2025/26 Russian Season -- moving the season forward one month and holding the Russian championship 2-3 weeks later

[Skating91]

Apologies if this is not the best place to post this, but I'm not sure what kind of reception it would get in "The Edge", and doesn't strictly relate to 2024/25.

What is the likely schedule of next season and what will be optimal for the skaters?

With the qualification tournament which essentially has the importance of the Russian championships for the skaters involved but in mid-September, surely the rest of the season is moved forward.

Normally Russian Test Skates would be the weekend of the qualification tournament in September or the weekend before, so it would make sense to me to hold this in August some time, allowing the top two skaters/pairs in each discipline to get practice in front of an audience and demonstrate their programs for interested judges, etc before heading to China. I know the score they will have to achieve won't be challenging, but they get one chance. Who knows what can happen.

The normal domestic season we've seen for the past three seasons would see GP stages from mid October to late November, the Russian championships in late December, GP final in mid February to early March which won't be possible with the Olympics.

Normally the skaters going to the Olympics would have Europeans in mid-January as a final preparation in competition mode before going to the Olympics.

To best prepare the skaters going to the Olympics, is the solution to move the Russian championships to the weekend of Europeans (weekend of 17th-18th January) or the weekend before to optimise preparation? Since the Olympic selections are set in stone come September, the Russian championships are no longer a final selection event for the Olympics. Next season they are merely a preparatory event.

Also, the rest of the season should be moved forward a month starting the GP stages mid-late September and finishing late October, and maybe holding the GP final in for instance late November. This makes sense. Then in early to mid January hold the Russian championships as a final preparation before the Olympics. Basically serving the same purpose as what European used to for skaters from Russia heading to the Olympics.

What do you think? Given the onerous demands placed on the skaters going to the Olympics, they at least deserve optimal preparation.

Also, my opinion is that given world audiences have not seen someone like Adelia skate for several years, why not just use her free skate from this season next year because this program is a winner. Why complicate things in what will be a very strange season with all kinds of stress placed on independent athletes. I liked that Michael Jackson short program from last season I think international audiences would eat it up her movements are impeccable, maybe just include that as well . Why complicate things?

 

[gmyers]

The skaters being chosen for isu evaluation must be submitted this month. By the end of February. The whole process is over this month! Next season won’t be affected at all. Only 2 women for example will be screened by isu in a few days. This is a tiny tiny tiny tiny fraction of Russian skating. Nothing will change. It’s almost over. Plus you don’t know if there will be any approvals.

Bottom line nothing will change for next season because it makes no sense to. The whole Olympic process is over THIS MONTH.

Then if the chosen woman has to withdraw after she qualifies there is no replacement.

The whole season is not going to be reorganized for one woman
One man one pair once dance team

The chosen skaters will be an island to themselves. If they want that.

 

[Skating91]

The skaters being chosen for isu evaluation must be submitted this month. By the end of February. The whole process is over this month! Next season won’t be affected at all. Only 2 women for example will be screened by isu in a few days. This is a tiny tiny tiny tiny fraction of Russian skating. Nothing will change. It’s almost over. Plus you don’t know if there will be any approvals.

Bottom line nothing will change for next season because it makes no sense to. The whole Olympic process is over THIS MONTH.

I’m sorry you wrote So much.

Using your logic they shouldn't even bother competing again after the qualification event in September

As I said, the Russian championships aren't for Olympic selection they are simply a preparatory event for the Olympics. Nothing more than a warm up event.

These skaters will need to experience competition up until they head to Milan. The season should be shifted to accommodate these skaters, and because there will be no domestic senior competitions during the middle of the Olympics anyway.

Better to move everything forward 3-4 weeks, move the GP final to late November, hold the Russian championships around the time of the European championships in early to mid January otherwise skaters like Petrosian will be rusty come approximately 17th February when the women's free skate will be held. That's 7 weeks of no competition at the peak of the season. Remember skaters like Petrosian won't have the team event either. What's better than to have her keep her skating sharp then have her compete in the strongest event in the world in 2026 as preparation for the Olympics.

They could even have the Russian championships as late as possible in January to give all the skaters going to Milan one final competition warm up before they head off.

Nothing is lost for the other skaters competing. The alternative is to just move the GP final up until January, but I think it makes more sense to move the season forward 3-4 weeks, the have the GP final in late November or early December, then the Russian championships in January as the climax. If they can withstand the pressure of the Russian championships, they can withstand anything (within reason they will have to watch their backs in Milan I hope they have their own hotel rooms and security details).

Gives the skaters going to Milan the best preparation.

If Russian skaters were allowed at European, I would be happy leaving things as they are, but the season needs to be rearranged to keep them competition ready and to be not at a competitive disadvantage to skaters competing in January.

Thinking about it, there's no reason to send the independent skaters to Milan until the last moment, so why not have the Russian championships from 28th January to 1st February. Perfect timing. Holding it on the weekend of Europeans is better, but I'm sure the ISU will kick up a fuss if it's on the same weekend of Europeans or 4CC. Simply bypass that.

 

[gmyers]

But it’s only 6 skaters going to Milan? Maybe. You don’t know if any will be approved. Of course the approved people must train. But it’s only 6 people. Maybe they will rearrange the whole season around these 6. Maybe 6. Maybe only 1 or 2. No one knows.

 

[katymay]

Apologies if this is not the best place to post this, but I'm not sure what kind of reception it would get in "The Edge", and doesn't strictly relate to 2024/25.

What is the likely schedule of next season and what will be optimal for the skaters?

With the qualification tournament which essentially has the importance of the Russian championships for the skaters involved but in mid-September, surely the rest of the season is moved forward.

Normally Russian Test Skates would be the weekend of the qualification tournament in September or the weekend before, so it would make sense to me to hold this in August some time, allowing the top two skaters/pairs in each discipline to get practice in front of an audience and demonstrate their programs for interested judges, etc before heading to China. I know the score they will have to achieve won't be challenging, but they get one chance. Who knows what can happen.

The normal domestic season we've seen for the past three seasons would see GP stages from mid October to late November, the Russian championships in late December, GP final in mid February to early March which won't be possible with the Olympics.

Normally the skaters going to the Olympics would have Europeans in mid-January as a final preparation in competition mode before going to the Olympics.

To best prepare the skaters going to the Olympics, is the solution to move the Russian championships to the weekend of Europeans (weekend of 17th-18th January) or the weekend before to optimise preparation? Since the Olympic selections are set in stone come September, the Russian championships are no longer a final selection event for the Olympics. Next season they are merely a preparatory event.

Also, the rest of the season should be moved forward a month starting the GP stages mid-late September and finishing late October, and maybe holding the GP final in for instance late November. This makes sense. Then in early to mid January hold the Russian championships as a final preparation before the Olympics. Basically serving the same purpose as what European used to for skaters from Russia heading to the Olympics.

What do you think? Given the onerous demands placed on the skaters going to the Olympics, they at least deserve optimal preparation.

Also, my opinion is that given world audiences have not seen someone like Adelia skate for several years, why not just use her free skate from this season next year because this program is a winner. Why complicate things in what will be a very strange season with all kinds of stress placed on independent athletes. I liked that Michael Jackson short program from last season I think international audiences would eat it up her movements are impeccable, maybe just include that as well . Why complicate things?

 

[katymay]

Because as a skater you get sick of your program and the music. You can't wait for the next program! As the season draws to an end, you start fanaticizing about your music for 'next year', etc. You spend hours listening to music....until you find possibilities. You visualize your future program to that music. It is also hard to bring any excitement to a program that you have skated umpteenth times, and is now pretty much 'rote' and by the numbers.

 

[Remilia]

Why would the ISU care about when rusnats is held? I don't think the schedule will be changed at all. Maybe test skates will be held a bit earlier, but that's it. It's only 6 skaters who will be competing at the qualifier and Olympics, why would rusfed completely change the schedule and inconvenience everyone else just for them? Especially when all of them not even end up being able to compete

 

[Mathematician]

If they can withstand the pressure of the Russian championships, they can withstand anything

No way. The difficult of winning is not the source of pressure. Olympics is not even comparable in pressure. It will be exponentially more difficult mentally. They have the entire country on their back, all on their own, in front of the entire world. They get one chance.

Why would the ISU care about when rusnats is held? I don't think the schedule will be changed at all. Maybe test skates will be held a bit earlier, but that's it. It's only 6 skaters who will be competing at the qualifier and Olympics, why would rusfed completely change the schedule and inconvenience everyone else just for them? Especially when all of them not even end up being able to compete

Nobody said ISU cares, its for the athletes. Why would it be an inconvenience for the other athlete to change the schedule anyways? They just have to compete on a different day. If anything they would get more time to train. Even if it was an inconvenience I can easily see why RusFed would change the schedule anyways. They have a huge chance of at least 2 golds, in fact almost confirmed, of course they would do everything possible to help the athletes. I'm sure the other athletes wouldn't be against it either, they still want Russians to win even if it isnt themselves.

Also, my opinion is that given world audiences have not seen someone like Adelia skate for several years, why not just use her free skate from this season next year because this program is a winner. Why complicate things in what will be a very strange season with all kinds of stress placed on independent athletes. I liked that Michael Jackson short program from last season I think international audiences would eat it up her movements are impeccable, maybe just include that as well . Why complicate things?

EW! Why would she ever choose the MJ program over the current one?? Her current SP is the best of the season, MJ is not her forte, her forte is clearly lyricism. Anyone can skate her MJ, well not anyone, but anyone who has that sort of character; nobody would be able to pull off her type of lyricism though. Her current FS is good but her last year's was better by far, if she were to keep one of the two it would easily be last year's and I think most people would like it more, too. Only difference is that the MJ program is probably way easier so it might give her more room to focus on jumps while keeping cohesive choreo but I would hope Adeliia wants to go all in and give it everything she can.

 

[Remilia]

Nobody said ISU cares, its for the athletes. Why would it be an inconvenience for the other athlete to change the schedule anyways? They just have to compete on a different day. If anything they would get more time to train. Even if it was an inconvenience I can easily see why RusFed would change the schedule anyways. They have a huge chance of at least 2 golds, in fact almost confirmed, of course they would do everything possible to help the athletes. I'm sure the other athletes wouldn't be against it either, they still want Russians to win even if it isnt themselves.

I mean, skating 91 literally did say the ISU would kick up a fuss if nats is on the same weekend as Europeans or 4CC

 

[gmyers]

No way. The difficult of winning is not the source of pressure. Olympics is not even comparable in pressure. It will be exponentially more difficult mentally. They have the entire country on their back, all on their own, in front of the entire world. They get one chance.


Nobody said ISU cares, its for the athletes. Why would it be an inconvenience for the other athlete to change the schedule anyways? They just have to compete on a different day. If anything they would get more time to train. Even if it was an inconvenience I can easily see why RusFed would change the schedule anyways. They have a huge chance of at least 2 golds, in fact almost confirmed, of course they would do everything possible to help the athletes. I'm sure the other athletes wouldn't be against it either, they still want Russians to win even if it isnt themselves.


EW! Why would she ever choose the MJ program over the current one?? Her current SP is the best of the season, MJ is not her forte, her forte is clearly lyricism. Anyone can skate her MJ, well not anyone, but anyone who has that sort of character; nobody would be able to pull off her type of lyricism though. Her current FS is good but her last year's was better by far, if she were to keep one of the two it would easily be last year's and I think most people would like it more, too. Only difference is that the MJ program is probably way easier so it might give her more room to focus on jumps while keeping cohesive choreo but I would hope Adeliia wants to go all in and give it everything she can.

I just don’t agree at all! There is a scenario where it’s possible only one Russian will be in Italy. The other skaters won’t care at all and may even be resentful that their whole schedule is revolving around someone who is based on isu rules banned from even talking to anyone or celebrating

 

[Mathematician]

I just don’t agree at all! There is a scenario where it’s possible only one Russian will be in Italy. The other skaters won’t care at all and may even be resentful that their whole schedule is revolving around someone who is based on isu rules banned from even talking to anyone or celebrating

Give 1 reason why any of them would care that the schedule is shifted a few weeks later

I mean, skating 91 literally did say the ISU would kick up a fuss if nats is on the same weekend as Europeans or 4CC

Oh, I just re-read it and see now. Well he meant something specific though. He said they would only care if its the same weekend as their tournament, and since Russia gets more viewers it could hurt the ISU viewership. Otherwise they wouldnt care.

 

[gmyers]

Give 1 reason why any of them would care that the schedule is shifted a few weeks later


Oh, I just re-read it and see now. Well he meant something specific though. He said they would only care if its the same weekend as their tournament, and since Russia gets more viewers it could hurt the ISU viewership. Otherwise they wouldnt care.

Maybe they want their season to be over already so they can prepare for next one. Russian holidays are also being Ignored here. Isn’t this when they celebrate Christmas? Seems like there could be a big convergence of their holidays and Russian nationals. Even if not exact it should be factored in for training. Like you have a big Christmas break and then do Russian nationals?

 

[Skating91]

Because as a skater you get sick of your program and the music. You can't wait for the next program! As the season draws to an end, you start fanaticizing about your music for 'next year', etc. You spend hours listening to music....until you find possibilities. You visualize your future program to that music. It is also hard to bring any excitement to a program that you have skated umpteenth times, and is now pretty much 'rote' and by the numbers.

Sure, but this will be an interrupted season. She's only had three starts this season. Four starts in 2023/24, three in 2022/23.

Compared to Petrokina who just won Europeans, she's had six starts this season, had seven and ten in previous seasons.

I don't think boredom with the program will be a problem.

Valieva used Bolero for a second time in that Olympic season and it worked out very well for her. It took events unrelated to her skating to completely destabilise her before the individual free skate, but she was bulletproof all season.

I'm sure Adelia is fantasising about going to the Olympics, fantasising about a new program is secondary. She wants to give herself the best chance of success which is what repeating a previous program will do. At this level it's about medals not fun.

 

[Skating91]

Why would the ISU care about when rusnats is held? I don't think the schedule will be changed at all. Maybe test skates will be held a bit earlier, but that's it. It's only 6 skaters who will be competing at the qualifier and Olympics, why would rusfed completely change the schedule and inconvenience everyone else just for them? Especially when all of them not even end up being able to compete

If they held the Russian championships the same weekend as Europeans, the ISU might see it as an attempt to undermine their competition. The Russian fed has been careful over the past three years to make sure their events don't clash with major ISU events.

 

[Mathematician]

Maybe they want their season to be over already so they can prepare for next one. Russian holidays are also being Ignored here. Isn’t this when they celebrate Christmas? Seems like there could be a big convergence of their holidays and Russian nationals. Even if not exact it should be factored in for training. Like you have a big Christmas break and then do Russian nationals?

I don't think they take breaks in the season anyways though. They still have "Christmas break" between Nats and other events, like the jumping event or even GPF and 1TV Cup, etc... Break is only when the season ends for these athletes. Shifting the main events forward wouldn't change much because they don't go on break until after march or so anyways, since they have other secondary performances they prepare/train for. It wouldn't make a difference IMO.

 

[Skating91]

No way. The difficult of winning is not the source of pressure. Olympics is not even comparable in pressure. It will be exponentially more difficult mentally. They have the entire country on their back, all on their own, in front of the entire world. They get one chance.

That is a different pressure for sure, but Adelia's SP at the Russian championships had a base value of 37.65, compared to Glenn at US champs having 34.52, Sakamoto at Japanese champs had 32.65.

In the FP, Adelia 78.93, Glenn 66.05, Sakamoto 59.47.

Adelia BV total is 116.58 compared to 92.12. A massive 24 points of base value in her pocket over the three time world champion Sakamoto. Don't forget this is Sakamoto almost stretching to her maximum maybe she can add a few more points if she returns the 3T on her combo, but Adelia can probably add another quad if she needs to.

Sure, it's a smaller gap over Glenn but still 16 points, and Adelia in every aspect has far superior program components than Glenn.

Nobody said ISU cares, its for the athletes. Why would it be an inconvenience for the other athlete to change the schedule anyways? They just have to compete on a different day. If anything they would get more time to train. Even if it was an inconvenience I can easily see why RusFed would change the schedule anyways. They have a huge chance of at least 2 golds, in fact almost confirmed, of course they would do everything possible to help the athletes. I'm sure the other athletes wouldn't be against it either, they still want Russians to win even if it isnt themselves.

I agree. Domestic seasons are always altered to accommodate the schedule of an Olympics season. Now there is this qualification event in September that the best skaters in Russia/world would ordinarily not be forced to attend, and there will be no warm up event like Europeans. So all previous preparation for the Olympics can be thrown out of the window.

EW! Why would she ever choose the MJ program over the current one?? Her current SP is the best of the season, MJ is not her forte, her forte is clearly lyricism. Anyone can skate her MJ, well not anyone, but anyone who has that sort of character; nobody would be able to pull off her type of lyricism though. Her current FS is good but her last year's was better by far, if she were to keep one of the two it would easily be last year's and I think most people would like it more, too. Only difference is that the MJ program is probably way easier so it might give her more room to focus on jumps while keeping cohesive choreo but I would hope Adeliia wants to go all in and give it everything she can.

Fair enough, however they should stick with previous programs though given the most important event of her life starts in only 7 months time.

 

[Mathematician]

That is a different pressure for sure, but Adelia's SP at the Russian championships had a base value of 37.65, compared to Glenn at US champs having 34.52, Sakamoto at Japanese champs had 32.65.

In the FP, Adelia 78.93, Glenn 66.05, Sakamoto 59.47.

Adelia BV total is 116.58 compared to 92.12. A massive 24 points of base value in her pocket over the three time world champion Sakamoto.

Sure, it's a smaller gap over Glenn but still 16 points, and Adelia in every aspect has far superior program components than Glenn.

Still a different level. She hasnt stepped out internationally in years. She has been an enormous favourite for two season in Russia anyways. The only difference is at Olympics she has one skate for her entire life, and the entire country is on her shoulder. If she falls at RusNats she will be disappointed with herself, but everyone will support her. Imagine she fails at Olympics, the Russian crowd is no less of a hivemind than the internationals, she will be eaten apart especially considering everyone already hates Russia and the Russian fans will feel so embarrassed if their athletes dont perform. Valieva had sympathy, Petrosian will be mocked like crazy if she loses and theres no Shcherbakova or Trusova to keep the country happy with a medal. I think if she doesn't take the gold, its going to be way worse for her than it was for Valieva.

Fair enough, however they should stick with previous programs though given the most important event of her life starts in only 7 months time.

It has to be February. The competition is literally happening in February. Its too perfect. Most beautiful program ever skated, she couldn't give it a clean skate in 2023/24, tragic! Now the program makes a comeback and takes the world record at Olympics and she becomes the greatest to ever do it... ok I'm fantasizing but you get the point...

 

[Skating91]

I just don’t agree at all! There is a scenario where it’s possible only one Russian will be in Italy. The other skaters won’t care at all and may even be resentful that their whole schedule is revolving around someone who is based on isu rules banned from even talking to anyone or celebrating

Not at all. I think they'd rather have all the major events out of the way by mid-January rather than waiting until early March for the GP final.

The alternative is to have the GP final moved from the usual mid February slot to January, but then you'll have the two biggest domestic events of the season within weeks of each other which makes no sense. The Russian Cup used to start in September. It's not asking too much of them to be ready for competition in September. If they were skating internationally many of them that you seem to think would resent the skaters going to the Olympics would be going to Challenger events in September right? One Challenger event starts in early August.

I feel like I should email this to the Russian fed.

 

[Skating91]

Just to add to the discussion about the pressure of the Olympics, I'm not sure it's the case with Adelia because she's a whopping 24 points of base value higher than the reigning three time world champion Sakamoto.

It's not like the Russian championships where Sadkova had 76 points of BV in the free skate compared to Adelia with 78. The Olympics will now be much reduced level of competition for women's skating. There will be no Valieva, Shcherbakova, Trusova this time around, but Sakamoto, Glenn, maybe Levito?

Adelia skating skills aren't quite the level of Sakamoto but ahead of everyone else especially someone like Glenn (Adelia has a lot of one footed skating, Glenn prefers two footed skating), plus much greater control over the upper half of her body compared to Sakamoto who is quite stiff and one dimensional (compared to Adelia) in this regard. Adelia far superior to Sakamoto in presentation and composition there is just no comparison between the complexity of Adelia's programs and Sakamoto. Sakamoto excels with that glide, running edges, but that's just a small part of skating skills.

 

[Mathematician]

Just to add to the discussion about the pressure of the Olympics, I'm not sure it's the case with Adelia because she's a whopping 24 points of base value higher than the reigning three time world champion Sakamoto.

It's not like the Russian championships where Sadkova had 76 points of BV in the free skate compared to Adelia with 78. The Olympics will now be much reduced level of competition for women's skating. There will be no Valieva, Shcherbakova, Trusova this time around, but Sakamoto, Glenn, maybe Levito?

Adelia skating skills aren't quite the level of Sakamoto but ahead of everyone else especially someone like Glenn (Adelia has a lot of one footed skating, Glenn prefers two footed skating), plus much greater control over the upper half of her body compared to Sakamoto who is quite stiff and one dimensional (compared to Adelia) in this regard. Adelia far superior to Sakamoto in presentation and composition there is just no comparison between the complexity of Adelia's programs and Sakamoto. Sakamoto excels with that glide, running edges, but that's just a small part of skating skills.

On second thought I almost agree but not really. On one hand you're right that her BV is so enormous that its hard to imagine she doesnt gold. She has gotten really stable and really mature. She has given her life to the sport, it would take something serious to make her lose everything. That being said it's still a different atmosphere. She hasnt trained under that atmosphere, ever. Almost zero international experience. She said something like "if I only compete in Russia, I will be nobody in the history of skating". She clearly really cares and realizes that the Olympics is going to either vindicate her entire career, or if she just has one bad day, then its all finished. Done. I know what its like to perform, its literally a different skill, it employs different neural connections. The neural connections you build in practice are like half ignored. She should win anyways but its a different world when she steps onto that Olympic ice. She cant train for it until the exact second where she skates out to actually skate her Olympic program. Its not the same thing as skating in Russia, every stage and every tournament is training, even training is training because shes training with the same people shes competing against in the same country. This is not only for her legacy but, one bad day, one poor entry or one poor landing which can happen to literally anyone, and she just disgraced the entire country. When Valieva got back everyone supported her, I cant imagine what Adeliia would feel walking back through the airport if she lost the gold. All of these factors running through her mind when she steps onto ice she never felt before, in an atmosphere magnitudes harder and different than anything she knows, and she only gets once chance. Crazy. These are not normal people who do can handle these things.