Alena Kostornaia | Page 293 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

Some users in the RLT annoy me to no end... At this point, I think that they dislike Aliona as a person more than they dislike her as a skater. Constantly painting her as a rude brat, using every chance they get to bring her down in one way or another in completely irrelevant discussions, saying her skating skills are overrated, saying that she's slow etc. They raise hell if others criticize their favorites, but for some reason they have no problem constantly saying these things about Aliona. No signs of being objective, especially when it comes to critiquing her skating. Now the same users are saying that Eteri accepting Aliona would disturb Anna's preparation for Worlds. Uh, first of all, I really doubt that it would, considering Anna is team Eteri's only bet to win a Worlds gold this season and there's only a few weeks left until Worlds. Secondly, even if it could potentially bother Anna, why is that Aliona's problem? She has every right to pursue whatever paths she believes would help her in her skating, which is a point I feel many users miss. It's not on Aliona to act in a way so that her competitors don't have to compromise.

I just hope Eteri says yes so that Aliona isn't left without a coach at this point. And I hope that she has a much better season next year.
 
disliking and judging a person whom one doesn't even know is a sign of deep frustration, people do this to non-vips all the time, now they simply voice it to wider audiences using famous targets and perhaps they feel vindicated doing so. Aliona is beautiful and admired for her enchanting skating, she would be targeted just for this.
Internet bullies are not admired by anyone. And this eternal cowardice of bashing people who can't defend themselves is one of the things that make this world ugly.
We don't know anything about this sport, we only see its surface.
I obviously can't claim to know Aliona but being a very emotional person myself I can empathize, it's sad to read all that distress on her face and from my experience I know that most of the times it's the adults who are at fault.
Tutberidze and Plushenko are very ambitious and perhaps arrogant coaches who have said and done questionable things in the past, Aliona is just a kid.
Those who are now gloating because of her hardships don't deserve any attention.
 
Even when she's feeling this unwell Aliona did such a good job in the Finals. Her 3F-3T in the FS was the best I've seen from her this season. The jumps and spins are still there. The -Eu- combination is where you most see the difficulty with rotation speed. But I hope it won't take too long to improve. If she's performing like this when her coach says she shouldn't have even stepped on the ice, it isn't the worst thing in the world.

Eteri is an absolute professional with her skaters so I don't see her actively disadvantaging Aliona in any way. But day-to-day she'll be working with Daniil/Dudakov. If they don't feel like working with her and don't have the motivation to put in the effort when they are, I don't think they can be blamed.

But the question then is, will she get given good programs and good music? Will they spend as much time or go beyond on helping her develop her jumps and regain the 3A or more? In the end, however it is, Aliona will be in zero position to voice if she's upset or say anything at all and they know this.
 
This is a smart move on Aliona’s part. Clearly she missed Tut’s discipline along with the competition from other Sambo skaters. I fully expect her to gain the athletic explosiveness she so desperately needs.
 
DizzyFrenchie said:
Exactly. She reminded me her "elder sister" Alina Zagitova at Worlds 2018. Everything was wrong about her, physically and emotionally, yet she didn't give up and she was 5th and given the circumstances, this was a victory (and Carolina Kostner got Worlds Bronze at 29, that was great and she wouldn't have had it otherwise)*. It is just the same with this competition for Aliona Kostornaia. And I would say, it was really necessary that she should go on, for her mental strength.

Someone compared her situation with Anna Shcherbakova's, but it has nothing to do. From what I understand (from automatic translations so it may be wrong) the latter got CoViD rather early, and with little symptoms (how she went on skating while testing positive, if she did, I don't know but she doesn't appear to have had an off-ice period then), but later she had a pneumonia; she was not completely OK at Nationals but she had had only 5 days off-ice, and from what I read, 5 days can be recovered rather fast. Aliona Kostornaia went to the same camp on May 26th after the first confinement, but then, and without having recovered her 3A by the way, she had a new off-ice period between July 17th and August 2d (roughly), which is, from what I read several times, just the duration from which everything have to be re-learned from scratch. Then she recovered partly, had her 3A back (not ready for comp' at Rostelecom Cup though), then she had CoViD and had a new 2-week off-ice period until December 2d, but then she still had after-effects and on top of that, a sore throat lately, what we can wonder is how she managed to skate so well in spite of all that.
A wretched season for her in a wretched season overall, but if she is not too weary from it, if on the contrary she is still in fighting mood, she may emerge absolutely wonderful next season, a "super-Aliona".

As to her changing both programs so late, I guess it was demanded by the Federation? (I mean, "advised"...)
Their advice was attended to, but then, others were overscored, and she was scored rather severely.

Her dresses are not wonderful, but they are beautiful and suit her well, which I couldn't say of many dresses in this championship.

* EDIT : Thank you @Fluture ! I really thought Carolina Kostner had medalled at Worlds 2018, I don't know why.
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Agree with all of this, except Anna had a fever for a month - by her own words. And she still had at at RusNats and hadn't started doing runthroughs at the time. (Essentially her first runthrough was RusNats). So, that's definitely not little symptoms. Anna also didn't get all her jumps back even before getting pneumonia. I think it was similar, Aliona was just injured even before and Anna's timeline was earlier - Anna missed Rostelecom because of pneumonia whereas that's where Aliona caught COVID. Also, with Aliona they were playing catch up even more right from the start - she was injured, changed coaches, etc. That's more to have to recover from.

However, I actually DID thing of Anna during Aliona's courageous skate, not in the sense of who was more sick, or actually anything like that, but in the sense that both girls made me cry. (Sasha did too - I knew she was hurt but she was stunning too!) Both took tremendous courage to do what they did and both produced art on ice and that was beautiful! Aliona, despite not performing to expectations was stunning here!!! :) And I did see glimpses of the old Aliona. And hopefully she comes back to form for next year! :) I've missed her <3
 
bouncy said:
I think the judges were lenient with her on the GOEs (maybe with some potential q calls as well) but I agree Aliona was not the only one they gave a pass to.

She had her 3A back once this season? Oh I didn't know! I really wish the whole Covid thing didn't happen so that she could continue to work on it until she reclaims it. I'm going to be completely honest here - this string of misfortune has left me with endless bitterness and angst. Her life has turned upside down from the day Worlds 2020 got canceled, though canceled for good.
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Yeah, it was back at about 20% before Rostelecom. So not back to competition but she was at least landing it occasionally in practice.
 
Fluture said:
Kostner didn‘t win Bronze at 2018 Worlds, though, I remember that because I was very, very heardbroken about it. Osmond, Higuchi and Miyahara were the podium back then.

As for the dress: I LOVE the SP one. Fire on ice. Fiery emotions and icy mind, that‘s her. If she manages to skate this program cleanly and with full energy, it can be brilliant. Same for the FS, although I‘m neutral towards the dress there. Beautiful but nothing too spectacular. Also: Nothing what she did today or yesterday in terms of choreography comes close to what those programs are supposed to be like. She‘s said it herself - she was focused on landing her jumps.

As for the result: It sucks, of course. After last season it sucks especially. And this is the THIRD Worlds in a row she‘s missing through no fault of her own (qualified to JWC in 2019 - injury, 2020 WC - canceled, 2021 - COVID hampered her chances). So, nothing positive about that.

But maybe there is one good thing about all this: Aliona is stubborn. Remember when they told her she‘d always be a top 10 skater at best? She wanted to win even more. Remember when they told her that without ultra-c, they‘d send her back to juniors? She recovered the 3A. Maybe she‘ll look at this 6th place here and it will give her just the motivation she needs.

It won‘t be easy, in fact, at her age and with the way a certain system has transformed the sport, it might almost be a mission impossible. But it‘s not over until it‘s over and even if it‘s not the Olympics - there‘s other ways to earn glory in sports.
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OOH! I LOVE that "fire on ice" thought!!

And agreed! You don't get to be where she was and even where she is without being stubborn and determined! I don't understand people who say she doesn't want it enough - like what?? You can just look at her (or anyone) and KNOW she does!! You can't get to this level without determination and sacrifice!! Talent obviously plays a role but then it's hard work and determination!!

And it's not over until the fat lady sings!
 
melsh said:
disliking and judging a person whom one doesn't even know is a sign of deep frustration, people do this to non-vips all the time, now they simply voice it to wider audiences using famous targets and perhaps they feel vindicated doing so. Aliona is beautiful and admired for her enchanting skating, she would be targeted just for this.
Internet bullies are not admired by anyone. And this eternal cowardice of bashing people who can't defend themselves is one of the things that make this world ugly.
We don't know anything about this sport, we only see its surface.
I obviously can't claim to know Aliona but being a very emotional person myself I can empathize, it's sad to read all that distress on her face and from my experience I know that most of the times it's the adults who are at fault.
Tutberidze and Plushenko are very ambitious and perhaps arrogant coaches who have said and done questionable things in the past, Aliona is just a kid.
Those who are now gloating because of her hardships don't deserve any attention.
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And they are gloating. But if EG and Aliona are good with each other that's fine with me.

I say being around and on the ice with other tremendous skaters everyday will help.

And for those wanting Aliona to publicly apologize like TAT they can get lost.TAT
actually thanks Aliona should apologize to the entire country of Russia. Lol. TAT should
apologize to Alina and the entire country of Russia for the crap she put the then 15 year old Olympic champion through after the Olympics.
 
What type of Olympic programs do you guys hope Aliona will get at Sambo? I know this talk is a little premature and they haven’t given a definite answer of Aliona’s return, so let’s just pretend that they already have accepted her back... what music would suit her and be a good Olympic program? What dress? Honestly, just trying to distract myself from the Russian skating drama haha

For me, I really hope Aliona could persuade them to let her keep the Russian cup free for next year. I really liked her Vivaldi and Billie Eilish as well (unpopular opinion — I think lol) but I think they would definitely give her a new short, though Vivaldi would also go over well. But, no way would they allow her to keep two (unless they have Daniil change stuff...which then...yeah)
 
Skatefan15 said:
What type of Olympic programs do you guys hope Aliona will get at Sambo? I know this talk is a little premature and they haven’t given a definite answer of Aliona’s return, so let’s just pretend that they already have accepted her back... what music would suit her and be a good Olympic program? What dress? Honestly, just trying to distract myself from the Russian skating drama haha

For me, I really hope Aliona could persuade them to let her keep the Russian cup free for next year. I really liked her Vivaldi and Billie Eilish as well (unpopular opinion — I think lol) but I think they would definitely give her a new short, though Vivaldi would also go over well. But, no way would they allow her to keep two (unless they have Daniil change stuff...which then...yeah)
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I liked her Billie Eilish too! Haha. But mostly I hope she skates to what she wants or at least likes (within reason.) I think it'll be easier to get back into shape with programs she likes and is passionate about, and that will translate to how she interprets and performs them - which was always part of her appeal and charm. She can make anything look good (when in form) but when she likes something, that's where she transcends.
 
sclloyd said:
While taking certain vitamins can reduce the effects of covid, it should also be noted that it tends to effect those with high cortisol levels more severely. This is why cases in marathon runners were so severe, and why there was initial panic. “Look, these incredibly young and healthy individuals are winding up in the ICU, we must shut everything down”. Top athletes are probably MORE likely to have more severe cases and more likely to notice their symptoms long term because of their training environment which increases cortisol in the body as all endurance sports do AND because they immediately jump back into a training routine that the regular individual does not. Saying she has a sore throat weeks after because she has a poor diet is an extreme oversimplification. Zhenya is meticulous about her diet but still was in the hospital with covid symptoms. It happens, you get exposed to a higher viral load initially, you have had a rough week of conditioning training, among how many other little things and sometimes it is simply not your fault.
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I didn't know athletes had (or rather kept) high cortisol levels. That's very interesting, but also worrying considering how many people view "bubbles" as a sort of magic formula rather than organised ways in and out, things permitted or not etc.
As to Evgenia Medvedeva, I read she said rather recently, that she was at hospital for a "minor" surgery, and caught it there, not the other way.
I agree about the initial viral load : one mere virus can suffice in extreme case, but usually the infection comes with numbers. (This being said, and with the accrued affinity of the new variants to ACE2 receptors, the numbers making one given person ill may become much lower.)
I cannot see any fault on her part anyway.
 
chasingneverland said:
Agree with all of this, except Anna had a fever for a month - by her own words. And she still had at at RusNats and hadn't started doing runthroughs at the time. (Essentially her first runthrough was RusNats). So, that's definitely not little symptoms. Anna also didn't get all her jumps back even before getting pneumonia. I think it was similar, Aliona was just injured even before and Anna's timeline was earlier - Anna missed Rostelecom because of pneumonia whereas that's where Aliona caught COVID. Also, with Aliona they were playing catch up even more right from the start - she was injured, changed coaches, etc. That's more to have to recover from.

However, I actually DID thing of Anna during Aliona's courageous skate, not in the sense of who was more sick, or actually anything like that, but in the sense that both girls made me cry. (Sasha did too - I knew she was hurt but she was stunning too!) Both took tremendous courage to do what they did and both produced art on ice and that was beautiful! Aliona, despite not performing to expectations was stunning here!!! :) And I did see glimpses of the old Aliona. And hopefully she comes back to form for next year! :) I've missed her <3
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Actually I refuse to watch Anna Shcherbakova's and Alexandra Trusova's skates, because one was so ill and the other one injured, and I would feel too guilty. (The same with Yuzuru Hanyu's after the accident at Cup of China 2014 by the way.)
Waiting for Worlds!
 
chasingneverland said:
I liked her Billie Eilish too! Haha. But mostly I hope she skates to what she wants or at least likes (within reason.) I think it'll be easier to get back into shape with programs she likes and is passionate about, and that will translate to how she interprets and performs them - which was always part of her appeal and charm. She can make anything look good (when in form) but when she likes something, that's where she transcends.
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I agree! Her loving the music/program is what really made me enjoy her Billie Eilish program (even though Billie is already my favorite musician). She really came alive during the step sequence. Overall, she’s pretty versatile which is really helpful no matter what music she gets (a tango could be fun👀) One thing I really hope about her switching back is that they don’t bring back the programs from last year summer that she *allegedly* did not like. I highly doubt they would do that, but you never know what to expect with skating, especially lately lol.

Kind of random, but I hope we can see her Billie Eilish program as an exhibition or something!
 
Skatefan15 said:
I agree! Her loving the music/program is what really made me enjoy her Billie Eilish program (even though Billie is already my favorite musician). She really came alive during the step sequence. Overall, she’s pretty versatile which is really helpful no matter what music she gets (a tango could be fun👀) One thing I really hope about her switching back is that they don’t bring back the programs from last year summer that she *allegedly* did not like. I highly doubt they would do that, but you never know what to expect with skating, especially lately lol.

Kind of random, but I hope we can see her Billie Eilish program as an exhibition or something!
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I'm worried about that the most too. And I think they could force that on her. But if that was the choice I would just hope she had the chance to select from her old programs instead. Why not bring out the 2018 Tango with a more mature and feminine look? Yuzuru does it all the time.
 
silveruskate said:
I'm worried about that the most too. And I think they could force that on her. But if that was the choice I would just hope she had the chance to select from her old programs instead. Why not bring out the 2018 Tango with a more mature and feminine look? Yuzuru does it all the time.
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Hopefully they don’t, I love Billie Eilish and all but that lovely FS was...not it. We never knew what the short was going to be, but either way that FS is just not Olympic worthy (music wise). She could bring back the 2018 Tango (wasn’t it Adios Nonino?) and fine tune it, and I think the judges liked it as well. Which is why Yuzu kept bringing back programs, they are iconic programs and have served him well. Not exactly similar with Aliona, but I did like that maybe the most of her junior programs. I would love to see her do even more styles, which I’m not sure is possible at Eteri’s but you never know (I would love like a sassy jazz or fiery tango).
 
I don't think they will force anything on her, or on any grown girl.
Yet the choice may be limited by what she is legally entitled to skate or not, and what they can do if there must be new programs.
I don't think they will give her new programs lots of time either.
 
I like that she loves and feels for her Billie Eilish short, and I would be happy to see her reusing it as a show program. However if she wants to be taken more seriously for the Olympics season, she might want a "safer" music choice.
After all this discussion is still premature imo. If she's taken back, Daniil will have the final say. :dbana:
By the way, do we have any official update on her switching back to TT? I'm hoping a YES from Eteri, otherwise she would be in the same boat as Shoma was last season.
 
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