2020-21 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Fluture]

Yet pushing through difficult skates after having covid can lead to permanent lung complications (at least that's what the doctors told kostornaia and Plushenko).

Honestly, I don't want to see Anna have a terrible skate. Id rather she stayed healthy - she has nothing to prove.

I don‘t think it‘s about having a terrible skate. We‘ve seen it today - she’ll push through it one way or another because she’s an insanely tough competitor. I think she even has a great chance for the win as Kamila‘s still inconsistent with her quads. But the point is not about whether she will skate well or not, it‘s about what it will do to her long term health. They had to give her smelling salts before her skate and she was literally gasping for air afterwards. If she drags her recovering body through an entire FS, no matter how well she ends up skating, it could seriously endanger her health. It‘s just scary and irresponsible from all the adults involved that let her compete here.

So yeah. I think Anna‘s going to win tomorrow or at least place second. But I don’t want to imagine the effects this will have on her body. She‘s clearly not ready and should not risk it all for a medal.

 

[nussnacker]

In this case the judging was unfair, as they marked Valieva based on reputation rather than what she produced.

The only thing Kamila didn’t do is her 3A. She got rightfully deducted for it, for both her fall and under rotation. The rest was done well, she got rewarded for it.
I love Sasha, I love Anna, but Kamila has an edge over them in SS, so of course she’d get high PCS.
Daria could’ve gotten an edge call, but equally she could’ve gotten higher PCS compared to Sasha and Liza T., so overall she’s where she’s supposed to be.
Maiia and Liza N. could’ve gotten higher PCS. But both unfortunately don’t have enough to their name to earn those marks.

 

[brakes]

Yet pushing through difficult skates after having covid can lead to permanent lung complications (at least that's what the doctors told kostornaia and Plushenko).

You cut my heart with blunt, rusty knife on Christmas, but you may be right.

 

[chasingneverland]

At the very minimum, I hope they gave Anna lots of fluids, some warm tea, maybe a bath, and sent her straight to bed after.

 

[Amei]

Okay, but can we just acknowledge how great Maiia was today? This program suits her so much! (Who cares about lyrics!)

She rocked it today.

 

[Scott512]

Because these girls like to compete. However, they've already said that the competition is purely motivational.

Who said anything about motivational? This is the biggest competition of the year for the Russian ladies by far. If there is no world's in a couple months which is extremely likely then this will be the biggest event of the season would which is why Anya and Liza and others who are not feeling well are there.

Not only are these ladies awesome athletes they are tough as nails. Much tougher than anyone here at the forum.

 

[bubblecherry]

Happy holidays everyone! Rusnats SP is the best gift we could’ve gotten from skating Here are my thoughts! I haven’t read through anyone else’s.

I watched most of the event but I’ll just touch on the highlights for me. First, Nugamanova was lovely. Love that program and clean jumps! I love that 3lo3lo- my favorite loop combo along with 3s3lo. Seeing her so excited at her scores was so cute! Good for her.

Trusova, the SP is nice, just as it has been all season, but it was missing some OOMPH. I also miss the green dress. She just pulled it off so well despite it being a polarizing color and style. Plushy being upset at her scores was funny to me. I probably don’t agree with him but I love the dramatics regardless.

Tukt doesn’t interest me very much at all, I can’t lie. I just wasn’t entertained by her but I’m glad at least one of the “older” ladies is still there and somewhat competitive.

Kamila, again, doesn’t interest me very much. I do like this SP from her, but like Trusova it was missing some of the OOMPH it needed. I think nerves got to a lot of these ladies. That plus sickness for some of them. The 3A didn’t look as good as it did last time we saw the attempt, and I’m just not a fan of her jumps. Although they’re clean, they just always look somewhat squirrely, especially the ones in the SP (Lutz combo, Flip, Ultra C element). I do hope she keeps this program because it’s nice for her and I wanna see it again. I think she can do it even better than at the Cup stages.

Samadorava, once again, I’m usually not interested in her but I like this SP for her. It’s grown on me. She did this one exit transition where she held the edge then turned forward and held it a bit longer and I LOVED it. Her jumps looked as good as they can and I think she did a really good job.

Daria, I think she has become my favorite of the ladies here. I did grow to love this program (not sure how, I went on many rants about how I hated it) but it was a bit tentative here. That 2A is an absolute beauty. If it didn’t get +5 across the board then it’s a blasphemy. One or two stumbles. Definitely nerves. Most of the skate was pretty tentative. The stumble out of the ina-bauer happened because she was trying to slow down and get on the music, I think. Still love that spiral into the 3F3T and the exit. Beautiful element and beautiful, exciting moment in the program.

Anna, my other favorite of the ladies here I LOVE this program. She was understandably tentative, especially in the StSq, but I still loved it. Deservedly into the lead. She’s the best performer/“artist” here, by far. I’m really concerned about her going into the FS and I’m not sure if she should be here at all. She was so gassed at the end of the SP it was almost painful to watch. Intense shortness of breath. Clearly not recovered from Covid and if she’s over exerting herself now, it could make things worse for her in the future.

Definitely missed Aliona here, but seeing Anna struggling with breathing, I’m glad they made the decision for her to sit it out. Most of all, I missed Zhenya. Competitions just aren’t the same without her starpower. Alina too, but there was never any chance she was competing here. I can’t wait to see Zhenya in the exhibition Excited for the FS tomorrow!

 

[Mawwerg]

Just to add something to discussion:

Kamila's PCS - 37.54 Sasha's PCS - 35.45 Difference: +2.09
Kamila's Axel(and deduction) - 2.20 Sasha's Axel - 4.29 Difference: -2.09

Axel is actually one of the cheapest elements and fall on it doesn't cost a lot of points(at least when all do 2A).

 

[Scott512]

Yes they are. I don't disagree with that statement. They are pushing the technical boundaries further than anybody. That doesnt mean they (rusfed) should push up skaters (that they like) scores riddicuously to beat skaters the federation doesn't like. They're mocking the sport when they abandon fair scoring and lose their judgment to politics.

I don't think anyone would disagree with the top 3 today.

You're never gonna fix the scoring a shoes in figure skating. They should be better but they are not.

I always say the Saint Petersburg ladies constantly get low balled in domestic scoring and I've said that for years and it never changes. Not that they necessarily deserve to be on the same scoring level as the top TT ladies the past few years but to see many of them scate very well and end up in the 180s or 190s is disappointing to say the least.

 

[Scott512]

Happy holidays everyone! Rusnats SP is the best gift we could’ve gotten from skating Here are my thoughts! I haven’t read through anyone else’s.

I watched most of the event but I’ll just touch on the highlights for me. First, Nugamanova was lovely. Love that program and clean jumps! I love that 3lo3lo- my favorite loop combo along with 3s3lo. Seeing her so excited at her scores was so cute! Good for her.

Trusova, the SP is nice, just as it has been all season, but it was missing some OOMPH. I also miss the green dress. She just pulled it off so well despite it being a polarizing color and style. Plushy being upset at her scores was funny to me. I probably don’t agree with him but I love the dramatics regardless.

Tukt doesn’t interest me very much at all, I can’t lie. I just wasn’t entertained by her but I’m glad at least one of the “older” ladies is still there and somewhat competitive.

Kamila, again, doesn’t interest me very much. I do like this SP from her, but like Trusova it was missing some of the OOMPH it needed. I think nerves got to a lot of these ladies. That plus sickness for some of them. The 3A didn’t look as good as it did last time we saw the attempt, and I’m just not a fan of her jumps. Although they’re clean, they just always look somewhat squirrely, especially the ones in the SP (Lutz combo, Flip, Ultra C element). I do hope she keeps this program because it’s nice for her and I wanna see it again. I think she can do it even better than at the Cup stages.

Samadorava, once again, I’m usually not interested in her but I like this SP for her. It’s grown on me. She did this one exit transition where she held the edge then turned forward and held it a bit longer and I LOVED it. Her jumps looked as good as they can and I think she did a really good job.

Daria, I think she has become my favorite of the ladies here. I did grow to love this program (not sure how, I went on many rants about how I hated it) but it was a bit tentative here. That 2A is an absolute beauty. If it didn’t get +5 across the board then it’s a blasphemy. One or two stumbles. Definitely nerves. Most of the skate was pretty tentative. The stumble out of the ina-bauer happened because she was trying to slow down and get on the music, I think. Still love that spiral into the 3F3T and the exit. Beautiful element and beautiful, exciting moment in the program.

Anna, my other favorite of the ladies here I LOVE this program. She was understandably tentative, especially in the StSq, but I still loved it. Deservedly into the lead. She’s the best performer/“artist” here, by far. I’m really concerned about her going into the FS and I’m not sure if she should be here at all. She was so gassed at the end of the SP it was almost painful to watch. Intense shortness of breath. Clearly not recovered from Covid and if she’s over exerting herself now, it could make things worse for her in the future.

Definitely missed Aliona here, but seeing Anna struggling with breathing, I’m glad they made the decision for her to sit it out. Most of all, I missed Zhenya. Competitions just aren’t the same without her starpower. Alina too, but there was never any chance she was competing here. I can’t wait to see Zhenya in the exhibition Excited for the FS tomorrow!

Merry Christmas BC.

Zhenyas star power is missed. But after seeing Anna struggle physically it's best she's not competing herre. nor alyona.

And yes even with all the competitors who are not healthy and with all the drama Russian nationals is a nice Christmas present for us figure skating fans. What I say everyone wishes it was like a 2 week event. )

 

[nussnacker]

At the very minimum, I hope they gave Anna lots of fluids, some warm tea, maybe a bath, and sent her straight to bed after.

Her family usually travels with her on most competitions. I think her parents will make sure she’s well rested until tomorrow.

 

[FelineFairy]

Daria stumbled in her step sequence.

Could anyone please explain that stumble thing to me? A stumble, as I understand it, is what Kolyada did on a transition. In Daria's SP it seemed to me during replay that it was not just a stumble, but a hand down on the ice. Was it in the step sequence or before she started the sequence? How are such things judged? Do I understand it correctly that if the loss of balance + hand down is not in the step sequence GOE can be positive? Was that the case?

 

[silveruskate]

On Anna, I don't think it would be a massive problem if she skates. Once she gets the quads out of the way, the rest of the jumps aren't so big that she'll get injured if she falls. It isn't like Yuzuru Hanyu with a 3A-3A for his last element. Him skating a FP in Anna's condition would be a massive problem. If she does get tired then she'll no doubt not meet levels around the end, similar to some of Aliona this season. We would see it in the spins and UR on jumps. Unless she has heart problems or asthma I see no issues.

 

[Skatefan15]

I really think that Anna shouldn’t have competed here. Her short was good (minus the lutz that wasn’t called) but I saw a video of her using smelling salts (at least that’s what I think it was, it’s hard to tell) and if she needs that, should she really be competing right now? She could have skipped this competition and gotten on the world (really think there shouldn’t be a worlds but) team anyway because of her international accomplishments and the fact she’s 2 time national champion.

 

[chasingneverland]

Who said anything about motivational?

Quite literally Russia:
"So, the Russian championship is officially not a selection for the world championship, but a motivational camp according to the results of which the federation will decide for itself who deserves to go to the Worlds and who does not. Everything is in the hands of officials, not athletes. “It makes no sense to discuss this (selection criteria for the world championship) before the national championships,” said Alexander Kogan, general director of the FFKKR. When asked if the Russian championship would not be the only tournament in the selection system for the world championship, the president of the FFKKR Alexander Gorshkov replied: “I would not talk about it now, because we will see how events develop. We will have an executive committee (December 27 in Chelyabinsk), where we will consider various options. " “We have plans and not one tournament, but several, which pursue the goal of preserving the sports form of our skaters,” Kogan said.

 

[chasingneverland]

Merry Christmas BC.

Zhenyas star power is missed. But after seeing Anna struggle physically it's best she's not competing herre. nor alyona.

And yes even with all the competitors who are not healthy and with all the drama Russian nationals is a nice Christmas present for us figure skating fans. What I say everyone wishes it was like a 2 week event. )

Seeing Anna struggle to breathe made me even more worried for Evgenia and Alena. I fear their health must be even worse.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

It was really painful to watch Anna after she was done with the SP today. She does not seem healthy at all. I´m terrified of how much pain she will be in if she doesn´t WD from the FS tomorrow and what it will cost her health and lungs.

 

[Fluture]

Seeing Anna struggle to breathe made me even more worried for Evgenia and Alena. I fear their health must be even worse.

No idea about Aliona (fortunately because if I did, I’s probably freak out even more lol) but saying Zhenya‘s had it rough these past months is an understatement. She said in an interview that she‘ll try her very hardest to land one (!) triple jump at the Nationals gala. This is coming from someone who skated three clean programs with triple triples on a broken foot at the Olympics.

So, yes, covid and her injury affected her health very seriously. I don‘t know if her body will allow her to come back to competition but one thing‘s for sure, she‘s not going down without a fight.

 

[nussnacker]

Quite literally Russia:
"So, the Russian championship is officially not a selection for the world championship, but a motivational camp according to the results of which the federation will decide for itself who deserves to go to the Worlds and who does not. Everything is in the hands of officials, not athletes. “It makes no sense to discuss this (selection criteria for the world championship) before the national championships,” said Alexander Kogan, general director of the FFKKR. When asked if the Russian championship would not be the only tournament in the selection system for the world championship, the president of the FFKKR Alexander Gorshkov replied: “I would not talk about it now, because we will see how events develop. We will have an executive committee (December 27 in Chelyabinsk), where we will consider various options. " “We have plans and not one tournament, but several, which pursue the goal of preserving the sports form of our skaters,” Kogan said.

I think this was said only because Aliona withdrew. They’re leaving the door open, to decide later whom to send: Aliona or Liza. If she’s on, I think they’ll have a skate off at cup final for the spot between them. Which will be unfair to Liza, if she does well at RusNats and since she showed up here probably precisely because she wanted avoid this fate of 18-19 season, but Fed clearly doesn’t believe in Liza and Aliona can earn a lot on PCS, which Liza can’t.
Though I think Worlds won’t happen, so all of this is unnecessary anyways.

 

[chasingneverland]

I think this was said only because Aliona withdrew. They’re leaving the door open, to decide later whom to send: Aliona or Liza. If she’s on, I think they’ll have a skate off at cup final for the spot between them. Which will be unfair to Liza, if she does well at RusNats and since she showed up here probably precisely because she wanted avoid this fate of 18-19 season, but Fed clearly doesn’t believe in Liza and Aliona can earn a lot on PCS, which Liza can’t.
Though I think Worlds won’t happen, so all of this is unnecessary anyways.

It was also said because of Aliev and Danielian as well as Sinitsina/Katsalopov. And to a lesser extent, others such as, Evgenia, Ksenia, Akhanteva/Kolesov although I don't really see any of the above making it to worlds. The point is, it would apply to Anna as well. She DOES NOT need to risk her health in this competition.