2021-22 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[chasingneverland]

What exactly can they do about it? Maybe train their teams better? Sounds like sour grapes to me.

Well first of all, it's just as likely that Maiia lands her two quads as it is that Young You lands her 3A, Rika lands her 4S and 3A, Amber lands her 3A, etc.

Second of all, Anna with a fall on a 4F and no other quad had NO equal at World's. You could argue that Russia also should have trained their teams better. But there's a strong argument to be made that the sweep at World's occurred BECAUSE of politics. Definitely Anna had no equal there. But with very similar skates Kaori was 20 points higher two weeks later, not because she as cleaner but because her PCS were MUCH higher. PCS are mostly political.

A lot of other federations have skaters capable of tech contents that don't rival Anna/Kamila/Sasha but definitely rival Maiia, Daria, Aliona, Liza T.

PCS are primarily based on reputation and federation support and Russian actually NEEDS the European countries at least to side with them for their own skaters PCS. And there are many countries that have the sway and political clout and also have skaters with better reputations that some of the lower ranked Russian skaters. US for instance DEFINITELY does. Also remember Japan didn't have a judge at ladies at Worlds and look how much Kaori's scores went up with Fed support at home when they had a judge there (7 point difference alone in PCS not to mention GOE). For example, Liza was actually cleaner at WTT and performed more and yet Kaori outscored her at home despite being 13 points behind her at World's with similar skates.

So no, it's not sour grapes. A lot of it is politics. There's actually plenty they can do about it.

 

[Scott512]

Maybe Plushenko realized that she has irreparably poor technique and she'd probably lose her jumps anyway once she fills out. So he didn't take her in, like Eteri denied her. I did think that Plushy could help her. Poor Liza#3....

Whaaaat?

Can she go back to CSKA? Damn this sport is tough.

I thought I read something somewhere else that EG wanted Maya to go to dance. Whaaaat?

 

[spicymacaron]

Whaaaat?

Can she go back to CSKA? Damn this sport is tough.

I thought I read something somewhere else that EG wanted Maya to go to dance. Whaaaat?

Yes, that was in a recent interview. EG wanted Maya to switch to ice dance because she was having trouble with her jumps. Although I'm not sure how that would work. Maiia has decent skating skills, but ice dancers are a level above.

 

[Scott512]

Finally an interview with Maiia (this time with interviewer not being rude to her!)

«Этери написала, чтобы снимали больше»: Хромых о «Тутберхаусе», диете в «Хрустальном», высоком росте и своих страхах

Этери Тутберидзе обладает невероятной энергетикой, которая придаёт сил окружающим её людям. Об этом в интервью RT заявила фигуристка Майя Хромых. По её словам, поначалу она боялась даже смеяться на тренировках, но затем убедилась, что слухи о жёсткости наставницы не имеют под собой никаких...

russian.rt.com

Wow, what a great interview! She’s so open and funny! Very open about her goals, her past and how she trains. Also talks a lot about training with Tutberidze and how it is different from what she’s seen before, how it helped her to open up/discover herself. Questions about food, what she eats, what Eteri tells them to eat and her height came up as well. Fun fact: Alina’s and Maia’s dads seem to be friends

She’s also learning a 3A at the moment, so watch out everyone!

What a phenomenal interview. Maya has a great personality. I can't wait to see how far she goes in this sport. Hard to believe she's only 14 years old said she so well spoken.

If this girl continues to improve and a couple of her teammates plateau watch out!

 

[Amei]

Yes, that was in a recent interview. EG wanted Maya to switch to ice dance because she was having trouble with her jumps. Although I'm not sure how that would work. Maiia has decent skating skills, but ice dancers are a level above.

Well she's still young enough to do the training to get better to get up to speed in ice dance; still able to do juniors and grow her skills - Diana Davis is 18 and still competing as a junior. In Russian ladies if you aren't debuting internationally as a senior at 15 it seems you are very behind the 8 ball.

 

[Alya]

Whaaaat?

Can she go back to CSKA? Damn this sport is tough.

I thought I read something somewhere else that EG wanted Maya to go to dance. Whaaaat?

She went back to CSKA. It's on their Instagram

 

[chasingneverland]

Whaaaat?

Can she go back to CSKA? Damn this sport is tough.

She already did. It seems to be that due to the return of Aliona and Sasha Eteri didn't think the had space for her.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

4Lz-3Lo from the rocket herself:


Edit: I just realized this might be an old video, since it is tagged "throwback". Still awesome though.

 

[Novalis]

Edit: I just realized this might be an old video, since it is tagged "throwback". Still awesome though.

Insane indeed!

 

[Idiote]

4Lz-3Lo from the rocket herself:


Edit: I just realized this might be an old video, since it is tagged "throwback". Still awesome though.

I can't see the video :'( (or anything linked from instagram, I only see a white empty rectangle) Can you put up a simple hyperlink ? I'd love to see that !

 

[flanker]

I can't see the video :'( (or anything linked from instagram, I only see a white empty rectangle) Can you put up a simple hyperlink ? I'd love to see that !

https://www.instagram.com/p/COayJISpPu_/

 

[Idiote]

Thank you flanker ! I do remember this video from when it came out ^^ Still pretty impressive !

 

[McBibus]

Do you really think Canada couldn't send three ice hockey teams and sweep? Do they? No. They have to leave some of the best in the World behind every year.

And they ARE sending their best! But EVERY country is.

As for real international competitions being counted on a hand - that applies for MOST sports.

Gymnastics for example, has a 2 per country rule - so even if the top 4 or 5 gymnasts in the World are all from one country only the top two qualify. And that's for ALL events, including the All Around.

And while YOU might not care about their passport that's not actually how sports grow. That's not how worldwide TV networks showcase sports. They typically ONLY focus on sports/skaters from their own countries. And it's the children watching at home that is how sports grow.

I understand limitations in events like a world championship: it won't be a world championship if all the skaters come from the same 4 countries.
The problem is that events like that should be the cherry over the cake and not the whole cake.

It is ok to have just 5 of the best 10 skaters (random numbers) to compete at WC as long as the other 4 and ideally all the top 50 (again random) skaters have a chance to regularly compete at top level and ideally make a living out of it.
Sports that live locally and just meet for a pair of event every year are amateur sports with no exposure (except a limited circle of passionate fan like us) no money and no future for athletes that give all theyr life to the sport like professionals.
The mark of such a sport? Olympics is not just a great (maybe the greates) victory you can achieve: it's almost all that matters and the sport itself lives in 4 years cycles; the moment an olympic close you start programming the next with everything in between being just seen in the olympic year perspective.

I may be biased being a skating fan, but I think figure skating may have the quality to become a sport witha good follow, sponsors and money for the skaters, but not ISU nor the federations seems interested in that.

Look at alpine ski or bycicle racing.
Olimpycs and WC are indeed a dream for many (the cherry), but the ski world cup and the World Tour races are where the athletes make their career (the cake).

 

[Arbitrary]

There is a sort of embargo on news about Sasha. Those to be close keep their tongues behind teeth. It looks like that.

 

[flanker]

Do you really think Canada couldn't send three ice hockey teams and sweep? Do they? No. They have to leave some of the best in the World behind every year.

And they ARE sending their best! But EVERY country is.

As for real international competitions being counted on a hand - that applies for MOST sports.

Gymnastics for example, has a 2 per country rule - so even if the top 4 or 5 gymnasts in the World are all from one country only the top two qualify. And that's for ALL events, including the All Around.

And while YOU might not care about their passport that's not actually how sports grow. That's not how worldwide TV networks showcase sports. They typically ONLY focus on sports/skaters from their own countries. And it's the children watching at home that is how sports grow.

I don't, there are countries who have something to say about it (although we do not belong to them anymore). And Canadians+Americans are not interested in worlds after all, they care about their NHL.

Now more seriously, it is a difference when you send a team, 20-25 best, and when you send 3 individuals at best. That number is simply ridiculously low. BTW in ice hockey there is a B division, I think there could be the B division in figure skating as well, divided not by country but by individual results.

Well first of all, it's just as likely that Maiia lands her two quads as it is that Young You lands her 3A, Rika lands her 4S and 3A, Amber lands her 3A, etc.

Nope. Maiia landed two clean quads just recently and lands quads at shows. Young You didn't show significant jumping success for a year.

Second of all, Anna with a fall on a 4F and no other quad had NO equal at World's. You could argue that Russia also should have trained their teams better. But there's a strong argument to be made that the sweep at World's occurred BECAUSE of politics. Definitely Anna had no equal there. But with very similar skates Kaori was 20 points higher two weeks later, not because she as cleaner but because her PCS were MUCH higher. PCS are mostly political.

A lot of other federations have skaters capable of tech contents that don't rival Anna/Kamila/Sasha but definitely rival Maiia, Daria, Aliona, Liza T.

That's not an argument at all. The only skater who was significantly politically helped was Karen Chen through ignoring of her obvious URs and last time I checked she was no Russian. She definitely shouldn't have finished 4th.

Kaori's skate at worlds and at WTT were not similar but siginificqantly different in quality. Those 13 points in difference were not just different view of the same thing. And remember that her 150 points in the free at WTT was her all time international max, 5 points higher than the previous one, it's not like she do that routinely on international field. Her WTT free skate was probably the best non-russian lady skate of the season, but we have seen russian juniors doing better.

A lot of federations definitely do not have skaters capable of tech content that "rival Maiia/Daria/Aliona/Liza T." Apart from Japan and maybe Korea if You restores her level she had two seasons ago (but still inconsistent even that time) I can hardly see rivals to those you named if clean. Clean Daria can be possibly defeated by clean Kaori of the skaters without quads, but hardly by anybody else. Maiia with a stable quad(s) have pretty decent chance against anyone outside of Russia. Liza made a mistake on her 3A combo at WTT which cost her second place. Aliona is a question now, but we will see in two or three months.

 

[pearly]

ultra complicated/complex; but origin is from gymnastics, iirc - elements have a, b, c, etc levels of difficulty; anything higher than с was "ultra"; later on, this grading moved to fs

It's moved to figure skating fandom informally, it is not in any of the rulebooks and there is no official list of elements. Feels important to note that.

 

[silveruskate]

Switching countries sounds so enticing competitively. Imagine if Maiia for example switched, she would get a free pass into the Olympics as well as all Worlds and Europeans. And the field at the Olympics would only include 3 of the Russians. Heck, even Valieva for example. She wouldn't need to deal with Akatieva/Samodelkina/Zhilina every single Nationals in the future. Having just a few bad days at Nationals can wreck your year. I wonder what the parents of really young novice skaters are thinking.

It isn't just a scenario of skaters that are too bad to podium at Nationals and therefore have no chance at the Olympics doing this. Getting consistent international comps. is a big asset.

Between 2022-2026 I think we'll see really good skaters switch.

 

[flanker]

Switching countries sounds so enticing competitively. Imagine if Maiia for example switched, she would get a free pass into the Olympics as well as all Worlds and Europeans. And the field at the Olympics would only include 3 of the Russians. Heck, even Valieva for example. She wouldn't need to deal with Akatieva/Samodelkina/Zhilina every single Nationals in the future. Having just a few bad days at Nationals can wreck your year. I wonder what the parents of really young novice skaters are thinking.

It isn't just a scenario of skaters that are too bad to podium at Nationals and therefore have no chance at the Olympics doing this. Getting consistent international comps. is a big asset.

Between 2022-2026 I think we'll see really good skaters switch.

It is highly improbable FFKKR would release a skater of Maiia's level and releasing Kamila resides in the land of mead and elves.

After all, that skaters are forced to switch countries just to get a chance to compete internationally shows how the existing system of quotas per country is obsolete. Even though there are people who call for "diversity" in skating, you can hardly achieve what diversity should bring just by assigning different flags to skaters from one country. I'm not saying switching countries should be forbidden, but it shouldn't be done just as the act of the last hope (or bussiness for the countries that capitalize on it).

 

[ELEk3k]

Guys, you don't need to do anything to increase the quota so that more Russian athletes compete at international figure skating competitions. Russia can bring three athletes to each competition, this is more than enough. Athletes from other countries also need to pursue a career and earn titles.

Here you just need to act with the analogy in hockey or football. Do more domestic competitions or a commercial league like NHL or KHL. I noticed that at the junior competitions in Russia, the rink side was completely filled with sponsors, and their level was the same as at the Russian or World Championship. We already have team competitions, which we decided to hold on an annual basis. Since there is demand from the viewer, then sponsors will be found. It seems to me that everything is just beginning now.

Also I do not think that it is necessary to raise the age for older ladies. Remember, many suggested raising the age to 17, in the hope that the girls would stop jumping quadruples and in the old girls everything would be the same as early, but they are already 17 and they continue to jump. Taking into account the total number of all girls of different ages who are already jumping quadruples, even if some of them move away from the quads, then all the same, some part will continue to jump them later. Zagitova and Medvedeva are not disposable athletes, as they like to say now, but they just fell into that generation when they did not even dream of quads and it will simply be more difficult for them to master them.

It seems to me a bad idea to leave for athletes in other countries, because at the same time, the flavor of world rivalry disappears. I like to watch how people of different nationalities, different cultures, and different schools of training athletes compete.

Yes, now it is a fact that the presence of quads practically guarantees a place in the world championships, but I hope this will not last very long, and schools in other countries will also catch up. Now you can already see the younger generation in Japan and the USA starting to jump quads. I'm sure the schools will be develop,and the level of skateing grows all over the world, also eventually the whole discipline will step forward and it's already start.

 

[chasingneverland]

I understand limitations in events like a world championship: it won't be a world championship if all the skaters come from the same 4 countries.
The problem is that events like that should be the cherry over the cake and not the whole cake.

It is ok to have just 5 of the best 10 skaters (random numbers) to compete at WC as long as the other 4 and ideally all the top 50 (again random) skaters have a chance to regularly compete at top level and ideally make a living out of it.
Sports that live locally and just meet for a pair of event every year are amateur sports with no exposure (except a limited circle of passionate fan like us) no money and no future for athletes that give all theyr life to the sport like professionals.
The mark of such a sport? Olympics is not just a great (maybe the greates) victory you can achieve: it's almost all that matters and the sport itself lives in 4 years cycles; the moment an olympic close you start programming the next with everything in between being just seen in the olympic year perspective.

I may be biased being a skating fan, but I think figure skating may have the quality to become a sport witha good follow, sponsors and money for the skaters, but not ISU nor the federations seems interested in that.

Look at alpine ski or bycicle racing.
Olimpycs and WC are indeed a dream for many (the cherry), but the ski world cup and the World Tour races are where the athletes make their career (the cake).

But we are talking about the WCs and Olympics.

More competitions and opportunities is a different discussion.