2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[chasingneverland]

I think they’re clearly setting Kamila up to be Olympic champion. It’s another zhenya/Alina situation. It’s been obvious from the beginning of this season that Kamila is the one with the real star potential that they want to win.
I hope Kamila can live up to the pressure. We will see how next season goes for her and how judges score her.
Trusova is a fighter and continues to improve. Nobody should count her out as a huge spoiler
Alena is a fan favorite outside of Russia and international judges love her skating. I don’t see the support from the Russians anymore, at least based on what I read on this forum, but everyone else loves this girl. Once she’s back and ready to compete, I don’t think anyone can count her out either.

Aliona is still very supported by the Russians, both fans and the RusFed. They WANT to back her and will give her every chance to succeed. Look at her Cup of Russia and Rostelecom scoring for that. (Both Russian judges as Rostelecom was domestic this year.)

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

Yes true..same with the GP, Euros, Worlds (both Jr and Sr)

As well as wishing we had had a chance to watch Anna, Sasha, Liza, Aliona, Rika, Kaori, etc (both during the GP, Euros/4CC, and World's??) I was wish we had a chance to watch the senior B's/challenger events. (At least Russian/Japanese (a couple others) still get to compete and we still get to watch them. That's not the case for everyone - some might not get to comepete at all )

As for more difficult elements that's been the case since Sasha was too young to compete at senior RusNats.

True, but I meant that it goes to show that it wasn't just that one generation of Anna/Sasha/Kami doing quads, the new generation is also building up their repertoire of quads as well.

 

[chasingneverland]

True, but I meant that it goes to show that it wasn't just that one generation of Anna/Sasha/Kami doing quads, the new generation is also building up their repertoire of quads as well.

Yeah agreed. Really each generation is better than the one before it which is crazy..

 

[flanker]

Last day of the year in the team Army of Skaters

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJcqp0lKQ-V/

 

[Skuratov]

Trusova's technical content

Ranking of the last two season's free skate Tech score + GOE (including deductions for falls):
1. Skate Canada 99.20 - landed 3 quads, 1 fall on a quad
2. Nepela Mem 98.34 - landed 3 quads, doubled her Loop combo with -GOE
3. RusNats (this year) 97.75 - landed 2 quads, CLEAN
4. Japan Open 97.51 - landed 4 quads (one with - GOE), UR 3Lo combo
5. GP Final 95.80 - landed 3 quads, 1 fall on a quad and popped 1 quad
6. Russian Cup Four 94.89 - landed 3 quads, 1 fall on a quad and 1 fall on 2Lo combo
7. Rostelecom (last year) 93.34 - landed 3 quads, 1 fall on a quad and 1 fall on 3Lo combo
8. Russian Cup Two 89.46 - landed 2 quads, 1 bad quad (not deemed a fall but judged as one) and 1 fall on 3Lo combo
9. Europeans 83.14 - landed 1 quad, 2 falls on quads
10. RusNats (last year) 80.74 - landed 1 quad, 2 falls on quads and popped 1 quad
11. Rostelecom (this year) 61.80 - landed 1 quad (with - GOE), 3 falls on quads and 1 fall on 3Lz

It is obvious to me that it's essential to be clean. Her skate here at Nationals is her 3rd best ever! And it's only -1.45 points behind her best technical score from Skate Canada. It's interesting that the score from Japan Open, where she was clean-ish and landed four quads(!) had a lower score!! But that skate at JO was overall not well executed so allthough she was "clean", her GOE was not that great.

That 97.75 tech score had some minor issues. A ! call on the Flip and lost levels in Steps and one Spin lost her 2.25 points. These points was left on the table by Sasha. With them she would have scored exactly 100 points in Tech and it would have been her best score ever.

This layout she had here is such a smart layout. Anna showed that last season as she had exactly the same. It's a moneybringer with max jump content in BV. If she could work on this layout and stabilize it, I am sure her GOEs and PCS will go up.

Then later she can add a 4T to the free skate. That will replace a 2A so it's about +8.00 points (with +3 GOE).

Adding a 4th quad is NOT good IMO. Then she will have to take out a 3F and the added BV is not that great, but the added risk is soo much higher.

She will need the 3A though as she is behind Anna in PCS. If she can stabilize her 3A in the short, maybe later she can also introduce it in the free program. Then she can take out the remaining 2A. It would be a much better strategy than adding a 4th quad IMO.

Still, a three quad program and two 3As will not be enough when Anna adds her 3rd quad. Not the way the scoring is going now. Sasha is too far behind in spins, GOEs and PCS. So she needs to work on her GOEs and her PCS, and she can only do that with clean skates.

A little clarification:
1. Skate Canada 99.20 - landed 3 quads, 1 fall on a quad. Correct TES is 100.20 Still a world record.

The score at Japan Open with 4 quads was lower because japanese judges are very strict, she overotated on her 4T-Eu-3S that's why -GOE and the UR 3Lz+3Lo mentioned. Russian Jugdes are a Joke.
TT removed 3Lz+3Lo from her SP. Since then the gap between her competitors has increased. You can say difference with 3lz+3T is only 0.6 points but that can be the difference between the Russian Championship and the second place ( Do you remember Rus Nats december 2018?).

If she can stabilize her 3A in the short, maybe later she can also introduce it in the free program. But for her its easier to do a Quad than a trixel. How many years has she been trying to master 3A without success? Since her time with Tsareva-Volkov. 4S, 4T+3T, 4F, have higher BV than 3 Axel, that's why she replaces 3Axel with these quads, only if some day she can stabilize the trixel.

 

[Jontor]

A little clarification:
1. Skate Canada 99.20 - landed 3 quads, 1 fall on a quad. Correct TES is 100.20 Still a world record.

The score at Japan Open with 4 quads was lower because japanese judges are very strict, she overotated on her 4T-Eu-3S that's why -GOE and the UR 3Lz+3Lo mentioned. Russian Jugdes are a Joke.
TT removed 3Lz+3Lo from her SP. Since then the gap between her competitors has increased. You can say difference with 3lz+3T is only 0.6 points but that can be the difference between the Russian Championship and the second place ( Do you remember Rus Nats december 2018?).

If she can stabilize her 3A in the short, maybe later she can also introduce it in the free program. But for her its easier to do a Quad than a trixel. How many years has she been trying to master 3A without success? Since her time with Tsareva-Volkov. 4S, 4T+3T, 4F, have higher BV than 3 Axel, that's why she replaces 3Axel with these quads, only if some day she can stabilize the trixel.

You're right, her official tech score at SC is 100.20, but I included the -1 for the fall as you should in this kind of comparison, so 99.20 after the fall.

Yes, I remember nats in dec 18. Shcherbakova won by a nail. Had Trusova only gone for one quad like Shcherbakova did, she would have won.

When it comes to the 3A I think it's Trusova's only option for success in the big events. I know she has trained it a lot and it's not working - yet - but it can be done. The 3A gives her a chance to score better in the short program, quads are not allowed there. So if she gets the 3A it's a HUGE advantage. And also, in the long program the 3A means that you don't have to take out a triple, so that's an advantage too.

Trusova loves jumping. That's why she does all the quads. But at the same time I think that's her problem. Non of those quads are stable. Her competitors are training one or two quads/ 3As. Trusova is working on her 3A and ALL the five quads. How many hours has she wasted on that 4Loop? It's probably the hardest quad to get (the men's are proof of that). And her 4S is not stable either. Her 4F we haven't seen this year, I suppose that means it is not stable. She should concentrate on her 4Lz which is great when she lands it, and her 4T. But she still needs to work on that 3A.

 

[colormyworld240]

True, but I meant that it goes to show that it wasn't just that one generation of Anna/Sasha/Kami doing quads, the new generation is also building up their repertoire of quads as well.

A trend that I think will continue. Before Evgenia, not many people did backloaded programs. Then Alina did it completely, and also added the very uncommon 3Lz-3Lo. Sasha said in an interview that she saw Alina do it, and wanted to learn it. She had it stable much it younger than Alina did (it was landed fully rotated at her first JGP where as Alina didn't have full rotation until JW I believe), and wanted to challenger herself with quads. So did Anna. It took a full season for Sasha to land her first quad, and Kamila does it in her first outing. And now you have novices landing 3As and quads before their international junior debut. The technical advancement is from young skaters looking at the older ones and starting to train them younger because they know it's possible.

At the same time, the talent of non-top 5 skaters are also rising. At junior nationals last year, how many skaters went clean with the standard 2A and triples programs? When Radionova was winning junior nationals, she was one of the very few, and it was only ~3 cycles ago.

 

[Giltedge]

This new Brestovskaya interview was interesting. It's in Russian, so most of you probably need Google translate. And I don't think she has a fan fest yet, so I'll post it in here

She talks about how she got into the Ice Age Kids, and about the fame it brought. And her mother talks about being a parent of a competitive athlete and safety measures regarding the internet world

«Все именитые фигуристки проходят через хейт». 13-летняя Лиза Берестовская — о победе в «Ледниковом периоде» и большом спорте. Монолог комментирует мама спортсменки

Сегодня у тринадцатилетней фигуристки Елизаветы Берестовской есть много поводов для гордости — она заняла первое место на шоу «Ледниковый период. Дети» и вошла в состав юношеской сборной России. Мы поговорили с Лизой и её мамой о том, как живут дети в большом спорте и каких усилий стоит каждая...

mel.fm

Liza does and I wish someone here would unlock it. It was one of those that were locked when the u13 rule came about. She turned 13 on 8th December.

 

[Amei]

You're right, her official tech score at SC is 100.20, but I included the -1 for the fall as you should in this kind of comparison, so 99.20 after the fall.

Yes, I remember nats in dec 18. Shcherbakova won by a nail. Had Trusova only gone for one quad like Shcherbakova did, she would have won.

When it comes to the 3A I think it's Trusova's only option for success in the big events. I know she has trained it a lot and it's not working - yet - but it can be done. The 3A gives her a chance to score better in the short program, quads are not allowed there. So if she gets the 3A it's a HUGE advantage. And also, in the long program the 3A means that you don't have to take out a triple, so that's an advantage too.

Trusova loves jumping. That's why she does all the quads. But at the same time I think that's her problem. Non of those quads are stable. Her competitors are training one or two quads/ 3As. Trusova is working on her 3A and ALL the five quads. How many hours has she wasted on that 4Loop? It's probably the hardest quad to get (the men's are proof of that). And her 4S is not stable either. Her 4F we haven't seen this year, I suppose that means it is not stable. She should concentrate on her 4Lz which is great when she lands it, and her 4T. But she still needs to work on that 3A.

I think someone needs to ask her what's more important to her jumps/records for jumps or winning, because right now it seems that she has prioritized the jumps/records for jumps vs. winning.

 

[brakes]

Crystal clear HD fancams in this YT channel:

 

[Thrashergurl]

Aliona is still very supported by the Russians, both fans and the RusFed. They WANT to back her and will give her every chance to succeed. Look at her Cup of Russia and Rostelecom scoring for that. (Both Russian judges as Rostelecom was domestic this year.

Aliona is the one I could see becoming a huge international star if she wins Olympic gold. The world fell in love with her skating last season. It could potentially be huge for Russia if she won

 

[gsk8]

Liza does and I wish someone here would unlock it. It was one of those that were locked when the u13 rule came about. She turned 13 on 8th December.

We actually went to unlock this thread last month, but it didn't transfer over for some reason when we moved to XF. It will have to be created again. Sorry about that.

There was one other post that was in "draft" that didn't carry over as well, but don't remember which one.

 

[Scott512]

How would Kamila fair against a clean Anna or Sasha with say a 3A in the short, 2x3A in the long and 2x4T.

Or is that not possible and asking for trouble (falls).

This is so exciting. They are all so freaking awesome we are wondering how many quads and 3As they have not whether they can manage a clean 3-3. We're incredibly spoilt to assume their 3-3s should all be clean. It's kinda crazy!

Also I'm thrilled to see they are all growing!!!! Not because I'm smug that they are going to lose their quads but because I'm smug that growing seems to have not really hindered their quads at all! Maybe we need never have the "Zzz will lose all jumps" argument again.

You know the answer to your question. Kamila would win. But two triple axels and two quads in the free skate is asking a lot of a 14 year old or any figure skater for that matter.
I expect KV to be better next season. But others will be better too.

 

[Amei]

How would Kamila fair against a clean Anna or Sasha with say a 3A in the short, 2x3A in the long and 2x4T.

Or is that not possible and asking for trouble (falls).

This is so exciting. They are all so freaking awesome we are wondering how many quads and 3As they have not whether they can manage a clean 3-3. We're incredibly spoilt to assume their 3-3s should all be clean. It's kinda crazy!

Well Valieva score 79.99 points with a fall on her triple axel in the SP at this Nationals, so with a clean triple axel she might've been able to win here. Adding 2 triple axels in the FS in addition to the 2 quads she does might be asking too much, and she's only landed the jump once in competition at this point so there's still a question about how consistent of a jump it will be plus her quad has had consistency issues, and Trusova whose been doing quads longer has struggled with being consistent and clean on her jumps if she adds more than 3 quads.

Also I'm thrilled to see they are all growing!!!! Not because I'm smug that they are going to lose their quads but because I'm smug that growing seems to have not really hindered their quads at all! Maybe we need never have the "Zzz will lose all jumps" argument again.

Agree, interestingly I remember the 'puberty monster coming to get them' predictions were that Kostornaia would be the best 1 to survive because triple axels have a track record of being done post-puberty and she's the one struggling whereas Shcherbakova and Trusova have both grown this year and their quads are still here and Shcherbakova's flip has gotten better than what she did last year.

 

[NAOTMAA]

Agree, interestingly I remember the 'puberty monster coming to get them' predictions were that Kostornaia would be the best 1 to survive because triple axels have a track record of being done post-puberty and she's the one struggling whereas Shcherbakova and Trusova have both grown this year and their quads are still here and Shcherbakova's flip has gotten better than what she did last year.

I remember the "puberty monster" talk and it was pretty much Shcherbakova doesn't stand a chance and it would be a fight between Kostornaia and Trusova for domination.

If you look back at the talk of the last two seasons it was always Kostornaia and Trusova who got the most attention and Shcherbakova almost an afterthought, mainly getting talked about only because she was part of the 3A trio. One explanation for the lack of talk about her compared to the other two was her jumps were by far the least sustainable and it was almost a guarantee she would lose them and therefore no reason to get too invested. The other two were more stable and far more likely to keep their jumps. Yet here we are now and Shcherbakova is by the most stable of them all and heading into the Olympic season as the #1 while Trusova has kept her jumps but is still at square one trying to figure out the best jump layout and Kostornaia struggling the most due to a combination of things. Nothing is easy to predict, it could all change again a year from now!

 

[chasingneverland]

Aliona is the one I could see becoming a huge international star if she wins Olympic gold. The world fell in love with her skating last season. It could potentially be huge for Russia if she won

Really I think that applies for all of them. All of them have star potential.
Sasha revolutionized the sport and Kamilia/Sasha combine artistry with difficulty.

 

[Amei]

Aliona is the one I could see becoming a huge international star if she wins Olympic gold. The world fell in love with her skating last season. It could potentially be huge for Russia if she won

Russian ladies don't seem to have an issue becoming 'stars' if they are successful even if its limited success, my understanding is that all 3 of the new seniors from last year (Kostornaia, Shcherbakova, Trusova) have sponsors already, they were doing ice shows in foreign countries before they ever stepped foot on international competitive ice as senior skaters. And I don't think any of them specifically would be 'huge' for Russia if they win, at this point with the knowledgeable figure skating fan Russia is expected to win at the ladies event. The only thing a Kostornaia/Shcherbakova/Trusova OGM for Russia would do is to quiet down the '15 year old one-shot wonders' talk because if 1 of them wins they will be 17-18 years old that have several seasons competing as a senior internationally. Whereas Valieva if she goes to and wins OGM then it's another first-year 15-year old senior, and more fuel to the 'raise the age limit' conversation; now that I think about it, it would likely be in Russia's best interest to push an over 15-year old skater for the Olympics regardless of Valieva (or Usacheva or Kromykh) success in the 2021-2022 season.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Russian ladies don't seem to have an issue becoming 'stars'

Indeed, I thought Anna, Aliona and Alexandra were already big stars, although I guess it's true their names aren't recognisable globally like Usain Bolt or Roger Federer. But as far as figure skating goes they're pretty famous.

Could they be more famous if one of them won the Olympics? I guess, apparently Alina Z has appeared on Nike posters outside of Russia - I think in New York even, which is pretty cool.

But as it is I don't see that even winning the Olympics would make one if them more hugely popular than the others. Although being super popular in Japan certainly helps! They have amazing line-ups for their shows. My hope is to one day go to one since Japan is much closer to Australia than any of the other big skating countries. Plus my older brother and his family live there, so it'd be win, win!

 

[starlight97]

I think the realistic layout for Kamila is 3A in SP and 2x4T in the FS.
If they really want to test their luck, they may put a 3A in the FS as well but that already sounds risky to me.
Both quads and 3A take a huge amount of concentration and strength hence why usually done at the beginning ot the program. She would need to get more stable and comfortable in her 4T if she wants a 3A in the FS.

 

[Novalis]

I think the realistic layout for Kamila is 3A in SP and 2x4T in the FS.
If they really want to test their luck, they may put a 3A in the FS as well but that already sounds risky to me.
Both quads and 3A take a huge amount of concentration and strength hence why usually done at the beginning ot the program. She would need to get more stable and comfortable in her 4T if she wants a 3A in the FS.

I'm glad that Eteri is her coach and not some internet commentator who wants to build a roof on top of Kamila. Anna showed that she needs to move forward, and fortunately Eteri believes in forward motion. Adding a 3A to free is perfectly possible and so is learning a new quad. Anna and Sasha have both had 3 or more ultra-c in a program, so why not Kamila.

And Kami's 4T is pretty damn solid. That Rippon already has stabilized it. I don't know if you missed it, but there was this competition a week ago and those quads were gorgeous

And she landed them 4 weeks ago as well (though not quite as gorgeous)