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- Jun 6, 2019
Its risky. Aliev can be a hero or fall short depending on his day. But I think that applies to most of the russian men (although Semenenko seems solid but he went to worlds already).
2021-2022 Russian Men's Figure Skating
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- Feb 2, 2019
What's your Russian Men Dream Team? I think mine is currently Zhenya Semenenko, Andrei Mozalev, and Sasha Samarin (sorry Dima and Misha...). But, tbh, for Russian Men I will be fine with just about any team, I just like them all so much, and they all have their unique qualities.
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Not who you replied to, but my dream russian team:
Mikhail Kolyada - when clean imo the best figure skater in the entire world. Beautiful skating and lines, textbook jumps amazing height etc. Just special.
Dmitry Aliev - beautiful skater. Maybe not perfect jumper but across the ice he moves like a ballerina.
Evgeni Semenenko/Mark K - evgeni semenenko for his superb consistency and how he's working so hard to improve everything. Mark as he's an exciting junior exploring the quads and the skating.
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- Jan 31, 2019
Mine was Kolyada, Aliev and Mozalev/Danielian (I love plenty of other skaters, but in terms of emotional storytelling impact those guys have the most impact on me, and I like storytelling skaters).
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- May 25, 2014
It is so hard to limit it to just three because, like CrazyKitten said, they all have such unique qualities.
I would say my dream Olympic team for the Russian men is:
Mikhail Kolyada
Dmitri Aliev
for sure.
That third spot is so tough - I think I would say Makar Ignatov - I have a soft spot for him for some reason, and I think he's very exciting when he's on.
But I'm also a big fan of Mark Kondratyuk and Petr Gummenik - although Kondratyuk, especially is probably more for the future. And I like Evgeni Semenenko and Andreo Mozalev and Artur Danielian. And although I'm not a big fan of Sasha Samarin's style of skating, I like him as a person - he comes across as a very humble, very hard-working person in interviews. So really I want them all on the team. LOL
I would say my dream Olympic team for the Russian men is:
Mikhail Kolyada
Dmitri Aliev
for sure.
That third spot is so tough - I think I would say Makar Ignatov - I have a soft spot for him for some reason, and I think he's very exciting when he's on.
But I'm also a big fan of Mark Kondratyuk and Petr Gummenik - although Kondratyuk, especially is probably more for the future. And I like Evgeni Semenenko and Andreo Mozalev and Artur Danielian. And although I'm not a big fan of Sasha Samarin's style of skating, I like him as a person - he comes across as a very humble, very hard-working person in interviews. So really I want them all on the team. LOL
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- Sep 22, 2019
Kolyada, Mozalev and Danielian! So, very close to Lariko
My dream team differs from my strategic team (which should sensibly include Semenenko), but they're all good fun to watch
I hope Danielian, Mozalev, Samarin, Aliev, Gumennik etc. (boy that's a long list) have fully recovered from their injuries and we get to see them perform at their proper level this season!
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- Jun 6, 2019
I'm same with Samarin. He comes across as such a nice guy even if I'm not a fan of his skating.
Kolyada, Mozalev and Danielian! So, very close to Lariko
My dream team differs from my strategic team (which should sensibly include Semenenko), but they're all good fun to watch
I hope Danielian, Mozalev, Samarin, Aliev, Gumennik etc. (boy that's a long list) have fully recovered from their injuries and we get to see them perform at their proper level this season!
I hope the third is Gumennik but realistically i could see Danielian if he gets back to his old form.
Semenenko imo is there too and could make a case for himself with consistency and better programs.
Ignatov really needs to work on his stamina in the free, and spins too, level 1 spin in the free is kind of ridiculous.
The others i'm sorry but their packaging is lacking and some have consistency issues, so like even if they land everything judges might not give them huge marks out of the gate because there are better skaters out there. Maybe Mozalev if he goes for something a bit more conservative but i don't know.
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- Feb 22, 2014
Breaking news! Well kinda...
In his Junior Grand Prix debut Kirill Sarnovsky won!
Congratulations Kirill, you rocked!
In his Junior Grand Prix debut Kirill Sarnovsky won!
Congratulations Kirill, you rocked!
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- Jun 6, 2019
On side note I hope Kolyada changes his short program.
He arguably has the best skating skills and lines in the world, and if the (textbook) jumps work he is competing with Hanyu and Chen for the gold. I don't think even the Russian public rate him at his true level, and Russian federation has not always supported him in the past. He had a disaster season adding more quads before (since Russian fed pushed him to go for too much too soon). I trust Mishin, and that he knows what he's doing - and if he builds Kolyada back up he will be one of the best in the world.
But the short program isn't spectacular for an olympic season, and the music is a major warhorse. the choreography for his previous programs could be hit and miss, and for me this is a big miss. (Even though his skating for me is so beautiful I could watch with TV on mute with bad choreo).
Realistically assuming Aliev does well at nebelhorn I see him on the Olympic team with Kolyada (both of them superb skating so happy with that, even if both have questionable consistency). For the final spot they really need somebody they know will deliver, even if they only deliver a lower level. For me that has to be Semenenko.
Samarin is struggling with the quads, and without those (no offence to Mr Samarin) he doesn't have much there (not many transitions and not the best performance of choreography. With triples can struggle with GOE due to wonky rotation). If he can get two quads back consistently, since he has international prestige and reputation then maybe in consideration for third spot.
Daniellan is an amazing storyteller, but I worry about post-injury consistency. I can't begin to describe how difficult it is to return to full consistency after injury - it's easy enough to get back the jumps, but the difficulty is to achieve same level as before.
Daniel Samsanov is of course still a developing skater. He is improving, but time will tell if he can keep the consistency through puberty and develop the rest to a high standard. One to watch for future, but not this Olympics.
Peter Gumenik- fantastic performers, fantastic spins, and good jumps when they are on. Again, since it's third spot the question is consistency. If he performs well at test skates, cup of Russia, internationals etc then would fully back him.
Mozalev - honestly I think if he wasn't so keep on 4F last year he'd be a favourite, as stripping it down to 4T and maybe 4S I think he'll be better with consistency. Everything else is good enough.
Ignatov - stamina. He has everything there (maybe lacking in SS and the rest of PCS), but off the top of the programs he is consistent. He just doesn't run enough programs, he can hardly make it through with weak spins and turn out jumps at the end.
Mark K - in the future I see him being a Kolyada level skater. He beat Kolyada in the free skate at Channel 1 Cup (albeit him at his best vs Kolyada with mistakes). With better music choice and choreography, I see him as leading Russian man after Kolyada because with the quads he is working, the speed across the ice etc I see him as a future world champion threat, and a dominant force for Russia.
Bear in mind this is all about Russian Men, and since Plushenko and Yagudin there was almost no consistency between top skaters from year to year. Sergei Voronov was always consistently good, but never the top man - and whilst Voronov kept going, top men came and left like the wind. It's not always about been the best, it's about being consistency good enough.
He arguably has the best skating skills and lines in the world, and if the (textbook) jumps work he is competing with Hanyu and Chen for the gold. I don't think even the Russian public rate him at his true level, and Russian federation has not always supported him in the past. He had a disaster season adding more quads before (since Russian fed pushed him to go for too much too soon). I trust Mishin, and that he knows what he's doing - and if he builds Kolyada back up he will be one of the best in the world.
But the short program isn't spectacular for an olympic season, and the music is a major warhorse. the choreography for his previous programs could be hit and miss, and for me this is a big miss. (Even though his skating for me is so beautiful I could watch with TV on mute with bad choreo).
Realistically assuming Aliev does well at nebelhorn I see him on the Olympic team with Kolyada (both of them superb skating so happy with that, even if both have questionable consistency). For the final spot they really need somebody they know will deliver, even if they only deliver a lower level. For me that has to be Semenenko.
Samarin is struggling with the quads, and without those (no offence to Mr Samarin) he doesn't have much there (not many transitions and not the best performance of choreography. With triples can struggle with GOE due to wonky rotation). If he can get two quads back consistently, since he has international prestige and reputation then maybe in consideration for third spot.
Daniellan is an amazing storyteller, but I worry about post-injury consistency. I can't begin to describe how difficult it is to return to full consistency after injury - it's easy enough to get back the jumps, but the difficulty is to achieve same level as before.
Daniel Samsanov is of course still a developing skater. He is improving, but time will tell if he can keep the consistency through puberty and develop the rest to a high standard. One to watch for future, but not this Olympics.
Peter Gumenik- fantastic performers, fantastic spins, and good jumps when they are on. Again, since it's third spot the question is consistency. If he performs well at test skates, cup of Russia, internationals etc then would fully back him.
Mozalev - honestly I think if he wasn't so keep on 4F last year he'd be a favourite, as stripping it down to 4T and maybe 4S I think he'll be better with consistency. Everything else is good enough.
Ignatov - stamina. He has everything there (maybe lacking in SS and the rest of PCS), but off the top of the programs he is consistent. He just doesn't run enough programs, he can hardly make it through with weak spins and turn out jumps at the end.
Mark K - in the future I see him being a Kolyada level skater. He beat Kolyada in the free skate at Channel 1 Cup (albeit him at his best vs Kolyada with mistakes). With better music choice and choreography, I see him as leading Russian man after Kolyada because with the quads he is working, the speed across the ice etc I see him as a future world champion threat, and a dominant force for Russia.
Bear in mind this is all about Russian Men, and since Plushenko and Yagudin there was almost no consistency between top skaters from year to year. Sergei Voronov was always consistently good, but never the top man - and whilst Voronov kept going, top men came and left like the wind. It's not always about been the best, it's about being consistency good enough.
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- Jan 31, 2019
Gosh, me too. Hoping to see them all at test skates in good form and high spirits. Well, they said Semenenko had growth in skating skills department, which can mean any number of things, including artistic expression.Kolyada, Mozalev and Danielian! So, very close to Lariko
My dream team differs from my strategic team (which should sensibly include Semenenko), but they're all good fun to watch
I hope Danielian, Mozalev, Samarin, Aliev, Gumennik etc. (boy that's a long list) have fully recovered from their injuries and we get to see them perform at their proper level this season!
I do like that Mozalev went to 4S from F but I am afraid to breathe wrong there.
I know lots of people are excited about Kondratyuk, but i am not sure his consistency is any better than anyone else’s, and stylistically he doesn’t wow me with the exception of that wicked black swan. I am always suspicious when it’s just one program that stands out.
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- Dec 5, 2015
There are quite a few amazing and inconsistent Russian men 
My dream Olympic team is Kolyada, Danielian, and Aliev.
My dream Olympic team is Kolyada, Danielian, and Aliev.
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I agree with, well, pretty much all of this! Excellent analysis.
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- May 25, 2014
Thanks for sharing the video - loved it!
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I also have a team of my dreams (depending on potential, not only past performances) and a strategic one (the first two depending on what they could get from judges, the third depending on his stability). Dream: Kolyada, Gumennik, Mozalev or Kondratyuk. Strategic: Kolyada, Aliev, Semenenko.Kolyada, Mozalev and Danielian! So, very close to Lariko
My dream team differs from my strategic team (which should sensibly include Semenenko), but they're all good fun to watch
I hope Danielian, Mozalev, Samarin, Aliev, Gumennik etc. (boy that's a long list) have fully recovered from their injuries and we get to see them perform at their proper level this season!
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- Sep 22, 2019
2 seasons after Gumennik, Mozalev and Danielian graduated from juniors, I haven't yet seen a successor with a similar balance of technical content and well-rounded skating... Some impressions of the Russian junior men at JGP Kosice:
Kirill Sarnovsky: Strengths are in musical interpretation and performance, transitions, spins and consistency in the jumps that he is comfortable with (up to 3A). Skating skills are quite good. Next main challenge is adding quads without compromising consistency (could be complicated by future growth spurts).
Ilya Yablokov: Makes up for weaknesses in transitions and skating skills with power and buckets of idiosyncratic charm. Jumps are big but sometimes crooked, luckily he has a knack for saving them.
Andrei Anisimov: Smooth deep edges, skates big and fast, but not a lot of transitions. Needs to work on projection and mentally recovering from mistakes early on in the programme (in the FP, after the first missed combo, he rushed then noticed and slowed down, found himself behind the music and again rushed to catch up - hence why Ted thought he had bad stamina and musicality).
Alexander Golubev: Decent spinner but worst skating skills/transitions of the four boys here, so not a lot of scoring buffer if the jumps fail. Moderate-sized jumps but very fast rotation - unfortunately, like Anisimov, early mistakes seemed to get to his head.
By the way, we have five (5!) Russian boys at JGP Krasnoyarsk!
Kirill Sarnovsky: Strengths are in musical interpretation and performance, transitions, spins and consistency in the jumps that he is comfortable with (up to 3A). Skating skills are quite good. Next main challenge is adding quads without compromising consistency (could be complicated by future growth spurts).
Ilya Yablokov: Makes up for weaknesses in transitions and skating skills with power and buckets of idiosyncratic charm. Jumps are big but sometimes crooked, luckily he has a knack for saving them.
Andrei Anisimov: Smooth deep edges, skates big and fast, but not a lot of transitions. Needs to work on projection and mentally recovering from mistakes early on in the programme (in the FP, after the first missed combo, he rushed then noticed and slowed down, found himself behind the music and again rushed to catch up - hence why Ted thought he had bad stamina and musicality).
Alexander Golubev: Decent spinner but worst skating skills/transitions of the four boys here, so not a lot of scoring buffer if the jumps fail. Moderate-sized jumps but very fast rotation - unfortunately, like Anisimov, early mistakes seemed to get to his head.
By the way, we have five (5!) Russian boys at JGP Krasnoyarsk!
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