2021-22 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[lll]

I just posted that above. (Also it’s so quick and it’s kind of hard to see the entry, but is that and clean 3A from Aliona in the beginning of the video?!)

It was 2a

 

[Amei]

Also where is Anna!? I heard rumors that she broke her toe, but considering the sources, I wrote it off as gossip and didn’t say anything, but it looks like it could unfortunately be true.

I saw it posted that she had a family member pass away, so perhaps she's away for a funeral/grieving.

 

[flanker]

I saw it posted that she had a family member pass away, so perhaps she's away for a funeral/grieving.

Yes, Anna's mother's cousin passed away last week. Not that it would make me happier of her absence if that's the reason.

 

[Amei]

Well, and my mind may be misremembering, but Sasha would have won the first title had she not muffed one jump, and even Eteri looked shocked when she saw that Anna won. And Alyona would have won the second title had she not fallen on the SW sequence in the short. It really was that close and luck did come into play those times IMO. This year's Nationals, Anna was on her own level, but there was Covid, Trusova had an injury and could only do 2 ultra-C at the time, Alyona wasn't having the best times of her life over with the Angels, etc.

I said that because Anna really reminds me of me. I'm not the smartest/most talented BY FAR. But I maximized everything I had, and worked harder than anyone else, and had nerves of steel so I'd never lose ground on a competitor out of nervousness in competition. And I won many things, many awards, top honors over people that were much better/smarter than me. I'd be a liar if I didn't attribute much of my success to luck. Sure I made myself in the running and positioned myself to be competitive just in case someone else messed up and I was at the right place at the right time. Sometimes I won, sometimes I came close. But I almost always gave peak performance in whatever I did, and let the rest of it sort it out. It wasn't a diss on Anna. Hardly, she's one of my favorites. My eyes/brain favors Alyona, My heart favors Anna, and My gut favors Trusova. Valieva combines ALL of it for me, well except for heart, she could give herself a bit more in her performances, but she's definitely improved on that since Nationals.

You could say the same about Tara. She was the queen of good luck. In 1995Jr.Nats she decidedly lost to even Sydne Vogel, and her coach was saying she's going into Seniors because the third world spot would be "open". There was only Kwan and Bobek who were "sure bets" for two of the three spots, so Tara believed she could be third and be at Sr. Worlds the next year after not even winning JrNats. Well, Bobek Bobek'd herself, and sure enough Tara was at Worlds the next year. That was pure good luck. Even after Bobek pulled out, she was only one vote from being named to the World team over Tara. It was THAT close. Then 1997, Kwan was in another dimension than the rest of the world until...... that sad meltdown at Nationals. Kwan did so poorly that the judges really HAD to give the title to Tara because she was right there ready to give her 100% best, which she absolutely needed to win that year. Then the next year, Tara was 100% at Olys while Kwan gave her just that teeny tiny opening Tara needed to win the Gold. Of course she was probably the hardest worker, and had nerves of steel and knew she could always rely on herself to give her maximum on that day. Tara's career still baffles me. It's no wonder she worships/prays to St. Theresa. Someone upstairs was on her side, for sure. lol.

Politely I disagree with your use of the term 'luck' especially when talking about someone that's been pretty much finishing either first or second for 3 seasons and won an extremely difficult competition (perhaps the most difficult) 3 times in a row. Luck to me discounts how talented she is, luck is a one-time winner, someone that scratches a lottery ticket and wins a million dollars, etc. If the extremely talented Shcherbakova is lucky that other extremely talented skaters had errors that led to her wins then just off the top of my head: Kostornaia was only 'lucky' to win Euros and the GPF because Shcherbakova and Trusova had errors on quads; by use of luck I can qualify that Zagitova won most of her titles due to 'luck' - lucky to win the GPF and Nationals without having to go up against Medvedeva who won those competitions the 2 prior years, and was lucky to not have to go to Europeans or the Olympics against a healthy Medvedeva, lucky to win Worlds against Rika who was inconsistent on that triple axel, Trusova/Kostornaia were lucky that Shcherbakova who pre-junior debut of these ladies was more highly talked about (from what I saw) but then the girl broke her leg and couldn't debut for another year and that break has been said to cause her to not be able to do a 3rd type of quad in the quad toe.

With how deep the Russian ladies are, I really doubt we see someone be without a doubt the bona-fide winner of competition after competition without a little 'assistance' from another skater's misfortune of botching a jump (Shcherbakova with Valieva messing up her triple axel, Shcherbakova on her quads resulting in Kostornaia winning GPF and Euros; Zagitova winning Worlds because of Rika), from a skater's perhaps misfortune of not being the best at execution in competition (Trusova), etc.

 

[snowflake]

Video from Novogorsk

Thanks to you and Minz Looks like they are all having a good time working hard. Nice to see Tarasova/Morozov there. Didn't they use to train pretty much by themselves? I hope they like it in Novogorsk.

 

[JazzUp]

I hope they like it in Novogorsk.

I'm pretty sure they do, since now they have guaranteed ice time (and 5 coaches)

 

[macy]

i wonder how Aliona's 3A is coming.

 

[nussnacker]

Also where is Anna!? I heard rumors that she broke her toe, but considering the sources, I wrote it off as gossip and didn’t say anything, but it looks like it could unfortunately be true.

Match TV says she injured her toe, and that it happened outside of/not associated with training. She should be back next week.

Анна Щербакова получила травму на сборах в Новогорске

На Youtube-канале команды Этери Тутберидзе было опубликовано новое видео со сборов в Новогорске о том, как готовятся к предстоящему сезону Камила Валиева, Александра Трусова, Алёна Косторная, Даниил Самсонов и другие фигуристы «Хрустального».

matchtv.ru

 

[Amei]

Match TV says she injured her toe, and that it happened outside of/not associated with training. She should be back next week.

Анна Щербакова получила травму на сборах в Новогорске

На Youtube-канале команды Этери Тутберидзе было опубликовано новое видео со сборов в Новогорске о том, как готовятся к предстоящему сезону Камила Валиева, Александра Трусова, Алёна Косторная, Даниил Самсонов и другие фигуристы «Хрустального».

matchtv.ru

Well if she's going to be back next week, that makes it sound not all that serious

 

[spicymacaron]

Video from Novogorsk

Aliona looks so tiny in that picture.

 

[Minz]

Well if she's going to be back next week, that makes it sound not all that serious

Well even if it isn’t serious, at least she’s getting the rest she needs. I’m happy to see that injuries (even minor ones) are being treated. If you remember, Evgenia skated most of the Olympic season with a broken foot...

 

[Jontor]

Here's my take on Anna's three national titles.

If you win once it might be a coincidence
If you win twice it might be a bit of luck
If you win three times it is starting to be a pattern, and it also nullifies the coincidence/luck aspects of the first two wins.

 

[Amei]

Well even if it isn’t serious, at least she’s getting the rest she needs. I’m happy to see that injuries (even minor ones) are being treated. If you remember, Evgenia skated most of the Olympic season with a broken foot...

I don't remember when Medvedeva broke her foot but it was/is mid to late June and Shcherbakova will be back practicing next week in the first week of July - now is not the time to try and push through an injury.

 

[Minz]

Here's my take on Anna's three national titles.

If you win once it might be a coincidence
If you win twice it might be a bit of luck
If you win three times it is starting to be a pattern, and it also nullifies the coincidence/luck aspects of the first two wins.

Others made mistakes, Anna didn’t. She held her ground and did what she had to do. That’s how competition works. Whoever does the best wins, and Anna did the best, so she won, - 3 times

 

[LiamForeman]

i wonder how Aliona's 3A is coming.

I was wondering the same thing. If she landed one they surely would have shown it. Usacheva and Maiia too. But it's only a been a week. I want to see new and consistent ultra-C!!!!! hehe

 

[spicymacaron]

I think they wouldn't show any ultra c elements unless they are consistent, even if anyone lands one. Team Tutberidze seems more cautious in that sense(which I approve of).

 

[RatedPG]

Did I see Daria with a triple - loop combination. Looks like she is improving her technical content. Good for her!

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Video from Novogorsk

Watching this video makes me even more impressed with skaters like Rika and Alysa, who can raise their technical bar without training around other athletes at their level. However, I think it puts them at a disadvantage at big events because the three who will make it out of this group and to the Olympics will have so much more confidence knowing they're the best of the best.

 

[Amei]

Watching this video makes me even more impressed with skaters like Rika and Alysa, who can raise their technical bar without training around other athletes at their level. However, I think it puts them at a disadvantage at big events because the three who will make it out of this group and to the Olympics will have so much more confidence knowing they're the best of the best.

Well it has its minuses as well -- Rika and Alysa (based on the triple axel and quad lutz videos we've seen) are pretty much locks for the Olympics; whereas the Russian ladies its likely to be a bloodbath, they'll have to go through an exhaustive fight just to get there, and they know if they misstep at the Europeans they could be made to go to the Russian Cup Final for another showdown for the Olympic team.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Well it has its minuses as well -- Rika and Alysa (based on the triple axel and quad lutz videos we've seen) are pretty much locks for the Olympics; whereas the Russian ladies its likely to be a bloodbath, they'll have to go through an exhaustive fight just to get there, and they know if they misstep at the Europeans they could be made to go to the Russian Cup Final for another showdown for the Olympic team.

A misstep at Europeans probably means finishing off the podium, which would be pretty hard to do for any top Eteri skater. But I agree that several medal contenders will be left at home because only three Russians can go.