Astakhova & Rogonov eye Russian Nats podium

gsk8 · Dec 2, 2017

Russia has a rich tradition in pairs skating and Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov are one of the teams competing for a spot on the Olympic team for their country. They had a solid start into the season, taking a silver medal at Ondrej Nepela Trophy and then, for the first time in their career, two bronze medals in their Grand Prix events at Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Russia, and NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan.

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“First of all, we felt like we fulfilled our duty,” Rogonov, 29, said. “We did what we planned and managed. At NHK Trophy, basically everything worked out. We showed our maximum in the situation at hand and achieved a season’s best. Hopefully our scores will continue to grow.”

What will it take for this team to get the third Olympic spot? Do they have the goods?

LittleLotte29 · Dec 3, 2017

gsk8 said:
Russia has a rich tradition in pairs skating and Kristina Astakhova and Alexei Rogonov are one of the teams competing for a spot on the Olympic team for their country. They had a solid start into the season, taking a silver medal at Ondrej Nepela Trophy and then, for the first time in their career, two bronze medals in their Grand Prix events at Rostelecom Cup in Moscow, Russia, and NHK Trophy in Osaka, Japan.

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What will it take for this team to get the third Olympic spot? Do they have the goods?

They definitely do. All they have to do is stay clean and pray for RusFed not to opt for three Mozer's pairs joining the Olympic team.
And I love Komolov. What a pity no other pair skaters are eager to have recourse to his work.

SnowWhite · Dec 3, 2017

Challengers
- Lombardia: Z/E - 196.06 (1st)
- Ondrej nepela: Z/E - 192.58 (1st), A/R - 191.12 (2nd)
- Finlandia: A/R - 176.88 (5th)

GPs
- Rostelecom: A/R - 199.11 (3rd)
- Skate Canada: Z/E - 192.70 (4th)
- NHK: A/R - 203.64 (3rd)
- Skate America: Z/E - 197.89 (4th)

Z/E looked a bit stronger in the Challenger series and A/R have looked a bit stronger in the GPs. Right now I'd give the edge to A/R, but it's all pretty close. I hope they get the spot.

Crossover · Dec 4, 2017

I was pleasantly surprised by Astakhova & Rogonov's drastic improvements at Cup of Russia, especially on their consistency. I thought they regressed a bit last season although they tried to present something unique (such attempts were off unfortunately though) while E/Z got relatively successful in the Grand Prix circuit and other events. I like A/R's programs this season with their fun personalities and characters which contrast E/Z's bland and sleep-inducing programs. In fact their programs look all the same, but they cannot entirely blame Nina Mozer for their boring choreography.

E/Z have overall better skating skills than A/R (at times A/R's movements looking sloppy and unrefined) and lyrical and delicate style, but their programs don't have "it" factors to draw people or at least me in. I wish after the season, they go seek for other coaches to train them as their coach's top priority, not as a No. 3 in whatever team. Is Moskvina retired as a coach by the way?

If A/R do not bomb at Nationals, their chance for the Olympics will be higher than E/Z at this point.

joanne129 · Dec 4, 2017

i really like A/R! i agree that E/Z have better skating skills and look more refined, they are SO BORING to watch...A/R's programs this season are so fun to watch. Though many single skaters have disastrous la la land program, i really enjoy A/R's. they also show a lot of improvement this season. root for them!

moriel · Dec 4, 2017

Yep, i´m all for A/R getting the third spot. They progressed quite a lot since last season, and surely they can do better even.

coldblueeyes · Dec 4, 2017

I think the key for A/R getting that third spot is consistency. They lost momentum when they started to add harder jumps, but Dmitriev realized it didn't matter much if they didn't land them. It's clear to see that they have been improving more and more this season, and it's all thanks to the fact that they can compete most of their elements without problems, and the fact that they only want to add speed means they don't plan to change anything now, which is good. They deserve that third spot, if anything, for sheer creativity this entire quad and for being from another coach other than Nina - which is a fantastic coach, but the programs for her teams really need some overhauling.

moriel · Dec 4, 2017

coldblueeyes said:
I think the key for A/R getting that third spot is consistency. They lost momentum when they started to add harder jumps, but Dmitriev realized it didn't matter much if they didn't land them. It's clear to see that they have been improving more and more this season, and it's all thanks to the fact that they can compete most of their elements without problems, and the fact that they only want to add speed means they don't plan to change anything now, which is good. They deserve that third spot, if anything, for sheer creativity this entire quad and for being from another coach other than Nina - which is a fantastic coach, but the programs for her teams really need some overhauling.

Yep, that
Also, they used to make tons of small mistakes, not just jumps, losing a few decimals on each element, which added up to a huge loss in the end. It happened a lot - so they skate cleanish, but then the score is just not all that, and when you watch closely you see the issues.
They managed to clean out a lot of that for this season, and hopefully even more until nationals.

coldblueeyes · Dec 4, 2017

moriel said:
Yep, that
Also, they used to make tons of small mistakes, not just jumps, losing a few decimals on each element, which added up to a huge loss in the end. It happened a lot - so they skate cleanish, but then the score is just not all that, and when you watch closely you see the issues.
They managed to clean out a lot of that for this season, and hopefully even more until nationals.

This is true, but especially for the FS. They have been clearing out SPs all along, but getting through free programs without mistakes was such a hardship for them, and they haven't done one 100% yet, but it's close.

Ares · Dec 4, 2017

I am all Astakhova / Rogonov team. Hopefully they get that Olympic spot (and that Russia won't have a ban ... :slink:

)

LRK · Dec 4, 2017

I'm cheering for them to get the 3rd spot as well. I adore their SP - one of my favourite programs of the season, any discipline. And the LP has kept growing on me - I started out being pretty lukewarm to it, to be honest, but each time I've seen it, I've liked it better, to the point that now I quite look forward to seeing it again.

Wishing them the best of luck & success.

Sugarpova · Dec 6, 2017

great article :love:

I like whan pairs have their own face & style :agree:
please please beat ZE guys!

Manuel Pablo Arnao · Dec 7, 2017

Their La La Land program is an atrocity. Terrible editing and song selection in addition to hookie, awkward and cringy choreography. I mean, how many times can you waive your arms in the air and pretend like you've lost your balance and are about to fall. They don't even do this in the movie!!!! Haha

Astakhova & Rogonov eye Russian Nats podium

gsk8

LittleLotte29

SnowWhite

Crossover

All Hail the Queen

joanne129

moriel

coldblueeyes

moriel

coldblueeyes

Ares

LRK

Sugarpova

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Manuel Pablo Arnao

Figure Skating Fan & Real Estate Agent in LA!

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