Alina Zagitova | Page 136 | Golden Skate

Alina Zagitova

Philip Hersh @olyphil
Fabio Bianchetti, chair of @ISU_Figure Single & Pair Skating Committee, confirmed to me via email that backloading limit proposal going to ISU Congress in June says no more than 4 of 7 jump passes in 2d half (10% bonus time) of free skate. He said his committee has endorsed it.

This obviously still has to be voted on in June - but this is what they want.

In my opinion this should not even be an issue as far as Alina is concerned. I don't think she needs backloading to win. I think she will be just fine.:agree:

However....
If the ISU is really concerned about "balanced" programs I have a few more suggestions:
1) No more doing your 2 most difficult jumping passes at the beginning of your program back to back - how is that balanced?
2) If you do two "triple-triple" combos - they have to be different - why is it OK to repeat (for example) the 3Lutz-3Toe???
3) Spins should count more than they do now - there should be a much bigger point difference between a beautifully centered spin than a sloppy one that travels. After all - we're always told its not all about the jumps.

So if they're really concerned about "balance"...... yeah I didn't think so

On the positive side....
the "Zagitova Rule" could become as famous as the "Zayak Rule":hap10:
 
This obviously still has to be voted on in June - but this is what they want.

In my opinion this should not even be an issue as far as Alina is concerned. I don't think she needs backloading to win. I think she will be just fine.:agree:

However....
If the ISU is really concerned about "balanced" programs I have a few more suggestions:
1) No more doing your 2 most difficult jumping passes at the beginning of your program back to back - how is that balanced?
2) If you do two "triple-triple" combos - they have to be different - why is it OK to repeat (for example) the 3Lutz-3Toe???
3) Spins should count more than they do now - there should be a much bigger point difference between a beautifully centered spin than a sloppy one that travels. After all - we're always told its not all about the jumps.

So if they're really concerned about "balance"...... yeah I didn't think so

On the positive side....
the "Zagitova Rule" could become as famous as the "Zayak Rule":hap10:

I think making a rule to forbid something that only one person currently does is a form of prejudice, if they think the program is unbalanced they can use PCS to punish this (and reward the others).

I agree with you that with her ample talents this will not create real difficulties for Alina, she has plenty of rabbits to pull out of her hat. I'd like to see them allowing more triple combos (like, say, 4 in a row) then they really wouldn't know what hit them :laugh::laugh:

Figure skating program choreography is always a delicate planning exercise working with how to maximize points using what your skater can actually perform with excellence, and make it all look great and in synch with the music. If Eteri, and Daniil, can dream up a program like Dom Quixote, I'm sure they can dream up something else that will be as amazing a feat as that was. Daniil, I'm counting on you too bro. At least it is not as if this change is unexpected, Eteri even mentions that she thinks it is coming at that TASS post-Worlds press conference.
 
Aah, that's going to hurt Alina. Not so much that she can't win in spite of it, but still will hurt her somewhat. I guess if the ruling passes we're going to see everyone doing the same 3-4 layouts... I really don't get why they want literally everyone to have the same opening element. For the record, that's a good point above about repeating combos, by the way. But that's not even the worst one! The worst is that a skater can do something like:

3Lz-1Lo-3S
2A-3T
2A-3T

At essentially no cost! They are still repeating 3Lz and 3T. A triple-triple combination isn't even needed to get an extremely high BV and all 7 triples. That's just not fair to skaters like Alina who can even do the more difficult combos like 3Lz-3Lo, let alone the simpler 3Lz-3T combos. Indeed, -1Lo-3S isn't nearly as difficult as a true 3-3 combo.

I just hope that there will still be enough ways for a skater to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack...
 
Is it first events where we will see Alina again (exc.Sochi ) ?
or I missed something ?

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2018/19
Oct 19 - Oct 21, 2018 / USA

ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating 2018/19
Oct 26 - Oct 28, 2018 / CANADA
 
If the rules will really change this way, the sport itself will be the thing which would suffer. This will preserve figure skating with little hope for progress. They did something like that in rhytmic gymnastic and now here. Its like if you would forbid sprinters to run at max in the second half of the track. Most programs will look the same, nobody will be forced to add new things, to try to arrange programs new way.
 
If the rule passes, Alina will lose about 1,5 points in base value assuming that she will frontload 2A, 3S, 3F and backload 3Lz-3Lo, 2A-3T, 3F-2T-2Lo and 3Lz. She will make up the points with growing PCS and +5 elements ;)

Implementing that rule is stupid. She is the only senior lady who backloads everything. With that possible rule change I think we will see at least 10 ladies doing the 3/4 program with all combos backloaded. :hslap: Not very exciting.
 
With that possible rule change I think we will see at least 10 ladies doing the 3/4 program with all combos backloaded. :hslap: Not very exciting.

It remembers me one of Tolstoy's poem:

As they made up their mind
the topographers were spoiling
The best paper they could find;

At last they got it right;
But there were three ravines to pass,
And they forgot that quite.
 
Implementing that rule is stupid. She is the only senior lady who backloads everything.

I don't think it's Alina who's the problem, I think they foresee the possibility of backloading becoming the almost-norm for top skaters in the next 4-5 years (esp the young Russians). Either way, I don't think this rule change will affect Alina, who can get really high GOEs :)
 
This obviously still has to be voted on in June - but this is what they want.


If the ISU is really concerned about "balanced" programs I have a few more suggestions:

I totally agree with you. Also, I don't see why they have such a huge problem with jump backloading, but they consider that all the spins executed in the last part of the program, one after the other, lead to a balanced program. And we see that quite often. :palmf:

IMO Alina's program was perfect..musically and artistically speaking it was all balanced and beautifully choreographed. It was just...something else :luv17:
 
Ok, so I finally got around to doing something I've always wanted to see: I synced Alina's Black Swan EX version with her SP version on a side by side video.

Used the Olympic one for the SP version and kept the audio from that (with narrator commentary, because that is just so good I had to keep it there), and I have to say that Alina's consistency is simply amazing, slight changes in some tempos but that is about it. And I can't say slight enough here.

It is on google drive but you can watch the video right there (it has a player) just by clicking on this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGbekaVvpFLGqC0yAAVUzDWrxriGrwMw/view

Enjoy! I sure did.
 
I don't think it's Alina who's the problem, I think they foresee the possibility of backloading becoming the almost-norm for top skaters in the next 4-5 years (esp the young Russians). Either way, I don't think this rule change will affect Alina, who can get really high GOEs :)

I’m pretty new to understanding the rules/strategy, but I’d think the young Russians are a reason to keep the backloading. Anyone attempting quads will likely attempt at the beginning of the program so not all programs will be backloaded. And then backloading gives the rest of the competition a chance to match the technical scores. People who want to try for harder jumps 3A or quads put it in front, the rest of the field will work on executing less hard jumps that are backloaded.
 
Enjoy! I sure did.

Thanks for your work! :pray: She is so serious and focused in her every performance. It doesn't matter if it's a competition or an iceshow, she just impresses the audience every single time. :luv17:
 
Ok, so I finally got around to doing something I've always wanted to see: I synced Alina's Black Swan EX version with her SP version on a side by side video.

Used the Olympic one for the SP version and kept the audio from that (with narrator commentary, because that is just so good I had to keep it there), and I have to say that Alina's consistency is simply amazing, slight changes in some tempos but that is about it. And I can't say slight enough here.

It is on google drive but you can watch the video right there (it has a player) just by clicking on this link https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OGbekaVvpFLGqC0yAAVUzDWrxriGrwMw/view

Enjoy! I sure did.

Good job!!!! Thank you very much !!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Now, we waiting Don Quixote :pray:
 
Thanks for your work! :pray: She is so serious and focused in her every performance. It doesn't matter if it's a competition or an iceshow, she just impresses the audience every single time. :luv17:

She truly is, you can see how consistent she is with the program and how she manages to hit every major beat every single time (no matter what happens in between), and that Olympic SP version is like the Oscar of that Black Swan SP. She got the highest mark ever (still holding up right now) for that performance, so to see how well she carries it into a non-competitive setting is breathtaking.

Alina is on game on mode all the time, there is no "let's just relax and coast a bit", I admire her for that because even when there is no pressure she wants to do her best and perform at the highest level.
 
Good job!!!! Thank you very much !!!:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:
Now, we waiting Don Quixote :pray:

:) I so need to work on Dom Quixote too, have to find two versions worth the side by side, her Olympic team event performance of it may be one candidate (the combo was performed in its usual place) now I just need to think up a comparison version of that program.

Ideally would like it to be a non-competition one, but then the only version of DQ out of competition that I have is the Russian Post-Olympic celebration Ice Show, with that dark, dark setting and confusing psychedelic kaleidoscope like lights all over the ice, but she fell on that I would like two clean ones to see side by side to do justice to all the artistry and hard work she puts into every single skate.

- - - Updated - - -


That's the real wow moment on that video for me. :yahoo:
 
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