Polina Shelepen to compete for Israel
- Thread starter gsk8
- Start date
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
It's that simple. Getting a passport normally qualifies you to compete for a country. Residency is usually not a matter of competing, passport is. There are plenty of skaters competing for other countries who aren't full time residents of the passport country. I assume that she is has Jewish ancestry somewhere in the not-too-distant past. Israel has dispensations for acquiring their citizenship to Jews and particularly those from Russia and other Eastern European countries. She'll still have to meet the Israeli team and skating federation standards; presumably that won't be a problem for her. The only fly in the ointment for ISU competitions is if she needs a release from Russia in order to compete next season, since she competed for Russia internationally in the 2012-2013 season.
I wouldn't be surprised to hear that this switch had been under consideration for some time.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2010
This is a smart move, considering she has a slim chance of competing in Sochi anyway so the earlier she switches the better. Skating for Israel, she will have the opportunity to compete at Worlds and grow through the inevitable good and bad seasons in her career which would not be cut short or diminished due to one bad year or competition. She would have a chance to become a mature skater a la Kostner, Rochette, and other talented skaters from a weak field.
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2013
Definitely a good move! Competition is so strong in Russia so she'll have such a better chance in Israel.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
Excellent choice. She had no chance of making a major team for Russia ever really. The major teams for Russia for awhile will be battled amongst Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Radianova, and Lipnitskaya, plus any future skaters who emerge who can compete realistically for a spot against those. The other current ones have no hope. I hope more of the young talented Russians also find a new country to compete for.
- Joined
- Nov 20, 2011
all 2018 skaters though but agree mostly these five will just reshuffle in their rankings
Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Lipnitskaya, Radionova , Sakhanovich and maybe also Sotskova
the rest can contend to be B skaters or alternates but if they want a bigger scene they have no choice but to compete for another Fed, there is oil rich Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, neighboring states Belarus and Ukraine.
maybe Leonova should think about that too ? :yes:
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2009
I think it's too early to say who will be in the mix for Russian ladies in 2018. You never know with injuries, puberty monster, switching representations, motivation or lack thereof, personal or psychological issues (related to skating/competing or otherwise) when you are talking about a time 5 years into the future. It will be interesting to watch, but it's hard to say who will be in the mix for Pyeongchang and who will not. However, I do think this is a good move for Shelepen, she is too talented to have her international career be essentially over at the age of 17. Hopefully the coaching situation will prove to work better now that she is healthy again and not facing such stiff competition.
- Joined
- Jun 16, 2008
If you have citizenship with the country you are switching to, no release from the former country is required. When was Polina's last international competition in which she competed for Russia? She has to wait 1 year (or is it 2 for singles skaters- I know it is one for pars/ dance- see V/T) from the date of that competition to compete internationally for the new country.
ETA- I see in the article it is 18 months for singles skaters for Olympics, but 1 year for grand prix. While she won't be able to compete in the Olympics, she could compete at Worlds.
ETA- I see in the article it is 18 months for singles skaters for Olympics, but 1 year for grand prix. While she won't be able to compete in the Olympics, she could compete at Worlds.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2013
Is it just me, or when a skater switches nationality, their skating deterioates?
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2008
Good for her!
I only know Tamar Katz. Are there any competitive skaters in Israel?
I only know Tamar Katz. Are there any competitive skaters in Israel?
A lot of the time this is the case but you have some exceptions like duchesnys and anissina. Look at Russian American and then just Russian skater ksenia makarova. But usually you are totally right because changes come when skater is deteriorating anyway!! Dianne de leauw is a plus and a big minus is like I think soldatova?
Not always. Samuel Contesti was more successful after he switched to Italy.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
I know they're not singles skaters, but Volosozhar and Kavaguti got better. But as far I understand, many singles skaters who switch to federations that are less prominent invariably get worse results. Who knows, perhaps with less pressure Shelepen might blossom?
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