2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[MRani]

I want to see tiny neurosurgeon Alyona. I can imagine them having to either set the surgical table super low for her (and everyone else will have to bend down) or they’ll have to make her stand on a couple of stepstools so everyone else can stand straight

 

[Mishaminion]

I want to see tiny neurosurgeon Alyona. I can imagine them having to either set the surgical table super low for her (and everyone else will have to bend down) or they’ll have to make her stand on a couple of stepstools so everyone else can stand straight

She enters the operating theatre to Twilight music

 

[Fluture]

Honestly, this discussion seems fruitless. There will never really be an agreement because the two sides clearly have different ideas of what they value in sports/figure skating. But that‘s okay, isn‘t it? As long as no one‘s attacking the girls personally (which I have not seen) it should be possible to have both sides of opinions stand as they are without trying to convince the other side what is “right“. Some like quads, some don‘t. Some like the way things are now, some don‘t. For those of you who like the way the system is right now, rejoice and be happy! And let some of us who don‘t feel quite as confident about this, be a little grouchy. It won‘t hurt any of you.

As for Alina and Aliona... Alina will skate for as long as she wants to. She‘s not said she would retire soon so let‘s not act like that. In an interview she said today she got the adrenaline she was missing. Maybe she found something today and her motivation‘s back now at 100%. If she wins a medal tomorrow, which she absolutely can, looking at the scores, maybe that will give her her confidence back. She‘s not out of the running at all.

To clarify, I made the comment about Aliona because I got the impression from her interview that she was treating it as inevitable reality (which she‘s not wrong to do so, honestly) that at 20, you can‘t win anything important anymore because the next generation‘s arrived. It was not about plans about being a neurosurgeon and wanting to do something else (the interview was this summer), it was about competition in general. She was nonchalant about it as if it was normal and I was a bit upset by that. I personally find it a bit sad because for me it indicates that if you want to win something in figure skating, you have to do it as a child/teenager. I don‘t really follow other sports but I cannot imagine this being the norm there. If it is... well, I still don‘t like it.

Should add here as well that I do not expect or ask anything of Aliona. She will compete only for as long as she wants to, and as a fan I will root for her every second of her way and cheer her on for whatever she decides to do afterwards. Of course I hope she‘ll skate for a long time but ultimately it is and will always be her decision. The only thing that matters is that she’s healthy and happy. My reason for giving this example was purely me being a bit upset at what I presumed to be the reasoning behind a statement like that (it’s not even specifically about Aliona but the situation in general) because imo, it does accurately describe the state our sport is in.

Having said all that... It also doesn‘t mean that I can‘t enjoy figure skating at all anymore. I liked the SP today, I thought the girls skated brilliantly. And I‘m hoping for the same tomorrow. I can‘t change the way the sport works so I‘m trying to just enjoy great skating when I see it instead. And since Aliona, Zhenya and other favourites are still around, I‘ll stick with the Russian ladies for a bit longer.

 

[Happy Skates]

Thinking about the free tomorrow, its really any of the 3A's game to win. And Alina also has podium chances. Trusova will probably win if she goes clean, because I think a 5 quad program would be enough to close the 14 point gap even if Kostornaya goes clean. However, thats a huge if considering she's only done the 4 quad program once at JO, and even a four quads-landed program might not be enough if Kostornaya is clean, considering a clean Kostornaya can score 160+ based on what she's scored before with one under-rotation. But, then you add Anna to the picture. She's only 7 points behind Kostornaya, and with her new layout, if she goes clean, I think that she might be able to close the gap between her and Kostornaya. A clean-ish Shcherbakova with "only" two quads was able to score 160, but that was with two under-rotations on triple-triples. If she adds in another quad, fixes the under-rotations, and continues to get higher PCS than she's been getting, thats easily another 10 points at least. In fact, a clean Anna is a threat to beat a semi-clean Sasha now, if you consider the sp advantage. And if one of the three has a bad skate, then Alina could come swooping in for that podium spot as we've seen that she can score ~150-155 if clean. Rika also has the potential to be a factor, although she would need for at least two of the girls to make mistakes to factor into the podium, even if she goes clean with a quad imo.

Anyways, this is just so exciting, and I am torn between hoping for the 3A to share their first international podium all together and hoping for Alina to make a "surprise" podium (kind of funny to think of the reigning Olympic and World Champion podiuming as a "surprise" but we're in the most interesting times).

 

[Fluture]

Something else:

I found this very nice.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5vbcStIDer/?igshid=qr54lmvz0k4d

 

[zanadude]

Congratulations Valieva! Such a gorgeous skater! Hands down the best Exogenesis program by a Russian skater this year.

I propose the Tano be re-christened as the Valieva.

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

With Alina, it's difficult to say why she'd want to retire. I don't think it's because she's not winning everything anymore. Or else she would have retired when she was 13/14. She was losing to EVERYONE back then, she didn't even qualify for a junior GP spot her first year of eligibility. She was 9th at junior nats when Sasha was 1st at the same age. But she continued probably because she knew she had more in her, and she didn't have any accomplishments yet. It's a different story now, because she really has won everything there is to win, she has done everything she could (jumps, spins, artistry, having input into her music and programs, etc.). The only thing she really hasn't done is a 3A or quad. If she were to retire, it'd probably be because she wants to move onto different things in her life. I'm not saying that she does indeed want to retire, just possible reasons if she were to.

With Alena, if she wants to skate to 20/21, there's nothing wrong with that. That is already well into her senior career. Plus Alena has said in the past that she sees a life for herself after figure skating - that she'd want to study in university and maybe go to med school (and 20/21 is already a very late start to university especially if you're planning on doing that much school). Being a good skater and having longevity doesn't mean you have to skate forever. At 21, she'd already have 6/7 senior seasons, which is a lot more than most ladies.

I dont think it's that big of a deal if alina or aliona retire young. It's their choice, and if they don't want to skate anymore, they shouldn't.
I don't think Alina is retiring because she's doing a lot of other things. Figure Skating is an expensive. It's good she's making money right now.
Maybe Aliona can go to school and skate, like Nathan. But I can understand why she wouldn't want to. I can't imagine doing school and a sport.

 

[Fluture]

Hands down the best Exogenesis program by a Russian skater this year.

Love how you‘re not even trying to be subtle.

As for Kamila, I agree, actually forgot to congratulate her (and Daria), focusing on the seniors. I think it‘s a great accomplishment to win coming from injury and without quads and it sends the right signal. As of right now, I find Kamila to be a better skater than Alysa. I wish I could get into her programs at least a bit but personally that kind of choreography is just a big no, so I don‘t. Waiting for next year there! But I recognize talent when I see it. Now I hope she rests and recovers fully. For Junior Worlds I‘d like her to work on the combos as well as her lutz and flip and get a little more expressive in the face because right now she looks either too calm or too nervous, not a lot of variety in there. But that‘s just nitpicking, she was outstanding today and fully deserved her win.

 

[Mishaminion]

I dont think it's that big of a deal if alina or aliona retire young. It's their choice, and if they don't want to skate anymore, they shouldn't.
I don't think Alina is retiring because she's doing a lot of other things. Figure Skating is an expensive. It's good she's making money right now.
Maybe Aliona can go to school and skate, like Nathan. But I can understand why she wouldn't want to. I can't imagine doing school and a sport.

Some can manage it, others find it too difficult to juggle both. It's a lot of hard work to pile on one pair of shoulders.

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Honestly, I think competitive sports, for the most part, belong to the young. There are very few Olympic sports that I can think where athletes remain at the top of their game into their 30s. Ladies skating skews a bit young, but I think being in your early to mid 20s is your prime for a lot of sports.

 

[Mishaminion]

Congratulations Valieva! Such a gorgeous skater! Hands down the best Exogenesis program by a Russian skater this year.

I propose the Tano be re-christened as the Valieva.

I love Kamila and I am so happy she won, but nice shade you threw there, similar to what Fluture said, about as subtle as being hit by a truck.

Nice try though, quite funny

 

[zanadude]

I love Kamila and I am so happy she won, but nice shade you threw there, similar to what Fluture said, about as subtle as being hit by a truck.

Nice try though, quite funny

That was a 100% positive comment. Any shade you detect is purely you overthinking the matter.

 

[fabienne1996]

Honestly, I think competitive sports, for the most part, belong to the young. There are very few Olympic sports that I can think where athletes remain at the top of their game into their 30s. Ladies skating skews a bit young, but I think being in your early to mid 20s is your prime for a lot of sports.

Riding, Skiing,Ski Jumping, Runningjust a few examples , i can Think of a few disiplines.

 

[zanadude]

Honestly, I think competitive sports, for the most part, belong to the young. There are very few Olympic sports that I can think where athletes remain at the top of their game into their 30s.

Equestrian, curling, archery, bobsled, luge, skeleton, shooting, hockey, baseball, soccer...shall I go on?

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Equestrian, curling, archery, bobsled, luge, skeleton, shooting, hockey, baseball, soccer...shall I go on?

Alright, alright, you don't have to be so passive aggressive about it

To be fair, many of those sports are nowhere near as high-impact on the body as skating

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Thinking about the free tomorrow, its really any of the 3A's game to win. And Alina also has podium chances. Trusova will probably win if she goes clean, because I think a 5 quad program would be enough to close the 14 point gap even if Kostornaya goes clean.

Just looking back at their scores this season, I think the gap is a bit too big to close. Sasha's best LP is around 12 points better than Alena's worst. Alena is now getting almost the highest PCS scores of the women, and gets great GOE on everything she does, so that might also help her stay ahead.

Having said that, Trusova can close this gap, and she'll need to in order to catch Alena in the future until she gets the 3A secure. Even with a clean 2A and not a 3A< fall, Sasha's score would have only been 2 or 3 points higher, so it's still a 10+ point deficit she'd have to make up no matter what.

 

[Scott512]

Something else:

I found this very nice.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5vbcStIDer/?igshid=qr54lmvz0k4d

Alysa is so lovableand that was so sweet of her to do. Who was the other girl?

Alina can certainly compete with the best skaters still so why not hang around? the only way I see her retiring in the next year or two is if her knees are screaming in pain and we know she has a left knee issue. But she is skating well again this season. I am sure Alina is happy with her form and thinks she can do better.

 

[vesperalvioletta]

Alysa is so lovableand that was so sweet of her to do. Who was the other girl?

Alina can certainly compete with the best skaters still so why not hang around? the only way I see her retiring in the next year or two is if her knees are screaming in pain and we know she has a left knee issue. But she is skating well again this season. I am sure Alina is happy with her form and thinks she can do better.

That's her coach, Laura Lipetsky, beside her

 

[Scott512]

Honestly, this discussion seems fruitless. There will never really be an agreement because the two sides clearly have different ideas of what they value in sports/figure skating. But that‘s okay, isn‘t it? As long as no one‘s attacking the girls personally (which I have not seen) it should be possible to have both sides of opinions stand as they are without trying to convince the other side what is “right“. Some like quads, some don‘t. Some like the way things are now, some don‘t. For those of you who like the way the system is right now, rejoice and be happy! And let some of us who don‘t feel quite as confident about this, be a little grouchy. It won‘t hurt any of you.

As for Alina and Aliona... Alina will skate for as long as she wants to. She‘s not said she would retire soon so let‘s not act like that. In an interview she said today she got the adrenaline she was missing. Maybe she found something today and her motivation‘s back now at 100%. If she wins a medal tomorrow, which she absolutely can, looking at the scores, maybe that will give her her confidence back. She‘s not out of the running at all.

To clarify, I made the comment about Aliona because I got the impression from her interview that she was treating it as inevitable reality (which she‘s not wrong to do so, honestly) that at 20, you can‘t win anything important anymore because the next generation‘s arrived. It was not about plans about being a neurosurgeon and wanting to do something else (the interview was this summer), it was about competition in general. She was nonchalant about it as if it was normal and I was a bit upset by that. I personally find it a bit sad because for me it indicates that if you want to win something in figure skating, you have to do it as a child/teenager. I don‘t really follow other sports but I cannot imagine this being the norm there. If it is... well, I still don‘t like it.

Should add here as well that I do not expect or ask anything of Aliona. She will compete only for as long as she wants to, and as a fan I will root for her every second of her way and cheer her on for whatever she decides to do afterwards. Of course I hope she‘ll skate for a long time but ultimately it is and will always be her decision. The only thing that matters is that she’s healthy and happy. My reason for giving this example was purely me being a bit upset at what I presumed to be the reasoning behind a statement like that (it’s not even specifically about Aliona but the situation in general) because imo, it does accurately describe the state our sport is in.

Having said all that... It also doesn‘t mean that I can‘t enjoy figure skating at all anymore. I liked the SP today, I thought the girls skated brilliantly. And I‘m hoping for the same tomorrow. I can‘t change the way the sport works so I‘m trying to just enjoy great skating when I see it instead. And since Aliona, Zhenya and other favourites are still around, I‘ll stick with the Russian ladies for a bit longer.

You make many pertinent points. To me at 16 I bet 20 seems like a long way off for Alyiona.

That's her coach, Laura Lipetsky, beside her

Oh that's right. Thanks vesper. Sweeties for supporting Alina. .

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

Just looking back at their scores this season, I think the gap is a bit too big to close. Sasha's best LP is around 12 points better than Alena's worst. Alena is now getting almost the highest PCS scores of the women, and gets great GOE on everything she does, so that might also help her stay ahead.

Having said that, Trusova can close this gap, and she'll need to in order to catch Alena in the future until she gets the 3A secure. Even with a clean 2A and not a 3A< fall, Sasha's score would have only been 2 or 3 points higher, so it's still a 10+ point deficit she'd have to make up no matter what.

I think sasha could win if she lands the quad sal. Because the new layout adds 5 ish points to her skate canada BV, which is 171 already. She lost 4.85 points due to the fall on the sal, so that's 10 points right there. Plus the goe, maybe she can do it.