No there are 18 spots. Max three per event that makes 3 x 6 events = 18 spots. And if RusFed want their girls to have a chance to qualify for GPF they would give 2 spots to 9 girls that makes 18.
GP rules says that everyone in the Seasons Best Top 24 are guaranteed at least one spot.
Problem is this year that there is 11 Russian Ladies in the SB Top 24. So RusFed will probably cut two...
To complicate things further there is also the Ranking List Top 24. Sotskova will surely be there so there is another one - 12 girls.
And there are rules about returning ladies after injury (Pogorilaya/Radionova) who is also guaranteed a spot - 14 girls.
Next year will be interesting to see what RusFed will do. They will simply have to cut the number of ladies...
How wrong am I? I thought in the GP series a host nation got an extra entry or 'wild card' so at GP of Russia they would get 4?
I'm pretty sure Pogo's injury exemption eligibility expired after Russian Nats 2019 since her last international comp was GP of Canada in October of 2017 where she placed 9th with a total of 155ish. That would have been outside the SB 24 anyway. She also didn't compete at her country's nationals in 2018 or 2019 which is also another requirement.
Radionova on the other hand is still technically internationally protected by the injury exemption rule since her SB was top 24 in 2018 season. What is tricky and unprecedented about this situation is, though she had a top 24 SB she finished 10th at 2018 RU Sr. Nats (9th of the Sr Ladies) and failed to qualify for either one of Euros, OG, or Worlds and was not even named as an alternate. 9th would have been a bubble spot for RU Fed putting her name in for 2 assignments with the new Jrs coming up this year before she even got injured.
I understand top 24 get 1 assignment no matter what but what if RU Fed doesn't put her name for consideration based on their 2018 and 2019 qualifying results before the athlete was injured? I don't know if the injury exemption rule prevents the RU National Fed from the ability to follow their own requirements on who to put forward for consideration for 2020 Grand Prix assignments or not. Be fun to watch it all unfold.
Last thought, I'm not sure why Konstantinova name keeps being mentioned as a possible 3rd over Liza. I understand she tech the highest scoring Sr. lady at RU Nats but she has had truly awful international results. Yes, she was 2nd to Zaga at Cup of Finland but that was by far the easiest of the GP events with Kostner and Karen Chen dropping out. Only Kaori Sakamoto, other than Alina, was the only real contender. And she bombed the short again at GP France with a sub 190 total and 5th overall. She skated subpar at both challenger series events.
Konstantinova majorly and utterly bombed at 2018 Worlds and could have lost RU that 3rd spot and, yet again, bombed the short at 2019 Euros where a Russian sweep should have been a given. She scored over 190 in exactly 1 internationally judged event this year. If you are going to send a wild card with steady Sam and OGC Zaga...it definitely shouldn't be her. At least Liza, no matter how poorly she skates at Cup Finals, has potential for a podium finish with a few more weeks of recovery. If Konsta goes I'm telling you, it will lead to a disaster of the top two finishers not = 13 or better and losing that 3rd spot. Then what?
Also, I always envy China's audacity in that sense - who can practically triple their amount of skaters by introducing all that Taipei or Hong Kong skaters as separate countries athletes - notwithstanding the fact that they are just provinces of China. If they can do it - why Russia can't?
The fact that Taiwan (aka Chinese Taipei in sports) and Hong Kong have separate international recognition irks them greatly. Anyway, AFAIK there are separate sporting bodies in Taiwan and Hong Kong (to China), although I'm not sure how tight communications are between them.
I miss their skating so much!
