2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Edwin]

Eteri told to the Italian commentator that Alina is no more hungry for victories but there where no mention about retiring. If I recall well, from commentator words, Eteri said that Alina is still a beautiful skater and she can continue to improve her artistry...if she wants. After that the Italian commentator start with “Alina has launched a new shiseido stuff” etc etc and finished with the lack of motivation will make Alina decide to quit from competitive field...only speculation.

So only commentator speculating and extrapolating on a scarce few words? Assuming Eteri Georgiyevna doesn't speak Italian, the interchange was conducted in Russian or English, with a fair chance of something getting lost in translation?

Must read in the ISU rules about being invited to the EX and not participating in it due to medical reasons.

 

[taylor1]

She cut herself during the fall. I don’t know. Rika is skating on an injured ankle. It all seems so strange to me.

At any rate, Was hoping for Alina to win. Let’s see what the future brings for her

my theory- Eteri probably forced Alina to pull out of the exhibition because before Alina gave her speech she looked very upset and kind of mad at Daniil who was with her..

 

[Thrashergurl]

If Alina is having issues with things and wants to retire, I hope her federation will let her. She is struggling with jumps this season and has yet to skate a clean program. The consistency is not there. Does she have any shows planned before Nationals? I hope, if she’s injured so badly that she can’t skate in the exhibition, that she will also take a break from the show skating. Although I have a feeling it’s not an injury. So many top athletes skate injured.

 

[taylor1]

We all know Sasha compares herself to the men and jokes that she would love to compete with them.
No she isn't Nathan but she herself seems to want to achieve something similar rather than win every time she goes out there.That seems to be her desire at the moment and who are we to try to tell her any differently? Even her coaches struggle to reel her in!

No Sasha definitely wants to win very competition she goes to. She probably wants this the most out of 3A. She's also the only one who has explicitly stated that she wants to be the Olympic Champion. And she will jump as many quads as she needs to get this.

 

[Fluture]

my theory- Eteri probably forced Alina to pull out of the exhibition because before Alina gave her speech she looked very upset and kind of mad at Daniil who was with her..

Erm... what? But why would Eteri force her not to do the exhibition? Unless I‘m missing something this doesn‘t make a whole lot of sense to me.

 

[sk8kirsty]

Erm... what? But why would Eteri force her not to do the exhibition? Unless I‘m missing something this doesn‘t make a whole lot of sense to me.

Me neither [emoji848]

 

[taylor1]

I would argue that figure skating is a sport where the ladies are as good and even better than the men. Obviously men have greater capacities for sports that involve strength and speed. And I do think this makes men more suited for the 3A as they will have more power for jumps. But I’m not convinced that they are necessarily more suited for quads. The lighter body weight of females as well as tendency to have better balance (for landings) may make ladies just as suited for landing quads now that they are learning them from a young age. There is a reason only women do the balance beam in artistic gymnastics - the greater skills related to balance may be particularly useful for landing a quad.

But it’s the flexibility that you really see the difference between men’s and ladies skating. And female advantages in flexibility means that there are several moves that are standard for most ladies (e.g. Bielmann, leg lifts) and not men. Looking at some of Kamilas spins you’d be hard pressed to find a male that even comes close to that. So I actually think that ladies figure skating may be more advanced than men and that women are possibly more suited to the sport. Better spins due to flexibility, better balance and lighter weight may make them equally capable of landing quads and possibly even with more fluid, aesthetically pleasing landings.

hah you can not seriously say that ladies are more suitable for quads... That's a joke right??

 

[flanker]

I‘ll state it as simple as this: Last season commentators heard about injuries. They turned out to be right. Yes, this does not necessarily mean that what commentators mention is always 100% factually correct. But it is at least likely that they would not intentionally lie.

However, my main point was mainly that if this is what happened, the team should learn from it and act differently next time. I personally think that if this is indeed what happened (I’ll say it again lol) it was an irresponsible decision and will hopefully not happen again because it harmed the athlete in question. That‘s all. Better?

That's as bad as it was. You actually don't know what should have allegedly happened. From whom they've heard it and what exactly they heard. This is not saying that they didn't hear anything. But last year Ted was eyewitness when Alina injured herself. It happened right before his eyes. This year he didn't witness a debate between Alina and Eteri of this kind:
Alina: "Look, Eteri Georgievna, I have some bad feelings, let's dive it up."
Eteri: "Don't even think about withdrawal, I forbid you."
Or anything similar.

What they have said was some very unspecific and unclear information about Alina maybe considering withdrawal, but even during the broadcast it was told the way "when I arrived I heard something like that". Not specified what he exactly heard, from whom etc. And even if so, don't you tell me that in the history of figure skating and sport as a whole there wasn't an athelte who wouldn't have his doubts before competition. I guess no competition would be even possible then. actually What kind of doubts, how big, how serious? Is it worthy to consider withdrawal because of it? There are serious troubles and doubts and there are just stupid things that have no impact, apart from people's mind.

Those are nothing more than unspecific fragments of alleged talks of unclear kind and I don't see a smallest reason why this should trouble someone's mind.

 

[flanker]

Eteri told to the Italian commentator that Alina is no more hungry for victories but there where no mention about retiring. If I recall well, from commentator words, Eteri said that Alina is still a beautiful skater and she can continue to improve her artistry...if she wants. After that the Italian commentator start with “Alina has launched a new shiseido stuff” etc etc and finished with the lack of motivation will make Alina decide to quit from competitive field...only speculation.

Well, this seems to be possible that something like that was said. The sad thing is that people are already writing a detective stories on the basis of such weak foundations because it fits their narrative.

 

[taylor1]

Erm... what? But why would Eteri force her not to do the exhibition? Unless I‘m missing something this doesn‘t make a whole lot of sense to me.

Well I mean she cut her leg- how could a little cut prevent her from skating? She could even do the exhibition without jumps if she wanted. I just don't get why she would choose to pull out herself. Because I mean even last year at Russian Nationals, she was skating with a SEVERE burn on her foot and she still skated her exhibition. So idk something just doesn't seem right to me.

 

[fabienne1996]

Well, this seems to be possible that something like that was said. The sad thing is that people are already writing a detective stories on the basis of such weak foundations because it fits their narrative.

That would at least make sense.

 

[Edwin]

Well I mean she cut her leg- how could a little cut prevent her from skating? She could even do the exhibition without jumps if she wanted. I just don't get why she would choose to pull out herself. Because I mean even last year at Russian Nationals, she was skating with a SEVERE burn on her foot and she still skated her exhibition. So idk something just doesn't seem right to me.

Shallow cuts, bruises and burns don't matter. Twisted ankles, knees or pulled ligaments and muscles do. Alina is no wimp and perhaps she was nervous, even afraid to address the audience out of shame, despite the reassurances from her coaches. Yet she still felt the need to thank them for their love and the audience for their support, so she must have been torn emotionally. But after having made this little speech, she has cleansed herself from any bad feelings and can face the future unphased again.

 

[Fluture]

Well I mean she cut her leg- how could a little cut prevent her from skating? She could even do the exhibition without jumps if she wanted. I just don't get why she would choose to pull out herself. Because I mean even last year at Russian Nationals, she was skating with a SEVERE burn on her foot and she still skated her exhibition. So idk something just doesn't seem right to me.

Oh, you know I have doubts myself or rather, I‘m worried. I don‘t know what to think, though and it just doesn‘t make sense to me that Eteri would force Alina to withdraw from the exhibition. I guess we will have to wait...

 

[Amei]

If Alina is having issues with things and wants to retire, I hope her federation will let her. She is struggling with jumps this season and has yet to skate a clean program. The consistency is not there. Does she have any shows planned before Nationals? I hope, if she’s injured so badly that she can’t skate in the exhibition, that she will also take a break from the show skating. Although I have a feeling it’s not an injury. So many top athletes skate injured.

Given the current depth of Russian Ladies I doubt the Fed would try to force someone to continue to competitively skate; I know that Lipnitskaia said that they asked her to consider continuing but I'd be willing to bet that had more to do with the 'why' she was retiring.

Zagitova is scheduled to be in Navka's show that's supposed to be right after Nationals.

 

[Mishaminion]

No Sasha definitely wants to win very competition she goes to. She probably wants this the most out of 3A. She's also the only one who has explicitly stated that she wants to be the Olympic Champion. And she will jump as many quads as she needs to get this.

It seems her current goals are not necessarily winning everything, not this season anyway, she's taking too many risks and doesn't seem disappointed in Bronze because she knows her risks don't always pay off.
Also she trains with Anna and Alyona every day, she knew Anna was also working on quad flip, so instead of merely trying four quads she had to add hers in too, making five.

She did not need to try five, she could have switched her flip with the troublesome 4S.

 

[chuckm]

hah you can not seriously say that ladies are more suitable for quads... That's a joke right??

We know GIRLS are suitable for quads....it remains to be seen if LADIES can even do quads.

 

[lesnar001]

We know GIRLS are suitable for quads....it remains to be seen if LADIES can even do quads.

If a quad in practice counts, then Liza T. did one.
If being 18+ still qualifies someone as a lady, then Lil'Bet did one.

 

[chuckm]

Lil Bet is as tiny as a 14-yo girl. And oh, yes---she is injured and has withdrawn from all her competitions so far this season.

 

[Happy Skates]

Lil Bet is as tiny as a 14-yo girl. And oh, yes---she is injured and has withdrawn from all her competitions so far this season.

The very nature of elite sport is that it favors certain body types. There are certain genes that can even be linked with all elite athletes - thats just the way it is. So why does it make it any less valid that Elizavet's body type might help her to do quads? She is just as much a "lady" as anyone else her age. Not to mention that Tuktamysheva, someone who I would guess fits your definition of a lady, has a quad now. And injuries happen to all types of skaters, not just the ones doing quads. Remember when Satoko was injured for so long? Wakaba? And countless others who have sustained major injuries doing "just" triples.

 

[Autumn Leaves]

No Sasha definitely wants to win very competition she goes to. She probably wants this the most out of 3A. She's also the only one who has explicitly stated that she wants to be the Olympic Champion. And she will jump as many quads as she needs to get this.

I think that Sasha has a genuine pioneer spirit and her goal is to be the first, to move forward. A competition here and there doesn't matter, the medal count is not as important as doing the impossible. Her goal is to make a program with all quads + triple axel and she is consistently working and moving in that direction. The minute she stabilises a program, she complicates it. Hopefully, at worlds we'll see the 5 quad + triple axel program clean. She said she'll work on the 4 Loop once the season is over, so she is on track to achieve her goal next season by worlds 2021. Then I will be worried for her motivation, because she doesn't seem motivated by a long career if it is more of the same. I hope she stays healthy and strong and that we can witness her fantastic journey. She is a very special skater.