Germany’s Hase and Volodin gear up for Olympic season | Golden Skate

Germany’s Hase and Volodin gear up for Olympic season

gsk8

gsk8

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Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin kicked off their Olympic season in style, debuting their new programs at the Oberstdorf test skates. The Free Skate? Judges called it “a bit magical.” The pair has leveled up big time — think a level-four triple twist, a throw triple flip, and way more speed.

Off the ice, Volodin passed his German language and citizenship exams, clearing the last big hurdle before Milano Cortina 2026. “Now we can focus completely on training,” Hase said.

Next up: the Nebelhorn Trophy in September, a new Challenger event in Tbilisi, and then the Grand Prix circuit at Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy. The Olympic countdown is officially on.🔥

www.goldenskate.com

Germany’s Hase and Volodin gear up for Olympic season

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin The 2026 Olympic season has just begun for Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin. The 2025 World
www.goldenskate.com

Currently ranked first in the World standings, what are your thoughts on how they will fare against other top teams?

What do you think of their choice of music? How will they fare against the other top teams? Will the throw triple flip and level-four triple twist do the job?
 
I have my superstitions. When I see this kind of title of an article on GS, my heart sinks, lol. Like, for those I cheer for to do well, I don't want to hear that they plan to win big that season. It jinxes stuff.
 
gsk8 said:
Germany’s Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin kicked off their Olympic season in style, debuting their new programs at the Oberstdorf test skates. The Free Skate? Judges called it “a bit magical.” The pair has leveled up big time — think a level-four triple twist, a throw triple flip, and way more speed.

Off the ice, Volodin passed his German language and citizenship exams, clearing the last big hurdle before Milano Cortina 2026. “Now we can focus completely on training,” Hase said.

Next up: the Nebelhorn Trophy in September, a new Challenger event in Tbilisi, and then the Grand Prix circuit at Skate Canada and Finlandia Trophy. The Olympic countdown is officially on.🔥

www.goldenskate.com

Germany’s Hase and Volodin gear up for Olympic season

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin The 2026 Olympic season has just begun for Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin. The 2025 World
www.goldenskate.com

Currently ranked first in the World standings, what are your thoughts on how they will fare against other top teams?

What do you think of their choice of music? How will they fare against the other top teams? Will the throw triple flip and level-four triple twist do the job?
Click to expand...
Thank you for sharing such great news. I'm so happy that Nikita got his German citizenship congrats to him. I've always been a fan and surely have high hopes for them but my wish is mainly for them to have a season that they can be proud of - beautiful programs and higher tech contents are definitely bonuses and I will cheer for them regardless. Can't wait to see the programs :love2:.
 
It's really nice to read this great news that Volodin has passed his German language and citizenship tests. I love the author's comment that Volodin was able to do the whole interview in German. I also really liked that Volodin stated he wants to continue learning the language more. I admire that commitment - not just doing it for the test. I'm also excited to read about their programs, as well as the improvements they've made!
 
macy said:
really excited to see their programs!!
Click to expand...
Same here... I don't like either composers that much... but I like Miniki... I felt they were better than the boring programs they had last year so yeah :) Looking forward to seeing which teams have iconic, olympic, programs
 
gsk8 said:
Currently ranked first in the World standings, what are your thoughts on how they will fare against other top teams?

What do you think of their choice of music? How will they fare against the other top teams? Will the throw triple flip and level-four triple twist do the job?
Click to expand...
Time will tell. There is definitely a risk. She has said that the throw salchow was her favorite element, and in fact they consistently earn +3 or +4 GOE for its execution. So to justify replacing it with a throw flip it has to deliver the same kind of +3 or +4 grades of execution. In the words, it needs to be mastered to perfection.
It all depends on how well they can handle performing the new stuff under pressure. Can they bring skating that would be a little more inspired. The snippets of the new programs looked great. Tango is a big challenge though. If you are not performing it, the program might not stand out.
As for Olympic Gold, I'm a bit skeptical. The Japanese are treated differently. But if you're not aiming for the win, you won't get any medal.
 
I am very sceptical about them switching to a throw flip, a potential gain of 0.5 point could easily lose them 3-4 points. I understand Minerva didn't land it at the test skates. It does not mean of course she won't land it in a course of the season. But imho they should have got a mileage on it last season, then it would work.
 
Teams try stuff... I think Deanna and Max also started last season with the new throw and ditched it later on... Am I imagining things ?

I remember how Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford switched to the throw triple flip because they were working on the throw quad lutz and then, and having both, the triple and quad was an issue for the short where they cannot have a quad throw... so ... in the end, they ditched that and worked on the throw triple axel which never worked out lol..

People experiment for every advantage they can get, and that's the risk to take : will the GOE be as high with the new throw ? Will the reward be worth the risk ?

To me, it just tells me that they know they are maxed out already with other elements so they are looking where else they can grab a point or more. It's the sign of great competitors. Whether it works out or not, we will have to see.
 
What I'm most thrilled to hear about is the emphasis that Minerva & Nikita's team have placed on creating the programs and the music that will bring out what's most unique and beautiful about Miniki. 😍🥰😍 I love that they're doing a tango for the SP, but even more I love the way Minerva spoke about it, how it's created to be especially "working" with the pairs elements. Their FS sounds wonderful, too.

I think this shows the long-term planning that their coach did. For the past two years, Minerva and Nikita have established very well their technical prowess and the excellence and beauty of their elements. Now, the musical interpretation and emotional power parts of their skating can be shown and highlighted and celebrated. From both their comments, it sounds like they're committed to these important components of good figure skating. I can hardly wait to see their new programs.

Good news that they've worked on leveling up to 4 on their triple twist. I'm not as happy about their leaving the triple salchow throw out in favor of a 3Fth's tiny points advantage, when it seems likely they'll sacrifice some GOE. Just as importantly, they'll be losing some beauty and LOVE because throw sal is Minerva's favorite element. But experimenting is good, and it's possible they'll bring back the sal later in the season. (I hope!)
 
Continuing on programs, Pirouette shared an interview with Aljona Savchenko, in which she shared her impressions of Minerva and Nikita's Olympic programs at the test skates:
"There is still a lot of work ahead; a lot of polishing and refining to be done. I have some doubts regarding the programs, but if they work on them a bit more, the picture might turn out differently."
Click to expand...

It's interesting because she's called their last year's free program at Worlds a masterpiece. I can only assume that what she means is that this year they went for an ambitious yet risky strategy. The Japanese and Canadian pairs chose the more "epic" kind of music, which makes small mistakes less noticeable and still gives you that big Olympic wow-moment. Minerva and Nikita are going in a completely different direction: intimate and deep. That type of music rarely delivers instant goosebumps and demands flawless interpretation and execution. Tango needs real fire and spark, which maybe they haven’t shown yet. And with Richter, the whole effect depends on the details, emotional projection, powerful delivery; otherwise it can appear monotonous. Savchenko herself was able to project that emotion even when there were small mistakes, so I guess she is unsure whether they can do the same and create magic regardless. In a way, they’re following the Savchenko/Massot approach: this music won’t carry them — they’ll have to carry it themselves.
 
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