Alena Kostornaia | Page 222 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

On FSU, TAHbKA translated Aliona's recent interview that was shared earlier:
https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...h-myself-am-quite-a-tough-personality.107180/

I thought this was one of the best and most revealing interviews with Aliona that I've read, but there was a lot to process! :love:

Some thoughts from me:

1) Well, now we know what changed and why she now thinks she can do medical school--it was all due to her new friend Yana.

2) I think it's so cool that Aliona has a dream for her life and is determined to pursue it, no matter what anyone else says! :agree: I'm much older than Aliona and I still don't know what I want to do with my life. :laugh:
However, I am sad to think that we won't be able to see Aliona's beautiful skating after the 2022 Olympics. I know she said that she'd still be interested in doing shows, but I'm not sure how realistic that is, since the medical school schedule seems pretty grueling.
It's also not clear to me what would happen if she doesn't make it to the Olympics, but it kind of sounds like her real dream is to be a doctor, so perhaps she wouldn't continue even if she didn't make it to the Olympic team.

I'm also wondering--what happens if Aliona doesn't get into medical school? Here in the US, I think you can keep applying until you get in, but I'm not sure how it works in Russia...

3) In general, Aliona just seems incredibly mature, humble, thoughtful and self-aware. I thought that her reason for why she always makes time for her fans made a lot of sense and was very sweet.

4) Yep, our little devil just really doesn't care what others think! :biggrin: She definitely doesn't care if people think she's too blunt or cheeky. I also think it's admirable that she has no interest in changing to please others. I wish I had her self-confidence!

5) I was somewhat surprised that she's still a little afraid of Eteri, but at the same time, I can also imagine Eteri having to be a little stricter/more critical with Aliona than she would have to be with someone who is more naturally obedient. ;)

6) I was also somewhat surprised to read that Aliona is close with Dasha Usacheva. I knew that she and Sofia Akatieva are close from photos they've posted together, and Sofia seems to share a bit of Aliona's mischievous/playful personality, but Dasha doesn't strike me that way, so I was surprised.

7) It's really amazing that Aliona's triple axel has been so consistent in competitions given that she still seems rather uncomfortable with it. :eek:

8) Selfishly I do hope we get to see a quad from Aliona at some point!

9) In the interview after Europeans, she talked about getting a horse and doing show jumping--so has she now given up on that idea..?

10) It sounds like it's going to be very tough for Aliona to get back in shape when they finally can return to the ice--whenever that may be--but I really hope that she will achieve her goal of making it to the Olympics and hopefully winning! :yes: :hap10:
 
So Leonid Slutsky, a football (soccer) coach is apparently a big figure skating fan, and he said that he was rooting for Aliona to win Worlds! :agree:
https://sport24.ru/news/other/2020-...zagitovoy-medvedevoy-trusovoy-kostornoy-video

GoogleTranslate:
I am not a specialist, I am not a professional, I like each in its own way. At the World Cup, if it did take place, I would be a fan of everyone and would be glad that our entire three stood on the podium. And so it certainly would be. But, I, probably, would like more that Alena Kostornaya won.

This is a combination of my youthful concept of figure skating, when artistry, femininity, images were very important, with complex elements. Yes, she has no quadruples yet, but everything she can, including the triple axel, is just brilliant. She is very stable and feminine.

If Trusova rolls cleanly, then it will be without a chance for anyone, just without a chance. Whatever you do, it won’t work. Therefore, it is clear that any of our other skaters gets a chance when Alexandra fills up some kind of jumping elements. But if you take a collective image, then Alena is closer to me.
Click to expand...

***

I'm still hoping that Aliona gets a contract with a luxury brand. :biggrin:

So here's some fan art of Aliona x Dior: :love:
https://twitter.com/Shrimprinrin1/status/1254700300629311488

I have to admit that I have this fantasy where Natalia Vodianova, a Russian supermodel, happens to see Aliona perform and becomes a fan, and then gets her fiance, Antoine Arnault, heir to the LVMH group (which owns Dior!), to sponsor Aliona... :yes: :laugh:
 
Good Vibes Only said:
As long as Aliona is happy with her decisions, it doesn’t matter to me when she retires. Maybe this is why she hasn’t gotten any major sponsors yet. Maybe she doesn’t want to get any in case she decides to not commit to skating long term.
Click to expand...

So the most beautiful skater in the world and the MVP of this past season Aliona doesn't have a major sponsor? That's ridiculous. skaters careers are so short you have to grab the money when you can because at any practice you could suffer a career-ending injury. I don't believe as attractive as she is and as successful as she is that sponsors don't want her. It just doesn't add up. Aliona has an impish personality as well as well as a lot of charm so there's every reason that sponsors should want this young lady short-term and long-term.
 
Batsuchan said:
2) I think it's so cool that Aliona has a dream for her life and is determined to pursue it, no matter what anyone else says! :agree: I'm much older than Aliona and I still don't know what I want to do with my life. :laugh:
However, I am sad to think that we won't be able to see Aliona's beautiful skating after the 2022 Olympics. I know she said that she'd still be interested in doing shows, but I'm not sure how realistic that is, since the medical school schedule seems pretty grueling.
It's also not clear to me what would happen if she doesn't make it to the Olympics, but it kind of sounds like her real dream is to be a doctor, so perhaps she wouldn't continue even if she didn't make it to the Olympic team.
Click to expand...

a couple more thoughts on this...

Beijing is still 2 years away and Aliona is still only 16. remember, not too long ago she had decided to not pursue the medical field, then changed her mind again. she also may say now that just making the olympic team would make her happy, but what if she misses the team? what if she finds that settling for another color than gold is more upsetting than she thought, and she finds a new fire to continue? all i'm saying is maybe we shouldn't hold our breath on this quite yet. a lot of things can happen in the mind of a 16-18 year old :)

all i know at this point is i'm excited for the next time we get to see her skate again, whenever that will be!
 
" A boundless spirit and dreams about medicine. How does Russia's best figure skater Alyona Kostornaya live? "

For her, Tutberidze has authority only in sports, but not in life. Why is this normal?

The past season was dominated by Alyona Kostornaya, Anna Shcherbakova and Aleksandra Trusova, pupils of Tutberidze, who all three made their debuts in senior competitions. Both experts and their fans from juniors called the trio by the abbreviation TShchK- according to the first letters of their names. Some invested in this neglect, doubting the personality and role of each of the skaters in this process of preparing champions in the group, while others simply saved time - writing three letters faster and easier than three names. All the same, the girls trained together, performed together and won together, albeit in turn.

The abbreviation has taken root everywhere - from forums to headlines in the media, and at a press conference skaters were even asked how they feel about this. “We are personalities!” - was their answer, and we have no reason to disagree with them.

The sharper the competition in the group becomes, the less sense there is in preserving the image of the three-headed dragon of the Russian female single skaters. The girls are interested in standing out and remembering each in their own way, which means it is time to talk about each individually. From now on, they are no longer TShchK - but Trusova, Shcherbakova and Kostornaya.

Match TV launches a series of articles about the best skaters from Russia. First in line is the European Champion Alyona Kostornaya.

If you open the first video you come across when putting the query “Alyona Kostornaya” on Youtube, the number of comments with the most likes will be something like “God, what a beautiful girl!”. And although this is undoubtedly true, external beauty is far from the main and only quality of Alyona neither as a skater, nor as a person.

Kostornaya came to Tutberidze a very banal way: at one of the internal Russian starts she got into the same training group where Alina Zagitova, Aleksandra Trusova and Dar'ya Panenkova were. it was Hit and Go - she realised that she also wants to win and become the best. Someone careless was still trying to instill in Alyona the idea that she was a middle peasant. A girl like ten others, incapable of anything special.

In fairness, her results before the intervention of Eteri Georgiyevna were really so-so, but the potential - skating skills, jumping and non-jumping elements - was already visible.

The season 2019-2020 belonged to Kostornaya, despite the lost Russian Championships. She won both of the two major international starts that took place with a margin. She won due to three factors: a higher second rating, a triple Axel in a short program and stability. For the whole season - only one fall and a couple of mistakes on the road.

At the same time, Alyona loses in the free program both to Shcherbakova and Trusova like ordained. They don’t give medals for ordain, but for the clean skating of a reasonably complex set of jumps - what else? In addition to the Gold of the Grand Prix Finals and the European Championships, Kostornaya holds the World Record in the short program.

An interesting feature of Alena is that she is almost never a champion in training. She makes errors, she falls, she can even burst out in frustration, but she does not endure the feeling of powerlessness and despair at the actual skating runs. By the way, this quality can save more than one person’s life if Alyona nevertheless fulfils her dream and learns, as she plans now, to become a neurosurgeon. She speaks about clipping aneurysms as enthusiastically and at the same time as routinely as about applying “Smokey Eyes” makeup and her favourite horses.

It’s ironic how Alyona’s attitude to figure skating unconsciously repeats how this sport is perceived by the leadership of the International Skating Union. “ Any girl would like to play sports not only to display strength and endurance, but also to display beauty ” according to Alyona. “ We want skaters to compete in beauty and artistry in addition to jumping ”, the ISU said while planning to introduce a technical and artistic program instead of the compulsory and arbitrary ones that exist now.

This could be called the “ Alyona Kostornaya amendment ” - not because, of course, that it influenced this change of rules, like Alina Zagitova did with all her jumps in the bonus zone. Perhaps it is Kostornaya who will fit into the new reality better than anyone. There are no questions at all for her second assessment, and the only question for jumping is an edge on her Lutz, which, however, since the transition to Tutberidze has never been marked as incorrect. For the rest Kostornaya rides and jumps, as if straight from the textbook on the latest fashion in figure skating - at the same time forcefully and effortlessly. How is this oxymoron implemented in practice? The combination of the amplitude of her jumps and the difficulty of approaching them. The length and softness of the arcs during the smooth bending of the knees.

Talking about the further development of Kostornaya, the moment of searching for new images is especially interesting. This season, she skated last year’s short “Angel” and a new free program “Twilight”. It felt like already by the time Graz came about, the remaining space between the peak of Alyona and the limit of possibilities with “Twilight” was insufficient, not to mention “Angel”. But her short program kept for a second season played its role perfectly. A new leap - a triple Axel - it's bouncing from the toepick was ideally blended into the program . Who knows what would be the impact, Kostornaya skating the new Axel along with the new program?

With Kostornaya, trainers must be tempted not to bother with the staging of productions - her versatility and variety of expressiveness means she will make it look pretty to any music. At the same time, Alyona would like to see herself in the most skate worthy program, without direct images and recognisable techniques.

With her beautiful mermaid appearance, Alyona has a funny cartoon voice and, according to first and second hand impressions, is the most rebellious person from the Trinity. It was her, and not Sasha Trusova, as it might seem at first. If Sasha has only two questions in which she is ready to show integrity - jumping and dogs - Alyona has twenty-two of them. It was Alyona who set the timer for reporters in a group interview after the European Championship. She made sure the conversation did not last longer than the prescribed 15 minutes. It is Alyona who, over and over again, tries to bypass the instructions of staff and security to look behind the curtain that separates the entrance from the arena where her rival rides. It is enough to recall the story of the “worst female volunteer" from the same European Championship in Graz.

The fan community criticised Kostornaya for telling in a recent interview that Tutberidze was not the authority over her life. But if you discard attempts to create a certain aura around Alyona, who is a stranger for most of her critics, this is just an absolutely sensible position for a girl who will be seventeen in four months. At this age, it’s normal to choose the idols of your own generation, it’s normal to question the values ​​and ideals of elders. In addition, Kostornaya often says that she does not see her life connected exclusively with figure skating. And the whole life of Tutberidze -is- this skating rink and her pupils. This alignment clearly does not fit into the current picture of an ideal future, as Alyona now imagines it.

According to Kostornaya, she would like to skate until the age of 21. Given her age when entering the seniors, it turns out five full-fledged seasons - which can turn out quite substantial for a sporting career. There is time to become more complicated if desired, and to develop in the aesthetics of skating, and to try on different images. It would need only health and ice for training - in the current pandemic, this is the main desire of every skater.

(c) Анастасия Панина
-----
From: https://matchtv.ru/figure-skating/m..._luchshaja_figuristka_Rossii_Alena_Kostornaja
 
Last edited:
Can anyone help clarify this from the link Edwin posted above? This is the translation and i'm not exactly sure what it means or if Aliona said all of it, or only part.

It’s ironic how Alena’s attitude to figure skating unconsciously repeats how this sport sees the leadership of the International Skating Union. “Any girl would like to play sports not only for strength and endurance, but also to be beautiful,” said Alena. “We want skaters to compete in beauty and artistry in addition to jumping,” the ISU said and were going to introduce a technical and artistic program instead of the short and arbitrary ones that exist now.

This could be called the “Alena Kostornaya amendment” - not because, of course, that it influenced the change of rules, as Alina Zagitova did with all the jumps in the bonus zone. Just Kostornaya will fit into the new reality, perhaps better than anyone.
 
macy said:
Can anyone help clarify this from the link Edwin posted above? This is the translation and i'm not exactly sure what it means or if Aliona said all of it, or only part.

It’s ironic how Alena’s attitude to figure skating unconsciously repeats how this sport sees the leadership of the International Skating Union. “Any girl would like to play sports not only for strength and endurance, but also to be beautiful,” said Alena. “We want skaters to compete in beauty and artistry in addition to jumping,” the ISU said and were going to introduce a technical and artistic program instead of the short and arbitrary ones that exist now.

This could be called the “Alena Kostornaya amendment” - not because, of course, that it influenced the change of rules, as Alina Zagitova did with all the jumps in the bonus zone. Just Kostornaya will fit into the new reality, perhaps better than anyone.
Click to expand...

To me it reads like the authors opinion - I think the only quote from Aliona is the first one, where she talks about the combination of strength, endurance and beauty. The author seems paint Aliona as the ideal skater for the ISU’s future agenda, combining both difficulty and artistry. They seem to think the rule changes for the technical and artistic program will benefit Aliona since she excels in both? At least that’s how it reads to me.

To me this article just seemed like a summary of her recent interviews plus opinions from the author. Nothing really new here IMO.
 
SkateSkates said:
To me it reads like the authors opinion - I think the only quote from Aliona is the first one, where she talks about the combination of strength, endurance and beauty. The author seems paint Aliona as the ideal skater for the ISU’s future agenda, combining both difficulty and artistry. They seem to think the rule changes for the technical and artistic program will benefit Aliona since she excels in both? At least that’s how it reads to me.

To me this article just seemed like a summary of her recent interviews plus opinions from the author. Nothing really new here IMO.
Click to expand...

SkateSkates, I agree with your take on this paragraph--it seems like the author thinks that the ISU sees Aliona as the ideal skater. :yes:

And yes, while the article is mostly a summary of her recent interviews, I actually really enjoy reading this author's opinions! :agree:

I have said before that Anastasia Panina is my favorite of the Russian journalists who write about skating, and I really appreciate that 1) she knows what she's talking about (i.e., I rarely see factual mistakes in her articles) and 2) she seems to have actually gone to the competitions and watched Aliona practice live and has actually talked to her face-to-face. So her opinions are not based on second-hand information, but on her actual experiences of watching and talking to Aliona.

Like us, she seems to be a fan of Aliona and seems to appreciate her 'rebel spirit' instead of finding it offensive. :yes:

I also liked that she said you can ask Aliona about 22 different subjects (versus only 2 for Sasha)--it's very clear that Aliona has a wide range of interests. :agree:

I also agree that Aliona looks like a "beautiful mermaid," and I still hope she plays a mermaid or some other water spirit in a future program. I have often commented that I'd like to see her skate to Ravel's "Ondine" from "Gaspard de la Nuit":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj8cBmWZhP0

But maybe some program where she plays a rusalka would suit her better...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rusalka

They seem to like to seduce young men and drown them, and I feel like our little devil would enjoy playing that kind of character. ;) :rofl:
 
It looks like Aliona has been working on her flexibility based on a recent post from her private IG account (which is why I’m not bringing it here). I hope this means that whatever back problems/rumored injury she had is healed! I know she had it taped at Nationals based on photos but we never heard any more actual details from credible sources, just speculation.
 
McBibus said:
This angle perfectly shows how amazing this entry is

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_y4aEipXlR/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Click to expand...

Oh, Aliona, the queen of 3A!
The most perfect triple axel if I’ve ever seen one. The complex and beautiful entry, the height and the distance, the effortlessness, and her beautiful hands on the landing adding an extra touch of elegance.

This should be the jump ISU should use for their videos. There are other nicely done 3As, no doubt. But how Aliona manages to combine so many difficult and beautiful things all in one is exceptional.
 
nussnacker said:
Oh, Aliona, the queen of 3A!
The most perfect triple axel if I’ve ever seen one. The complex and beautiful entry, the height and the distance, the effortlessness, and her beautiful hands on the landing adding an extra touch of elegance.

This should be the jump ISU should use for their videos. There are other nicely done 3As, no doubt. But how Aliona manages to combine so many difficult and beautiful things all in one is exceptional.
Click to expand...

I'm bound to Midori's trixel.
First skating event I saw live she was there with her never seen before jump.
She had speed and power, absolutely explosive.
A bit like seeing Sasha jumping quad, when you think "OMG this girl can really break the ice!"

There has been other trixel but nothing like that.

Now we have Aliona with the same speed, elevation and explosivity but veiled in such a smooth and fluid action that she makes it look like there is no effort and she's cheating gravity.

This jump has it all: speed, elevation, power, flawless technyque and astonishing beauty.

"The Jump" in today skating
Quads may have more WoW factor, but this is the sum of anything skating has to offer
 
nussnacker said:
Oh, Aliona, the queen of 3A!
The most perfect triple axel if I’ve ever seen one. The complex and beautiful entry, the height and the distance, the effortlessness, and her beautiful hands on the landing adding an extra touch of elegance.

This should be the jump ISU should use for their videos. There are other nicely done 3As, no doubt. But how Aliona manages to combine so many difficult and beautiful things all in one is exceptional.
Click to expand...

took the words right out of my mouth! absolute perfection. nothing about this that doesn't deserve a +5.
 
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