2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Spirals for Miles]

Oh my goodness. How?

I get that Zhenya won the Cup Final, but still, shouldn't more than that be taken into account? Because the Cup Final was so close, had some suspicious calls, and Liza had a much, much better first half of the season.

Of course I love Zhenya, so I'm glad that she has a chance to prove herself, but I believe that Liza earned it. And this seems like too much, too soon for Zhenya. She's just now getting her confidence back and I hope this doesn't destroy it

So Liza gets absolutely nothing? Because she's not in Universiade either is she?

 

[Scott512]

The real stupidity is Worlds not being "Worlds" because of the 3-per-country rule. If Russia has the bulk of figure skating talent, let them enter, damn it.

Agreed. In any sporting tournament there are usually brackets that are tougher than others to reach the championship. They usually try to even it out, but its just the way it is that sometimes two really good individuals or teams face off before the championship. The losing individual or team may have been better than others or just had a bad day, but they don't advance to the championship because they didn't make the cut when it counted and someone else goes on to compete.

Its funny to me that so many individuals commenting in this thread talk about how sport is about being tough, support cut throat and competitive training environments, and that you must accept this as part of sport. But then when it comes to Worlds is all about how unfair it is and we should make exceptions for certain countries. The rule is a max three spots per country and athletes must compete for those spots. Sports are competitive and the outcomes don't always feel fair, but you still have to play by the rules.

The rules need to be tweaked sugar for dominant countries per discipline. Notice I said tweaked and not changed. The world event would not be harmed if Russia or Japan got a 4th skater if they deserved it. Russia does and it will be even more evident next season.

 

[Fluture]

Oh my goodness. How?

I get that Zhenya won the Cup Final, but still, shouldn't more than that be taken into account? Because the Cup Final was so close, had some suspicious calls, and Liza had a much, much better first half of the season.

Of course I love Zhenya, so I'm glad that she has a chance to prove herself, but I believe that Liza earned it. And this seems like too much, too soon for Zhenya. She's just now getting her confidence back and I hope this doesn't destroy it

So Liza gets absolutely nothing? Because she's not in Universiade either is she?

I don‘t get why Liza isn‘t at least participating in the Universiade. It seems unfair. And to be quite frank, I didn‘t expect this result either. I was pretty certain that it would be Liza on the team. For Zhenya... I‘m of course excited because she wants this but part of me is wondering whether Universiade + WTT wouldn‘t have been better for her in the long run. I‘ll wish her good luck, though and hope she stays focused and calm in her preparations and most importantly: does not read anything that‘s written about her on social media and co.

 

[icybear]

Yeah lets choose the one who had one good outing at a small domestic event but bombed the whole season before versus the one who medalled in every gp and in the gp final and still came within 1.7 pts of winning over her opponent despite coming back from pneumonia. This a real slap in the face from the Rus fed against Elizaveta who has proven herself so hard this season

 

[Nika09]

Well, we all know it's coming...at least they didn't wait for last minutes to say that.
Poor Liza She did so well this season but apparently it means nothing when you're not RusFeds darling.

 

[LenaRadiFan]

Rusfed sent a clear message with the spot. Doesn't matter how many medals you've won if they favor another skater more.

 

[alvina9894]

Yes, because it‘s totally her fault that she was named to the Worlds team and thus she deserves to do badly or have bad luck with the judging panel. Seriously.

I have to be fair and admit that this was not what I expected. I‘m over the moon for Zhenya but it doesn‘t quite feel right that Liza isn‘t going. But to wish any girl to do badly or get low scores on purpose just because she isn‘t my favorite and might be unfairly there (in some people‘s eyes) is just disgusting. I didn‘t wish Stasya bad luck last year either and I didn‘t think she should go. And I wouldn‘t have wished her bad luck if she‘d gone this year... why just why. None of the girls is at fault. I‘m a fan of the Russian ladies. I want them all to do well and I‘ll root for everyone who‘s at Worlds.

Tbh, I can only see the drama coming now. I hope Zhenya turns off social media and prepares calmly. She really doesn‘t need these comments.

Sorry, but a flutz being called "e" is JUSTICE, not "bad luck".

 

[Fluture]

Sorry, but a flutz being called "e" is JUSTICE, not "bad luck".

Well, as is having URs called or not. I‘m all for having fairness and that included Zhenya, too. She‘s gotten her flutz called more this season (and I’ve never complained about that, why would I) so it‘s not like this would be completely unexpected. But a comment like this: “Why is she on the Worlds team, I wish for her to get her flutz called to restore justice!!“ just sounds like wishing someone to get punished for something they cannot control (like the Worlds’ spots assignments) So, I would say:

Yes. Call Zhenya‘s flutz in the FS. But don‘t call it specifically BECAUSE she went to Worlds and her having a lower score would be the only thing restoring fairness. It‘s the same as some people do: “Oh, I hope they‘ll call all of Alina‘s URs to teach Eteri a lesson.“ In general: Yes, URs, flutzes should be called accordingly. But in the context of which these comment are used to punish certain skaters for something they have no control over: Sorry, but I find it really to be deliberately mean and unnecessary.

 

[katymay]

I‘m at loss for words and feel for Liza

Zhenya can score well internationally PCS, and I think this is the last year her tech score can be competitive. Next year Liza has the tech to still be competitive, and I don't think Zhenya will be. Hopefully this will make Liza work harder to clean up her programs and come back next year stronger than ever.

 

[malya]

//as it is happening: how this drama is seen from the main people in Russia and why are people reacting like they do

Making a change, it was expected. Stasya was clearly not one of the best skaters this season and nobody expected her to be kept.

It' a surprise to see an unanimous vote by the council, it seems some people are actually against the Substitution. Normally all coaches vote yes if you got a majority (or recuse themselves).

Why is it no surprise RusFed included Zhenya and why did most people know it will happen? Because duh, she won the Cup Final. And the whole purpose of the Cup Final was to sent the winner to Saitama. It was a formal event and no competition = if there are no complete blackouts, the judging will be like this that they have the one win that was determined. If the powers that be didn't want Zhenya at Worlds, they could have let the judges call her lutz or an UR and that's it. Many people complain about all the obvious pushing RusFed does for her and think it is not deserved. Some say: why not, she won us 2 worlds it has to count for something and you deserve a bit of an advantage if you did that.

What are people mad about, because it was easy to see coming if you know a bit about politicking in russia: Now, we have the team Alina, Sofia and Zhenya and many people think Liza deserved her spot. Zhenya was added because she won the Cup Final, so this is settled but where do we get another spot for Liza who deserves it? Now the prop*ganda will start again from the whole brigade because they already set the mood. Vaitskovskaia (Journalist close to TAT & Co who has some old feud with Eteri and had a lot of Interviews that ended up as articles discrediting Alina's OGM) already started to share her opinion: Liza needs to be in, this is not a perfect team. Look was Liza did,...
Now: She either needs Sofia (no big scores but consistent and deserves it) or Alina's place. Give her Sofia's, Mishin,...
How people expect it to be spun and we expect some fitting Interviews soon: Why was Zagitova not at the Skate off? She was only second at Europeans and Sofia won and deserves it more. Oh just because she is Olympic Champion? Or Eteri?
It will always end in putting Alina vs Zhenya in some way and they do it masterfully, but predictable.
If you know a bit about the politics behind it and what has been happening it's easy to see through.

//news from how the selection is percieved if speak russian and read russian news/boards yourself. This is why some russians who follow FS are not happy about it. If someone tells you differently, it is to push a narrative and please doublecheck where you have your info from.

 

[acapenci]

What is rusfed smoking???

 

[Colonel Green]

Zhenya can score well internationally PCS, and I think this is the last year her tech score can be competitive. Next year Liza has the tech to still be competitive, and I don't think Zhenya will be. Hopefully this will make Liza work harder to clean up her programs and come back next year stronger than ever.

This was very likely Liza’s last shot at Worlds absent fluke circumstances like injury to somebody else, and even that might not be enough since, as this shows, she doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt or body of work. She’s never going to beat the next wave of juniors-turned-seniors on tech or PCS (or Fed politicking).

 

[theharleyquinn]

This is a lot of fanfare to mask the fact that they want to name Zhenya but don't know how to do so neatly.

I don't understand why they didn't just name this team outright after RCF. I think it looks worse that they did it this way when they already knew who they wanted to send.

 

[Vandevska]

I just hope the girls are focused on their training and nothing else. I'd love to see Alina redeem herself (apparently that's what everyone is calling it lol) and skates like she did at the beginning of this year because it was quite perfect if I do say so myself, I wanna see Sofia make an even bigger name for her self, and I wanna see Zhenya have 2 clean skates to finish the season with.

 

[jennapowers]

If people want to be mad at anyone, be mad at the Rus Fed who voted Liza out (by a large margin). Leave Zhenya out of this.

 

[Vandevska]

If people want to be mad at anyone, be mad at the Rus Fed who voted Liza out (by a large margin). Leave Zhenya out of this.

:agree:

 

[thatbeatingheart]

I gotta admit I believed Liza for Worlds and Zhenya for WTT would be the most likely outcome after they stripped both of them off Universiade. But maybe Liza really just declined because she’s tired of this bs.

I’m baffled once again by the brainless comments on Zhenya though. Shouldn’t people want her to perform as good as possible so Russia keeps three spots instead of wishing her bad luck? The decision to send her was not made by her. I also doubt TAT talked 19 people into voting for her.

It's totally fine to be angry with RusFed for this decision, I don't really agree with it either, but please leave the skaters out of this.

 

[zounger]

What is rusfed smoking???

TATanium?

 

[Tolstoj]

Zhenya can score well internationally PCS, and I think this is the last year her tech score can be competitive. Next year Liza has the tech to still be competitive, and I don't think Zhenya will be. Hopefully this will make Liza work harder to clean up her programs and come back next year stronger than ever.

Zhenya's TES is already not competitive because of the really questionable decision to water down the contents (in the worst way possible by doing combos that are more difficult for her and worth less) and her clear regression with the spins.

Liza has nothing to prove in the years to come, this could have well been her last season actually, and the fact that RusFed proved once again (don't forget they did all of this when it was Liza vs Adelina back in the days) that they will always choice someone else is hardly a motivation to do better.

Like i said, if anything this pushes Eteri to do better only to upset those who wanted Evgenia to be more successful with a different coach.

 

[seimei]

I think this year's world is last shot for both liza and medeveva.. So heartbroken for liza.. She deserved it more than anyone.