There are pretty strict rules concerning the GALA-If you are asked, you must skate unless ill-I'm sure someone can find the pertinent ISU statutes. If you don't skate I think you forfeit your prize money, whether it is all the prize money, or just the amount you would be paid for the GALA I don't know. I do wish she could have withdrawn in time for Bradie to be substituted, as she was the only lady left out.
2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating
- Thread starter Spirals for Miles
- Start date
There are pretty strict rules concerning the GALA-If you are asked, you must skate unless ill-I'm sure someone can find the pertinent ISU statutes. If you don't skate I think you forfeit your prize money, whether it is all the prize money, or just the amount you would be paid for the GALA I don't know. I do wish she could have withdrawn in time for Bradie to be substituted, as she was the only lady left out.
I felt very bad for Alina. It truly was not her day. She is a beautiful skater and a beautiful girl. But if she should decide to retire, she won't lack any other opportunities. I am sure she knows she has to step up her game if she wants to be competitive. I hate to speculate but any one think she may have a hip injury? I have never seen her pound on her hip before she skated any other time.
- Joined
- Oct 13, 2019
Her goal is to win 2 Olympic golds, so you don’t have to worry about her having any issues with motivation. Skating is her life and she will not stop anytime soon.
P.s don’t forget about the quad axel and the quint
Her coaches don’t let her try quints as of this moment, but it’s a future goal for sure.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Surely you don't mean you hate any skater for any reason, that's just an exaggeration, right?
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
We do not know exactly what her injury is. It could be more than just the cut, we do not know.
The cut is only what we could see.
I really hope it is not serious but it must be enough to have kept her from skating in the gala. There are rules about this, as someone else has pointed out.
I see no reason why she would make a speech and lie about her absence either, that seems to be what the implication is.
What we are seeing with Zagitova is rinse & repeat of the Eteri story that people have been predicting since the Olympics. Each of her skaters have spectacular, dramatic rises, and each of their declines so far have been just as spectacular and dramatic.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
Lil Bet may have a very small frame, but she is still a lady. Would you say the same is a 13 year old had the same body as Liza; that she is not a child?
People just have different body types, some have their advantages in different sports. Any female older than 18 is a lady, there is no body standard for what mades someone an adult. Hanyu has a very small frame a well, but he is every bit a man as Shoma, Kolyada, etc.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
The competition is so fierce, just within that single coaching team.
It must be mentally and physically exhausting eventually to be at the top and try to stay there despite the formidable opponents you see train on the same ice every day.
There is so little room for error, it is a pressure-cooker environment and it is hardly surprising it implodes skaters mental strength at some point.
It must be mentally and physically exhausting eventually to be at the top and try to stay there despite the formidable opponents you see train on the same ice every day.
There is so little room for error, it is a pressure-cooker environment and it is hardly surprising it implodes skaters mental strength at some point.
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
I don't really agree with this. Alina has had ups and downs her entire career. For example she had meltdowns at JGP Slovenia, EYOF, Worlds 2018, and her worse skate internationally was 2017 GP France SP. These were all before her major growth spurt during the offseason of 2018.
She continues to have mental struggles post-puberty, but her technique really isn't going. She's had clean practices at all her GPs and GPF this season. Even her practices last season were almost all clean. It's not like she's losing her jumps like Yulia was, or the jumping issues Evgenia talked about. She can still do all the combos and jumps, she just struggles with putting it together in competition. Alina's career has never been the parabolic dramatic increase then decrease that you describe; it's always been more of a zig-zag. And if you compare this with everyone else, most ladies have careers like this. Even Liza who has some of the best technique.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Liza could have made two Olympics but struggled during those seasons and then came back strong in two post-Olympic ones!
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
What decline? Since the Olympics Alina has been mostly up and down but when she's up she's great and she won world's only nine months ago. Yes she has been surpassed by 3A. But so has Rika Liza Zhenya etc and there's not a damn thing any of them can do about it.
Alina is 17 let her enjoy the rest of her career whether it's one more season or multiple seasons. I saw Adeline done at 18 Yulia retire at 18 or 19 or whatever it was and I do not want to see this with Alina.
One of the aspects as to why some of these girls are done by twenties because in Russia the competition is so damn fierce that the week get pushed to the side just like in the Wild Kingdom in Africa. Skaters in Japan France Canada and America do not face this in any one discipline the way Russia does.
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2018
Why not? Before the last olympics, women doing quads was almost unheard of. Within a year and a half we have multiple ladies from multiple countries attempting and landing them. To me that indicates it was a psychological barrier. Girls can’t do them. Girls will ruin their health. Only men can do quads. Were seeing this isn’t the case. Sashas quads look comparable to Hanyus. She and Anna are just getting started in their careers but now are equaling many men’s programs in difficulty. I wonder how many girls will see this and start to believe landing a quad is possible. Because before this, girls did not seriously entertain the idea of train for them.
And since these women are founders you have to compare them to the first male founders of quads. It took a few decades for men to advance to the levels they are at now. I am sure when it has become more acceptable in the field with younger girls training them it will be common to see the top ladies all with multiple quads.
But so far from what I’ve seen, it appears possible that lighter weight needed for rotation speed and the lesser impact on joints due to this light weight, as well as better balance, may make women actually better at quads now that coaches and athletes believe it possible and even necessary to train them. Too early to tell but I don’t know that men are better at quads now that women are catching up very quickly.
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2014
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So true, Liza takes the disappointment well though.
Hope she continues on...Liza for 2026 Olympics!
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2005
Alina's "Spectacular And Dramatic Decline Since The Olympics"
5th at Worlds (Great SP, Bad LP)
1st at Nebelhorn
1st at Japan Open
1st at GP Finland
1st at GP Russia
2nd at GP Final (including 2 skaters with a triple axel)
5th at Russian Nationals (Great SP, Bad LP) - 2nd among Senior Skaters
2nd at Europeans (Good SP, Bad LP)
1st at Worlds (including skater with 3A, skater with 4S)
2nd at Japan Open (beaten by Sasha Trusova)
2nd at GP France (against Aliona)
3rd at NHK (against Aliona & Rika)
6th at GP Final (Great SP, Bad LP) --- against an extremely strong field.
Yes - she has had her "struggles". But she overcame them.
Even during the Olympic year she had big problems in her SP during the GP series.
I hope Alina reads all the "predicitions" about her decline and imminent retirement.
And uses it as the "motivation" she needs to keep competing at a high level.
5th at Worlds (Great SP, Bad LP)
1st at Nebelhorn
1st at Japan Open
1st at GP Finland
1st at GP Russia
2nd at GP Final (including 2 skaters with a triple axel)
5th at Russian Nationals (Great SP, Bad LP) - 2nd among Senior Skaters
2nd at Europeans (Good SP, Bad LP)
1st at Worlds (including skater with 3A, skater with 4S)
2nd at Japan Open (beaten by Sasha Trusova)
2nd at GP France (against Aliona)
3rd at NHK (against Aliona & Rika)
6th at GP Final (Great SP, Bad LP) --- against an extremely strong field.
Yes - she has had her "struggles". But she overcame them.
Even during the Olympic year she had big problems in her SP during the GP series.
I hope Alina reads all the "predicitions" about her decline and imminent retirement.
And uses it as the "motivation" she needs to keep competing at a high level.
Men have a higher center of gravity because they carry most of their weight in their shoulders and arms and have slim hips. They use the strength in their upper body to lift the into the air.
The current quad girls are physically immature and their center of gravity is mid body; they are light and if they are strong they can propel themselves into the air for the quad rotation. However, once physical maturity sets it, the pelvis widens, the girl grows taller and fills out so that the center of gravity shifts downwards. That makes it a whole lot more difficult to launch into the air high enough to rotate the quad.
Growth is inevitable. Those who are lucky enough to remain small and sylphlike a la LilBet may be able to retain at least some quads post maturity.
We will see how this plays out in the next 2-3 years.
- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
Thanks I needed that. Lots of medals and very performances in there since the Olympics.
All this excitement, hype and bandwagoning on the 3 new Eteri seniors makes me want to fast forward to the future and see how these girls' 17-19 year old bodies would perform against the new wave of Eteri girls Kamila, Sofia, Zhilina etc. Will they still be even around by then? Once one of them realizes that she is held to a different standard than her overscored and judge favorite teammate/rival, what then? How long can Eteri keep them happy? Fans that think these 3 are bestfriends are naive. At this point, they are giddy with their wins. Sooner or later, something's gotta give. As for Alina, the coaching team did her wrong with the "I will skate for pleasure" goal this season. There is no such thing as that when you're in competitive skating, especially that she is a high profile skater due to her OGM and WC gold, not to mention her younger teammates have the most difficult tech among the ladies. I hope Eteri can find a way to motivate her oldest female skater so she can stay competitive, otherwise Eteri will be really known as a Junior coach, a coach for girls with prepubescent bodies.
- Joined
- Oct 27, 2019
Last season Alina had the Olympic champion PCS boost And many of her jumping issues (many ur’s) that the judges overlooked. She was Russia’s #1. This season the judges aren’t overlooking her technical issues and her scores have been reflecting that. She’s also no longer the #1 girl- she is actually l #6 now after Medvedeva and Liza. A good point was made about her mental struggles. If she has mental health issues then I sincerely hope they get her the help she needs.
