2026 Russian Junior Nationals

[Mathematician]

Look at the speed and confidence into the back-loaded combo. Incredible. Zero hesitation.

Really any purpose for following skating long-term relies on a small few skaters and Margarita is one of them.

 

[AlexBreeze]

Margo might lose some jumps but she's improved PCS-wise and her triples look great.

 

[lariko]

Speaking of PCS, Pleskacheva just really brought it

 

[AlexBreeze]

I think the tano on the 3Lo really fits a tango program.

 

[Jeanie19]

Lidiia. Pretty red dress. Beautiful program and skate.

 

[flanker]

Lidia

So much maturity, great performance,

 

[Mathematician]

Lydia the best by a margin. It's the best junior SP we've seen in a while. Seniors next year will be incredible. People forget to add Lydia's name next to Dzepka for those moving up.

 

[lariko]

I think this was my fav short today

 

[AlexBreeze]

IMO Lidiia should lead considering Lena's mistakes on the spins and problems with the program including finishing without music again.

 

[Mathematician]

Margo might lose some jumps but she's improved PCS-wise and her triples look great.

If she just keeps one consistent quad long term it's a massive success. She will clearly become a great PCS skater in due time.

 

[Mathematician]

IMO Lidiia should lead considering Lena's mistakes on the spins and problems with the program including finishing without music again.

Lena-Lydia relative scoring this season has been ridiculous in general

 

[AlexBreeze]

If she just keeps one consistent quad long term it's a massive success. She will clearly become a great PCS skater in due time.

I don't have much faith in her 3A (applies to almost all jr women). But 4T/4S seems possible.

 

[Jeanie19]

Sofia. Pretty dress. Good program. Shame about the combo.

 

[flanker]

Sofia Smagina combo mistake. She delivered on all of her competitions this season but not today.

 

[lariko]

Well, that was another unexpected fail for such a strong jumper. But like Tscherbakova says, it’s Smagina's first outing to junior Nats.

 

[AlexBreeze]

Crucial mistake. Smagina could fight podium considering her insane FS layout but I think not with the last place in the short program.

 

[Jeanie19]

Alisa. Fun dress and a good program. Good skate.

 

[flanker]

Alisa Yurova solid, IMO little underscored.

 

[lariko]

IMO Lidiia should lead considering Lena's mistakes on the spins and problems with the program including finishing without music again.

I think Kostyleva was rewarded for 3A3T with maintaining a decent enough glide/speed. we'll see if 3A combo will prove a wrong decision given inadequate recovery after injury/illness, similar to Basylyuk last year. With Dzepka falling and Petrova having troubles, Pleskacheva is the most likely to deliver the PCS victory in the FS. It was very obviously superior.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Kostyleva is only going to continue growing look at the size of her mother, and does not have the mentality to be a long term champion. Plushenko ruined her with money from shows and expensive gifts for doing nothing.

I'm quite impressed by how she still jumps, but so much energy goes into those jumps now that she has grown a lot. Maybe she will maintain that triple axel into seniors but it's telegraphed and wouldn't be given much GOE at an international competition, maybe keeps one quad, but she still can't listen to the music and no work has gone into her skating in couple of seasons now.

She's stuck with Plushenko too who only ruins talent, and no-one else will ever take her on.

I will be interesting to see where Bazyluk is at, not long ago it seemed like Bazyluk and Kostyleva would dominate for years.

Well, considering she's leading the competiton right now, your face is red.

Also maybe consider not commenting on someone's mother like she's not a human being with feelings. I thought we were past this kind of tripe in commenting on people's bodies? It's 2026, not 1980.

PS. I like Lena's 3A entry, it's elegant. It's also a very hard jump that still very few women can do, so a bit of respect should be given.