2021-22 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[nussnacker]

This is just the beginning, Trusova is going to deteriorate further as the season progresses.
I'm sure Sasha won't make the Olympic team.

Oh wow, calm down, sir.
It wasn’t a good competition for her, but strangely, despite mistakes, she kept it together overall on spins and StSq.
Just her first competition this season.

I don’t know if the changes to the content will follow, but I think she should just stick to 1 content in every competition and not change it. I think it looks rational to change it, but for her future, she just needs to skate 1 content every day in practice and then in competition.
Frequent layout changes at this point probably won’t serve her any good.

 

[silveruskate]

I understand the excitement and then upset now. Sasha's quads looked better than ever at test skates and had the appearance of being so stable. On top of that she was handling the pressure. This competition is a reminder that it's not going to be so simple. Does anyone else think she loses her form when she's nervous?

The 4F was clean and perfect looking but her leg buckles, same as the SP issue with her 3A. It's happened to Anna before, but she always manages to save it and hop out if she at least rotated the jump somewhat properly.

Then the 4S axis. The 4T pop where her body alignment going into the jump did not look right to me. Her picking foot was too far to the right which signalled she wanted to get into the rotation too quickly - nerves. And then the final two 4Lzes, she UR but I don't even know if it was physical tiredness. It's happened before and I always thought it was mental tiredness.

 

[[email protected]]

TT decision to bring Trusova to the US like they did was too self confident. She had to skate at 4 a.m. Russian time - people usually have their deepest sleep at 4 o'clock in the morning. Jumping quads only made it much worse. A person needs a serious acclimatization period to adjust. That's why they say that the Russian team will prepare for the Olympics in Krasnoyarsk which has just 1 hour difference with Bejing rather than 5 hours for Moscow. Imagine Sasha's preparation for test skates, then her glorious performance, then a hurricane of emotions, and just several days after that she had to jump quads at 4 a.m. She is not a robot after all.

 

[nussnacker]

Someone needs to create a ff for Kulikova. That girl is incredible, she’ll be one of the skaters to watch in the coming years. Very expressive and poised performance despite her young age and small frame. I’m so impressed with how beautifully she skated! Beautiful and thoughtful arms movements, great attention to details.
Major props to Davydov for 2 stunning programs for this girl.
Totally can see why they gave her that spot.

 

[Tavi...]

With Sasha I do wonder if it's nerves or if she's just inconsistent. She doesn't look nervous, but of course some people just don't look like they're nervous even when they are. After she falls, she doesn't look like she's worried as she goes into the next quad. She looks just as determined as she is when she lands 3 quads successfully and goes into the fourth, like there's no pressure and she's just jumping because she wants to and each new attempt in a program is like a new day.

It's hard to tell because with most skaters you can see their nerves before they step onto the ice or when they get up from a fall they almost look scared to go into the next jump but I don't get that with Sasha. And I wonder if reducing the number of quads will even help - it doesn't look like she lets one jump affect the others mentally, and physically she doesn't even look more tired after a 5 quad program than a 3 quad one.

Whether it’s nerves or just learning to pace herself, she landed a ton of beautiful quads in warm up, and her skating looked strong, very fast, and powerful. As to performance, I think she has it in her, but right now what she’s attempting is so technically difficult that until she’s mastered it, it’s a lot to ask her to also emote, give face, etc. I also wouldn’t underestimate the effect of traveling/jet lag and the fact that she just competed at the test skates.

 

[Minz]

TT decision to bring Trusova to the US like they did was too self confident. She had to skate at 4 a.m. Russian time - people usually have their deepest sleep at 4 o'clock in the morning. Jumping quads only made it much worse. A person needs a serious acclimatization period to adjust. That's why they say that the Russian team will prepare for the Olympics in Krasnoyarsk which has just 1 hour difference with Bejing rather than 5 hours for Moscow. Imagine Sasha's preparation for test skates, then her glorious performance, then a hurricane of emotions, and just several days after that she had to jump quads at 4 a.m. She is not a robot after all.

Yeah, I was thinking about that too. She had a really quick turnaround.

 

[Mauvedreamer]

Someone needs to create a ff for Kulikova. That girl is incredible, she’ll be one of the skaters to watch in the coming years. Very expressive and poised performance despite her young age and small frame. I’m so impressed with how beautifully she skated! Beautiful and thoughtful arms movements, great attention to details.
Major props to Davydov for 2 stunning programs for this girl.
Totally can see why they gave her that spot.

I loved Kulikova, she has a magical quality, very expressive.

 

[Minz]

Someone needs to create a ff for Kulikova. That girl is incredible, she’ll be one of the skaters to watch in the coming years. Very expressive and poised performance despite her young age and small frame. I’m so impressed with how beautifully she skated! Beautiful and thoughtful arms movements, great attention to details.
Major props to Davydov for 2 stunning programs for this girl.
Totally can see why they gave her that spot.

She is 13, correct? If so, I'll do it.

 

[Dawn825]

Was Sasha doing full run-thrus on the practic sessions? We know she can do all the jumps in isolation, but maybe she doesnt practice the full program enough, with all the distractions of spins and chroeography. She might need that sort of thing more than most, since the end of her program is just as hard as the beginning. Who knows?

 

[Skatesocs]

Was Sasha doing full run-thrus on the practic sessions? We know she can do all the jumps in isolation, but maybe she doesnt practice the full program enough, with all the distractions of spins and chroeography. She might need that sort of thing more than most, since the end of her program is just as hard as the beginning. Who knows?

I don't think it had to do with runthroughs. @samkrut has it right, I think. Plus, 5 quads being inconsistent has to do with 5 quads being very, very hard. Even with the men, how many have landed 5 without a single error?

@nussnacker In general, I agree that layout switching is bad, and she does need to get it consistent. I think they need to make a decision on whether she's doing 5 or 4 soon, and then stick to it the rest of the season.

 

[Dawn825]

Either way I think 1.5 competitions is too soon to determine how she will skate the rest of the season.
But its worth noting, tho judging across competitions is unreliable, that Trusova here at her worst got nearly the same score as Alysa at Lombardia at close to her best. Alysa skated two clean programs with a triple axel, tons of emotion and beautiful choreography. Trusova had 2 falls, a pop, 3 underroatations, and is never an emotional or beautiful performer. They still got nearly the same scores. Rusfed knows that a Trusova with slightly fewer mistakes would still be a lock for the Olympic podium. There's no way they dont send her.

 

[starlight97]

As I and others said after the test skates:
Trusova's performances in training, practice or said test skates mean next to nothing regarding her showing in the actual competition. She is and has always been physically able to do these programs, she is and has always been a head case that tends to fail in competition settings.

I don't consider this showing a disaster by her standards, it is pretty much a "normal" Sasha skate. If this had been Anna it would strike me as a complete meltdown. We've gotten to watch these girls over many years now and there are clear patterns.

Alena being extremely emotional and anxious when things don't work, Anna coming through by sheer willpower in spite of physical deficiencies, Sasha being an absolutely exquisite athlete but a poor competitor...

Let's see if they surprise us as the season progresses. What really matters is the GPF and most of all Russian Nationals.

 

[icybear]

Team Tut really need a sport psychologist if they want a clean sweep at the olympics. The only thing stopping Alexandra from winning is her competitive mentality. She landed 5 quads practice in here and also at Worlds but crumbled at the sight of judges. And Alena most definetely need one to get her confidence back. Kamila had mentality issues in her first junior year but it looks like she's overcome them. However after her messy test skate recently, I would be concerned if she can be consistent this year too. The only one I'm not concerned about is Anna. Despite her petite seemingly weak appearance, she has the strongest mentality of the bunch. And everyone used to think she would be the easiest to crumble. Just shows how appearance can be so decieving

 

[Jeanie19]

I just looked at the medalists at Russian Nationals from 2009 onwards, only one year were the medalists all senior eligible, 2016.
If Sofia A skates lights out, she's on the podium.

 

[Scott512]

It's not a Grand Prix event.

Sasha went for visa reasons and to practice her program in front of international judges before the grand prix and other competitions.

Thanks.

I hope this didn't damage Sasha's already fragile confidence. Let's see what happens from here and if they tweak anything by Nationals because she cannot afford a performance like that at Nationals.

 

[Scott512]

Team Tut really need a sport psychologist if they want a clean sweep at the olympics. The only thing stopping Alexandra from winning is her competitive mentality. She landed 5 quads practice in here and also at Worlds but crumbled at the sight of judges. And Alena most definetely need one to get her confidence back. Kamila had mentality issues in her first junior year but it looks like she's overcome them. However after her messy test skate recently, I would be concerned if she can be consistent this year too. The only one I'm not concerned about is Anna. Despite hi9er petite seemingly weak appearance, she has the strongest mentality of the bunch. And everyone used to think she would be the easiest to crumble. Just shows how appearance can be so decieving

I agree Icy.

But the parents have to be involved with this as well because so many miners are involved.

Right now I believe Sasha AK and Anna have fragile confidence. I include Anna with that because she does not have her quads and she isn't going to win the Olympics without her quads the way she did worlds.

 

[Dawn825]

Idk if this was already posted but DG's interview on the free programs:

- YouTube

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youtu.be

Intersting to hear what they were going for with Sasha, with vogue/modelesque/high fashion poses - unfortunately I only got that impression from like 2 moves that she did, I wish they had included way more.

 

[Imagine]

I feel bad for Trusova. She would have been better off at the other place. Say what you will about that other coach, but I felt that her artistry developed tremendously last year. Now she gets handed this dime in a dozen, generic program for her Olympic coronation season, which is basically unwatchable minus the quads. If this wasn’t happening to other Eteri students as well, I would have thought that it was a deliberate act of sabotage to get back at her for trying to leave. I get that they value “loyalty,” or w/e, but Eteri, c’mon. He Is Not The One.

 

[Skatesocs]

Now she gets handed this dime in a dozen, generic program for her Olympic coronation season, which is basically unwatchable minus the quads.

But the point of the program is to get her to land those jumps. If she still can't land the jumps with this watered down program, how can she do so with something more detailed?

And I do disagree. Yes, Eteri's programs are usually overstuffed while still managing to be generic. But this at least showcases her speed, glide, explosiveness (when she's actually on), and the song manages to work with her natural movement quality. It won't have the layered impact that GoT program might have had if she'd ever done it well, but it's still not the disjointed R&J from last season.

 

[Lechat]

Honestly it’s a do or die with Sasha. Jackpot if she lands all her jumps but if she fails, it could be another Rostelecom failure.