2024-25 German Figure Skating

[lariko]

Afaim concerned, when the French fed is picking up Ovsiankina to pair her with Maximilien Rahier, I'm not feeling a sense of getting spoliated that a skater fully raised by the French system might get shafted. Got an opportunity, picked it up. Even before that, Pavel Kovalev - worked out pretty well so far

So I'd blame the inherent system of the figure skating more than the federations themselves.

No it isn't. The athletes are not indentured servants to be locked to the place of their birth. Nobody is. Everyone has the right to move in search of career opportunities, not just people born in certain countries. They abided by all the rules. Period.

 

[lilimum]

No it isn't. The athletes are not indentured servants to be locked to the place of their birth. Nobody is. Everyone has the right to move in search of career opportunities, not just people born in certain countries. They abided by all the rules. Period.

It is not against the skater of course everybody should have the right to follow his dreams.t But I think it should be the task of a tax financed sports fed develop the sport in the country instead if importing skaters who had the chance to grow under much better conditions.

 

[text_skate]

Today rbb24 published an interview with Hase / Volodin: "People now expect a lot more from us"

Interview | Berliner Eiskunstlauf-Paar: Hase/Volodin: "Die Leute erwarten jetzt viel mehr von uns"

Die Berliner Eiskunstläufer Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin sind mit einem Ausrufezeichen in ihre zweite gemeinsame Saison gestartet. Im Interview sprechen die beiden über ihr neues Programm, große Ziele und einen Einbürgerungstest.

www.rbb24.de

My favourite parts

Ms. Hase, Mr. Volodin, you've had a perfect start to the new season: you won the Nebelhorn Trophy with a new personal best score. Would you have expected that after the long summer?
Minerva Hase: No. We knew that we were well prepared and did everything possible from training. But we were delighted that we were actually able to pull it off. Especially because we also beat the Canadian world champion pair Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps.

Where does the strong early form come from?
Minerva Hase: We had a longer preparation period this year and met much earlier. This gave us two to three months to build up step by step. We're also now skating together for the second season. That naturally improves the way we work together.

You have rehearsed two new programs during this time. How are they actually developed?
Minerva Hase: The team does it together. So we as skaters together with the choreographers [= Paul Boll, Mark Pillay]. We have a Canadian and a German choreographer who have worked with us on both programs. Our coaches then help to determine the order of the elements. They look at which elements are more difficult and therefore belong at the beginning and which are easier and therefore come at the end.

The result is a choreography to Vivaldi's “Four Seasons”. What makes it special?
Nikita Volodin: It's classical and has a lot of ballet elements, which suits me very well. I had a lot of ballet training and the arm movements are therefore very natural for me. For Minerva, it's the first time she's skated to such classical music. But I think it suits her very well.

Minerva Hase: It's a beautiful classic, of course. But it was important for us to reinterpret it and show that you can give classics a modern twist and that it doesn't always have to be just violin music. We found a few beautiful pieces that are a bit more dramatic than Vivaldi's original.

What is the big goal for this season?
Minerva Hase: At the World Championships in March, we'll be competing for the Olympic quota places for Germany. Together with the other German pair, the big goal is to get these starting places. That's the main focus this season. The podium places are very nice and a good add-on. But the quota places are the most important thing.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

A short note appeared in the latest Pirouette that Kristina Isaev is training in Dortmund with Martina Dieck. Previously, it was reported she is with Angelina Turenko.

In other news, there is a new ZDF movie about Katarina Witt and Jutta Müller.

KATI - Eine Kür, die bleibt

Katarina Witt ist die erfolgreichste Eiskunstläuferin aller Zeiten. 1992 ist sie Hollywoods Star auf dem Eis. Warum will sie 1993 trotzdem zu Olympia?

www.zdf.de

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

I saw Hugo Willi Herrmann today at Ice Challenge in Graz. The combo in the SP was only 3Lz-2T but the basic skating and levels were quite good. He also delighted the audience with a one-handed cartwheel and his trademark split. Hugo is currently in second place, but not even a point behind first. Good luck in the free!

 

[text_skate]

A couple of days ago German public broadcaster ARD published a podcast with Minerva Fabienne Hase

Eiskunstläuferin Minerva Hase - "Ich war eine kleine Zicke"

Mit Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin hat Deutschland wieder ein Top-Paar im Eiskunstlauf. Im WIntersport-Podcast der Sportschau spricht Hase über die schwierige Suche nach einem Partner und Volodins russische Herkunft.

www.sportschau.de

There is a short summary of the appr. 30 min podcast, autotranslate works well.

Rabbit aka Hase: "I was a big bitch sometimes"​

Before Hase and Volodin found each other, the Berliner ran with Nolan Seegert. In the sports show podcast, she remembers the beginnings: "He had to endure a lot. I was a little bitch. Sometimes a big one"said Hase about her partner, who was eight years older. In the beginning, as a teenager, she had a hard time getting one "Customize boys, look him in the eye and then tell a love story on the ice".

Plus there was a pre-comp report, autotranslate is OK

Eiskunstlaufen: Minerva Hase verspricht "Spektakel" beim Grand-Prix-Finale

Für das Berliner Eiskunstlaufpaar Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin steht mit dem Grand-Prix-Finale der erste große Saisonhöhepunkt bevor. Die beiden sind Titelverteidiger, gehören fest zur Weltspitze und haben große Ziele.

www.sportschau.de

Most important bit about Nikita:

He is busy learning German. Depending on how it works next to the competitions, he has lessons two to three times a week. There are also homework and textbooks, so he definitely has a good job. We try to reconcile this with the training as best as possible. He has already reached a very good level and would like to start preparing for the exam soon.

Post comp. reports aren't in yet, just a news agency piece with the facts
Around midday today ARD aired their FS for all winter sports enthusiasts
Figure skating usually has not a lot of air time. So this is good

 

[Weathergal]

A couple of days ago German public broadcaster ARD published a podcast with Minerva Fabienne Hase

Eiskunstläuferin Minerva Hase - "Ich war eine kleine Zicke"

Mit Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin hat Deutschland wieder ein Top-Paar im Eiskunstlauf. Im WIntersport-Podcast der Sportschau spricht Hase über die schwierige Suche nach einem Partner und Volodins russische Herkunft.

www.sportschau.de

There is a short summary of the appr. 30 min podcast, autotranslate works well.

Plus there was a pre-comp report, autotranslate is OK

Eiskunstlaufen: Minerva Hase verspricht "Spektakel" beim Grand-Prix-Finale

Für das Berliner Eiskunstlaufpaar Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin steht mit dem Grand-Prix-Finale der erste große Saisonhöhepunkt bevor. Die beiden sind Titelverteidiger, gehören fest zur Weltspitze und haben große Ziele.

www.sportschau.de

Most important bit about Nikita:


Post comp. reports aren't in yet, just a news agency piece with the facts
Around midday today ARD aired their FS for all winter sports enthusiasts
Figure skating usually has not a lot of air time. So this is good

Interesting - thanks for sharing this!

 

[labgoat]

2024-25 German Nationals - 16-21 December 2024
Oberstdorf, Germany - | Entries/Results | Streams
List of potential entrants – awaiting official entries list to verify before listing in Other Nationals thread

 

[lariko]

2024-25 German Nationals - 16-21 December 2024
Oberstdorf, Germany - | Entries/Results | Streams
List of potential entrants – awaiting official entries list to verify before listing in Other Nationals thread

Thank you. I am curious to see the current junior eligibles because this year was really cool with the new entries in JGP.

 

[labgoat]

Thank you. I am curious to see the current junior eligibles because this year was really cool with the new entries in JGP.

I bet you loved Genrikh Gartung

 

[lariko]

I bet you loved Genrikh Gartung

Actually, was more impressed by Annika, as much as I root for Gartung, and I hear there is another pre-junior woman with awesome results so far. I will be super-happy to root for Team Germany.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

For anyone who hasn't seen it, @CrazyKittenLady has kindly taken it upon herself to start a thread for German Nationals over in the Nationals forum:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2024-25-german-nationals.99802/#post-3368625

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

 

[norwegianfairytale]

View attachment 8807

Havn´t you heard? Iceland just drifted away and melted together with Germany Germany wanted them to feel welcome and decided to give them Bavarian Open in Reykjavik, Germany

 

[FlossieH]

I know that the site isn't always reliable, but it sounds from this interview that Hase and Volodin are expecting to compete at the Olympics: https://fs-gossips.com/13391/?fbcli...VwUgBxsqsP4okxhx5Q_aem_BmqQ4YWLsJk65XN0ZTniTQ Does he have citizenship already? I makes no mention of needing to get citizenship. Or is there just an assumption he will be able to get it in time?

 

[DemTuppesSeine]

I know that the site isn't always reliable, but it sounds from this interview that Hase and Volodin are expecting to compete at the Olympics: https://fs-gossips.com/13391/?fbcli...VwUgBxsqsP4okxhx5Q_aem_BmqQ4YWLsJk65XN0ZTniTQ Does he have citizenship already? I makes no mention of needing to get citizenship. Or is there just an assumption he will be able to get it in time?

He doesn't have it yet but they are optimistic that he will have it by December. His language test is in May.

 

[text_skate]

In March rbb, the regional broadcaster in Berlin/Brandenburg, made an effort in reporting on German figure skating (I also posted on FSU, I hope it's ok to share here, too)

There was an interview with Jens ter Laak, the director of the national training centre (Bundesstützpunkt) in Berlin
excerpts:

Berlin is one of the oldest locations for this sport in the whole of Europe. There were ice rinks and covered ice rinks even in imperial times. The first European figure skating champion was also a Berliner: Oskar Uhlig. Because of this long tradition and the good infrastructure that came with it, Berlin was predestined for the further development of this sport. It also developed well during the division of the country, both in the West and in the East.

We are currently experiencing that the infrastructure is crumbling, such as the Erika Heß ice stadium, which is once again closed and has already hosted many championships. The ice rinks that we now use as a national training centre are also in need of renovation. If you want to secure the sport in the long term, you have to bring the ice rinks up to a new standard. We simply don't have the money to modernise the infrastructure. We are waiting for the construction of an athletics hall, which we have been promised for several years on the site of the sports centre. And ice rinks are of course also expensive in terms of energy. Our sport is simply a cost-intensive story.

Source:

https://www.rbb24.de/sport/beitrag/...eiskunstlauf-bundesstuetzpunkt-berlin-de.html

Interview with Knut Schubert, coach of Hase/Volodin in Berlin

https://www.rbb24.de/sport/beitrag/...e-nikita-volodin-knut-schubert-interview.html

As soon as Minerva and Nikita are here in Berlin, I'm responsible for them. That includes training and also health matters, if anything arises. In the immediate preparation for the competition, I then try to get them mentally prepared so that they are strong and confident when they travel to the competition venues. Dima, on the other hand, sets the guidelines for what needs to happen in training. And I make sure that they do it properly and intervene if there are any minor problems, which are completely normal in the training process.

Interview with Hocke/Kunkel

https://www.rbb24.de/sport/beitrag/...schaft-2025-boston-olympia-qualifikation.html

Allgäuer Zeitung

https://www.allgaeuer-zeitung.de/al...nzer-kaempfen-um-olympia-startplatz-107370884

Ice dancers Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan (EC Oberstdorf) have had to change their training location in recent weeks. As the national training centre in Oberstdorf is closed from the end of February to the beginning of June due to lengthy construction work, the four-time German champions and European Championship runners-up in 2025 are currently training in Chemnitz.

In his old home in Saxony, training is something special for Benjamin Steffan and gives him extra motivation. ‘The familiar surroundings help us to concentrate fully on our stability and consistency in order to be as well prepared as possible,’ says Jennifer Janse van Rensburg. ‘Our clear goal for the World Championships is to deliver our training performance to the letter and get through cleanly. We want to secure the Olympic quota spot for Germany.’ Among the 20 ice dance couples who qualify for the World Championship FD, 19 Olympic quota starting places will be awarded.

 

[paulusfr]

Minerva told DEU about their plans:

On Monday, we’ll fly to Toronto for four to five days and start building our new short program with Mark Pillay and Paul Boll. The music will be composed by a French composer. After that, we’ll have two weeks of training in Berlin, where we’ll work on new lifts, spins, and elements. Then we won’t train together for three to four weeks — Nikita will fly home for vacation, and I will too. We’ll also be breaking in our new skates during that time. At the end of May or the beginning of June, we’ll fully resume training and start working on our new free skate. For the free skate, we’ll collaborate with the world-renowned choreographer Benoît Richaud. He’s an expert in the free skate style we want for the Olympic season. With these two programs, we’ll have a strong combination and be well-prepared for the Olympics.

Source: https://eislauf-union.de/de/media1/...unsere-wm-silbermedaille-ist-ein-stück-golden

Volodin mentioned in another interview that in the short program, "we’ll be focusing on expressing emotions — like in this year's short program".

 

[FlossieH]

Thought it makes to copy here a part of my post in the post-Worlds pairs thread, which is related to Hase/Volodin plans.



Source: https://eislauf-union.de/de/media1/...unsere-wm-silbermedaille-ist-ein-stück-golden

Volodin mentioned in another interview that in the short program, "we’ll be focusing on expressing emotions — like in this year's short program".

I hope they aren't making a mistake there. I'm struggling to see them with a really contemporary programme. I can understand them wanting a programme which will stand out from others for the Olympic season, but they also need to play to their strengths.

 

[Sabsi]

Sorry if someone already posted this, but there’s a German documentary called *Die Eiskinder* that follows Anna Gerke and Julia Grabowski on their journey to the German elite. Highlighting the difficult training situation in Germany, Annika & Robert are also featured in Bergamo with interviews.