2024-25 Russian Women's Figure Skating

[AlexBreeze]

Previous Season's thread:

2023-24 Russian Women's Figure Skating

Previous Season's thread: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2022-23-russian-womens-figure-skating.92157/ National team Seniors Sofia Akatieva Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Sofia Muravieva Adeliia Petrosian Anastasia Zinina Reserve: Veronika Yametova Anna Shcherbakova Alexandra Trusova Maiia...

www.goldenskate.com

National team

Seniors
Adeliia Petrosian
Sofia Muravieva
Ksenia Sinitsyna
Anna Frolova
Veronika Yametova
Alina Gorbacheva
Reserve:
Sofia Akatieva
Veronika Zhilina
Daria Sadkova

Juniors
Margarita Bazylyuk
Alisa Dvoeglazova
Sofia Dzepka
Lidia Pleskacheva
Kira Trofimova
Ekaterina Tsipukhina
Reserve:
Milana Lebedeva
Anna Lyashenko
Viktoria Morozova
Agata Petrova
Alisa Yurova

Novices
Yana Anashkina
Elena Kostyleva
Varvara Liss
Valeria Livincheva
Valeria Lukashova

 

[AlexBreeze]

Anastasia Zinina gave the first big interview for a long time. She says that she had severe complications from covid: she barely could walk and speak.

https://tass.ru/interviews/20879805

 

[Mathematician]

I disagree about the jumps. She was one of my favourite Junior girls. Her best moment was when she qualified for Junior Worlds but covid stopped that. Her last year competing domestically was all over the place. Good at the GP events. But, horrible at Nationals and Russian Cup due to inconsistency on the jumping elements. This is the reason why Russia is okay with this release. I think she is one to watch out for though…maybe, she saw her bad results as an opportunity to get off National team so she can switch nationality.

In exhibitions, she will land the 3A, but, then struggle with regular triple jumps. So, she has to train hard.

She has the potential though. My favourite program was her free skate that season with all backloaded combos. The judges were hard with her quads though. Lots of ur’s.

Im excited she gets to compete next season and will be rooting for her. The year after Olympics, she was on National Team for Russia. Go Sofia!!

Yea we all know she was inconsistent last time we saw her in competition but that was right when she hit her massive growth spurt. Before that she was very good. Plushenko is good at dealing with her type I think, and she has had lots of time since then and her 3A looks good to me now.

Sofia is very good at "concealing" under rotations and has been since for a while. I'm pretty sure I previously commented about how she (and some others, nationally and internationally) are dependent on the strictness of the technical panel, because their scores could end up varying significantly depending on tech calls. Obviously, she is not doing this consciously, it's just the result of her previous coaching.

A solid percentage of the videos I've seen have had missing rotation, though they definitely do look better (more effortless and more rotated) than they looked in 2022-23. Not necessarily due to technique, but due to strength - She looks so much stronger and more in shape now. Caveat - We have not really seen an equivalent of a competition situation, not even really a "normal" full training run-through with Ultra-Cs that are embedded in a full program. Essentially, it's one thing to jump things in isolation and another to jump them in programs, and then on top of that jump them in competition. Though Sofia is no Anna Shcherbakova with nerves of steel, she's also not like her dear friend Sasha Trusova who never ended up being able to land a 3A in competition (though that was partially a technique and a mental issue ), so we'll have to wait and see how she deals with the situation next season.

Obviously, as we also all know, tech panels are willing to overlook missing rotation (especially in Seniors, and that goes for domestic and international competitions ), so as long as she lands it and it isn't clearly a downgrade, she has more than enough chances to not get calls. (Might actually be a good idea after all to not do the JGP, because they've been more strict on the technical side in recent years, and once you have the reputation of UR your jumps, it can stick around like a curse. )

Well of course its hard to judge from training footage but I just dont see a strong reason to doubt her.

I went back and checked her 3A in a few videos. She under rotates a couple times but she had a few with full rotation even under frame-by-frame scrutiny, including an easy 3A+3A combo which is very impressive. Her takeoffs are totally unlaboured and her axis is almost always stable. Her landings are imperfect but shes very strong so always stays on her feet. This is very good considering we're months out from competition while she didnt even know if she'd get released and was focusing on ice shows the whole time. Also consider that I reckon at least half (very conservative estimate for post-olympics) of female ultra-c are actually under rotated when assessing with extreme scrutiny. The 3A is not unstable to me by the current standard.

Upon review the 4T is rough no doubt. Though in training I never saw her fall on it, only step outs.

Her 4S was consistently landed already in November (but yes with obvious under rotations every time).

So to me her 3A should be a lock and her 4T/4S are unstable but assuming she gets the same leniency in judging as all the other girls she will be fine as long as she lands a refined version of one of the two quads - she doesnt need both to beat everyone else assuming even just average PCS. Like I mentioned her takeoffs and axis in general are extremely consistent, with great power and lightness, and shes very strong so she can stay on her feet almost always (which we agree is all she needs assuming consistent judging).

Keep in mind that if you review my history on this forum I always argue the optimistic side for any skater's future, so I definitely understand the doubts, but I just think with the evidence its easy to keep my hopes up for her.

 

[RatedPG]

Yea we all know she was inconsistent last time we saw her in competition but that was right when she hit her massive growth spurt. Before that she was very good. Plushenko is good at dealing with her type I think, and she has had lots of time since then and her 3A looks good to me now.



Well of course its hard to judge from training footage but I just dont see a strong reason to doubt her.

I went back and checked her 3A in a few videos. She under rotates a couple times but she had a few with full rotation even under frame-by-frame scrutiny, including an easy 3A+3A combo which is very impressive. Her takeoffs are totally unlaboured and her axis is almost always stable. Her landings are imperfect but shes very strong so always stays on her feet. This is very good considering we're months out from competition while she didnt even know if she'd get released and was focusing on ice shows the whole time. Also consider that I reckon at least half (very conservative estimate for post-olympics) of female ultra-c are actually under rotated when assessing with extreme scrutiny. The 3A is not unstable to me by the current standard.

Upon review the 4T is rough no doubt. Though in training I never saw her fall on it, only step outs.

Her 4S was consistently landed already in November (but yes with obvious under rotations every time).

So to me her 3A should be a lock and her 4T/4S are unstable but assuming she gets the same leniency in judging as all the other girls she will be fine as long as she lands a refined version of one of the two quads - she doesnt need both to beat everyone else assuming even just average PCS. Like I mentioned her takeoffs and axis in general are extremely consistent, with great power and lightness, and shes very strong so she can stay on her feet almost always (which we agree is all she needs assuming consistent judging).

Keep in mind that if you review my history on this forum I always argue the optimistic side for any skater's future, so I definitely understand the doubts, but I just think with the evidence its easy to keep my hopes up for her.

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This is the short program I watched from her exhibition. Her 3A is huge. She lands her single triple jump. But, then messes up her backloaded combo. I love this short program though. I hope this is her program for next season.

Also, she wasn’t released in time to compete at KAZ Nationals. But, her intent was to go for the 3A’s. So, her triple axel must be solid. Her quads not so much. But, this layout is enough to compete for the podium spots next season. I want Kaori to be challenged. She has Sofia and then Jia for the Olympics (if no Russia). Those are my current three picks for podium at Olympics.

Sofia Samodelkina also explained why she did not participate in the Kazakhstan National Championships.

“Sofia Samodelkina: There were two weeks left before the Nationals, everything seemed well-prepared – a short program with a triple axel, two triple axels in the free skate. The content was very serious. Two axels in the free skate plus my signature three jump combinations at the end.

If Sofia was going for her three jump combos at the end. I wonder if she was considering backloading the 3A + combo in the second half of her free skate

 

[kolek]

Previous Season's thread:

2023-24 Russian Women's Figure Skating

Previous Season's thread: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2022-23-russian-womens-figure-skating.92157/ National team Seniors Sofia Akatieva Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Sofia Muravieva Adeliia Petrosian Anastasia Zinina Reserve: Veronika Yametova Anna Shcherbakova Alexandra Trusova Maiia...

www.goldenskate.com

National team

Seniors
Adeliia Petrosian
Sofia Muravieva
Ksenia Sinitsyna
Anna Frolova
Veronika Yametova
Alina Gorbacheva

Weakest team in last 10 years...

 

[lariko]

Previous Season's thread:

2023-24 Russian Women's Figure Skating

Previous Season's thread: https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/2022-23-russian-womens-figure-skating.92157/ National team Seniors Sofia Akatieva Elizaveta Tuktamysheva Sofia Muravieva Adeliia Petrosian Anastasia Zinina Reserve: Veronika Yametova Anna Shcherbakova Alexandra Trusova Maiia...

www.goldenskate.com

National team

Seniors
Adeliia Petrosian
Sofia Muravieva
Ksenia Sinitsyna
Anna Frolova
Veronika Yametova
Alina Gorbacheva

Nice!

 

[RatedPG]

Nice!

I love this National Team. I enjoyed watching all six of these skaters at Nationals last season
I’m sad they won’t get the opportunity to compete internationally
But, this list shows it isn’t all about ultra-c elements.

 

[lariko]

I love this National Team. I enjoyed watching all six of these skaters at Nationals last season
I’m sad they won’t get the opportunity to compete internationally
But, this list shows it isn’t all about ultra-c elements.

That's a great team, with so much different personality and style. I hope Gorbacheva in a better mental space next season, and for all the women to stay healthy and have a a great season. I think it's the first season when Team Russian Women is more interesting than Team Russian Men for me.

 

[Azikin]

Weakest team in last 10 years...

It's really sad but strong juniors are coming.

 

[JeanA]

And Akatyeva and Zhilina are returning from injury. Hopefully they will make full recoveries.

 

[Mathematician]

Titova is switching to compete for Armenia!!

kaseafs

⚡️ Софья Титова решила сменить спортивное гражданство Фигуристка Софья Титова получила открепление от ФФККР. Спортсменка будет представлять Армению. Cr: @maximkhorenkov для @match_tv

t.me

 

[removof]

Titova is switching to compete for Armenia!!

kaseafs

⚡️ Софья Титова решила сменить спортивное гражданство Фигуристка Софья Титова получила открепление от ФФККР. Спортсменка будет представлять Армению. Cr: @maximkhorenkov для @match_tv

t.me

great news!

 

[Mathematician]

great news!

Indeed. Plushenko was threatening to do so for a while.

I'm trying to figure out if Titova has Armenian family or Plushenko has some sort of connections? If the latter then there are many interesting opportunities.

By the way I saw some telegram rumours about Akateva potentially competing for Georgia? Zero official source on this rumour though. I only think its plausible considering she didnt compete last season. Would be utterly massive.

 

[Remilia]

Honestly, good for Titova. Even if she restores her ultra-c jumps, I doubt the judges would suddenly become more generous towards her. Why stick around and be stuck doing only domestic competitions just to be beat by 12-year-olds? Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if her score at the 22/23 junior nats and cup final completely killed her motivation.

Some of you may hate me for this, but I honestly hope Veronika transfers next

 

[icewhite]

I don't know what to make of it or what to think about it all.
Plushenko skaters switching the most? As they say, not on my bingo card. Are his skaters released more easily? Are Plushenko and his wife more committed to getting their skaters released? Is this something the Russian fed tries to prevent or do they even like it? If a skater is dead set on getting released and willing to miss two seasons if necessary, is there a way they can prevent it?

 

[Jumping_Bean]

I don't know what to make of it or what to think about it all.
Plushenko skaters switching the most?

Samodelkina had started the transfer process before coming to Plushenko, and out of his other skaters, only Titova has switched so far.

As they say, not on my bingo card. Are his skaters released more easily?

They've released Annabelle Morozov and Geinish/Chigirev as well, so I don't think so? But then again, Morozov has her own connections.

Is this something the Russian fed tries to prevent or do they even like it?

Historically, they've not liked it, introducing more and more restrictions to make it more difficult to switch countries, but with the ban, things might be different - Release skaters who are good enough to be shown as examples of "the Russian school of figure skating" but not good enough to be a threat to their own when the ban is lifted?

If a skater is dead set on getting released and willing to miss two seasons if necessary, is there a way they can prevent it?

Yes, technically. For skaters who have competed internationally (i.e. for Samodelkina, Morozov and Geinish/Chigirev, but not Titova), the former federation has to issue a permit in order for the skater to be able to compete for the new federation. The ISU has very vague rules surrounding that, but specifically includes that exceptions can be made in "cases of serious hardship" - "application of a new rule after certain action has been taken in good faith prior to its adoption, unjustified denial of a permit by an ISU Member to a Skater who has not represented that ISU Member for a number of years, unjustified or unreasonable conditions of an ISU Member for issuing a permit, etc."
In such cases, it would be up to the ISU council to decide if a situation falls under "serious hardship"... Or not.

 

[Mathematician]

Some of you may hate me for this, but I honestly hope Veronika transfers next

Who would hate you for that? Isnt it every Russians dream for our athletes to stop being ignored and get back to the world championship?

With the current judging there is likely zero reason for any non-Eteri girl to stay in Russia. There are many other issues in the way of transfers though like money and logistics, and politics.

Veronika seems to be in a plausible situation to also transfer since she sat out last season. I think its possible? I hope it happens too. I want Akateva out more than anything, but Eteri is buddy buddy with the fed so I dont know...

I don't know what to make of it or what to think about it all.
Plushenko skaters switching the most? As they say, not on my bingo card. Are his skaters released more easily? Are Plushenko and his wife more committed to getting their skaters released? Is this something the Russian fed tries to prevent or do they even like it? If a skater is dead set on getting released and willing to miss two seasons if necessary, is there a way they can prevent it?

Plushenko has been threatening transfers for a while over national judging. He has zero love lost with the Russian fed in general, so there is no reason for him to keep his skaters national. I think the main reason skaters stay national is because of team pressure that has federal connections. I dont know if his skaters would be released easier upon request for any reason but Titova specifically as someone not scoring well anymore would be by my assumption. She also didnt skate outside of stages and didnt make the national team. They probably didnt care to go through the trouble of a dispute because she has little bargaining power.

Its for this latter reason unfortunately that I see Veronika's transfer as much less likely.

I dont think the Fed can force a skater to stay if they just stop competing? Its not like they own the person. But a skater can be pressured by the coaching staff severely and that seems to be happening. It is basically all in the Coach's control.

 

[Jumping_Bean]

I imagine when the ban is lifted that those skaters would return to compete for Russia anyways? I dont think they care about that.

Why would they return? They'd have to sit out a full season and now compete for international assignments against stronger skaters than in their new federation.
Take Samodelkina for example - Could she be competitive in Russia? Maybe, with the new age rules. But why would she want to fight for her spot at Euros, Worlds and the Olympics if she can essentially get her spots by default representing Kazakhstan?
And she is still not a big threat to the top skaters RusFed expects to have by the time the ban is lifted - Especially Adeliia.

 

[icewhite]

Why would they return? They'd have to sit out a full season and now compete for international assignments against stronger skaters than in their new federation.
Take Samodelkina for example - Could she be competitive in Russia? Maybe, with the new age rules. But why would she want to fight for her spot at Euros, Worlds and the Olympics if she can essentially get her spots by default representing Kazakhstan?
And she is still not a big threat to the top skaters RusFed expects to have by the time the ban is lifted - Especially Adeliia.

Will the ban be lifted any time near, though?
It has been my impression for a while now that there will be a schism.

 

[Mathematician]

Why would they return? They'd have to sit out a full season and now compete for international assignments against stronger skaters than in their new federation.
Take Samodelkina for example - Could she be competitive in Russia? Maybe, with the new age rules. But why would she want to fight for her spot at Euros, Worlds and the Olympics if she can essentially get her spots by default representing Kazakhstan?
And she is still not a big threat to the top skaters RusFed expects to have by the time the ban is lifted - Especially Adeliia.

Yes you're right. I didnt think through about the limited international assignments since I am used to national qualifications now. Your supposal is correct then I imagine. Letting go of someone like Akateva could be a blunder long term.

I really wish at least one star could get released. What a miracle it would be if Akateva could somehow escape the system. Could the injury have been a blessing in disguise? I am honestly getting quite frustrated with Russia at this point.

Will the ban be lifted any time near, though?
It has been my impression for a while now that there will be a schism.

I dont think it will be. There is zero incentive for the ISU to even think about letting Russia back in. Its give and no take. Though I am pretty confident we see Russians at Olympics as neutrals.

I think a schism is worse case scenario. It would damage both scenes.