Alina Zagitova

[lesnar001]

RE: The Alina Interview -

She really does show a maturity way beyond her 15 years.

I think she is an "old soul" :luv17:

I think a lot of adults could benefit from her wisdom too.

 

[Finley]

Tried to run the interview with Alina thru google translate - I think most of it makes sense, even if there are some parts that didn't translate correctly.

Thank you so much! The part about the homeless animals.....:sad4: Alina has such a beautiful kind heart....

 

[lusk8]

I bring you all typical Russian staff
Bear -checked , https://goo.gl/images/iu44BS
Balalaika -checked, https://goo.gl/images/jeqk0C
Pot with borscht - checked , https://goo.gl/images/D3RsEd
Hat - checked , https://goo.gl/images/Pu7tkM
Vodka - cheked , https://goo.gl/images/7HMJpu

and will sing a old song
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lnatAZR2u2s

:hap93:

Lesnar001,lusk8, madisson, scott , Ballerina and Flanker also invited )))

Hey guys meet you at the bear....I mean at the bar.

I'll try to make a stroganoff and bring some ice to keep chilling the stoli.

 

[lesnar001]

Bobrova, team captain and Zenja best friend, us usual .. no one word about Alinka

Alina >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Bobrova


Seriously - whose the real "15 year old" in this scenario. Ignoring her accomplishment doesn't change the results sweetie :handw:

 

[lesnar001]

Thank you so much! The part about the homeless animals.....:sad4: Alina has such a beautiful kind heart....

I would be a huge fan of this kid even if she had never skated a day in her life.

Alina Zagitova!!!!

 

[Scott512]

Bobrova, team captain and Zenja best friend, us usual .. no one word about Alinka

What does it mean?

I guess Bobrova has surpassed Alina as Zhenyas BFF. :sad21:

 

[lesnar001]

What does it mean?

I guess Bobrova has surpassed Alina as Zhenyas BFF. :sad21:

Bobrova has been BFF for a while I think....
This interview was following Europeans

I'll give her this - at least she is able to admit she is biased.

http://fs-gossips.com/ekaterina-bobrova-and-dmitri-soloviev-unfortunately-sport-pushes-art-to-the-background/

But the point that EdRoz made - at least I'm 99% sure (I didn't read the article) is that as CAPTAIN of the Russian Olympic skaters - she never even acknowledged Alina's accomplishments. In my book - that's classless. If I am wrong in my reading of this I will apologize - otherwise my opinion stands.

 

[Scott512]

Yes - also IMO a really bad idea.

It's really amazing that this argument keeps popping up - all the more so in a sport whose 1st superstar was Sonia Henie.

The isu is in bad hands. Russohobia is running wild. Sadly.

No way can they do age 17 now because their olympic champion is still ony 15. Anything more than 16 would be horrible. And grandfathering in age 17 over a few years is just wrong and weak.

 

[lesnar001]

The isu is in bad hands. Russohobia is running wild. Sadly.

No way can they do age 17 now because their olympic champion is still ony 15. Anything more than 16 would be horrible. And grandfathering in age 17 over a few years is just wrong and weak.

I don't think its Russophobia. This would affect Japan also. If anything I thinks its the same old knee-jerk reaction to a non-existent problem.

Tara Lipinski's win at age 14 at Worlds scared them - but really how many Taras are out there.

Now its not so much Alina winning at 15 (look at history of young OGM - Oksana, Tara, Sarah, Alina - the freedom from expectations can work magic) but the fear of what is coming with quads, triple axels. Again - how many we talking here right now(not counting practices) - maybe just Alexandra Trusova.

I look at the unintended consequences - and a big glaring one is Mao Asada in 2006. Very dominant that season but was too young for the Olympics - an event she would have been favored to win - doesn't mean she would have won, but she was certainly the best skater that season. A perfect time for her before the weight of expectations, physical problems, a heartbreaking short-program in 2014 kept her from her Olympic dream.

Besides success in Juniors doesn't always translate to Seniors.

Look for example at Caroline Zhang vs Mirai Nagasu. Caroline beat Mirai at Jr. Worlds in 2007 but never really made the transformation to Seniors. Mirai, however, went on to finish 4th in Vancouver at age 16.


edited to say ---- sorry for the off-topic rant - but I needed to vent.

 

[esteticlove]

Alina's IG story: training with her dad! Dream team

 

[Finley]

I would be a huge fan of this kid even if she had never skated a day in her life.

Alina Zagitova!!!!

Me too. If she retires tomorrow and decides to spend the rest of her life in the Dominican Republic sunbathing on a beach I will still follow her and wish her well. She is amazing!

 

[lusk8]

Your whole post.

I agree with you, they are overthinking this issue too much, and can end up damaging the progression of the sport. I remember Tara saying, during Olympic broadcasts, that the reason they have better results in Russian and Japanese ladies is because they changed the way they score the junior levels and stared rewarding more difficult jumps. She also said they changed that system in Russia soon after 2004 and that’s why they are now reaping these big rewards. It takes time to establish a pipeline of great athletes.

I’m glad Alina is a late bloomer jumper because I do think it allowed her to stay as healthy as she is right now. And you can see she is super careful with her body, even taping up her knees at the Ice Shows as a preventive measure (and that it was indeed preventive as she showed no signs of any pain, even kneeling extensively with the Akita dog on that TV Show). Her feet also look great and normal, I was a bit shocked by the size of Zhenya’s bunion, that is a very painful problem that requires feet surgery to fix (that I’ve never seen anyone do before well into middle age).

I do think you need to be informed about what you’re doing and have responsible adult oversight, Alina’s Dad being in Sports I believe is a big help. That said, high level sport performances always come at a price, you can see that in former Tennis players, swimmers, gymnasts, track runners, etc. Most of what you are trying to do is unnatural, and you need to have special abilities to even achieve it at a top level.

It is a risk reward thing where ideally you try to up the reward while you lower the risk. In my humble opinion this is best done by those training the athletes (and the athletes themselves or together with their families when they are young) than by those seating behind desks creating crazy rules.

Link to Tara’s opinion piece at the nytimes https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/opinion/tara-lipinski-risks-figure-skating.html

 

[Scott512]

Bobrova has been BFF for a while I think....
This interview was following Europeans

I'll give her this - at least she is able to admit she is biased.

http://fs-gossips.com/ekaterina-bobrova-and-dmitri-soloviev-unfortunately-sport-pushes-art-to-the-background/

But the point that EdRoz made - at least I'm 99% sure (I didn't read the article) is that as CAPTAIN of the Russian Olympic skaters - she never even acknowledged Alina's accomplishments. In my book - that's classless. If I am wrong in my reading of this I will apologize - otherwise my opinion stands.

Thank you for Bobrovas comments after Europeans but I want to know what she really thought after the olympics when her BFF took silver. Lol that would be amazing. I have nothing against Bobrova. But I am fed up with so many of Alinas compariots upset she won olympic gold over Zhenya.

Bobrova captain of the Russian team? Nyet! Should have been Zhenya if anyone. Afterall she helped Russia get into the olympics.

 

[Scott512]

I agree with you, they are overthinking this issue too much, and can end up damaging the progression of the sport. I remember Tara saying, during Olympic broadcasts, that the reason they have better results in Russian and Japanese ladies is because they changed the way they score the junior levels and stared rewarding more difficult jumps. She also said they changed that system in Russia soon after 2004 and that’s why they are now reaping these big rewards. It takes time to establish a pipeline of great athletes.

I’m glad Alina is a late bloomer jumper because I do think it allowed her to stay as healthy as she is right now. And you can see she is super careful with her body, even taping up her knees at the Ice Shows as a preventive measure (and that it was indeed preventive as she showed no signs of any pain, even kneeling extensively with the Akita dog on that TV Show). Her feet also look great and normal, I was a bit shocked by the size of Zhenya’s bunion, that is a very painful problem that requires feet surgery to fix (that I’ve never seen anyone do before well into middle age).

I do think you need to be informed about what you’re doing and have responsible adult oversight, Alina’s Dad being in Sports I believe is a big help. That said, high level sport performances always come at a price, you can see that in former Tennis players, swimmers, gymnasts, track runners, etc. Most of what you are trying to do is unnatural, and you need to have special abilities to even achieve it at a top level.

It is a risk reward thing where ideally you try to up the reward while you lower the risk. In my humble opinion this is best done by those training the athletes (and the athletes themselves or together with their families when they are young) than by those seating behind desks creating crazy rules.

Link to Tara’s opinion piece at the nytimes https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/opinion/tara-lipinski-risks-figure-skating.html

So true about why Russian and Japanese girls do better than the rest. They really get pushed and challenged as juniors.

 

[Scott512]

I don't think its Russophobia. This would affect Japan also. If anything I thinks its the same old knee-jerk reaction to a non-existent problem.

Tara Lipinski's win at age 14 at Worlds scared them - but really how many Taras are out there.

Now its not so much Alina winning at 15 (look at history of young OGM - Oksana, Tara, Sarah, Alina - the freedom from expectations can work magic) but the fear of what is coming with quads, triple axels. Again - how many we talking here right now(not counting practices) - maybe just Alexandra Trusova.

I look at the unintended consequences - and a big glaring one is Mao Asada in 2006. Very dominant that season but was too young for the Olympics - an event she would have been favored to win - doesn't mean she would have won, but she was certainly the best skater that season. A perfect time for her before the weight of expectations, physical problems, a heartbreaking short-program in 2014 kept her from her Olympic dream.

Besides success in Juniors doesn't always translate to Seniors.

Look for example at Caroline Zhang vs Mirai Nagasu. Caroline beat Mirai at Jr. Worlds in 2007 but never really made the transformation to Seniors. Mirai, however, went on to finish 4th in Vancouver at age 16.


edited to say ---- sorry for the off-topic rant - but I needed to vent.

Intrresting thoughtx. I will accept your logic.

 

[lesnar001]

I agree with you, they are overthinking this issue too much, and can end up damaging the progression of the sport. I remember Tara saying, during Olympic broadcasts, that the reason they have better results in Russian and Japanese ladies is because they changed the way they score the junior levels and stared rewarding more difficult jumps. She also said they changed that system in Russia soon after 2004 and that’s why they are now reaping these big rewards. It takes time to establish a pipeline of great athletes.

I’m glad Alina is a late bloomer jumper because I do think it allowed her to stay as healthy as she is right now. And you can see she is super careful with her body, even taping up her knees at the Ice Shows as a preventive measure (and that it was indeed preventive as she showed no signs of any pain, even kneeling extensively with the Akita dog on that TV Show). Her feet also look great and normal, I was a bit shocked by the size of Zhenya’s bunion, that is a very painful problem that requires feet surgery to fix (that I’ve never seen anyone do before well into middle age).

I do think you need to be informed about what you’re doing and have responsible adult oversight, Alina’s Dad being in Sports I believe is a big help. That said, high level sport performances always come at a price, you can see that in former Tennis players, swimmers, gymnasts, track runners, etc. Most of what you are trying to do is unnatural, and you need to have special abilities to even achieve it at a top level.

It is a risk reward thing where ideally you try to up the reward while you lower the risk. In my humble opinion this is best done by those training the athletes (and the athletes themselves or together with their families when they are young) than by those seating behind desks creating crazy rules.

Link to Tara’s opinion piece at the nytimes https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/02/19/opinion/tara-lipinski-risks-figure-skating.html

I was surprised her feet were in such great shape - I think it was Michelle Kwan who once said - you don't really want to see a skater's feet.
I assume it must be almost as hard on the feet as being a ballet dancer.

I know that a number of skaters have had to retire with hip problems (Tara, Michelle Kwan, Yagudin) but the spread of ages when the retirements took place doesn't lead to any conclusions. As you said, it is a risk that comes with elite athletes. Repetitive motion, stress, etc....

Earlier today EdRoz posted an interesting article from the outgoing president of the USFSA. He addressed the points that Tara talked about
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/05/04/275097820

 

[lusk8]

I was surprised her feet were in such great shape - I think it was Michelle Kwan who once said - you don't really want to see a skater's feet.
I assume it must be almost as hard on the feet as being a ballet dancer.

I know that a number of skaters have had to retire with hip problems (Tara, Michelle Kwan, Yagudin) but the spread of ages when the retirements took place doesn't lead to any conclusions. As you said, it is a risk that comes with elite athletes. Repetitive motion, stress, etc....

Earlier today EdRoz posted an interesting article from the outgoing president of the USFSA. He addressed the points that Tara talked about
http://web.icenetwork.com/news/2018/05/04/275097820

Thank you for directing me to that interview, the thread moved fast today, I gave EdRoz’s post a thumb up but couldn’t track back to it later to read as I had intended.

The outgoing President does talk to Tara’s points and they have a similar way of thinking. It will take some time for this strategy (rewarding juniors for trying difficult jumps) to play out but it will yield results. I hope ISU doesn’t come up with crazy rules to push all this development back.

Hip injury do seem to be the most dreaded problem top FS face, it is what took a lot of the great ones out. I’m glad Alina seems fine in that aspect and if she can keep her feet looking that great it’ll be easier for her. Though all of them are used to dealing with discomfort and pain in a way that impresses me, you can never tell they feel anything bad, right up there with Ballet dancers.

 

[hollyho]

Wondering if Russian speakers can comment abit on how Alina speaks based on her interviews/periscopes - ie fast/slow, accent/no accent, clearly/mumbly etc?

I ask cos’ I read some earlier discussions on this thread where Russian speakers didn’t agree on what she said. And also when I watched a clip where she mentioned Eteri based on subtitles, I couldn’t make out she said “Eteri Georgievna” at all. So just got abit curious.

 

[Fruitpie]

I read Alina's interview in the magazine and cried.
You can speak with animals about everything and they will never bertray you. Akita-inu is the big dog, she can protect you.
Oh, my sweet litle child, what did you go through?

 

[TheBallerina]

Lesnar001,lusk8, madisson, scott , Ballerina and Flanker also invited )))

Damn...missed your invitation. :sad4: That's what happens when you love to sleep...you fall asleep too early and miss all the good stuff. :sad4:
But maybe, just maybe, we can try it all again this night? (Saturday night fever and all ) Vodka is on me...with plenty of ice as we'll talk mostly about ice-related stuff
And on 18 May...well we'll have the biggest party ever

Olympic gold is another step in my sports career.

Thank you lesnar for your translation.. a great interview. Such a strong character..I bolded that phrase because she did not say Olympic gold is the best thing that happened during my career, or that was what I wanted and I accomplished it. No, she said it's just another step...showing not only her modesty and delicacy, but her ambition too. She still has may goals to achieve, she knows what she wants and aims to have a long and successful career. Now that's something for 15 (almost 16...) years old. :luv17: