Let's Chat About Less-Known Skaters!

[TT_Fin]

I am going to be rooting for Suntsev from yesterday on! The outrage was that Pitot today also had a strap came lose, but he was allowed to finish his SS without penalty that cost Suntsev the spot in the free. I thought it was really unfair!

I was hoping him to get the scores for worlds, but he did not manage this season. He has 3A and 3-3 combinations. He just needs to skate his programs clean or almost clean and then it is done. He had TES for Euros, but as I wrote, Valtter had good GP where he scored 200+ and then several times 190+. At nationals Valtter had clean skate and got 202, Makar had problems with FS. Makar's PB was 189+ this season from JGP. Finland's federation announces the rules how to get the spot at EC, JWC and WC early at the beginning of the season, so every skater know it. It has been for some years now the system two best scores counted together and I find it quite fair. A disaster at nationals is not a disaster, if there are good international competitions. Only thing I would change is that for worlds they would look more how skater does in the middle of the season. Jenni Saarinen got her spot by good skates at the beginning of the season, but her second part of the season was worse than some other skaters'.

Some words about Makar's background: He is born in Perm Russia, but has moved to Finland when he was five years old, with his family. So he has always represented Finland and speaks Finnish as natives do. His mother is professional figure skating coach and also his coach. Here is an article in Finnish, if you want to read all, try google translator. It works quite good from Finnish to English. https://www.skatingfinland.fi/henkilot/makar-suntsev-sai-liiton-vuoden-lupaus-palkinnon/
I pick from that article:

When Makar was five years old, the family moved to Kotka, Finland. The skating hobby under the guidance of his mother Tatyana Lebedeva continued, but when the son started school, another sport, football, also became interesting.

- I missed the first blocks because I went to the wrong place, the training sessions had been moved. Others were canceled because the coach was sick. While waiting for the thirds to start, I jumped so excitedly on the asphalt that I sprained my ankle. I said maybe football isn't for me after all, Makar says with a laugh.

 

[TT_Fin]

Some picks from Finland's national team, women:

Nella Pelkonen, current Nordic champion. Could not be substitute for worlds - because of missing the SP TES 0.04 points - otherwise based on PBs and Fed's rules she would have been the 1st substitute. Was 1st substitute for JWC. During a couple of last seasons been injured quite a lot, but this season has been good for her. Got silver at nationals. Has huge jumps.

Olivia Lisko, 1st substitute for worlds, has both TES. Got first time 170+ some weeks ago at Volvo open cup at Latvia. 4th at nationals. Was second after SP, but did not manage to skate her FS clean and dropped a couple of places. A week ago at Challenge Cup she skated her FS clean and according to her insta it was firs time this season.

Minja Peltonen. 3rd at nationals, where she had a skate of her life . She can jump 3lz-3lo. Does not often do it clean, but keeps trying and sometimes has managed. At nationals she did it with one <. She has been a little bit unstable, sometimes good skates and sometimes several falls.

All these girls are young, born 2006 or 2005 and all of them had both TES for Euros this season. So if ISU does not increase the demands a lot they all are fighting for Finland's two spots, with the older skaters - Emmi Peltonen, Oona Ounasvuori, Linnea Ceder- who have already been there, if they continue their career. And then there is next year. All of them have capacity to get the TES for worlds. Olivia is already safe with her 33.03 and 61.06 from this season, I think these are enough also for next year. Nella's scores are not updated right on the local Fed's list, she got 62.69 from FS at Nordics and Nordics are counted. She got that annoying 31.96 from SP, but we can only wait what the TES demands next year are. Janna J. would have got the spot for worlds even if Nella would have got the SP, but Nella would have been her 1st sub as I wrote. Emmi has not got the TES for Euros this season because she has not competed a lot, but Oona and Linnea have it. So the fight for two spots will be very interesting nex season. And of course Janna, who earned the two spots, herself must have clean skates even her overall technical content is the most difficult of all of these ladies I mentioned in this spot. So keep in mind these names, Nella, Olivia and Minja.

 

[lariko]

I was hoping him to get the scores for worlds, but he did not manage this season. He has 3A and 3-3 combinations. He just needs to skate his programs clean or almost clean and then it is done. He had TES for Euros, but as I wrote, Valtter had good GP where he scored 200+ and then several times 190+. At nationals Valtter had clean skate and got 202, Makar had problems with FS. Makar's PB was 189+ this season from JGP. Finland's federation announces the rules how to get the spot at EC, JWC and WC early at the beginning of the season, so every skater know it. It has been for some years now the system two best scores counted together and I find it quite fair. A disaster at nationals is not a disaster, if there are good international competitions. Only thing I would change is that for worlds they would look more how skater does in the middle of the season. Jenni Saarinen got her spot by good skates at the beginning of the season, but her second part of the season was worse than some other skaters'.

Some words about Makar's background: He is born in Perm Russia, but has moved to Finland when he was five years old, with his family. So he has always represented Finland and speaks Finnish as natives do. His mother is professional figure skating coach and also his coach. Here is an article in Finnish, if you want to read all, try google translator. It works quite good from Finnish to English. https://www.skatingfinland.fi/henkilot/makar-suntsev-sai-liiton-vuoden-lupaus-palkinnon/
I pick from that article:

When Makar was five years old, the family moved to Kotka, Finland. The skating hobby under the guidance of his mother Tatyana Lebedeva continued, but when the son started school, another sport, football, also became interesting.

- I missed the first blocks because I went to the wrong place, the training sessions had been moved. Others were canceled because the coach was sick. While waiting for the thirds to start, I jumped so excitedly on the asphalt that I sprained my ankle. I said maybe football isn't for me after all, Makar says with a laugh.

He was clean and very convincing in the short. I really enjoyed his performance live.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Going down the Sean Rabbitt hole, and I am all for it. It was so touching to see his tears after that magical short program skate in 2019.

Thank you for posting that.

I have Facebook friends who are friends with him, and word on the street is Sean is a terrific (and humble) guy.
Adding to this thread, there was a guy in the Junior Men's category at this year's US Nationals who is such an amazing performer as well.

Kirk Haugeto clearly loves to skate.

Kirk Haugeto sp 22-23 US jr nationals

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

LOVED that SP from Kirk Haugeto!!! Here's his LP:

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

I have literally never seen anyone do that ending pose before, and he does it in both programs! Plus he is so excited after he finishes, and his K&C is so adorable. He exemplifies the joy of skating! May he maintain that joy for as long as he stays in skating. I hope to see much more of him!!!!! Going toward center ice with a spread eagle before the music starts?! At a competition?! Nobody does that and I LOVE it. It is impossible to watch those videos and not feel happier! for sharing!

 

[FaustinaF]

Yeah I agree with you!! It is just lovely to see someone really enjoying figure skating with that kind of enthusiasm!!! It makes you also understand there are GREAT skaters who doesn't care to get by force the top of the podium, but cares to have a wonderful time on the ice while skating both for oneself and for the others you share your skating to!!

 

[TT_Fin]

I like to watch small competitions just because there are skaters and programs not seen so often. The joy when they skate PBs or clean programs is joy to watch, even when they are not near to get on the podium.

Many people seem to think there are no other male skaters in Finland than Valtter, but there are now. As we had eight men in senior nationals and most of them are under 20, so the situation is not bad. Finns are often late bloomers, find they strenghts at older age, as Valtter has shown. Lauri Lankila, who is the oldest behind Valtter, 22, does not belong to national team and gets basic values from some of his spins. But he goes for 4T and 3A. I cannot remember if he has managed to do them in competitions clean. Those who follow juniors have seen Viveca's little brother Mathias Lindfors at JGP. He does not have difficult jumps yet, 3lz-2t he does, but he has often skated his programs clean or almost clean - almost means some - goes but no many falls. He is age eligible to skate in seniors, but internationally he has stayed in juniors so far. In national seniors he got bronze, but was 2nd at FS. And Matias is a performer and his sister Monica has done a great Carmen program for him. I hope he keeps it next season, I could watch it some more times.

 

[essence_of_soy]

I don't know if blasts from the past count, but Tony Wheeler has created a YouTube page which include many of my favourites.

Here are several fantastic performances to enjoy.

1991 Skate America - Mens Free Skate - Michael Chack USA

www.youtube.com

1993 Skate America - Mens Free Skate - Aren Nielsen USA

www.youtube.com

 

[labgoat]

I don't know if blasts from the past count, but Tony Wheeler has created a YouTube page which include many of my favourites.

Here are several fantastic performances to enjoy.

1991 Skate America - Mens Free Skate - Michael Chack USA

www.youtube.com

1993 Skate America - Mens Free Skate - Aren Nielsen USA

www.youtube.com

Wow, some of these skates are not in my lists. I just added them to my lists.
Thank you for posting these videos and the link to the site.

 

[arewhyaen]

I'm a big fan of Edrian Paul Celestino of the Philippines. Really love his flow, artistic interpretation, his skating skills, has a nice knee bend, and really soft landings on his jumps. He doesn't have the big jumps (yet) to break through to the top tier, but if he ever did, he would be very competitive. IMO Celestino is one in a long line of of Filpino mens skaters (after Christopher Caluza and Michael Christian Martinez) who may not have all the technical goods but possess some REALLY lovely artistic skating qualities

 

[ladyjane]

Nice those videos from Edrien. I like him too. One of those guys you just remember and like to re-watch. Technically maybe not yet or ever, but so musical, such great performance qualities. He reminds me a bit (just a bit) of Donovan Carillo who is also such a joy to watch!

 

[Diana Delafield]

Me too! He is completely new to me. I LOVED his SP in particular, and his joy while skating and in the K&C. All I know so far I found on his USFS Fan Zone page (https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/sports/figure-skating/roster/samuel-mindra/532). He is from Portland, has 9 siblings, and was the US Junior bronze medalist in 2021. He turns 20 this June. This year was his Senior Nationals debut and he finished 9th!

How wonderful that you got to meet him in person!

I figured out how to download the full VK streams and then extract Sam's programs from them. (Total aside: I'm not that familiar with video editing, so it was time-consuming to figure out but TOTALLY worth the effort, and if there's a next time I will be able do it much faster). No commentary, full crowd reaction, full replays and K&C. (I also extracted the programs of Andrew Torgashev and Jason Brown. It should surprise no one who's read my posts in this very thread why I specifically wanted those 6 programs ).

So, without further ado, here they are:

Nats23 SP Sam Mindra.mp4

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Nats23 LP Sam Mindra.mp4

Shared with Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

Your work was worth it! I don't get to see the US Nationals, so I hadn't heard of this skater and I loved the joy on his face after both performances. Hope to see more of him internationally in the future!

 

[4everchan]

I'm a big fan of Edrian Paul Celestino of the Philippines. Really love his flow, artistic interpretation, his skating skills, has a nice knee bend, and really soft landings on his jumps. He doesn't have the big jumps (yet) to break through to the top tier, but if he ever did, he would be very competitive. IMO Celestino is one in a long line of of Filpino mens skaters (after Christopher Caluza and Michael Christian Martinez) who may not have all the technical goods but possess some REALLY lovely artistic skating qualities

My Edrian!!! I thought I was his only fan !!!! Glad to see that he has picked up some more appreciation! I have been following him since Autumn Classic 2016 or 2017, which he won in the junior category. I have had the pleasure of seeing him skate live as a Senior as well, I think it was at Championnats québécois d'été, where he did try a quad toe. His 3lz-3toe is really good.

I don't know if Celestino can be linked to other Filipino skaters really. He is a Montreal born, Canadian-trained skater... but I do agree that he has wonderful skating skills and artistic presence like Caluza and Martinez. He started as an ice dancer, his brother does ice dancing (novice, Canada) as well.

Celestino's first coach is Daniel Béland, former world junior champion representing Canada.
He now is with Yvan Desjardins who coached Jo Phan, Nic Nadeau, Edward Vasiii and Anthony Paradis, the last 2 are the most recent junior champions of Canada. All his skaters have great skating skills... may he help Edrian secure his 4toe and 3axel, as Yvan's skaters usually have the goods technically as well.

Edrian got his SP minimum for worlds. He needs the LP still... .so maybe next year for Worlds in his hometown !

 

[SmileHappy34]

I apologize for not knowing some of the lesser known from countries not from United States. Some of my favorites besides Michelle Kwan and the Olympics medalist that stand out from the past are Lisa Marie Allen, Gary Beckham, Angela Nikodinov, David Santee, The Seybolds, Matt Savoir John Mish Petkevich, Vicki Heasley, the dance team Millers who finish 2ndvJulievlynn Holmes, Wendy Burgw . Derrick Delmore , Syndey Vogel. I did pay attention to junior words and always hope the medalist would do well. Some had more competitive when competing in seniors and fell by wayside. I also like Caroline Zhang even though pummel incforum. I like the skaters who meda at nationals but didn't I felt sometimes get deserve at worlds. They are a lot of lesser known talents that didn't make the world or Olympic podium that deserve a shout out of congratulations job well done despite lack of medals.

 

[moonvine]

Valtter Virtanen (35 years old), Finland, really is a Doctor of Medical Science and has been working through his sports career. His Instagram profile says 16 times national medalist, 7 times national champion, 9 Europeans, 4 times Worlds competitor. Nordic champion from previous season, thank you for correcting me! This season four times over 200 points but missed the Worlds fs tech minimums by 1,29 points. Very inspiring career and he got very good results this season!

I love him!

 

[moonvine]

As far as skaters I'd like to know more about, tell me more about Sam Mindra (new discovery at US Nationals) and Valtter Virtanen (new discovery at Challenge Cup). Everyone in the Challenge Cup thread referred to Virtanen as "the Spin Doctor." Is he actually a doctor? His skating is so nice to watch, including the spins.

This thread will be fun!

I’ve been following Sam for awhile. His first International competition was the 2020 North American Cup. In 2021 he won the bronze in Junior Men at US Nats. In 2020 USFS awarded him the Athlete Alumni Ambassador award, which is a scholarship given to athletes who have achieved figure skating excellence while actively volunteering. He came in 4th at Philly International last year, all you people who wouldn’t go
He was injured at one of his NQS events last year and stayed to cheer on the other skaters and help patch the ice. I talked him up in the Us Men’s thread after that.

 

[moonvine]

Going down the Sean Rabbitt hole, and I am all for it. It was so touching to see his tears after that magical short program skate in 2019.

Thank you for posting that.

I have Facebook friends who are friends with him, and word on the street is Sean is a terrific (and humble) guy.
Adding to this thread, there was a guy in the Junior Men's category at this year's US Nationals who is such an amazing performer as well.

Kirk Haugeto clearly loves to skate.

Kirk Haugeto sp 22-23 US jr nationals

www.youtube.com

- YouTube

Auf YouTube findest du die angesagtesten Videos und Tracks. Außerdem kannst du eigene Inhalte hochladen und mit Freunden oder gleich der ganzen Welt teilen.

www.youtube.com

Kirk is amazing. Talked him up in the US men’s thread after his JGP assignment and linked his JGP performances. Don’t sleep on my peeps y’all!

 

[Vemvane]

I have a very soft spot for Gian-Quen Isaacs, from South Africa, whom I have seen competing on the JGP circuit for several years now. She's been National Champion four times, and hoped to be the seventh South African skater to qualify for the Olympics; unfortunately, the pandemic made training and competing impossible (there was a three month lockdown, in which people were forbidden to leave their houses even for exercise; other bans included alcohol, cigarettes, and flip-flops). She was unable to compete internationally for two years, thanks to COVID. However, she was back on the JGP this season.



She's from a single parent family, and, as figure skating does not receive government funding, has had to resort to fundraisers in order to afford the costs of travelling to competition. In spite of these financial constraints, she has been able to visit Canada once a year for training from Brian Orser at the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club. She also received the Olympic Solidarity Scholarship from the IOC in 2019.

She originally wanted to play ice hockey, but was directed into figure skating by an ice hockey coach at a team try-out, at the age of seven. Hanyu Yuzuru is an inspiration for her: "His dedication and passion for the sport are just really inspiring. I am inspired watching him go out there and fight through everything. His determination to do his best is just so amazing to just watch." She also admires South African swimmer Chad Le Clos: "Outside the skating world, Chad Le Clos is my idol. He’s always been my favourite. He swam at the Olympics with his idol and that’s something I want to be able to do and when I reach that stage."



There's only one rink in the whole of the Western Cape; to get in enough ice time, she wakes up at 5am and trains until 7am, then goes to school, has another hour on the ice between 1pm and 2pm, picks up her schoolwork again, and has a final session on the ice at 5pm. In terms of training conditions, she says, "If there is one place where I would like to be, it would be Canada. The environment in which we train is just amazing."

She wants to be a doctor, following in her uncle's footsteps, and has been working very hard to maintain excellent grades at school. As for her mother, Gian says, "I think the reason I am where I am in life is because of my mom. She’s helped me through everything."

Here are some articles on her:

A shining star in the making, June 2015

Capetonian ice skating star on the rise, October 2018

Skate queen aims high, April 2019

Gian-Quen Isaacs' figure skating journey: "In South Africa, it's known as a Cinderella sport", November 2020

Queen of the rink: Champion ice skater's 2022 Winter Olympics dream, December 2020

Cape figure skater on a mission to put SA on the map, March 2021

She will compete in the National Championships again later this month; they run from 13-14 March.

Figure Skating championships 13-14th March (the article focuses on another young South African, Nicolas van de Vijver, who received an ISU internship at IceLab, Bergamo; Ted Barton has also conducted an interview with him, available on the ISU JGP YouTube channel)

 

[el henry]

Kirk is amazing. Talked him up in the US men’s thread after his JGP assignment and linked his JGP performances. Don’t sleep on my peeps y’all!

Well I did miss Sam somehow (and yes I missed the Philly comp last year) but I fell in love with chaos king Kirk from his JGP assignment as well.

Even without the headstand ending

 

[Skater Boy]

I love him!

I was hoping for a feel good story that Dr. V finally made the world standards. Sadly I think he is retiring. I understand that there are limited resources / time/ice but it is so amazing to see skaters from all over the globe especially when the skater is actually a skater from that country and not to be blunt a transplant trying to simply make worlds/ olympics and they couldn't in their main home country so they go to somewhere where there is less competition.

 

[skatedreamer]

Well I did miss Sam somehow (and yes I missed the Philly comp last year) but I fell in love with chaos king Kirk from his JGP assignment as well.

Even without the headstand ending

headstand ending...what the bleep? That sounds scary; reminds me of the "headbanger" pairs move in The Cutting Edge or maybe Blades of Glory.

Sam is wonderful, even if his FS music edits did drive me crazy this year. Hope to see much more of him!