Alena Kostornaia | Page 197 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

A personality like Aliona's is too strong and will never be appreciated by all ... so, deal with it.

Yes, I totally agree. :yes: And thankfully I think Aliona is aware of this too.

I completely agree that Aliona has star quality--and at least the ISU seems to have recognized this (I hope). I did think it was very telling that of the 3 A's, only she was nominated for the MVP award (along with Alina and Zhenya).

But let's not get ahead of ourselves. To be a star, you also need the results (i.e. gold medals) to put you in the public spotlight. :yes:

As with GPF and Russian Nationals, Aliona's fate at Euros doesn't rest entirely in her hands...All she can do is skate her best, and I'm sure she's extra motivated to do so since she made small mistakes at Nationals :agree:

So I hope Aliona can have two clean skates and a result she can be happy with! :yes:

I keep scouring social media and the news for evidence that the Russian ladies already arrived in Graz, but I guess the media wasn't waiting for them at the airport like they did at GPF... :laugh: Hopefully we'll get some practice videos tomorrow! :agree:
 
It is a very cute coat, though for my money, Sasha's is the best, being all pink. (Hey, I like the colour pink.) Glad to see they have arrived! Wishing Aliona all good skating luck for tomorrow - I will try to time my day so I can watch the ISU stream on YouTube.
 
fs practice today:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4p06scJE-DU

I haven't found a video with better quality.
She fell on the second 3A and on the lutz at the end, but all the other jumps looked amazing.

Thanks for the link!
(Really, Sport Express, you had to use THAT picture of Aliona as the thumbnail for the video? :disapp: Sighhh... )

Ehh, two falls but the rest clean--seems like a pretty typical first practice for Aliona. :yes:

I really hope that not having a chance to practice on the main rink doesn't affect her! :pray:

I wasn't feeling too nervous ahead of this competition (like I was during the GP series), but now that the SP is tomorrow, I'm back to being a nervous wreck! :drama:

Wishing Aliona LOTS OF LUCK!! :cheer2:

FLY ANGEL FLYYYYYY!!!!! :hap10: :hap10: :hap10:
 
A little bit more from today.

Those eyes! :love:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qzRKtpowL/

No Pikachu pin today, but it seems she went back to using her pink unicorn tissue holder (instead of the green one)...?

Everybody seems to be looking at Aliona in this photo:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7qkY7dI3LS/
What did our little devil do now? :laugh:

Video of the draw:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cpb6q32A14

Unsurprisingly, Aliona was watching something on her phone with Sasha. :laugh: Poor Anna, the third wheel again! :biggrin:
https://doctorpostresito.tumblr.com...rd-wheel-shcherbakova?is_related_post=1#notes :biggrin:
 
Oops, forgot these!

1) There's a US junior skater who looks up to Aliona!
https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/...-eve-of-junior-debut-at-us-championships.aspx
"I always admired Evgenia Medvedeva, but as of right now I really look up to Alena Kostornaia," Levito said. "I really love the way she moves on the ice, her extensions and her landings. She lands with the same speed she goes into a jump with."
:agree: :agree:

2) Elena Radionova picked Aliona as her favorite:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7rRWIOJusj/
Elena Radionova: Favourite? I will not change the tradition, I will point to Alena Kostornaya. She impresses me a lot as a skater. She jumps well, although jumping now won't surprise anyone in particular. But Alena's skating is very beautiful and feminine, she has charisma. If he skates cleanly, nobody will have doubts that he will be the champion. If he makes mistakes, Shcherbakova and Trusova will get into the fight, ”Radionova said in an interview with the Sport24 correspondent

And yes, this did remind me that my favorites both skated to teen romance movies (Twilight and Titanic) while wearing purple dresses. :biggrin: :love:
 
Thanks for the link!
(Really, Sport Express, you had to use THAT picture of Aliona as the thumbnail for the video? :disapp: Sighhh... )

Ehh, two falls but the rest clean--seems like a pretty typical first practice for Aliona. :yes:

I really hope that not having a chance to practice on the main rink doesn't affect her! :pray:

I wasn't feeling too nervous ahead of this competition (like I was during the GP series), but now that the SP is tomorrow, I'm back to being a nervous wreck! :drama:

Wishing Aliona LOTS OF LUCK!! :cheer2:

FLY ANGEL FLYYYYYY!!!!! :hap10: :hap10: :hap10:

I know...they had another picture of her close up they published to their Instagram they could’ve used instead of the one of her fall! Rude.

I am also still very nervous about her first time being on the main rink for the 6 minute warmup...I really hope the ice conditions and rink dimensions are the same as the practice rink. Still upset about this.

Ok, now thinking positive thoughts for Aliona in the SP tomorrow!! Go Aliona!!
 
IMO Aliona is the only skater in the ladies field who has star quality.
To be a star you have to be good in your sport. Of course, you have to be a champion, but it's not enough.
What is a star made of?
Good looking and a winning smile and intelligence and even a little bit of naughtiness, that’s what a star is made of.
Loving to be in the spotlight and loving the contact with the public, that, too, is what a star is made of.
But most of all a star must have an original personality, out of the ordinary, must dare to sing outside the choir, as we say.
Remind you of anyone? :laugh:

I'm not saying Aliona is already a star, but she has the potential.
Where she is, something out of the ordinary always happens, like at the award ceremony at the IDF.
If nothing happens, she causes it, like at the award ceremony at the GPF, when she pretended to eat the chocolate flowers.
In the press conference at the Russian national championships, both Anna and Sasha refused to answer a question about the possible Russian ban by the Olympic Committee.
Then Aliona said: "But I will not abstain" (from speaking).
What a bold assertion from a sixteen years old! It was a statement like: I’m not afraid to speak, I’m not like the others! :dev3:

There have been many strong skaters in the last decades. IMO none of them was a star.Their notoriety has always been limited to the skating fans and their fellow countrymen. The general public has never known any of them.
In Italy everyone knew Carolina Kostner but, besides skating fans, almost nobody knew Mao Asada or Yuna Kim.
I mean, probably the greatest boxer of all time was "Sugar" Ray Robinson or maybe Floyd Mayweather. How many of you know them? But I bet everyone knows Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay).
They were champions, Alì was a star (actually, he was more than a star, he was a legend). Many hated him, many more admired and loved him.

A personality like Aliona's is too strong and will never be appreciated by all ... so, deal with it.

Interesting take!

I just checked the post statistics for the 3A. As of now:

Alena Kostornaia:
thread start time: 08-31-2017
#pages: 198
Replies: 3,940
Views: 647,187

Anna Shcherbakova:
thread start time: 09-04-2016
#pages: 136
Replies: 2,716
Views: 514,731

Alexandra Trusova:
thread start time: 11-14-2016
#pages: 119
Replies: 2,377
Views: 417,514

Although Alena's thread was started 9-12 months later, she has attracted the most attention with more posts and views.

Wish her good luck!
 
She's on the ice for the six minute warmup now - good luck, and good skating! She looked very self-possessed, perhaps a touch nervous, when introduced to the audience.
 
I had goosebumps all over when she did her last motions with the sound of wings. I was stunned once more by how beautiful she was. Wish her all the best for the FS! ❤️
 
Another lovely performance from Aliona! I confess that when I saw her looking possibly nervous when she took the ice at the start of the warm up, I felt more than a pang of worry, so that throughout her programme I was more on tenterhooks than usual. That 3A landing made me catch my breath, and the falling leaf after it did not seem as high and easy as usual, and there was a moment in the StSq where she looked almost lost, sort of disconnected from what she was supposed to be doing, but then she finished off with that amazing ending, right in front of the judges, wingbeats perfectly timed, and I knew that she had done well.

Anyway, now that the ISU has uploaded the individual videos for the top three in the SP, I went back and rewatched them. I must have been so full of adrenaline during Aliona's performance that even the slightest wobble or stickiness became magnified, because rewatching the video in a more relaxed frame of mind, the 3A landing looked just fine! She really does just step up into the jump from nowhere, making it look so easy. And the 3T in her combination, gosh, she jumped so high that the camera had to track up, and even then it failed to catch her hands in her rippon. The StSq was nowhere near as hesitant as I thought either, just very lovely to watch, while that final layback spin ending in the Biellmann? Perfect.

I did appreciate the commentator saying, "She has a presence about her. I glanced away from the ice a time or two, and you could see the faces of the audience. They were spellbound." Aliona is indeed magical to watch, and this particular piece, with the music, the theme, the costume, well, it casts an enchantment all of its own.

Aliona's video is here, but probably geoblocked for quite a few people: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPQbQEgt8wg
 
I had goosebumps all over when she did her last motions with the sound of wings. I was stunned once more by how beautiful she was. Wish her all the best for the FS! ❤️

The step sequence before the last spin is always my favorite part.
Pure magic.

Our angel was unsatisfied.
I'm disappointed about the transition vote.

She seemed a bit restrained to me.
Let yourself go Aliona!
 
Alena Kostornaya: “I grew up during the holidays, so I learned all the jumps again. There was a wild uncoordination "
(https://www.sports.ru/figure-skating/1082649921.html)
google translation:

Russian skater Alena Kostornaya commented on her short program performance at the European Championships in Graz, Austria.

After the first competition day, Kostornaya leads.

“I did everything as always, I’m probably satisfied, and most importantly, that I completed the task.

A little non-standard arena, but there is nothing wrong with it, the organization is generally good, and the athletes are very warmly supported on ice, ”Kostornaya said.

“After the New Year holidays, I learned all the jumps again, there was a wild uncoordination. I went out on the ice and did not understand how to ride, to sit on my foot.

If I grow two and a half centimeters during the holidays, I understand that something is not happening. It was now, I grew up, but I don’t think that it affected somehow, ”the skater added .
 
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