Zagitova prepares for senior debut

gsk8 · Jun 9, 2017

Alina Zagitova was the Russian "wunderkind" of the past season that easily dominated the junior ladies and took the Junior World title back to Russia. In 2016, the equally spectacular Marin Honda of Japan had won, ending the Russian ladies' golden streak of five years at Junior Worlds. Honda finished a close second to Zagitova at the 2017 ISU World Junior Championships in Taipei, Chinese Taipei, in March.

More

Who's in trouble now that Zagitova will be joining the senior ranks?

mrrice · Jun 9, 2017

gsk8 said:
Alina Zagitova was the Russian "wunderkind" of the past season that easily dominated the junior ladies and took the Junior World title back to Russia. In 2016, the equally spectacular Marina Honda of Japan had won, ending the Russian ladies' golden streak of five years at Junior Worlds. Honda finished a close second to Zagitova at the 2017 ISU World Junior Championships in Taipei, Chinese Taipei, in March.

More

Who's in trouble now that Zagitova will be joining the senior ranks?

Who's in trouble?? Every Lady in Russia not named Evgenia...She will most likely knock a talented senior off the National Team and that means Pogo, Rad, Tuk, and the other Vets are all fighting for 1 spot.

gsk8 · Jun 9, 2017

The teen, who moved to Moscow in 2015 for training purposes and lives with her grandmother while her parents and little sister Sabina are in Izhevsk, raised the bar technically. She not only included a rarely seen triple Lutz-triple loop combination into her free program (and also into the short at senior Nationals), but also was the first skater to do all her jumps in the second half of the program, maxing out her points. However, this tactical move by her coaches also earned some criticism as the program is not so well balanced with all jumps in the second half.

Many skaters are doing this. What are your thoughts on loading the jumps on the back half?

CanadianSkaterGuy · Jun 9, 2017

She shows great promise but I'm going to hold my reservations until I see how she competes and performs on the senior level. I'm sure with Eteri in her corner she will achieve strong results, but it's hard to say how generous the judges will be to her PCS, when Russia already has one strong contender with huge PCS. She is certainly a huge fave for the Olympic team, but I'm not 100% sold as some people seem to be.

Skater Boy · Jun 9, 2017

I still thought she skated very juniorish at worlds so I am not convinced either. But she could still be a medal threat especially to the North Americans and Japanese ladies.

gmyers · Jun 9, 2017

This is so exiciting! More exciting than even Sotnikova and Medvedeva!

I do believe though all jumps in second half must be banned! Just immediately.

Roast Toast · Jun 9, 2017

I really liked her free program last season and I must say these Russian ladies are really upping the bar for what it means to be the "whole package". Her technical content is just completely insane. I actually thought Marin was the perfect junior Ladies skater already so Alina really surprised me. I expect her first senior season to be as meteoritic as Nathan's, except without the bombing near the end.

Regarding her extreme backloading: this has been discussed to death already, but... I think most people would agree that it can work artistically (again, see this last FS of hers), but that there's only so many variations on that theme that you can do before it starts getting really boring. The question is, is Alina a one off, or can Eteri really pop out a new tech wizard in time for each Olympic season? My personal opinion is that the men's quad battles are actually nerve-wracking and exciting, while backloading really isn't marketable to new audiences or even casual audiences -- I never really think "oh my, these athletes are really furthering the sport!" As a result, I could see the ISU deciding to curb the practice. As it is, there's really no need, as literally only one skater (two to some extent) can pull it off.

samkrut@mail.ru · Jun 9, 2017

I am fine with backloading. I am much more against the opening combo business. Every first half a minute of any program of a skater it's just about the preparation for it usually in the very same spot of a rink, program after program, year after year. Zagitova's DQ program was much more balanced in that sense. I hope she will nail it next season. All that she needs is consistency: 2 clean GPs, GPF, and Europeans. Then she will have a 10 point pcs boost and will be a clear OG podium contender. Can she keep her consistency now that she is expected to grow? I don't know. I am going to test skates in September. I think it will be more or less clear then if she is the one.

Sam L · Jun 9, 2017

So exciting! Can't wait to see her new programs. Please let us know the reports from test skates.

Mathman · Jun 9, 2017

A little side comment. The Golden Skate photographer is outdoing himself for these articles. What a beautiful dress.

samkrut@mail.ru · Jun 9, 2017

I did not believe my eyes: sports.ru - the main sports website in Russia - posted the translation of GS article on Zagitova.

hippomoomin · Jun 9, 2017

Cannot wait to see Alina's new programs next season. Any information on what her programs will be?

I don't have problems with jumps in the second half. There is nothing wrong doing that, especially when she has transitions in between.
I remember watching Anna Sherbatova's LP in the past season. It was so captivating that I didn't realize that she backloaded her jumps till someone pointed out.

skylark · Jun 9, 2017

gsk8 said:
Many skaters are doing this. What are your thoughts on loading the jumps on the back half?

It's individual. When I watched Alina's program, I was very impressed with how well she integrated the jumps into the program, and also with how well she kept my attention in the first half. It's partly how well the choreographer integrates the jumps, and partly how well the skater incorporates them artistically. And whether the program seems like a whole expression, rather than two separate halves.

It's similar to the complaints about men and quads; it depends on what the observer wants to see ... whether you like the skater or not. I watched Nathan Chen's 4CC performances today, and am again amazed at how artistically he integrates his quads into the programs and makes the quads emotional events in themselves. I'm surprised at the number of people who don't see it, but as always, YMMV.

[email protected] said:
I am fine with backloading. I am much more against the opening combo business. Every first half a minute of any program of a skater it's just about the preparation for it usually in the very same spot of a rink, program after program, year after year.

In many cases, I agree. But not all. Part of the reason Ashley, Jason, and Javier are three of my favorites is that they manage to infuse emotion and artistry into the beginning of their programs, rather than making the first combo prep the obvious focus of the first half minute.

I am going to test skates in September. I think it will be more or less clear then if she is the one.

Looking forward to your report on the test skates!

Jaana · Jun 10, 2017

I really liked her performances from Junior Worlds, but she needs a better choreographer to shine in full potential. Now these programs seemed a bit rushing and not polished enough. She deserves something better.

The Russian Nationals will be highly exciting, soooo many skaters competing about 2 remaining Olympic slots (Medvedeva surely gets the first slot).

Sam L · Jun 10, 2017

@Jaana why is your flag of Finland slightly different to the official one with the red bit in the middle? I recently came back from your country, it's an amazing country.

There are many great Russian lady skaters but Alina alone has my heart at the moment. Her programs were amazing, I can't wait to see her programs this season.

plushyfan · Jun 10, 2017

Mathman said:
A little side comment. The Golden Skate photographer is outdoing himself for these articles. What a beautiful dress.

yes, and what a beautiful girl!

mrrice · Jun 10, 2017

gsk8 said:
Many skaters are doing this. What are your thoughts on loading the jumps on the back half?

Until the rules of scoring change, I would imagine that she will follow in her Country Woman's footsteps and continue to backload as it's been quite successful for she and Evgenia. Trust me, if it were easy, all the skaters would have back loaded programs. The judges are rewarding the endurance and stamina needed to execute a 3 jump combo 3 and a half minutes into a free program.

Jaana · Jun 10, 2017

Sam L said:
@Jaana why is your flag of Finland slightly different to the official one with the red bit in the middle? I recently came back from your country, it's an amazing country.

Sam L, great that you enjoyed your stay here! Here you can see the national flag that people have on their yards in official flag days and various state flags:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Finland

The flag I have as my country flag is the one that was available here on this forum.

Nika09 · Jun 10, 2017

Beautiful foto of her indeed!

It's gonna be very interesting to watching her performances in senior rank.
But Alina's making her senior debut in such a difficult circumstances: unfortunately right in Olympic season and all of this pressure in Russian ladies team... I hope she could greatly resist it. All best wishes and good luck to her!

Skater Boy · Jun 11, 2017

She needs a Michelle Kwan tranformation. She really needs to skate like a lady and not a girl.

Zagitova prepares for senior debut

gsk8

mrrice

gsk8

CanadianSkaterGuy

Skater Boy

gmyers

Roast Toast

[email protected]

Medalist

Sam L

Mathman

[email protected]

Medalist

hippomoomin

skylark

Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset

Jaana

Sam L

plushyfan

mrrice

Jaana

Nika09

Skater Boy

Similar threads

Connect with us