2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[brakes]

Yeah, that just comes down to the fact that I don't think Kostornaya's Skating Skills are nearly as good as advertized, nor do I think her interpretation is even close to Shcherbakova's(I think Kostornaya has no musicality). You don't have to agree, that's why I labeled it as my opinion.

That's exactly what it is. She's slow, two-footed step sequence skater with very good gliding and great performance skills.
Thing is, Gleikhengauz and Tutberidze are masters of hiding their pupils' deficiencies or even transforming them into their (virtual) forte.
Their problem is, they do it so well, that some of their students start to believe those deficiences are not there anymore (!).

 

[dhjh811]

That's exactly what it is. She's slow, two-footed step sequence skater with very good gliding and great performance skills.
Thing is, Gleikhengauz and Tutberidze are masters of hiding their pupils' deficiencies or even transforming them into their (virtual) forte.
Their problem is, they do it so well, that some of their students start to believe those deficiences are not there anymore (!).

slow? you aren't even trying to be objective huh
have you ever even seen these girls live?

 

[Scott512]

I'm not saying it didn't, but compare her physical state after the skate to Shcherbakova's - Alyona looked completely normal, while Anna looked like a patient awaiting ambulance.
What do you think about Alyona's costume today?
What do you think about her programs here and at Rostelekom?
What do you think about the whole program selection circus?

Does it all look like responsible coaching team strategy of preparing recovering athlete to pre-Olympic World Championships?

Aliona moved to PA because of young Sergei.
He has to fix things even more than plushie. Plushie wanted Sasha but aliona was a gift he was not expecting.

I get all your points but I'm not going to kick her when she's down

 

[sclloyd]

Or it implies something happened there which made the situation completely unbearable for her and she just couldn't cope anymore.

Sasha liked that comment about the environment with Tut being abusive. Whether it was a fluke or not, given what we’ve heard from Aliona about the environment, it’s not totally unbelievable. Switching coaches happens all the time and people remain successful. The real issue here is that Aliona is still suffering the side effects of covid, which are more serious than a lack of breath that Anna had at RusNats. She had an injury before that, which was chronic and bothering her from even before the transfer, as far as I’m aware. The pandemic meant she lost her most valuable jump and the circumstances following meant she couldn’t get it back. So MAYBE it was a bad choice leaving. But on the other hand, no one chooses a pandemic, no one chooses getting an illness that has long term effects on their heart.

 

[sclloyd]

Most of fans know why she left and there is objectively nothing respectful about it at all.
Not that I care - but it bothers me when some people justify and blame the rest of the world for her decision.

Sorry, but there is a significant amount of respect to give to someone who is unhappy with the environment they’re in and makes steps to change it. If she was being disrespected by team tut, then I am happy she left, for her own personal well being, even if there is no benefit to her career. Sport is important, but mental health and well being should always come first.

 

[chasingneverland]

Sasha liked that comment about the environment with Tut being abusive. Whether it was a fluke or not, given what we’ve heard from Aliona about the environment, it’s not totally unbelievable. Switching coaches happens all the time and people remain successful. The real issue here is that Aliona is still suffering the side effects of covid, which are more serious than a lack of breath that Anna had at RusNats. She had an injury before that, which was chronic and bothering her from even before the transfer, as far as I’m aware. The pandemic meant she lost her most valuable jump and the circumstances following meant she couldn’t get it back. So MAYBE it was a bad choice leaving. But on the other hand, no one chooses a pandemic, no one chooses getting an illness that has long term effects on their heart.

I agree with this however, Anna didn't just have a lack of breath. She had pneumonia (and potentially COVID depending on who you ask.) She wasn't even healthy enough to do full run-throughs and her own doctors and coaches told her to withdraw - that's a lot more serious than merely "a lack of breath" - it's the same thing as Aliona.

And the pandemic also meant that Anna lost her combo and most valuable jumps too - although she has most of them back just hasn't gotten them all into her programs yet because she, like Aliona, got an "illness that has long term effects" on the lungs and heart.

 

[brakes]

slow? you aren't even trying to be objective huh
have you ever even seen these girls live?

She's shockingly slow StSq skater in comparison to Shcherbakova. She basically stands still, if you compare two of them side by side.
She doesn't use edges in StSq nowhere near Anna and uses two-foot skating much more.

 

[JazzUp]

Or it implies something happened there which made the situation completely unbearable for her and she just couldn't cope anymore.

yes, a terrible, terrible thing happened - TeamTut gave her both SP & FS ahead of the rest of the group! such abuse, oh the horror!

 

[brakes]

Sorry, but there is a significant amount of respect to give to someone who is unhappy with the environment they’re in and makes steps to change it. If she was being disrespected by team tut, then I am happy she left, for her own personal well being, even if there is no benefit to her career. Sport is important, but mental health and well being should always come first.

She was not disrespected at all. She was respected, liked and cherished.
She left for purely personal reasons, unrelated to figure skating at all.

 

[JazzUp]

What do you think about Alyona's costume today?

Spoiler: do you mean Anna's dress? :)

 

[dhjh811]

She was not disrespected at all. She was respected, liked and cherished.
She left for purely personal reasons, unrelated to figure skating at all.

damn you read minds too? you special

 

[dhjh811]

yes, a terrible, terrible thing happened - TeamTut gave her both SP & FS ahead of the rest of the group! such abuse, oh the horror!

yes, it's all crystal clear for you

 

[brakes]

Spoiler: do you mean Anna's dress? :)

Exactly.

Can you imagine Tutberidze letting this happen?

 

[P44]

Spoiler: do you mean Anna's dress? :)

Both are blue with long sleeves and...that's all

 

[brakes]

damn you read minds too? you special

No, just Russian fs fora, full of insiders and stuff.

 

[Lechat]

Well worlds is still a year away so I won't count her out for that yet.

Worlds are next month. It’s obvious that she’s not ready for an international competition.

As for the next season, 3 talented juniors will make their debut on international stage. It will be tough for her without her 3A.

 

[ruga]

Regarding Aliona's coaching situation, I think Rozanov is mainly in charge now and looking back at the timeline last summer, Aliona probably followed him to Plushenko's school (there were probably some additional factors, but we won't know). However, it's Rozanov's first year of having his own group and with Plushenko being mainly focused on Sasha, Aliona probably needs another, more experienced coach alongside Rozanov. And also, more stability - learning 2 new programs while recovering is never a good idea, especially considering that this season is almost over and her previous programs were normal and would still get her good PCS.

Also, it's not really correct to compare her recovery to, say, Anna's. We know that some people bounce back from Covid and other respiratory illnesses like it was some mild cold, while for others long term effects can be even career ending.

 

[snowflake]

Agree, yesterday people were posting about how it came off like Kostornaia was an after-thought for Plushenko. Today amplified that - the Kiss/Cry interaction was just odd, Plushenko came off as annoyed that he had to sit there and at times it looked like he was trying to physically distance himself from her on that couch. This has been a season filled with bad circumstances for Kostornaia, perhaps that's the source of her struggles and a non-crazy offseason might right the ship; going into the Olympic season I don't think that changing coaches is a better strategy than staying where she's at and going through growing pains with Rozanov.



If that was the source, that's more concerning - bad warmups happen, you can't let that affect your competition skate; what if this had been an important international competition.

Why was he even there? Coaches should follow their skaters to competitions to support them in good and bad.

 

[Shayuki]

She's shockingly slow StSq skater in comparison to Shcherbakova. She basically stands still, if you compare two of them side by side.
She doesn't use edges in StSq nowhere near Anna and uses two-foot skating much more.

Mm. I think Shcherbakova's improved upon her skating skills quite a bit lately. She can actually hold some pretty impressive edges and seems to have a lot more control than before. Still does the momentum kicking but it's not as bad as before. During her skates at the nationals for example she didn't really seem to struggle all that much with the steps especially when compared to something like Kostornaya's StSq here. Shcherbakova's skating skills used to take away from her performing for me but this year it's not really been an issue at all.

 

[JazzUp]

yes, it's all crystal clear for you

you don't need a crystal ball for that, Daniil uploads the clips as soon as they are ready; guess whose were the first ones?