2022-23 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[LiamForeman]

2019 nationals? No Konstantinova was 4th in the SP, 5th in the FS and 4th overall.
2019 nationals

I won't go back and review. Maybe it was Med way down low. My point was that the QUALITY of skating, which we seem to be crying for, was NOT being recognised. I was all 3A, but had a soft spot for Gubanova, so my memory is not 100%. And yes, she always seemed to mess up a 2axel or ur a 3/3, but when it comes to actual performance and impact, she was light years ahead of Taru, Samodu and Kon. People on here always say "It's not all about jumps" yet they come on here and justify Samodu who was ONLY about landing her very small jumps consistently with her "arm/handography" lol. Where is the consistency in these posters?

 

[Amei]

I won't go back and review. Maybe it was Med way down low. My point was that the QUALITY of skating, which we seem to be crying for, was NOT being recognised. I was all 3A, but had a soft spot for Gubanova, so my memory is not 100%. And yes, she always seemed to mess up a 2axel or ur a 3/3, but when it comes to actual performance and impact, she was light years ahead of Taru, Samodu and Kon. People on here always say "It's not all about jumps" yet they come on here and justify Samodu who was ONLY about landing her very small jumps consistently with her "arm/handography" lol. Where is the consistency in these posters?

Samodurova that year was a great performer though, her burlesque FS was a fun program and at least for me made me not care about her tiny jumps.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

2019 nationals? No Konstantinova was 4th in the SP, 5th in the FS and 4th overall.
2019 nationals

No, 2018 Jr Nationals. When Stasya beat Nastya by just 0.35 points and was sent to both Sr and Jr Worlds in the same season. Pretty sure she is still the only Russian skater so far who has had that privilege.

Now, am I going to say either one clearly deserved to go above the other based on their previous season's results? No. But with this little of a gap in scores, and Konstantinova outscoring Gubanova in PCS even with a big mistake in the SP, I do not blame people at all for finding the results of the competition, and thus the Jr Worlds selection, controversial. Nor do I think there's anything reprehensible in wondering how her career might have been different if she had been sent to Jr Worlds instead of Stasya. A medal was a possibility for Nastya if she had a good competition, and who knows how that medal would have affected her confidence, scoring and the federation's backing for her career. All her results after this could have been completely different from what they ended up being.

She likely wouldn't have been able to so easily switch federations to Georgia, so it probably was a blessing in disguise for Nastya in hindsight. I guess all things happen for a reason.

 

[LiamForeman]

I was at 2006 Nationals and saw Stephanie Roth's fun Rock It program and gave her a standing O. I'm not trying to justify nearly 20 years later why she didn't make Worlds or even 4Cs. Fun skating does not equal top assignments and scores, but that is just my opinion.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-2J_d9XksU

Samodurova that year was a great performer though, her burlesque FS was a fun program and at least for me made me not care about her tiny jumps.

 

[Skatelife]

1 Kanal's Programs Show promo:

I don't understand a Russian word, but I always engaged with the channel 1 promos they know how to sell

 

[Amei]

I don't understand a Russian word, but I always engaged with the channel 1 promos they know how to sell

We have low standards because the ISU and US media does nothing but this promo video was a bit lacking for me, maybe if I spoke Russian it would be different but I wish that they had cut in shots of some of the skaters

 

[Jontor]

2019 nationals? No Konstantinova was 4th in the SP, 5th in the FS and 4th overall.
2019 nationals

And here are the results if we just look at the tech scores (including deductions for falls). They really held up a few with PCS.

1. Trusova 132.01 (1 Fall)
2. Shcherbakova 131.63
3. Kostornaia 120.47 (1 Fall)
4. Tarusina 109.13
5. Vasilieva 109.01
6. Samodurova 108.67
7. Konstantinova 107.15
8. Gulyakova 106.72
9. Gubanova 106.28 (1 Fall)
10. Tarakanova 105.90
11. Zagitova 101.65 (2 Falls)
12. Leonova 96.72
13. Medvedeva 95.70 (2 Falls)
14. Talalaykina 92.80
15. Tsurskaya 89.13 (1 Fall)
16. Panenkova 83.25
17. Nugumanova 82.94
18. Sotskova 82.13 (1 Fall)

And of course, you can also hold skaters up with generous GOEs and uncalled < and edges.

For sure, RusFed really had a BIG problem this year. Both their superstars bombed big time. Zagitova was moved up to 5th (understandable), and Medvedeva to 7th (not understandable).

Shcherbakova won on PCS, no surprise there, and the 3A were clearly in a class of their own.

I can understand why Tarusina gave up and quit after this season.

 

[yume]

And here are the results if we just look at the tech scores. They really held up a few with PCS.

1. Trusova 132.01 (1 Fall)
2. Shcherbakova 131.63
3. Kostornaia 120.47 (1 Fall)
4. Tarusina 109.13
5. Vasilieva 109.01
6. Samodurova 108.67
7. Konstantinova 107.15
8. Gulyakova 106.72
9. Gubanova 106.28 (1 Fall)
10. Tarakanova 105.90
11. Zagitova 101.65 (2 Falls)
12. Leonova 96.72
13. Medvedeva 95.70 (2 Falls)
14. Talalaykina 92.80
15. Tsurskaya 89.13 (1 Fall)
16. Panenkova 83.25
17. Nugumanova 82.94
18. Sotskova 82.13 (1 Fall)

And of course, you can also hold skaters up with generous GOEs and uncalled < and edges.

For sure, RusFed really had a BIG problem this year. Both their superstars bombed big time. Zagitova was moved up to 5th (understandable), and Medvedeva to 7th (not understandable).

Shcherbakova won on PCS, no surprise there, and the 3A were clearly in a class of their own.

I can understand why Tarusina gave up and quit after this season.

They did Tarakanova dirty with PCS and GOEs. Her free skate especially deserved much better.

The politicking was insufferable during that season. TAT was working hard to send her two faves (Medvedeva and Konstantinova) to worlds, but i guess she didn't expect Medvedeva to bomb that hard at nats. Judges still tried. I guess she didn't either expect Zagitova loosing euros and giving a gold ticket for worlds to Samo. She was forced to choose between the two and Russian cup final happened where Tuktik got magistrally robbed.

 

[flimflam]

Oh please…stop with that nonsense! Surely you don’t blame the skating federation for the fact that On couldn’t manage to skate one whole competition clean at any nationals she attended. They were prepared to give her the marks, but with having so many skaters who did skate clean, every mistake Gubanova did was pretty costly. Her results from senior nationals were 7th, 6th, 9th, 10th - how could they send her to the Europeans/worlds instead of another skater?

Ok Dude, lets go over this. On October 2016 Gubanova broke Marin Honda's all time junior record from September 2016 at the German JGP. On 9 December 2016 she rebroke her own Junior All time record at the 2016 Grand Prix final. {Zagitova broke this record 10 minutes later} These results established her credentials. Three months later at the Junior Russian National Championship she was in second place behind Alexandra Trusova. In the long program Gubanova skated last. At the climax of the competition Tarasova walked away from the boards. She already knew what was going to happen. The fix was in. Gubanova skated a beautiful clean program with 7 Triples but was overtaken by 11th place Konstantinov who was scored like Carolina Kostner on her finest day. Gubanova was dropped to 4th place and had no chance to go to Junior World and get herself a fat score which would qualify her for a Senior Grand Prix for next year.
The next year at the Golden Spin she scored 199 points which was enough to guarantee her a spot in next years Grand Prix. So when is a guarantee not a guarantee. That's when your Fed does not submit your name for consideration. In the following years she was consistently lowballed because all her coaches had zero clout with the Russian Fed. I have no problem calling the Russian Fed out for doing her dirty during her career. The best thing that ever happened to her is when she picked up that phone call from the Georgian Fed.

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[Jontor]

Ok Dude, lets go over this. On October 2016 Gubanova broke Marin Honda's all time junior record from September 2016 at the German JGP. On 9 December 2016 she rebroke her own Junior All time record at the 2016 Grand Prix final. {Zagitova broke this record 10 minutes later} These results established her credentials. Three months later at the Junior Russian National Championship she was in second place behind Alexandra Trusova. In the long program Gubanova skated last. At the climax of the competition Tarasova walked away from the boards. She already knew what was going to happen. The fix was in. Gubanova skated a beautiful clean program with 7 Triples but was overtaken by 11th place Konstantinov who was scored like Carolina Kostner on her finest day. Gubanova was dropped to 4th place and had no chance to go to Junior World and get herself a fat score which would qualify her for a Senior Grand Prix for next year.
The next year at the Golden Spin she scored 199 points which was enough to guarantee her a spot in next years Grand Prix. So when is a guarantee not a guarantee. That's when your Fed does not submit your name for consideration. In the following years she was consistently lowballed because all her coaches had zero clout with the Russian Fed. I have no problem calling the Russian Fed out for doing her dirty during her career. The best thing that ever happened to her is when she picked up that phone call from the Georgian Fed.

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I think this is kinda funny that this discussion about Gubanova is still on. There are some thruths in there...but the real problem was and still is, that the competition in Russian Women figure skating is one of the most brutal and hard ones of any world sport. It is super tough there, and there are probably a lot of Gubanova's that we didn't even know of...

 

[yume]

Ok Dude, lets go over this. On October 2016 Gubanova broke Marin Honda's all time junior record from September 2016 at the German JGP. On 9 December 2016 she rebroke her own Junior All time record at the 2016 Grand Prix final. {Zagitova broke this record 10 minutes later} These results established her credentials. Three months later at the Junior Russian National Championship she was in second place behind Alexandra Trusova. In the long program Gubanova skated last. At the climax of the competition Tarasova walked away from the boards. She already knew what was going to happen. The fix was in. Gubanova skated a beautiful clean program with 7 Triples but was overtaken by 11th place Konstantinov who was scored like Carolina Kostner on her finest day. Gubanova was dropped to 4th place and had no chance to go to Junior World and get herself a fat score which would qualify her for a Senior Grand Prix for next year.
The next year at the Golden Spin she scored 199 points which was enough to guarantee her a spot in next years Grand Prix. So when is a guarantee not a guarantee. That's when your Fed does not submit your name for consideration. In the following years she was consistently lowballed because all her coaches had zero clout with the Russian Fed. I have no problem calling the Russian Fed out for doing her dirty during her career. The best thing that ever happened to her is when she picked up that phone call from the Georgian Fed.

I think you mixed up the seasons a bit though.
Gubanova was the clear no.2 during her first junior season, in which she beat those records. I even thought she could even beat Zagitova. Until the junior nats where she unexpectedly crumbled and she finished outside top 6. I don't recall if she was injured. That's why she couldn't go to JWC. Konstantinova finished 2nd. Overscored but i think she deserved the podium.

The next season she wasn't age eligible for seniors and stayed in juniors. She struggled during JGP because she had grew a lot. I think she didn't even get a 2nd JGP. But she got better in the 2nd part of the season. That's when Carolina's Kostner level of overscoring happened. Guba should have ended on the podium and sent to JWC. Instead, Konstantinova not only JWC but also Worlds spot because judges found a way to put her above Tsurskaya.

Konstantinova never needed to prove herself earlier in the season to get good scores at senior and juniors nats. She ended 4th twice at seniors nats and twice on the podium at junior nats.

The next season, no GP, just a challenger.

The most unfair imo was giving a GP spot to Sotskova and not Gubanova the next season, while Gubanova was on the SB list and guaranteed a spot. Really a good move getting that Georgian passport.

 

[brakes]

Preview of upcoming show (SPOILERS!):

 

[alexocfp]

What a pleasure and thrill it was to see all those ladies, past and present, together in the same competition.

Thank you for another great season. Even if the season is still not over. Plenty of events the next 2 months.

 

[brakes]

Alina, I respect you and I adore you. I've been rewatching your Olympic and World performances hundred times. I've always been amazed of your ability to be successful in any circumstances: winning greatest prizes in figure skating against all odds, being host of top television show, publicly meeting Japanese prime minister, representing one of the finest cosmetic companies in the world and many other extraordinary situations. Your beauty, good heart and sincerity have always helped you to fit in.


But dearest Alina, you are no Marylin Monroe.

 

[alexocfp]

Alina, I respect you and I adore you. I've been rewatching your Olympic and World performances hundred times. I've always been amazed of your ability to be successful in any circumstances: winning greatest prizes in figure skating against all odds, being host of top television show, publicly meeting Japanese prime minister, representing one of the finest cosmetic companies in the world and many other extraordinary situations. Your beauty, good heart and sincerity have always helped you to fit in.


But dearest Alina, you are no Marylin Monroe.

Of course not.

She is Alina Monrova.

 

[brakes]

Of course not.

She is Alina Monrova.

Have you seen judges faces when she presented her panties in front of them?
Tsiskaridze was like "take this kolkhoznitsa away or I'll throw up!".

 

[Skatelife]

Alina, I respect you and I adore you. I've been rewatching your Olympic and World performances hundred times. I've always been amazed of your ability to be successful in any circumstances: winning greatest prizes in figure skating against all odds, being host of top television show, publicly meeting Japanese prime minister, representing one of the finest cosmetic companies in the world and many other extraordinary situations. Your beauty, good heart and sincerity have always helped you to fit in.


But dearest Alina, you are no Marylin Monroe.

It's not an Olympic winner program but Alina is in a position to do whatever she wants. Obviously she was having fun.

 

[brakes]

It's not an Olympic winner program but Alina is in a position to do whatever she wants. Obviously she was having fun.

Maybe in the beginning, but in the end, when she saw judges faces she wasn't. You could see her toned down mood in the K&C.
She is sensitive enough to understand the experiment failed.

She has all the femininity and adorableness in the world, but it's not Marylin Monroe's type/level of femininity. At all.

 

[SunnyCA]

Have you seen judges faces when she presented her panties in front of them?
Tsiskaridze was like "take this kolkhoznitsa away or I'll throw up!".

The judges were the biggest faceplant of that show. They looked bored and completely out of place and clearly did not know much about figure skating. The skaters actually produced several great programs but the judging and the MC were inferior in quality.

As for Alina's program, you did not like it - whatever. She still produced one of the most memorable performances of that night. I thought the choreo needed more work, but after rewatching it I realized that Alina actually produced a pretty good skate, yet again. She was fresh, sparkling and engaging as usual.

Other memorable programs were by Makar, Aliev, Kamila, Vetlugin (really fun one), Evgenia (just because it was so embarrassing), Yagudin, the young dance team, and the soccer one by the pair skaters. The rest of the field played it safe and sometimes that looked pretty boring.

 

[Amei]

The judges were the biggest faceplant of that show. They looked bored and completely out of place and clearly did not know much about figure skating. The skaters actually produced several great programs but the judging and the MC were inferior in quality.


Other memorable programs were by Makar, Aliev, Kamila, Vetlugin (really fun one), Evgenia (just because it was so embarrassing), Yagudin, the young dance team, and the soccer one by the pair skaters. The rest of the field played it safe and sometimes that looked pretty boring.

It was interesting having judges that aren't 'traditional' figure skating judges, but it really does leave the final results to be a personal preference on taste. But I think if they continue the 'competition' next year that a good idea would be to split the competition into categories - not by traditional disciplines but by type of programs. Like Shcherbakova's program was a fabulous performance but how do you really compare 'judging' it vs. something like Valieva or Mishina/Galliamov did. Maybe have a category or maybe just an award for overall best utilization of props. The Fed/Channel One (not sure who) had a great idea, but there's probably a few tweaks that can be done to improve it.