Mikhail Kolyada | Page 148 | Golden Skate

Mikhail Kolyada

https://www.sport-express.ru/figure...-zagitova-rafael-arutyunyan-intervyu-1482368/

Raf seemed a bit more critical of Misha's training in this interview (more specifically, implying that his jumps aren’t stable enough in practice and that there is an organizational problem in preparing for competitions), but he is still as defensive of him as ever. When will this long-distance courtship ritual finally end so I can see a happy and healthy Mikhail sunbathing on the beaches of California full-time? (I'm kidding.....kind of)
 
I can get behind the organizational problem thing, but I'm not sure how the unstable quads in training would be something as solvable. They're unstable, what of it. Not like he can flip a switch and make them stable. It's the truth about Misha since the beginning of time, tbh.

On another unrelated note, people, look at the skate Jason just did in France. It's what I've been saying all along, land your 'easy' stuff and get the points. He literally scored the same Misha did at Nepela, without a single quad. Will he gets all those 4s and 5s always? No. But one of the judges even gave him 100+ for that SP, it's mind boggling.

In the end I feel like Misha is at crossroads, and if he'd just gave up on stabilizing three quads, he'd be a much better competitor. But I accept that Misha has goals which are not connected to those I'd set for him, and I'm willing to survive the drama that his career will most likely be until the end of time, haha.
 
I can get behind the organizational problem thing, but I'm not sure how the unstable quads in training would be something as solvable. They're unstable, what of it. Not like he can flip a switch and make them stable. It's the truth about Misha since the beginning of time, tbh.

On another unrelated note, people, look at the skate Jason just did in France. It's what I've been saying all along, land your 'easy' stuff and get the points. He literally scored the same Misha did at Nepela, without a single quad. Will he gets all those 4s and 5s always? No. But one of the judges even gave him 100+ for that SP, it's mind boggling.

In the end I feel like Misha is at crossroads, and if he'd just gave up on stabilizing three quads, he'd be a much better competitor. But I accept that Misha has goals which are not connected to those I'd set for him, and I'm willing to survive the drama that his career will most likely be until the end of time, haha.

I don’t think it’s the quad in the SP that’s the problem, though. It doesn't matter how many rotations a jump has, Misha will find a way to pop or fall on it because, as you said, instability is just his thing. He almost fell on a singled triple lutz in Helsinki :laugh:
 
I don’t think it’s the quad in the SP that’s the problem, though. It doesn't matter how many rotations a jump has, Misha will find a way to pop or fall on it because, as you said, instability is just his thing. He almost fell on a singled triple lutz in Helsinki :laugh:

I definitely don't think the quad toe in the SP is the problem, but you gotta admit that training three quads, two of which are still a gamble, and competing them before they were merely stable destroyed his confidence in one way or another. I don't see Misha starting to only do clean programs had he stayed with his old content from Boston, but I can't help but wonder if things wouldn't be at least easier for him. And we can't undermine the kind of work one has to put on to land different quads--especially considering how 'old' Misha is compared to most of the other guys doing different quads--we don't touch on Hanyu here because he's a different creature.

Of course, the new rules are much gentler on skaters with no quads now than they were before. And all of this won't matter if he starts to get his head back in the game, after all I doubt he's going to win any of the big competitions on triples alone, that's just not feasible, and it's going to get even less likely in the future.
 
Well, even without GPF qualification, I think the Fed is definitely going to push Samarin. Maybe Kovtun, too. And why wouldn't they? Samarin has delivered this season where Misha and Dima have not, so it's only fair. I think Misha will need to skate perfectly or near-perfectly to save his title. And with Samarin, Kovtun, Aliev, Voronov, and Gumennik in the mix, getting on the podium might be hard, too. Now that the judges know that Samarin will get high PCS comparable to Kolyada internationally, there is no need to prop up Kolyada with high PCS relative to Samarin on the national level.

Sorry for the pessimism; everything just seems to be going wrong this season (Boyang :() Even Aliev outscored Misha today. I hope our tiny tsar is training hard and will show us something special in a month, but things are looking bleak
 
Well, even without GPF qualification, I think the Fed is definitely going to push Samarin. Maybe Kovtun, too. I'm not complaining; Samarin has delivered this season where Misha and Dima have not, so it's only fair. But I think Misha will need to skate perfectly or near-perfectly to save his title. And with Samarin, Kovtun, Aliev, Voronov, and Gumennik in the mix, getting on the podium might be hard, too. Now that the judges know that Samarin will get high PCS comparable to Kolyada internationally, there is no need to prop up Kolyada with high PCS relative to Samarin on the national level.

Sorry for the pessimism; everything just seems to be going wrong this season (Boyang :() Even Aliev outscored Misha today. I hope our tiny tsar is training hard and will show us something special in a month, but things are looking bleak

He faced them before at nats and yet was able to rise to the occasion.
 
He faced them before at nats and yet was able to rise to the occasion.

I know, but nothing about this season has been normal :(

Obviously I don't want him on the team because he severely under-performed and the judges propped him up on PCS. We would never hear the end of it, and it wouldn't be fair to the competitors who did well. But Carmen not performed at Worlds? Misha not in front of a large, adoring audience in Japan? I don't want to think about it. :no:

Oh well, there’s nothing we can do but wait and see!
 
But Carmen not performed at Worlds? Misha not in front of a large, adoring audience in Japan? I don't want to think about it. :no:

Oh well, there’s nothing we can do but wait and see!

I think the worst of it all was that HE wanted to skate Carmen for a long time now, and in the season he decides to do it, everything goes to s*#t!
 
I think the worst of it all was that HE wanted to skate Carmen for a long time now, and in the season he decides to do it, everything goes to s*#t!

If, God forbid, his season does end at Nationals, then I hope he brings it back next season. Olga really came through with this one.
 
Obviously I don't want him on the team because he severely under-performed and the judges propped him up on PCS. !

Huh and who did so well and not underperformed to be more suited for worlds? Aliev? Samarin got now in FS lower than Mika in Finlandia. Kovtun totally blewed his short and lost the first time to a junior.

His PCS are deserved.
 
What annoys me a bit is that when Boyang or Yuzuru underperforms at GPF is all well and good, but when Mika does some think that he isn't more to be allowed in the team? Let's remember that he got bronze last year at worlds? After underperforming like a lot in the season?

If what he said to Tanja is true, perhaps he tried to pace his season better to don't be exhausted at Euros already. What i think he should do is:
- concentrate on 4T-3t and 3a, They have to be perfect at Nats
- if his stamina problems comes from muscles, do more exercises outside the ice rink. I remember Kulik who had similar problems till Oly-season, did a lot of extra stamina building exercises in the Oly season.
- if his stamina is related with breath-rhinitis-sinusitis problems, to get help from the best specialists.

As glum it looks now let's remember following:
- that Voronov is now in final is because he got easy GP where the majority bombed and his content was enough to qualify. If everybody hits at Nats, Voronov won't be on podium
- Aliev bombed a lot this season, he has only one skate today better than Mika
- Samarin is more stable, but like today has shown: he is not 100% stable either.
- Kovtun was beaten by a junior in the first cup, in the second he had a total meltdown in the short. Much worse than Mika. His jumps are also not good quality. He might get in RUssia high scores, but i bet outside he won't have an easy life with them and no bonus either.
- Gummenik is a junior who maximized his points. And was beaten in FS by Kovtun. He is still not there.
- Lazukin is unstable.

Yes anyone can beat Mika, if Mika implodes. But if Mika doesn't, he will be with easiness on the podium.
 
I'm just a very nervous person and I feel like I hyped him up too much earlier this season, so now I'm trying a different tactic :laugh:
 
Alas, I don't think we should discuss the other guys here anyway. Misha isn't any worse than any of them, he 'just' has to perform better in the coming competitions.
 
Yeap, but let's also remember that the mighty Voronov who is now so much loved, blew LOADS of chances, he was 6 times at worlds and only ONCE in top 10 (who from the other had so many chances and so many chances to gather experience?). Compared to Mika 3 out of three. He might do well now, as no pressure is on him. Let's see him once again at worlds what he will be able to show if once again under the pressure of the Russian federation. Aliev had ONE good skate this season and is now hailed as a greatness. I don't know man....i find it annoying how people treat Mika.

I think for my own sake i will remove myself from skating forums for the time being.
 
It’s what happens when you’re the best and people hope and expect the best from you. I shouldn’t have brought up the other men; Samarin’s scores scared me, but I’m chill now.

Especially because Misha updated his IG story :) and captioned it "this will be something interesting")) I wonder if he’s planning on doing any shows in the next month to shake off some performance anxiety and get some mileage on elements? And make money of course
 
Maybe he's just doing new drills? But since he's updated his social media, I do hope he gets some chances to do shows, if he's willing to. Also, I think putting his mind to other things, even if it's just IG, can be something to release the tension. I don't like to see him so secluded and mulling over stuff - but then, we don't really know how he is in real life, so...
 
Yeap, but let's also remember that the mighty Voronov who is now so much loved, blew LOADS of chances, he was 6 times at worlds and only ONCE in top 10 (who from the other had so many chances and so many chances to gather experience?). Compared to Mika 3 out of three. He might do well now, as no pressure is on him. Let's see him once again at worlds what he will be able to show if once again under the pressure of the Russian federation. Aliev had ONE good skate this season and is now hailed as a greatness. I don't know man....i find it annoying how people treat Mika.

I think for my own sake i will remove myself from skating forums for the time being.

Sergei is hailed as anew hope, mostly because no one believed he still has it in him. And people expect much, much more form Misha than Sergei. Hence when it doesn't works all he recieves is hate. People want him to be next Plushenko, they don't understand that he is totally different person and their expectations are kind of unfounded. Sure, we can hope, but how many skaters excatly in Men are so consistent all the time? I'd say Misha has average amount of good skates and bad skates. But fans expect more form him... and it's not really for on him. He's trying. He is. And we should support him, not just put expectations on him.
 
I know, but nothing about this season has been normal :(

Obviously I don't want him on the team because he severely under-performed and the judges propped him up on PCS. We would never hear the end of it, and it wouldn't be fair to the competitors who did well. But Carmen not performed at Worlds? Misha not in front of a large, adoring audience in Japan? I don't want to think about it. :no:

Oh well, there’s nothing we can do but wait and see!

This dreadful prospect is just :bang: I get a cold sinking feeling every time I imagine that. It is hard enough to look forward to GPF ...

If a little while ago I was worried that it might be hard to defend his title this year at Nats now we discuss a no podium scenario - nooooooooooo Mika please!!!
Logically he should be on the team but...
And 4 weeks to go before we know.
I wish Mika could give us a little clue how he is, how is training going and so on

Raf's interviews began to irk me a little he was very decent & respectful at the start, now he criticises this and that, and it all looks like "yes I'd sure do better given a chance'
 
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