Elena Kostyleva

[Remilia]

 

[Remilia]

Recent training clips

 

[Remilia]

 

[Remilia]

From the training camp in Azerbaijan. Lena is already taller than Aliona she's grown so much

 

[Mathematician]

From the training camp in Azerbaijan. Lena is already taller than Aliona she's grown so much

She will grow much in the coming year, I think.

It's hard to get data here since Alena went to pairs and Zhilina has been out for a while. I know Zhilina is barely an inch taller than Sinitsyna, but since Sinitsyna has been struggling lately there's no data of her standing next to other girls in a neutral podium setting. Alena should be about 5'1-5'2 assuming she didn't grow since her ISU days? And she still looks quite small today. Are there any good picture of Alena with current skaters? It's believable then to put Lena at a weak 5'3 and Sinitsyna at a strong 5'3 and Zhilina at 5'4, maybe? Zhilina's ISU card still has her at 142cm which is obviously outdated.

 

[Remilia]

She will grow much in the coming year, I think.

It's hard to get data here since Alena went to pairs and Zhilina has been out for a while. I know Zhilina is barely an inch taller than Sinitsyna, but since Sinitsyna has been struggling lately there's no data of her standing next to other girls in a neutral podium setting. Alena should be about 5'1-5'2 assuming she didn't grow since her ISU days? And she still looks quite small today. Are there any good picture of Alena with current skaters? It's believable then to put Lena at a weak 5'3 and Sinitsyna at a strong 5'3 and Zhilina at 5'4, maybe? Zhilina's ISU card still has her at 142cm which is obviously outdated.

I don't think she's 5'3 based on the height difference between her and Anna from the channel 1 test skate video. I was looking through her tikok, and she responded to a comment asking about her height a few days ago saying she's 152-153cm not sure if she's just guessing, but I'd put her at about 155cm or 5'1 (and I can't be convinced that Alena is any taller than 5'0)

 

[Mathematician]

I don't think she's 5'3 based on the height difference between her and Anna from the channel 1 test skate video. I was looking through her tikok, and she responded to a comment asking about her height a few days ago saying she's 152-153cm not sure if she's just guessing, but I'd put her at about 155cm or 5'1 (and I can't be convinced that Alena is any taller than 5'0)

Thanks for that info. I am inclined to roughly believe Elena's self-reported measurement, but the thing is, this situation means we know for sure at least one of two self-reported measurements are drastically incorrect: Alena's (from her ISU singles days) or Elena's current report.

See this is the problem with no data on Sinitsyna comes in for me. I mean, I could've dug into some Zagitova interviews, but even then you never know what sort of shoes Zagitova would be wearing.

I checked the height difference between Anna and Elena in that video, and you're right, this would make Anna very tall, but we have no idea what shoes she's wearing, and she could easily be wearing heels.

However, seeing Elena on ice, it is in general difficult to imagine that she is 5'3. I guess, my analysis here is likely incorrect because it is likely that Aliona's ISU measurements are mistaken. I look forward to gathering more data throughout this next season. Frolova's ISU data basically vindicated the work I've done so far, so I hope I can use her and some others who are constantly next to her that I've also made high confidence guesses on.

 

[Remilia]

snippets of Lena's programs from test skates

 

[Mathematician]

snippets of Lena's programs from test skates

Both programs look promising if you ask me. I think the Bolero will work so well for her. It seems fun and she has the energy/presentation for it. I'm really excited to see her in this FS style. I think she has it all and will cement herself as the clear best junior this season.

BTW, did you notice at 31 seconds into that first video of the SP, what is clearly a callback to Valieva?

 

[Remilia]

Both programs look promising if you ask me. I think the Bolero will work so well for her. It seems fun and she has the energy/presentation for it. I'm really excited to see her in this FS style. I think she has it all and will cement herself as the clear best junior this season.

BTW, did you notice at 31 seconds into that first video of the SP, what is clearly a callback to Valieva?

Tbh, I wasn't happy when I heard she'd be doing bolero, but from what we've seen, it looks decent enough, and she does have the ability to sell it. I'm just a bit worried about the comparisons to Kami, which they're inviting even more with the callback choreo

 

[Remilia]

Well, Lena is out of JGP Xi'an with an injury... which means we won't see her in Thailand either. According to her mom, she bruised her right gluteal muscle falling on quad jumps, and the area is inflamed, which makes it impossible to train. I have to wonder when this happened... maybe it was already like that during test skates and she just pushed through, but made it worse. Well, it's a shame, but the good thing is that it's not a serious injury, so she will still be able to compete in B-competitions internationally and fight for the worlds spot at nats.

Also, @Mathematician her mom confirmed she's 153-154cm, and apparently her growth plates are basically closed and she's only expected to grow 2cm more at most