2024-25 German Figure Skating

[TarAncalime]

Alas geoblocked, but try to watch it via VPN. The film material is 2 years old by now. I have seen some of the camera shooting taking place in Dortmund......Anna Gerke will do her thing, even when at her first Junior Worlds she messed it up a bit.

 

[ladyjane]

I have just read that Darya Grimm and Michail Savitsky, the most succesfull German junior ID team ever, have split. How sad. They both posted on Insta, while the German magazine Pirouette sent an e-mail to subscribers.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

I'll come back later to do some maintenance here (it's needed...), life has been getting in the way, very sorry for that.

Yes, unfortunately, Darya and Michail have split.

If you don't want to feel like you are stuck in a bad soap opera, I advise you to stay away from Twitter, because there is some fighting going on over there. Why it is always Ice Dancers being messy publicly, I do not know, I guess it comes with the theatricality of the sport.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

I'll come back later to do some maintenance here (it's needed...), life has been getting in the way, very sorry for that.

Yes, unfortunately, Darya and Michail have split.

If you don't want to feel like you are stuck in a bad soap opera, I advise you to stay away from Twitter, because there is some fighting going on over there. Why it is always Ice Dancers being messy publicly, I do not know, I guess it comes with the theatricality of the sport.

Social media discourse is already trying to make him out to be the bad guy. Many are jumping to the conclusion that he mentioned her marriage out of spite. Which doesn't seem fair.

I know that gender imbalance in the sport has caused some bad situations for some female skaters, but that doesn't mean that it applies to all situations.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Social media discourse is already trying to make him out to be the bad guy, automatically jumping to the conclusion that he mentioned her marriage out of spite. Which doesn't seem fair.

I know that gender imbalance in the sport has caused some bad situations for some female skaters, but that doesn't mean that it applies to all situations.

It wasn't a very nice or professional move on his part, but we also don't know how the partnership actually came to an end. If her new romantic relationship had a significant impact, I can't really blame him for being petty about it. Maybe he could have worded it differently (" I want to sincerely wish Darya all the best as she begins this new chapter in her professional and private life" instead of specifically her marriage?), but he also just still seems very hurt and angry. From Darya immediately reacting defensively (even writing that he is trying to make her look bad), it clearly was an actual point of contention for them.

I just really wish Darya and Lara would take this offline instead of publicly feuding, because it just makes everyone involved in this partnership look bad. Honestly, it's giving "There were there of us in the marriage", except it's 4+ and not a marriage, just an Ice Dance partnership. They're still young now, 18 to 23, they'll look back at this in a few years and cringe in embarrassment (and I am again acting like I'm so much older than them... I guess I feel like I am, that counts for something, right?).

 

[throw_triple_flip]

It wasn't a very nice or professional move on his part, but we also don't know how the partnership actually came to an end. If her new romantic relationship had a significant impact, I can't really blame him for being petty about it. Maybe he could have worded it differently (" I want to sincerely wish Darya all the best as she begins this new chapter in her professional and private life" instead of specifically her marriage?), but he also just still seems very hurt and angry.

I just really wish Darya and Lara would take this offline instead of publicly feuding, because it just makes everyone involved in this partnership look bad. Honestly, it's giving "There were there of us in the marriage", except it's 4+ and not a marriage, just an Ice Dance partnership. They're still young now, 18 to 23, they'll look back at this in a few years and cringe in embarrassment (and I am again acting like I'm so much older than them... I guess I feel like I am, that counts for something, right?).

Maybe he didn't put that much thought into it or didn't know he wasn't meant to talk about it? I don't think any of the married people I know would've been that bothered if someone else had mentioned it on social media first. But as you say, we dont know what happened so who knows? Perhaps they'll be cringeing in just a few days..

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Maybe he didn't put that much thought into it or didn't know he wasn't meant to talk about it? I don't think any of the married people I know would've been that bothered if someone else had mentioned it on social media first.

Also true, I feel like there were a number of splits that announced the other partner's retirements and/or personal developments, and certainly some congratulatory posts that came before the announcement of a marriage.

And let's not forget how many marriages were dug out by journalists (and "journalists") and how people were all over the "Green card (teen) marriage scandal" earlier this season. Nobody respected Davis/Smolkin's privacy either, despite their marriage having nothing to do with their career, as it turned out in the end.

 

[ladyjane]

I am just sad, and didn't think about good or bad guys in any case. I saw the remark about her marriage just as a thing which might have changed perspectives on her side, not good or bad at all. Come on, things happen in personal lives, whether there's a marriage, a divorce or otherwise. These things can have impact on a lot of things, not making anyone bad or good. Twitter is made for ranters anyway.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Maybe he didn't put that much thought into it or didn't know he wasn't meant to talk about it? I don't think any of the married people I know would've been that bothered if someone else had mentioned it on social media first. But as you say, we dont know what happened so who knows? Perhaps they'll be cringeing in just a few days..

Savitskiy posted an apology stating that he wasn't aware that Darya getting married was not publicly known, and he intended no harm by mentioning it.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Before this season turns into the next (and I open a new thread), let's have a small look back at this season:

110 German skaters/pairs/ice dance teams competed internationally or at Nationals in the Advanced Novice (36), Junior (55) and Senior (19) categories. Of the 267 international appearances, 24 resulted in a gold medal, 16 in a silver medal, and 20 in a bronze medal.
The total medal spread across age categories was pretty even - 21 for the Advanced Novices, 19 for the Juniors and 20 for the Seniors - even if the exact number of each medal colour might not have been. The men won 12 international medals, the women 19, the pairs 11 (impressive for only 9 actively competing pairs) and the ice dancers 18.
Of course, not all international competitions weigh the same - 3 medals were won at ISU (Jr) Championships (one of each colour), 6 on the (Jr) Grand Prix circuit (including the final) and 3 at Challengers, while the rest were won at Jr/Sr Bs.

As the German skating federation is actively working on the development of the 3A among the German boys and triple-triples among the German girls, I thought this might be interesting to look at, too.
38 3As (solo or in combination) were landed by German men this season, 11 of those with positive GOE (9 of them by Genrikh alone ), while the German women landed 21 triple-triples (overwhelmingly 3T+3Ts), 14 of them with positive GOE. With a few new Juniors moving up, let's see how this develops in the next few seasons.

Germany also achieved three Olympic quotas at Worlds this season, two for the German pairs and one for the ice dancers. Nikita, unfortunately, narrowly missed the FS cut-off, leaving it up to the Qualifying competition in Beijing to determine if Germany will have Olympic quotas in three of the disciplines and thus be able to compete in the team event.

And, as it was his 23rd birthday two days ago (also Happy belated birthday to Minerva, who turned 26 five days ago ), let's again celebrate that Nikita was also finally able to obtain German citizenship on the 23rd of December:

 

[Jumping_Bean]

This season was also the season of many firsts and big successes for German skating:

• Genrikh Gartung became the first German skater to land a 4Lz, and a 4F, as well as the first ever Junior skater to land a clean 4Lz+3T. He also became the first German skater to successfully compete a two-quad program.
• Genrikh's SB/PB of 218.94 is the highest ISU score by any German man since Paul Fentz at 2019/20 Euros, and his bronze medal at JGP Ljubljana Cup is the first JGP medal for a German singles skater since Philipp Fischerdorf's JGP bronze medal in 2005. His 7th-place finish at Jr Worlds is also the highest placement for a German singles skater since the introduction of the IJS.
• Anna Gerke's 6th-place finish at JGP Riga Cup is the highest JGP placement for a German woman since Lea Johanna Dastrich's 6th-place JGP finish in 2017.
• Michelangelo Caprano became the first German Advanced Novice man to land a 3A in competition (albeit with negative GOE).
• Darya Grimm / Michail Savitskiy were already the most successful German (Junior) Ice Dance pairing, but added to the distance by winning a second medal at Junior Worlds and the JGPF.
• Minerva Fabienne Hase / Nikita Volodin became the first German silver World medalists since Savchenko / Massot in 2016/17 (they won the following year ), as well as becoming the first European Champions since Savchenko / Szolkowy in 2010/11. They are also the first German multiple-time GPF champions since Savchenko / Szolkowy (2010/11, 2011/12 and 2013/14).

 

[Jumping_Bean]

Unfortunately, this season was also not without goodbyes:

• Tassilo Thierbach passed away at the age of 68
  • Tassilo represented East Germany in pairs skating. With his partner Sabine Baeß, he won 5 World Championship medals (including a gold in 1982) and 4 European championship medals (including two golds in 1982 and 1983), as well as placing 6th and 4th at their two Olympic Games appearances. Thierbach/Baeß were the first team to successfully perform a 3TTh. From 2008 onwards, he worked as a figure skating coach with Ingo Steuer in Chemnitz.
• Kristina Isaev retired
  • Due to financial and medical reasons, Kristina retired after two German Championship titles, and two European & World Championships appearances each. Kristina will be staying part of the figure skating world as a children's coach in Dortmund. Good luck to her on her new path.
• Lara Luft has found a new partner and has had to say goodbye to Germany
  • She is now training in New York and will represent Hungary from next season on. However, she is not turning her back on Germany completely, as she and her partner will make their debut at the Nebelhorn Trophy.
• Darya Grimm / Michail Savitskiy have split
  • After 6 seasons together, in which they won 4 Junior National titles, 6 JGP medals, 2 JGPF and 2 Junior Worlds medals, Darya and Michail have parted ways before what was supposed to be their first Senior season. Darya got married to fellow Ice Dancer Grigorii Rodin (whom she met at the Bavarian Open in 2020 - Ironically her first international Ice Dance competition, and his last so far), and will be staying in Egna Neumarkt at the Young Goose Academy. Michail is also looking to continue his career as an Ice Dancer - With whom and under which coaches is still yet to be determined. Good luck to both of them.
• Other splits include pairs skaters Aliyah Ackermann / Tobija Harms (both looking for new partners) and Katalin Janne Salatzki / Lukas Röseler (he's looking for a new partner), as well as ice dance team Mia Lee Mayer / Tudor Dominic Andrei (she is looking for a partner, while he has found a new one already and will be skating for France in the future). May everyone who is searching find a suitable new partner soon.