2021-22 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[Dawn825]

Muravyeva was the #1 Plushenko skater at the event and Petrosyan was the #5 Eteri skater, of course she would get lower PCS. Samodelkina was the #1 Davydov skater yes but his team isn’t in favor politically and don’t get the scores, like Panova

Is Plushenko in favor politically? Maybe he is, I dont know anything, but I didnt get that impression last year when he had Trusova.

 

[Dawn825]

She's overscored in PCS. She received almost 2 points more than Samodelkina and Petrosyan, who are not less artistic or talented.
At least, I don't see anything that she's doing that they're not doing too.

The 3 junior girls were the most exciting part of the competition for me, and comparing their components is also interesting - ranking them is much harder than it was with the 3A at their age.
Petrosyian is so fast and has so much stamina, she's engaged in the choreography, her extension and posture are great, her edges and turns are pretty good, and she's exciting. Personally my two favorite performances. But I think in a senior competition, looking so young at the moment is going to hurt her scores a little. And many judges prefer a more elegant style.
Samodelkina is more of a mixed bag I think. She can show emotion, has big smooth skating, and looks the most mature. But it's a little too soft, her posture can sometimes detract, and its missing some projection. Her skating doesnt have a clear identity to me yet.
Muravieva is very reminiscent of Medvedeva and looks like an Eteri skater - those things are going to help her, and I wouldnt be shocked if she switches coaches at some point. Other than her shoulders, its hard to find what to criticize as far as skating skills and lines. She has both the confidence of Petrosyan and the emotionality of Samodelkina. Its a little too performative at the moment for me but she'll grow into that.
Everyone is always going to have their favorite skater and favorite programs. But I understand why Muravieva appears to be more of a complete package.

 

[fabienne1996]

No.

"I don't want to make any predictions, but I want to skate for a long time. I understand that it is impossible to go a long way smoothly, there will be ups and downs. But I think my love for figure skating will help me overcome all difficulties and be happy with the good things that will come along the way,"

From her Russia Beyond interview published in March 2021. And this is from 2020:

"I can't imagine the end of my career. I certainly have a lot to say in figure skating. I think you should retire when you feel you've done all you wanted to do. When I stop understanding why do i come to the practice - then it will be the time to retire. Otherwise why overcome yourself if you don't enjoy it and don't need it? As long as there is motivation and health you should go on. There is no certain age when you have to retire. If you can - skate till the age of 30. In our country it's hard because of the high level competition. If you are not on the top you will not make it to the main competitions. In other countries it's easier, you don't have to show the best and still participate the Europeans/Worlds/Olympics. It decides a lot as well."

Well in the end it will depend on how long her body is ready for competitions and when does health stop her from continuing. I mean zhenya also wanted to skate for a long time and did not want to retire unless her body and helath would not allow it and that is sadly what happenend .

 

[readernick]

The 3 junior girls were the most exciting part of the competition for me, and comparing their components is also interesting - ranking them is much harder than it was with the 3A at their age.
Petrosyian is so fast and has so much stamina, she's engaged in the choreography, her extension and posture are great, her edges and turns are pretty good, and she's exciting. Personally my two favorite performances. But I think in a senior competition, looking so young at the moment is going to hurt her scores a little. And many judges prefer a more elegant style.
Samodelkina is more of a mixed bag I think. She can show emotion, has big smooth skating, and looks the most mature. But it's a little too soft, her posture can sometimes detract, and its missing some projection. Her skating doesnt have a clear identity to me yet.
Muravieva is very reminiscent of Medvedeva and looks like an Eteri skater - those things are going to help her, and I wouldnt be shocked if she switches coaches at some point. Other than her shoulders, its hard to find what to criticize as far as skating skills and lines. She has both the confidence of Petrosyan and the emotionality of Samodelkina. Its a little too performative at the moment for me but she'll grow into that.
Everyone is always going to have their favorite skater and favorite programs. But I understand why Muravieva appears to be more of a complete package.

This younger generation is so talented. There are so many junior Russian skaters that I adore. The basic skating and jump technique has improved. All three skaters you mentioned are wonderful although Sofia M is my definite favorite even though she has really terrible song choices and they all honestly deserved higher PCS than any of the Seniors possibly excepting Valieva. I was sad to see the Sofias underscored in the LP.

 

[flanker]

Well in the end it will depend on how long her body is ready for competitions and when does health stop her from continuing. I mean zhenya also wanted to skate for a long time and did not want to retire unless her body and helath would not allow it and that is sadly what happenend .

Which applies to every skater.

 

[Thrashergurl]

I find it interesting that the narrative changed once Anna placed, or was gifted, 3rd. If it had been Trusova all the previous posts were supportive of having a skate off with her and Liza. Now that it’s Anna people don’t feel the skate off should happen. Very interesting

As far as the far limit- had there been an official announcement or is this all speculation? Maybe it’s not the age limit that needs adjusted, but some of the rules and scoring system. It wouldn’t affect the good skaters, regardless of age, to tweak the judging system a little.

 

[Alex Fedorov]

I find it interesting that the narrative changed once Anna placed, or was gifted, 3rd. If it had been Trusova all the previous posts were supportive of having a skate off with her and Liza. Now that it’s Anna people don’t feel the skate off should happen. Very interesting

As far as the far limit- had there been an official announcement or is this all speculation? Maybe it’s not the age limit that needs adjusted, but some of the rules and scoring system. It wouldn’t affect the good skaters, regardless of age, to tweak the judging system a little.

Trusova has never been stable, unlike Anna. But if Sasha was in third place, and Liza, as now, in seventh, there would be no special sense in additional competition either. All statements before the championship were based on the assumption that the results will be close.

 

[alexocfp]

I find it interesting that the narrative changed once Anna placed, or was gifted, 3rd. If it had been Trusova all the previous posts were supportive of having a skate off with her and Liza. Now that it’s Anna people don’t feel the skate off should happen. Very interesting

As far as the far limit- had there been an official announcement or is this all speculation? Maybe it’s not the age limit that needs adjusted, but some of the rules and scoring system. It wouldn’t affect the good skaters, regardless of age, to tweak the judging system a little.

Can’t speak for anyone else, but Anna and Trusova are 2 different people.

Liza beat Trusova at the world championships head up. Liza never beat Anna in any competition this year.

Anna is better than Liza, and up until this weekend, Liza was better than Trusova.

But Liza was worse than both this weekend, so it’s case closed. No skate offs are needed.

 

[fabienne1996]

Which applies to every skater.

And i didnt imply anything else but the question was about anna not any other skater

 

[Amei]

I find it interesting that the narrative changed once Anna placed, or was gifted, 3rd. If it had been Trusova all the previous posts were supportive of having a skate off with her and Liza. Now that it’s Anna people don’t feel the skate off should happen. Very interesting

As far as the far limit- had there been an official announcement or is this all speculation? Maybe it’s not the age limit that needs adjusted, but some of the rules and scoring system. It wouldn’t affect the good skaters, regardless of age, to tweak the judging system a little.

Well if the Fed decides a skate-off is needed then they can have 1, I think Plushenko just loves attention and that's why he said this. But if they have 1, I see no reason why they shouldn't have it between Trusova*, Shcherbakova and Tuktamysheva - prior to Nationals the conversation around here was that the third spot was between Trusova and Tuktamysheva, and of the 3 skaters Trusova and Tuktamysheva have typically been the least reliable. The ridiculous thing is that people are acting like Tuktamysheva was on fire at Nationals - she had a bad SP, fell on her triple axel and only did a triple-double in the SP additionally she under-rotated 1 triple axel in the FS. But honestly is a skate-off needed? Trusova and Shcherbakova both have higher difficulty than Tuktamysheva that allows them to absorb errors and if we break it down to Shcherbakova vs. Tuktamysheva if I'm remembering correctly - Tuktamysheva has never beaten Shcherbakova including multiple international competitions they went to together. *Before anyone points out that Trusova placed second and that guarantees her Olympic spot, technically the spot is guaranteed for Europeans, if she were to do terrible at Europeans the Fed could still replace her for the Olympics.

It stinks for Tuktamysheva because in any other country she would be the #1 skater, but this par for the course, she and her coach have been reactive to what the other ladies do; she has solid jump technique why did she wait until Kostornaia/Shcherbakova/Trusova became seniors to introduce multiple triple axels to her FS, she quite possibly would have gone to the last Olympics had she been doing that.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I find it interesting that the narrative changed once Anna placed, or was gifted, 3rd. If it had been Trusova all the previous posts were supportive of having a skate off with her and Liza. Now that it’s Anna people don’t feel the skate off should happen. Very interesting

Well, I don't think Anna has lost to Liza in competition ever, whereas Liza and Sasha have both finished ahead of each other, largely dependent upon how well Sasha jumps.

 

[lopsilceci]

I find it interesting that the narrative changed once Anna placed, or was gifted, 3rd. If it had been Trusova all the previous posts were supportive of having a skate off with her and Liza. Now that it’s Anna people don’t feel the skate off should happen. Very interesting.

Wasn't Nationals supposed to be that skate off everyone was talking about?

The idea was that Kamila and Anna pretty much had their spot in the Olympic team based on previous results and consistency, while Sasha would have to decisively beat Liza to get that third spot.
Liza was the one that seemed more reliable before Nationals, but Sasha has more potential and just earned her spot decisively at Nationals by beating Liza by a large margin.

That's why I'm surprised that people think there should be a skate off between Liza vs Anna, when Anna was always (and still is) one of the safe picks along with Kami.

 

[Lechat]

To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed because one of the junior should be on the podium or at least above her in the free. It’s obvious that Anna is not in great shape and can’t do ultra C elements when juniors can do it.

when I compared Anna’s shift from worlds last year with the national shift of this year 152 vs 158, she sure was gifted some points. Is it because they didn’t give her in the short so they decided to give her in the free ?

Anyways, I still think she deserves her spot for the olympic games but this championship was very unfair.

 

[Amei]

That's why I'm surprised that people think there should be a skate off between Liza vs Anna, when Anna was always (and still is) one of the safe picks along with Kami.

I don't think its too surprising, there was a lot of talk pre-Nationals for Tuktamysheva being on the Olympic team, honestly I think whoever placed third of the age-eligible skaters if that skater wasn't Tuktamsyheva that there would be a contingent of people saying there should be a skate-off to try and get Tuktamysheva on the team. The fact that Shcherbakova had a less than perfect FS (which included 3 landed triple-triple combinations, which is 3 more triple-triples than Tuktamysheva did) makes it a bit more vocal probably.

To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed because one of the junior should be on the podium or at least above her in the free. It’s obvious that Anna is not in great shape and can’t do ultra C elements when juniors can do it.

Well Shcherbakova's shape is a bit questionable for the quads (she did complete triple-triples) - she did quads in the warmup and did quads at both her GP events.

 

[Mawwerg]

To be honest, I’m a bit disappointed because one of the junior should be on the podium or at least above her in the free. It’s obvious that Anna is not in great shape and can’t do ultra C elements when juniors can do it.

Adelia was.

 

[alexocfp]

I’m not liking this. I’m not liking that my fellow Liza fans are trying to use politics to get her on the team.

I can’t in good conscience support this. Had the shoe been on the other foot and Liza out placed Trusova and Trusova fans were advocating for a skate off, I would have been the first in here calling it ridiculous.

And if someone wants to call me “not a real fan” because of how I feel, go right ahead.

 

[Scott512]

Then we shall have the most ridiculous outcome of them all. The grandfathered VUH would keep the lead until the next generation matures. Starting with the next generation I would see the following picture: There is a cutthroat competition among juniors. Junior events (women only) will be the key and Russian juniors are likely to dominate. After all those years of dog fights those who survive and "mature" 2 or 1 seasons before the games will compete 1 or 2 seasons before retirement or switching to "Leonova style". Those unlucky ones who turn 17 during the year of the OG and the next one will aim at the closest WC before retirement. OLympics will be off limits to them. The kaleidoscope of Russian names among top ladies in the seniors will be astonishing - the main "longevity" of the skaters will be in the junior circle.

Figure skaters will be like mayflies. The larva of those insects live up to 4 years. However, imago live just 1 day.

Of course, this does not concern situations like Carolina Kostner. It's only about Russia and to much lesser extent about Japan and Korea.

It's always about Russia.

What happened to all the ladies contenders from the United States and Japan and Korea?
Though Contenders hang around year after year after year while in Russian girls push the older girls out of the way every year.. And did you see the junior Russian girls at the recent senior nationals? Is amazing out of this world! And SA wasn't even there.

 

[RatedPG]

I just watched the conference, as it just got translated to English and one journalist asked Anna on why she should go to the Olympics, when Liza has the triple axel and how she managed to beat Liza by 15 points with no ultra-c element? that this is an important questions and she should need to justify herself. Of course Anna answered diplomatically with the truth that it is not up to her, she just does her job and skates and it is up to the judges to score and the Russian federation to select the Olympic team.

But, I’m so tired of this Liza should be on the team instead of Anna narrative when Liza hasn’t beaten Anna and Anna has the triple triple combos that Liza doesn’t.

 

[Scott512]

I’m not liking this. I’m not liking that my fellow Liza fans are trying to use politics to get her on the team.

I can’t in good conscience support this. Had the shoe been on the other foot and Liza out placed Trusova and Trusova fans were advocating for a skate off, I would have been the first in here calling it ridiculous.

And if someone wants to call me “not a real fan” because of how I feel, go right ahead.

If they call you not a real fan of Elizavita that's on them. You are a reasonable fan and that's the difference.

I know it's hard to swallow that Liza has had 3 chances at the Olympic team and has not gone once. Yet the overrated and over scored Misha is going to his 2nd Olympics. its the political power the professor has and has had for many years why his guys get the breaks. I guess Mishins influence works better with the men because they're not nearly as deep as the Russian ladies are.

And I love how people are trying to make Anya the number 3 Russian when she was the number one Russian clearly entering this season 3 time national champion and world champion all at the same time. Obviously KV has moved into the number one spot by a mile. Now you're all trying to say Anya is number 3 because she had a less than stellar skate at rusnats? Lol!

Liza as tremendous as she is and as great as her longevity is has had less than stellar skates at Russian nationals for 7 years running. Fact not fiction. That said she still has to stay ready as the alternate because there's a lot going on in the world. Injuries and sickness pop up at any time in life and in figure skating so Tut has to stay sharp and ready.

Is keep on being a good fan Alex that's all you can do.

 

[Scott512]

I just watched the conference, as it just got translated to English and one journalist asked Anna on why she should go to the Olympics, when Liza has the triple axel and how she managed to beat Liza by 15 points with no ultra-c element? that this is an important questions and she should need to justify herself. Of course Anna answered diplomatically with the truth that it is not up to her, she just does her job and skates and it is up to the judges to score and the Russian federation to select the Olympic team.

But, I’m so tired of this Liza should be on the team instead of Anna narrative when Liza hasn’t beaten Anna and Anna has the triple triple combos that Liza doesn’t.

Get used to this issue cause it aint going anywhere. not with plushy pouring gasoline on the fire today.

Hopefully the journalist asked Liza why should she be on the Olympic team when she hasn't won a medal at Russian nationals in 7 years?

Also sasha has one good free skate and all of the sudden she's number 2?? That's outrageous. if there's a skate off it should be between sasha and Liza. But Liza fans do not want any part of that and I understand why. being the current world champion and having 3 national titles in a row should mean something. But I guess it really doesn't since nationals 5 minutes ago is everything!

Good luck and good health to all the skaters it's going to be an amazing couple months for them. They have to deal with so much because of the pandemic emic that's ruining everything.