2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[el henry]

Eight? Back then people could afford such a long vacations.

Vacations? Huh?


I really can't tell if that is some sort of vague dig against the athleticism, skill, beauty and other elements needed for a Kerrigan spiral?

Again, this was not posted for a comment on what skaters do today or what skaters don't do today, but simply to show what a Kerrigan spiral is.

 

[Fluture]

Vacations? Huh?


I really can't tell if that is some sort of vague dig against the athleticism, skill, beauty and other elements needed for a Kerrigan spiral?

Again, this was not posted for a comment on what skaters do today or what skaters don't do today, but simply to show what a Kerrigan spiral is.

Of course it‘s a dig. It means: “Kerrigan spirals are so easy that holding them for seven seconds is like a vacation for the skater in the program“.

Personally, would like a middle ground. Not held as long as Kerrigan did it (because really, times have changed, whether we like it or not) but not as short as Anna did. But I guess that‘s a matter of taste.

 

[mathlike]

Did you notice how between Alena's and Sasha's skates crowd shouted: "ETERI, ETERI!!!"?

At 50:10 mark (geoblocked): link

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Haha nowadays skaters like Alina could fit 10 ina bauers in that time.

Kidding, but oh how the times have changed!

Wasn’t that long ago that baby Julia banged out 10sec spirals

https://youtu.be/7pOyZc7Wur8?t=44s

 

[Vandevska]

Just sharing this moment
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Hl1bxBe-J/

This cracked me up even then so much

 

[nussnacker]

From what I remember it seemed like a lot of people were upset when this happened. Was that because they liked her new Free so much and didn’t want her to get rid of it, or they didn’t want the Twilight program to be the free program? Or did they did not want her to repeat the angel program?

It does seem like people think Alyona was outperformed by Anna and Sasha today even though all 3 were clean. I wonder if her keeping her old short has something to do with this.

Alyona's fan page wanted to gift her a plushie toy dressed in her favorite program dress. They asked Alyona what was her favorite program of all time and she said it was Twilight.
So Alyona definitely wanted to skate to that program herself.

 

[Anya00]

Just watched Anna’s SP in full and I have to say it’s an absolute masterpiece. Does anyone know why Alena now does the flip in combo instead of the lutz?

 

[MRani]

Just watched Anna’s SP in full and I have to say it’s an absolute masterpiece. Does anyone know why Alena now does the flip in combo instead of the lutz?

Her lutz is weaker than her flip. Better not to risk an edge call on the combo. That said, her lutz here looks better than it has in the past so I’m hopeful her edge issues have improved.

 

[SkateSkates]

Just watched Anna’s SP in full and I have to say it’s an absolute masterpiece. Does anyone know why Alena now does the flip in combo instead of the lutz?

Her flip is her best jump so since they are doing the combo in the 2nd half this doesn’t surprise me. She gets bigger GOE on her flip-toe than her lutz-toe because of the massive distance on the flip. I think she is also working on the lutz edge since they changed the entrance and she’s probably focused on keeping it outside. It looked better here.

 

[nussnacker]

Her lutz is weaker than her flip. Better not to risk an edge call on the combo. That said, her lutz here looks better than it has in the past so I’m hopeful her edge issues have improved.

I watched it in slow mo, looks like an outside edge to me! not a deep one, but not the one for which she was going to get called for either.
Good job, Alionka, she worked hard for it over the summer and the results are already visible!

 

[elysium]

Really enjoyed today's test skate! It's impossible to say who is the best among the 4A. It's really down to personal preferences. And Zhenya got a great SP this season, her best up to now imho.

 

[MRani]

I watched it in slow mo, looks like an outside edge to me! not a deep one, but not the one for which she was going to get called for either.
Good job, Alionka, she worked hard for it over the summer and the results are already visible!

I agree! It definitely looked a like a proper outside edge today to me. I hope it’ll keep looking like that in competition too, and if it does she might be able to risk 2 lutzes in the FP.

 

[Jontor]

The amount of musicality Anna Scherbakova has is insane.

Agree. I initially thought she was a bit off to the music, but seeing it again multiple times I have to say I was wrong. The music is very complex and Anna follows it beautifully. This might turn out to be my favourite program so far this year.

 

[Ailera]

From what I remember it seemed like a lot of people were upset when this happened. Was that because they liked her new Free so much and didn’t want her to get rid of it, or they didn’t want the Twilight program to be the free program? Or did they did not want her to repeat the angel program?

It does seem like people think Alyona was outperformed by Anna and Sasha today even though all 3 were clean. I wonder if her keeping her old short has something to do with this.

Can't speak for other people but I was personally looking forward to Alyona demonstrating her artistry range - i.e. edgy and modern for the Twilight SP and lyrical and elegant for No One Ever Called Me That. I was also just generally hoping to see new programs for her. I know Alyona herself said she wanted to skate to Twilight and she also doesn't like performing the same program too many times so I hope she wasn't too upset about keeping the old short

 

[MRani]

Can't speak for other people but I was personally looking forward to Alyona demonstrating her artistry range - i.e. edgy and modern for the Twilight SP and lyrical and elegant for No One Ever Called Me That. I was also just generally hoping to see new programs for her. I know Alyona herself said she wanted to skate to Twilight and she also doesn't like performing the same program too many times so I hope she wasn't too upset about keeping the old short

I think it’s a reasonable decision considering her injury and how stunning the Angel short is anyway, and she didn’t quite get to skate a full season with it. Twilight the story is terrible but the movie soundtrack is actually quite good so I think the FP will be nice. It can still be a good contrast with her Angel short.

 

[flanker]

The lioness and the lamb
https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Hkvilpxfe/

 

[mathlike]

I like how Sasha almost squeals with excitement for the upcoming season in her interviews.
"I can't wait anymore, I'm so looking forward to competing with seniors and the GP!" - I heard this first time at Nationals from her, now she sounds ever more impatient!
It's adorable and funny for us, but her senior opponents are probably getting a bit nervous listening to that.

 

[katymay]

I like how Sasha almost squeals with excitement for the upcoming season in her interviews.
"I can't wait anymore, I'm so looking forward to competing with seniors and the GP!" - I heard this first time at Nationals from her, now she sounds ever more impatient!
It's adorable and funny for us, but her senior opponents are probably getting a bit nervous listening to that.

Lots of smiles from her during the warmup, backstage and so on. So nice to see, I just love her smile.

 

[cell]

Why was Trusova's short program music a secret? (We knew about Anna and Alena's)

 

[mathlike]

Kinda true...
https://sun9-52.userapi.com/c853528/v853528536/e3589/61qn72WRm_g.jpg