Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin | Page 475 | Golden Skate

Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
The rumors are rather persistent that they are done, but so were last year`s rumors about Yanovskaya supposedly retiring because of injuries and that`s the tiny hope I`m still clinging to. According to IZ`s official vk group the Kustarova team is on holidays until June, so hopefully we will get news when they are back.

Are we sure that this reliable source isn't projecting? The most recent narrative from Kustarova was that Ruslan's knee was not an issue anymore but rather they were dealing with other medical issues. Most important was the fact that their funding was cut drastically. THe K/A group will be preparing for the 2017/8 season in Russia, they cannot even afford taking their charges to Latvia. It all seems rather complex; there could be so many confounding factors which simply make continuing impractical whether together or in different pairings. I wish the guys well, whatever their futures hold, and if we must say adieu to Elena, it will be a very, very sad day indeed. The only partner in my eyes that's worthy of her is Pavel Drozd, but he currently has an adequate partner. Katsalapov is a talented skater, but he doesn't have the temperament or other intangibles of a great ice dancing partner.
 

bsfan

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
That's exactly why the constant calls for Elena to dump Ruslan were so shortsighted. The truth is that if Ruslan retires, there is nobody who is free and remotely close to her level she can skate with. People liked to pretend that the moment she leaves Ruslan, there would be an army of guys for her to chose from. The reality is that her only hope is that after the Olympics there might be some options opening up for her, otherwise her career will end similar to Khokhlova's.

I couldn't and still can't understand why Russian Fed let such good male skaters skate for other countries why I/Z has been not progressing. The problems/injuries of I/Z didn't start this season, right?
 

Ice Dance

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
So that leaves just 4 Senior teams?

What do you mean just 4 senior teams? Loboda & Drozd are seniors now. There are 5 senior teams, along with I&Z, in the top 19 on the SB list & likely to earn two spots on the GP. And Popova & Mozgov are in 29th despite only having one shot in a Challenger event this season. Even Evdokimova & Bazin and Sosnitskaia & Golovishnokov have Worlds technical minimum scores.

I am very sorry to hear about I&Z:(.
 

bramweld

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
What about Elena skating with Mozgov? It is not as if Popova/Mozgov look so promising.

Some would beg to differ. Besides, do you recall how he dumped his previous partner? A real charmer, this Mozgov is not. Also, I don't see Lena coming between a pair for her own selfish purposes. She would make such a good commentator though. I hope many new and more interesting opportunities open up for her.
 

hanca

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
What do you mean just 4 senior teams? Loboda & Drozd are seniors now. There are 5 senior teams, along with I&Z, in the top 19 on the SB list & likely to earn two spots on the GP. And Popova & Mozgov are in 29th despite only having one shot in a Challenger event this season. Even Evdokimova & Bazin and Sosnitskaia & Golovishnokov have Worlds technical minimum scores.

I am very sorry to hear about I&Z:(.
You forgot to name Davankova/Shibnev.
 

hanca

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 23, 2008
In all fairness that's an easy mistake...

Well, Davankova/Shibnev had comparable results to Popova/Mozgov. Considering that Davankova was doing dance her first season, and Mozgov is past junior world medallist, I would expect there to be a huge difference between those two couples. And yet they were very close. That shows that Davankova/Shibnev look more promising if they continue to progress with the same rate they progressed in their first year. On the other hand, Mozgov did a huge dip downwards and was not able to retain his level with Popova. That doesn't look very promising.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Well, Davankova/Shibnev had comparable results to Popova/Mozgov. Considering that Davankova was doing dance her first season, and Mozgov is past junior world medallist, I would expect there to be a huge difference between those two couples. And yet they were very close. That shows that Davankova/Shibnev look more promising if they continue to progress with the same rate they progressed in their first year. On the other hand, Mozgov did a huge dip downwards and was not able to retain his level with Popova. That doesn't look very promising.

Honestly, I'd also forgotten Popova/Mozgov, so...
 

Marta25

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Any news on Elena? Is she retiring too?

The article only confirmed Ruslan's retirement. I hope Elena will be able to find a new partner.
This is all so unbelievable sad. I was so happy when they confirmed back in January that they would be skating until 2022 and now this! Who knows what happened that he made this decision.
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
Sad news. I really did like Ruslan, he was a very promising ice dancer. I wish him all the best for his studies and his future career!
 

bsfan

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 10, 2011
What did he say in the announcement? Did he thank Elena? Did Elena say anything in this news? Is it possible that after some time he comes back with different partner?
 

Ice Dance

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 26, 2014
You forgot to name Davankova/Shibnev.

I didn't forget them, but I was trying to list teams that have at least earned the senior technical minimums. I don't believe D&S have done so yet. The only international competition I can recall them attending this season was Universiade & their SD tes was 28.6. (And behind at least two teams P&M outscored at Golden Spin. Too early, yet, to tell how either team will fair internationally in the future. We'll give them time).
 
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tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
Honestly this isn't surprising at this point, there's rarely this much smoke without fire and they haven't been seen together in some time so that was another huge clue :(

I feel REALLY sad about it though, and especially for Elena... I hope she'll be able to find a new partner if it's what she wants but it's hard to see what options there could possibly be for the coming season, at least in Russia. And I think it's very unlikely Russia would easily release her, too, even if she wanted to pursue options outside Russia, though they aren't France, chances are they would release her eventually...

I hope for Ruslan that he's happy with the decision and that he wasn't forced to make it due to injury, which would be heartbreaking.
 
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