2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Watch]

Who of Russians have chance to
Make GPF now? Valieva, Usacheva, Kanysheva. Who else? What a disaster! Can Sinitsyna be snuck in somewhere else?

Don't count out Tarakanova too early, who knows what happens with the FP. If Alysa goes clean-ish, gold is of course unattainable, but anything could happen with the Korean girls. No idea how consistent they are. Silver isn't totally out of reach yet. And yes, Sinitsyna got her two assignments, so the only one not making it to the JGPF for sure is Khromykh right now.

Besides, not having an all-Russian JGPF isn't exactly a disaster... some girls won't make it, that's fine. Let's judge the "disaster" levels after all girls had their first round on the JGP circuit.

 

[hippomoomin]

It seems Tarakanova has grown much taller this year. Not sure about the SP music. It sounds pretty bad. I wish you used any of the last two years program instead, even the Imagine Dragon one. I think her crazy fast spins that perfectly timed to the music is her signature, but sadly it is not in this program.

 

[Resa]

I kind of wish she could go back to Tutberidze. I love the program they did for her two years ago

 

[Vandevska]

Yes it's a conspiracy against the Russians again

 

[ruga]

I think that Nastya got appropriate marks for what she had shown during her performance. She rightfully was first in SS, but lower in PE and IN, not only due to her fall, but she looked disconnected from performance as well. I agree with @Resa, Tutberidze and Gleykhengauz created the best programs for her and managed to incorporate her wild energy. Now it looks like she is controlling herself and doesn't show too many emotions.

Now everything depends on her FS. Seoyeong Ji is almost 9 higher than Nastya but I don't know how consistent she is, so if Nastya skates clean, 2nd place might be doable. However, if she makes mistakes and Korean girls appear to be more consistent than expected, her JGP season could be over. Hope it doesn't happen and Nastya does her best in FS.

 

[Artemisa]

One thing is true about tarakanova ... she is a fighter. So I think she will do what she do best fight ...

 

[mathlike]

I think we are spoiled. US, Japanese or Korean ladies fans will be happy if their skater takes a medal at JGP. But Russian ladies fans take anything but 1st place as a failure.

This is also what Eteri Tutberidze said: "when you didn't work*, you lost, because in that time your opponent worked".

* - in Sinitsyna's case "feds didn't work"

Any mistake or lack of work and 3 relatively unknown Korean girls are coming at you.

 

[Fluture]

It makes sense though. When a skater from US, Japan, or Korea gets a silver or bronze medal, they get another JGP assignment. When a Russian lady gets anything but 1st place, it's unlikely they'll get a second JGP assignment (moreso last season). Which is looked at by many as a failure, fans and skaters alike. It is the end of the season until nationals, and likely that they won't make JWs (except rare cases like Sinitsyna last year, Konstantinova previous year). So their season only consists of 1 JGP, and for an elite skater that's a failure. Getting any medal is an amazing accomplishment and something to be proud of, but it's next to nothing if that's the only international competition a skater has all year. That's why Kamila and Maiia didn't look happy last week (Kamila only smiled when she saw she went into 1st). It's the price of being from a country with that much depth.

I think this season a silver should be enough to guarantee getting a second event. With a bronze, the score is important. Which is why poor Maiia has such bad chances at a second spot - her score is pretty low for a Russian junior lady and she didn‘t win silver either. As for the Korean girls - they are amazing and I‘m a fan of them. But they yet have to skate the FS/second/first event. None of them is yet guaranteed a spot in the final even though they do have chances to make it. Nastya can come back, she always had a great FS after having had problems in the short. It depends on her and on how well Seoyeon skates.

 

[Scott512]

I kind of wish she could go back to Tutberidze. I love the program they did for her two years ago

Why did she leave eteri?

One thing is true about tarakanova ... she is a fighter. So I think she will do what she do best fight ...

Today's FS is important. A disaster would be disastrous.

 

[Fluture]

Why did she leave eteri?

Today's FS is important. A disaster would be disastrous.

She didn‘t leave Eteri specifically, she left skating altogether. Then, after a few months she realised she missed it and came back and struggled to find a coach. When she talked to Serafima she tried out with Plushenko and stayed there. At least that‘s how I remember it. But I‘m no Russian speaker so no guarantee on it being correct.

Nastya is a fighter. She will do what she has to do. Don‘t give up on these girls so quickly, please.

 

[beachmouse]

If anyone is curious about the first level documents check that airlines use to allow someone onto an international flight, there's a universal documents database all the airlines used called TIMATIC. United makes a public portal available here:

https://www.united.com/web/en-us/apps/vendors/default.aspx?i=TIMATIC

The employee at the check-in counter checks the same list and then asks for secondary documentation and visa information if they don't get a 'DOCS OK' message after they enter the passport information. (TIMATIC refers yo to a nation level off site web site at that point because a country can have a hundred different types of specialty visas and it's easier to check second level documentation from that source)

Having a passenger turned back at a border for incorrect documentation is a firing offense for the check-in employee because of the aforementioned fines that can be issued, and given the benefits package many airlines offer that provide free travel even for gate agents and baggage handlers, most will be overly cautious about documents even when they don't have to be. Common for the US airlines to do an additional passport/document check before boarding an international flight to make sure that no one has left a passport in the toilets on the air side of security.

 

[Vandevska]

Is it just me that is getting creeped out by all of the sneaky photos that @team.kamilavalieva keeps on posting from Kamila? Talk about invading the privacy being taken to the next level. I don't think it's right, nor healthy.

 

[zounger]

Is it just me that is getting creeped out by all of the sneaky photos that @team.kamilavalieva keeps on posting from Kamila? Talk about invading the privacy being taken to the next level. I don't think it's right, nor healthy.

Signs of the times I guess. Generally though all the Russian girls are over exposed on social media. Personally I don’t like it. If this account is run by her relatives they are not doing any good to her. If it’s from a fan then it is worst ...

 

[karina17]

Is it just me that is getting creeped out by all of the sneaky photos that @team.kamilavalieva keeps on posting from Kamila? Talk about invading the privacy being taken to the next level. I don't think it's right, nor healthy.

It disturbs me too. I tried scrolling through Kamila's tag once during JGP Courchevel to see if she'd landed her quad in practice, and it was just flooded with stalker-ish photos from that account. They weren't even videos of her skating, they were faraway photos of her just walking around, warming up, talking to Maya etc, completely unaware that people were taking so many photos of her. It doesn't seem right considering how young she is.

I feel like it's an account that should be reported, but I don't think being creepy is actually against Instagram guidelines, so I don't know what to report it as. Harassment? Impersonation? Impersonation is impossible unless Kamila herself reports it, because she's not verified so Instagram doesn't count her as a celebrity for impersonation.

Hopefully she has an adult monitoring her account for her and they can block the account if they need to. (But I would be very surprised if she had an adult monitoring her account. No 13-year-old would willingly let their mum log into their account and see their messages etc. Though of course I know nothing about Kamila's mum and how strict she may be.)

 

[ruga]

Indeed it's very creepy. All photos seem to had been taken by one person. I haven't seen such behaviour with Sasha, Zhenya or Alina (but maybe I haven't paid attention). Too bad her fanpage is eager to repost all of that and invade her privacy.

 

[GINO]

Is it just me that is getting creeped out by all of the sneaky photos that @team.kamilavalieva keeps on posting from Kamila? Talk about invading the privacy being taken to the next level. I don't think it's right, nor healthy.

Also this account likes to compare Kamila with other skaters. I'd like to ask. Why? Do you support your favorite skater or want to know how she looks in comparison with others?

https://www.instagram.com/p/B1VjCfqJIQt/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1U9CESHMbd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1T5OGFJ3lb/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1QM3Dandtj/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1Qf4nbJScO/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B09-XxjJH6a/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B07TeU6npnb/
And many others...

 

[nussnacker]

Indeed it's very creepy. All photos seem to had been taken by one person. I haven't seen such behaviour with Sasha, Zhenya or Alina (but maybe I haven't paid attention). Too bad her fanpage is eager to repost all of that and invade her privacy.

Looks like creepy photos came from one account, and it seems like that person knows Kamila and Maya personally (?)
He/she filmed a practice being in one room with them
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1gX4eVHXm9/

the rest, I don't know

 

[Watch]

Indeed it's very creepy. All photos seem to had been taken by one person. I haven't seen such behaviour with Sasha, Zhenya or Alina (but maybe I haven't paid attention). Too bad her fanpage is eager to repost all of that and invade her privacy.

I didn't know that since I'm not following any fan pages. That's highly inappropriate.

 

[ruga]

Looks like creepy photos came from one account, and it seems like that person knows Kamila and Maya personally (?)
He/she filmed a practice being in one room with them
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1gX4eVHXm9/

the rest, I don't know

But all of the pictures are so blurry and it looks like the girls don't know they are being photographed. Not sure if it's appropriate to behave like that around 13 y.o. girls (photographing and posting on public accounts) even if this person knows them.

 

[karina17]

Looks like creepy photos came from one account, and it seems like that person knows Kamila and Maya personally (?)
He/she filmed a practice being in one room with them
https://www.instagram.com/p/B1gX4eVHXm9/

the rest, I don't know

I could be wrong on this one, but based on bigger shots of the rink in Courchevel, that "room" is really just a corner of the rinkside and anybody can be there. There are audience seats right behind the camera. So they might not actually know Kamila and Maya, which would explain the later photos taken from far away. I could be wrong, of course, but I don't see why anyone would be taking far, blurry paparazzi-type photos of someone they know in person and could talk to anytime.