"Asian figure skaters good but Russians are coming"

wonbinfan86 · Jan 17, 2010

I think this article may have been mentioned before but there's a certain part of it that intrigued me...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g7sCT0w6tUxojuuGaPq3YBkJ602A

(Nikolai Morozov talking...)
But he said each figure skating power has a cyclical crop of great talent and Russia has "three unbelievable young girls" now in their early teens who are too young to be eligible to compete in the Olympics.

They can land several triple-triple combinations in a programme, he said, adding that Russia's figure skating federation was "working 24 hours a day" to cultivate young talent ahead of the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi.

"If you send them to the Olympics, they'll beat Mao, Yu-Na and Miki," Morozov said, without naming the Russians.

Does anyone know which skaters he is referring to?

silverlake22 · Jan 17, 2010

wonbinfan86 said:
I think this article may have been mentioned before but there's a certain part of it that intrigued me...
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g7sCT0w6tUxojuuGaPq3YBkJ602A

(Nikolai Morozov talking...)
But he said each figure skating power has a cyclical crop of great talent and Russia has "three unbelievable young girls" now in their early teens who are too young to be eligible to compete in the Olympics.

They can land several triple-triple combinations in a programme, he said, adding that Russia's figure skating federation was "working 24 hours a day" to cultivate young talent ahead of the 2014 winter Olympics in Sochi.

"If you send them to the Olympics, they'll beat Mao, Yu-Na and Miki," Morozov said, without naming the Russians.

Does anyone know which skaters he is referring to?

"Young teenagers" being the key word. Once these girls go through puberty they won't be the best anymore. I'm convinced asians dominate the sport because they are naturally thinner than European descent ladies. Take Yuna Kim, she's 5'5" and 103 pounds but still has a women's body type. A white girl in the US or Europe of the same height and weight would probably look anorexic or be a 14 year old who hasn't hit puberty.

The Russian girls' bodies will change a lot more in coming years and most of them will probably struggle with jumps, though a few may stay good and become like Slutskaya.

If I had to guess the girls they are talking about: Polina Shelepen, Anna Ovcharova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

wonbinfan86 · Jan 17, 2010

And I hope he doesn't honestly think they could beat Yuna right now if they were eligible for Vancouver...

silverlake22 · Jan 17, 2010

wonbinfan86 said:
And I hope he doesn't honestly think they could beat Yuna right now if they were eligible for Vancouver...

Doubt it. But then again, Sasha thinks she can beat Yuna in Vancouver and I bet she won't land more than 3 or 4 triples in the FS at nats....

silverlake22 · Jan 17, 2010

You can see for yourself though.

Polina (age 14): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx_P0GykPzg

Anna (age 13): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzuQHmQaWtI

Elizaveta (age 13): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fFOUOtYrkA

Yuna Kim (at age 14): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7nmsUs6OOs

I think Yuna is better than all of them even at that age but I might be biased.

Hsuhs · Jan 17, 2010

Was he sober when he said that?

Phoenix347 · Jan 17, 2010

"If you send them to the Olympics, they'll beat Mao, Yu-Na and Miki," Morozov said, without naming the Russians.

What will Miki be thinking when she hears what he said?

Iscariot · Jan 17, 2010

she is probably so proud of having a coach who thinks that she is not even able of beating skaters of 13-15 years old

bibi · Jan 17, 2010

silverlake22 said:
If I had to guess the girls they are talking about: Polina Shelepen, Anna Ovcharova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva

If he said that those girls could land several 3-3...I guess it would be Polina Shelepen, Elizabeta Tuktamysheva, but also Adelina Sotnikova (last year russian national champion ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_327e4ktyQ

silverlake22 · Jan 17, 2010

bibi said:
If he said that those girls could land several 3-3...I guess it would be Polina Shelepen, Elizabeta Tuktamysheva, but also Adelina Sotnikova (last year russian national champion ) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_327e4ktyQ

They still aren't better than Yuna, Mao, and Miki. Sure they can jump but they are not very polished at all. Polina also from the length of her legs looks like she'll be about 5'8" once she's done growing and that's bad news for skating.

Elizaveta is probably the best of the little Russians, but so many people thought Mirai and Caroline were going to take the world by storm when THEY were 13. Three years later they've grown from munchkins to normal sized teenagers and are "average" on the international, and even sometimes national, scene, without 3-3s (Caroline still does hers but it's always downgraded). Anna might be the only one who stays good because she already looks quite tall and is very musical.

bestskate8 · Jan 18, 2010

silverlake22 said:
You can see for yourself though.

Polina (age 14): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wx_P0GykPzg

Anna (age 13): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzuQHmQaWtI

Elizaveta (age 13): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fFOUOtYrkA

Yuna Kim (at age 14): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7nmsUs6OOs

I think Yuna is better than all of them even at that age but I might be biased.

To be fair Elizaveta not 13, but 12 on that video from last year.

Here is Elizaveta from this year

SP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycoM0bJ2-EY

LP http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts6iGM8oCng

bekalc · Jan 18, 2010

silverlake22 said:
Elizaveta is probably the best of the little Russians, but so many people thought Mirai and Caroline were going to take the world by storm when THEY were 13. Three years later they've grown from munchkins to normal sized teenagers and are "average" on the international, and even sometimes national, scene, without 3-3s (Caroline still does hers but it's always downgraded). Anna might be the only one who stays good because she already looks quite tall and is very musical.

Elizaveta is better than Caroline/Mirai were at their age. She has excellent technique on her jumps (a true lutz AND a true flip) and great skating skills. Its hard to know with puberty but the good technique on her jumps is something Caroline and Mirai never had (and neither some says does Anna)

DesertRoad · Jan 18, 2010

The usual nationalistic braggadocio from a Russian based on so much hot hair. As I recall, the last time someone tipped a junior skater to beat the Olympic frontrunners, it was Japan's Mao Asada and she kicked Slutskaya's behind all the way back to the Urals. Let's see these vaunted youngins emerge from their yurts and back up that trash talk with some actual action.

oleada · Jan 18, 2010

I'm pretty sure that he's talking about Adelina Sotnikova (1st at Russian Senior and Junior nationals last year; 4th this year as a senior), Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Polina Shelepen.

Tuktamysheva and Sotnikova are 13 and will be age eligible for the JGP next year and Shelepen is 14 and obviously medaled at the JGPF this year.

silverlake22 · Jan 18, 2010

bekalc said:
Elizaveta is better than Caroline/Mirai were at their age. She has excellent technique on her jumps (a true lutz AND a true flip) and great skating skills. Its hard to know with puberty but the good technique on her jumps is something Caroline and Mirai never had (and neither some says does Anna)

Mirai always had good jump technique except for a slight flutz, her biggest problem is not technique but under-rotation, which she has had issues with even as a teeny tiny 13 year old (they've just gotten stricter about it recently).

Polina definitely has weird technique, her landings are all shaky. Plus she can not do several types of 3-3s, at least in competition, her SP this year has a 3lz-3t and her LP doesn't have a 3-3 at all, only a 2a-3t. Her artistry is also not very good.

Elizaveta is the best jumper, but artistically, Anna is better. Her SP this season is awesome, and considering these girls are so young, I think speed, overall skating, and musicality are more important things to consider than the super difficult combinations they can land because they weigh 70 pounds. Anna is also the tallest and oldest looking of the three, meaning if she can land the jumps now she probably will be able to in three years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Al-fTq4A5g
^^ her SP from this year's senior nationals. I think she is just awesome :love:

oleada · Jan 18, 2010

I like Anna a lot, but her jump technique makes Shelepen's look good. Out of the young Russian skaters, she has the worst jump technique. She does have the best choreography, though :agree:

Polina definitely has weird technique, her landings are all shaky. Plus she can not do several types of 3-3s, at least in competition, her SP this year has a 3lz-3t and her LP doesn't have a 3-3 at all, only a 2a-3t. Her artistry is also not very good.

Shelepen has improved on her jump rotation, and while the technique still not great, she's at least improved on that and didn't get an edge call on the flip, like she had in previous competitions.

But she has done different triple-triples. She did a 3S+3T in Belarus and has landed the 3F+3T and 3F+3Lo in Russian competitions. I assume she was going for the 3+3 in the JGPF but it didn't work out.

Link to BLR protocol

silverlake22 · Jan 18, 2010

oleada said:
I like Anna a lot, but her jump technique makes Shelepen's look good. Out of the young Russian skaters, she has the worst jump technique. She does have the best choreography, though :agree:

Shelepen has improved on her jump rotation, and while the technique still not great, she's at least improved on that and didn't get an edge call on the flip, like she had in previous competitions.

But she has done different triple-triples. She did a 3S+3T in Belarus and has landed the 3F+3T and 3F+3Lo in Russian competitions. I assume she was going for the 3+3 in the JGPF but it didn't work out.

Link to BLR protocol

Wow, that's a lot of 3-3s! Thanks for that info. Polina is cute and this year she actually looks pretty tall, I just don't know if she will manage to keep the technical difficulty up once she fills out, if she ever does, she could just stay really skinny I suppose. Next year she will most likely be on the senior grand prix circuit so we'll see how she does there.

Anna's jump technique is weird, I don't know why she always goes for a 3lz-2lo instead of a 3lz-2t because if she just did the toe instead I bet she wouldn't have to turn in between the jumps like she usually does. Her jumps are high at least though.

I know Morozov is talking about the Russians, but Japan's Kanako Murakami beat Polina at the JGPF with some technical mistakes. She is probably the best little junior lady out there, and even she only came in 5th at Japanese Nationals (which is pretty darn good considering only Mao, Akiko, Yukari, and Miki placed ahead of her). These young girls will have to wait a few years to compete with the top guns so they can work on their PCS scores, which are always higher for experienced senior skaters.

Also, Elizaveta hasn't been on the JGP circuit yet, so this fall will be her first time. Polina and Anna are now both eligible for the SGP circuit but I wouldn't be surprised if Anna did the JGP again, considering she won't turn 14 until March and would have a good chance of medaling at the JGPF.

bekalc · Jan 18, 2010

silverlake22 said:
Mirai always had good jump technique except for a slight flutz, her biggest problem is not technique but under-rotation, which she has had issues with even as a teeny tiny 13 year old (they've just gotten stricter about it recently).

I'm not sure how underrotation isn't an issue with technique. I certainly think it is.

Elizaveta is the best jumper, but artistically, Anna is better. Her SP this season is awesome, and considering these girls are so young, I think speed, overall skating, and musicality are more important things to consider than the super difficult combinations they can land because they weigh 70 pounds. Anna is also the tallest and oldest looking of the three, meaning if she can land the jumps now she probably will be able to in three years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Al-fTq4A5g
^^ her SP from this year's senior nationals. I think she is just awesome

Elizaveta has excellent skating skills and speed especially for her age. And her muscality is there as well. BOTH girls are likely to grow some more, including Anna who is only 14 too. In the case of Elizaveta though, Elizaveta has much better jumping technique. Its hard to now with puberty but Elizaveta's jumping technique will likely serve her very well when puberty hits.

Sound basics at this point are way more important factor than charm/choregraphy. Elizaveta has very sound basics and that's going to serve her well. Its hard to know with the future, but I've found when watching the youngsters that the smartest thing to look at is the basics.

oleada · Jan 18, 2010

silverlake22 said:
Anna's jump technique is weird, I don't know why she always goes for a 3lz-2lo instead of a 3lz-2t because if she just did the toe instead I bet she wouldn't have to turn in between the jumps like she usually does. Her jumps are high at least though.

I don't know if she has a toe loop. She's never attempted one, I don't think.

I hope she stays on the JGP - it would be the best place for her. She's not quite the soup yet. Besides, Russia will have a formidable JGP team next year: Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Ovcharova, Agafonova, Biryukova and Zaseeva all look worthy of spots. I assume Shelepen will go to the SGP.

poloska · Jan 18, 2010

Lisa is adorable, she is very mature for her age. Be sure you have seen her exhibition from last Russian Nationals, it was great. I've seen her skating live and she has very good speed, her jumps are light and quite confident.

"Asian figure skaters good but Russians are coming"

wonbinfan86

Match Penalty

silverlake22

wonbinfan86

Match Penalty

silverlake22

silverlake22

Hsuhs

Phoenix347

Iscariot

bibi

silverlake22

bestskate8

bekalc

DesertRoad

oleada

silverlake22

oleada

silverlake22

bekalc

oleada

poloska

Similar threads

Connect with us