2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Scott512]

Alina is NOT coming back. And neither is Med. Neither deserve any GP spots, are you serious? Med especially. To give either of them a GP spot is wrong. It's obvious they are staying non-retired to receive funding, but that's ridiculous. Why doesn't RusFed just PAY them separately to still be "non-retired stars" while not throwing away GP spots to them? Med said after the team event that she is stepping away from skating to focus on her health, which she needs to do. I don't think she means a week or two either. She's already WAY behind the other girls due to her injury, and the time she's taking off will be time her competitors continue training quads and 3axels. There isn't any time to do that, then get back what she once had, and then try to learn ultra-c elements which she'll never get anyway. I just find it frustrating the RusFed indulges their 2018 Olympic stars when they are totally irrelevant now in terms of fighting for Olympic spots.

People have been wanting to see a mature skater for TT for years. Zhenya will bring that type of mature excellent skater for TT that people have been wanting for years whether she's Olympic caliber or world championship caliber or not. I'm sorry but if people want to give a GP event to Sofia or little Liza and I'm good with that you better be sure Zhenya gets at least one if she's healthy. That's a big if of course. Let's see what happens in the off season. This passed off season into the beginning of the season was obviously very brutal for her.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

I like her a lot and she looks like she could play a superwoman in the movies but I can't see Stasya getting a GP event. She has dropped the ball too many times and these GP events are super valuable.

Guliakova was alternate for the worlds that never were last year. She has been pretty mediocre this year but I think she could get GP event.

Talalakuna also needs a GP event. She's tall and has a beautiful flow as she showed at nationals.

I doubt we need to suggest any new skaters for GP spots as the field already looks very crowded but if it somehow has to boil down to this my picks would be Tsibinova or Frolova. Tsibinova has been extremely consistent this season, and Frolova has been pretty consistent and she has more of an international reputation.

 

[starlight97]

I think all of Anna, Sasha, Kamila, Daria, and Liza will get two spots too. Then I think they'll give one spot to Maiia, Liza N, Sofia, Stanislava, and Kseniia (and Alina and Evgenia if they're still competing.) And then who gets two will be based on who does best in their first one and has the best chance at the GPF.

Was I asleep when Alena Kostornaya announced her retirement or...?
If Alena shows even only a clean program without 3A she will get 2 GP spots.
If she shows any landed 3A at all, there will be no question marks whatsoever about getting 2 GP spots.

 

[msteach3]

Zhenya's time has come and gone. She's nowhere near the caliber of many other Russian girls. She can do shows, be a spokesperson, etc., but compete? I don't think so.

 

[starlight97]

Zhenya's time has come and gone. She's nowhere near the caliber of many other Russian girls. She can do shows, be a spokesperson, etc., but compete? I don't think so.

A small correction. Of course she can keep competing inside of Russia, Stanislava style, and those who want this narrative to be true so badly, can pretend in their heads that she's the Russian Carolina Kostner, finally a mature russian ladies skater, big miming=big PCS blabla.
She cannot, however, compete with the top skaters at the national or international level for big medals anymore.

But she very much enjoys attention and performing for audiences so why should she not thrive skating at B and C level events inside of Russia where the crowd eats her up?
Good for her, good for ticket sales, good for national promotion of the sport, a win win win, why not go for that.

 

[rollerblade]

You might be thinking about JGP.
Russian ladies get 3 spots at each of the six GPs - hence 18 spots.
If 3A+Liza+Daria+Kamila each get 2 that means there's still six left.

Wasn't there a season, where a skater with only 1 GP assignment did really well, and they were "awarded" with a 2nd assignment.... I don't know if I'm remembering wrong or it wasn't in the ladies segment.

The host also gets an extra "home team slot" too, that doesn't eat up the 18-slots quota, right?

 

[Jeanie19]

Wasn't there a season, where a skater with only 1 GP assignment did really well, and they were "awarded" with a 2nd assignment.... I don't know if I'm remembering wrong or it wasn't in the ladies segment.

The host also gets an extra "home team slot" too, that doesn't eat up the 18-slots quota, right?

Sofia Somadurova. Medaled at Skate America and got Rostelecom.

 

[Amei]

Zhenya's time has come and gone. She's nowhere near the caliber of many other Russian girls. She can do shows, be a spokesperson, etc., but compete? I don't think so.

As long as Medvedeva wants to put in the effort she can still go to competitions, yes she has struggled to be consistent like she once was, but she is doing the same arsenal of jumps as many of the Russian ladies with the exception of Shcherbakova/Trusova/Valieva and some girls that are years away from eligibility. If at some point her results dwindle they do need to stop putting her up for things like GP events, but she is still the 13th ranked skater in the world, so it's not like she's a complete disaster.

 

[rollerblade]

Sofia Somadurova. Medaled at Skate America and got Rostelecom.

So, does that mean there are spare slots to be given out based on results? Or was it due to Russia not using up all 18 available GP slots to start the season?

 

[Jeanie19]

So, does that mean there are spare slots to be given out based on results? Or was it due to Russia not using up all 18 available GP slots to start the season?

It's the host spot, and they usually wait until the last minute to fill it.

 

[Jeanie19]

As long as Medvedeva wants to put in the effort she can still go to competitions, yes she has struggled to be consistent like she once was, but she is doing the same arsenal of jumps as many of the Russian ladies with the exception of Shcherbakova/Trusova/Valieva and some girls that are years away from eligibility. If at some point her results dwindle they do need to stop putting her up for things like GP events, but she is still the 13th ranked skater in the world, so it's not like she's a complete disaster.

And for the 2019-2020 her season best ranked 6th. So she is still competitive. And I still have hope for the 4S.

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

And for the 2019-2020 her season best ranked 6th. So she is still competitive. And I still have hope for the 4S.

The 4S is a question but yes - Zhenya at her best is still very much competitive. Had she not been at 2019 Skate Canada (which was an absolute bloodbath) but rather say CoC or even IdF she probably would've qualified for the final instead of Bradie.

 

[Amei]

The 4S is a question but yes - Zhenya at her best is still very much competitive. Had she not been at 2019 Skate Canada (which was an absolute bloodbath) but rather say CoC or even IdF she probably would've qualified for the final instead of Bradie.

She didn't qualify for the GPF because she bombed the SP at Skate Canada not because of some perceived "bloodbath"

 

[Supernovaimplosion]

She didn't qualify for the GPF because she bombed the SP at Skate Canada not because of some perceived "bloodbath"

Her total score at Skate Canada (209.62) would have gotten her bronze at skate America and cup of China and fourth place at the other two events, which would have likely got her to the GPF. Of course, her rostelecom performance would have guaranteed her a medal at any event

 

[Scott512]

I doubt we need to suggest any new skaters for GP spots as the field already looks very crowded but if it somehow has to boil down to this my picks would be Tsibinova or Frolova. Tsibinova has been extremely consistent this season, and Frolova has been pretty consistent and she has more of an international reputation.

Very crowded.

Got to give a GP event to the girls who did well at nationals. If the the girls you named finish behind Maria Talalakina that's the way it goes.

Frolova is that the CSKA junjor? She didn't even come close to the podium a junior nationals did she? She may be a decent choice. I don't know like you said the field is crazy deep.

I think there are 4 to 6 Russian ladies who could get two GPs each. Alina is out for obvious reasons. So there are 2 more Grand Prix events that can be dished out.

First et's just hope we have a Grand Prix season because we really missed it this year in the Grand Prix final for seniors and juniors is always outstanding competition.

 

[DougDorsey]

I disagree. Its a incredible huge accomplishment to win 3 nationals under the current competition. Still its only a qualification tournament after all

I feel like this kind of logic is easily dismantled.

Let's say it's the 2022 Olympics, and Russia sends Kami, Anya, and Sasha. And let's say that a couple days before the competition, all the skaters from Japan, Korea, and the United States - and all the Russian skaters except for Kami - come down with terrible food illness and have no choice but to withdraw. Kami, facing little competition at this point, easily wins a gold medal.

Is this still an impressive victory, given that it's the hallowed Olympics? Of course not. Why? Because Kami had no real competition; she could have won blindfolded. What does this show you? That the true impressiveness of a victory has more to do with the level of competition than it does the "prominence" of the tournament.

Thus, it doesn't really matter whether RusNats is "just" a qualification tournament; the level of competition exceeds pretty much any other event in all of skating right now. And the impressiveness of Anya's victories should be judged in this context.

 

[DougDorsey]

speaking of fair it's not fair Anna did not get a chance to do a quad in the SP at euros. your favorite Sasha too for that matter was handicapped by not being able to do a quad in the SP. let's take Alionas awesome 3A out of the SP and see how she would have done season!

I also think by now the quads are easier to learn and do in competition than triple axels are. It's so bizarre they won't allow the ladies to do a quad in the SP but they do in the free skate. It actually handicaps skaters like Anna and your favorite Sasha in the SP.. it's undeniable at this point.

Yes. It's only a matter of time before ladies are allowed to jump quads in their SPs, just like men. And that's going to leave us with this odd, brief period of three or so seasons where there were ladies who were able to jump quads consistently, but they weren't yet allowed to do so in their SPs.

It sucks for girls like Sasha and Anya, but I also think it sucks a little for Aliona, as well, because there are inevitably going to be people who look back at some of her victories, like Euros 2020, and place an asterisk next to it. As in, "Yes, she won, but she probably wouldn't have had her biggest competitors been able to jumps quads in their SPs, as they are now."

Not saying whether or not I think this argument is right; just saying that I do think there will be people in the future who discount her accomplishments as a result of the unfortunate rules that were in place at the time.

 

[DougDorsey]

Not that a flush beats a straight in figure skating.

I think the most competitive event so far was the 2019-20 GPF: the 4A, Rika Kihira and Bradie Tennell; and Alyona won there. She also still holds the world record. You can write it off to Anya missing her first season as a handicap (no pun intended), but she's yet to truly benefit from her constancy.

I'm not saying that wasn't a tough tournament to win, but tougher than this year's RusNats with the Anna, Sasha, Kami, Dasha, and Liza, as well as a near endless list of other legit skaters like Maiia, Nugs, Ksenia T., Maria T., Samodurova, FroLo, Guliakova, Tarakanova, and so on? Not a chance.

Keep in mind that it's a lot easier to win a tournament where you only need to beat five other girls to grab gold, versus a tournament where you need to beat 16 or so other girls to grab gold, as even "middle tier" girls can have the performances of their lives and threaten for the podium.

So I'd still go with 2020 RusNats as the toughest victory all-time, although I do acknowledge that 2019 GPF was super impressive, as well. But let's not forget that 2019 GPF was just one victory. Anya's won three straight RusNats, and while 2020 arguably was the toughest win of them all, 2018 and 2019 weren't all that much easier.

 

[brakes]

Not from RusNats, though. I don't remember if she medalled at last Europeans. This would count for international master of sports as well.

Oh no, you didn't.

 

[DougDorsey]

Why is the training quad is such a sore point for Anna's fans? Tursynbaeva jumped quad on practice in September 2016 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aJlhZmCOYQ is this some kind of achievement? Has this changed something? No, many skaters jumped quads in training and even a couple of times at competitions (Ando, Bonaly), but it was Trusova who began to constantly insert quads into the program and the rest followed her (Sasha has jumped quads in all competitions since 17-18 season and 22 competitions in a row does not leave the ice without landing at least one quad). I'll just remind you that by the time Anna decided to do a quad at competition, Sasha had already jumped 3 quads in one program.

I don't think it's a sore point. Personally, I find Anya fans and Sasha fans very respectful of each other. It's more so just an item of curiosity.

It does hold significance, too, as it would represent the first Russian girl to be jumping quads.

I believe I've read that Anya has said in an interview that she was the first one at Sambo-70 jumping quads. And Anya (as well as Sasha, for that matter) aren't the type to lie, so I'm going to take her at her word.

But it would be super interesting to see an interview with the two of them together discussing what that process was like in early 2017, when they were training side-by-side and gradually on their way to revolutionizing the sport.