- Joined
- Jul 3, 2018
Ah yes! I forgot about this! Thank you.
2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating
- Thread starter Spirals for Miles
- Start date
Ah yes! I forgot about this! Thank you.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2017
In a sense I agree with Goncharenko. Has that been addressed during junior test skates by the experts of RusFed? If yes why the team didn't change it? If not, why not? Did they like it? If they like it as experts why we don't like it as non experts?
Sinitsyna is listed for three events. She's a placeholder somewhere.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
ISU hasn't updated the future JGP pages since August 27, so we should wait to find out the actual assignments.
This is the overview page: http://www.isuresults.com/events/jgp2019/jgpsladies.htm
The web pages will probably be updated tomorrow, when ISU has set up office in Riga, Latvia.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
So at this point we have Sinitsyna in Russia, Poland and Italy, Kanysheva in Croatia and Italy and Maiia in Riga and Poland. Usacheva is likely to get Maiia's spot in Gdansk. Sinitsyna's Gdansk spot will go to either Tarusina or Vasilieva or it could be given to Kanysheva so she doesn't do back to back events. Vasilieva/Tarusina would get Zagreb then.
JGP season this year is a total mess.
JGP season this year is a total mess.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Gdansk is a key decision here, it is with 99% certainty Alysa Liu will win there, so one should put either a Russian with nothing to gain nor to loose in the stage, or one who is in need of a Silver and can battle for Gold, right?
Chelyabinsk is where Kamila Valiyeva will win with 99% certainty, so the same argumentation as above applies.
Kanysheva is another uncertainty at this moment to add to both the Davydov girls, will Alyona be ready in time to challenge for the medals in two stages? Otherwise give her starts to ???
Sinitsyna and Tarakanova have the next best papers, not degrading Usachyova and Khromykh in any way. But was Sinitsyna's performance at Test Skates a fluke and have her in-rink performances been not of the same level? I can expect FFKKR wanting frequent status reports and checks before clicking on the 'finalise' button in the ISU registration service.
- Joined
- Aug 25, 2017
So currently it is...
Riga: Usacheva, Kromykh
Chelyabinsk: Valieva, Sinitsyna, Vasilieva
Gdansk: Sinitsyna, Kromykh (will be subbed)
Zagreb: Kanysheva, Tarakanova
Egna: Sinitsyna (will be subbed), Kanysheva
So it appears that Usacheva will skate in either Gdansk or Egna provided she does well here, and Vasilieva will receive the other spot. If one of these two underperforms, Frolova might have a chance, or Tarusina if she's back.
Riga: Usacheva, Kromykh
Chelyabinsk: Valieva, Sinitsyna, Vasilieva
Gdansk: Sinitsyna, Kromykh (will be subbed)
Zagreb: Kanysheva, Tarakanova
Egna: Sinitsyna (will be subbed), Kanysheva
So it appears that Usacheva will skate in either Gdansk or Egna provided she does well here, and Vasilieva will receive the other spot. If one of these two underperforms, Frolova might have a chance, or Tarusina if she's back.
The assignments for the last couple events are rarely firm until after the first half of the JGP.
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2016
On the JGP ladies standings sheet, it still shows these entries, so it's even less clear:
Riga: Usacheva, Kromykh
Chelyabinsk: Valieva, Sinitsyna, Vasilieva
Gdansk: Tarakanova, Kromykh (will be subbed)
Zagreb: Usacheva, Frolova
Egna: Sinitsyna, Kanysheva
I would not be surprised if Ksenia keeps the Italy assignment and gets subbed out of Poland instead, which would avoid a back to back for her. Remember, she was listed for Poland before she missed Lake Placid and got added to JGP Russia.
If these entries for Croatia are actually the more up to date ones, then I would guess that Alena Kanysheva would get Maiia's Poland spot. Then I guess the other Poland spot would be either Anastasia or Viktoria, depending on how Viktoria does in Russia (though they could switch things around more to avoid a back to back there).
As non experts, we see clear and obvious flutzes get no calls, and get +3 / +5 GOE
As non experts, we see clear and obvious URs not being called.
As you said, we are not experts. It means we lack understanding of stuff
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2019
As non experts, we see clear and obvious flutzes get no calls, and get +3 / +5 GOE
As non experts, we see clear and obvious URs not being called.
As you said, we are not experts. It means we lack understanding of stuff
I don't think it comes completely out of nowhere, she's a knowledgeable and respected coach.
There are indeed a lot of leg lifts in Kamila's program, to her it seems excessive, nothing wrong with it. I think she sees it from her own perspective, understands the program in her own way.
I thought leg lifts fit the concept of an acrobat, who Kamila is portraying, and they didn't seem out of place or "too much" to me in short in particular, since there's an idea/concept that is fitting for this movement.
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Inna Goncharenko proves to be a source of insight and information. Here is an older article with her opinions on the European Championships.
Inna Goncharenko: this season I watched all the starts. It was boring.
On January 23, 2018, figure skating coach Inna Goncharenko left CSKA, and in fact, left the profession, leaving almost all of her students from her “past” life behind. About how the coach lived this year, and whether she admits she will return, Goncharenko told in an interview with RIA Novosti special correspondent Yelena Vaytsekhovskaya.
Echoes of the European Championship
Q: This season for the first time in many years you had the opportunity to watch the skaters perform as a spectator. What are your impressions?
A: I used to be interested in watching how athletes skated the same European Championship. Usually, it was simply not possible to follow the competition from start to finish. This year I honestly looked at everything. It was boring. No special surprises.
Q: That is, in other words, you expected in advance that the main Russian favourite of the tournament Alina Zagitova would lose these competitions in the same way she lost the Grand Prix Final and the Russian Championship?
A: Of course, I hoped that Alina would be able to pick herself up and show her fighting qualities. But the thought that this was the post-Olympic season still sat in my head. The psychological fatigue that falls on a person after the Olympic Games doesn't wear off in less than a year. It is very difficult to get rid of it. Plus, there were a lot of spectators at the European Championships. On the one hand, it's nice. On the other hand, when there is a large crowd of people, you start to feel the energetic pressure, from which, standing on the ice you cannot escape. One must love this very much, get a charge from it, as they say.
Q: How did your most famous student Lena Radionova love this?
A: Yes. Lena always perceived the public as a source of energy, like batteries. Received from this a tremendous charge, joy, courage. But not all skaters are capable of this. When you are not ready to perform, the audience starts to act negatively, starts to put pressure on the athlete like a concrete slab. This, in turn, raises a lot of internal doubts.
Q: I was surprised by something else. At the Grand Prix Final, at the Russian Championships, at the European Championships, Zagitova looked very good in training. It turned out to be competed ahead of her time, she burned out? Is such an option possible?
A: It is very difficult to bring the athlete to the peak of his capabilities at the right time. If there was a general formula, some kind of golden rule ... But there is no such formula even if we are talking about the same athlete. Once it turned out to peak him right before the start, another time you do the same thing, there is no result. In addition, Zagitova, like many other athletes, did not come to the group of her current coaches at the age of four. She had already formed a technique, not always the right one. Something had to be learned anew. And in a state of stress, always something comes back to you: some old mistakes, old doubts. The psychological post-Olympic situation could only strengthen this. Plus Alina is forming, growing. But even now, she still has no adult body yet.
Q: After the unsuccessful performance by Zagitova in Minsk, I read a frightening comment on social networks: "This doll has been broken, bring in the next one."
A: I agree with the fact that this was a pretty doll that pleased everyone, and, I hope, will continue to delight. Everything else is nonsense. Those envious ones should remain silent.
Q: That is, we all just need to come to terms with the fact that the current women's single skating is becoming very short-term and perishable?
A: It depends on a number of things. If the world wants to admire those female quadruple jumps, then it will be the way it is now. There will be early girls, trained for jumping, there will be fierce competition: "You don't jump? Get out!" If it happens for figure skating to undergo a rethinking, a reorientation to the development of other components, something will evolve differently.
Q: A supporter of what approach are you yourself?
A: I believe that figure skating should still be part of the arts, not like tough Chinese gymnastics, where Chinese girls mount the competition platform, who are 17-18 years old according to their documents, yet look like little older than ten in their appearance. Small bodies, baby faces. They create something crazy on the carpet and disappear without a trace. And next season a new guard is being pulled.
Q: And the biggest luck is to be born in time, how Zagitova was born.
A: Yes, of course. But Alina, you see, was lucky in that she got to Eteri Tutberidze. I do not think that with her year of birth, being in other hands, she would be where she was at the Olympics. And Eteri, having such material in her hands, calculated everything very competently. With what, in fact, the coaching staff can only be congratulated.
Japanese pastry
Q: When someone starts talking about Zagitova this season, as a rule, a parallel immediately arises with Rika Kihira and her incredible leaps. In your opinion, do the Japanese go the same way in women's single skating as we do?
A: No. They generally have a different approach to work. I have long paid attention to the Japanese women, when I myself was just starting to work as a coach. Japanese athletes have slightly different bodies, they are lucky in this. They never had high jumps, but they did not strive for them. And they very competently used their natural qualities. Lightness, "torsion". By our genetics, we are heavier, less manoeuvrable. But the main difference is that our athletes must be driven all the time: come on, come on, don't stand around, work. The Japanese, however, clearly lay out the entire workout: you do so-and-so, according to this drawing, so many times. Further you can not control.
I thought a lot about this, talked a lot with those of our specialists who live in Japan, and came to the conclusion that everything comes from education. Until the age of five, a Japanese child does whatever he wants. But then it is very rigidly taken into the framework, and the child is brought up as a servant to adults: not a word is raised against them, the eyes are constantly down, everything the adult says is an immutable law. I remember when me and a very small Lenka were at competitions in Slovenia, and the Japanese trained there bought quite a few hours of ice in advance. So I went to their workouts to watch. One coach, several athletes. A drawing is laid down for all to see, and quite ornate, elements are entered into this drawing, accelerations are noted - everything is very well composed. For an hour and a half the athletes meticulously perform these elements according to the drawing - until the coach stops them. After a skater did his program once, the music was rewound, and he again performs all this bunch from the beginning to the end with the maximum return. This is how this soft Japanese sliding is learned.
Q: I don't understand something else. Not so long ago a video was posted on the Internet where Kihira confidently jumps two quadruple jumps. However, she is not going to complicate her program for the World Championships. It turns out that the coach is in no hurry and is not trying to squeeze the maximum result out of the athlete here and now?
A: This is also a different mentality. In this case, of the coach. I don't think, by the way, that in Japan, Rika is the only one. We see only the tip of the iceberg, and not its underwater part. And there, behind Kihira, there may well be dozens of people like her. Or almost the same. With excellent sliding, impeccable skating command. With a competent trainer who works out gradually, step by step, in no hurry, but this work is continuously progressing. She kind of wraps round the athlete, layer by layer, like pastry dough. Therefore, coaches are confident in the result of their work.
I can also remember another such moment. When Lena (Radionova) and I went to the level of the adult championship of Russia, we made such cascades and inserted such a number into her free program older girls could not even imagine. But if, according to technical assessment, we were a cut above the others, then by the components we were constantly pulled down. Of course, I constantly wanted to understand: why do they give us such points? Therefore, I constantly asked questions, explained that I just want to understand how and what to work on next, what to pay attention to. They answered me, they say, well, you are in a hurry, you still have a little girl there, she has altogether children's skating. And now we see how completely adult components are put on the same little girls.
And girls, sorry, elementary things like knees not being extended, legs not being deployed. All their moves are childrens', stepping a boot over a leg back and forth. But the judges for some reason believe that this is a masterly virtuousic skating. Yes, there are a few exceptions, like Alyona Kostornaya, who already has completely adult sliding and very balanced skating. I know how much time the previous coach of Alyona, Yelena Zhgun devoted to this balancing and how meticulously she worked in this direction. It is clear that jumping work will also not be in vain. None of the current girls will be able to predict how their adult careers will develop, this is a very individual question, a lottery.
And it would be nice to understand: if we want to see all these wonderful girls in adult skating with some other parameters, we need to somehow formulate our views on what is happening on the ice.
Q: Or hope that there is a new doll.
A: Yes, and that it will be more beautiful than before.
A worm in the apple
Q: What happened in Minsk with the four-time Russian champion Maksim Kovtun, at least to some extent was unexpected for you?
A: Probably, I can’t talk about Maks objectively, since he is, after all, my former athlete. Kovtun looked very good at the Russian Championship, but then it turned out exactly a month before the European Championship. It is not enough. I don’t know, of course, how and for how long he rested, I argue purely theoretically: Maks is a tall boy, his body is large, if you allow yourself to rest, it will take a long time to get back in shape. Sometimes in such situations it’s more functional not to allow yourself to relax at all.
During the time that we worked together, I had the opportunity to make sure: when Kovtun was missing something, he began to doubt himself. And this doubt can sit internally for a very long time, like a worm in an apple. Therefore, I am madly sorry for Maks. And I am definitely not a supporter of the fact that now he needs to be changed for someone else. If an athlete deservedly passed the selection, he should get his chance.
Q: And what do you think about the strongest Russian couple Yevgeniya Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov?
A: Last season I liked them more. There was enthusiasm, there was this highlight, there was some kind of spark. And now two separate people are skating, who were forced to stand together as a pair. This is my personal feeling, and I don’t understand why it suddenly appeared. In fact, I thought a lot about it. In each pair there is someone leading. Somewhere the male, somewhere the female. When Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov still skated, everything rested on Tanya, who, with her internal strength, was building some kind of line. Maks, as the male, set off along this line, and the couple was perceived as a whole. There was a tremendous energy, akin to the one now coming from Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron. When Tanya and Maksim went out onto the ice, I just could not tear myself away from the screen from the first to the last second. Even when the guys busted some elements, it did not matter to me: Volosozhar and Trankov were still a cut above all the rest in terms of this wild energy that permeated all their skating. And when Tarasova and Morozov go on the ice this season, I only think they won’t rip something off. I am sitting there in stupid nervosity. And I don’t understand why the girl, a wonderful single skater in the past, jumping all triple jumps, now has a problem with a triple Toeloop. If it was some long-standing psychological problem, if Zhenya had learned this jump for a long and tedious time and still couldn’t master it, as Vera Bazarova once, then everything would be clear. But I remember Tarasova in the singles competition when she jumped all the triple jumps. Where did all this go? I dont know.
To die in obscurity is not our option
Q: How was the year when you sit without work?
A: I decided for myself this is a kind of creative vacation. I talked with the majority of my former students - strangely enough, a lot of people suddenly wanted to see and hear me. My daughter also has a very crucial moment, the 11th graduation class. And I, as a mother, try to keep her as comfortable as possible. My family for some time had to get used to the fact that I'm at home. My son like any man loves to eat, and, opening the refrigerator, he suddenly uttered such things to me: "Oh, we have a lot of food?" Earlier in the refrigerator there were such, you know, pre-packed one person meals. Like in the event of a nuclear war. That is, you won’t die of hunger, but you won’t walk away especially saturated, everyone seemed to get used to it. And then suddenly there were some culinary varieties and delights.
Q: Evaluating your previous life from new positions, you did not feel shame in front of your loved ones?
A: In hindsight, yes. Vacation was only 10 days a year and only at certain times. If any school matters suddenly arose, these were all dealt with without mom. A weekend to spend together was generally something unrealistic. And there were always a lot of strangers in the house. First the nannies, then the au pair, someone who helped doing homework, the drivers, and so on. This, too, had to be stopped somehow. Also the necessity to re-organise the house purely from a household point of view, so that everything is correct.
Q: In the process of arranging your everyday life, did you at least abstractly think about what you would like to do if you decide to return to the coaching profession again?
A: Of course, not in pairs or dances. Although with pleasure I watched this season both these, and others. Tired, in particular, of having to listen to other people's comments that the French dancers (Papadakis / Sizeron) are constantly and unjustifiably glorified. So I thought: "Let’s sit down now and look at everything from the side."
Q: And what conclusion have you come to?
A: That the French are being lauded justifiably. They dance while skating. And they skate like they live. In their own way, without copying anyone, as Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov once skated. It is bewitching. I want to watch their performance from beginning to end. And this is for me, a jump trainer, who usually, when dancing begins, gets bored in the middle of any program. You know how it happens when you watch singles' performances: an athlete skates, jumps, then gets tired and makes this small stop, before continuing to portray something to the music, but in fact everyone understands that the pause is needed only to rest. In dancing, everything is about the same, but there are also no jumps. Therefore, in fact, we were taught from childhood that dancing is an activity for failed singles. All rivalry boils down to whoever stages his program more interestingly, but despite all the variety of performances, everyone looks somehow the same.
The French managed to escape from this 'sameness'. In the same way, Natal'ya Bestem'yanova and Andrey Bukin stood out from the general row in their time. They went out on the ice with such charisma, with such crazy, freaky energy that no one watched them perform elements or any steps separately, there was enough fire to light any room. At the European Championships, by the way, I was very happy for Ivan Bukin with his partner (Alexandra Stepanova), for their coaches. It was very difficult for them, the last starting number, and it’s like going crazy when the struggle for the medals still goes on. They managed to do their thing and got what they deserved. This also rarely happens.
Q: Looking at figure skating from the side, have you ever regretted that you so spontaneously left CSKA virtually going nowhere?
A: Sometimes, perhaps, the moment comes when you need to stop, look back, rethink something. I didn’t just think about leaving. I stopped liking what is happening in my life because I saw how much my constant stress affects my loved ones. So I thought: if I can afford to leave my job for a while to figure out what exactly I want, why not do it? There were many offers, including going abroad to work - both for a long time and for short periods. But I realized right away that I did not want to leave my family. And besides, in few countries there is an opportunity to work towards such a high result as we work in Russia. Therefore, if I resume my coaching career, then only in my own country.
Q: The question here, as I understand it, is different - do you want this?
A: Yes I want to. I think the moment will definitely come when an interesting work offer will find me on its own. It’s just not interesting for me to flounder over some skating runs, making money with it. It’s just that someone needs coaching work. Great artists dying in obscurity is not our option.
-----
Source: https://rsport.ria.ru/20190207/1550501084.html
Inna Goncharenko: this season I watched all the starts. It was boring.
On January 23, 2018, figure skating coach Inna Goncharenko left CSKA, and in fact, left the profession, leaving almost all of her students from her “past” life behind. About how the coach lived this year, and whether she admits she will return, Goncharenko told in an interview with RIA Novosti special correspondent Yelena Vaytsekhovskaya.
Echoes of the European Championship
Q: This season for the first time in many years you had the opportunity to watch the skaters perform as a spectator. What are your impressions?
A: I used to be interested in watching how athletes skated the same European Championship. Usually, it was simply not possible to follow the competition from start to finish. This year I honestly looked at everything. It was boring. No special surprises.
Q: That is, in other words, you expected in advance that the main Russian favourite of the tournament Alina Zagitova would lose these competitions in the same way she lost the Grand Prix Final and the Russian Championship?
A: Of course, I hoped that Alina would be able to pick herself up and show her fighting qualities. But the thought that this was the post-Olympic season still sat in my head. The psychological fatigue that falls on a person after the Olympic Games doesn't wear off in less than a year. It is very difficult to get rid of it. Plus, there were a lot of spectators at the European Championships. On the one hand, it's nice. On the other hand, when there is a large crowd of people, you start to feel the energetic pressure, from which, standing on the ice you cannot escape. One must love this very much, get a charge from it, as they say.
Q: How did your most famous student Lena Radionova love this?
A: Yes. Lena always perceived the public as a source of energy, like batteries. Received from this a tremendous charge, joy, courage. But not all skaters are capable of this. When you are not ready to perform, the audience starts to act negatively, starts to put pressure on the athlete like a concrete slab. This, in turn, raises a lot of internal doubts.
Q: I was surprised by something else. At the Grand Prix Final, at the Russian Championships, at the European Championships, Zagitova looked very good in training. It turned out to be competed ahead of her time, she burned out? Is such an option possible?
A: It is very difficult to bring the athlete to the peak of his capabilities at the right time. If there was a general formula, some kind of golden rule ... But there is no such formula even if we are talking about the same athlete. Once it turned out to peak him right before the start, another time you do the same thing, there is no result. In addition, Zagitova, like many other athletes, did not come to the group of her current coaches at the age of four. She had already formed a technique, not always the right one. Something had to be learned anew. And in a state of stress, always something comes back to you: some old mistakes, old doubts. The psychological post-Olympic situation could only strengthen this. Plus Alina is forming, growing. But even now, she still has no adult body yet.
Q: After the unsuccessful performance by Zagitova in Minsk, I read a frightening comment on social networks: "This doll has been broken, bring in the next one."
A: I agree with the fact that this was a pretty doll that pleased everyone, and, I hope, will continue to delight. Everything else is nonsense. Those envious ones should remain silent.
Q: That is, we all just need to come to terms with the fact that the current women's single skating is becoming very short-term and perishable?
A: It depends on a number of things. If the world wants to admire those female quadruple jumps, then it will be the way it is now. There will be early girls, trained for jumping, there will be fierce competition: "You don't jump? Get out!" If it happens for figure skating to undergo a rethinking, a reorientation to the development of other components, something will evolve differently.
Q: A supporter of what approach are you yourself?
A: I believe that figure skating should still be part of the arts, not like tough Chinese gymnastics, where Chinese girls mount the competition platform, who are 17-18 years old according to their documents, yet look like little older than ten in their appearance. Small bodies, baby faces. They create something crazy on the carpet and disappear without a trace. And next season a new guard is being pulled.
Q: And the biggest luck is to be born in time, how Zagitova was born.
A: Yes, of course. But Alina, you see, was lucky in that she got to Eteri Tutberidze. I do not think that with her year of birth, being in other hands, she would be where she was at the Olympics. And Eteri, having such material in her hands, calculated everything very competently. With what, in fact, the coaching staff can only be congratulated.
Japanese pastry
Q: When someone starts talking about Zagitova this season, as a rule, a parallel immediately arises with Rika Kihira and her incredible leaps. In your opinion, do the Japanese go the same way in women's single skating as we do?
A: No. They generally have a different approach to work. I have long paid attention to the Japanese women, when I myself was just starting to work as a coach. Japanese athletes have slightly different bodies, they are lucky in this. They never had high jumps, but they did not strive for them. And they very competently used their natural qualities. Lightness, "torsion". By our genetics, we are heavier, less manoeuvrable. But the main difference is that our athletes must be driven all the time: come on, come on, don't stand around, work. The Japanese, however, clearly lay out the entire workout: you do so-and-so, according to this drawing, so many times. Further you can not control.
I thought a lot about this, talked a lot with those of our specialists who live in Japan, and came to the conclusion that everything comes from education. Until the age of five, a Japanese child does whatever he wants. But then it is very rigidly taken into the framework, and the child is brought up as a servant to adults: not a word is raised against them, the eyes are constantly down, everything the adult says is an immutable law. I remember when me and a very small Lenka were at competitions in Slovenia, and the Japanese trained there bought quite a few hours of ice in advance. So I went to their workouts to watch. One coach, several athletes. A drawing is laid down for all to see, and quite ornate, elements are entered into this drawing, accelerations are noted - everything is very well composed. For an hour and a half the athletes meticulously perform these elements according to the drawing - until the coach stops them. After a skater did his program once, the music was rewound, and he again performs all this bunch from the beginning to the end with the maximum return. This is how this soft Japanese sliding is learned.
Q: I don't understand something else. Not so long ago a video was posted on the Internet where Kihira confidently jumps two quadruple jumps. However, she is not going to complicate her program for the World Championships. It turns out that the coach is in no hurry and is not trying to squeeze the maximum result out of the athlete here and now?
A: This is also a different mentality. In this case, of the coach. I don't think, by the way, that in Japan, Rika is the only one. We see only the tip of the iceberg, and not its underwater part. And there, behind Kihira, there may well be dozens of people like her. Or almost the same. With excellent sliding, impeccable skating command. With a competent trainer who works out gradually, step by step, in no hurry, but this work is continuously progressing. She kind of wraps round the athlete, layer by layer, like pastry dough. Therefore, coaches are confident in the result of their work.
I can also remember another such moment. When Lena (Radionova) and I went to the level of the adult championship of Russia, we made such cascades and inserted such a number into her free program older girls could not even imagine. But if, according to technical assessment, we were a cut above the others, then by the components we were constantly pulled down. Of course, I constantly wanted to understand: why do they give us such points? Therefore, I constantly asked questions, explained that I just want to understand how and what to work on next, what to pay attention to. They answered me, they say, well, you are in a hurry, you still have a little girl there, she has altogether children's skating. And now we see how completely adult components are put on the same little girls.
And girls, sorry, elementary things like knees not being extended, legs not being deployed. All their moves are childrens', stepping a boot over a leg back and forth. But the judges for some reason believe that this is a masterly virtuousic skating. Yes, there are a few exceptions, like Alyona Kostornaya, who already has completely adult sliding and very balanced skating. I know how much time the previous coach of Alyona, Yelena Zhgun devoted to this balancing and how meticulously she worked in this direction. It is clear that jumping work will also not be in vain. None of the current girls will be able to predict how their adult careers will develop, this is a very individual question, a lottery.
And it would be nice to understand: if we want to see all these wonderful girls in adult skating with some other parameters, we need to somehow formulate our views on what is happening on the ice.
Q: Or hope that there is a new doll.
A: Yes, and that it will be more beautiful than before.
A worm in the apple
Q: What happened in Minsk with the four-time Russian champion Maksim Kovtun, at least to some extent was unexpected for you?
A: Probably, I can’t talk about Maks objectively, since he is, after all, my former athlete. Kovtun looked very good at the Russian Championship, but then it turned out exactly a month before the European Championship. It is not enough. I don’t know, of course, how and for how long he rested, I argue purely theoretically: Maks is a tall boy, his body is large, if you allow yourself to rest, it will take a long time to get back in shape. Sometimes in such situations it’s more functional not to allow yourself to relax at all.
During the time that we worked together, I had the opportunity to make sure: when Kovtun was missing something, he began to doubt himself. And this doubt can sit internally for a very long time, like a worm in an apple. Therefore, I am madly sorry for Maks. And I am definitely not a supporter of the fact that now he needs to be changed for someone else. If an athlete deservedly passed the selection, he should get his chance.
Q: And what do you think about the strongest Russian couple Yevgeniya Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov?
A: Last season I liked them more. There was enthusiasm, there was this highlight, there was some kind of spark. And now two separate people are skating, who were forced to stand together as a pair. This is my personal feeling, and I don’t understand why it suddenly appeared. In fact, I thought a lot about it. In each pair there is someone leading. Somewhere the male, somewhere the female. When Tatyana Volosozhar and Maksim Trankov still skated, everything rested on Tanya, who, with her internal strength, was building some kind of line. Maks, as the male, set off along this line, and the couple was perceived as a whole. There was a tremendous energy, akin to the one now coming from Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Sizeron. When Tanya and Maksim went out onto the ice, I just could not tear myself away from the screen from the first to the last second. Even when the guys busted some elements, it did not matter to me: Volosozhar and Trankov were still a cut above all the rest in terms of this wild energy that permeated all their skating. And when Tarasova and Morozov go on the ice this season, I only think they won’t rip something off. I am sitting there in stupid nervosity. And I don’t understand why the girl, a wonderful single skater in the past, jumping all triple jumps, now has a problem with a triple Toeloop. If it was some long-standing psychological problem, if Zhenya had learned this jump for a long and tedious time and still couldn’t master it, as Vera Bazarova once, then everything would be clear. But I remember Tarasova in the singles competition when she jumped all the triple jumps. Where did all this go? I dont know.
To die in obscurity is not our option
Q: How was the year when you sit without work?
A: I decided for myself this is a kind of creative vacation. I talked with the majority of my former students - strangely enough, a lot of people suddenly wanted to see and hear me. My daughter also has a very crucial moment, the 11th graduation class. And I, as a mother, try to keep her as comfortable as possible. My family for some time had to get used to the fact that I'm at home. My son like any man loves to eat, and, opening the refrigerator, he suddenly uttered such things to me: "Oh, we have a lot of food?" Earlier in the refrigerator there were such, you know, pre-packed one person meals. Like in the event of a nuclear war. That is, you won’t die of hunger, but you won’t walk away especially saturated, everyone seemed to get used to it. And then suddenly there were some culinary varieties and delights.
Q: Evaluating your previous life from new positions, you did not feel shame in front of your loved ones?
A: In hindsight, yes. Vacation was only 10 days a year and only at certain times. If any school matters suddenly arose, these were all dealt with without mom. A weekend to spend together was generally something unrealistic. And there were always a lot of strangers in the house. First the nannies, then the au pair, someone who helped doing homework, the drivers, and so on. This, too, had to be stopped somehow. Also the necessity to re-organise the house purely from a household point of view, so that everything is correct.
Q: In the process of arranging your everyday life, did you at least abstractly think about what you would like to do if you decide to return to the coaching profession again?
A: Of course, not in pairs or dances. Although with pleasure I watched this season both these, and others. Tired, in particular, of having to listen to other people's comments that the French dancers (Papadakis / Sizeron) are constantly and unjustifiably glorified. So I thought: "Let’s sit down now and look at everything from the side."
Q: And what conclusion have you come to?
A: That the French are being lauded justifiably. They dance while skating. And they skate like they live. In their own way, without copying anyone, as Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov once skated. It is bewitching. I want to watch their performance from beginning to end. And this is for me, a jump trainer, who usually, when dancing begins, gets bored in the middle of any program. You know how it happens when you watch singles' performances: an athlete skates, jumps, then gets tired and makes this small stop, before continuing to portray something to the music, but in fact everyone understands that the pause is needed only to rest. In dancing, everything is about the same, but there are also no jumps. Therefore, in fact, we were taught from childhood that dancing is an activity for failed singles. All rivalry boils down to whoever stages his program more interestingly, but despite all the variety of performances, everyone looks somehow the same.
The French managed to escape from this 'sameness'. In the same way, Natal'ya Bestem'yanova and Andrey Bukin stood out from the general row in their time. They went out on the ice with such charisma, with such crazy, freaky energy that no one watched them perform elements or any steps separately, there was enough fire to light any room. At the European Championships, by the way, I was very happy for Ivan Bukin with his partner (Alexandra Stepanova), for their coaches. It was very difficult for them, the last starting number, and it’s like going crazy when the struggle for the medals still goes on. They managed to do their thing and got what they deserved. This also rarely happens.
Q: Looking at figure skating from the side, have you ever regretted that you so spontaneously left CSKA virtually going nowhere?
A: Sometimes, perhaps, the moment comes when you need to stop, look back, rethink something. I didn’t just think about leaving. I stopped liking what is happening in my life because I saw how much my constant stress affects my loved ones. So I thought: if I can afford to leave my job for a while to figure out what exactly I want, why not do it? There were many offers, including going abroad to work - both for a long time and for short periods. But I realized right away that I did not want to leave my family. And besides, in few countries there is an opportunity to work towards such a high result as we work in Russia. Therefore, if I resume my coaching career, then only in my own country.
Q: The question here, as I understand it, is different - do you want this?
A: Yes I want to. I think the moment will definitely come when an interesting work offer will find me on its own. It’s just not interesting for me to flounder over some skating runs, making money with it. It’s just that someone needs coaching work. Great artists dying in obscurity is not our option.
-----
Source: https://rsport.ria.ru/20190207/1550501084.html
Last edited:
It took 20 seconds of fast reading, to list all Alina's titles and honours: https://youtu.be/QKhSB4pwYtg?t=190 
I really like this "Grand Slam in Figure Skating" thing, sounds so cool!
I really like this "Grand Slam in Figure Skating" thing, sounds so cool!
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2017
I wanna go back to high schoolIt took 20 seconds of fast reading, to list all Alina's titles and honours: https://youtu.be/QKhSB4pwYtg?t=190 [emoji23]
I really like this "Grand Slam in Figure Skating" thing, sounds so cool!
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
The ISU overall JGP schedule and ranking list has been updated: http://www.isuresults.com/events/jgp2019/jgpsladies.htm
Frolova has a start in Croatia that doesn't match the individual stages?
Tarusina seems definitely out.
More light homework assignments for ISU's secretaries also.
Frolova has a start in Croatia that doesn't match the individual stages?
Tarusina seems definitely out.
More light homework assignments for ISU's secretaries also.
