Russian Test Skates 2014 | Page 37 | Golden Skate

Russian Test Skates 2014

Finally got around to watching some of these. I really like Tuktamysheva's FS so far, and I appreciate her costume for being a bit different without being overly gaudy. I'll be rooting for her, she's been through a lot these past few years.

Also, Lipnitskaya! I like seeing her improvements in terms of interpretation. :yes: And I've never really paid attention to Radionova for some reason, but is it just me or are her shoulders always up really high?
 
I think we can all safely say that Russian Nationals for the Ladies is going to be absolutely brutal and there will be 1 or more skaters unable to go to Euros/Words that is perfectly capable of medaling.
 
tulosai said:
I don't know, I think Alena did the best she could with her level of talent and actual abilities. By most measures she's had a successful (I'd go so far as to say VERY successful) career, one that most skaters, even elite ones, would be very very happy with.

She's been to an Olympics and to 5 World Championships. She has a World Silver Medal. She's made the GPF twice and has 6 GP medals not including her GPF medal. She won Junior Worlds. She's been to 5 European Championships. She has medaled at and also won SEVERAL B-competitions. I think if Liza T or Anna P end up being as successful as her they will be lucky.

I basically just don't think she 'missed her chance' or is a big fat nobody like some people do, even if she never manages to do anything good competitively ever again. While I don't think she is or ever was a skater at the tier-one tippy-top of the sport, she was for several years a very high tier two skater and very few skaters (relatively speaking) will be able to equal what she has accomplished in their own careers.
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Haven't some of her appearances at Euros/Worlds been because the skaters that finished above her in Nationals were not old enough to go to Euros/Worlds?
 
Amei said:
Haven't some of her appearances at Euros/Worlds been because the skaters that finished above her in Nationals were not old enough to go to Euros/Worlds?
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2 of them, yes, but that's no different than other countries and the age rules are in place for a reason. I don't feel this diminishes her accomplishments.

Also, The first of the two times was 2009 and the people who finished ahead of her were young enough that they wouldn't have been allowed at senior nationals in some countries (12-13 years old I think...). I especially don't think this should diminish what she did. The skaters she 'lost' to at that point truly were kids. I acknowledge that was less true the second time it happened, in 2013.
 
tulosai said:
I don't know, I think Alena did the best she could with her level of talent and actual abilities. By most measures she's had a successful (I'd go so far as to say VERY successful) career, one that most skaters, even elite ones, would be very very happy with.

She's been to an Olympics and to 5 World Championships. She has a World Silver Medal. She's made the GPF twice and has 6 GP medals not including her GPF medal. She won Junior Worlds. She's been to 5 European Championships. She has medaled at and also won SEVERAL B-competitions. I think if Liza T or Anna P end up being as successful as her they will be lucky.

I basically just don't think she 'missed her chance' or is a big fat nobody like some people do, even if she never manages to do anything good competitively ever again. While I don't think she is or ever was a skater at the tier-one tippy-top of the sport, she was for several years a very high tier two skater and very few skaters (relatively speaking) will be able to equal what she has accomplished in their own careers.
Click to expand...

Well said, and I definitely agree with you.

I didn't mean to imply that she completely missed the chance to make something of herself. As you pointed out she's done very well for herself...much better than I would have ever imagined her to do. I just mean that Alena is in the same boat as Ashley Wagner, Mirai Nagasu and a number of other older skaters who have been on the scene for a while. They are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to contending with the younger girls. The judges have kinda written them off/deemed the younger skater to be just as good if not better than they are. What that means is they have less room for error and that they'll have to work twice as hard to get themselves back into the judges' good graces.

I don't see Alena rising back into the top 3 at nationals or making it Euros or worlds again unless at least two of the younger skaters go down...BUT, if she delivers this season I think she can possibly medal at her GP events and regain some of the standing she lost over the past two seasons.
 
Alena Leonova is a World Silver Medalist, something Ashley Wagner and Mirai Nagasu have never and would probably never achieve, and something even within this crop of Russian ladies, only Sotnikova can top and Lipnitskaya can match...I would say Leonova is the most inexplicable and otherworldly existence in recent FS history. We shall never count her out.
 
Elena Radionova was okay. I almost couldn't recognize her.
I think she got taller and her jumps seem to get less and less height. um
I like Adelina's SP..
 
tulosai said:
This all is true as things stand now but I do have to say I think there is a real question of whether Radionova is going to be able to keep her jumps. Her triple triple is starting to look very iffy, and I think that is a fact.

With that said, as things stand now, these two are light years apart IMO. It's far more likely that Leonova could pass Liza (in fact, last year, one could make a case that she DID) than Radionova.
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Radionova's triple-triple starting to look a bit iffy? You are judging the quality of her jumps on performance a month before her season is due to start. If there was something like public skate for US or Canadian skaters, you may find out that the majority of them is not ready at the beginning of September either, and their jumps would not be the quality that will be at GP events/Europeans/worlds. I would be worried if she was in her top shape at this moment because how long a skater can keep it up to be in their top shape?
 
tulosai said:
I don't know, I think Alena did the best she could with her level of talent and actual abilities. By most measures she's had a successful (I'd go so far as to say VERY successful) career, one that most skaters, even elite ones, would be very very happy with.

She's been to an Olympics and to 5 World Championships. She has a World Silver Medal. She's made the GPF twice and has 6 GP medals not including her GPF medal. She won Junior Worlds. She's been to 5 European Championships. She has medaled at and also won SEVERAL B-competitions. I think if Liza T or Anna P end up being as successful as her they will be lucky.

I basically just don't think she 'missed her chance' or is a big fat nobody like some people do, even if she never manages to do anything good competitively ever again. While I don't think she is or ever was a skater at the tier-one tippy-top of the sport, she was for several years a very high tier two skater and very few skaters (relatively speaking) will be able to equal what she has accomplished in their own careers.
Click to expand...

I agree, she has had a decent career, but I don't think the future looks very promising for her.

Amei said:
Haven't some of her appearances at Euros/Worlds been because the skaters that finished above her in Nationals were not old enough to go to Euros/Worlds?
Click to expand...

Yes, for example she wouldn't have been sent to Europeans last season because Radionova was above her at the nationals and so was Proklova.

tulosai said:
2 of them, yes, but that's no different than other countries and the age rules are in place for a reason. I don't feel this diminishes her accomplishments.

Also, The first of the two times was 2009 and the people who finished ahead of her were young enough that they wouldn't have been allowed at senior nationals in some countries (12-13 years old I think...). I especially don't think this should diminish what she did. The skaters she 'lost' to at that point truly were kids. I acknowledge that was less true the second time it happened, in 2013.
Click to expand...

I agree that it doesn't diminish her accomplishments, but it doesn't look promising for the future either. Radionova is now age eligible and from next season those four talented juniors will be senior eligible too. Unless Leonova matches their technical content (which she didn't manage to do even when she was getting her medals at worlds), she has no chance to beat them.
 
Rhodium said:
It would be a good thing if it takes place in Saransk. It is a nice place reachable from Moscow by train.

Unfortunately it will take place in Sochi :frown:
Click to expand...

I am sure Saransk is a nice place but I am not sure that a lot of people would go there even to see the main intrigue of the season - ladies' competition. The train logistics is awfull especially the return. 10hour trip with the arrival at 6 a.m. Moreover, the departure time is 20:40 - can miss a part of competition or have to stay another day. What's wrong with Sochi? More than a dozen flights every day at any time, Iceberg is 15 minutes from the airport, a lot of accomodation. I am coming.
 
I already said this in Liza's thread:

This is a B-competition,yes, and she doesn't have a reputation anymore, but this skate was amazing and imo her score should have been higher !
 
gallavich said:
Sergei Voronov won gold at the Russian Cup - this is his new LP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_IFGg4cDIE

He wrote on VK that he was ashamed of his performance. :no: Of course it's only the beginning of the season and he still managed to win (wonder what the other guys looked like, I'm sure not much better).
Click to expand...

It was really not so bad for the start of the season! He is too hard on himself. :(

He is rapidly becoming one of my faves.
 
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