2017-18 State of Russian Ladies skating

[moriel]

Obviously, the actions should have taken place before the training. Alina would certainly fall into line.

How do you know?
Because like, Medvedeva did a 3-3-3 in competition, and after just said "i couldnt stop jumping". And Medvedeva is way more disciplined.

 

[moriel]

after Adelina sotnikova and Yulia lipnitskaya had to retire Young it is hard to imagine that evgenia medvedeva or Alina zagitova would be competing in the 2022 Olympics. These Russian girls work and train so hard at a young age their diet is so strict that it takes a lot out of them.

Hoping that all three Russian girls perform splendidly tonight. Their country needs them to go 1 - 2.

The thing with russian girls is not that.
Most retire really because they just cant keep up with the new skaters. So no Worlds, no Europeans, no GPs and so on.

 

[Grin]

Congrats Alyonka with desicive victory at Cup of Russia final!
Her fs https://youtu.be/RuLjNfQDpV4

 

[russianfan]

Lol, Caviar is going to gift gold iPhone X with national symbols to the first russian gold medalist. In the comments people say that Caviar should give this gift to both of our girls.

P.S. this phone worth 267000 rubles at their site (~4700 USD) :noshake:

 

[andromache]

Those 3Lo-3Lo-3Lo-3Lo (or however many there are) look PAINFUL, long term. Obviously they are incredibly impressive, and even good-looking, well-executed 3Los, but they've got to be terrible for her hips. Plus, considering the lack of flow out of the 3Los (not a criticism - obviously she can't have much flow because she needs to immediately take off again), it seems like the repeated staccato landings would be harder on her knee and/or pelvis.

 

[tars]

This can backfire. Alina will know that it isn't an ordinary training, OGM is at stake and pressure will get her. Haters will write that you did it to Alina on purpose, game over. Try again.

Good point. I didn't think about that. :thumbsup:

 

[Shayuki]

I don’t think it will be either of them in 2022. There is so many juniors that if Medvedeva or Zagitova are still around in 2022, by then they will be like Tuktamysheva now - pushed down by a wave of new skaters. Maybe one of the Trusova, Scherbakova, Tarakanova, Panenkova, Kostornaya..., or maybe someone we haven’t heard of yet. I mean, who heard about Zagitova four years ago? It is possible that the 2022 girl is still not eligible for juniors.

While that's true, I wouldn't bet on it. Zagitova's quite an exception, most of the emerging top skaters have been known for a good while before hitting seniors. Kostornaia one could almost say came out of nowhere but she still truly emerged a season before Zagitova did. The thing is, with the next quadrant just being able to perform triple jumps very well like Zagitova likely won't be enough and I really don't think a skater can just get quads or 3As quickly or "secretly". The 2003-2004 age group also is far stronger than the current senior one so there will be far less room to establish oneself.

When we also consider that the age groups after 2003-2004 are very weak in comparison, I would bet against something like this with Zagitova happening.

Congrats Alyonka with desicive victory at Cup of Russia final!
Her fs https://youtu.be/RuLjNfQDpV4

What I liked is that even after the seniors, I think it would be quite easy to argue that Anna Shcherbakova had the best clean performance of the competition. Considering the level of competition she was up against, that's simply amazing!

 

[tars]

Congrats Alyonka with desicive victory at Cup of Russia final!
Her fs https://youtu.be/RuLjNfQDpV4

This splendid axel is so non-Eteri.

 

[Grin]

This splendid axel is so non-Eteri.

If she ever fails to land her axel it will be Eteri's fault, no doubt about that

 

[Grin]

Gothic ballerina vs jumping dynamo. Funny but interesting article about Evgenia's and Alina's battle
https://www.vox.com/2018/2/21/17035810/zagitova-medvedeva-olympics-figure-skating

 

[alvina9894]

Congrats Alyonka with desicive victory at Cup of Russia final!
Her fs https://youtu.be/RuLjNfQDpV4

Splendid performance by Alyonka! Despite strict scoring, she is the only lady who reaches 215+ total and 210+(without spin bonuses). Such lovely 2A, high jumps with delayed rotations, and light landings with good flow.

She still need to work on her lutz, but quality of performance and interpretation has improved since junior nationals. Performance in SP was especially mature. I like her new ending pose in the FS.

 

[tars]

Native Izhevsk supports Alina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLlSY4G82uU

(her sister, figure skater Sabina and first Alina's coach in the beginning, and later in the video her father in a suit among hockey players he coaches)

 

[dante]

These days I cannot watch figure skating live in time.
I can't watch videos at all, because of the slow mobile internet.
I get too tired anyway, to spend much time on it.
But I'm just happy to look at the result tables every evening, to see 2 world records at the Olympics, to see 4S & 4T from Sasha, without even being able to see any of the skatings.

Have fun for me out there!
Good luck to Zhenya and Alina!

 

[andromache]

I am just angry and don't want to even wade into the competition thread.

You spend time getting emotionally invested in one Russian lady, she wins OGM and retires. Her competitor fizzles out and retires. Meanwhile, you end up emotionally invested in a new Russian lady, watch her grow and develop as a senior lady with emotionally nuanced programs, and she even maintains her jumps through 2-3 years of growth. And she gets beat by a brand-new senior using the same long program she had as a junior.

I love Evgenia as a senior lady who has struggled to maintain her technical prowess and I love Alina as a new senior girl who has amazing technical abilities with no maturity. I'm just so mad and sad at the current outcome.

 

[Ophelia]

Russia will not have a sustained ladies champion. They come and go like the wind, and the juniors are always on the rise. If it's one thing that ladies Olympics 2018 has taught us, it's that getting the big medals is a matter of being in the right place, at the right time.

If I were one of the girls in Eteri's camp, I would be terrified because dominating a quad doesn't mean anything. It's all about peaking at the right time. Med had 3 years of work washed away in 6 months.

 

[Shandy]

I'm so heartbroken. I understand why it happened, and I even agree with the scores, but still. Wishing I had a box of tissues right about now.

 

[Imagine]

You know...I went into these Games thinking I would be estatic when the Russian ladies finally defeated their closest foes, the Canadians. The epic showdown, the drama, the suspense, oh what entertainment we had in store for us! I leave these Games completely heartbroken for Zhenya. It was just a completely shocking moment. She never cries like that. I thought it was close enough for them to give it to her. Wow. Devastated. I don’t hate Alina for it...she doesn’t score herself. I’m happy for her. She went in and did her job, and gave a champion’s performance. It’s just too cruel a world where Evgenia Medvedeva cannot also be called an Olympic Champion.

Funny enough, Osmond turned out to be the one I feel the happiest for, even though I didn’t even like her before the Olympics. Beautiful, drama free finish. Two gorgeous programs. Leaves with two medal, including gold.

 

[Shayuki]

Well, I know I was saying that backloading doesn't make that much of a difference. But here, Medvedeva missed a total of 1.56 points on failing to backload her first 2 jumps... Which would have been enough for OGM.

So I guess that sometimes it can be the difference.

 

[hippomoomin]

OMG, the group of kids skate to the beginning of her program killed me. It is amazing they can do so well.
If Alina watched this video, it must have put so much pressure on her. But she handled

Native Izhevsk supports Alina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLlSY4G82uU

(her sister, figure skater Sabina and first Alina's coach in the beginning, and later in the video her father in a suit among hockey players he coaches)

 

[tars]

If it's one thing that ladies Olympics 2018 has taught us, it's that getting the big medals is a matter of being in the right place, at the right time.

As it should be in any sport. :yes: