2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[macy]

I remember Alina getting something like 158 in FS without quads under the new scoring, and she is certainly capable of getting a 82/83 in SP. At her very best, she can even reach 240...

She is after all the reigning OG, and WC. She should still receive the best PCS I think when skated well.

at her best she can absolutely challenge for places 3-5. maybe even 2nd if others falter. the main question is if she wants to come back and skate for the love of skating no matter where she ends up or if she's in it for medals. that will be the deciding factor if she is still considering it.

 

[Lechat]

Alina can collect even more money if she wins say Tallin or Nebelhorn plus podium at IDF oo Rostelcom!

She said she was thinking about coming back. Not moi. Like you and like everyone else we can only go by what she said

I enjoy Nugu and Talalala! They are beautiful skaters but they can barely crack 200. Alina can crack 220 in her sleep. If she wants to that is.

I didn’t know they could earn money with the cup series.

Anyway, I don’t think money is her principal motivation. I think the team event gave her a reason to come back. Like she said, she had no time to enjoy her team competition at the olympics because she had to focus on single.
The only team events she competed after that were the japan open but it’s not the same.

 

[Lechat]

I desperately want Sasha to land five quads at Worlds and make history and win but this is just pure wishful thinking... She has improved so much this year though, regardless.

I think Sasha has the best chance of staying competitive post Beijing 2022.

I want for her to skate clean. Making 5 quads is not that important. I don’t want to see another Rostelecom cup again.

 

[Amei]

I want for her to skate clean. Making 5 quads is not that important. I don’t want to see another Rostelecom cup again.

I feel like if she goes for 5 quads is someone's ego kicking in, she has skated only 1 clean FS this season and that was with a 2 quad program and she's been dealing with some type of injury since November. If she goes for 4-5 quads at Worlds and bombs it and doesn't podium I feel like it could hurt her Olympic team chances

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

Yeah agreed. It's just - from I remember - really the only time we've heard that she was training quads at all. By 2019 she was saying they (quads) were too dangerous for her to learn.

But she had an Osgood-Schlatter disease then, hadn't she? She hasn't grown since a while, she had proper "rest", so, I don't know if she has other injuries, but this at least should be OK.
If she's back to her former shape, without ultra-C but with formidable 3Lz-3Lo (and more!), and those incredible steps and all, either she gets to have GP spots and she can make it to GPF, if not having an Olympic spot; or she can't and that would be very sad.
If she gets a 4T or a 4F, she's in for a lot.

 

[Amei]

But she had an Osgood-Schlatter disease then, hadn't she? She hasn't grown since a while, she had proper "rest", so, I don't know if she has other injuries, but this at least should be OK.
If she's back to her former shape, without ultra-C but with formidable 3Lz-3Lo (and more!), and those incredible steps and all, either she gets to have GP spots and she can make it to GPF, if not having an Olympic spot; or she can't and that would be very sad.
If she gets a 4T or a 4F, she's in for a lot.

The comments she made in 2019 (granted this is via translation) was that she needed to lose weight to be able to train quads

 

[Thrashergurl]

Alina had better get training now if she is considering a comeback. She is no where near ready to compete at this point. How exciting if she does come back though

 

[Dawn825]

I remember Alina getting something like 158 in FS without quads under the new scoring, and she is certainly capable of getting a 82/83 in SP. At her very best, she can even reach 240...

She is after all the reigning OG, and WC. She should still receive the best PCS I think when skated well.

Alina isn't coming back so this is all moot, but I disagree with this. She would not get those scores again if she did return. She'd be very unlikely to get the same GOEs - even if she got all her jumps back, they would not be as high and easy as they were when she was 15, and her spins are unlikely to be as flexible. That's just how age works. And she got very high PCS in part because she was the best jumper in the World. She'd probably still get decent PCS, but not the kind of PCS bump that's reserved for the best in the World when there's at least 5 skaters in her own country who could out-jump her.

 

[Scott512]

I didn’t know they could earn money with the cup series.

Anyway, I don’t think money is her principal motivation. I think the team event gave her a reason to come back. Like she said, she had no time to enjoy her team competition at the olympics because she had to focus on single.
The only team events she competed after that were the japan open but it’s not the same.

I didn’t know they could earn money with the cup series.

Anyway, I don’t think money is her principal motivation. I think the team event gave her a reason to come back. Like she said, she had no time to enjoy her team competition at the olympics because she had to focus on single.
The only team events she competed after that were the japan open but it’s not the same.

I think you are right that the team event got the juices flowing in Alina again. Coronavirus is hopefully on its way out in the next six months certainly on the decline and that may give her an incentive to come back as well.this was a horribly difficult season for figure skaters and athletes and the world and I think Alina made the wise choice sitting it out.

 

[Scott512]

I feel like if she goes for 5 quads is someone's ego kicking in, she has skated only 1 clean FS this season and that was with a 2 quad program and she's been dealing with some type of injury since November. If she goes for 4-5 quads at Worlds and bombs it and doesn't podium I feel like it could hurt her Olympic team chances

you're exactly right Sasha is playing for more than just the podium at worlds or possible gold medal at worlds she's playing for a performance leading her into the Olympic season.

 

[Lechat]

I feel like if she goes for 5 quads is someone's ego kicking in, she has skated only 1 clean FS this season and that was with a 2 quad program and she's been dealing with some type of injury since November. If she goes for 4-5 quads at Worlds and bombs it and doesn't podium I feel like it could hurt her Olympic team chances

she should skate safe like she did at Rusnat. Sasha’s goal is the olympics. Maybe she will use that competition to try her 3A.

I think the pressure to land 5 quads is what made her mess Rostelecom.

 

[Paulipau]

Can anyone translate what is this about?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMSJHNmJesc/?igshid=1m9oj2nuz3qtv

 

[macy]

Can anyone translate what is this about?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CMSJHNmJesc/?igshid=1m9oj2nuz3qtv

Its for the Team Tut ice show

 

[silveruskate]

How can Sasha do 5 quads in her FS? She doesn't even have 5 quads

 

[Skatesocs]

How can Sasha do 5 quads in her FS? She doesn't even have 5 quads

4Lz x2, 4S, 4T, 4F. Not that I believe she should even think about doing it.

 

[silveruskate]

4Lz x2, 4S, 4T, 4F. Not that I believe she should even think about doing it.

But she doesn't have 4F since lockdown...

 

[Skatesocs]

True. And I honestly don't even want to see 4 from her. 3 is where she should draw the line.

 

[starlight97]

I think Sasha has the best chance of staying competitive post Beijing 2022.

I agree. I always wondered how top FS ladies could be elite athletes but so skinny with basically no pronounced muscle mass showing whatsoever.
But then there's Sasha who is just pure fiber... she's a beast. And I think this body build has protected her from many injuries most other girls would have suffered jumping the load that she jumps each day for years now.

But- clearly her and her father's goal is not longevity and merely staying competitive, it's winning Gold Medals and setting World Records. And if she will be able to do that post- Olympics, or even at the Olympics for that matter, I don't know.

 

[hannahbanana]

Alina had better get training now if she is considering a comeback. She is no where near ready to compete at this point. How exciting if she does come back though

right? she can't even rully rotate a solo lutz (her best jump) anymore and she's completely lost her other jumps bar the 2a..... do these people really think she could even hit 150 in her current state, let alone 220-240? hilarious

 

[Scott512]

Kaori and Rika were the ones pushing people out. And while Rika is fine, Satoko and Kaori are being caught by 16 year old Rino. Kaori has federation support, that's really the only difference.

And Kaori and Rika's layouts are super important when considering Liza T's and Anna/Sasha's, respectively. What Kaori and Rika do drastically impacts what the Russian skaters will do and what they NEED to perform cleanly. Especially as Rika will have higher PCS than at least Sasha. There is no one in this competition that gets higher PCS than Rika. And Rika has the highest short program TES and personal best out of everyone in attendance at the competition. A clean Rika in the SP would be a threat to Aliona (at her peak) in the SP - and Anna and Sasha can't match that (even if Sasha lands her 3A in the SP). (Anna because she doesn't have a 3A and Sasha because she doesn't have the PCS.)

And no, last year Aliona would have been there and Rika was still a threat (particularly to Sasha). This year Rika is stronger - she has her 3Lz back and gained a 4S which she's successfully landed in competition now. They weren't ahead of Rika last year really - especially as Anna and Sasha in particular where much less clean/stable last year. Both of them only landed their layouts cleanly once last year - so it was going to be interesting especially between Rika and Sasha, to see who could manage to be clean.

And considering there were rumours Aliona was struggling with injuries even before World's last year, she hadn't gotten her 3A back while with Eteri, and Eteri's camp was severely affected by COVID (both Evgenia and Anna? had it), there's no guarantee that even if Aliona had stayed with Eteri she would still be going. She was already struggling with injuries even before leaving. She didn't have her 3A stable by Rostelecom - at which point Anna was ALREADY sick with possibly COVID. So there's no guarantee Aliona wouldn't have gotten COVID with Eteri either.

And COVID didn't just affect Russia. Other skaters also never made it back to peak form - 16 year old Young Yu for example who also had a 3A (as well as a 3Lz-3Lo combo) and hasn't been able to get it stable yet (probably due to lack of competition due to COVID but possibly also reduced training due to COVID) and has been left off her team and she had 225+ scoring potential.

YY is wonderful. Sorry to hear she had Coronavirus. I hope coronavirus did not ravage Korean figure skating the way it did Russian figure skating.