Also S/K's coach Zhulin is pretty firm that they will only do one program in the team event. So Most likely Men and pairs will not swap out.
2021-2022 Russian Men's Figure Skating
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Also S/K's coach Zhulin is pretty firm that they will only do one program in the team event. So Most likely Men and pairs will not swap out.
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Interesting. I think last time Tarasova/Morozov didn't want to do both programs 'cause Pairs was the first individual event so that was totally fair. According to the timetable Pairs is going to be last in 2022, so one pair for both programs makes sense (I wonder if they'll change that 'cause usually the Ladies go last since it's historically the most popular event.)
Men's is supposed to be first this time around though, sucks for whoever has to skate both programs and doesn't get much of a break afterwards.
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As the Russian men have very little chances to get an individual medal, the skater in team competition will be lucky, as he will get at least a medal.
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- Mar 21, 2018
Do you have a crystal ball that tells you how everyone will be skating come February?
Kolyada was 5th at Worlds this year which firmly puts him in the conversation for a Bronze medal. He's made good strides in terms of consistency and will hopefully continue to improve and maybe up his tech content. Anything can happen next season, especially at the Olympics where nothing is guaranteed; favourites can falter and others can rise to the occasion.
So to dismiss the Russian men as having little chances of medalling when their chances are no worse than anyone else's (well, except Chen and Hanyu obviously) is pretty disrespectful.
Not to mention - even if a medal looks unlikely come February I'm sure whoever makes the Olympic team will want to skate their best in the individual event. And it since it looks like the Men's event will be right after the Team event then yes, I'd say the skater chosen is unlucky in terms of timing. Hopefully he will still do great like Duhamel and Radford last time (skated both programs in the team event and then won bronze in the individual).
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Kovalev said in an interview that he will compete in Juniors next season. If he does, I think he would deserve a spot on the main team. Samsonov's situation is very uncertain. I believe he definitely aimed for the 2022 Olympics, but I doubt it's gonna happen now. Of course it all depends on the off-season and Team Tut knows how to prep and condition their skaters to peak just in time for Olympics.
As for Anisimov and Soloviov, I guess Anisimov should have the upper hand. They both bombed Junior Nats, but Soloviov bombed worse. Then Anisimov came ahead of him in Elder Age Novice Nats so my bet is on Andrei. If I remember correctly his coach Vika Butasaeva also expressed her delight at his win at Novice Nats and said she was glad he'd made it into the national team. So maybe winning Elder Age Novice Nats gives you a ticket to the Junior team? I do hope that Soloviov gets a JGP though!
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- May 20, 2021
Since the Russian men's team is apparently so controversial, I figured I'd make a little chart for you all. It includes the placements and scores from the Russian Cup, RCF, Russnats and Rostelecom, plus average score and placement. I also added Kolyada and Semenenko's worlds placements and scores but didn't use them to calculate averages since it's a very different field, but it's interesting to see how big the differences between the national and international scores were (Kolyada had a significantly bigger difference between his national and world championship scores that Semenenko did, so I guess we can see who really benefits from nationals inflation between the two of them).
Now, a couple of things that I do want to address here, since there seems to be an agreed party-line on who should be kicked off of the main team to give their favourite a spot: Samarin does not have the worst average placement OR the worst average score of the guys who did make the main team. Actually, both of those go to Kondratyuk, who didn't actually have as good of a season as people think. Regarding the Samarin-Vs-Gumennik debate, it is true that Gumennik has better average score and average placement than Samarin, however it is also true that the two have gone head-to-head twice this season, at the 2nd stage of the Russian cup and then at Russnats, and both times Samarin placed above Gumennik, making it pretty hard to justify placing Gumennik on the team over Samarin. Aliev has a higher average score than Samarin but a lower average placement, and while he and Samarin haven't actually gone head-to-head at any competitions overseen by either the ISU or the Russian figure skating fed this season, Aliev has gone head-to-head with Gumennik twice, at the Rostelecom cup and RCF, and both times Gumennik placed over Aliev. So, the head-to-heads go: Samarin>Gumennik>Aliev. Personally, I would absolutely have put Gumennik on the main team, but it would have been over Kondratyuk, who I actually rather suspect was added to the main team largely due to the fandom and media's reaction to his placement at nationals (and the channel one 'competition') rather than his actual results, (Don't get me wrong, I've actually been warming to Kondratyuk this year, but the numbers really aren't in his favour), but I'm just some random guy on the internet and my personal preferences aren't part of the criteria Rusfed use when selecting the national team.
Now, a couple of things that I do want to address here, since there seems to be an agreed party-line on who should be kicked off of the main team to give their favourite a spot: Samarin does not have the worst average placement OR the worst average score of the guys who did make the main team. Actually, both of those go to Kondratyuk, who didn't actually have as good of a season as people think. Regarding the Samarin-Vs-Gumennik debate, it is true that Gumennik has better average score and average placement than Samarin, however it is also true that the two have gone head-to-head twice this season, at the 2nd stage of the Russian cup and then at Russnats, and both times Samarin placed above Gumennik, making it pretty hard to justify placing Gumennik on the team over Samarin. Aliev has a higher average score than Samarin but a lower average placement, and while he and Samarin haven't actually gone head-to-head at any competitions overseen by either the ISU or the Russian figure skating fed this season, Aliev has gone head-to-head with Gumennik twice, at the Rostelecom cup and RCF, and both times Gumennik placed over Aliev. So, the head-to-heads go: Samarin>Gumennik>Aliev. Personally, I would absolutely have put Gumennik on the main team, but it would have been over Kondratyuk, who I actually rather suspect was added to the main team largely due to the fandom and media's reaction to his placement at nationals (and the channel one 'competition') rather than his actual results, (Don't get me wrong, I've actually been warming to Kondratyuk this year, but the numbers really aren't in his favour), but I'm just some random guy on the internet and my personal preferences aren't part of the criteria Rusfed use when selecting the national team.
| IGNATOV | | KOLYADA | | KONDRATYUK | | MOZALEV | | SAMARIN | SEMENENKO | ALIEV | GUMENNIK | DANIELYAN | |||||
| Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score | Placement | Score |
Rostelecom Cup | 7 | 260.78 | 1 | 281.89 | | | 4 | 266.69 | | | 6 | 260.78 | 5 | 265.11 | 3 | 268.47 | | |
Russian Cup I | 3 | 217.46 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Russian Cup II | | | | | 8 | 197.92 | | | 2 | 253.1 | 4 | 249.05 | | | 3 | 249.46 | | |
Russian Cup III | | | 1 | 283.44 | | | 2 | 274.44 | | | | | 3 | 250.71 | | | | |
Russian Cup IV | 3 | 257.35 | | | 7 | 219.89 | 2 | 257.35 | | | 1 | 264.38 | | | | | | |
Russian Cup V | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1 | 247.14 | | |
Russian Nationals | 2 | 265.37 | 1 | 296.15 | 3 | 260.31 | 4 | 252.92 | 5 | 251.38 | 11 | 228.47 | | | 7 | 247.47 | | |
Russian Cup Final | 8 | 233.65 | | | 5 | 250.77 | 4 | 252.59 | | | 1 | 265.13 | 3 | 254.79 | 2 | 256.06 | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Average | 4.6 | 246.922 | 1 | 287.16 | 5.75 | 232.2225 | 3.2 | 260.798 | 3.5 | 252.24 | 4.6 | 253.562 | 3.66666666666667 | 256.87 | 3.2 | 253.72 | DATA NOT AVAILABLE | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
Worlds | | | 5 | 272.04 | | | | | | | 8 | 258.45 | | | | | | |
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Hey @JustSomeGuy : nice analysis.
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Welcome to Golden Skate @JustSomeGuy and thanks so much for the table! In case you ever feel bored, a table for the junior men would also be interesting 
And just for the record, I adore Samarin and his weird wardrobe and I'm glad he made it into the main team! I just hope all the guys get a fair chance next season and there is no random poiticking from RusFed (wishful thinking, I know...)
And just for the record, I adore Samarin and his weird wardrobe and I'm glad he made it into the main team! I just hope all the guys get a fair chance next season and there is no random poiticking from RusFed (wishful thinking, I know...)
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Hey, I'm about to have a whole weekend with nothing to do; stranger things have certainly happened. Do we know if the junior teams have been announced yet? Otherwise, I can do a table with all of the guys who competed at junior nats / RCF but it'll be a big table.Welcome to Golden Skate @JustSomeGuy and thanks so much for the table! In case you ever feel bored, a table for the junior men would also be interesting
And just for the record, I adore Samarin and his weird wardrobe and I'm glad he made it into the main team! I just hope all the guys get a fair chance next season and there is no random poiticking from RusFed (wishful thinking, I know...)
(And for the record, I also like Samarin, but I quite liked Evan Lysasek too so I'm used to being in the minority).
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Welcome to Golden Skate, post often.
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Excellent analysis! I'm a big fan of Russian Men's skating, and, like many others here, I was left scratching my head a bit at Aliev in particular being on the reserve team. You've made me rethink that a bit.
I also like Lysacek so you're not alone.
Welcome to Golden Skate! Post long and post often.
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Pairs being last is a courtesy to the hosts, as pairs is China’s best event.
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@JustSomeGuy nice table 
About Juniors, not sure if much can be figured out from Nationals/Cup Final results alone. For example, Belyavsky didn't go to Junior Nats in 2020 (I think because he competed in novices that season) but somehow he wound up on the team. Also Vetlugin wasn't on in the initial announcement, but was added later during the off-season. I can only guess that they looked promising in training (3A, quads). So some closed-door observation might also dictate team selection, at least if when things are ambiguous.
By the way, here's a cute pic of Ilya Yablokov and coach Viktoria during a training session at Moskvich
She seems quite tall for a former ladies' singles skater, Ilya is hardly short himself...
About Juniors, not sure if much can be figured out from Nationals/Cup Final results alone. For example, Belyavsky didn't go to Junior Nats in 2020 (I think because he competed in novices that season) but somehow he wound up on the team. Also Vetlugin wasn't on in the initial announcement, but was added later during the off-season. I can only guess that they looked promising in training (3A, quads). So some closed-door observation might also dictate team selection, at least if when things are ambiguous.
By the way, here's a cute pic of Ilya Yablokov and coach Viktoria during a training session at Moskvich
She seems quite tall for a former ladies' singles skater, Ilya is hardly short himself...
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For the team event I would have thought that the men would have 2 entries because of the men's event following shortly afterwards. We'll see.
Thank you! It's great to hear that his jumps are back.
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- Mar 3, 2018
Men and dance would make sense if your main consideration in making the swaps was how it would affect performance in the individual event, but in practice that's not how countries make the call, rather it tends to be a combination of showing off your stars and also going along with the preferences of the bigger names.
At least for the moment, Kolyada, while a medal contender, is jockeying for bronze more than gold. The gold medal contenders in other disciplines will get more consideration, and there's also simply an imperative to show off the ladies, who are the biggest stars in the firmament.
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- Mar 21, 2018
That's nice then! I don't think they've ever done that before? I'm really rooting for Sui/Han and them winning would be perfect end to the Olympics for the Chinese audience.
And yeah I'd be surprised if Kolyada wasn't the one chosen to skate both programs (again) in the team event. Hopefully he can build on all the goodwill from this season. The Russian men's field is starting to really deepen though so I really couldn't say who the other 2 spots will go to (assuming they qualify the 3rd). This gonna be an exciting season.
Initially I thought that they would just call up the national champions for the team event and then swap ladies and men. But yes, I would agree with you.
To make the olympics, I'm rooting for Dmitri and Petr (as well as Mikhail) the most, but I like watching all of them!
I've never seen this news before, but I'd actually love it if S/B could get a team olympic medal next year.
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- Feb 2, 2019
Some of the young men who are part of the national team graduated from secondary school this week. 
Here is Andrei Mozalev: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPFy5uJpm0W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link,
and here Zhenya Semenenko: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPHNvpgJGPg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Here is Andrei Mozalev: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPFy5uJpm0W/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link,
and here Zhenya Semenenko: https://www.instagram.com/p/CPHNvpgJGPg/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
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- Oct 21, 2017
i find your answer not particularly friendly, but whatever makes you happy....
No, i do not have a crystal ball. I have the experience, does it count?
Yes, everybody has a chance, and like i said „very little chances“, i don‘t know what do you think is disrespectful about that. Because, when i think realistically, as much as i want for Mika (who is my fav from all men skaters) to medal, his chances are not big. He still has to add more quads and be more stable with more than two 4 - Toe loops in his program. His strong part in presentation got him not the expected score this year at worlds, despite his spectacular program. As his technical is lower than for other skaters he must be perfect in both programs. When was he perfect in both his programs?
The other Russian men can be on 3th and can be on 10 place or lower, depending on their day. But the same can be said for a lot of men apart Chen and Hanyu. Each can rise to the moment or make loads of mistakes. So, if one would calculate how many men are in the same liga and could be on the third place with the right momentum and calculate the probability for each one, it will come to the „very little chances“ i spoke about it.
So yeah, i still think that whichever man will represent in team will be lucky, because he has a very big chance to get gold or silver. Medal is medal at the end of the day, team or individual, they still have to work hard to get the place in the team.
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