Alena Kostornaia | Page 194 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

I agree with many of you that Aliona can shine in press event.
Aliona has the potential to do everything she wants, commanding the press room and manipulating (don't take the word in a negative way) the journalists and the public at home.
She just need to be confident enough to be herself.

Look at this https://www.instagram.com/tv/B59bfYOokgj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
this https://www.instagram.com/tv/B5xN-nyIHfL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
ot this https://www.instagram.com/p/B5PzIWRIZQX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Anna for example will probably be "perfect" but also predictable.
A confident Aliona can suprise tha audience and be funny and sassy in a way that will charm the press and the viewers.
 
Aliona needs to do press conferences by herself once in a while and not always be with Sasha and Anna. She would be more interested then.After she went to the next gold medal I do not want to see her at a press conference with Sasha on one side and Anna on the other. That can be very awkward especially for the two that did not win the gold. Which ever one of these three amazing young ladies ones Europeans and worlds gets to do the press conference all by themselves.
 
Scott512 said:
Aliona needs to do press conferences by herself once in a while and not always be with Sasha and Anna. She would be more interested then.After she went to the next gold medal I do not want to see her at a press conference with Sasha on one side and Anna on the other. That can be very awkward especially for the two that did not win the gold. Which ever one of these three amazing young ladies ones Europeans and worlds gets to do the press conference all by themselves.
Click to expand...

It's not a choice: it's the protocol to have a conference with the podium
 
McBibus said:
It's not a choice: it's the protocol to have a conference with the podium
Click to expand...
Well that needs to change especially in this situation because the girls are so close personally and professionally. I hope they aren’t getting tired of seeing each other every time they turn around. Lol. When your toughest competitor are the girls and train with every day it has to be very hard. It eventually took a toll on Zhenya and Alina. I hope the same doesn’t happen with these three awesome athletes. But If it happens it’s OK because this is sports and this is life.

I think one of the reasons I am on edge about some of this is because I’ve noticed a couple posters in the Russian ladies thread taking shots at Aliona like she has a big ego or something. I can’t stand that. She is very tiny but has a big personality and big star power. I can tell because I’ve seen a lot of stars come and go. Aliona probably realizes she is the most beautiful skater and the best tehnically as well. But she doesnt act like it. I think becuse Anna is so reserved people take Alionas more outgoing and bubbly personality the wrong way. Thats on them not Alena.
 
Scott512 said:
Well that needs to change especially in this situation because the girls are so close personally and professionally. I hope they aren’t getting tired of seeing each other every time they turn around. Lol. When your toughest competitor are the girls and train with every day it has to be very hard. It eventually took a toll on Zhenya and Alina. I hope the same doesn’t happen with these three awesome athletes. But If it happens it’s OK because this is sports and this is life.

I think one of the reasons I am on edge about some of this is because I’ve noticed a couple posters in the Russian ladies thread taking shots at Aliona like she has a big ego or something. I can’t stand that. She is very tiny but has a big personality and big star power. I can tell because I’ve seen a lot of stars come and go. Aliona probably realizes she is the most beautiful skater and the best tehnically as well. But she doesnt act like it. I think becuse Anna is so reserved people take Alionas more outgoing and bubbly personality the wrong way. Thats on them not Alena.
Click to expand...

I also fear the press pushing them one against the other.
I fear we can count on it.

They are so close for two reasons I think:

1 - They're very differen both on and off the ice.
This gave each one a reason to look at the other two with admiration for something and theyr personalities are complementary.
Anna is the brain (or the voice of common sense) the one whose opinion is always regardes and has the ability to calmly look at things from another angle and
Aliona is the heart: the one who make always sure there is a good reason to travel togheter and makes sure it will not be boring.
Sasha is the legs: when the other may call it a day is the one that alwats says "Come let's reach that tree down there before camping.

2- Great plause on Eteri for that: she taught the girl to look at themself and how good they performed.
You did not skated well it's bad even if you won because you opened the chance for someone not so good as you to beat you
You skated weel it's ok even if you lost. You did your best and now we will train again to raise your potential

I agree on the star potential. She has it all.
Aliona has personality and allure not inflated ego.

Every time you read something about her being spoiled ot other insinuations just remenber that she was so kind to take my pic with Liza with a smile like the most natural action.
If you did not read my post The-Sweetest-Thing do it and tell me if this is a girl with diva attitude, or a bad person like I read in some press.
One word for those insinuations: Bull**** :mad:
 
McBibus said:
I also fear the press pushing them one against the other.
I fear we can count on it.

They are so close for two reasons I think:

1 - They're very differen both on and off the ice.
This gave each one a reason to look at the other two with admiration for something and theyr personalities are complementary.
Anna is the brain (or the voice of common sense) the one whose opinion is always regardes and has the ability to calmly look at things from another angle and
Aliona is the heart: the one who make always sure there is a good reason to travel togheter and makes sure it will not be boring.
Sasha is the legs: when the other may call it a day is the one that alwats says "Come let's reach that tree down there before camping.

2- Great plause on Eteri for that: she taught the girl to look at themself and how good they performed.
You did not skated well it's bad even if you won because you opened the chance for someone not so good as you to beat you
You skated weel it's ok even if you lost. You did your best and now we will train again to raise your potential

I agree on the star potential. She has it all.
Aliona has personality and allure not inflated ego.

Every time you read something about her being spoiled ot other insinuations just remenber that she was so kind to take my pic with Liza with a smile like the most natural action.
If you did not read my post The-Sweetest-Thing do it and tell me if this is a girl with diva attitude, or a bad person like I read in some press.
One word for those insinuations: Bull**** :mad:
Click to expand...
I agree with every word. Like you I am somewhat concerned that the media will try to drive a wedge between these three amazing girls. All they can be is themselves and do the best they can. They are potential is off the charts awesome. Anna is the most levelheaded and perfect of the three. Alyona is the heart like you said. Sasha is the Supergirl kind of a freak of nature. They get along so well it’s so wonderful to see you but I do wonder if the media will drive a wedge between themJust to get at their coach.

Thank you for that report on meeting Alyona and the other skaters. It was wonderful to read the report and I’m glad you had such a good time and everyone was nice. Alyona is definitely not a diva as a diva attitude. To me she is the sweetest thing like your title said. If she has some evil angel and her that’s OK. ;)
 
So, apparently the Japanese fans on Twitter now know that that horrible Japanese article got translated into Russian, and some of them are mortified, so they started a hashtag #日本はコストルナヤ選手が大好き, which basically means "Japan loves Kostornaia," to show their support.

You can see their posts here:
https://twitter.com/hashtag/日本はコストルナヤ選手が大好き?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash :love:

**

On an unrelated note, Aliona has almost 90K followers on Instagram now! :eeking:

I remember back at the beginning of the season, she had around 30-35K followers, and then by NHK it was 50K, and then 60K by GPF, and now, almost 90K! :eek: :agree:

As a very greedy fan, I do wish she would post more! :biggrin: But I understand, as she said herself, she's not an Instagram model...yet. :)
 
McBibus said:
I also fear the press pushing them one against the other.
I fear we can count on it.

They are so close for two reasons I think:

1 - They're very differen both on and off the ice.
This gave each one a reason to look at the other two with admiration for something and theyr personalities are complementary.
Anna is the brain (or the voice of common sense) the one whose opinion is always regardes and has the ability to calmly look at things from another angle and
Aliona is the heart: the one who make always sure there is a good reason to travel togheter and makes sure it will not be boring.
Sasha is the legs: when the other may call it a day is the one that alwats says "Come let's reach that tree down there before camping.

2- Great plause on Eteri for that: she taught the girl to look at themself and how good they performed.
You did not skated well it's bad even if you won because you opened the chance for someone not so good as you to beat you
You skated weel it's ok even if you lost. You did your best and now we will train again to raise your potential
Click to expand...

I think your assessment of them is spot on and I was going to comment something similar.

Another commenter mentioned Aliona’s negative image in Japan may prevent endorsements but I think she was already limited in that regard anyways. Anna has a pretty large Japanese fan base so if I was going to suggest anyone who might get Japanese endorsements it would be her. She’s also very similar to Alina— quiet and always polite and conscientious about what she says. There is nothing controversial about her. She fits the image the Japanese seem to like.

I haven’t quite yet been able to place Sasha. She seems like she hasn’t yet found her place, or that she feels she doesn’t necessarily deserve it. This season, she’s fallen in basically all her competitions, so even when she wins I don’t see her personality exposed. She was also competing against Zhenya whom she dearly looks up to so she may feel like she shouldn’t be completely celebratory.

But I think in both of these instances, we see why Aliona is different. She was able to fully enjoy her victory’s over Zagitova while still commending her teammate for her athleticism and performances. She brought out the personality of Mariah Bell, and the moment with the medal mix up made her really well liked in Russia despite the 70 year rivalry between the two nations. She pulled a mic fight from Sasha despite that we rarely see her being spontaneous.

Aliona seems to me very, dare I say it, American. She is friendly, loud, and always joking around. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind but she is careful— when she does speak it is intelligent. She is hardly unafraid to be herself. On an international platform, skating to Twilight and toting super bright unicorns around may be immature, but the fun and joy she gets from such things exposes her youth and makes them enjoyable in ways that other people, not fully committed to the image or the performances, would make seem cheap. And she gets away with it because there is such complexity. To me, her angel vs vampire performances perfectly reflect *her*. She is able to portray both characters well, but more so they seem genuine, and it makes it apparent that she isn’t a one dimensional person.

To me, this makes her able to eclipse Japanese marketing and really, if she plays her cards right, become an international figure in athletics. I think she has the capacity to be popular in the west, in Europe and the US and get endorsements for more western companies and products in the way that even Zhenya hasn’t necessarily been able to do. This is all very long term though, and largely depends on the Olympic season as well.

And you are totally on point about the reactions of the girls— be happy when you perform your best, not just for winning.

All of this culminates into the reactions we got from Aliona and Sasha at Nationals. Perhaps, because Aliona’s few mistakes weren’t near as notable as Sasha’s falls people considered her disappointment unwarranted or the casual fans just didn’t understand then which would contribute to the reactions that she was arrogant and bitter over her loss. But, as another person said, it is easy to criticize the person when you cannot criticize the skating.
 
Last edited:
sclloyd said:
To me, this makes her able to eclipse Japanese marketing and really, if she plays her cards right, become an international figure in athletics. I think she has the capacity to be popular in the west, in Europe and the US and get endorsements for more western companies and products in the way that even Zhenya hasn’t necessarily been able to do. This is all very long term though, and largely depends on the Olympic season as well.
Click to expand...

Speaking of endorsements, I mentioned earlier (before Nationals) that I would love to see Aliona as a face of a major luxury brand like Dior or Louis Vuitton. :yes:

And it looks like a Japanese fan had the same idea but made some lovely "ads" featuring our girl:
https://twitter.com/L_oveee/status/1214554732422844417?s=03 :biggrin: :love:

***

Flying vampire!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7QpKTuJ4C4/
Amazing height! :eek:
 
Batsuchan said:
On an unrelated note, Aliona has almost 90K followers on Instagram now! :eeking:

I remember back at the beginning of the season, she had around 30-35K followers, and then by NHK it was 50K, and then 60K by GPF, and now, almost 90K! :eek: :agree:

As a very greedy fan, I do wish she would post more! :biggrin: But I understand, as she said herself, she's not an Instagram model...yet. :)
Click to expand...

90K is nothing for her.
She could easily reach the million mark if she start using the platform.
More if she decides to weaponize it (but that would be out of scope for now)
 
Batsuchan said:
Speaking of endorsements, I mentioned earlier (before Nationals) that I would love to see Aliona as a face of a major luxury brand like Dior or Louis Vuitton. :yes:

And it looks like a Japanese fan had the same idea but made some lovely "ads" featuring our girl:
https://twitter.com/L_oveee/status/1214554732422844417?s=03 :biggrin: :love:

***

Flying vampire!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7QpKTuJ4C4/
Amazing height! :eek:
Click to expand...

They will come.
Actually I'm wondering if she has some kind of agreement with Guess.
If not she should stop wearing their things (at least those immediately recognizable)
She has market value.


On the jump: she's really explosive but look at the perfection of the posture. This could go in a flying manual :agree:
What is really impressive on her is the effortless acceleration. One second she's spinning or dancing on the spot, two seconds later she bolts in front of you at light speed without you could notice her pushing hard. All the muscle effort perfectly shadowed by grace and elegance
 
So in recent days (leading up to Euros), a lot of Russian figure skating experts have weighed in, and they have said very nice things about Aliona! :agree:

(But, judging from the comments on sports.ru etc, the more the experts praise Aliona, the more people want to root against her... :rolleye: Yes, I know, I know, I shouldn't read these comments... Sigh...)

1) Alexander Volkov (coach)
https://rsport.ria.ru/20200113/1563362264.html
GoogleTranslate:
“In the women's tournament, everything is clear before the start - there will be three figure skaters of Eteri, Shcherbakova, Trusova and Kostornaya on the podium. It’s not clear who will win the European Championship. But all three athletes are worthy of the title. Of course, I like Kostornaya most of all, she ( skating) is already an adult, Sasha and Anya are still children on the ice. The jumps of all three are very beautiful, "said Volkov.
Click to expand...

If I recall correctly, Volkov used to be Sasha's coach (??), and he said that Aliona wouldn't do triple axels...? :confused: I think that was him, but I could be wrong.

2) Konstantin Menshov (retired skater):
https://rsport.ria.ru/20200113/1563375904.html
GoogleTranslate:
“The girls, of course, will compete with each other, just nobody can compete with them at the European Championships,” Menshov said over the phone. “Even theoretically no one is able to get close to them. We will enjoy the struggle of our girls, perhaps some complications will be before the World Cup. Maybe Kostornaya (will enhance the content)? I would really like to see a quad performed by Kostornaya. It would be a bomb! "
Click to expand...

3) Inna Goncharenko (former coach)
https://rsport.ria.ru/20200114/1563416381.html
GoogleTranslate:
“Of course, the competition will only be between our three girls, and they can eventually change places as they like,” Goncharenko said over the phone. “I prefer Kostornaya because of skating and beauty. This is my personal perception. Although in the free program at the Russian championship Shcherbakova simply conquered me. Trusova, naturally, well done, but I'm talking about my preferences."
Click to expand...

Her thoughts on Aliona and a possible quad (with some editing by be):
The coach of the figure skaters Daniil Gleichengauz said that Kostornaya, who had not yet shown the quadruple for the competition, began to master the quad salchow. “The question is - how appropriate is it right now?” The agency’s interlocutor [Goncharenko] began to reason. “If you put in a quad in the near future and open this jumping race, then, of course, Alena’s program will lose in the presentation. At the moment, I don’t see the point of doing this.”
“If Kostornaya perfectly rolls her programs, then she looks winning. True, she didn’t manage to perform cleanly at the Russian championship. She was trembling on the road. I know what kind of energy she can give out, but there she held herself, and that was visible,” Goncharenko noted. “When she is nervous, she restrains her emotions, which is why a couple of landings were not the most “plus.” In my opinion, Alena should start working on quadruple after the summer camp, and now she needs to skate programs to achieve maximum components, and this will be better. "
Click to expand...

Personally, I think there has been too little time for Aliona to completely change her FS content to include a quad, so I think it would be unlikely at Euros... :yes: But I do think she will try to do it for Worlds, especially if Sasha and/or Anna have perfected their triple axels.

I do agree that if Aliona got a quad, it would be huge and glorious! :eek: A definite bomb! :yes:
 
Hmm...but wouldn't it benefit Aliona to try the quad at Europeans, as the top 3 are most likely going to be the 3As? Worlds is more important, and she doesn't have any competitions between Euros and Worlds to get used to the quad in the freeskate [emoji848]
 
“When she is nervous, she restrains her emotions"
Click to expand...

Yep: that's definitely her.
This links with the press conference discussion we had some days ago.
Once again Aliona is Aliona on and off the ice, while some press keeps writing she is some king of Jakill and Hyde.

BTW, for those like Batsuchan that reads sport.ru:
What is there to not like in a girl like Aliona (or Anna or Sasha)?
Seems like sheer idiocy.
 
McBibus said:
Yep: that's definitely her.
This links with the press conference discussion we had some days ago.
Once again Aliona is Aliona on and off the ice, while some press keeps writing she is some king of Jakill and Hyde.

BTW, for those like Batsuchan that reads sport.ru:
What is there to not like in a girl like Aliona (or Anna or Sasha)?
Seems like sheer idiocy.
Click to expand...
There is a lot of amateur and professional trolls cheating traffic. There are also some Tutberidze team haters. Some of them are Medvedeva's diehard fans and hate everybody who is from Khrustalny, some are from Peterburg and hate everybody who is from Moscow, some are from Ukraine and hate everybody who is from Russia. It is a web dumpster.
 
Batsuchan said:
If I recall correctly, Volkov used to be Sasha's coach (??), and he said that Aliona wouldn't do triple axels...? :confused: I think that was him, but I could be wrong.
Click to expand...

Yes, it's him. He wasn't particularly happy with the progress Sasha made since she moved to Eteri.
 
The good news is Aliona and the rest of the girls she trains with seem to be focused on praise from only their team and the rest doesn’t matter. I hope they aren’t tempted to read all these articles from experts and so called experts comparing them or hyping one up to tear another down. It will only become more and more difficult.
 
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