Alina Zagitova

[lesnar001]

I ve read the interview of Kostomarov. He doesn t say bad things about Alina:
I am sure that Zagitova remains at that incredible level, which she has reached recently. Another thing is that the Japanese began to perform crazy jumps, including Rick Kihira. Yes, and our Elizabeth Tuktamysheva manifests itself vividly. They all jump triple axel and in the case of a successful performance naturally ahead of Alina, ”said Kostomarov in an interview with RT.

The Olympic champion is also not sure that the Russian woman will be able to complicate the program.

“Zagitova does the same thing she did a year or two ago. But rivals do not stand still and do a little more than the Russian woman. Alina is an Olympic champion, but not sure that she will jump the same triple axel. In general, female figure skating progresses at an incredible pace. Some girls are already jumping quadruple. But Zagitova is still a beauty and a champion. Nobody will surpass her beauty, ”Kostomarov added.

Thank you for this.
It is certainly different than the "click-bait" headline would lead us to believe.

For many reasons, I want Alina to have the triple axel. That footage of her attempting it on the mat made me sit up at take notice.
If she doesn't, she certainly will not be the "favorite" going into the "big" events.

But the triple axel is still risky business and it requires a different mindset to recover from inevitable failures on it.
What won Rika the GPF was the the nerves of steel she had in attempting the 3A combo right after she missed the first one!
It's not for the faint of heart.

Right now, all Alina can do is be as clean as possible. This is what she basically said in her interview.
Whatever another skater does is out of her control.

 

[lusk8]

1) None of the top juniors are a potential threat to this season's "narrative".
2) Yes the death threats should be investigated FULLY. This one and the one against Mr. Trankov's family.

I wouldn't be surprised if it is the same person doing it.

Quite possibly: since this is a judged sport objectivity never actually flew inside the window (to then fly out), with this knowledge they feel comfortable to push the agenda of their choice, only tricky bit is, politicking can't turn agendas into reality from thin air. With the current field at seniors, thin air needs to turn into thick air first.

 

[Fluture]

Yuck.

I could probably say something "snarky" here like she is probably filming Alina in an attempt to prove she isn't injured, but I won't.
Oops - I did.
Sorry.Not.Sorry.

I remember what this one did & said very clearly after Worlds.
Speculative "concern trolling" with her little buddies.

Wow - so close to Alina and she couldn't reach out and give the poor starving girl a cookie????????

What did Meagan do? I haven‘t read an interview from her about Alina but maybe I‘ve missed something?

 

[zenskate]

From the timing & tone of things - I strongly suspect that they fear she may upset another "narrative".

The problem is that Alina came in second at GPF. Now there are two situations:

Alina wins Rusnats. Then all the top Russian ladies "lost" by proxy to another country. Remember that ET and SS were also at GPF.
Alina loses Rusnats. Then Russian's Olympic champion has lost twice in a row. The likeliest candidate to win after Alina is a junior, which would mean that Russia's top senior lady isn't even as good as a junior.

Either way, huge loss of face for Rusfed.

The attacks are not new! They started before GPF. Look at the ones who were attacking Alina then, and look at the ones now. They wanted her to lose.
EdRoz mentioned a long time ago that there were deals put into place for the Olympic champion, before Pyeongchang happened. Then Alina won, unexpectedly.

 

[Finley]

I ve read the interview of Kostomarov. He doesn t say bad things about Alina:
I am sure that Zagitova remains at that incredible level, which she has reached recently. Another thing is that the Japanese began to perform crazy jumps, including Rick Kihira. Yes, and our Elizabeth Tuktamysheva manifests itself vividly. They all jump triple axel and in the case of a successful performance naturally ahead of Alina, ”said Kostomarov in an interview with RT.

The Olympic champion is also not sure that the Russian woman will be able to complicate the program.

“Zagitova does the same thing she did a year or two ago. But rivals do not stand still and do a little more than the Russian woman. Alina is an Olympic champion, but not sure that she will jump the same triple axel. In general, female figure skating progresses at an incredible pace. Some girls are already jumping quadruple. But Zagitova is still a beauty and a champion. Nobody will surpass her beauty, ”Kostomarov added.

Thank you for posting this. I'm relieved that Kostomarov made a fair and reasonable statement. Even if I disagree with him about some things. He may be underestimating her or time may prove him right, but at least it wasn't hateful or personal.

 

[lesnar001]

Quite possibly: since this is a judged sport objectivity never actually flew inside the window (to then fly out), with this knowledge they feel comfortable to push the agenda of their choice, only tricky bit is, politicking can't turn agendas into reality from thin air. With the current field at seniors, thin air needs to turn into thick air first.

What I mean is that they have their 2018-2019 season "feel good" story all set to go.
Now, Rika emphatically refuses to sign on to this story.

But there is still "Top Russian Senior Lady" to be determined - and Alina ain't part of that story for them.

 

[Finley]

What did Meagan do? I haven‘t read an interview from her about Alina but maybe I‘ve missed something?

Watch "The Skating Lesson" recap from after the World's in Milan with Meghan.

 

[Fluture]

Watch "The Skating Lesson" recap from after the World's in Milan with Meghan.

Oh, that‘s why I didn‘t hear any of this. I rarely if ever wach TSL. They‘re annoying mostly and full of stupid rumours. And even if they get some things right sometimes (probably by accident. Even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn lol) it‘s still not worth watching their videos which are usually hours of them just babbling and that with bad quality microphones. No thank you.

I don‘t know whether I should watch it now... I do want to know what she said but somehow I also don‘t. It will only bring my mood down again.

 

[EdRoz]

I ve read the interview of Kostomarov. He doesn t say bad things about Alina:

The Olympic champion is also not sure that the Russian woman will be able to complicate the program.

“Zagitova does the same thing she did a year or two ago. But rivals do not stand still and do a little more than the Russian woman. Alina is an Olympic champion, but not sure that she will jump the same triple axel.

Thank you for this.
It is certainly different than the "click-bait" headline would lead us to believe.

Thank you for posting this. I'm relieved that Kostomarov made a fair and reasonable statement. Even if I disagree with him about some things. He may be underestimating her or time may prove him right, but at least it wasn't hateful or personal.

Maybe Kostomarov don’t mean nothing bad , but ..

From Alina interview ( about "click-bait" headline)

- Do you read everything that is written about you on social networks?
- I do not read them specifically. I am just browsing Instagram, who posted new photos, food recipes. But sometimes there are some headlines before your eyes, and it is impossible not to read all this.

 

[lesnar001]

The problem is that Alina came in second at GPF. Now there are two situations:

Alina wins Rusnats. Then all the top Russian ladies "lost" by proxy to another country. Remember that ET and SS were also at GPF.
Alina loses Rusnats. Then Russian's Olympic champion has lost twice in a row. The likeliest candidate to win after Alina is a junior, which would mean that Russia's top senior lady isn't even as good as a junior.

Either way, huge loss of face for Rusfed.

The attacks are not new! They started before GPF. Look at the ones who were attacking Alina then, and look at the ones now. They wanted her to lose.
EdRoz mentioned a long time ago that there were deals put into place for the Olympic champion, before Pyeongchang happened. Then Alina won, unexpectedly.

In my opinion it is another reality show type "story arc" they are going for.

That darn Alina might not follow the script again!!!!
C'mon - that growth spurt was supposed to have sent her out to pasture.

 

[Fluture]

What I mean is that they have their 2018-2019 season "feel good" story all set to go.
Now, Rika emphatically refuses to sign on to this story.

But there is still "Top Russian Senior Lady" to be determined - and Alina ain't part of that story for them.

Top Russian Senior lady? Who else should that be, if not Alina? Liza? Doubt it. She has a great season but Alina has beaten her soundly in both SP and FS at the GPF. Sasha? She‘s not even senior yet. Evgenia? She’s struggling at the moment and will hope to even make the Worlds team. I can’t see anyone else taking the title away from her. I don‘t know what the judges could do about that. Politicking can only get them that far and it would be dumb to dump their best chance at a Worlds Gold this season, not to mention dumping the girl who won the Olympics and does her best to get them many titles this season, too. And successfully, mind you. Not even rusfed is that stupid. This will be Alina‘s Nats and nobody can do a thing about it. :noshake:

 

[Finley]

Maybe Kostomarov don’t mean nothing bad , but ..

From Alina interview ( about "click-bait" headline)
- Do you read everything that is written about you on social networks?
- I do not read them specifically. I am just browsing Instagram, who posted new photos, food recipes. But sometimes there are some headlines before your eyes, and it is impossible not to read all this.

That makes me sad, but I don't think Kostomarov is in control of the headline the media publication decides to go with, so I won't blame him. I think it was probably beyond his control.

But I do hate it for Alina.

 

[madison]

Maybe Kostomarov don’t mean nothing bad , but ..

From Alina interview ( about "click-bait" headline)
- Do you read everything that is written about you on social networks?
- I do not read them specifically. I am just browsing Instagram, who posted new photos, food recipes. But sometimes there are some headlines before your eyes, and it is impossible not to read all this.

Yes, the journalists surely search for something sensational. But Alina should be fine, she is a professional athlete at the end of the day... the headlines and the comments should not matter for her at all.

 

[Finley]

What I mean is that they have their 2018-2019 season "feel good" story all set to go.
Now, Rika emphatically refuses to sign on to this story.

But there is still "Top Russian Senior Lady" to be determined - and Alina ain't part of that story for them.

Then it's a good thing Alina is writing her own story.

I agree with Fluture.

I believe at Nats if she goes clean the judges won't be able to take it away from her. We will see.

 

[lesnar001]

Maybe Kostomarov don’t mean nothing bad , but ..

From Alina interview ( about "click-bait" headline)
- Do you read everything that is written about you on social networks?
- I do not read them specifically. I am just browsing Instagram, who posted new photos, food recipes. But sometimes there are some headlines before your eyes, and it is impossible not to read all this.

Exactly.

That's another reason why I think this is media driven.
The headline was designed to look like it was another "Alina is all washed up story"

And its mission was accomplished.
And they never lied, they just took what was said out of context.

 

[Finley]

Oh, that‘s why I didn‘t hear any of this. I rarely if ever wach TSL. They‘re annoying mostly and full of stupid rumours. And even if they get some things right sometimes (probably by accident. Even a blind hen sometimes finds a grain of corn lol) it‘s still not worth watching their videos which are usually hours of them just babbling and that with bad quality microphones. No thank you.

I don‘t know whether I should watch it now... I do want to know what she said but somehow I also don‘t. It will only bring my mood down again.

They have good interviews and sometimes they have something worthwhile to say but other times it just exhausting.

 

[Fluture]

They have good interviews and sometimes they have something worthwhile to say but other times it just exhausting.

I know that I watched the interview with Aljona Savchenko after the Olympics and it was pretty good. And the interview with Eunsoo Lim as well. Their interviews are usually quite okay. It‘s more the “recaps“ that I turn away from since they mostly consist of rumours and stuff. Maybe I should have clarified. Those “recaps“ are usually not worth the time for the 5% of the stuff they’re saying that might be worthwile.

 

[lesnar001]

Top Russian Senior lady? Who else should that be, if not Alina? Liza? Doubt it. She has a great season but Alina has beaten her soundly in both SP and FS at the GPF. Sasha? She‘s not even senior yet. Evgenia? She’s struggling at the moment and will hope to even make the Worlds team. I can’t see anyone else taking the title away from her. I don‘t know what the judges could do about that. Politicking can only get them that far and it would be dumb to dump their best chance at a Worlds Gold this season, not to mention dumping the girl who won the Olympics and does her best to get them many titles this season, too. And successfully, mind you. Not even rusfed is that stupid. This will be Alina‘s Nats and nobody can do a thing about it. :noshake:

Once again, this is just my opinion of the situation.
I don't think it has anything to do with RusFed, judges, TAT, etc....

The timing of these articles has usually been right around the time of Alina's competitions.
The only reason seems to be to upset her and possibly her skating.
The Russian Media is a big part of this. Timing the stories and knowing who to go to (Besti, for example) for the stories.

I'm frustrated because I don't want to drag another skater's name into this.
So I'm having trouble getting my point across, obviously.

I think they want their "feel good" story to involve a "redemptive comeback"
And it doesn't involve a 16 year old girl with almost no social media presence or a cool nickname.

 

[mau]

Utkin — Alina fans is a idiots
Kostomarov — Alina do not grow as a sportsman
Slutskaya — Judges forgive Alina because she is the Olympic champion, it is not for long

and after all this comments top news everywhere — Zagitova fans want to kill the Slutskaya family

No no no no
:noshake:

Wasn’t Slutskaya the one who threw her bronze medal in the trash because she lost to Arakawa at Torino Olympics?

She isn’t exactly an example of sportsmanship so it doesn’t surprise me at all.

 

[Finley]

Once again, this is just my opinion of the situation.
I don't think it has anything to do with RusFed, judges, TAT, etc....

The timing of these articles has usually been right around the time of Alina's competitions.
The only reason seems to be to upset her and possibly her skating.
The Russian Media is a big part of this. Timing the stories and knowing who to go to (Besti, for example) for the stories.

I'm frustrated because I don't want to drag another skater's name into this.
So I'm having trouble getting my point across, obviously.

I think they want their "feel good" story to involve a "redemptive comeback"
And it doesn't involve a 16 year old girl with almost no social media presence or a cool nickname.

Well they also wanted someone else to win the OG. And they didn't get their way then and I don't believe they will get it now. No matter what they try to do in the media (Looking at you Ari Zakarian).

But it's an interesting question. Who benefits financially in the long run from a negative outcome for Alina? (Nothing personal, just money.)

Clickbait media articles aren't reality. It's an attempt to control perception. Whatever performance the skaters put down on the ice at Nats, that's the only reality that writes the script.

All Alina can do is go out there and kill it on the day.