Alena Kostornaia

Falun said:

Alyona + Llama: https://www.instagram.com/p/B7_dqtuJhxm/

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Yeah, Aliona is really quite the animal lover. Her expression when she saw the llama was SOOO precious and cute!!

There's a partial transcript here, and it seems like the hosts offered the skaters a chance to take the llamas home as pets...? (Maybe as a joke...?)
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/interval/2713897.html

I totally had to when Aliona revealed that she stayed up most the night watching "The Vampire Diaries." SAME GIRL, SAME!!
I'm like, old enough to be Aliona's mom, but a couple of years ago I binged the first four seasons of TVD (about 90 episodes?) in less than a month. It's seriously addictive!! And it wasn't just me--I got one of my best friends to watch it, and she admitted that she started making up excuses just so she could go home and watch it.

Edwin said:

All the Khrustalniy skaters make full use of the complete ice surface, check their Skating Maps.

Speed and length of their tracks are exemplary.

Montreal has the typical narrow rink, so European, Japanese and Korean skaters will be at a disadvantage: the might need to cut a few corners or skate very close to the boards.

Alyona has skated on narrow rinks before? Not in her GP stages, only in last year's Tutberidze Show of Champions because of the premium seating inside the boards.

Does her program needs adjusting, esp in setting up her huge and beautiful triksels with their full speed entries and exits?

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Edwin, I have been worrying about EXACTLY this since I first saw Aliona jumping her trixels in the corners at Finlandia Trophy. :yes:

But I didn't want to say anything earlier for fear of jinxing Aliona's chances to make the World team in the first place. :noshake:

The Ladies SP at Worlds starts on Wednesday, which will be really weird for me because the 4 competitions I've been to have always had the ladies last. But in that case, I really hope the Russian girls arrive in time for practice on Monday (instead of only practicing the day before the SP) so they can get used to the rink size.

Anna had a chance to skate on an NHL-sized rink at Skate America, and it's possible that Sasha did too at Skate Canada, but Aliona has not skated on an NHL rink this season. She probably skated on one at JGPF in Vancouver, but she wasn't doing 3As then. I'm quite worried that the long and narrow rink will throw her off, but more recently she hasn't been doing her axels so far in the corner. But now that her lutz cuts across the narrow length of the rink, I'm also worried about that.

And I'm also really concerned about her trying a 4S for the first time on a weird shaped rink.

I think Mao Asada's team did put some foam barriers down on her home rink to make it narrower, so she could get used to it. I wonder if Team Tutberidze would consider doing the same...

Now for some fluff!

Aliona made it into an ELLE Japan article on figure skaters' makeup/costumes!
https://www.elle.com/jp/beauty/celebbeauty/g30723272/figureskating2020-makeup-200131-hns/?slide=11

My translation:

This season's constant gold medalist, who can boast of overwhelming strength--Aliona Kostornaia. She has a red lip that matches the decorations on her costume, and the key points are the perfect lip line and the fully colored-in lips. Perhaps her reliably first-rate makeup also translates into her performance?!

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It's true, Aliona's makeup is always on point! :agree:

Which reminds me--did anyone else notice that Aliona had a different pair of earrings at Euros?
C'mon jewelry companies of the world, you are totally missing out on a great chance to advertise your earrings!!! Sponsor Aliona!!

Batsuchan said:

Edwin, I have been worrying about EXACTLY this since I first saw Aliona jumping her trixels in the corners at Finlandia Trophy. :yes:

But I didn't want to say anything earlier for fear of jinxing Aliona's chances to make the World team in the first place. :noshake:

The Ladies SP at Worlds starts on Wednesday, which will be really weird for me because the 4 competitions I've been to have always had the ladies last. But in that case, I really hope the Russian girls arrive in time for practice on Monday (instead of only practicing the day before the SP) so they can get used to the rink size.

Anna had a chance to skate on an NHL-sized rink at Skate America, and it's possible that Sasha did too at Skate Canada, but Aliona has not skated on an NHL rink this season. She probably skated on one at JGPF in Vancouver, but she wasn't doing 3As then. I'm quite worried that the long and narrow rink will throw her off, but more recently she hasn't been doing her axels so far in the corner. But now that her lutz cuts across the narrow length of the rink, I'm also worried about that.

And I'm also really concerned about her trying a 4S for the first time on a weird shaped rink.

I think Mao Asada's team did put some foam barriers down on her home rink to make it narrower, so she could get used to it. I wonder if Team Tutberidze would consider doing the same...

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I think they are aware of the fact that NHL sized rinks are smaller and they have lots of time to prepare for it (if it's even the problem)...

icybear said:

I would Alena to do another tango, maybe a tango fs.

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This. But I want her tango to be using modern music like in dancing with the stars where they use modern music for different forms of dance. please no more tango de roxanne. I think that would be cool and new and Alyona could totally pull it off with her amazing SS.

Batsuchan said:

Edwin, I have been worrying about EXACTLY this since I first saw Aliona jumping her trixels in the corners at Finlandia Trophy. :yes:

I think Mao Asada's team did put some foam barriers down on her home rink to make it narrower, so she could get used to it. I wonder if Team Tutberidze would consider doing the same...

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I so sure that Eteri's team his working on it since the day after EU I'm not even worried.

It's a little paradox to have rules that requires the full coverage of the ice while not having a standard size for international competition (or have it derived from other sports an not based on figure skating requirements)

Batsuchan said:

Yeah, Aliona is really quite the animal lover. Her expression when she saw the llama was SOOO precious and cute!!

There's a partial transcript here, and it seems like the hosts offered the skaters a chance to take the llamas home as pets...? (Maybe as a joke...?)
https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/interval/2713897.html

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Aliona is sweet, no matter how they try to paint her.
When she embraced it I had the impression that she would bring it home if possible.

Batsuchan said:

The Ladies SP at Worlds starts on Wednesday, which will be really weird for me because the 4 competitions I've been to have always had the ladies last.

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This schedule looks like it's done for some US TV.

PHENOMENOLOGY OF ALIONA KOSTORNAIA
There’s a lot of time until the World Championships, Aliona’s next competition.
So, to fill this time, I would like to explain better some of the reasons why I think that Aliona is exceptional (in the literal meaning of the term), the only one with star qualities.
I don't mean to talk again about the technical and athletic qualities that make her a champion.
I intend instead to talk about her original and striking personality.
Someone make comparisons with other skaters who are always composed and say only the "right" things to the media.
IMO this is so ordinary, and flat, and dull!
I think that Aliona should never do or say the "right" things, what anyone expects of her.
There is the “right” way (standard way), and there is Aliona’s way.
Aliona is outgoing, funny, full of surprises. She manages to make everything around her new and interesting.
Like, there is a boring press conference about the men’s competition? No problem, Aliona revives it, mixing with the public to joke with the winners.
Is the usual, obvious award ceremony, going on with three Russians on the podium?
Here Aliona has an intuition of pure genius: she breaks all the rules of the protocol, inviting the two training mates to join her on the highest step, to sing together the national anthem.
So, she gave us, thanks also to the Austrian television direction, some truly unforgettable shots like these:
https://youtu.be/lkM0pRB-d3g?t=376
https://youtu.be/lkM0pRB-d3g?t=562
(By the way, I'd like this to become a sort of trademark for the 3A, a new tradition for every time they sweep the podium).

Some traditionalist might argue that her tendency to break the rules is indicative of immaturity.
On the contrary, I think that Aliona has a maturity and a refinement of thought much higher than her age.
At the IDF, when Aliona was unfairly penalized in the SP score, the television showed us all her disappointment and anger in the Kiss & Cry area.
Someone else could have remained silent, for fear of antagonize the ISU judges, or on the contrary could have accused the judges explicitly, exposing herself to a possible retaliation (no category likes to be questioned).
Instead Aliona, at the press conference, underlined the injustice obliquely, saying that in junior competitions it was enough to skate clean to get a result. Her message was loud and clear, but subtle enough to be accepted by the judges. This is definitely not the way to talk of a naive or thoughtless girl.
And at the press conference following the Russian national campionships, when, unlike Anna and Sasha, she decided to answer the question about the Olympic Committee's ban on Russia, she spoke like a lawyer, specifying that it was premature to make evaluations, because the sentence was not definitive and that there were still appeals pending.
Really? I mean, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe that a sixteen-year-old improvised such an answer.
Clearly, she knows that she can’t jokes on politics, but she will never give up arguing her point:
https://youtu.be/FTAwgb_3Z7E?t=143


So: talent, beauty, intelligence, maturity, confidence, originality. Quoting Johnny Weir: I have not enough superlatives to say about Aliona

I could totally see Alena pulling off this version of My Baby Shot Me Down. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSNHCdSR6tc. It's perfect for a sp.

It seems like there will be a show in Moscow on February 26 featuring the skaters of Team Tutberidze and Team Mozer where we will see Aliona again before worlds! I wonder if we will see her gala program or a competitive program...? I guess time will tell

Batsuchan said:

Edwin, I have been worrying about EXACTLY this since I first saw Aliona jumping her trixels in the corners at Finlandia Trophy. :yes:

But I didn't want to say anything earlier for fear of jinxing Aliona's chances to make the World team in the first place. :noshake:

The Ladies SP at Worlds starts on Wednesday, which will be really weird for me because the 4 competitions I've been to have always had the ladies last. But in that case, I really hope the Russian girls arrive in time for practice on Monday (instead of only practicing the day before the SP) so they can get used to the rink size.

Anna had a chance to skate on an NHL-sized rink at Skate America, and it's possible that Sasha did too at Skate Canada, but Aliona has not skated on an NHL rink this season. She probably skated on one at JGPF in Vancouver, but she wasn't doing 3As then. I'm quite worried that the long and narrow rink will throw her off, but more recently she hasn't been doing her axels so far in the corner. But now that her lutz cuts across the narrow length of the rink, I'm also worried about that.

And I'm also really concerned about her trying a 4S for the first time on a weird shaped rink.

I think Mao Asada's team did put some foam barriers down on her home rink to make it narrower, so she could get used to it. I wonder if Team Tutberidze would consider doing the same...

Click to expand...

I couldn't find online for sure, but I would assume that the Skate Canada rink was NHL-sized since most North American rinks are, and that rink is used for a WHL team. But actually the facility that hosted that JGPF does have an International-sized rink (it may also have an NHL rink, I couldn't tell for sure).

madmax said:

PHENOMENOLOGY OF ALIONA KOSTORNAIA
[...]

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Adding to that, I think that in her unconventionality she is still principled. So far, whenever someone asked her to comment on rivals, I have seen her refuse to do so. So she is clearly not just blurting out her thoughts without filter, but intentional about what she says (or does). In the case of the little dance on the podium with Anna, she seems to spend some seconds thinking about it before saying something to Anna and starting to dance: https://youtu.be/lkM0pRB-d3g?t=449.

Alyona has been on Vecherniy Urgant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Fl0FIKM0ME , with some of the other medalist

Talking about the lack of hot water, but the ice was excellent.
Talking about the 'hangar', where the arena was comfortably heated, but the dressing rooms and press rooms were in other tents, which were often cold, so some athletes caught a cold.
Hardly anybody knew how to waltz, but Ivan Bukin gave some emergency lessons.

Did you know that Alyona is actually smaller than Trusova in real life??!! She actually looks the same age (or possibly even younger) than both Anna and Sasha!! [emoji33] :shocked: on video she looks much older and more mature but in real life she is tiny!!

sk8kirsty said:

Did you know that Alyona is actually smaller than Trusova in real life??!! She actually looks the same age (or possibly even younger) than both Anna and Sasha!! [emoji33] :shocked: on video she looks much older and more mature but in real life she is tiny!!

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Yes, she is the tiniest of the 3A. I believe this is fairly well known. They were all around the same height until Sasha and Anna hit growth spurts last year.

sk8kirsty said:

Did you know that Alyona is actually smaller than Trusova in real life??!! She actually looks the same age (or possibly even younger) than both Anna and Sasha!! [emoji33] :shocked: on video she looks much older and more mature but in real life she is tiny!!

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Yes! She’s always been shorter than them, you can see it in pictures of her and Sasha from the 2017-18 season. She started to catch up to them when she had a growth spurt before/towards the beginning of the 2018-19 season, but they seem to keep growing at a faster rate than Aliona

I don’t think she will get much taller since she’s already taller than her mom, and it’s clear if you look at pictures that she has “matured” so she will probably remain around 151-155cm (unless something unexpected happens).

SkateSkates said:

Yes! She’s always been shorter than them, you can see it in pictures of her and Sasha from the 2017-18 season. She started to catch up to them when she had a growth spurt before/towards the beginning of the 2018-19 season, but they seem to keep growing at a faster rate than Aliona

I don’t think she will get much taller since she’s already taller than her mom, and it’s clear if you look at pictures that she has “matured” so she will probably remain around 151-155cm (unless something unexpected happens).

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It is amazing that such a tiny cutie has the biggest, boldest and most beautiful trixel ever. On the ice she grows about a feet!

Heikkitapani said:

It is amazing that such a tiny cutie has the biggest, boldest and most beautiful trixel ever. On the ice she grows about a feet!

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If you get close to her she seems so tiny and delicate, yet she's so explosive!
Her skating is of a 20 years old.
She has a massive stage presence and natural ability to communicate emotions.
To make it short: She's the best

Aliona's charm has arrived!!!

https://www.instagram.com/p/B8EeD-zIlBl/

asu_graphite, a comic artist from Venice, created this in two variants and gifted it to Aliona at Bolzano Passiona Gala.
I ordered one and arrived today.

I attached it to my motorbike keyring, so angel Aliona can watch over me.
I'm also totally happy to have even such a little object that Aliona has too!.

I know it may sound silly or childish, but receiving this charm really made my day... and you're probably the only people who can understand it