Least favorite skaters
I have to admit that, with the possible exception of Elena Sokolova, I really don't like any of the recent Russian women skaters.
Irina Slutskaya is, in my opinion, the most overmarked and held-up skater ever. I can't understand why she consistently gets such high marks from the judges. The technical marks I can see somewhat--she does spin fast and jump high. But her spin positions are nothing special and her jumps are always telegraphed. Not only that, but her long programs are often riddled with small mistakes on the jumps--hands down, two-footed landings, little spin-outs at the ends of jumps. Still, I can understand her technical marks somewhat. Her high artistic scores are, however, inexplicable. Although she's improving, artistry just doesn't come naturally to Irina. She has little musicality, her positions in all her moves are sloppy, and even her basic stroking is ungainly-looking. It enrages me that she gets the same or better artistic marks as the American ladies, despite the fact that nearly all the American girls' spirals, posture, and spin positions are vastly superior to Irina's.
Maria Butyrskya was another ridiculously overmarked skater. Poor jumping technique, slow spins, insecure stroking, and, seemingly, a basic inability to hold her free leg out straight. (My father pointed out to me years ago that Maria's free leg was almost always bent, rather than straight. Check out your tapes and you'll see what I mean.) About the only thing Maria had going for her was her sheer charisma on ice.
Viktoria Volchkova is also overrated, in my opinion. Yes, her jumps are big, but so what? She still falls on too many of the jumps. And despite Peggy's raving about Viktoria's grace on the ice, I just don't see it. To me, she has a lot of the same weaknesses as Irina--little muscality, poor positions, no stretch to her skating. Viktoria just looks lazy on the ice, as if she can't be bothered to put any effort into what she's doing.
Elena Sokolova's skating has a lot of the same flaws as the other Russian women. Her artistry and positions are very lacking when compared to the American ladies. However, of the Russian women, I do like Elena the best. Her skating technique is a little more solid than the other Russian ladies'. By that, I mean that Elena at least can stroke around the rink without pumping her upper body and arms (as Irina does) or falling on simple footwork (as Maria did). There is speed to Elena's skating and good edges. Her artistry is rough at the moment, but I feel like at least there's some potential there.
As a group, though, the Russian ladies seem very overmarked. I'm usually not a paranoid person, but sometimes over the last few years, I've really wondered if there was some kind of judging conspiracy in place to hold up the Russian women, just so that the American women wouldn't completely dominate ladies' skating.
). His personality, his scary wife and his even more scary Dad, well, that's another story! If I'd have them in my staff, I'd screw up my double axels as well! Poor Mike! 
