2018 Internationaux de France Ladies Free Skate

[rachno2]

Did she? I can remember about her reasoning why she went to Orser but I cannot remember that she said anything about "the only way for both her and Eteri to continue". If she said this I agree that she burned the bridges and it makes little sense to discuss her coming back at least at this stage.

Yes, she did.

 

[nguyhm]

Unfortunate things keep happening with sweetheart Mai, despite her talent and consistency, make my heart aching

It breaks my heart to see her cry :sad21:. I wonder if she could have won if she didn't pop the last salchow.

 

[solani]

I am sure.

I already explained how their cases are completely different in Russian ladies thread. Im kurze, Liza's problem was her losing motivation. Now she got it back. She changed nothing and no one from her stellar 2015 season. She just started to spend more time on the rink now. And she has 3A.

Zhenya has a lot of motivation - no one would argue about that.

And the situation will be different. Liza does not have a comeback in the season when 2 quad juniors go senior.

We'll see eventually. And wasn't Tuktamysheva injured? No major injury, but those "minor" issues can cause a lot of trouble. I think Medvedeva lost her confidence, the question is - can she regain it? Last season she landed some of her jumps out of sheer will imo. She's obviously not able to do that now.

 

[Lester]

And what bugs me is your belief that she would have the same issues if she stayed. She was perfect just half a year ago. That's the hard fact that the whole world saw. The rest is just theories and plays of imagination.

And I am not calm because I am sad after France. I had hopes - I bet on her win in the prediction game. But my 0 points is the smallest of the problems. Looking at them in K&C I saw people who had no clue why it happened. And that bothers me because although Medvedeva owes me nothing I care about her and her results. And I am sure that the Nationals is the final battle and all long-term talks are just losers' c*ap.

When was she ever perfect? She had muscled jumps (especially the axel) and ugly tanos for her entire senior career, which started unraveling pretty badly last season. The only thing she had going was mad consistency, which also started slipping due to body changes, possibly injuries too. Do you remember how she made funny faces after her programs because she had already started making mistakes? I assume that was unusual for her then but it was a clear sign of what's to come. But even if she was perfect half a year ago, now is not half a year ago and an athlete's condition changes all the time. Of course she would be having the same problems, maybe even worse with all the pressure of the upcoming girls in Eteri's camp. She didn't magically acquire these problems by changing her geographical location.

Interestingly the judges still support her and give her huge scores, so arguably it doesn't even matter she's not with Eteri. Yes, the programs blow, but you wouldn't know it from the scores. So in a sense she is given a cushion, which she is smartly using to rework her skating.

 

[[email protected]]

When was she ever perfect? She had muscled jumps (especially the axel) and ugly tanos for her entire senior career, which started unraveling pretty badly last season. The only thing she had going was mad consistency, which also started slipping due to body changes, possibly injuries too. Do you remember how she made funny faces after her programs because she had already started making mistakes? I assume that was unusual for her then but it was a clear sign of what's to come. But even if she was perfect half a year ago, now is not half a year ago and an athlete's condition changes all the time. Of course she would be having the same problems, maybe even worse with all the pressure of the upcoming girls in Eteri's camp. She didn't magically acquire these problems by changing her geographical location.

Interestingly the judges still support her and give her huge scores, so arguably it doesn't even matter she's not with Eteri. Yes, the programs blow, but you wouldn't know it from the scores. So in a sense she is given a cushion, which she is smartly using to rework her skating.

All "queens" had specific problems. Like could a skater win big time now without a loop? The point has always been to focus on strong parts which all "queens" had in abundance parallel to their specific problems. Medvedeva included. I saw her skating live many times and most of the times I was spellbound. And I did not care about her faces. Moreover, her mimic in "hear - not hear" was 100% on point.

I won't post more on this topic until the Nationals. No matter how strongly I dislike her short (free was OK at SC) I will root for her ability to be cool, calm, and collected during this "final battle". Just to deliver clean skates with or without mimic, with or without wrong edge. Just skate clean and get the team. Then the impulse will be preserved and she will have time to make necessary adjustments while still being a top Russian (world) skater.

I have a privilige of being in Saransk to see it all right behind my eyes.

 

[Metis]

Did she? I can remember about her reasoning why she went to Orser but I cannot remember that she said anything about "the only way for both her and Eteri to continue". If she said this I agree that she burned the bridges and it makes little sense to discuss her coming back at least at this stage.

She did.

I hope that the time will pass and everyone will understand that this was the only possible option for both of us to continue to work honestly.

Doesn’t get much clearer than that. Whether it was a case of burned bridges or something else entirely, we don’t know. But continuing to train with Eteri was not an option. So Medvedeva’s choices were: (1) retire with all records and statistics intact (never finishing off the podium as a senior, for example, but also having never beat Zagitova) or (2) change coaches. You may think she made a terrible choice in choosing Orser, but she also said he was the only other coach she considered. So your options, according to Medvedeva herself, were either the end of her competitive career or changing coaches to Orser.

 

[[email protected]]

She did.

I hope that the time will pass and everyone will understand that this was the only possible option for both of us to continue to work honestly.

Doesn’t get much clearer than that. Whether it was a case of burned bridges or something else entirely, we don’t know. But continuing to train with Eteri was not an option. So Medvedeva’s choices were: (1) retire with all records and statistics intact (never finishing off the podium as a senior, for example, but also having never beat Zagitova) or (2) change coaches. You may think she made a terrible choice in choosing Orser, but she also said he was the only other coach she considered. So your options, according to Medvedeva herself, were either the end of her competitive career or changing coaches to Orser.

Well, I have to break my promise and although I am quite tired of this discussion I shall respond.

Yes, she said that and I am sure she meant it. Why? No one knows. Eteri was shocked so that for her the notion of "the only possible option to continue to work honestly" was a big negative surprise rather than the thing she agreed with. There is a fresh Medvedeva's interview where she says:

никто не знает, в чем причина, никто не знает, почему я так сделала. Причина есть, и никто никогда ее не узнает. Тем более от меня. Я никогда о ней не скажу.

"No one knows the reason, no one knows why I did it. There is a reason and no one will know it. Not from me. I shall never tell it". So, there is the reason but she is the only one who knows it and she will never tell. Full stop.

And you don't have to make false conclusions on my account. When she made her decision I supported her here on GS. But I did it in the paradigm that she will start from where she finished and will grow. What we have so far is not what I and many others foresaw. And the big question is not whether her decision in April was right or wrong. The big question is what she has to do now.

My honest view is that the Nationals will bring one of 3 scenarios: she will shine scoring above 220, she will have not outstanding but an OKish performance scoring in the range of 200-220, she will have another France scoring below 200. Only in the third scenario do I think she will have to consider some serious decisions if she does care about her career. What decisions? Let's postpone the discussion to after the Nationals. She can make it, I believe. But I believed that France would be different.

 

[Lester]

I understand your worries but I still don't think your expectations are realistic.
I didn't think she'll win medals in France, in fact I even expected a worse performance there. And I don't expect her to do mindblowingly well at Russian nationals either, especially considering how little time there is and how she has to travel from half a world away.

Interestingly what happens in France is a disaster only by Evgenia standards. Other senior ladies have these ups and downs all the time, it is only she that has won everything straight for two-three years.

 

[melgirl25]

And what bugs me is your belief that she would have the same issues if she stayed. She was perfect just half a year ago. That's the hard fact that the whole world saw. The rest is just theories and plays of imagination.

And I am not calm because I am sad after France. I had hopes - I bet on her win in the prediction game. But my 0 points is the smallest of the problems. Looking at them in K&C I saw people who had no clue why it happened. And that bothers me because although Medvedeva owes me nothing I care about her and her results. And I am sure that the Nationals is the final battle and all long-term talks are just losers' c*ap.

Evgenia has a 4 year goal to make to the Olympics again. Realistic? Maybe not. But she is a determined girl and she will try at least. If she had stayed with Eteri, do you think that would have happened? She is trying to change her jumping technique to less muscled with upper body to using her legs. She torques her spine so much when she jumps. It is no wonder she has back injury. I noticed that her jumps were getting a little shaky about a year ago.

I see your frustration though with how her season has been so far and program choices. It didn't need to be this drastic. All I hope is that next season's programs - well are not like this seasons and with a new choreographer. I would be thrilled if she used Averbukh for at least one program. She still has the opportunity to do well at Nationals if she sorts out the things in her head.