Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada breaks through

Russia’s new kid on the block, Mikhail Kolyada, might change all the talk and attention the Russian ladies in figure skating have been getting over the past few years.

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“I felt so happy and excited, because I won my first medal at the Russian Championships (senior level) and got on the team for Europeans,” Kolyada shared. “It was always my dream to compete in this event and now my dream has come true.”

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“In the free skating at Europeans I’ll try two quads—the toeloop and Salchow,” he shared. “I did that already in practice. I just need to change the layout of my program a bit because of the jumps to make it more comfortable. The short program will be unchanged.”

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Here's wishing him lots of success! If he skates two clean programs and lands those two quads, how do you think he'll fare at Europeans?

Kolyada and Daniel are two young skaters I'm really looking forward to seeing at Europeans.
I think he has a chance of making the top 5. I enjoy his skating style, energetic, fast and such big jumps! :hap36:

Better artistry than Kovtun.

Quirky Prince!!
thanks for the article, many people calling Yuzuru an alien (myself included ), but for me Mikhail is also alien, the way he moves to the music (esp his long program), maybe not from same planet as Hanyu but they might be neighbours and he does housework!! what more can a person ask i hope he will stay humble, down to earth, geniune and quirky and of course injuryfree!

I've been casually following figure skating since around 2006, and I only started to seriously follow since 2012, but coming to know him is definitely one of the best things ever happened. He's got quality jumps and spins, and his programmes are fun, quirky yet sophisticated. Reading his interviews, he seems to have a lovely personality off ice too.

My calculation when he delivers clean, executing every element with his highest quality:

SP:
4T+3T: 14.60+2.00=16.60
3A: 8.50+2.14=10.64
3Lz: 6.60x+1.20=7.80
FSSp4: 3.00+0.86=3.86
CCSp4: 3.20+0.86=4.06
CCoSp3p4: 3.50+1.00=4.50
StSq3: 3.30+0.80=4.10

TES: 51.56
PCS: let's say 39
=TSS: 90.56

FS:
4S: 10.50+1.00=11.50
4T: 10.30+2.00=12.30
3A+3T: 12.80+2.14=14.94
3A: 8.50+2.14=10.64
3Lz: 6.00+1.20=7.20
3Lo: 5.61x+0.70=6.31
3Lz+2T+2T: 9.46x+0.90=10.36
2A+2A+SEQ: 5.81x+0.60=6.41
FSSp4: 3.00+0.86=3.86
CCSp4: 3.20+0.86=4.06
CCoSp3p4: 3.50+1.00=4.50
StSq3: 3.30+0.80=4.10
ChSq1: 2.00+1.10=3.10

TES: 99.28
PCS: hopefully 83
=TSS: 182.28 (if he goes for 3S+2A+SEQ: 6.78+0.80=7.58 instead of 2A+2A+SEQ, it'll be 183.45)

Thus, it is the overall of 272.84 which, I believe, can put him in silver, if not gold. It would put him higher than Javi at CoC (270.55) or CoR (271.43) (not to mention Javi is likely to add 4S to his SP). Realistically, he will lose few points in GOE or levels even if he goes seemingly clean and obviously the final result depends on how others perform. Also, with all the inflation going on, I don't know what to expect for anybody's PCS at this point tbh.

As much as the good result at the Euros means a lot for his career, what matters for him right now is how he places among the Russian men to secure his spot at the Worlds. I don't want to have too much expectation for his Euros placement (this is his first big international event since JW2013... I hope he enjoys it!) but I really really hope he'll get that ticket to Boston!

ETA: Looking at the protocols from GPS, I changed his SP PCS from 40 to 39. Sounds more realistic?

Great to see so much attention to Mika and a little worrying too - I would prefer as little hype as possible going into Euro. A second quad is a big risk even it is clean most of time in practice - the fact is he hasnt even tried it yet let alone land in ANY of competitions. in the end it will be down to how he will be able to stay calm & focused under pressure. I am sure will be a nervous wreck by the time it is over!

I'm so glad that our GS writers do pay attention to Kolyada; of course he deserves every bit of such media attentions since he can deliver a quality skating with huge and beautiful triple axel and unique presentation as well as his solid basic skating skills. I think he makes not only a big breakthrough for himself after his struggling with injuries, but also for Russian men's discipline. The young and fresh skater can make the men's field more diverse because he has his own style that differentiates the current field.

His skate blew me away! Can't wait to see this one sometime in person.

great article Tatjana!
Yeah I too try to lower my Euros expectations but oh my its hard!

I´m really enjoying his skating :luv17:
He can do clean programs and i´m sure he can do a great job at Euros.

Am i the only one who thinks he looks a little bit like that guy from "Game of thrones" ? #KingJoffrey

sloveniangirl said:

I´m really enjoying his skating :luv17:
He can do clean programs and i´m sure he can do a great job at Euros.

Am i the only one who thinks he looks a little bit like that guy from "Game of thrones" ? #KingJoffrey

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he does but lets not go there haha, he seems really nice guy in real life though

He seems to remind people of a lot of different people
I've also heard people sayin he looks like Kulik, Arshavin, Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Judi Dench! and some Japanese actors.lol

About the quad salchow, I actually think it's probably not that risky. He seems to be attempting one in every competition during the 2013-14 season and he always poped them into a triple. If he's replacing 3S (or possibly 2A?) with 4S, popping to a triple does no harm to his layout. AFAIK, he rarely pops a quad into a single or a double (happened only once this season), and he'll still get 5.5 even if he falls. Few things that worries me are that it is a time for skaters to change their boots, and that he's got only a month to get used to the new layout. But if he thinks he can do it, then I'll take it as a positive sign. Mishin said yesterday that Sasha will not add 4T at the Euros, and I suppose Misha and Chebotareva will do the same if they're not feeling secure enough. Well I'm just trying not to worry too much I guess...

Perdita said:

He seems to remind people of a lot of different people
I've also heard people sayin he looks like Kulik, Arshavin, Alex from A Clockwork Orange, Judi Dench! and some Japanese actors.lol

About the quad salchow, I actually think it's probably not that risky. He seems to be attempting one in every competition during the 2013-14 season and he always poped them into a triple. If he's replacing 3S (or possibly 2A?) with 4S, popping to a triple does no harm to his layout. AFAIK, he rarely pops a quad into a single or a double (happened only once this season), and he'll still get 5.5 even if he falls. Few things that worries me are that it is a time for skaters to change their boots, and that he's got only a month to get used to the new layout. But if he thinks he can do it, then I'll take it as a positive sign. Mishin said yesterday that Sasha will not add 4T at the Euros, and I suppose Misha and Chebotareva will do the same if they're not feeling secure enough. Well I'm just trying not to worry too much I guess...

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Oh Judi Dench, Japanese actors - that made my day
BTW Russians claim that we are here on the goldenskate say that Mika is Russia's Jason Brown - was it really discussed?

That's a good point about popping a sal quad into a triple - makes me less worried. But I still don't think its a smart strategy and if they follow Team Mishin route i'd be happy to hear that.

Tutto said:

Oh Judi Dench, Japanese actors - that made my day
BTW Russians claim that we are here on the goldenskate say that Mika is Russia's Jason Brown - was it really discussed?

That's a good point about popping a sal quad into a triple - makes me less worried. But I still don't think its a smart strategy and if they follow Team Mishin route i'd be happy to hear that.

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Russia's Jason Brown - that's what I said! I didn't mean it in terms of his appearance nor skating style, I was referring to the fact he got a quad at a quite later age though. I'm impressed that what I say here is indeed discussed by Russians

I actually think he does look like Judi Dench

Perdita said:

Russia's Jason Brown - that's what I said! I didn't mean it in terms of his appearance nor skating style, I was referring to the fact he got a quad at a quite later age though. I'm impressed that what I say here is indeed discussed by Russians

I actually think he does look like Judi Dench

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I think I need some time to get used to the idea of Mika's likeness with a British actress!

Then you will be further impressed that the point you made about Jason Brown I think is about the ONLY similarity between the two which is NOT discussed. They are being compared in terms of expressiveness, contact with the audience, plenty of transitions etc Funny how it all gets lost in translation... And it is known that we call him Mika here - I even read it in the readers comments to his interviews

I really like Kolyada, he has a lot of personality and his skating is very nice because he's well rounded. The jumps are huge, his spins are great, his footwork is always entertaining, and he seems to have a good feel for the music. I'm a fan, I'm hoping he can podium at Euros!

Judi Dench!

matmuh said:

he does but lets not go there haha, he seems really nice guy in real life though

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Well, i like Joffrey :shock2: He always make me laugh