Alena Kostornaia

[patee]

The scores were interesting to say the least... But I must not complain, it was great to see her doing well, she was a very good entertainer, apparently liked the program and although I myself not a big fan of NY, NY either, it's much less sore to my ears compared to Beth Hart's "Am I the one". Also, it has too the energy and emotion factor that Aliona is very good at conveying, so I'm sure she'll be able to polish it to its maximum potential! Can't wait to see her in the (sort of old-new) FP tomorrow! (I mean today, but for me it'll be only tomorrow...)

Oh, and I really liked the happy and funny Kiss & Cry mood!

 

[Scott512]

I was pissed by Karen's pcs. She got higher pcs than Alena and she scored higher than Mai with a problematic 2t combo. I mean this is absurd...I don't like her "rank 4th" in world championships that robbing Japanese seat for 2018 and Korean seat for 2022.

Anyway Alena has the best dress and look! I think they can work on the physical endurance and the polish the performance. The music cut is a little strange but I'm not going to complaint the program as that's definitely not something judges will think about when they score. I hope she can skate with it happily.

Best wishes for tomorrow

Very impressed with Aleona's dress and skate. But what's with her PCS scores?

How does Karen score so high with PCS she doesn't even do a 3-3 and if it's about skating skills and presentation that's AK strength.
Liza pcs scores are interesting.

World's was a pretty weak competition last March a lot of skaters underperformed which really helped Anna out eventually winning the gold medal but I too was shocked to see Karen Chen in fourth place. She doesn't even do a 3 - 3 does she? How did her first place finish cost Korea a spot at the games?

I am assuming that KV and Anna are locks for the Olympic team if they are healthy especially if Anna gets her quad back. The third spot is between four really good skaters aliona Liza Sasha and Maya. If Anna somehow does not get her quads back then you will have five really good skaters 4 spots with KV being the only sure thing.

Good luck to aliona today in the free skate.
If she lands 2 triple axles I will have an extra glass of wine tonight. she should too.

 

[Scott512]

The scores were interesting to say the least... But I must not complain, it was great to see her doing well, she was a very good entertainer, apparently liked the program and although I myself not a big fan of NY, NY either, it's much less sore to my ears compared to Beth Hart's "Am I the one". Also, it has too the energy and emotion factor that Aliona is very good at conveying, so I'm sure she'll be able to polish it to its maximum potential! Can't wait to see her in the (sort of old-new) FP tomorrow!

Oh, and I really liked the happy and funny Kiss & Cry mood!

You won't complain but I will a little bit. If the scores are same for everyone inflated for everyone or harsh for everyone I can handle it but I can't handle is it changing every competition from some skaters get super inflated and some are treated super harshly and that seems to be how it's going this season. Also PCS scores should be the easiest thing to grade because it's about presentation and skating skills correct?

The judges are like 50 years old to 70 years old they should know better than to be so inconsistent it's like they put a bunch of kids out there to judge the figure skating competitions and they don't know what to do.

I sure hope AK makes the podium in Vancouver it's really good to see her skating at a high level again after the loss of confidence for the past year.

Also her dresses are some of the best.

 

[Hammer24]

Great to see Alina knock down the 3axl and her shape looks very good. The scoring was a joke and it’s something that I don’t understand about the sport of figure skating.

 

[elbkup]

Hello fellow Kostolovers!!
Well, one of my dreams came true today--I finally got to see Aliona skate live!! I didn't want to say anything earlier because I didn't want to jinx things, but I am here in Vancouver!!

I am so happy I got to see her and scream at the top of my lungs for her! And that is outweighing my outrage at her scores and my ambivalence about her new SP. Yes, I guess the music is easier on the ears than her Beth Hart program , but it is also kind of quiet and slow. I'm not sure it really shows off Aliona's personality, but that could be because she hasn't had a chance to really practice this program.

However, I am beyond thrilled that she went for the 3A and skated almost totally clean. I was really worried about her in the warmup. I think the only triple jump she did was a 3F, and even her waltz jumps looked a bit rough on the landing. She didn't attempt a single 3A or 2A in the warmup or before she skated, and yet she went for it and pretty much landed it as best she could. Wow, wow, wow!!! So proud of her!!

And she did attempt to emote to the audience, unlike the other girls, but surely she can do more. The rest of the audience seemed quite enthusiastic about her too, but I am biased.

I hope that she can really shine tomorrow in "Lovely"!!!

Congratulations & Lucky Lucky Lucky You!! Will you see her today? If so, please please add my voice to yours when you cheer..

 

[nussnacker]

Oh, that was a performance with sparkle from Aliona! Getting a level 2 on the step sequence hurt her scores, and the layback spin was a level 3, but I am thrilled to see her go for the 3A and land it, even if it was on the quarter. For a first outing with this new SP this was a most respectable performance.

SP from the ISU YouTube channel.




SP scores here.

Truly. I was glad to see her magic coming back! The soft hand movements, her elegance, it was all there again.
If the absurd judging doesn’t continue, she would have been in a more confident spot for Olys.

 

[Azikin]

What can I say? I'm happy about the overall performance, of course, but scoring was a total joke.

 

[irriya]

Very impressed with Aleona's dress and skate. But what's with her PCS scores?

How does Karen score so high with PCS she doesn't even do a 3-3 and if it's about skating skills and presentation that's AK strength.
Liza pcs scores are interesting.

World's was a pretty weak competition last March a lot of skaters underperformed which really helped Anna out eventually winning the gold medal but I too was shocked to see Karen Chen in fourth place. She doesn't even do a 3 - 3 does she? How did her first place finish cost Korea a spot at the games?

I am assuming that KV and Anna are locks for the Olympic team if they are healthy especially if Anna gets her quad back. The third spot is between four really good skaters aliona Liza Sasha and Maya. If Anna somehow does not get her quads back then you will have five really good skaters 4 spots with KV being the only sure thing.

Good luck to aliona today in the free skate.
If she lands 2 triple axles I will have an extra glass of wine tonight. she should too.

if Karan got what she deserved in the world Chaps, then Korea should be able to get 3 spots. Unfortunately the two girls did have mistakes but Karen should not get 4th, and then USA should not get 3 spots. It's all scoring politics, and US already benefits from it.

 

[Scott512]

Truly. I was glad to see her magic coming back! The soft hand movements, her elegance, it was all there again.
If the absurd judging doesn’t continue, she would have been in a more confident spot for Olys.

It's only the beginning of the season and already many of us are focused on the absurd judging as you call it. It's pretty obvious and an embarrassment to the ISU. The problem is they aren't embarrassed they never are.

I've always hated how if the skaters with the better skating skills and the better presentations skate cleanly and do not get the highest PCS scores and and I don't know if that's ever going to change.

If aliona gets squeezed off the Olympic team when she would deserve it that would really bother me and at that point I would want her to change coaches change countries but that's a worst case scenario.

Last night gave me a vibe of 2 years ago when she was so good and so clean all the time.

The big problem right now is AK is fighting like 5 or 6 really good girls for one Olympic spot. Im assuming KV has her spot pretty much locked up. Which means there are only 2 spots for like 5 or 6 other super girls. This is when it's a damn shame there are such quota limitations for figure skating. In Russia that's the main reason why a lot of the girls retire young. Now a lot of the girls are looking to leave the country and skating for another country. I don't know what the Russian federation can do about it but they have a big problem on their hands week goes after the Olympic season there's gonna be like 4 Russians who are gonna be pissed like crazy they did not make it to Beijing.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I’m going to cheer loud as I can for her today! I was very lucky and got to see her practicing yesterday morning as well as the SP- big cheer when she finally hit the 3A after some difficulties.

 

[nussnacker]

If aliona gets squeezed off the Olympic team when she would deserve it that would really bother me and at that point I would want her to change coaches change countries but that's a worst case scenario.

Russia would never let Aliona go and she already saw what changing coaches did to her last season. She’s still trying to get rid of consequences of that decision. Eteri just knows Aliona very well and knows how to bring out the best of her. Aliona also seems happier and more confident. She looked happy after her performance, it was nice to see that again.

I just hope she gets scored fairly, that’s all.
Where’s the famous “Eteri bonus”, when it is needed to simply give her the scores she already deserves?

 

[Scott512]

SP photos!

I love to see her smiling and showing joy in that 1st picture. It's important to show feel and emotion in your skating. Although it never did Nastya any good.

Good luck to AK in the free skate. She is starting to shine again and and regain her confidence.

 

[Scott512]

I'm sad too but it's there.
Kami and Liza are the two better SP in the world right now and yesterday they did deliver.
The Kami we saw yestarday is head and shoulder above any competion: she put in an impressive quality in any single movement.
The spins really steal your eyes.
The only competition for that SP would be a top 2019 Aliona (GP Final).

Liza was fantastic too, but she can't do much better that and is approachable if Aliona polishes up everything.

To be honest yesterday there was no performance at all.
Everything except the 3L and the spins was "meh".
Both 3A and 3+3 lacked flow out of the jumps that is a trademark of her beautiful skating.
The Final is a disaster with an uncertain step sequens draggin to an under par spin (they made that entrance really tricky and hope it will pay off once refined).
I think the final has a major impact on the score but it could be easy to make it good, but the jump passes have nothing to to with the new program.
The problem I see here is that Aliona is playing underdog and she's behind in term of form/readiness so she receives pressure instead of putting pressure on the favorites.

The score is deceiving looking into the season because there is such a big improvement margin that it even makes it difficult to assess the true potential at the moment, but I think it reflects what we waw yesterday.

I know I'm hard but I expect to see her shine bacause she can and she work a lot.
She can loose to the quadsteers (we all and always knew that) but she has to and deserves to perform at her best.

I think aliona is much closer to Liza than you think. If she skates cleanly AK should always have higher PCS than Liza. And now with the new programs more confidence they will be neck and neck with 1 or 2 other girls for that final spot for the Olympic team come nationals.

Do we really think the Russian federation wants to enrage EG by not taking all 3 of her girls? There are 6 to choose from and 5 have ultra jumps.

I'm sure the Republic of Georgia would pay millions and millions of dollars to Eteri to come there and coach their national team. At some point this unbelievable women's coach may get fed up with the whole situation and make a run for the money as she nears 50.

If Liza clearly deserves an Olympic spot so be it. The same for AK or Anna or Sasha or Maya or Dasha.

 

[nussnacker]

Do we really think the Russian federation wants to enrage EG by not taking all 3 of her girls?

I think that’s exactly what they are trying to do. They are probably looking for a feel good story on how she finally made it. But artificially putting Liza on the team ahead of more deserving skaters would frankly just end up with an opposite effect.

 

[Scott512]

I think that’s exactly what they are trying to do. They are probably looking for a feel good story on how she finally made it. But artificially putting Liza on the team ahead of more deserving skaters would frankly just end up with an opposite effect.

I think it will have the opposite effect as well and Russian ladies would look to leave the federation a couple of them will look to leave EG because they went to her for the Olympic season. The Russian federation needs to weigh a lot of options and if it's basically borderline and a tie between AK and Liza or Anna and Liza or sasha and Liza then then Liza has to be the be the one to be forsaken because she's a lot closer to the finish line than the other girls are.

I believe alyona and sasha are back with EG because it's the Olympic season if it was not the Olympic season neither would have gone back to her. Is it one of them sasha or AK gets left off the Olympic team they're not gonna be happy their parents are not gonna be happy. Russian federation and ISU are playing with fire by puffing up Liza's PCS like she's alyona of 2 years ago. A lot to admire about Liza and if she makes the Olympic team on merit I will be the 1st to say congratulations.

The Russian federation should want a sweep of the lady's podium. If they think Liza would automatically win at least a bronze medal and hold off Alysa or YY or Rika then that is to Lizas advantage. What other reason could we see to explain her higher than believable PCS scores so far?

Alyona just needs to focus on herself and closing the gap with KV by nationals.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

But then why was Dasha's score so high at Skate America? A perfectly clean skate of hers would have deserved it but she did mistakes unlike Young You.

 

[Scott512]

But then why was Dasha's score so high at Skate America? A perfectly clean skate of hers would have deserved it but she did mistakes unlike Young You.

Dasha's free skate was a little disappointing at skate America and if she was in this field with KV and Liza or aliona she may not have even medaled. Certainly not the silver medal.
But that's in reality Is the lock of the draw and figure schedule. Dasha may have as good or better chance to make the Grand Prix final than Aliona because of the GPs she's scheduled. Aliona has to go up against Liza and KV again. And neither of those girls are being short changed with scores.

 

[flanker]

But then why was Dasha's score so high at Skate America? A perfectly clean skate of hers would have deserved it but she did mistakes unlike Young You.

Dasha delivered a perfectly clean skate in the short program. In the free she did one mistake, but less severe than Young You did in the short. Also, without hesitation I say that overal quality of Dasha's skating is on a different level. Still You received six points higher score for the free skate than Dasha so I do not understand where do you aim to. Nevertheless, this is Aliona's FF, so matters of Dasha vs. You hardly belong here.

 

[Batsuchan]

Well I just watched the second half of the ladies practice, and it was pretty rough for Aliona.
She mostly skated in circles, and after she fell on the 3A in the run-through, she was near tears for the rest of the practice. Poor baby!

I hope she can turn around her mood for the FS!! But I'm beginning to think that she might really need a sports psychologist... She didn't interact with the coaches even once, from what I saw.

 

[nussnacker]

Well I just watched the second half of the ladies practice, and it was pretty rough for Aliona.
She mostly skated in circles, and after she fell on the 3A in the run-through, she was near tears for the rest of the practice. Poor baby!

I hope she can turn around her mood for the FS!! But I'm beginning to think that she might really need a sports psychologist... She didn't interact with the coaches even once, from what I saw.

I hope everything goes well today. She often has bad practices, but manages to pull everything together in the competition.
I hope the scoring didn’t hurt her mentally too much.
At RCF she delivered a clean-ish free skate after a disaster SP. She has that in her.