2024-25 Russian Grand Prix - Stage 1 - Magnitogorsk

[AlexBreeze]

Yes, Zhenya had illness. That explains a lot.

 

[yume]

I think this is the pair that will end without a medal.

 

[elektra blue]

not the skate they wanted, but beautiful music

 

[elektra blue]

there's nothing better in the early afternoon than a fake armour

 

[elektra blue]

he's Leonidas she's the cloak? more skaters should pick 300 soundtrack btw

 

[EdgeCall]

Hm, looked a bit uninspired. They don't really know what to do with the music.

 

[elektra blue]

Hm, looked a bit uninspired. They don't really know what to do with the music.

easy win for Xerxes armies

 

[elektra blue]

my flying fox
----------
Caruso noooooooooo

 

[EdgeCall]

Your fox flies just fine!

 

[Cherub721]

O/G were awesome! M/E need to be on point to earn this win.

 

[katymay]

O/G were awesome! M/E need to be on point to earn this win.

Best I've seen them in a while.

 

[Cherub721]

I've just noticed Blinnikova in the start list with Kadyrov... I didn't realize she changed partners... aren't these last year's programs?! Or am I losing my mind.
Edit: Oh, it says Karpov. So that's the same guy as last year lol.

 

[elektra blue]

Tarasova bonsai!

 

[niks]

Ok, so I just need to get this off my chest

The FS left me with really mixed feelings, specially because I have the feeling that what we saw today is probably representative of what is going on across the whole Russian Men field

Clearly, there is a big increase in tech difficulty across the field, specially at the top skaters but also at the middle. Before, Russian Men have mostly struggle / being inconsistent with the most difficult jumps and this has weighed them down, so it's great if they can stabilize their jumps. But one thing is having a couple of consistent quads that you can rely on to stay competitive tech-wise, and another is to enter into the well-known mad quad race. Because I'm quite afraid that, as strange as this can be, this is a race to the bottom.

Today we saw that many Russian Men can now land multiple quads (lost the count of how many Mark landed tbh), which is an accomplishment in itself so kudos to them. But this is accomplished at huge energy costs and at the expense of everything else. Non-jumping elements suffer, and most tragically, the performance side bears the whole impact of the blow. There is no joy, no passion, no expression, no feelings left in the skate.

This marked me most strongly today with Zhenya and Mark, not to single them out because there were others and it's not personal, I mention them because I know what they are capable of in terms of connecting with the program and so the contrast was most vivid. Damn, Mark came back to life the second he finished the program And that is also why I was so glad to see Roman, who with a much simpler but still very decent tech content, was able to deliver an actual performance, and share emotions through his skating.

I'm sorry for the long post but I feel very strongly about this. Russian skating was never (at least to me of course) about jumping or quads or whatever, it is about beauty and feelings. I hope with all my heart that Russian Men do not get drowned into the quad race, and lose their individuality and very unique and special qualities. They are way too good for that

 

[AlexBreeze]

This is a dissapointing mistake. I thought they would win.

 

[elektra blue]

the last lift killed me...and i think Osokina/Gritsayenko won

 

[Cherub721]

No, a mistake at the end. Shoot. It was beautiful til then.

 

[Cherub721]

Ok, so I just need to get this off my chest

The FS left me with really mixed feelings, specially because I have the feeling that what we saw today is probably representative of what is going on across the whole Russian Men field

Clearly, there is a big increase in tech difficulty across the field, specially at the top skaters but also at the middle. Before, Russian Men have mostly struggle / being inconsistent with the most difficult jumps and this has weighed them down, so it's great if they can stabilize their jumps. But one thing is having a couple of consistent quads that you can rely on to stay competitive tech-wise, and another is to enter into the well-known mad quad race. Because I'm quite afraid that, as strange as this can be, this is a race to the bottom.

Today we saw that many Russian Men can now land multiple quads (lost the count of how many Mark landed tbh), which is an accomplishment in itself so kudos to them. But this is accomplished at huge energy costs and at the expense of everything else. Non-jumping elements suffer, and most tragically, the performance side bears the whole impact of the blow. There is no joy, no passion, no expression, no feelings left in the skate.

This marked me most strongly today with Zhenya and Mark, not to single them out because there were others and it's not personal, I mention them because I know what they are capable of in terms of connecting with the program and so the contrast was most vivid. Damn, Mark came back to life the second he finished the program And that is also why I was so glad to see Roman, who with a much simpler but still very decent tech content, was able to deliver an actual performance, and share emotions through his skating.

I'm sorry for the long post but I feel very strongly about this. Russian skating was never (at least to me of course) about jumping or quads or whatever, it is about beauty and feelings. I hope with all my heart that Russian Men do not get drowned into the quad race, and lose their individuality and very unique and special qualities. They are way too good for that

This is how I feel about seeing some of the ladies without ultra C. I'm not against quads, I like them, but they do take a long time to set up, so I'm enjoying seeing some diversity of tech content.

 

[katymay]

Are they a couple? He looks at her with such love, which of course, she is gorgeous, so understandable.

 

[AlexBreeze]

Are they a couple? He looks at her with such love, which of course, she is gorgeous, so understandable.

Even if they are, they haven't revealed it.