Alena Kostornaia | Page 270 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

her gala dress is stunning :love:
I know, right? It's probably my favorite dress of hers at this point. :love:

I really wish she had a darker dress for the FS, too, she looks so good in them! Maybe a dark shade of green would have been lovely. The pink is just... I don't know, it kind of washes her out? She can absolutely rock soft colours but this one doesn't fit her skin tone, imo.
 
This week's performances were already much better in all ways. Yes the rotation is slower, and I would be nervous about how Aliona's physical changes are affecting it IF she was at max fitness levels. But when she's having stamina issues midway through the program, that is clearly another factor.

I didn't want this for her, but getting to track Aliona's improvement 3 more times every 2 weeks since stage 4 is so interesting.

Also that 3F-3T in the FS would have gotten 2 plus points on GOE last year.
 
she is still working to regain fitness and stamina, it takes a while. she has improved noticeably in the last couple weeks since we last saw her. the rotation, spins, magic, all of it will be there when she is fully trained. she is URing because of this as well, although IMO i don't think she deserved them on her flip sal sequence. after watching a couple videos in super slow mo the flip was close and i would have given it a q, but the sal was backwards.
 
After giving it a few times, I started really liking the music before and on her step sequence, when the lady with a beautiful voice starts singing and then this moment at 3:33 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8rp55Fsro4), where she is like "can't hear you!".
thanks.
I didn't rewatch it until now as I though it could be painful, but I gladly enough did it to discuss it here.

Basically my live impressions (that I did never express) are confirmed.

There is enough to fall in love with her skating, meaning the magic is coming back.
... but I'm certainly not the most objective person about that. 😹

The 2A is the only element of her star quality. Others are not there yet.
Her signature 3+3 combo was the better she jumped this year.

The SS is to simple and it MUST be a work in progress: there is no way an half competent coach/choreo will design a non top level SS for Aliona

The 2 < jump from the 3combo may be borderline but you can really see the hook designed by the skate.
Usually her flow is so strong that that kind of landing get masqueraded by the speed she carries out of the jump that will distribute the hook on lot of ice making it look like an elegant half moon. She was probably out of wind already

The last minute is painful to watch: it's like a cyclist on the last ramp of an HC GPM.

In the end she's Aliona, so there is no one else I would rather watch
 
Both the SP and FS have really grown on me. They have the same flaw where the program loses its way in the middle (both before the 3F-3T combination) but I can get behind the rest.

With the FS, I think the beginning isn't as impactful because the jumps aren't there. Last year's definitely had better turns and movements, but with the triple axels there wouldn't be as much of a difference.

And then with the StSq, I actually have begun to think it's really really good but Aliona hasn't been able to perform it close to how it should be yet. I think there's meant to be a movement at every beat of the music but her stamina won't let her. The rest of the ending is perfectly fine too.
 
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