2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Fluture]

Let us not forget that Kamila is the reigning Junior World Champion, the reigning Junior Grand Prix Final Champion and the reigning Russian Junior Nationals Champion. It is called merit, not favoritism.

Yeah, well, from this viewpoint, they have every reason to push Kamila. She‘s a brilliant skater, at the prime age, who currently has the highest chances to win the Olympics.

It‘s just that, historically, overhyping hasn‘t helped skaters, it has harmed them. Maybe it will be different for Kamila. Let‘s hope so.

Agree! It is terrible!
Also - has someone watched Kamila's jumps in slow motion? Very unpleasant looking and with big pre-rotation.

I‘m sure you have and will educate us with tons of clips of minutely slowed down take-offs.

I know, I shouldn‘t bite but I will: Kamila has a legitimate quad toe. Great height, good speed, the only problem is that she occasionally loses axis. She also has a very solid 3Lo and a beautiful 2A - I just think the rippon ruined the latter a bit, it used to be smoother without it. Her lutz and flip, as well as combinations are a problem, we all know about that infamous switch of edge between the jumps. But other than that, she has a lot of things going for her - including great posture, solid SS, beautiful lines and extensions, musicality... the list goes on. She‘s being hyped because she‘s, as simple as that, a brilliant talent. The question is just: where to draw the line before it becomes harmful? Personally, I think they‘ve crossed it multiple times this season already (and btw, the reason why this comes up now is not random bursts of jealousy, it‘s because this gala was one such occasion) and the effects have made me enjoy Kamila‘s skating less. (still could watch that SP all day, though, it’s one of the few that awed me as much as some of TeamTutberidze‘s older works did) Others are entitled to feel differently.

I do have to say that she skated very well, today, though. I prefer the 4T without the rippon but I love this dress on her. Wish they‘d use it for her actual SP.

 

[flanker]

Agree! It is terrible!
Also - has someone watched Kamila's jumps in slow motion? Very unpleasant looking and with big pre-rotation.

There is always sunny morning after this, I think I'll try my chance as a weatherman.

 

[McBibus]

Agree! It is terrible!
Also - has someone watched Kamila's jumps in slow motion? Very unpleasant looking and with big pre-rotation.

I saw her todays (and before) in normal speed and I was delighted.
To me there is not much else to know.

 

[Fluture]

Unnecessary rant really (btw you made your opinion clear so many times already).

Look at Anna, she was regressing and now the cold situation.

People express their opinions here everyday, what‘s wrong with that? It‘s about discussions. I‘m always open to hear new perspectives but all I‘m getting as an answer is “she‘s the best, ergo they should push her and you‘re just jealous“. I mean, okay, then?

And about Kamila being the best in Eteri‘s team. Overall, she probably is. But I think Anna (and Evgenia and Alina, when they‘re competing) still beat her handily in the performance aspect.

As for you second point: You’ve also made your point clear on Anna many times. I recall you from last season - sorry, if I remember it wrongly, but weren‘t you one of those who said she should stay in juniors? Anyway, I‘m sure it‘s obvious Anna‘s not my favorite. But she‘s regained a quad and her triple jumps after a long pause off the ice. That‘s pretty impressive and anyone who expects her to be at her last year’s RusNats form is insane. This pneumonia/cold/illness will set her back, too, but she knows how to handle it. She had to many times before, with that broken leg and then the pandemic. If I were you, I wouldn‘t count her out. I surely won‘t, that‘s for sure. Girl‘s proven me (and everyone else) wrong too many times before.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Since last year (the 1st times I saw her) i did picture Kamila as the next Olympic champion in my mind, unless Sasha would destroy the field in Chen's style.
She's incredibly talented and perfectly timed on the "Eteri Road Map"
She could potentially couple top Anna's TES + top Aliona's PCS and she could even add more ultra C before Olympics (3A maybe already in the trick bag?)

I just hope they won't burn her out before she's could make fireworks on the senior rink.
It somehow happened to Sasha: she got lost in the move from junior to senior when everybody was expecting her to dominate (and it was not a crazy expectation)

I'd say she could get 2 X 3A and 2 X 4T then beat a 4 quad Sasha, but her other jumps don't look quadable to me (I'm sure Kamila will find a way to prove me wrong though and get another quad)

 

[Fluture]

I'd say she could get 2 X 3A and 2 X 4T then beat a 4 quad Sasha, but her other jumps don't look quadable to me (I'm sure Kamila will find a way to prove me wrong though and get another quad)

Does she need another quad, though? Her 4T is great and she has a 3A now, too. That negates any advantage someone like Aliona or Sasha might have had after the SP. And she‘s getting higher GOE than Sasha on spins and step sequences + the higher PCS. At this point, imo, it will be better to go for stability. I think that‘s what Eteri was trying with Sasha, she just wasn‘t having it. But I think so far, it‘s proven to be the better strategy.

 

[lappo]

Cute. You’re clearly a little sensitive about the very valid criticisms here. I love Kamila, and I loved Alina and Yulia and every other hotshot 15 year old on the Olympic war path. I don’t remember any other junior turning up to every non-ISU sanctioned event the year before the Olympics for the sole purpose of showing off how good they are. I also love Daria, and in many ways consider her a more artistic and expressive skater who is only a bit behind Kalmila in terms skating skills. Where is she at an exhibition? This is the perfect event for her. Perhaps we should bring the whole crew along, let’s show off Sophia Akatieva too. She may be the most exciting prospect of all!

Well, it's kind of normal for the federation to show promising young skaters in galas of the international events they helped organize (last year Akatieva got to skate at Rostelecom cup gala, for example; Radionova, when she was still a junior, got to skate in Sochi Olympic gala but there are many more examples from other federations). This year it's not just about showing off the skaters but also to provide them with more experience; having the whole junior season cancelled is a major disadvantage for junior skaters who will be age eligible in 2022 and the officials are doing what they can to provide them with places to get more exposure to the competitive scene and the senior skaters and getting them better prepared (the USA federation is doing the same with Alysa Liu, for example). I think the only exceptional - and perhaps questionable - thing they did was to have her skate in the senior test skates instead of junior; as for the Russian cup and Nationals every year since time immemorial juniors take place with seniors.
As for the pressure, it may be too much or not, time will tell. There are skaters who got damaged by it and skaters who managed to thrive at the most important competions (take Yuna Kim and Mao Asada, Medvedeva and Zagitova, Yuzuru at his second Olympic just in recent times).

 

[Skatesocs]

I‘m always open to hear new perspectives but all I‘m getting as an answer is “she‘s the best, ergo they should push her and you‘re just jealous“.

I don't think there is a new perspective to be offered. It's just the way someone feels. And that's fine. I don't think people bothered by Valieva being pushed are jealous.

For me, I get the sport indulges in politics. It is what it is, at this point. No need to worry about it, though yes, kids being accosted by media hype is always awful (not just in skating).

 

[Fluture]

Change of topic, then:

Was there really a banquet at Rostelecom? It‘s like covid doesn‘t exist for RusFed, nevermind half their national teams + coaches has already suffered from it. This is so unnecessarily risky. Smh

Twitter

 

[halulupu]

People express their opinions here everyday, what‘s wrong with that? It‘s about discussions. I‘m always open to hear new perspectives but all I‘m getting as an answer is “she‘s the best, ergo they should push her and you‘re just jealous“. I mean, okay, then?

And about Kamila being the best in Eteri‘s team. Overall, she probably is. But I think Anna (and Evgenia and Alina, when they‘re competing) still beat her handily in the performance aspect.

As for you second point: You’ve also made your point clear on Anna many times. I recall you from last season - sorry, if I remember it wrongly, but weren‘t you one of those who said she should stay in juniors? Anyway, I‘m sure it‘s obvious Anna‘s not my favorite. But she‘s regained a quad and her triple jumps after a long pause off the ice. That‘s pretty impressive and anyone who expects her to be at her last year’s RusNats form is insane. This pneumonia/cold/illness will set her back, too, but she knows how to handle it. She had to many times before, with that broken leg and then the pandemic. If I were you, I wouldn‘t count her out. I surely won‘t, that‘s for sure. Girl‘s proven me (and everyone else) wrong too many times before.

Of course that is what we are here for. Its just this passive aggressivness and emotional overload in an analytic thread;-)..but maybe this on me and very subjective of course and I need to work on myself to better handle it. no insult meant.

Honestly, could have come from me, but I don't really remember. Anna is a joy to watch as well, her quads are much more impressive live (speed and length, real wow moment) than for example trusovas, saw them both live. Its just her technique which requires slim slim body (Eteri THE nutritionist) and it was showing in the last competitions that is slowly failing her. Her skating as such got better though

 

[eterialskating]

Kamila does perfect gala program and this is the reaction. I'm just glad the forum is back on the rail

The faux concern is already quite overplayed and frankly no one is buying it. After a program like that the correct and proper reaction is to applaud the performer and offer congratulations. The bitterness and handwringing is very palpable.

 

[chasingneverland]

Cute. You’re clearly a little sensitive about the very valid criticisms here. I love Kamila, and I loved Alina and Yulia and every other hotshot 15 year old on the Olympic war path. I don’t remember any other junior turning up to every non-ISU sanctioned event the year before the Olympics for the sole purpose of showing off how good they are. I also love Daria, and in many ways consider her a more artistic and expressive skater who is only a bit behind Kalmila in terms skating skills. Where is she at an exhibition? This is the perfect event for her. Perhaps we should bring the whole crew along, let’s show off Sophia Akatieva too. She may be the most exciting prospect of all!

This isn't new. Kamila has performed at even ISU-sanctioned events for awhile now. In 2018, she did her Girl on the Ball exhibition at the Gala at Rostelecom Cup, in an non-COVID, weird year. She was 12 at the time.

 

[chasingneverland]

I often wonder if part of the reason Trusova and Alena left was because of the special treatment Kamila was getting. We all know they were dissatisfied with the whole 3A marketing and the team for progress stuff vs the individual skaters getting the recognition they deserved, but it seems Kamila’s special treatment is on a whole new level. Maybe the girls saw this push for Kamila and decided to jump ship.

Sasha and Alena have had plenty of special treatment. It's crazy how easy and fast it is to forget that the narrative when they were juniors was all the pushing of the 3A, especially the quad queen, to the detriment of Alina. And before that it was Alina who was crowned and before that Evgenia and so on. Hell, Liza used to be the junior phenomenon who was winning and beating girls much older. Also the idea that they left because of special treatment for Kamila. As juniors they used to skate exhibitions at senior grand prixs too, as have others before them and since. All three of them beat all eligible seniors at Nationals in 2019. In fact, even skating as seniors in the Russian Cup (while still juniors internationally) isn't new. Alena actually won the fourth and fifth stage in 2017, two years before she was senior internationally. Were there complaints then? She deserved to be there and no rules were broken. The ONLY difference this year is that Kamila was allowed to compete in senior test skates - everything else has been the same as usual regarding age eligibility. And that happened after Sasha and Alena left.

 

[flanker]

The faux concern is already quite overplayed and frankly no one is buying it. After a program like that the correct and proper reaction is to applaud the performer and offer congratulations. The bitterness and handwringing is very palpable.

Whether Kamila (or any other of her team) does good or bad, it's always Eteri's fault.

But let's not bother ourselves with that and praise once again the result of the fantastic work that was shown today. Let's wish we will see that many more times.

 

[Magill]

This isn't new. Kamila has performed at even ISU-sanctioned events for awhile now. In 2018, she did her Girl on the Ball exhibition at the Gala at Rostelecom Cup, in an non-COVID, weird year. She was 12 at the time.

You' re perfectly right, I remember her and the Girl on The Ball from that occasion, too.
I really see no problem with Kamila and Alina - and some cute kids - skating here for the gala. I think a part of the perception of Kamila's sort of "over-presence" at the senior circles nowadays comes from the fact that most of the non-Russian events have been cancelled and we end up watching mostly Russian events. If all the recent competitions were happening between SA, SC, NHK etc. probably no one would complain as KV's "exposure" would not be that praiseworthy / overwhelming / annoying depending on whose side you're on
A certain faux-pas was probably, IMHO, making the guest skaters perform twice while the actual heroes of the night would perform just once. I'd say that was too much of a good thing and somehow unfair to those who did compete and won their gala spots. And it did surely play towards the "pushing" narrative making Kamila - quite rightly in these circumstances - appear to be "over-exposed".

 

[karina17]

Local juniors and novices skating in competition galas that they're too young to compete in is nothing new. You see it in GPs, JGPs, and I think even Challengers.

The only thing that was weird to me was that Kamila (and Alina, but I guess it's because she's OGM?) skated twice in the gala. (Thrice if you include her little piece during Moris's gala, but I don't).

Someone mentioned Daria, she could've gained some experience by being here and Kamila would've lost nothing by just skating one program in the gala instead of two.

 

[Novalis]

This isn't new. Kamila has performed at even ISU-sanctioned events for awhile now. In 2018, she did her Girl on the Ball exhibition at the Gala at Rostelecom Cup, in an non-COVID, weird year. She was 12 at the time.

And you could write this exact same post about Sofia Akatyeva. Just change 2018 to 2019. And by the way, one example (the only one before today) does not warrant the comment "happening for a awhile now".

 

[flanker]

Cute. You’re clearly a little sensitive about the very valid criticisms here. I love Kamila, and I loved Alina and Yulia and every other hotshot 15 year old on the Olympic war path. I don’t remember any other junior turning up to every non-ISU sanctioned event the year before the Olympics for the sole purpose of showing off how good they are. I also love Daria, and in many ways consider her a more artistic and expressive skater who is only a bit behind Kalmila in terms skating skills. Where is she at an exhibition? This is the perfect event for her. Perhaps we should bring the whole crew along, let’s show off Sophia Akatieva too. She may be the most exciting prospect of all!

(local) Juniors are shown at gala programs after senior competition pretty often, e. g.:



and it's not just in Russia, BTW.

 

[Novalis]

The only thing that was weird to me was that Kamila (and Alina, but I guess it's because she's OGM?) skated twice in the gala. (Thrice if you include her little piece during Moris's gala, but I don't).

Someone mentioned Daria, she could've gained some experience by being here and Kamila would've lost nothing by just skating one program in the gala instead of two.

I'm guessing it was never even Eteri's decision. More likely the organizers looked at who's popular: "Alina obviously, and Kamila gets ridiculous amount of hits on Youtube. Okay, we want those two. Ask Eteri for two programs each".

 

[chasingneverland]

And you could write this exact same post about Sofia Akatyeva. Just change 2018 to 2019. And by the way, one example (the only one before today) does not warrant the comment "happening for a awhile now".

I would say at least two years is awhile. Alena was also a junior at was at Euros that year too - before placing second at the JGPF.