitova and Trusova win, if they do not just support Trusova.

And on the other side we have Samodurova and Konstantinova who do not have any pressure ... and that considering if Medvedeva participates in the nationals, because if she does not qualify for the grand prix final, she is very likely to request a rest time as they did some canadian skaters this season.

That's interesting you see it that way. I actually think Evgenia does exceptional under pressure. I think her first two competitions were nerve wrecking because she was debuting under her new coach (Canadian) and two new styles of music. She is working the kinks out and I actually see her peaking at Russian Nationals. I worry more about Alina and pressure and her anxiety towards not being perfect. I just saw a video posted and saw how upset she was still after her free skate today. Medvedeva still has a huge fan base in Russia. I don't see why they wouldn't want her to win as well!

 

[Orlov]

To me it does look like she was crying and wiping her eyes in both K+C.

But, it's not. She wasn't crying in K&C. Just rewatch the recording of the program.

Didn't Kostornaia also have some crying in Kiss and Cry for winning with mistakes?

No, she's not. She crying after the end of the program. But very quickly pulled herself together, and in K&C Alena sat with dry eyes, just sad. It's diffrent, my friend.

 

[colormyworld240]

On TSN during Skate Canada, they showed clips of Liza Tuktamysheva winning the event at 14..her first GP title.

And they discussed how she says that as a young champion skater just coming into seniors she didn't know the nerves or to fear...she 'didn't know'...

But having had setbacks and struggles through growth and maturity, it's very different.

Alina has experienced struggling at Worlds, Zhenya's experienced the risks and challenges of too much newness.

Zhenya says that the memory of being in 7th after the SP at SCI will stay with her always... but so will coming back from that to win the FS and take the bronze.

Alina doesn't seem to have yet had the 'I can fight back' moment that has been transformational for Liza and Zhenya.

Actually, she has. After SP in Lombardia, CoC, and most notably IdF last season. And even here in Helsinki. Maybe people see it differently as she was still first after SP this time, but she made a major mistake and came back in the free. Like Alina said, for her it wasn't really about placement, she wants to perform to the best of her abilities, and did that better in the free. Even after her Worlds struggles, she started this season with clean skates. And she has commented on how it was important to her to skate as well as she did given that it was the first competition at Nebelhorn after Worlds struggles.

Actually, even before she was anybody to talk about, she never skated cleanly, then broke a leg, an arm, and almost quit. But she didn't and learned to work harder to get here. She talked about that a lot post olympic win. That was probably her biggest comeback moment.

Her goals may not make headlines like Evgenia's or Liza's, but she is more reserved has had "fight back moments" aside from medals, placements, and records that her fans can understand if they're listening. But on the topic of placements, I believe Alina went from 6th in the SP to winning the title at CoC.

 

[Sugar Coated]

But, it's not. She wasn't crying in K&C. Just rewatch the recording of the program.



No, she's not. She crying after the end of the program. But very quickly pulled herself together, and in K&C Alena sat with dry eyes, just sad. It's diffrent, my friend.

You may disagree but I did rewatch both K+C. To me it looked like she was crying in both.

After SP in K+C, it’s not right away but after the scores. Eteri kind of makes a gesture for her to keep her face up and toward the camera and shortly afterward it looks like she wipes away a tear. After the FS, it looks like she is crying before the scores. She is putting on a brave face but there is a moment when she takes a deep breath and wipes underneath both her eyes that to me looked like someone collecting themselves after crying. I also disagree about kostornaia. Her eyes are red and still look teary to me.

I don’t have a problem with crying. It’s a reaction to stress and disappointment and I think our society is too harsh on people for this. Like I would never condemn someone for blushing if embarrassed or anxious. Sometimes crying is just a physical reaction that can’t be helped and doesn’t mean weakness or lack of maturity.

 

[TGee]

Actually, she has. After SP in Lombardia, CoC, and most notably IdF last season. And even here in Helsinki. Maybe people see it differently as she was still first after SP this time, but she made a major mistake and came back in the free. Like Alina said, for her it wasn't really about placement, she wants to perform to the best of her abilities, and did that better in the free. Even after her Worlds struggles, she started this season with clean skates. And she has commented on how it was important to her to skate as well as she did given that it was the first competition at Nebelhorn after Worlds struggles.

Actually, even before she was anybody to talk about, she never skated cleanly, then broke a leg, an arm, and almost quit. But she didn't and learned to work harder to get here. She talked about that a lot post olympic win. That was probably her biggest comeback moment.

Her goals may not make headlines like Evgenia's or Liza's, but she is more reserved has had "fight back moments" aside from medals, placements, and records that her fans can understand if they're listening. But on the topic of placements, I believe Alina went from 6th in the SP to winning the title at CoC.

Good point...

Alina didn't have clear sailing as a Junior.

Perhaps she's like Kaetlyn Osmond... no matter how confident she appears, inside the memory of the leg break haunts her.

Osmond says the fear that she will have another stupid fall that could end it all is with her every time she steps on the ice.

Alina has incredible courage for her age.

 

[silverfoxes]

In the russian nationals, Medvedeva is going to have an almost impossible challenge, because not only will she fight for her place in the World Cup, she will fight to show that she deserves that place. She will have to prove himself better than Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaia; and we all know that it is not better than any of them, not even Kostornaia if it skates clean. On the other hand Konstantinova and Samodurova do not go with that pressure, and when Medvedeva fails, one of them 2 will accompany Zagitova and Tuktamysheva in the world championship.

Sure dude...whatever. They all have pressure to deal with and you assume that Medvedeva will "fail," while Konstantinova, Samodurova, etc. will have no problem delivering - are you kidding? You don't even know if they will deliver at their next GP. Or Tuk, for that matter. Not to mention there are at least half a dozen other girls who could factor in that you completely disregard.

 

[Orlov]

You may disagree but I did rewatch both K+C. To me it looked like she was crying in both.

After SP in K+C, it’s not right away but after the scores. Eteri kind of makes a gesture for her to keep her face up and toward the camera and shortly afterward it looks like she wipes away a tear. After the FS, it looks like she is crying before the scores. She is putting on a brave face but there is a moment when she takes a deep breath and wipes underneath both her eyes that to me looked like someone collecting themselves after crying. I also disagree about kostornaia. Her eyes are red and still look teary to me.

I don’t have a problem with crying. It’s a reaction to stress and disappointment and I think our society is too harsh on people for this. Like I would never condemn someone for blushing if embarrassed or anxious. Sometimes crying is just a physical reaction that can’t be helped and doesn’t mean weakness or lack of maturity.

Obviously, we use different definitions of "crying". For me this is "crying", and this is not "crying".

 

[colormyworld240]

Good point...

Alina didn't have clear sailing as a Junior.

Perhaps she's like Kaetlyn Osmond... no matter how confident she appears, inside the memory of the leg break haunts her.

Osmond says the fear that she will have another stupid fall that could end it all is with her every time she steps on the ice.

Alina has incredible courage for her age.

I don't know Alina, so this is speculation as she never talked about this. But I'd imagine she'd be more afraid of having another skate like her FS at Worlds than her leg/arm break. Generally, your fears are the things that happened at the most important moments in your life. Unlike Evgenia and Kaetlyn, when Alina had her injuries she wasn't accomplished and didn't have much to lose (relatively speaking). But when she botched her worlds skate, it was right off her olympic win which is probably the highlight of her career, and there was pressure to do well to retain spots for Russia (and they barely did). Maybe that contributes to how upset she is when she makes mistakes, fear of disappointing herself and her fans, fed, and coaches as she expressed.

 

[colormyworld240]

In the russian nationals, Medvedeva is going to have an almost impossible challenge, because not only will she fight for her place in the World Cup, she will fight to show that she deserves that place. She will have to prove himself better than Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaia; and we all know that it is not better than any of them, not even Kostornaia if it skates clean. On the other hand Konstantinova and Samodurova do not go with that pressure, and when Medvedeva fails, one of them 2 will accompany Zagitova and Tuktamysheva in the world championship.

Evgenia will have an almost impossible challenge at nats, as will everyone else competing. The odds are literally stacked against them, 3 podium spots and too many extremely strong competitors. Getting on the podium will be difficult for all of them. That's why Russian Nationals are always a bloodbath, but particularly this year. The federation is the big winner, really, because no matter who gets on the podium, they will be sending 3 incredible skaters to junior and senior worlds.

 

[j00mla]

I did notice. And I don't understand, because you must be 12 years old to skate as a junior in Russia.

You're a little confused about Russian sports rules.

1. There are 12 age brackets (by RusFed) for all kinds of FS, that should be use in any internal FS competition i.e. regional federation can't create its own age limits but can use only some those age brackets
If we talk about single ladies only, ages are:
-(1)- men and ladies (15 yo and >) for all kinds of FS
-(3)- junior girls (13-19 yo) for single skating, dance and pairs
-(7)- young boys and girls (11-17 yo) for single skating
-(9)- younger girls (10-15 yo) for single skating, pairs and dance
-(12)- small boys and girls (7-9 yo) for single skating

2. There are requirements (by Ministry of Sport) for participation in Russian Cup. Athletes divided not as seniors or juniors but rather as ones ready to execute programs at level of Master of Sport or Candidate for Master of Sport.
- To compete at Master level (commonly it's called "senior" but it's not quite correct) skater has to be older than 14 y.o. and already earn grade Candidate for Master of Sport, i.e. this is not a situation when you participate as an adult because you are too old for children - not having previously confirmed the proper level of skill you will not be allowed.
- To compete at Candidate for Master level (commonly it's called "junior" but it's not quite correct), skater must already earn grade First-Class Sportsman, age is not specified directly, it is only indirectly related to the age at which you can compete and get the grade at other competitions.

3. The grade First-Class Sportsman, can be earned by girl of 9 yo or older.
The grade Candidate for Master of Sport, can be earned by girl of 10 yo or older.

Links:
http://frs24.ru/st/razryad-normativ-figurnoe-katanie/
https://www.minsport.gov.ru/2018/Pravila-figyrnoe-katanie-ot17012018.doc
https://www.fsrussia.ru/files/docs/archive/pologhenie_competition_1516_upd161215.pdf

 

[Alex65]

A funny consequence of this bureaucratic system of assigning titles in sports: some little-known athletes have the title of Master of Sports, but Trusova is still called the Candidate Master of Sports. Kostornaya and Shcherbakov already have the title of Master of Sports.

 

[j00mla]

I don't think it's bureaucratic. The purpose of this system is not to reflect the current balance of power, but to encourage athletes to new achievements.

 

[Alex65]

Sports titles are assigned by special orders of the Minister of Sport of Russia on the basis of the representation of the figure skating federations of the subjects of the Russian Federation.
http://frs24.ru/st/razryad-normativ-figurnoe-katanie/
Assignment of a sports title is a statement of the results and achievements of an athlete. But this does not happen automatically; officials must do this.

 

[Miller]

what's going to happen next season? there are literally too many Russian ladies in the top 24 SB so far...
Zagitova, Trusova, Tuktamysheva, Shcherbakova, Medvedeva, Kostornaya, Samodurova, Konstantinova, (Kanysheva), Tarakanova, Tarusina - that's already 10 that can do senior GP next season. Maria hasn't skated yet and if she or Polina or Leonova make it on the list, that would be up to 13. it would be so unfair if one of them had to only get 1 spot and someone behind them got 2 simply because they're from another country that doesn't do as well.

To add to this Elena Radionova and Anna Pogorilaya would qualify for 2 spots under the Come-back skater rule if they don't skate internationally this season.

It's not guaranteed, they're given 'priority consideration' plus they'd have to convince the Russian Federation they're in 200+ form, but they do qualify. Also Maria Sotskova is virtually guaranteed a spot via her world ranking even if she weren't to do very well this season.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Update on Pogorilaya:
She will miss stage 4 and nationals. Also has changed coach to Viktoria Butsaeva.

 

[DenissVFan]

Update on Pogorilaya:
She will miss stage 4 and nationals. Also has changed coach to Viktoria Butsaeva.

Oh wow I've never heard of that coach so I can't comment on that.

I hope she doesn't give up. She's still very young and Liza is proving that Russian skaters can still be successful in their 20s. Best wishes to you Anna.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Oh wow I've never heard of that coach so I can't comment on that.

I hope she doesn't give up. She's still very young and Liza is proving that Russian skaters can still be successful in their 20s. Best wishes to you Anna.

It's Viktoria Volchkova - Butsaeva is her married name. Going by fskate.ru her only current other notable student is Egor Murashov.

 

[LenaRadiFan]

Would she been going to nationals? I thought she didn't have any assignments

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Would she been going to nationals? I thought she didn't have any assignments

She would've had to compete at both the 4th and 5th stages, and place high enough there to qualify. By not competing at either, she cannot go to nationals.

 

[DenissVFan]

Would she been going to nationals? I thought she didn't have any assignments

She could have qualified through the Russian Cup, hence her withdrawal from it means she can't be at nationals.