Nordic skating (FIN, SWE, NOR, DEN, ISL) | Page 25 | Golden Skate

Nordic skating (FIN, SWE, NOR, DEN, ISL)

Daniil isn’t senior eligble before next season. Which is probably okay because it´s won´t be easy to grab the remaining spots in Beijing. The good news is he has a whole Olymic cycle in seniors to build reputation and make progress both technically and artistically. Also by then he has probably adjusted his growing spurt and technique better. I´m sure we will already see him at Euros next season. The last couple of months he has landed both 3A and 4S in training, so he is making incredible progress. Technically if he can land it competition it´s not unlikely he can make it to Worlds in his first senior season as well.
Btw - watch out for him in JGP Riga tomorrow, he is skating the SP and might try the 3A already. In that case it would be a historical moment as he would be the first Norwegian to land it (it´s about time, right Axel Paulsen? ;) He has a new FP as well which I´m excited to see.

I´m a bit surprised to see that they don´t have a sub for Mia. Linnea Kilsand would have been a good option, but probably there are some requirements she didn´t fullfill.

Reitan/Majorov going must mean that citizenship is still possible for Milla before February, I thought it would perhaps be too short time. Since the other senior team split there are really no other that could go for them in Milano - and I don´t think Swedish Fed would spend a lot of money on sending them if chances of citizenship were slim. From last season ISU best - they are actually the 5th best team, and since Finland won´t use their second spot now there are 5 spots... So in theory they can make it. But the teams behind them are capable of beating them also so it´s going to be a thriller for sure. It seems like they won´t do any comps before the qualifier unlike other teams and I think that is possible a disadvantage for them because of early feedbacks on programs and chance of adjusting.
I didn't know Daniil is so young. But that's good as he's so good already. Of course I'll watch him tonight and 'hold my thumbs' for the 3 axel if he goes for it in the short.

Milla/Nikolaj in Beijing will be super exciting with a small chance to qualify. Citizenship for Milla doesn't sound possible to me but haha they can always marry if they win a spot....

As for sending skaters with practically no chance to qualify or without having skaters to send to Milan I still think Swe fed is doing the right thing. (What the Swe olympic committee decides is another question) Expensive but a great experience for the future to compete against great skaters with a lot of press. I actually wish they will send young Alexandra Ödman instead of Josefin. I see she went for 3lutz/3toe last season. None of them will qualify anyway.

Sweden is also sending Greta and John with little chance to qualify. Hopefully they have improved since last season and plan to compete for many more seasons.

Also great to see Iceland investing in and sending Julia/Manuel.

All the best to our nordic skaters in Beijing!
 
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A couple of links:

International competition entries Finland autumn 2025 (changes are possbile and also likely in some cases)

Looks Nella P. is starting her season in the middle of October. Two other Nellas in juniors there too, so that's why I wrote Nella P. No, not the most common names but not rare either. Very strongly 2000's name.

The fed is sending Ivansky/Sperry to quite many competitions, more spots than skaters outside of national team usually can have - in singles one or two. IMO it means they want to send them to Euros as there are three spots and give them several many possibilities to try the minimums.


Rules to get the spot to EC, Olympics, and WC, singles

Two best scores will be count as before and at least one must be challenger, GP and this year also olympic qualification will be count. one change compared to last year (I like this change, as I probably told before) which is told in the link's notification also. One of those competitions must be between
Euros: between 1st November and 14th December
Olympics: between 1st November and 20th January
WC: between 1st January and 23rd February
 
First descision for the Swedish fed to make is who to send to the olympic qualifications. There aren't many competitions before that for someone to prove themself. I'm sure they will send Josefin if she's fit. She is known and has lots of experience. I have no idea which skaters she must beat there? Petrosian will take one spot and then four left. Fierce competition and I predict lots of emotions in kiss&cry!

this post has the qualifying competition entries ranked by personal best score. Josefin is fifth. Here are the top 5:
1 HENDRICKX Loena BEL 221.28
2 GUBANOVA Anastasiia GEO 211.19
3 PETROSIAN Adeliia AIN 210.57
4 SAFONOVA Viktoriia AIN 192.49
5 TALJEGARD Josefin SWE 178.10
 
this post has the qualifying competition entries ranked by personal best score. Josefin is fifth. Here are the top 5:
1 HENDRICKX Loena BEL 221.28
2 GUBANOVA Anastasiia GEO 211.19
3 PETROSIAN Adeliia AIN 210.57
4 SAFONOVA Viktoriia AIN 192.49
5 TALJEGARD Josefin SWE 178.10
That score is from WC in Stockholm in 21. So 4 years ago, and probably a bit inflated. Her best ISU best score from last season was 149 from Euros. ISU best score can be misleading since it could be from 5 years ago or last season. At EC last year they did go a bit hard on her rotations - hence the low score.

When that said - she has a good chance to be one of those who is really fighting for that 5th spot and will be on the bubble. Looking at her first competition from the last 3 seasons, she has scored between 155 - 163 points. That might just be enough to snatch the last spot, but will depend on what others do. Her biggest contender might be Chinese Ruiyang Zhang. She is probably going a bit under the radar by people because she almost hasn’t been doing any international. Her ISU best is 145, but that was 2 years ago. She won Asian Trophy recently, with a score of 168. Last season she has been scoring between 151 - 178, mostly only doing domestic competition, and her average seems to be around mid 160s. She seems fairly consistent. The lack of international experience could be the disavantage for her, along with possible pressure of the competition being held in Beijing. The latter could also be a advantage, if there will be some home scoring bonus, I guess it depends on her nerves. I did watch some videoes from her recent skating and she really looks strong and not like a nervous skater. But again - little experience in international competitions and not being exposed or trained for pressure could really throw skaters off.

I think a lot will depend on the panel as well and rotation calls. That has always been Josefin disadvantage, her jumps tend to get called by a strict panel and that is why her scores can vary as much, all though she is a strong performer. However, I did see some clips from Josefin from Swedish test skates, and for me it looked like her jumps was better rotated, but it´s hard to say since the angle was a bit differenet then from television cameras and close ups. And she looks to be well prepared so early in the season, so that bodes well. If Josefin can go clean, without rotation calls, I think she can beat a pretty clean Ruiyang because Josefins PCS will make up for the technical gap, but if she isn´t clean, and there are rotations calls, she might not.

Anyways - we shouldn´t rule out other contenders as well. Both Mia and Nataly could challenge Josefin, but both can be pretty inconsistent at time. Mia outscored Josefin by 10 points at Euros this year, her strong suits is her technical ability and clean jumps when she hits it. But usually Mia doesn´t start off her season well, and peaks later in the season, but it´s hard to say when everybody prepares a bit differently this season. Cyprus just replaced Marilena with Stefania, who just placed 2nd in Robin Cousins Cup, with a score of almost 178. So she is a strong contender as well with her technical abilities, but she is probably going to score a bit lower in components in Beijing and we don´t know if nerves will get her.

Anyways, if Josefin does place like 6th or 7th place, there could still be a chance of going to Milano if something unexpected happens with someone not getting their citizenship or injuries, for example - Sauter didn´t have citizenship yet during Worlds, but said it was under process and she was going to check the status right after - any news about that yet? Romania probably doesn´t have any other to fill the spot. But the real question for me is also: Will SOC send Josefin to Milano if she earns the spot? It was just barely the last time.
 
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That score is from WC in Stockholm in 21. So 4 years ago, and probably a bit inflated. Her best ISU best score from last season was 149 from Euros. ISU best score can be misleading since it could be from 5 years ago or last season. At EC last year they did go a bit hard on her rotations - hence the low score.

When that said - she has a good chance to be one of those who is really fighting for that 5th spot and will be on the bubble. Looking at her first competition from the last 3 seasons, she has scored between 155 - 163 points. That might just be enough to snatch the last spot, but will depend on what others do. Her biggest contender might be Chinese Ruiyang Zhang. She is probably going a bit under the radar by people because she almost hasn’t been doing any international. Her ISU best is 145, but that was 2 years ago. She won Asian Trophy recently, with a score of 168. Last season she has been scoring between 151 - 178, mostly only doing domestic competition, and her average seems to be around mid 160s. She seems fairly consistent. The lack of international experience could be the disavantage for her, along with possible pressure of the competition being held in Beijing. The latter could also be a advantage, if there will be some home scoring bonus, I guess it depends on her nerves. I did watch some videoes from her recent skating and she really looks strong and not like a nervous skater. But again - little experience in international competitions and not being exposed or trained for pressure could really throw skaters off.

I think a lot will depend on the panel as well and rotation calls. That has always been Josefin disadvantage, her jumps tend to get called by a strict panel and that is why her scores can vary as much, all though she is a strong performer. However, I did see some clips from Josefin from Swedish test skates, and for me it looked like her jumps was better rotated, but it´s hard to say since the angle was a bit differenet then from television cameras and close ups. And she looks to be well prepared so early in the season, so that bodes well. If Josefin can go clean, without rotation calls, I think she can beat a pretty clean Ruiyang because Josefins PCS will make up for the technical gap, but if she isn´t clean, and there are rotations calls, she might not.

Anyways - we shouldn´t rule out other contenders as well. Both Mia and Nataly could challenge Josefin, but both can be pretty inconsistent at time. Mia outscored Josefin by 10 points at Euros this year, her strong suits is her technical ability and clean jumps when she hits it. But usually Mia doesn´t start off her season well, and peaks later in the season, but it´s hard to say when everybody prepares a bit differently this season. Cyprus just replaced Marilena with Stefania, who just placed 2nd in Robin Cousins Cup, with a score of almost 178. So she is a strong contender as well with her technical abilities, but she is probably going to score a bit lower in components in Beijing and we don´t know if nerves will get her.

Anyways, if Josefin does place like 6th or 7th place, there could still be a chance of going to Milano if something unexpected happens with someone not getting their citizenship or injuries, for example - Sauter didn´t have citizenship yet during Worlds, but said it was under process and she was going to check the status right after - any news about that yet? Romania probably doesn´t have any other to fill the spot. But the real question for me is also: Will SOC send Josefin to Milano if she earns the spot? It was just barely the last time.
Ana Sofia Beschea, an EC competitor?

And Estonia may send someone else because they have test skates soon.
 
That score is from WC in Stockholm in 21. So 4 years ago, and probably a bit inflated. Her best ISU best score from last season was 149 from Euros. ISU best score can be misleading since it could be from 5 years ago or last season. At EC last year they did go a bit hard on her rotations - hence the low score.
Hope she's improved on her rotations. I bet she's been training really hard.

She is on the Lombardia participation list where women's freee is september 13th. The qualifing short in Beijing is september 19th. So a quick journey for Josefin if she's the chosen one. Exciting!

Also cheering for Mia who I actually see as a better contender than Josefin.
But the real question for me is also: Will SOC send Josefin to Milano if she earns the spot? It was just barely the last time.
Many competitions for the swedish women to show off before olympics. If Josefin earns a spot the swedish oly committe can send for example Alexandra Ödman(17) as a young promising athlete. Or Olivia Phillips(18) or someone else.... They sent Anita Östlund as promising in 2018 when she was 17 years old.
 
Ana Sofia Beschea, an EC competitor?

And Estonia may send someone else because they have test skates soon.
Hmmm I had to check. Beschea is about 4 points shy off Euros minimums now. Which means she doesn’t have the minimums for Olympics either atm. She hasn’t been competing since Euros. She is listed for Lombardia Trophy though, so she still has chances to get them.

For all I know, Sauter might have gotten the citizenship by now, it was just an example of things that might open up an additional spot.

It will be interesting to see how Estonian test skates go.
 
oh no. This is not good:. Iida is named to Nebelhorn trophy at local fed's "international competitions spots" but not any more in competition entries. She has not posted anything at ig, as she is usually active, also when she had to WD because of illness or small injury and explains her WDs. She was so excited to compete in seniors, I really feel sorry for her if she has some big injury.

Edit. Iida is added to Nebelhorn entries.
 
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A real surprise to see Anita Östlund among the accepted entries for the 2025/26 Swedish national series.

In senior men, no Gabriel Folkesson or Jonathan Egyptson. Not sure what's up with that, or if it has any real significance. It's just customary that everyone, including national team members, sign up for this. Even if they don't necessarily plan on skating at any of these national ranking events (but Jonathan did two last season). They're both coached by Tamara Kuchiki if that's a clue.

Also, Oliver Praetorius is back.
They are not on the national team anymore :(

 
Matias Lindfors had two quite good skates at JGP Solidarity cup and he is now top1 in men in season's best in Finland.

There is now qualification competition number 1 going and Matias missed it because he did not take part at all last season to nationals (because of injury?) but there is another possibility. Medalists get a spot automatically, but as usual some of them take part to qualification anyway and everybody can take part in both, if they want to. But if Matias would miss qualification2 for some reason, they could take him to nationals anyways, because they can take in skaters who have scored well some elsewhere and have good reasons to skip. Viveca was once in that situation.

Finland's qualification 1/2 for nationals results

Dancers seem to have a qualification competition of their own this season. Probably because of there must be time to have everything happen in two days and Solo dance is included.

Looks Arttu has made his 3A work, but has made mistake in combo and popped the flip. No streaming, so I am looking just the judges' scores.
 
Milla and Nikolaj got about nine more points for their free skate in Kazakstan than they got in Beijing.

I don't watch much dance and I am ignorant of how to score it.

@norwegianfairytale Were they so much better this weekend? Or is the big difference due to who the judges were and/or where the competitions took place? What do you think?... if you have watched their both free dances.

I hope it's because they keep improving :clap:
 
Milla and Nikolaj got about nine more points for their free skate in Kazakstan than they got in Beijing.

I don't watch much dance and I am ignorant of how to score it.

@norwegianfairytale Were they so much better this weekend? Or is the big difference due to who the judges were and/or where the competitions took place? What do you think?... if you have watched their both free dances.

I hope it's because they keep improving :clap:
That´s a good question that many are wondering about. I´m not expert either, but I watched both skates a couple of times and also listened to some skating podcast about this subject about the scoring controversy in Beijing.

I think yes - they skated their FD a little better this weekend, they did perhaps seem more relaxed, but I don´t think they skated 9 points better. And I don´t think that is because they were overscored this weekend, the panel actually seemed pretty strict as they called some levels on The Browns and Diana and Gleb.

Things that I think were better this weekend: Their twizzles looked cleaner and they got both lv. 4 and higher GOE. Combination lift looked a little bit better, they made sure to have enough rotations for lv. 4. Their stationary lift looked better, Nikolaj had a small step out on that in Beijing towards the end, it didn´t cost them level there, but they got lower GOE. I think they also made small adjustment in their choreo step and stayed closer just to be sure. I think all of this at best should add 3-4 points more.

Some of the calls in Beijing was very strict from those who have been analyzing, Millas twizzles would justify a lv. 3, but got lv. 2, same with the combination lift - a lv. 3 was justified, but as there were 5 rotations - calling it lv. 2 was very strict. And then there were the choreo step, that was very unclear why it got called, distance between them seems to be the only thing that could have been, and that was a very strict call as it may have appeared in a split second. And then there were levels they might should have been higher, their OFTW got a lv. 3 this weekend, but only lv. 1 for Milla and lv. 2 for Nikolaj in Beijing - and here I basically see no difference, so I don´t know how they can judge that so different.

Rockerskating/Jackie Wong made a very good point in his podcast - if the panel looks long enough, they will find something, even for the top teams, and it´s not normal to look that closely at every element to find something to call. That was the thing, for RM and the Japanese team they took a awful lot of time. Such long wait in the kiss and cry is unheard of.

If we look aside for calls, and even say they were valid in Beijing, there is still issue with the GOE they got were low across all elements compared to other teams given ho well they performed, and then there is PCS. They recieved almost 2 points higher this weekend which seem more correct because how commited they stay to the performance, and how well composed it is with a clear story line and how well every elements goes together. I mean even if such events hold a higher standard, the biggest issue for me is that they got the same PCS as the Chinese team. At least the presentation and composition mark should have been higher for them, the Chinese team might have deeper edges, so that might justify same skating skills, but Milla and Nikolaj are fast, have softer lines etc. I think the part that W/L were better was the lifts, and that is already reflected in the GOE.

Another thing is that Milla and Nikolaj scored over 100 points in every single competition last season in their FD, even at Euros were Milla stumbled out of her twizzle they managed to score 100, they left some points on the table there and Championships is known to hold higher standards. And they obviously improved since last season and got a better program. So given their skating history, 99.30 was very low for them, even with some calls.

So yes, they performed better this weekend, but I think the difference should have been maximum 4-5 points. And potentially - they might even still be underscored. I would not be surprised if they will score 110 in the FD some time this season. I even read a comment saying that the judges might have been a bit careful with the scoring this weekend so that the scores from OQE would not look even more different.
 
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wow @norwegianfairytale how you have taken the time to compare their programs down to every move :) You are really their biggest fan.

Agree with Jackie Wong: 'if the panel looks long enough, they will find something, even for the top teams' Also of course it doesn't help the sport.

Whatever it's good to see Milla and Nikolaj improving and being happy.
 
wow @norwegianfairytale how you have taken the time to compare their programs down to every move :) You are really their biggest fan.

Agree with Jackie Wong: 'if the panel looks long enough, they will find something, even for the top teams' Also of course it doesn't help the sport.

Whatever it's good to see Milla and Nikolaj improving and being happy.
Most of the analyzing was done from the podcasters though, I really don`t know much about ice dance calls but it sounds convincing to me. If you look at the comments on YouTube from their skate in Beijing there is a lot of people annoyed by the judging. It has gotten over 27 000 views which is amazing. They really enchanted the general watchers with this program.

Yes, this bronze is really a great achievement for them. The first Challenger medal must be something special and it`s a good revenge after what happend in Beijing. Given how well they also did last season i`m not surprised, I think I was one of very few that had them in 3rd in the prediction contest. They even beat the Browns in the free, and almost overall. I did not expect them to be this close to silver. I think they are way ahead of the expected curve given they only skated together for 3 years. Like Ted said - they are a very good team and even have another Olympic quad in them. Their scores are high given they are probably still held down by reputation scoring. I`m sure they at least will be able to get Sweden two ID spots at Euros in the future, which is great with all these new young teams
 
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