Arina and Maxim, the new junior world bronze medalists, these and some other promising juniors are the future for Russia. You look at S/K's last performance at a recent gala and you see how much Nikita has regressed just by skating with Victoria, its a real pity, but that was his decision, his loss. Russia needs to look forwards.
Elena Ilinykh & Nikita Katsalapov
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Arina and Maxim, the new junior world bronze medalists, these and some other promising juniors are the future for Russia. You look at S/K's last performance at a recent gala and you see how much Nikita has regressed just by skating with Victoria, its a real pity, but that was his decision, his loss. Russia needs to look forwards.
Yes, well, relying on the young ones is always a gamble and their development takes time. In the meantime, Russia could loose their footing in ice-dance entirely. After all, I had high hopes for Yanovskaya/Mozgov a couple of seasons ago and look how that ended....
I still cannot understand how that happened. I remember their tango like it was yesterday. They were a bit rough with the technique but as for expression they were really good. I find S/A the exact opposite they are smoother but less expressive. Maybe they will improve as will U/N.
Even their galas were memorable. No one moves together or across the eyes the way they do or did. I cannot imagine just how better they would be if they got together now as they've matured so much, with a coach who knew how to bring out their best and keep the fussing to a minimum, Zhulin maybe. If there is any shred of common sense still left in Russian ice dance they'll give each of them $10 million each year to just skate together for the next four years. Seriously.
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- Dec 22, 2010
My secret Russian spies who are normally very reliable, say that Elena and Nikita did have a tryout together before the start of the season, but for some reason it didn't work out. That also fits in with Elena inviting him to be a guest coach, the rifts have been healed.
If they are no longer compatible, then no amount of money is going to make it work.
IMHO both of their skating skills had regressed in the 3 years before this tryout, and so the magic would not be there anymore, which might have been why the tryout was not successful.
I still hold out hope that they might eventually do some galas together.
They would need to be coached because, IMHO, I still see great things in their individual skating. OTOH, Nikita has to do so much work to make him and Victoria look palatable after 4 yrs already. Zhiganshin was great in the beginning, but after they made that great start he just couldn't keep up and that is why Frida didn't have the impact that it should have had. My little cutie Anton, well the less said the better. We're still waiting for him to keek up with her for a full four minutes! I don't think he and Lena would need more than two seasons to get their groove back. But I agree with you with respect to galas.
This must be my inner desperation talking, because I am not a fan of Katsalapov's character. But while I was intrigued by some of the juniors after watching them much more closely I realise they do have a long way to go. Also when I contemplate S/B being the new number one's in B/S's absence I just can't. I mean I looked at I/K's gala from 2013 EC and S/B's latest outing and its so glaringly obvious how superior these two were. No offence to her fans but Stepanova cannot skate. How is it that she progressed so far in the sport? It's unbelievable. I found Domnina and Shabalin the most impressive and cohesive as team, during that gala, than any of our current pairs. Oh well.
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Can someone start a petition?
Don't play with my heart right now, I just couldn't take it. :sad21:
They haven't skated together in 4 years, I can only imagine them being out of sink.
I also imagine that some might have thought that they would just pick up where they left off, but both have regressed in the last 4 years, which is a tragedy on its own.
I mean, hey, it's not my problem, but I honestly don't see who Russia can field in ice dance at all that would be even remotely competitive. SB are just not top of the World caliber, never were and still are not. And the juniors are juniors, they have a lot of work to do. Russia really faces loosing footing in ice dance completely, which is shocking on its own. I mean, they didn't medal at the Olympics in ice-dance, enough said.
I just don't see who else they have. Nikita and Victoria, they have had 4 years... and Nikita has regressed for heaven's sake... Imho, that couple is going nowhere a world podium anytime soon, if ever.
Otoh, I really have no idea how the skating world and judges would receive IK if they ever came back. I think the expectations would be too high for a team that really needs to get to know each other again and get their groove back after 4 years apart.
Perhaps, Russia would be better off letting Nikita rest and have IK start training quietly behind the scenes for a year to get their groove back and then pop up back on the ice dance stage as a skating pair ready to take on the challenge. In the meantime, they are going to have to do something to get the juniors up to speed as well.
I imagine that a tryout last year was driven by a last minute panic from Nikita that he wouldn't be making the Olympic team with Victoria, but didn't come to anything because it would have become apparent quickly that it would take longer than the 6~ months available to them to get an I/K team back to a level where they could compete for one of the 2 spots or have a chance at a medal. Better to take the chance with Victoria and hope for mistakes from S/B or B/S to get on the team - obviously that didn't work out for a multitude of reasons. If he hadn't had the injury I think they'd have pulled up to 3rd at nationals, and then could have gone to the Olympics after what happened with Bukin, but equally, being behind Z/G in the SD must have been a bitter blow.
So now, with B/S retiring, the question changes a bit. Does he believe that a partnership with Victoria can hold off Z/G, P/M and the various juniors until 2022? (and does it have potential to get World or Olympic medals, because with his record with Elena, I can't imagine that he's interested in just getting another Olympic trip). Or, does he reassess and try a new long term partnership, in the knowledge that it's going to take a while to get back to a high level? They are both young enough that 2022 is a realistic goal. 4 years is a long enough time to rebuild a partnership, but also it's a long time to skate with someone when you've had a rocky relationship before - I think this has to be a major consideration for both of them, rebuilding trust might almost be harder than learning to skate together again. With the added complication that he and Victoria are an on and off couple...
But if Nikita and Elena did re-team within the next couple of months, I could see them ready to compete by Nationals, and able to get to Euros and Worlds. Without B/S and C/L, a European medal is a realistic goal, top 5 at Worlds tougher, but still manageable; remember in 2015 I/Z were a twizzle mistake away from a top 5 finish after less than a year together. In post Olympic seasons the order is less set and new(but old!) teams can cause upsets. Then that would put them in a position to kick on nicely for the next 3 years.
I still think a reunion is incredibly unlikely, but two things do give me pause... a) Elena looks in the best shape she's been since 2014 Olympics/1st months with Ruslan, and dropped a couple of weird hints/comments about carrying on competing in her last sport-express interview and b) S/K weren't even listed as subs for Worlds, despite Zhulin saying that Nikita is 100% fit and ready to compete, which does make me wonder if the Federation knows there is something on the horizon that he doesn't.
So now, with B/S retiring, the question changes a bit. Does he believe that a partnership with Victoria can hold off Z/G, P/M and the various juniors until 2022? (and does it have potential to get World or Olympic medals, because with his record with Elena, I can't imagine that he's interested in just getting another Olympic trip). Or, does he reassess and try a new long term partnership, in the knowledge that it's going to take a while to get back to a high level? They are both young enough that 2022 is a realistic goal. 4 years is a long enough time to rebuild a partnership, but also it's a long time to skate with someone when you've had a rocky relationship before - I think this has to be a major consideration for both of them, rebuilding trust might almost be harder than learning to skate together again. With the added complication that he and Victoria are an on and off couple...
But if Nikita and Elena did re-team within the next couple of months, I could see them ready to compete by Nationals, and able to get to Euros and Worlds. Without B/S and C/L, a European medal is a realistic goal, top 5 at Worlds tougher, but still manageable; remember in 2015 I/Z were a twizzle mistake away from a top 5 finish after less than a year together. In post Olympic seasons the order is less set and new(but old!) teams can cause upsets. Then that would put them in a position to kick on nicely for the next 3 years.
I still think a reunion is incredibly unlikely, but two things do give me pause... a) Elena looks in the best shape she's been since 2014 Olympics/1st months with Ruslan, and dropped a couple of weird hints/comments about carrying on competing in her last sport-express interview and b) S/K weren't even listed as subs for Worlds, despite Zhulin saying that Nikita is 100% fit and ready to compete, which does make me wonder if the Federation knows there is something on the horizon that he doesn't.
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- Dec 22, 2010
Except Nikita couldn't have gone to the Olympics even if he had come 3rd at Nationals, as Nikita like Bukin didn't get an IOC Olympics invitation either.
God knows why both Bukin and Nikita didn't get invitations, seems so bizarre, yet it cannot just be random, there must be some reason.
How do you know that he didn
;t get an invitation since he wasn't even proposed in the team for the Olympics?As madison said, we don't know if he was or wasn't approved as he wasn't ever selected to be on the team. Unless you heard anything different or rumours about his status from the preliminary lists submitted in the autumn?
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- Dec 22, 2010
How do you know that he didn
It was said in a Russian press release, I can't remember where and by whom, but in many places as well as on the Russian forums.
Before Russian Nationals, the Russian Federation had to send to the IOC who it wanted at the Olympics.
So the Fed had to anticipate the results of Russian Nationals in advance.
So it sent B/S and S/B as the main team and S/K as 1st reserves and Z/G as second reserves.
So those 4 teams were assessed by the IOC, if they were clean enough to invite to the Olympics.
When the list came through from the IOC of the teams invited, only B/S and Z/G were on the list.
Both S/K and S/B were absent from the list.
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- Jul 26, 2003
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guys, your last discussion of possibilities for the future in Russian ice dance was interesting, but not on topic for this thread.
I moved your posts to a new thread in The Edge here:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...e-ahead-in-Sr-Ice-Dance&p=2028757#post2028757
I moved your posts to a new thread in The Edge here:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...e-ahead-in-Sr-Ice-Dance&p=2028757#post2028757
So happy to see her enjoying coaching with Yulia, Egor and Max. All the best, my favourite Russian Ice Dancer of this generation
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkFZ1yflHRz/?taken-by=simonnastia
https://www.instagram.com/p/BkFZ1yflHRz/?taken-by=simonnastia
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