Why there are no good Ukranian single skaters? Ladiezzzz
- Thread starter koatcue
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Volosozhar said her father is Russian. She grew up in the Ukraine though
Of course, the Ukraine hit the jackpot the first year it competed as a sovereign nation in the Winter Games, with Oksana Baiul, so that kind of puts the country in the Hall of Fame right there, right?
Also, though Petrenko competed for Russia/USSR, he's Ukranian, and unless I'm mistaken, Plushenko must have some Ukrainian heritage in him with a name like that, though of course he has always lived inside Russia itself. But let's count him! After all, three countries (I believe it's Egypt, Israel, and Spain) claim the great Medieval philosopher Maimonides. As the saying goes, success has many parents. Failure is an orphan.
Also, though Petrenko competed for Russia/USSR, he's Ukranian, and unless I'm mistaken, Plushenko must have some Ukrainian heritage in him with a name like that, though of course he has always lived inside Russia itself. But let's count him! After all, three countries (I believe it's Egypt, Israel, and Spain) claim the great Medieval philosopher Maimonides. As the saying goes, success has many parents. Failure is an orphan.
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Yeah, it's a bit weird, given Liashenko was the last truly successful Ukrainian skater.
Popova lacks the jumping capability and speed/artistry to put her in the elite. But I wouldn't say she's a bad skater. Last year at Worlds, even though she placed 15th overall, Popova was the only skater other than Kim to have a clean SP (3F-2T, 3T, 2A) and a clean LP with six triples (3F, 3L, 3T-2T-2T, 3T-2T, 3S-2T, 3S, 2A)
Popova lacks the jumping capability and speed/artistry to put her in the elite. But I wouldn't say she's a bad skater. Last year at Worlds, even though she placed 15th overall, Popova was the only skater other than Kim to have a clean SP (3F-2T, 3T, 2A) and a clean LP with six triples (3F, 3L, 3T-2T-2T, 3T-2T, 3S-2T, 3S, 2A)
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Anna Pogorilaya skates for Russia but her surname is Ukrainian. So I guess that means she's likely half Russian and half Ukrainian (on her father's side) or fully Ukrainian and was just born and raised in Russia, but on some level she likely is Ukranian. I guess though with her surname being taken from her father's side of the family, she may only be a small percentage Ukrainian and the last name has just been carried on through multiple generations. Her appearance makes me think she isn't entirely Russian though. Anyways, she's been doing very well, and given the insane depth of ladies in Russia, maybe she might represent Ukraine in the future?
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Mmmm. So Pogorilaya is a Ukrainian surname. That was a surprise. From looking at her, I always thought Anna’s ancestry lay in the Caucasus.
Anyway, as koatcue pointed out at the start of this thread, Tatiana Volosozhar and Aliona Savchenko are both from the Ukraine.
I was reading that, like most Pairs skaters and Dancers, they both started out as singles skaters, but made the switch in their early teens – Tatiana when she was 14 ( http://www.goldenskate.com/2008/08/following-change-volosozhar-and-morozov-are-poised-to-shine/ ), and Aliona when she was 13 ( http://www.skatetoday.com/2005/02/27/german-pair-nears-the-top/ )
So, does anybody know if either of them did competitions as singles skaters? If they did, how did they do?
And, probably most importantly of all, did they actually compete against each other as singles skaters? If so, who won?
I'm just curious to know.
CaroLiza_fan
AFAIR, Tatiana did compete as a single, but wasn't that successful, so she switched.
By the way, initially both Aliona and Tania was coached by the same woman - Galina Kukhar.
As to the lack of good skaters representing Ukraine, it has much more to do with the lack of money and not talent. The government can't afford to pay for their athletes and average people don't have money too. Plus, there's no ice avaible for skaters in Ukraine, if I've heard correctly. The little amount that is still there is occupied by hockey.
And sort off topic, since with discuss the Ukrainian background of the Russian skaters: it's true that Plushenko's and Kulik's surnames are both Ukrainian. And other twoo Russian Olympic champs, Yagudin and Urmanov, have Tatar surnames (Yagudin said he's 1/4 tatar at most)
Don't worry, there will be soon a very good lady or two skating for Ukranine. Considering how crowded Russian seniors will be in a few years time, when all those talented juniors become age eligible for seniors, I think some of them may be forced to think of alternative countries to represent if they want to ever compete at major international competitions. Otherwise they may be able to skate clean 7 triples program and still never be sent to Europeans and worlds thanks to the limit of 3 skaters per country.
Imagine when all of those are age eligible: Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Pogorilaya, Lipnistkaya, Radionova, Sakhanovich, Medvedeva, Proklova, Sotskova, Yushenko, Gosviani... no matter how clean your program is, no matter that you have just landed seven triples and in any other country you would be the national champion, the bottom line is that there would be only three spots on the Russian nationals podium and only three skaters can be sent to Europeans, Olympics and worlds... so some of them will miss out. I do hope that some of them will switch the countries. It would be a pity not to see them skating at a major international competitions if they place 4th at nationals, even if they would manage to beat the majority of skaters in Europe who will be skating at the Europeans.
Considering that Ukraine is past Soviet Union country, it shouldn't be that hard to switch country from Russia, should it? at least for Volosozhar it was pretty easy to switch from Ukraine to Russia...
Imagine when all of those are age eligible: Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Pogorilaya, Lipnistkaya, Radionova, Sakhanovich, Medvedeva, Proklova, Sotskova, Yushenko, Gosviani... no matter how clean your program is, no matter that you have just landed seven triples and in any other country you would be the national champion, the bottom line is that there would be only three spots on the Russian nationals podium and only three skaters can be sent to Europeans, Olympics and worlds... so some of them will miss out. I do hope that some of them will switch the countries. It would be a pity not to see them skating at a major international competitions if they place 4th at nationals, even if they would manage to beat the majority of skaters in Europe who will be skating at the Europeans.
Considering that Ukraine is past Soviet Union country, it shouldn't be that hard to switch country from Russia, should it? at least for Volosozhar it was pretty easy to switch from Ukraine to Russia...
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Sorry, with all the National Championships there were over the Christmas period, I never got the chance to re-visit this thread. Oops!
Very interesting, Redstone. It explains a lot. Thank you!
I particularly find it very interesting about Plushenko being a Ukrainian name. Especially since Evgeni's hometown is a stone's throw from Japan!
Somebody in his family must have had a serious relocation!
Volosozhar is a different situation, as the guy she is currently skating with is Russian. So, it was just a case of using Maxim's nationality for the normal international competitions.
In terms of getting citizenship to compete at Olympics, yeah it did seem very easy for Tatiana. And, as people have commented in my "Possible Alternative Nationalities" thread, this seems to be the norm amongsth the former Soviet Republics.
But, if I remember what I read correctly, I think Tatiana does have relatives that are Russian. So, this might also have helped her particular case.
CaroLiza_fan
Very interesting, Redstone. It explains a lot. Thank you!
I particularly find it very interesting about Plushenko being a Ukrainian name. Especially since Evgeni's hometown is a stone's throw from Japan!
Somebody in his family must have had a serious relocation!
Volosozhar is a different situation, as the guy she is currently skating with is Russian. So, it was just a case of using Maxim's nationality for the normal international competitions.
In terms of getting citizenship to compete at Olympics, yeah it did seem very easy for Tatiana. And, as people have commented in my "Possible Alternative Nationalities" thread, this seems to be the norm amongsth the former Soviet Republics.
But, if I remember what I read correctly, I think Tatiana does have relatives that are Russian. So, this might also have helped her particular case.
CaroLiza_fan
Of course, the Ukraine hit the jackpot the first year it competed as a sovereign nation in the Winter Games, with Oksana Baiul, so that kind of puts the country in the Hall of Fame right there, right?
Also, though Petrenko competed for Russia/USSR, he's Ukranian, and unless I'm mistaken, Plushenko must have some Ukrainian heritage in him with a name like that, though of course he has always lived inside Russia itself. But let's count him! After all, three countries (I believe it's Egypt, Israel, and Spain) claim the great Medieval philosopher Maimonides. As the saying goes, success has many parents. Failure is an orphan.
This is contradictory! He only competed for USSR and Ukraine. None of his success at all counts for Russia.
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- Feb 17, 2010
Galina Maniachenko-Efremenko was a fine and extremely underrated Ukranian skater:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l684HsyYCKw
I was usually angry after watching her marks because she never got the credit when she skated well. The program above scored about 20 less in PCS than Irina in the same competition, which is simply ridiculous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l684HsyYCKw
I was usually angry after watching her marks because she never got the credit when she skated well. The program above scored about 20 less in PCS than Irina in the same competition, which is simply ridiculous.
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Yes! She had such a captivating aura. Even when her jumps didn't work, I always loved watching her skate. I'd then (too) often wonder what was going on inside that beautiful head of hers, given her great potential!
She came so close to medalling at the 2002 EC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYqM-HuY7Ng
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Since I don't have any good answer to the question why there are no good Ukranian single skaters Ladiezzzz, I'll add one more Ukranian lady of the past who, like Maniachenko-Efremenko, seemed to have all the ingredients for success: very good looking, very nice technique on the jumps, and "something extra" that made you curious about her. She unfortunately used to have a maximum of 1 strong skate per competition, and often had complete meltdowns, which drove me crazy because she would just have been dominant in the warmup and, as soon as the music started, she'd just switch her good technique off for 4 minutes.
Anyway, here's a clean and gorgeous Irina Movchan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLURSYxYdKk
Anyway, here's a clean and gorgeous Irina Movchan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lLURSYxYdKk
I don't think it would be that easy because Ukraine would likely ask for the skater to renounce his/her Russian citizenship. I can't find the source anymore but I read that Volosozhar had to give up her Ukrainian citizenship when she accepted Russia's. Few Russians would be willing to go the other way (Ukraine is much poorer).
I thought Yagudin's surname was of Jewish origin?
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Yehudi
'h' is often written as 'g' in Russia.
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- Mar 16, 2013
I've fantasized a couple of times, well ok everytime I saw Alina Maksymenko what if she was a figure skater.
Like FS, rhythmic gynastics requires flexability, body control and musicality(and much more of course),
which makes it a kind of sports that competes with FS for talents. I wonder if the popularity of rhythmic
gymnastics have any effect on the talent pool of Ukranian female FS.
Like FS, rhythmic gynastics requires flexability, body control and musicality(and much more of course),
which makes it a kind of sports that competes with FS for talents. I wonder if the popularity of rhythmic
gymnastics have any effect on the talent pool of Ukranian female FS.
