Alena Kostornaia

Batsuchan · Dec 3, 2019

Here's a long interview with Maria Butyrskaya, in which she talks about her predictions for the GPF and the other Russian ladies, but she starts by talking a lot about Aliona, so I'm posting this here. I do have to point out that Butyrskaya may be a little bit biased because Aliona had been training in the school run by Elena Tchaikovskaia, who was Butyrskaya's coach.

But of course I agree with everything she says! :biggrin:

http://portal-kultura.ru/articles/s...lyadit-uglovatym-zato-ee-pryzhki-prosto-kosm/

GoogleTranslate:

On December 5, the final of the Grand Prix of figure skating series starts in Italian Turin. According to the results of the qualifying stages, our athletes received eleven places in the decisive stage and will qualify for medals in each of the four types of programs. “Culture” asked Maria Butyrskaya, the first Russian world champion in singles, to share her expectations from the competition.

Culture: Four students of Eteri Tutberidze will take part in the girls' competitions at once. Who do you think has the best chance of winning?
Butyrskaya: All girls deserve special attention. I'll start with Alena Kostornaya - I always liked her a lot. This is her first season among adults, and immediately such a success. Alena shows amazingly graceful skating. She has a magnificent triple axel. From the first steps on the ice, the referees are fascinated - they like it. In our sport, a lot depends on this: it is very important to make a favorable impression on judges.

culture: It turns out that if the judges "dislike" a skater, they can underestimate the score?
Butyrskaya: Exactly. But Kostornaya has no such problems. The girl deserves the highest marks. She has the perfect program. Complexity, richness, a combination of components, musicality, performance of elements - all at the highest level. It is not surprising that Alena at the stage in Japan set a world record for her points in the short program.

Culture: There is an opinion that our girls do not show true female skating, but simply make many difficult jumps ...
Butyrskaya: When you watch Kostornaya’s performances, you don’t even think about the junior level in your head. This is the real, I emphasize, women's skating.

There is more in the rest of the interview.

Vemvane · Dec 4, 2019

Thank you for posting the interview link and the translation, Batsuchan. I love how much everyone loves Aliona and her skating. She really is wonderful to watch.

SkateSkates · Dec 4, 2019

Aliona will skate first in the SP - I’m nervous for her! Now that she’s doing the 3A it takes her longer to warm that element up so I hope she is able to practice it in time to have a few seconds of rest before competing. I also hope it doesn’t negatively affect her PCS.... it’s unfortunate they changed how the draw worked last season - it used to be in reverse order of qualification and now it’s based on World Ranking :/

sclloyd · Dec 4, 2019

SkateSkates said:
Aliona will skate first in the SP - I’m nervous for her! Now that she’s doing the 3A it takes her longer to warm that element up so I hope she is able to practice it in time to have a few seconds of rest before competing. I also hope it doesn’t negatively affect her PCS.... it’s unfortunate they changed how the draw worked last season - it used to be in reverse order of qualification and now it’s based on World Ranking :/

So apparently the 4A aren’t at the first practice yet and they missed the draw, which seems kind of crazy for such a big event. I know there’s a second practice, but her first practice always seems to go a little poorly, almost like she needs the second one just to refocus. I wonder why they are late? The juniors from the group are there so I’m confused.

flanker · Dec 4, 2019

sclloyd said:
So apparently the 4A aren’t at the first practice yet and they missed the draw, which seems kind of crazy for such a big event. I know there’s a second practice, but her first practice always seems to go a little poorly, almost like she needs the second one just to refocus. I wonder why they are late? The juniors from the group are there so I’m confused.

According to some fans their flight was delayed.

Alexz · Dec 4, 2019

Alena Kostornaia's SP skating map: https://twitter.com/SkatingMaps/status/1202365981454032897

English: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EK-pd1jUYAAtOJA?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Japanese: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EK-pd1iU8AIwjYT?format=jpg&name=4096x4096
Russian: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EK-pd1lUUAAPr_A?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

Batsuchan · Dec 4, 2019

sclloyd said:
So apparently the 4A aren’t at the first practice yet and they missed the draw, which seems kind of crazy for such a big event. I know there’s a second practice, but her first practice always seems to go a little poorly, almost like she needs the second one just to refocus. I wonder why they are late? The juniors from the group are there so I’m confused.

Well, so far on the GP series, they have only showed up for practice on the day before the event (i.e., Thursday, if the SP is on Friday). The schedule for GPF is a little strange because practices started on Wednesday. I guess they might be thinking that it's better to spend a whole morning training at home and fly out in the afternoon rather than get there on time for a single 40 minute practice session...? Not sure. When I went to Worlds 2016, the Russian ladies definitely missed the first few days of practice.

The important thing is that they are there now! :yes:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5qtzqFJhvH/
And with their luggage too! :agree: (Phew!)

Batsuchan · Dec 4, 2019

SkateSkates said:
Aliona will skate first in the SP - I’m nervous for her! Now that she’s doing the 3A it takes her longer to warm that element up so I hope she is able to practice it in time to have a few seconds of rest before competing. I also hope it doesn’t negatively affect her PCS.... it’s unfortunate they changed how the draw worked last season - it used to be in reverse order of qualification and now it’s based on World Ranking

So I was feeling super calm about GPF yesterday, but I totally did not realize that they changed the GPF draw! :eek:

I figured Aliona would skate near the end of the group; it never occurred to me that she might have to skate first! :dbana:

I actually am not too worried about the judges holding down Aliona's scores if she skates perfectly. I think the judges know who she is now, and I'm hoping they know that she's the current SP world record holder. And at Finlandia we saw them give her good scores even though she was first and rather unknown.

But I think it will all depend on Aliona skating her best, and like SkateSkates, I'm now really nervous about her going first!! :drama:

If she has a rough warm-up like she did before the NHK LP, I'm worried she might not have enough time to calm herself down and re-focus... But, on the other hand, if she has a really good warm-up, then she can carry that feeling straight into the SP. So I really have no idea what will happen, which makes this extremely nerve-wracking!!

A part of me does feel that this is an opportunity for Aliona to grow. She probably have to skate 1st in a group at some point in the future (I'm not counting Finlandia since she didn't do the 3A), so she will have to learn how to deal with it, and why not start now? :yes:

I hope that Eteri can get her into the proper mindset, and I fully expect Aliona's bestie Dasha Pavliuchenko to be there cheering her on. :agree:

And no matter what happens, Aliona will be in 1st place after she skates! :biggrin:

Batsuchan · Dec 4, 2019

Looks like Aliona was at the Channel 1 studio a few days ago:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5hqO9dnhV1/ :love:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5poiIWJEus/

I wonder if this means they'll air an interview or some kind of special with her...?
Or maybe she was just visiting because she's now thinking about becoming a TV journalist in the future. :biggrin:

elbkup · Dec 5, 2019

Just popping in to wish Alena the best... skate with wings little one!!! :clap:

LynsJ · Dec 5, 2019

Wishing her all the best for the short program! Can’t wait to watch [emoji846][emoji178]

Vemvane · Dec 5, 2019

Good luck to Aliona for tomorrow! May she have a good skate that leaves her smiling when she is finished.

Edwin · Dec 5, 2019

Batsuchan said:
Looks like Aliona was at the Channel 1 studio a few days ago:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5hqO9dnhV1/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5poiIWJEus/

I wonder if this means they'll air an interview or some kind of special with her...?
Or maybe she was just visiting because she's now thinking about becoming a TV journalist in the future.

My guess she was there for recording her installment of the Channel One figure skating quizz show for next Thursday.
Aleksandra Trusova's had her installment broadcasted today.

Lzbee · Dec 5, 2019

Wishing for a clean GPF for Alena, someone needs to keep Sasha on her toes and she's the only one who can at the moment!

(Also because I can't help wanting her to win everything :shrug:

I am a weak biased human)

Batsuchan · Dec 5, 2019

Here is a little bit of cuteness from Thursday's practice!

1) OMG, Aliona had a Pikachu pin on her top, and it was sooo cute!! :love:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sp1aMI4kX/ (Scroll to the right to see the close-up)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5s2ZN7Jl_Z/

And some lovely fan art inspired by the pin!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5tBzQWKRPk/ :luv17:

Is this a hint that she doesn't want any more unicorn stuffies--she wants Pikachus instead?

2) Alina and Aliona chatting in practice :love:

https://twitter.com/evitoyagi/status/1202586612275630080?s=03
The text says "GPF Zagitova and Kostornaia chatting in a friendly/close way. It must be reassuring to have her 'older sister' there." :yes:
More:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5s_-m-IbMS/

I'm glad that Alina was there with Aliona at her GP events (and GPF). She does seem to be quite a good 'older sister' to her. :agree: I hope Aliona will do the same when the younger girls move up!

3) The 4 A's getting photographed before the practice: :love:

https://youtu.be/Ep0j8PORogA?t=324
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sO9B3lajV/

Batsuchan · Dec 5, 2019

Lzbee said:
Wishing for a clean GPF for Alena, someone needs to keep Sasha on her toes and she's the only one who can at the moment!

(Also because I can't help wanting her to win everything I am a weak biased human)

I totally agree with you--I'm weak and biased too!! :biggrin:

Yes, the real key will be the SP. :yes: If she skates like she did at NHK, then she hopefully will have a sizable lead going into the FS! :pray:

The clips/reports I saw of practice today seemed pretty much as expected. Aliona wasn't perfect--she stepped out of her opening 3A in her FS run-through and had a step out of her 3F+3T combo, but everything else looked good:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sZi4pp6Ww/

I was surprised that she went for the second 3A--usually if she has a mistake on the first 3A she does a 3Lz as her second jump instead. But I guess she didn't fall, and at this point, with Anna and Sasha doing 3+ quads each, it's probably worth the risk to go for a second 3A even if the first one isn't great. :yes:

She did get off a GORGEOUS 3A+3T too:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B5sSpfyFnmV/ :eeking:

**

Well I'm going to be a nervous wreck before the SP tomorrow, but I'm hoping for Aliona to get some inspiration from her unicorns and Pikachu and be totally magical in the SP!!

FLY ANGEL, FLYYYY!

Batsuchan · Dec 5, 2019

Last thing - vote for Aliona to be athlete of the month!!
https://ussa.edu/aom/aom-ballot/

Macassar88 · Dec 6, 2019

That 3A-3T is amazing!

Good Vibes Only · Dec 6, 2019

Good luck to Alena!! This is definitely her hardest competition of the year thus far and I hope that she does well!! This will be a good test before Russian Nats! Hopefully Alena will skate as consistently as she always does and grabs a podium placement. With this field, making the podium is like placing at worlds!! Good luck to our little angel :yahoo:

Yasmina1996 · Dec 6, 2019

Alena was not in good shape today morning. But sometimes it’s happened and then she make her best.

Alena Kostornaia

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Batsuchan

Vemvane

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flanker

Alexz

Batsuchan

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elbkup

Power without conscience is a savage weapon

LynsJ

Vemvane

Edwin

СделаноВХрустальном!

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Batsuchan

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Good Vibes Only

Yasmina1996

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