Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

[uhh]

Well, to sum up the comparison between M/T and I/K splits, there is a popular saying which has appeared among the Russian fans this season - "Nikita dreamed of becoming a Trankov, but turned out to be a Mukhortova"

I am really interested to see what happens next season. S/K did look better at nationals, but by the FD they were skating with no pressure or expectation of making the team because they were so far behind, and realistically with a proper tech caller and international judging, the scores would have been high 50s and maybe just breaking 90 in the FD. The technical issues might just be because they are a new team, but we've seen Marina's other established teams have the same problems with levels. On the other hand, they still have the coach with the best rep & political clout, she does decent choreography, they'll have more time to prepare next season and Nikita still has the Olympic medallist aura, and the PCS at Nationals showed that the Federation is still pushing them.

But in the meantime, I/Z will be building their international repuation (I hope!), M/K and S/B look like they are finally getting their act together, M/K in particular have the technical consistency and reliability that other teams are lacking. And we still have B/S to come back. I was so happy with Nationals this year, and now I'm already worrying about what could happen next season!

 

[bramweld]

Although after all his comments this season I'm not a fan of him at all, Max was in a very different situation to Nikita, as his partnership with Maria was clearly stalling, and in addition Vasiliev was absolutely awful to him. On the other hand, there was never any suggestion that Morozov let his relationship with Elena spill over into the way he coached Nikita. Nikita wanted to stay with him after the split, it's only because the federation told Morozov to get stuffed that he has ended up with Marina. (And the other difference is that Max was clearly trading up in his partner, and Nikita is very much not.)

I agree that this "I won't explain, I don't need to justify anything" angle not actually being all that respectful - sure, he's not directly criticising Elena, but it's deliberately leaving the space that allows other people to carry on with the gossip that she was lazy, a bad partner, not committed etc etc. If he just said something like "We achieved a lot, but we had personal differences that lead to me thinking we would be better with different partners" or something like that (preferably back in March!) it would gone a long way to improving people's opinions of how he's handled the whole situation. And the "people near to me know the truth" thing doesn't help either, it still implies that the blame shouldn't be shifted on him. If he is going to act like that, be explicit and own your reasons for doing it, instead of this hinting nonsense. Plus, even if he doesn't want to talk about Elena, it would be quite interesting to hear him justify why he had the right to split up someone else's partnership for his own ends. And he, and neither has Victoria ever publically acknowleged or thanked their former partners, and they never will, but still you see people responding to this with "oh what a classy & humble interview, sounds like he's got his head screwed on properly" :disapp: The bit that really stuck out for me was the "I know quite well when you skate the whole season cleanly and prove you have a right to be in top 3 you get what you deserve" as if they were just kept off the team because of what happened at NHK, and not addressing that they can't get above level 2 on a step sequence, can't consistently get the levels on the lifts, have a coach that says she doesn't know why the judges give them the scores that they do.

ANYWAY, I am waiting impatiently for Ruslan's interview.

uhh, you've managed to say so eloquently what I have been struggling to put into words this whole time.

Yes, please bring on Ruslan's interview

 

[uhh]

ALSO, (I'm on a roll today!) the "I don't need to explain myself" attitude is really rude to everyone, coaches, federation, even fans, who invested time and effort and emotions in both I/K and S/Z, and I include Victoria in my criticism for this. I/K had well documented problems, but there was nothing like that for S/Z. Kustarova has been nothing but polite about Victoria but you can tell that she and Alexeeva and Averbukh were all so hurt that Victoria walked out on them after straight up lying about her plans at Worlds & without even a thank you for the years and years they had all invested in her career. They are just two immature kids who thought they were all that and are now being shown that they really really aren't.

 

[MK's Winter]

I'm not a yoga type at all. I smoke, I drink, I eat. Tonight I drowned my sorrows in a delicious boeuf bourguignon prepared with my little hands, and calvados. Do you really do yoga by the way? I'm curious about the yoga.

Alba I too do all the above and yes I really do yoga. I sit at a desk all day and need to be somewhat active lol. I also do Pilates, boot camps and body works plus abs. I need to keep up with my kids...

 

[bramweld]

ALSO, (I'm on a roll today!) the "I don't need to explain myself" attitude is really rude to everyone, coaches, federation, even fans, who invested time and effort and emotions in both I/K and S/Z, and I include Victoria in my criticism for this. I/K had well documented problems, but there was nothing like that for S/Z. Kustarova has been nothing but polite about Victoria but you can tell that she and Alexeeva and Averbukh were all so hurt that Victoria walked out on them after straight up lying about her plans at Worlds & without even a thank you for the years and years they had all invested in her career. They are just two immature kids who thought they were all that and are now being shown that they really really aren't.

If you think you are smarting from all this, feel sorry for A/E (and the Shibsibs) who must have felt so insignificant at COR. Then we all know how Katsalapov claimed that he would rudely interrupt other person's classes because well everyone just knew how motivated they were. Well cooyah, dem never even mek de team! Trust me even Putin would be humbled by that. They should have a much better showing next year if they really learn from the mistakes they made this year.

I honestly believe I/K's greatest area of incongruity was intellect. There was no way K could keep up with Lena. They are in totally different leagues and for this reason alone he needed a new partner. Ruslan it appears is more than up to the challenge. That is the real story that no one dares talk about.

 

[LisaM]

I can't wait until Euros anymore.

 

[bramweld]

I can't wait until Euros anymore.

Come on girl, just a little more patience

 

[MK's Winter]

I can't wait until Euros anymore.

I am with you!

 

[uhh]

I can't wait until Euros anymore.

And Elena's hardly posted anything on instagram, I need updates!

 

[Alba]

Well, to sum up the comparison between M/T and I/K splits, there is a popular saying which has appeared among the Russian fans this season - "Nikita dreamed of becoming a Trankov, but turned out to be a Mukhortova"

Kustarova has been nothing but polite about Victoria but you can tell that she and Alexeeva and Averbukh were all so hurt that Victoria walked out on them after straight up lying about her plans at Worlds & without even a thank you for the years and years they had all invested in her career. They are just two immature kids who thought they were all that and are now being shown that they really really aren't.

What did she said then? I don't remember now.

The bit that really stuck out for me was the "I know quite well when you skate the whole season cleanly and prove you have a right to be in top 3 you get what you deserve" as if they were just kept off the team because of what happened at NHK, and not addressing that they can't get above level 2 on a step sequence, can't consistently get the levels on the lifts, have a coach that says she doesn't know why the judges give them the scores that they do.

:thumbsup: and they couldn't get the TES minimum for worlds. It's amazing that I&Z did that in their first competition together, in CoC.

Alba I too do all the above and yes I really do yoga. I sit at a desk all day and need to be somewhat active lol. I also do Pilates, boot camps and body works plus abs. I need to keep up with my kids...

WOW! You are my wonder woman. :yes:

 

[uhh]

What did she said then? I don't remember now.

Something like "I don't know anything about this, after Worlds we are going straight into preparing for next year as usual". Nikita just said I don't want to comment, I'm focusing on the competition, but she flat out denied it. Kustarova said they had suspected something was going on, but that she never said anything to them until the week after Worlds when she went back to the rink with her mother to take her things & said that she was going to skate with Nikita & they could do nothing to stop her.

 

[bramweld]

IIRC Victoria confided to Alexeeva though that she had a tryout with Katsalapov before worlds. Victoria has been disenchanted with Ruslan for some time. She tries incredibly hard to interact with Nikita on the ice this season, last season she barely looked into Ruslan's eyes. Ruslan mentioned that it was new for him this season to look pleasantly into the eyes of his partner, to have his partner smile at him. Victoria is attracted to Nikita as an ice dance partner, simple.

This thing has been in the works for sometime as Pechalat hinted to at worlds. Nikita was just not impressed with Lena's as a partner, he has always desired a different aesthetic and a more subdued personality to compliment his own. I have nothing against that, but did everything have to be so callous? He and Zueva have gone on a tear to portray Victoria as being some delicate neophyte while Lena is like some hardened harlot. Lena had mentioned his displeasure with her in an earlier interview but I just thought she was being overly emotional so close to the split. Now its clear that this is/was always the case. He simply wanted to skate with Victoria, plain and simple. He probably doesn't want to come out and say it now to either spare Lena's feelings or to prevent himself from looking like a bigger cad. I don't know if you need a book for that. Boy these last four years for Lena must have seemed like hell. I hope they rock it at EC.

 

[MK's Winter]

IIRC Victoria confided to Alexeeva though that she had a tryout with Katsalapov before worlds. Victoria has been disenchanted with Ruslan for some time. She tries incredibly hard to interact with Nikita on the ice this season, last season she barely looked into Ruslan's eyes. Ruslan mentioned that it was new for him this season to look pleasantly into the eyes of his partner, to have his partner smile at him. Victoria is attracted to Nikita as an ice dance partner, simple. This thing has been in the works for sometime as Pechalat hinted to at worlds. Nikita was just not impressed with Lena's as a partner, he has always desired a different aesthetic and a more subdued personality to compliment his own. I have nothing against that, but did everything have to be so callous? He and Zueva have gone on a tear to portray Victoria as being some delicate neophyte while Lena is like some hardened harlot. Lena had mentioned his displeasure with her in an earlier interview but I just thought she was being overly emotional so close to the split. Now its clear that this is/was always the case. He simply wanted to skate with Victoria, plain and simple. He probably doesn't want to come out and say it now to either spare Lena's feelings or to prevent himself from looking like a bigger cad. I don't know if you need a book for that. Boy these last four years for Lena must have seemed like hell. I hope they rock it at EC.

Beautifully stated, plain and simple

 

[bsfan]

uhh, you've managed to say so eloquently what I have been struggling to put into words this whole time.

Yes, please bring on Ruslan's interview

I read through all the comments about K's interview and can't agree more. My understanding about I/K split from this interview is that K wanted to do something just like Trankov. To make a great pair from the better part of both teams and achieve the result like V/T. But the thing is Vickie is not the best female partner and K himself is not the better part, unlike V/T. So things are not working his way.

 

[alithia]

http://instagram.com/p/x4PeLvKBjr/?modal=true

How pretty

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Her eyes are like quicksand. The more you let them pull you in the tougher it is to get away.

 

[meteorlight8]

@meteorlight8: Thank you so much about your reply. I agree with your post, and your description of Max.
Only one thing I disagree. Nikita might be a drama queen like Max, but he has a lot of filter actually. I may not agree with everything Max says but the guy can speak for himself.

Thanks, Alba. I see what you mean about the difference between Maks and Nikita when it comes to filter. Maybe filter is not the right word - I guess I was thinking more along the lines of lack of tact. Both often give interview responses that sound like they just answered before really giving thought to what they're saying and the consequences. Even so, Maks still generally manages to sound smarter than Nikita - or at least, after I gasp and think "I can't believe Trankov just said that!", I more often than not see the point to what he's said. With Nikita interviews, my reaction is usually shaking my head and thinking "oooh Niki ..." Maks is for sure the bigger gossip though I think you're pretty right on about Maks/Maria and that whole debacle (I still blame Vasiliev!).

Well, to sum up the comparison between M/T and I/K splits, there is a popular saying which has appeared among the Russian fans this season - "Nikita dreamed of becoming a Trankov, but turned out to be a Mukhortova"

Hahahah - this is TOO funny ...

They are just two immature kids who thought they were all that and are now being shown that they really really aren't.

I agree with this. At least they're young and have time to improve. Their problem is Russia is not lacking in young dance teams - and they won't be waiting around twiddling their thumbs while S/K improves. That's another thing that annoyed me about Nikita's interview - he seemed to have completely discounted M/K and S/B as his competition ... ugh.

Personally, I think it'll be hilarious if Yanovkaya/Mozgov passed S/K next season. It'll be revenge of the Kustarova ... #SecretWish

 

[meteorlight8]

I read through all the comments about K's interview and can't agree more. My understanding about I/K split from this interview is that K wanted to do something just like Trankov. To make a great pair from the better part of both teams and achieve the result like V/T. But the thing is Vickie is not the best female partner and K himself is not the better part, unlike V/T. So things are not working his way.

Agreed. At least he can take heart in that his plan is still on track with respect to allowing the better parts of two teams (I/K and S/Z) to come together to achieve great things ... even if he's no longer a factor in that equation

 

[uhh]

Agreed. At least he can take heart in that his plan is still on track with respect to allowing the better parts of two teams (I/K and S/Z) to come together to achieve great things ... even if he's no longer a factor in that equation

lmaoooo you are killing me!

I think if Nikita didn't still have that Olympic medalist aura protecting him, Y/M would have no problem jumping straight ahead of S/K. Their FD this year is spectacular - and it shows that Kustarova can produce good tangos, maybe she should keep that in mind for I/Z next season, just saying...

 

[bramweld]

Oh on to more pleasant things. The River Waltz from the Painted Veil. Is it too soft for them?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urci4i9zX6M