2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Edwin]

But it is interesting that they're all the same (ish) speed.

Isn't that about the maximum speed short stroke figure skaters of that age/power/strength/stamina can achieve on blades the usual length and rocker? One should assume the Khrustalniy Awesome Aces are physically very well trained and conditioned, all on a par with each other due to their training regime. The speed they developed in Tutberidze Show of Champions was impressive given the smaller ice.

The other posting with statistics of ice coverage vs timing = resulting average speed are interesting too, I wish we get those figures at every major ISU event together with 'Axelcam' and other computer trickery in the replays.

PS, do the skaters maintain their own blades, check them for burrs daily and use the whetting stone themselves? Even if they have a 'master of blades' looking after the skates in the larger rinks, the skaters should be able to check and maintain themselves when emergencies arise.
I assume they take their best pair of skates into the cabin on flights using one of those fancy cases specially made for that purpose.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

So, I just watched this video where Alina, Alena, Anna and Alexandra were racing these 4 runners. All I can say is that Alena Kostornaya’s skating skills and the way she gains speed is sublime. IMO, She is the only one of the 4A that deserves 9s and 10s in SS. I wish that the judges would reward true SS and beautiful skating. But they don’t, so Kostornaya will probably be left off the world team this season. So very sad. I’m sure the rest of the 4A work extremely hard, and they aren’t bad at all, but Kostornaya just stands out to me.

 

[Happy Skates]

I don't think anyone took it that far, it's all light-hearted.

Not here, but on other platforms.

 

[Vandevska]

Not here, but on other platforms.

Ah okay. Too bad then.

 

[Happy Skates]

Ah okay. Too bad then.

Yeah, but I'm glad the people here (at least right now) are being very positive pointing out the many wonderful things about this video, like all of the meme-worthy and adorable moments! I love when figure skating fans are positive like that. Thats what its supposed to be about!

 

[flanker]

You are a lot more accurate than I am. Milliseconds? Idk her I just kept pausing and unpausing on YouTube to get the timestamp lol

I did it about three times for each of the three competitions to avoid mistakes and this was like median value, but it's still made by mere human watching youtube video

 

[Fluture]

Yeah, but I'm glad the people here (at least right now) are being very positive pointing out the many wonderful things about this video, like all of the meme-worthy and adorable moments! I love when figure skating fans are positive like that. Thats what its supposed to be about!

The show was so funny. And I love light-hearted content like that. The girls are really adorable when they‘re having fun outside of the rink and aren‘t in competitive mood. (Even though I have to say they quickly turned on the serious faces when it was time for the little competition ) I think this is what the off-season is about. If we don‘t get to see any skating, at least we can have funny shows and speculations about programs.

I was one of those who pointed out Aliona‘s skating skills in the video. I tried not to bring the others down, though. It just impressed me how easily she generated speed and how effortless it all looked. Everyone has their strengths and I think it‘s fair to say that Aliona excels at skating skills. She has other weaknesses, like a lower BV which is something Anna, Alina and Sasha all don‘t have. They can make up a lot of points there. It‘s interesting that they have the same speed, though. But for me what really stood out was how easy it looked for Aliona to get to that speed. In the end, I think it‘s fair to discuss this video if we have it as an example as long as it‘s respectful. Especially since we‘ve talked about skating skills before when the analysis of the Russian journalist was published and this is a great addition.

 

[Vandevska]

I haven't watched the whole show yet, but it was so fun and i loved it ^^

 

[BossT]

TutberidzeGirls on JapanTV Show, part 1 (06/2019)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txqeBGMv-tc

 

[Fluture]

This is so funny. Sasha

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0bNtbKHMIi/?igshid=1wjeet08g17tl

 

[voolfee]

So, I just watched this video where Alina, Alena, Anna and Alexandra were racing these 4 runners. All I can say is that Alena Kostornaya’s skating skills and the way she gains speed is sublime. IMO, She is the only one of the 4A that deserves 9s and 10s in SS.

High speed is'not all SS. Many people confuse these concepts and therefore many people don't understand what SS are being rated for. This is sad, really.

 

[katymay]

So, I just watched this video where Alina, Alena, Anna and Alexandra were racing these 4 runners. All I can say is that Alena Kostornaya’s skating skills and the way she gains speed is sublime. IMO, She is the only one of the 4A that deserves 9s and 10s in SS. I wish that the judges would reward true SS and beautiful skating. But they don’t, so Kostornaya will probably be left off the world team this season. So very sad. I’m sure the rest of the 4A work extremely hard, and they aren’t bad at all, but Kostornaya just stands out to me.

When she takes the ice for a warm up, it is almost unwordly. Effortless speed. Really on another level from anyone else I've ever seen. From what I've seen all Russian skaters-even the youngest younger Novice skaters-do a terrific job of covering the ice. I was just watching some of our U.S. juniors, and they are so pokey. Even when they can land the jumps, the lack of speed makes them boring to watch. I think it is a much bigger problem in the U.S. than it used to be, I guess we no longer have stroke and power skating classes. Or something.

 

[katymay]

High speed is'not all SS. Many people confuse these concepts and therefore many people don't understand what SS are being rated for. This is sad, really.

Maybe not, but the PCS scores seem to go sky high when a skater has great speed. More than anything else, speed on the ice affects each component score.

 

[bubblecherry]

I asked this before but I want to ask it one more time. What kind of venue are the senior test skates going to be held at? Same one(s) as last year or different? Also, do you think they'll be broadcast on TV or some official network? If I remember correctly, they weren't last year, but there were fan streams and fancams almost immediately.

 

[Edwin]

I asked this before but I want to ask it one more time. What kind of venue are the senior test skates going to be held at? Same one(s) as last year or different? Also, do you think they'll be broadcast on TV or some official network? If I remember correctly, they weren't last year, but there were fan streams and fancams almost immediately.

The senior test skates will be held at Luzhniki Sport Complex, Malaya Arena in Moscow. Quite a prestigious location, and tickets are expensive.

Here is the TV/live stream schedule for September 7 and 8: https://www.1tv.ru/sport/predsezonn...omu-kataniyu-2019-20/schedule?date=2019-09-07

 

[bubblecherry]

The junior and senior test skates will be held at Luzhniki Sport Complex, Malaya Arena in Moscow. Quite a prestigious location, and tickets are expensive.

Here is the TV/live stream schedule for September 7 and 8: https://www.1tv.ru/sport/predsezonn...omu-kataniyu-2019-20/schedule?date=2019-09-07

Thank you! Am I reading correctly that this venue seats about 9k people? Will the test skates be this packed? If so, that's really impressive

 

[Fluture]

High speed is'not all SS. Many people confuse these concepts and therefore many people don't understand what SS are being rated for. This is sad, really.

Exactly. If SS was only about high speed, all four of the girls should get the same scores because they actually have the same speed! Beware, as for I may sound as if I “swallowed the dictionary of figure skating rules“ again.

But: flow, cleanliness, effortless glide, posture are all important too. And I don‘t see why it‘s in any way bad to point out that Aliona just excels at this and should therefor clearly get the highest SS scores. The way she gains that speed is extraordinary because she is as fast as the others but makes it look much, much easier. It‘s like saying Sasha shouldn‘t get the highest TES scores if she lands her attempted layout cleanly because that‘s ridiculing the other girls. No, it‘s not! It‘s pointing out facts (as long as it‘s done in a respectful way and not like in social media like twitter or whatever, where they‘re basically shaming the others) Everyone has different strengths. And one of Aliona‘s strength is definitely the quality of her overall skating.

Imo, Sasha’s SS should be behind her in second place because she actually has reasonably deep edges and lots of one foot skating, which is important for SS as well but wasn‘t demonstrated in this video. So, again, it‘s not an entirely accurate video covering everything skating skills are about. But it‘s a nice little addition to the discussion we‘ve had before, when the Russian journalist published his article about the junior ladies SS. And it’s a simple but effective way to show how the four girls gain speed to get to the desired result: to be as fast as possible. And the differences in their technique are interesting to note and imo, very, very obvious. For this contest, what each of them did was more than enough because they won in the end. But if we translate this to scoring and skating skills, which we do since it‘s the off-season and it‘s boring, then we should note the differences.

 

[Fluture]

Thank you! Am I reading correctly that this venue seats about 9k people? Will the test skates be this packed? If so, that's really impressive

They were packed last year, too, weren‘t they? Zhenya said it felt like a World Championships and she wasn‘t ready for that. I don‘t blame her, I doubt a lot of skaters are ready for that in September! I think that might be why we saw skaters do worse on their jumps than they did later in the GP series. For us, it‘s great because there will be a stream and it‘s exciting. But I‘m not sure what the skaters think about it. In the end, though, it‘s just showing the programs to the fed. That it‘s held in such a big arena with TV coverage just shows how insanely popular figure skating is in Russia.

 

[Edwin]

When it comes to skating speed and clean skills, rewatch the Ice Age, Kids broadcasts.
Here you can already notice the innate talent for skating in some of the contestants.
Even at 9, 10 or 11 years of age, some kids fly effortless, while others power their way over the ice.

Good basics learned as young as possible and maintained throughout your career will never make you look at the backs of others, you’re always in front. You need to look over your shoulder to see if they can keep up with you

 

[Georgya]

Amazing photo: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Alexei Nikolayevich Mishin at a training camp in Italy

https://www.instagram.com/p/B0boCNcoOPU/

I'm impressed with Alina's form in Japan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5YXEdUlYE8