2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

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Their bond is unbelievable especially with what's at stake. I know Yulia and Adelina had an excellent rivalry for a few years. but they were in different camps with different coaches these three girls know everything about each other. 3A on top of everything are so likable and easy to root for. They never say anything out of line. Alina as well.

Their bond is not “unbelievable“, they are children. Things are different then, including competition. They are not best friends and neither should they be. Selling that idea is irresponsible and simply fans wanting to believe things that aren‘t there. I‘m sure they respect each other and can be “normal“ girls off the ice, who giggle and chat with each other. But at the end of the day, they‘re competing against each other every single day, in their very own training. Expecting them to stay as giggly and all “bff forever“ as they are now is just unhealthy. They are pitted against each other in training everyday and the media is even worse. So, my conclusion to all that? Yes, they are wonderful girls, all four of them (Alina included). They respect each other (this will certainly stay!!) and I’m sure right now they grow from competing against each other in training and competition. But things aren‘t just sunshine forever and there will come a time when they grow with more being at stake and things will start to be different.

 

[Amei]

I wasn't talking about retiring, but about the comment (made by the commentators on the ISU channel) that she came to Torino unsure if she would compete. That she'd try skating in a practice and then decide. I consider that (if true) terribly unprofessional from everyone - the skater and the entire team. I wonder if they would be making those comments if Elizaveta or another Russian had been the first alternate. Not sure how the Federation would feel about possibly wasting spots and possible prize money like that.

I don't know how much the Russian Fed is involved with those kinds of decisions by skaters where they might've been aware of this potential decision by Zagitova and her coaches to WD from a fairly major event when she was completely healthy. Considering someone mentioned that in the press conference that all of the Sambo girls were quiet about what went on a Sambo I'd be willing to bet someone in the Fed made a call with the Zagitova rumor about 'not being in the right mindset and might WD' that the skaters need to keep quiet. I agree with your sentiment that it's unprofessional if the situation is being reported accurately, and it goes back to my comment yesterday that maybe she should do what Han Yan did and take off a season and determine if competitive skating is still what she wants; she has plenty of opportunities to go out and perform in shows without putting herself through the stress of a competition environment and increasing her technical difficulty.

 

[Fluture]

https://www.instagram.com/p/B50wrdiJUaG/?igshid=usd79wieh29q

Post by Alina. She says she‘s proud to have been among the best skaters in the world at the GPF and thanks her fans, sponsors and coaches. She says “together we will move forward“.

 

[VenusHalley]

Are we really pushing again the narrative "Eteri's skaters are BFFs off ice"? It was done with Evgenia and Alina.

Yeah, they are friendly but that is more because they are so used to each other that because they mesh oh-so-perfectly.

Also... what did they say after Alina's scores were shown?

 

[Fluture]

Also... what did they say after Alina's scores were shown?

Huh? Nothing? What were they supposed to say? Or what you mean?

 

[fabienne1996]

I don‘t think the commentators lied or made something up either. And that‘s what‘s so confusing to me. I am not an elite athlete, of course, but it seems like ... a pretty bad idea to go to a competition with a mindset that‘s unsure whether you‘re actually going to compete. Athletes need to prepare mentally for competitions, they need to be confident and ready. Letting a skater who‘s doubting all that (I assume this is what happened) go to a competition thinking “I‘ll try a few practices and then decide“, doesn’t seem responsible to me. Coupled with the comments about retirement from Eteri, I am a bit puzzled and worried right now. Frankly, I don‘t exactly care about the fed or the alternates or the fans. I mostly think that it was terrible to let Alina go through with this and I‘m afraid it might hurt her more than simply withdrawing before would have. She has nothing left to prove. Why torture herself and go through a competition if she‘s got such serious doubts?

I don‘t want Alina to retire now. She‘s got nothing left to prove, true, but I think it would be better for herself if she healed, went to Nationals, skated lights out and then took some time off. She can still decide what she wants to do then. But please don‘t let her go to another competition unless she‘s 100% mentally as well as physically ready to compete. Everything else is simply irresponsible.

Because in here we were wondering how or why the rumor started that eteri said that alina perhaps has to think about retirement.I just read underneath the tsl repost of danils foto that she apparently said that on live stream on a italian channel called RAI, but up to now I have not seen any links to that video at all, so perhaps it is just a lie? Or a wrong translation? Because while I know that eteri could say something like that so openly it definitely would not be a smart move .

 

[Fluture]

Because in here we were wondering how or why the rumor started that eteri said that alina perhaps has to think about retirement.I just read underneath the tsl repost of danils foto that she apparently said that on live stream on a italian channel called RAI, but up to now I have not seen any links to that video at all, so perhaps it is just a lie? Or a wrong translation? Because while I know that eteri could say something like that so openly it definitely would not be a smart move .

Yeah, I want to hear that too where she said it. Like, honestly, it does seem weird that she‘d say it to an Italian channel but why would they lie either? It‘s all just weird right now and idk what to believe.

 

[fabienne1996]

Huh? Nothing? What were they supposed to say? Or what you mean?

Not the coaches but Alyona, Anna and Sasha were shown at that moment backstage and they were saying something,

 

[fabienne1996]

Yeah, I want to hear that too where she said it. Like, honestly, it does seem weird that she‘d say it to an Italian channel but why would they lie either? It‘s all just weird right now and idk what to believe.

If what this comment said is true than it was def. In a live streamed interview, so what puzzles me why we can not find anything about this live streamed Italian interview??, but that is were at least the ru or comes from that apparently eteri said that alina needs to think about if she will retire.,?

 

[flanker]

I don‘t think the commentators lied or made something up either. And that‘s what‘s so confusing to me. I am not an elite athlete, of course, but it seems like ... a pretty bad idea to go to a competition with a mindset that‘s unsure whether you‘re actually going to compete. Athletes need to prepare mentally for competitions, they need to be confident and ready. Letting a skater who‘s doubting all that (I assume this is what happened) go to a competition thinking “I‘ll try a few practices and then decide“, doesn’t seem responsible to me. Coupled with the comments about retirement from Eteri, I am a bit puzzled and worried right now. Frankly, I don‘t exactly care about the fed or the alternates or the fans. I mostly think that it was terrible to let Alina go through with this and I‘m afraid it might hurt her more than simply withdrawing before would have. She has nothing left to prove. Why torture herself and go through a competition if she‘s got such serious doubts?

I don‘t want Alina to retire now. She‘s got nothing left to prove, true, but I think it would be better for herself if she healed, went to Nationals, skated lights out and then took some time off. She can still decide what she wants to do then. But please don‘t let her go to another competition unless she‘s 100% mentally as well as physically ready to compete. Everything else is simply irresponsible.

This is "somebody said that somebody else maybe heard something from somebody" situation. The irresponsible thing is making conclusionsabout "irresonsible decisions" on such unclear fragments.

 

[Lunalovesskating]

If what this comment said is true than it was def. In a live streamed interview, so what puzzles me why we can not find anything about this live streamed Italian interview??, but that is were at least the ru or comes from that apparently eteri said that alina needs to think about if she will retire.,?

It was not an interview. The commentator on rai mentioned during the ladies SP that Eteri told this her personally according to the people on twitter who watched the ladies SP on rai TV. As the rai commentary of Alina's SP has not been uploaded I guess no one of us can check if the commentator really said that (if someone her can understand italian)

 

[Ophelia]

Diverging from current commentary - can someone explain the difference in skating between Kostornaia and Valieva? Both are so extraordinarily artistic that I'm having trouble distinguishing between the two.

 

[fabienne1996]

It was not an interview. The commentator on rai mentioned during the ladies SP that Eteri told this her personally according to the people on twitter who watched the ladies SP on rai TV. As the rai commentary of Alina's SP has not been uploaded I guess no one of us can check if the commentator really said that (if someone her can understand italian)

Thanks for the info, than the question is is the reporter just saying this or did eteri really say this. I mean that she could and would say soemthing like that, we know that she can, but as said before it would definitely not be a smart move like at all.

 

[SkateSkates]

Diverging from current commentary - can someone explain the difference in skating between Kostornaia and Valieva? Both are so extraordinarily artistic that I'm having trouble distinguishing between the two.

They are both amazing but totally different styles - I agree. Kamila is constantly in motion and changing positions while Aliona tends to hold hers a bit longer. Whichever style you prefer is personal. For their main strengths I would say Kamila’s are her spins and Aliona’s are her basic skating skills/flow over the ice. Looking forward to seeing these amazing ladies develop their styles with new and different programs over the next few years!

 

[Fluture]

This is "somebody said that somebody else maybe heard something from somebody" situation. The irresponsible thing is making conclusionsabout "irresonsible decisions" on such unclear fragments.

Okay, let’s leave the Eteri comment aside, alright. But both the Eurosport commentator as well as Ted Barton told about Alina deciding whether she was up to competing at the competition directly, didn‘t they? Why would they lie? I find it irresponsible to let an athlete go to an event if they‘re not 100% certain they‘re mentally as well as physically ready. I hope the team learns from this and it doesn’t happen again. This is all I meant by this.

 

[Fluture]

It was not an interview. The commentator on rai mentioned during the ladies SP that Eteri told this her personally according to the people on twitter who watched the ladies SP on rai TV. As the rai commentary of Alina's SP has not been uploaded I guess no one of us can check if the commentator really said that (if someone her can understand italian)

Well, okay, not gonna lie that definitely seems weird. Idk but I can‘t imagine Eteri randomly going to an Italian commentator and telling them Alina would have to think about retirement. Why would she do that? Doesn‘t make much sense to me. We‘ll have to wait for the video to really judge, though.

 

[Scott512]

Their bond is not “unbelievable“, they are children. Things are different then, including competition. They are not best friends and neither should they be. Selling that idea is irresponsible and simply fans wanting to believe things that aren‘t there. I‘m sure they respect each other and can be “normal“ girls off the ice, who giggle and chat with each other. But at the end of the day, they‘re competing against each other every single day, in their very own training. Expecting them to stay as giggly and all “bff forever“ as they are now is just unhealthy. They are pitted against each other in training everyday and the media is even worse. So, my conclusion to all that? Yes, they are wonderful girls, all four of them (Alina included). They respect each other (this will certainly stay!!) and I’m sure right now they grow from competing against each other in training and competition. But things aren‘t just sunshine forever and there will come a time when they grow with more being at stake and things will start to be different.

The great thing about these three girls is they have great interactions with each other and are very warm to each other even among such unbelievable competition with each other. They set a great example for everyone. Will this be the same in 2 years? I think we all hope so but only time will tell.

As for Alina it was wonderful for her to thank her supporters. It was also wise for her not to skate today.

 

[flanker]

Okay, let’s leave the Eteri comment aside, alright. But both the Eurosport commentator as well as Ted Barton told about Alina deciding whether she was up to competing at the competition directly, didn‘t they? Why would they lie? I find it irresponsible to let an athlete go to an event if they‘re not 100% certain they‘re mentally as well as physically ready. I hope the team learns from this and it doesn’t happen again. This is all I meant by this.

Do you know what exactly they heard and from who? do you know what, if anything at all, caused this and whether that could be potentially seen as a problem? Do you know, whether there were any talks from one side or the other about why yes, why no, what's the current state of physics and mind etc.? I guess you are as much ignorant about anything of this as we all are. So, don't jump to conclusions on the base of literally nothing just because obvious reason.

 

[Fluture]

Do you know what exactly they heard and from who? do you know what, if anything at all, caused this? Do you know, whether there were any talks from one side or the other about why yes, who no, what's the current state of physics and mind etc. I guess you are as much ignorant about anything of this as we all are. So, don't jump to conclusions on the base of literally nothing just because obvious reason.

I‘ll state it as simple as this: Last season commentators heard about injuries. They turned out to be right. Yes, this does not necessarily mean that what commentators mention is always 100% factually correct. But it is at least likely that they would not intentionally lie.

However, my main point was mainly that if this is what happened, the team should learn from it and act differently next time. I personally think that if this is indeed what happened (I’ll say it again lol) it was an irresponsible decision and will hopefully not happen again because it harmed the athlete in question. That‘s all. Better?

 

[AkikoNana]

Eteri told to the Italian commentator that Alina is no more hungry for victories but there where no mention about retiring. If I recall well, from commentator words, Eteri said that Alina is still a beautiful skater and she can continue to improve her artistry...if she wants. After that the Italian commentator start with “Alina has launched a new shiseido stuff” etc etc and finished with the lack of motivation will make Alina decide to quit from competitive field...only speculation.