2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating | Page 867 | Golden Skate

2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

There is no way all three of 3A will be on the team for worlds. It likely that one will be. Independently of what they will do at RusNuts. The team is one of 3A, Medvedeva and most likely Liza or another of 3A. Things got easier now for the selection.
 
Funny Channel One promo clip: https://vk.com/video-134487306_456241618

Blades flashing ....

Valentin Piseyev - about the Russian Figure Skating Championship starting in Krasnoyarsk

The Honorary President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Valentin Nikolayevich Piseyev has been responsible for the development of this sport for decades - and successfully. Therefore, his assessments on the eve of the Russian championship starting December 24 are especially valuable.

-- Valentin Nikolayevich, where do we start?

- Valentin Piseyev: Of course, from where everyone starts today - from the ladies singles. Many talk about the fantastic success of our very young girls, who burst into senior sports like a fresh breeze and loudly declared themselves. I involuntarily draw an analogy with the period when 12-year-old Yelena Vodoryezova made a splash in the international arena and made many men think about their technical arsenal. But this situation where the whole "team" of pupils of Eteri Georgiyevna Tutberidze so successfully breaks down the established technical stereotypes and takes our sport to a whole new qualitative level, even surprises and delights me.
In her views on figure skating and her attitude to the profession, Eteri Georgiyevna reminds me of a great innovator who was ahead of his time and dictated his rules of the game - Stanislav Alekseyevich Zhuk. They are similar in character, figure skating for them is an ongoing series of technical super tasks, the solution of which changes our sport. Today all that should have coincided coincided. Excellent conditions, talented girls, a wonderful coach with a look into the future and a strong character, a team of specialists.

In anticipation of the Russian Championship, I do not want to single out any girls from this constellation, but it would be unfair not to mention the performance at the Grand Prix Finals in the short program of Alyona Kostornaya. Alyona demonstrated a very mature feminine, soulful and high-tech performance, and for me this performance is an excellent example, standard, perfection. By components, Kostornaya is stronger than Sasha Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova. But they are armed with undeniable arguments in the struggle for victory - their quadruple jumps. The fight at the Russian championship in Krasnoyarsk will be serious.

Now the question is somewhat different: how to maintain, in the conditions of fierce internal competition, these athletes, how to protect their nervous system from overload, how to prevent injuries and successfully overcome the processes of growing up? Equally working recipes cannot be, in each case an individual approach is required, which will require a lot of wisdom, tact, attention and love for their athletes from their coaches. Of course, enhanced medical control is also needed. The loads are huge. Recently you asked me what happened to Zagitova. She answered the question with absolute accuracy, describing the titanic work and life of an athlete, which stands behind the beauty reigning on ice, lightness and grace. I am sure we will remember her as a great champion with a strong character, who led along and, hopefully, will still lead her friends.

-- With Zagitova - the situation is clear. What about Medvyedeva?

Valentin Piseyev: An outstanding and already formed skater with incredibly strong motivation, but faced with psychological problems that have affected her performances over the last period. Elements are strong enough. Skating and artistry are beyond praise. It all depends on how much she can demonstrate her maximum in the right place and at the right time. Competition is growing, it has never been as fierce.

-- What do you think about the dominance of the quadruples, that judges pay less attention to the artistry of athletes?

- Valentin Piseyev: The word "dominance" is not in that row. In women's single skating, the presence of quadruple jumps is still exclusive, which for the vast majority of athletes is an unattainable dream. The era of quadruple jumps in women's single skating could have come much earlier. Japanese athlete Miki Ando first performed a quadruple Salchow in competitions in 2002. A year later, during the NHK Trophy, I was at one of the "home" training of Japanese athletes, where I saw several very successful attempts to perform quad jumps in two girls. Irina Slutskaya, who at that time was already thinking about ending her sports career, standing overboard, dropped the phrase: "How did I manage to do everything on time ...". Imagine how many years have passed before we witnessed such a significant qualitative leap. I am not at all sure that in the near future this phenomenon will become for us a constant component of competitions among women.

As for artistry, the mathematics of figure skating is still on the side of extremely complex elements and, in my opinion, this state of affairs is quite logical.
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excerpt from: https://rg.ru/2019/12/22/piseev-borba-v-zhenskom-odinochnom-katanii-na-chr-budet-sereznejshej.html

To get in the mood for the most anticipated competition of the season here are some magical montages from Channel One: https://www.1tv.ru/-/tahqk and https://www.1tv.ru/-/ftwyz totalling a full hour with lots of backstage footage from Grand Prix finals.
(Russia VPN required as I haven't been able to find these on YT)
 
There is no way all three of 3A will be on the team for worlds. It likely that one will be. Independently of what they will do at RusNuts. The team is one of 3A, Medvedeva and most likely Liza or another of 3A. Things got easier now for the selection.

Ridiculous notion.
All three were on the senior podium last season and all 3 on the GPF podium.
Nothing has changed.
Even on a bad day Sasha scores 160+ in her FS
Anna and Alyona had huuuge scores at GPF.
Realistically if they skate relatively clean nobody can touch them.
And they will be chosen if they go top 3, RusFed would be complete idiots to choose any differently.
 
My bet the Russian World Team will be:

Kostornaya
Medvedeva
Tuktamisheva

with other Tutberidze girls reserved.

But Shcherbakova and Trusova may go to EC.
 
I personally don't see how more that one Eteri girl can be excluded from the team. That would require a) a serious splatfest or b) serious scoring manipulation. Anna scores 240+ with a fall, Aliona can score the same even with one mistake and she is very consistent. Sasha may be more vulnerable if she risks 5 quads+3A, but I hope her coaches won't let her do elements that she isn't consistent with because mistakes may end her international season. Evgenia is capped around 230, maybe 235 if she is squeaky clean with a lenient technical panel. Liza is unpredictable, she has 3A, but her layout isn't doing her any favors. She may be a serious contender if she includes 4T.
 
I think a 3A national team or 2A+Med is the most likely what rusfed is gonna choose. Liza doesn't have the support, we saw it during GP, we saw it last season at russian cup, if they can they won't send Liza(which is a shame)

Especially since they disclosed last season that third spot is chosen by the coaches council, I can imagine that even if Liza places third, they will choose 4th/5th place over her and use the coaching council excuse once more.
 
I think a 3A national team or 2A+Med is the most likely what rusfed is gonna choose. Liza doesn't have the support, we saw it during GP, we saw it last season at russian cup, if they can they won't send Liza(which is a shame)

Especially since they disclosed last season that third spot is chosen by the coaches council, I can imagine that even if Liza places third, they will choose 4th/5th place over her and use the coaching council excuse once more.

What I felt last year, is that Elizabeta Tuktamysheva missed a well deserved third spot, rather by lack of support from her own coach, who didn't want to "stalk" Sofia Samodurova, though her Euro gold was a sort of miracle, hardly repeatible, with her best ever score at... 213. Sending her to World instead of Tuktamysheva was a sort of "suicide". But Mishin probably "demanded" two spots for his skaters, while only Tuktamysheva was a serious medal contender.
This year, she will be able to show how consistent is her 4T, I bet her practice sessions may be under particular scrutiny? But above all her score.
 
Nina Moser: “You can't turn my favorite sport into robotics”

The honoured trainer of Russia Nina Moser in an interview with Sportbox.ru told what she is doing now, spoke about the hype around figure skating, and also noted the rapid growth of pair skating in the world.

.... ...

“The girls lack patience, they immediately blame the coach”

-- I got the feeling that Eteri Tutberidze is not very interested in girls who have reached puberty. After all, it’s more difficult to work with such ...

- Your opinion is absolutely wrong. From the perspective of a trainer, I can say that you misunderstand the situation that some people are forcing down on us. It's not about Eteri or other trainers. The point is in the system. The International Skating Union has increased the requirements for the implementation of the most complex elements, the rules of the competition have changed. Therefore, such collisions occur.

You are right, about the age of 17, girls have a puberty when they turn into adolescents: weight increases, they grow sharply, and their shapes change. They simply needs to wait out this stage in order to recover, get used to their new body and continue to do the work that was done before. Believe me, no one knows how puberty will end in a particular child. It is clear that we look at the parents, try to take a small child, so that she eventually retains this condition. But in the end, everything happens very unpredictably. When a girl begins to grow, her elements may start to fail her, multi-turn jumps start to become under rotated.

Mentally, it is difficult to survive. It seems that you did everything perfectly yesterday and won, but now you need to wait till tomorrow until everything passes.
Patience is not enough for everyone, but for some reason the trainer is blamed for everything right away ...

I can say for sure that Eteri achieves the strongest to be the strongest without playing backstage games. She has no favourites. Indeed, a very large group works under her leadership, starting with the kids. The one who is stronger wins. The sporting principle should always come first. Again, I understand why this topic haunts many. But in figure skating it was almost always the case that the girls got results, won everything, then reached puberty and thereafter was a lull. Everyone went through a period of patience. It took Slutskaya, Butyrskaya and others about two years to adapt to their new body. They worked for several years, recovered and returned to their previous level. Now this moment has become aggravated simply because the requirements of figure skating have increased many times over, before they were softer.

Paradoxically, another. No one squealed when young Americans took the lead in solo skating. Tara Lipinski, Sasha Cohen, Sarah Hughes became champions at the age of 15-16. And everything was quiet and peaceful, as if it were necessary. And now they bawl because of this, but very much in vain. And well, rivals who envy our success would be indignant, so the buzz and negative comes from Russia. Apparently having seen enough of the “Ice Age” on television, we decided that we had learned to evaluate and allow ourselves to make comments. The line between high-performance sports and ordinary skating has blurred. We drove ourselves into a dead end with this issue of age, in which only dirt, dirt, dirt ... Unpleasant!

-- That is, the regulation makes coaches squeeze the maximum out of girls before puberty?

- There are requirements for skaters, there are rules for competitions, there is a technical side to sports. Now, in order to win, you must complete a complex program. Children from other schools go to Khrustalniy, but we must not forget that they prepare children from the age of three. They have a huge school, which has excellent specialists. Therefore, it is possible to select those children who are able to cope with the requirements of ISU. But who says that Eteri does not work, but only recruits talented guys, lies. She lives on the rink.

-- It’s hard to argue with the facts. All the students of Eteri Georgiyevna left her at the age of 17.

- Because they did not want to wait. They are used to being winners, champions. And in such a strong team, for objective reasons, you will not be the strongest, but perhaps the weakest even. It seems that the coach is to blame for everything, by making it possible for the younger ones to perform.

From the human point of view, girls who have a grudge can be understood. This is a difficult question to answer. I will try to give an example. Now we live in a world of high technology, communication around the world .... Suppose I say that I do not want to talk to you via Skype or Whatsapp, but let's talk using old phones, because I feel so comfortable. Do you agree to exchange your latest model IPhone for a button device with a cord? No, I am sure about that, because you want to keep up with the times. In sports, the same thing. The world does not stand still. Opportunities, equipment go forward. Changing style, choreography ... To be the best, you need to change. And there will always be a new champion.

-- I would agree with you that the girls do not want to wait, if not for the example of Yevgeniya Medvyedeva, who went to another coach and continues to enjoy skating without victories.

- Again you are listening to talking heads from television. Zhenya is a great person. In this regard, she is similar to our outstanding skaters who returned and at a more mature age began to show results. Perhaps Zhenya will wait for her moment. Figure skating will change again after the Chinese Olympics. Other requirements will appear and everything may change, including for her. She's still skating great.

-- Here is another message of the talkers: “Eteri has everything subject to the principle of “ either you are the first or you're not with me ”...

- Nonsense !!! Like any coach, Tutberidze always wants to win and show maximum results. I recall the phrase of a very talented coach, who, unfortunately, was not given a chance to work in Russia. He said: “You see, Nina, faithfully love only the first students with whom you begin to work. They are akin to your children. And then the conveyor starts. That is, athletes come and go, but we stay. They get a profession, skate, make money, and then forget the ones who helped them do it. But if something doesn’t work out for them, then you become guilty. Therefore, the coach must understand that figure skating is a conveyor. ” I realize that it’s difficult to attach the word conveyor to people, in the sense in which we associate it. Still, figure skating is a creative activity. The moral and psychological side is important. But here it is understood that from season to season the coach does the same job, the faces just change. And the coach’s job is to make a champion out of a skater.

-- How will figure skating develop further?

- Let's see what direction vector the International Skating Union will choose. I don’t want to guess. Now I work more with juniors in pair skating. I participate in master classes, lead training camps. In this direction, I can say that progress is obvious. On the heels of the leaders, 15–20 pairs attack immediately. It is clear that, technically, they are not yet ready to compete with the elite, but the potential is great. Our work with ISU has an effect. Previously, for pair skating, 4-6 pairs were typed. All the time there were problems with getting to the European and World Championships, now there are no problems with competition. This year, an average of 20 couples skate in challenges. The problem now is to choose who is the best. At the same time, the technical skill of pair skating has increased. It challenges me and inspires.

-- There is no fear that pair skating will also turn into a sport of children?

- This will definitely not happen, since it is impossible to create a couple claiming medals in a short period of time. Pair skating is a more mature sport.

-- Does pair skating have a good future?

- Juniors are growing up very promising. I think we can make champions out of them in a few years. The main thing is not to rush. Again, much will depend on the ISU decision regarding the reform of figure skating.

“The result of a trainer's work - the final results on the scoreboard”

-- Do you agree that December 2019 is the time of reckoning in our figure skating?

- You could say that. I am sorry the coaching staff of Khrustalniy could not withstand and was forced to defend their honour and dignity in public space. Believe me, they suffered attacks for a very long time. We had a conversation with other coaches on this topic before the Olympics in Pyeongchang. Even then it became unbearable to watch how absolute outsiders who consider themselves experts are interfering in the relations of the coach and their athletes. Eteri then took the right position: "I work, I do not have time to pay attention to such things."
"The main thing is, in the end you still don't have to pay attention to this,” I replied. I looked into the water, unfortunately.

I also received a lot of criticism that I didn’t communicate with athletes that well ... It was exhausting. And Eteri and I have always said 'be quiet, who are you, what have you done for a particular athlete?' But at all times there was only one person standing behind a large coaching staff. It’s just that they didn’t advertise it before, people just did their job, and the entire media attention went to the main team member.
And now we began to openly say that without this team we would not have succeeded, that people together with us would make champions on equal terms ... Having heard this, the fans began to accuse us of not doing anything ourselves. Sometimes you want to answer some of those individuals, but there is no time for these conversations. Our athletes on the ice are waiting for us. And after the competitions I want to come home, keep quiet and not think about anything.

-- And yet, for a coach, is a skater primarily a person or a means of achieving success?

- The result of our work is the final result on the scoreboard. And what goal should the coach have? We are working for the country so that everyone knows that the best athletes live with us.

-- But what about the soul?

- I can understand you as a journalist. Only, those same people who say one thing on TV, on the sidelines answer me the following: being a good person is not a profession.
A soft, kind, gray athlete does not reach the highest level. I never humiliated my wards, but for me they were still people who should be on the podium. They themselves wanted it.

By the way, the same fans say, the coaches used them before dropping them. But aren't they the same that trample athletes into the mud after a bad skating run? There are many ways to make comments. I know that some guys and girls even after the Rostelecom Cup left the ice in tears, and then needed a long period to recover. The athlete gets confused in himself, and then ceases to trust the coach. As a result, you restore his nervous system bit by bit. It’s good that there are few such athletes.

Believe me, we think about the mental health of our wards, but first of all we are faced with the task of winning. In sports, there is no other way around. In this realm only strong personalities enter, who do not crumble after their first failure. It's even worse, when parents put pressure on their children. But this is a different, longer conversation better had elsewhere.

-- What do you think about the situation with WADA?

- I had enough of Pyeongchang without a flag, without a hymn. Therefore, I do not even want to remember.

-- I remember your emotions after Pyeongchang ...

- I don’t even want to think about what it would be this time. There are probably people who must address these issues. Quit speculating on facts, acting on stories, shouting about conspiracies at every turn. It is necessary to do your business. Just like me, Eteri, and other coaches do ours. I don’t want to think about the bad, all the more so when I already have stood with one foot in this gray mass.
-----
Excerpt from: https://news.sportbox.ru/Vidy_sport...ashhat_moj_lubimyj_vid_sporta_v_robototehniku

Somewhat suggestive questions in my opinion, but mrs Moser acquitted herself well and proclaimed support.

#TeamTuberidzeForProgress for ever!

#РаботаемДальше
 
Even if the 3A take all podium places?
Unlikely RusNats will award medals to the TeamTut girls only. It would require a very specific list of events. TUT girls must be two heads above the Old Guard. But one of them will go to Worlds and most likely Kostornaya.

For Trusova any place below the 1st means big problems. Shcherbakova can indulge herseld with 1-2. But it's Kostornaya who will win.
 
As the Russian nationals are approaching, I thought it is about time to share my 2 cents. I always try to reserve my judgment a little bit, based on what I see on tv because the reality can be rather different. I was super excited to go to Torino and be able to watch ladies' competition live. Also, I saw all 3A last year (well, Sasha this year at Nepela), but never on the same ice.
My impressions from my first time live were different from what I expected based on Tv watching and I wonder how much these were influenced by outside factors, such as other skaters in the same group,... Anna (seen JGP Bratislava) - a cute little girl with nice expression, average speed, not very good flow and too many transitions. Alena (seen JGP Ostrava) - beautiful and elegant skater, flying across the ice, but at the same time somehow cold execution of her programs with 0 emotion or personality. Sasha - ok skating, normal speed (there was Kaori skating next to ger, I guess that influenced my perception of what is good speed quite a lot :laugh:). Surprisingly, she was much more convincing in the first part of her SP than expected, very soft and finishing her moves, while she had problems to keep up with the fast tempo of her steps (not surprising really ...). Jumps just fantastic. Also, I was extremely surprised by her personality... Sasha is not an emotionless jumping machine. It was impressive to watch her analytically working on her jumps, correcting mistakes while staying so positive. You can clearly tell she loves the process.

Another thing I would like to point out is people claiming "they're small, it is all easy for them" - NO. It is not easy. :roll5: They're falling too. But they're working hard...and smart.;)


Now back to GPF, I came with my expectations and I was shocked how much the reality was different.

ANNA is the ONLY Russian lady, who seems to really connect with her music and express it at any moment. And by that, I mean also during the training session. As a person, who is teaching dance and choreographing regularly, I can tell when dancer /skater just executes and when they feel what they do. Well, Anna does. :love: While I understand why people are not fans of her jumps, these are light and easy. And she had some awesome 4F attempts during practices. Spins are spectacular. Her transitions this year give much more sense to me, which is mostly due to the fact that she is finishing her moves fabulously and improved greatly her overall skating skills, speed, and flow. I was really impressed and I see zero reasons why she should get smaller PCS than Alena. Her only disadvantage is her tiny, "girlish" look. Still, I loved her. What a brave, talented, beautiful young lady.


ALENA was my biggest disappointment. Now please, don't jump on me, she is an amazing skater. But if she is presented like GOE and PCS queen, the expectations are huge. Her lovely lines and maturity are still present, but it just starts to feel way too academic and cold. And her zero facial expression is not helping. Not only she has zero expression during training sessions, but she has also a stone face during the competition as well (minus one dancing moment in the free and then the last section after the lutz). I can understand she's concentrating,...but hey, Anna, Rika or even Bradie are concentrating too. And it is Alena, who is supposed to be fantastic. Also, Alenka's flexibility is not the best, her spins are actually rather average. I was very surprised to see Sasha having much better Bielman. Now, my biggest disappointment was her speed across the ice and ice coverage. I was expecting to see a great flow. Instead, I saw step sequences, which were almost standing still. What comes from tv like lovely finished moves and attention to detail looks like possing on the ice in reality. Sure, it is much safer to get your levels this way, but I thought to have good speed is part of amazing SS. Her jumps, in reality, are not so huge compared to the others, but they look so impressive because Alena is so tiny. Of course, the 3F+3T is fabulous. :jaw: As for her 3A, while I love the preparation and the jump itself, the landing is looking very uncertain. I much prefer Rika's landings, right into the edge. Also, the two axels one after the other seem like watching the replay...but this is not Alena's fault, just bad choreography. All in all, I like Alena's expressive arms and overall elegance, but I can't agree with the huge scores she's receiving...



SASHA impressed me. Now again, I know she has plenty of things to work on. She's not on Anna/Alena's level yet in PCS, but she has also her strong points. She will never be that ideal ballerina. She should work more on her arms and back, finishing her moves (although this improved a lot !),.... The paradox is she looks much better when she actually does something (transitions, ...) Her biggest problem is she doesn't possess that natural elegance while doing basic crossovers for example. That said people saying she is only jumping...probably have their agenda. Of course, Sasha is dangerous, extremely dangerous and I can see how it is much more convenient to have Alena as a leader. That said, Sasha has improved so much even since Nepela. Her program has so much more detail. Not only she added triple axel and 4F (such a detail :yes2: :rofl2: ), in such a little time, she added new spin and choreo steps positions. How is this even possible? :confused: Btw. her spins are very good. Also, her upper body movement during step sequences needs some serious work, but I think it's about steps and feet after all? Because what Sasha does is crazy difficult. Not only for some strange reason, she has her steps set to fast tempo, she's also covering a huge amount of space. As for the jumps, they're fabulous. She even does have steps before quads. :eeking: For me, to give that quad lutz from Torino only +3 is ridiculous and clear attempt to put Alexandra down. Similar situation to Liza's....mark her down for what is weaker, but mark her jumps correctly, please ! All in all, Sasha doesn't represent what I love in figure skating, but I'm still a huge fan. Her will to push the sport while working also on her flows, combined with her excitement and smile are fantastic. :thank:

Honorable mention to Alina, who made a huge improvement from 2018 WC (when I saw her the last time) in maturity and overall presentation (based on the SP and training sessions).
 
I think the rule is that top 2 always go to Europeans and the third is decided by coaches' council? And if the skaters do not miss the podium at Euros and there are no other top skaters that missed Nationals and could be contenders, they're almost guaranteed to go to Worlds
 
In response to the article posted:

Nonsense- there was plenty of grumbling about Kwan, Lipinski and Hughes. Plenty!!! Who doesn’t remember Maria Butryskaya making comments similar to Ashley Wagner’s comments and saying how she’s a mature skater among children. Kwan and Lipinski are the reason for the age limit. This is not something that is exclusive to the current Russian youngsters.
Lipinski retired because of her hip injuries as a result of the 3/3. Hughes competed for one more year after winning Olympic gold, she placed 6th at Worlds....which is similar to Zagitova’s career path finishing 6th at GPF and then not competing afterwards. How could I forget Cohen? I don’t remember an outcry at all with her. She made a splash at Nationals and was attempting the quad at practices and attempted in competition. People rarely mention that. She was also plagued with back and knee injuries. And we all know about Kwan.
But don’t let anyone fool you. There was a lot of complaint about these “baby ballerinas” as they were called.
 
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I don't remember calling any of your posts ridiculous. So I don't know why you call mine. You have your argumentation, I have mine keep it there. Save my post and quote it in March.

I'm just not interested in the politics and think if the 3A take the podium that sending anyone else would be an unfair travesty considering their dominance this season and if they earn those Nationals medals they deserve to go.
 
What I felt last year, is that Elizabeta Tuktamysheva missed a well deserved third spot, rather by lack of support from her own coach, who didn't want to "stalk" Sofia Samodurova, though her Euro gold was a sort of miracle, hardly repeatible, with her best ever score at... 213. Sending her to World instead of Tuktamysheva was a sort of "suicide". But Mishin probably "demanded" two spots for his skaters, while only Tuktamysheva was a serious medal contender.
This year, she will be able to show how consistent is her 4T, I bet her practice sessions may be under particular scrutiny? But above all her score.

Sofia went to worlds because she showed she could win a major title, miracle or not she deserved it. Her consistency and Euro win was rewarded.
People seem to forget that Liza was absolutely nowhere between 2015/16 season and her success at the GPs in 18/19, not even close to making the team. She was not as reliable as you imply based on previous results, whereas Sophia was European Champion and Zhenya a 2 time World Champion and Olympic silver medalist.
 
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