2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Happy Skates]

What is single most important competition when it comes to getting tickets to worlds? Nationals.

Who finished ahead at nationals? Kromykh.

I would get these arguments if in place of Sinitsina was Valieva, but she isn't that good, 4th place at JGPF isn't and shouldn't be enough to nullify Nationals.

imo Sinitsyna should've beat Kromykh here though. I think she was massively underscored.

 

[Edwin]

Did the trainers and skaters know in advance what was required of them?

Were they explained the usual criteria, 1st and 2nd go straight away, 3rd by decision of the coaching council, and were its criteria known in advance (we know the publication about theses)?

Hence Usachyova sounded relieved in the interview with Yermolina she made the selection, and Sinitsyna knew what was at stake from start to finish?

Sport is cruel, and we hate to see children cry or coaches get angry with their young charges over 'messing up' etc.

Personally, I would have liked to see Sinitsyna in Junior Worlds, for her routines are unique, beautiful and very worthy of exposure and admiration of what figure skating is about. And it would look good on #TeamPanova's resume.

So now we have more 15 year old skaters in the transition from junior to senior whose season is essentially over. And most, of not all of them, are in somewhat dire positions: Kanysheva switched, Tarakanova injured, Vasil'yeva struggling, Tsibinova, Sultanmagomedova, Moroz too small body of work. Shulskaya is technically a senior already?

 

[lusterfan]

imo Sinitsyna should've beat Kromykh here though. I think she was massively underscored.

Agree, seeing the scores I thought Ksenia made more mistakes ... but she really only had an underrotation, whereas Maia had a blowout fall. Maia did have the SP lead and a quad in her program, but Ksenia was definitely underscored for some reason. I think her being in an early group hurt her. If they gush a new junior like Akatieva with 66+ PCS, 65 is low for Ksenia ... who received that internationally. Crazy that an inflated domestic competition gave everyone boosts, but not Ksenia who actually receives these high scores internationally. Maia still is no beacon of consistency, not throughout the season and not here either. Only a 3-2 combo in the SP and still a fall on that quad. She beat Ksenia sure, but it could've gone either way based on scoring and not on their actual performances. Personally I think Ksenia is a safer choice and also receives more favors from judges. I wonder if Ksenia would get the edge for being a non-Eteri student. Not trying to stir conspiracy, but I'd imagine a lot of coaches wouldn't be so happy to see Eteri claim every senior and junior worlds spot. Ksenia is arguably better than Maia too, so the push for Ksenia wouldn't be unjustified.

 

[KOBOT37]

Well by that logic Konstantinova should have been on the Worlds team last year for being the senior champion, and Evgenia should not have gone to the Olympics for completely missing Nationals for 2018.

Choosing your team based on one single competition (especially one in which there was no decisive separation between the two competitors in question) is foolish if you are trying to select the optimal team. Maia had a dreadful season by Russian standards, and especially compared to Ksenia who had a stellar season. Had Maia beaten Ksenia more soundly, I'd say that'd be more compelling but 4 points is somewhat negligible. It wouldn't be completely outrageous to select Maia based on her higher placement on Nationals alone, but to negate Ksenia's entire season based on 4 points is a slap in the face. Sport is cruel though, so we'll see.

Konstantinova would have been on the worlds team last year if she hadn't have disastrous Euros.

Medvedeva was 2 times,reigning world champion and missed nationals due to injury,bad comparison.

and please, Define a 'stellar' season.

 

[KOBOT37]

By the way, Valieva will compete at Cup of Russia

 

[flanker]

Well by that logic Konstantinova should have been on the Worlds team last year for being the senior champion, and Evgenia should not have gone to the Olympics for completely missing Nationals for 2018.

Choosing your team based on one single competition (especially one in which there was no decisive separation between the two competitors in question) is foolish if you are trying to select the optimal team. Maia had a dreadful season by Russian standards, and especially compared to Ksenia who had a stellar season. Had Maia beaten Ksenia more soundly, I'd say that'd be more compelling but 4 points is somewhat negligible. It wouldn't be completely outrageous to select Maia based on her higher placement on Nationals alone, but to negate Ksenia's entire season based on 4 points is a slap in the face. Sport is cruel though, so we'll see.

That's an overstatement completely out of reality. She had solid season, but stellar? C'mon. If she would have won JGPF, YOG, was unbeatable all the season and then just had one bad skate at junior nationals, then yes, it could be considered stellar and let's send her to junior worlds. But she didn't. If we look at her season, her best performances were at the very beginning, since then she stagnated. We can ignore miserable Volvo Cup, but in the rest of the important competitions the results were practically the same, always around 200 points with no development. She is repeating the same mistakes, no matter whether it is international or domestic competition. Maiia had a progress that can't be ignored unless there is something personal against her, even with a fall on the beginning of her program she still delivered top quality free skate. Did she defeat Kseniia with "only" 4 points margin? Yes, but she didn't lose to her with 4 points loss.

#Maiiaforjuniorworlds

 

[brakes]

I can't believe what I'm reading.
Khromykh didn't get into JGPF, but she had much tougher assignments than Sinitsyna, yet has wonderful lines and artistic potential, won her national team spot rightfully here, plus she fully rotated a quad during free skate and executed it before cameras at the trainings. Sinitsyna has had good start of the season, nice artistic qualities, but at this very moment is a bit inconsistent, struggling with jumps and she lost her national team spot in direct fight.
Why would feds risk sending her over Maiia? Because TAT is gushing over her?

#Maiiaforjuniorworlds

 

[Jontor]

*UPDATED* Russian Ladies in the SB list after Four Continents Championships - 28 (of 30) events

1 (1) - Alena Kostornaia, RUS 247.59 - GP Final (world record)
2 (2) - Alexandra Trusova, RUS 241.02 - GP Skate Canada (former world record)
3 (3) - Anna Shcherbakova, RUS 240.92 - GP Final
4 (4) - Rika Kihira, JPN 232.34 - Four Continents Championships
5 (5) - Evgenia Medvedeva, RUS 225.76 - GP Rostelecom Cup
6 (9) - Young You, KOR 223.23 - Four Continents Championships
7 (10) - Bradie Tennell, USA 222.97 - Four Continents Championships
8 (6) - Kamila Valieva (J), RUS 221.95 - JGP Chelyabinsk
9 (7) - Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, RUS 221.15 - CS Golden Spin of Zagreb
10 (8) - Alina Zagitova, RUS 217.99 - GP NHK Trophy
11 (11) - Ksenia Sinitsyna, RUS 215.58 - JGP Egna/Neumarkt
12 (12) - Mariah Bell, USA 212.89 - GP Internationaux de France
13 (13) - Satoko Miyahara, JPN 211.18 - GP Cup of China
14 (14) - Alysa Liu (J), USA 208.10 - JGP Lake Placid
15 (41) - Wakaba Higuchi, JPN 207.46 - Four Continents Championships
16 (15) - Haein Lee, KOR 203.40 - JGP Croatia Cup
17 (16) - Kaori Sakamoto, JPN 202.79 - Four Continents Championships
18 (34) - Yelim Kim, KOR 202.76 - Four Continents Championships
19 (17) - Ekaterina Kurakova, POL 201.47 - CS Warsaw Cup
20 (56) - Karen Chen, USA 201.06 - Four Continents Championships
21 (20) - Eunsoo Lim, KOR 200.59 - Four Continents Championships
22 (18) - Daria Usacheva (J), RUS 200.37 - JGP Final
23 (19) - Viktoria Vasilieva, RUS 198.79 - JGP Chelyabinsk
24 (21) - Anastasia Tarakanova, RUS 194.74 - JGP Baltic Cup
-----------------------------------------------------------
31 (27) - Maiia Khromykh (J), RUS 190.73 - JGP Riga Cup
34 (30) - Anna Frolova (J), RUS 187.72 - Youth Olympic Games
35 (31) - Sofia Samodurova, RUS 187.16 - CS Ice Star Minsk
37 (35) - Elizaveta Nugumanova, RUS 186.02 - CS Warsaw Cup
50 (49) - Serafima Sakhanovich, RUS 178.27 - CS Warsaw Cup
75 (74) - Stanislava Konstantinova, RUS 162.25 - CS Nepela Memorial
87 (86) - Maria Sotskova, RUS 155.25 - CS Nepela Memorial


4CC was a very generous scoring event so now Vasilieva and Tarakanova are in trouble
They are just inside top 24

Only two events left - Junior Worlds and Worlds Championships

Top 24 in the SB list, except juniors (J), are guaranteed at least one spot at the senior GP next year
Last year, to be in the Top 24 in the Seasons Best List you had to score 196.34.

 

[Edwin]

While we are watching, reading and discussing figure skating at its highest level, the small boys and girls all over Russia are competing unknowingly of what goes on in the big events.

There are competitions every weekend in the chicks, pre-novices and novices ranks, where skaters show what they have learned, learn how to master their fears, struggle with their emotions.

All this coverage only increased the popularity of the sport and draws more kids and their parents in. For one notices also a lot of parental pride, money spend on nice costumes, the sport continues to rise due to its success.

Even junior championships now make major headlines on TV and the big domestic media, which is both encouraging, but also a bit scary.

 

[Edwin]

Goncharenko: Akat'yeva at the age of 12 has charm, charisma, enthousiasm and courage

MOSCOW, Feb 7 - RIA Novosti, Anatoliy Samokhvalov. The silver medalist of the Russian Figure Skating Championship among juniors Sof'ya Akat'yeva with all her youthfulness has charisma and other distinctive features, Merited Trainer of Russia Inna Goncharenko told RIA Novosti.

Twelve-year-old Akat'yeva, training in the group of Eteri Tutberidze, won the Silver in the National Championship among juniors on Friday, performing two quadruple toeloops in her free program. The winner was another student of Tutberidze Kamila Valiyeva.

“Akat'yeva is “ wow! ” She has very good quads, I also saw a great Axel in her performance. But to reach the Russian Championship level is something quite different. This is a completely different intensity of the struggle. This girl just left the children's competitions, just like (Sof'ya) Samodelkina (student of Sergey Davydov, who became 4th - ed.). Akat'yeva is a very bright skater with her own charm. She is recognisable, she is not one of many, but one of those who are remembered. She already has her own face ", - said Goncharenko on the phone.

“Akat'yeva takes her subtlety plus charisma. Such a “ firecracker ”. She can do anything, but she always does it with inner enthusiasm and courage. She seems to play, which reminds me of Lenka (Radionova). It’s impossible to teach such courage ”.
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From: https://rsport.ria.ru/20200207/1564423841.html

Hoping for a more thorough and critical analytical review of the individual juniors and the junior program as a whole from Inna.

 

[Edwin]

Davydov: Samodelkina can jump two triple Axels with confidence

MOSCOW, Feb 7 - RIA Novosti, Anatoliy Samokhvalov. Russian figure skater Sof'ya Samodelkina is able to confidently execute two Axels with three and a half turns in her program, the athlete's coach Sergey Davydov told RIA Novosti.

Samodelkina on Friday, took fourth place in the Junior Championship of Russia, held in Saransk. In her free program, the skater performed two triple Axels, one of them in a cascade with a double Toeloop. On the first, Samodelkina had an unclean exit, on the second, she under rotated her jump.

“ It was possible to perform better (the figure skaters of the group), but everyone tried, fought. I’ll appreciate the tournament. Samodelkina’s triple Axel didn’t come out a hundred percent, she can execute it much more confidently and more often than not ”, Davydov said by telephone.

Another student of Davydov, Yelizaveta Berestovskaya, took 11th place in the final, in her free skating run, the figure skater entered a quadruple Toeloop, but lacked a lot of rotation and fell.

“We’ll perfect the Toeloop (Berestovskaya's) ”, the trainer promised. “She jumped the quad Toeloop in the warm-up, but so far she’s not as stable as we would like. Anya Frolova did what she did today. I’m completely satisfied with her, she skated well. And Nika Ryabinin has not yet reaching them in terms of level, we need to work ”.

Frolova, who transferred to Davydov during the season from Svetlana Panova and Tat'yana Moiseyeva, became 8th, Ryabinina - 16th.
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https://rsport.ria.ru/20200207/1564422942.html

In her interview, TAT made a nasty comment on this transfer


MOSCOW, Feb 7 - RIA Novosti, Anatoliy Samokhvalov. Prizewinners of the Russian Championship among juniors must represent the country at the Junior World Championship, coach of Moscow CSKA Sergey Davydov told RIA Novosti.

“ All the athletes from the top three winners skated well overall. Akat'yeva added compared to the Moscow championship, she was much better ”, said Davydov by phone.

“ Who should go to the (junior) World Championship? There are competitions that have already been completed. According to the results of these competition, those who take the leading places will go. I think it will be so. ”.
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From: https://rsport.ria.ru/20200207/1564423015.html

 

[Edwin]

Tat'yana Tarasova: Russian juniors skate like animals!

The Russian championship in junior figure skating in Saransk has just begun, and the merited trainer of Russia Tat'yana Tarasova, having looked at the short program of singles, made a global conclusion in a conversation with Anatoliy Samokhvalov - no matter what future reforms to the age requirements the ISU will make, Russia will stay the world's leader.

Valiyeva and Sinitsyna - decoration of the Russian team

" I can say that if our foreign comrades, who constantly talk about what can be done and what cannot, what should be prohibited, and how to raise the minimum age and not to allow quadruples in the SP, no matter how they raise it, they will definitely be losing everything. Look at Kseniya Sinitsyna, she did not make big errors - she did only one cascade, in which the second jump was under rotated - and with such a masterpiece of skating this amazing program dropped to 11th place.

The second place was taken by Dar'ya Usacheva, who has a very well-done program, but juniors often can’t really perform to vocals, these do not always help them. In their structure, they cannot be stronger than vocals, because coaches select top hits and well known singers, and, in my opinion, the juniors do not reach into their guts to find the strength that needed to match the vocals. Usachyova is just an example. But this, I repeat, is my personal opinion. For me it's a minus. As for the elements, they are all beautiful. And if not beautiful, then very good. And if not very good, then just good. And so it is with all our juniors. Therefore, if someone will divide the skater into adults, juniors and novices, then we still succeed. We will collect even more than now in our medal baskets. In no country is even close with such depth in the juniors.

And an example of this is Sinitsyna, who is 11th with one mistake. And she may be first. This suggests that competition is off the charts; one rides better than the other. And, let's say, Anna Frolova, who came to Sergey Davydov in CSKA from “Snow Leopards”, is 8th. I don’t want to interfere in such a process as transitions, but you can’t leave in the middle of the season. Because you are leaving with the results of the coaching staff. You need to either end the season or stay. And taking an athlete is actually a rally ... It’s better not to speak now, but to continue the next year when you do something different with her. I am opposed to breaking someone’s work in the middle of the season. This is of no use to anyone, because there are very good and very progressive trainers at Snow Leopards who have proven their worth over the years. Under not the best conditions.

It is clear that Tutberidze has the first places, she’s like riding a rocket, but we should not nullify the competition, we should support the coaches. The same "Snow Leopards" always bring up good skaters. Only Sinitsyna is worth it. She became 5th in the senior Championship of Russia, immediately after Tuktamysheva, and in the free program she was ahead of Lisa and lost only to the three leaders. Of course, I want to see her at the (junior) World Championship. Because she, like Kamila Valiyeva, is the decoration of the team.

Sof'ya Akat'yeva took second place in the short, did not jump her triple Axel, but this is the choice of her coaches, she gets high points without this super element. And we know what she is capable of in the future.
Kamila Valiyeva has a wonderful short program, which she performed expertly. And she began to skate better, which is very difficult to do after a serious injury.

Everyone performed very well, the level of juniors is such that they ride just like animals! And it is clear that all the children began to perform better. There was no juvenile uncertainty, there were hardly any empty steps, the picture changes on every beat, the positions were completely different, in front of each element was an emphasised difficult entry and exit. This is especially noticeable in the Eteri team. The level of skating is so high that no other country in the world can match it. They do not have these state supported sports schools. One person may arise, but not in such numbers as ours. We can send the first squad, the second, the third, and any of these squads will qualify for the podium of the Junior World Championships.

Then these girls grow up, begin to appear in front of our eyes for a long time, we begin to love them, and a difficult fate begins to manifest itself. Like Zhenya Medvedeva, like Alina Zagitova. We'll see what energy stores they have, how they fight. What should they do? Learn quads? You can, but carefully. Because their ankles are so thin it can all end sadly. First you need to prepare the body. But still, we want to be proud of them. And if they reach the age for seniors competitions, they will take part in and also win.
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From: https://rsport.ria.ru/20200206/1564373948.html

звери = animals. Is this good or bad coming from TAT's mouth?

 

[Alex65]

I think it's an outrage if Maia did in fact get selected to the Junior Worlds team over Kseniia. Kseniia got gold (215.58) and silver (204.25) in her two JGP events. Maia got bronze (179.32) and 4th (190.73). Kseniia qualified for the JPGF, where she was 4th (195.57). Maia did not. Kseniia won a silver for Russia at the Youth Olympics.

This is nothing against Maia, who I thought skated solidly in this Junior Nationals competition, but her mere four point edge on Kseniia in an event where neither of them medaled shouldn't be enough to undo the undoubtedly superior season that Kseniia has had. Panova should make a formal complaint on behalf of her athlete.

Also, to be clear, I'm not saying that Nationals shouldn't play a major role in the selection of the Worlds team. It should. If Maia had medaled here, landed her 4S, and achieved a point gap with Kseniia that was equivalent to Kseniia's point gap over Maia in their JGP outings, I'd at least understand the decision. But she didn't.

Listen, I don’t get it Sinitsyna “deserved” at all. There is a regulation, this is the law. If there is a great desire to step over the law for the sake of your preferences, then this justification has “earned” all this. Last year, Medvedev "earned" - Rusfed invented an additional selection in the RCF. Where there was fictitious refereeing for one purpose. Even They did not directly violate the rules, even for the sake of the "well-deserved" Medvedeva. Or all these moments with Konstantinova, who "is so beautiful and she certainly deserves." If all this will never happen again in the future, then the whole sport of FS in Russia will benefit from this.

 

[Orlov]

I think it's an outrage if Maia did in fact get selected to the Junior Worlds team over Kseniia. Kseniia got gold (215.58) and silver (204.25) in her two JGP events. Maia got bronze (179.32) and 4th (190.73). Kseniia qualified for the JPGF, where she was 4th (195.57). Maia did not. Kseniia won a silver for Russia at the Youth Olympics.

So what do we actually see here? Sinitsina is on a downtrend:
215.58, 204.25, 195.57, 200.03 (Youth Olympics), 200.41.
Last result it's home cooking, on international it was something about 192-195 (minus 5-7).

And Maiia on an uptrend:
179.32, 190.73, 204.40 (on international ~197-199)

And it's not even about numbers. Maiia has significantly improved her presentation. While Ksenia seems to degrade - the most powerful impression of her free program was made at the beginning of the season. At some European competition, where she skate very badly (when she threw a tantrum to her coach and did not want to go to the K&C), Ksenia moved so mechanically so I thought - "where did that wonderful skater go that I was used to?"

And Maiia has a quad and it very high, spectacular. The fact that she did not land it in the first competition is not an indicator - we saw landings in training. Her quad is real.

This is nothing against Maia, who I thought skated solidly in this Junior Nationals competition, but her mere four point edge on Kseniia in an event where neither of them medaled shouldn't be enough to undo the undoubtedly superior season that Kseniia has had. Panova should make a formal complaint on behalf of her athlete.

This isn't your American courtroom. "Your Honor, objection!!"

If Maia had medaled here, landed her 4S, and achieved a point gap with Kseniia that was equivalent to Kseniia's point gap over Maia in their JGP outings, I'd at least understand the decision. But she didn't.

Yea, and also run a hundred meters in 10 seconds, beat up Conor McGregor, and defeat Trump on Twitter.

Federation, I demand justice! Maiia should be sent to the championship.

 

[Pantsu]

Frolova got less points for the sp 66.27 than her international sb. She got 67.93 in Zagreb jgp. By the way, she got 66.45 at Russian Senior Nationals.
Sinitsyna got less points for the fs 135.81 than her international sb. She got 140.93 in Egna-Neumarkt jgp. Kseniya got an UR on 3Lz, but even without that call, she still would be behind her international sb

Usacheva got more points for the sp 73.77 than her international sb. She got 71.09 in Zagreb jgp. Daria got 217.30 for the fs and her international sb is 200.37 in Torino jgpf. She had a couple of mistakes there, but no calls (UR or edge). So she had the same BV
Valieva got more points for the sp 78.50 than her international sb. She got 73.56 in Chelyabinsk jgp
Khromykh got 67.68 with a mistake on comdo and 2T instead of 3T. Her international sb is 68.93 in Riga jgp. Maya got 65.71 PCS in the fs, and in her international sb she got 60.05 PCS

What does it mean ? Do skaters get inflated scores in domestic competitions ? Sure, they do, just not everyone
Personally, i find it outrageous

 

[Orlov]

Frolova got less points for the sp 66.27 than her international sb. She got 67.93 in Zagreb jgp. By the way, she got 66.45 at Russian Senior Nationals.
Sinitsyna got less points for the fs 135.81 than her international sb. She got 140.93 in Egna-Neumarkt jgp. Kseniya got an UR on 3Lz, but even without that call, she still would be behind her international sb

Usacheva got more points for the sp 73.77 than her international sb. She got 71.09 in Zagreb jgp. Daria got 217.30 for the fs and her international sb is 200.37 in Torino jgpf. She had a couple of mistakes there, but no calls (UR or edge). So she had the same BV
Valieva got more points for the sp 78.50 than her international sb. She got 73.56 in Chelyabinsk jgp
Khromykh got 67.68 with a mistake on comdo and 2T instead of 3T. Her international sb is 68.93 in Riga jgp. Maya got 65.71 PCS in the fs, and in her international sb she got 60.05 PCS

What does it mean ? Do skaters get inflated scores in domestic competitions ? Sure, they do, just not everyone
Personally, i find it outrageous

Or some skaters improved and some not. Actually, champions arise in this way - unlike their other coevals, they do not stop improving. And once they become Medvedeva, Zagitova, Hanyu, Chen.

 

[lariko]

Did Russia make all the selections yet? Because this year all selections that I had seen of them were 1-2-3 in their Nationals, despite an obscure published document that was by the way much criticized about the selection of the third candidate via a more complicated decision algorithm.

It could be their way to chose the same way across the board in their situation where they have lots of amazing and deserving skaters, to the point of embarrassment of the riches in the ladies. Iron-clad clad consistency in that respect is not a bad thing imo and eliminates some of the talk about playing favourites and easier on the athletes.

1-2-3 at Nationals is as transparent and simple as it gets. I know people would likely squint with suspicion no matter what RusFed does and whom they select, but what can you do...

 

[Tolstoj]

Sofia Samodelkina was my personal favourite in the free.

It's not just the 3a (which actually were a bit scrappy, similar to Alysa Liu's 3A), but the skating skills and the emotions, she is such a natural performer: i felt she was the only one who was living the program and not just doing her job. The program is very nice too. Artistically i thought she was the best here.

Petrosian in the free became a bit more obvious that she is still a diamond in the rough: great personality but lots of work to do still on skating skills, landing position,...

Also let's talk about quads , because yes it is impressive to see girls landing these difficult elements but we should still differentiate the good quads with the more cheated ones.

- Valieva's 4T for me is beautiful, how a quad should be with more height and minimal prerotation. That is a +3/+4 for me, with more transitions it could be even +5.
- Akatieva's 4T is a 3.5T, more cheated (similar to Alysa's quads). it's a +1 at best, negative GOE if it is called under.

But then you look at the protocols and Valieva's 4T-2T and Akatieva's 4T-2T have the same GOE and I can't agree with that.

Frolova got less points for the sp 66.27 than her international sb. She got 67.93 in Zagreb jgp. By the way, she got 66.45 at Russian Senior Nationals.
Sinitsyna got less points for the fs 135.81 than her international sb. She got 140.93 in Egna-Neumarkt jgp. Kseniya got an UR on 3Lz, but even without that call, she still would be behind her international sb

Usacheva got more points for the sp 73.77 than her international sb. She got 71.09 in Zagreb jgp. Daria got 217.30 for the fs and her international sb is 200.37 in Torino jgpf. She had a couple of mistakes there, but no calls (UR or edge). So she had the same BV
Valieva got more points for the sp 78.50 than her international sb. She got 73.56 in Chelyabinsk jgp
Khromykh got 67.68 with a mistake on comdo and 2T instead of 3T. Her international sb is 68.93 in Riga jgp. Maya got 65.71 PCS in the fs, and in her international sb she got 60.05 PCS

What does it mean ? Do skaters get inflated scores in domestic competitions ? Sure, they do, just not everyone
Personally, i find it outrageous

Hehe welcome to home politics.

In the past it used to be all about CSKA: they have this huge history from the Soviet times, the club produced dozens of Olympic champions,... so there was this idea that CSKA produces the best skaters, hence judges were more prone to favour them, even when they screwed up, they always saved them, while the others get normal or even lower than usual scores and when they make mistakes they get punished with no mercy.

Now Tutberidze's group is getting that push, while the others are always below no matter what. Case in point is Khromykh, which i like and deserve most of those high GOE (and she was very strong in the free), but after the SP she should have probably been placed out of the top 10 because the others all skated clean or clean-ish.

 

[KOBOT37]

You people bothered to watch actual competition? If yes,why are you all pretending like Sinitsina had a perfect skate?

P.S

prerotation

 

[Tolstoj]

It's brought up way too many times these days, and yes they all prerotate to some degree when it's that much at some point it makes the jump less impressive.

I look at Akatieva's quad and the first reaction (especially if you compare it with Valieva's quad, or even Khromykh's quad sal attempt was huge) is that it doesn't look like a quad, the height and distance make so much difference and that should be reflected in the protocols.

I've always said the same for Shoma's 4F: when compared to Boyang's 4lutz, it's like we're watching a triple vs a quad.