Alena Kostornaia

[macy]

I woke up to this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5HaB1roMJm/?igshid=1qkk58dqb4gsz

:shocked:

Well, it’s certainly a great start to the day!

good lord

beautiful, floaty, secure, easy, no hesitation or fear. my goodness.

 

[Scott512]

I guess she was unhappy again though and went to talk to Eteri, who "coached her passionately." Then she went back to warm up again.
https://twitter.com/ra_nuit/status/1197367817357578241

I'm so glad Eteri is there with her! I feel like Aliona draws a lot of psychological strength from her. :yes:

I am also happy Eteri is there. Alyiona and Alena need her especially as they are closing in on Grand Prix final births.

 

[vesperalvioletta]

I woke up to this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5HaB1roMJm/?igshid=1qkk58dqb4gsz

:shocked:

Well, it’s certainly a great start to the day!

I can't believe she only began seriously training the 3A again in September. She goes into it with the ease and confidence of someone who has been doing that element for years.

I'm glad both Eteri and Daniil are there. Seems like a good combo for the girls.

 

[Scott512]

I woke up to this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5HaB1roMJm/?igshid=1qkk58dqb4gsz

:shocked:

Well, it’s certainly a great start to the day!

That's a great thing to wake up to. That 3A was as smooth as butter. Someone had mentioned that Alena had been reported to have not been looking good there but you could never tell that from that video

 

[DenissVFan]

Good luck!

 

[SkateSkates]

That's a great thing to wake up to. That 3A was as smooth as butter. Someone had mentioned that Alena had been reported to have not been looking good there but you could never tell that from that video

She was looking fine at the end of practice , I think she was just a little off during her runthru since she was the first skater and wasn’t fully warmed up yet when she had to skate. Pretty normal as it takes time to get used to new ice.

So excited to see how her SP has progressed since IDF. She was a little off her music there in the first part and had to rush to catch up for the 2nd half. I hope they’ve made some little adjustments so she doesn’t have to rush this time.

 

[sclloyd]

The 3A+3T is just for practise fun. If she puts it into her FS, it will even lower her BV by almost 1 point...

Oh I was totally just thinking making her 3A+2T a 3A+3T but I didn’t even consider the repetition rules. Oops.

 

[macy]

has anyone heard any updates on the stalker guy? will he be attending NHK?

 

[waltzjump2]

Every single competition it’s something new from her and I love it! With the 4S on the planned elements for Kihira, do you think she’d throw in the 3A+3T for an edge if her SP score is lower? Kihira always has pretty high component scores and Aliona’s have been painfully low so I feel like she may be a bigger competitor than initially thought. Anyone have the technical totals for the two? Not that it guarantees Rika will actually land the 4S, which apparently from practice is still iffy, but, I’m getting nervous!

My math could be wrong, but I added up BV of only the jumps and yeah, with the 4S, Rika’s total is 5.4 points higher

Aliona (SP 23.4 + FS 51 = 74.4 total)
Rika (SP 22.4 + FS 57.4 = 79.8 total)

Rika doesn’t have a 3Lz in the short, hence lower jump BV. (I might make a spreadsheet later with other skaters as well to check my math lol)

edit: my math was wrong Rikira's BV is 80.4 total and Aliona's is 74.4 (I'm pretty sure?) -- but also this is just planned elements after all

 

[Manitou]

This oncoming duel is going to be really fascinating, provided they both execute it 100%. And I hope that will really happen. Probably the most awaited duel so far this season.

 

[Batsuchan]

Sigh, I think the second group for the ladies practice just started, but I haven't been able to find a livestream so far... :sad21:
Also not seeing any tweets about her either, so maybe there is no livestream. We might just have to wait for some actual practice reports from people in the arena...

In the meantime, here's a comment from someone who was actually in the arena for Thursday's practice:
https://twitter.com/THEWORLD1889/status/1197441635027546113?s=03
"Watching live is totally different from watching on a screen after all. Kostornaia's skating was so good, it was way above the level I imagined. It was like, 'how many years has she been a senior?'" [i.e. she doesn't look like she just moved up from juniors] :agree:

 

[Batsuchan]

Still no tweets about practice, oh well! Here are some pictures of a fan who made a teddy bear with Aliona's FS costume for her!
https://twitter.com/ma_pooh_figure/status/1197509876227796993?s=03
How cute!

 

[Batsuchan]

Gotta love Japan! There's a whole news article devoted to how she did in practice (with one pic):
https://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20191122-11220082-sph-spo

Apparently she landed her 3A and had a clean run-through of her SP!!

She skates 3rd in the second group, which I think is the latest she could skate based on her world standing, so hopefully the judges won't have any reason to hold down her PCS. :yes:

I think Aliona was really nervous before the SP in IDF because she was trying the 3A in the short for the first time, and it showed in her performance. Since she basically landed it there, and her 3A seems to have improved based on the practice video, I really hope she can go out and skate her SP sublimely with a beautiful, effortless 3A!!

Fly, angel, FLY!!

 

[SkateSkates]

Glad to hear Aliona had a good practice! I couldn’t find a live stream today either so I was worried about how she was doing.

Really looking forward to seeing her SP now that she’s had more time with the 3A layout. I hope she can nail all her elements this time and challenge for the WR!

 

[Batsuchan]

Photos from practice today:
https://www.nikkansports.com/sports/photonews/photonews_nsInc_201911220000223-18.html
https://twitter.com/chunichiphoto/status/1197701579907821568

So Aliona skates at like 4am my time, and I don't really want to watch live, but I also kinda feel like I will be so nervous about Aliona that I won't be able to sleep.

So maybe you'll see me here in a few hours, I dunno!

I said it yesterday, but I'll say it again--I'm so glad Eteri is there with Aliona. And also Daniil, since he's been there for all of Aliona's competitions this season, and it's clear they have a good relationship. :agree:

Slay, baby, SLAAAAYYYY!!!

 

[Batsuchan]

3A+3T from today's SP practice:
https://twitter.com/nwcgold2019/status/1197740749678243840

She must be quite comfortable with the 3A now if she's regularly practicing combos like this.

Off to nap for a bit now...

 

[Nord Stream 2]

��Yuzuru Hanyu NHKTrophy 2015
��Alena Kostornaya FinlandiaTrophy 2019

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3mAUzCFZE7/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading

 

[Arbitrary]

Impossible scores!

 

[Batsuchan]

Our angel was sublime today!!!! And flew away with her scores!!! :hap57:

That was totally worth me getting up in the middle of the night!!

I was really hoping that she'd get a WR score at NHK Trophy, but I didn't want to write it for fear of jinxing her, and look, she went and did it!!

Molodets! Bravo!! That's all I can say!!

 

[Vemvane]

What a magnificent skate! Aliona is simply amazing to watch on the ice - she is incredibly fast, her jumps are so big and so secure (though I won't deny that I still get nervous until all the jumping passes are complete), and her performance and musicality are beautiful. It struck me that her style is really distinctive, and I think it's the openness of her upper body, as she has exquisite posture; it was particularly noticeable when she went for her 3A today, as she is so upright going into it. People who know more about skating than I do, would that imply she is jumping mostly from her legs to get the height she needs, and relying less on her upper body to snap into rotation quickly? (I know nothing about technique, and am always glad to learn.)

Anyway, congratulations to Aliona on a beautiful clean performance and that breathtaking score!