State of Russian Ladies in skating: 2014-15 Season | Page 32 | Golden Skate

State of Russian Ladies in skating: 2014-15 Season

Why, sooner rather than later, every single ladies thread on this forum has to be flooded with men's skating posts??? :shrug:

Many of posters here support gender equality, yet when it comes to discussing ladies skating related topics, the whole attitude evaporates and cult of "male athlete - top performer" prevails. It's mind-boggling. :scratch:
 
I'm sorely tempted to start a

"2015 GP Speculation thread"

and have my first post simply say:

"Because Machida is not a Russian lady... "

But I'm resisting this urge... resisting it...

Meanwhile, Liza is competing again this week - locally in St Petersburg, I believe.
 
I'm sorely tempted to start a

"2015 GP Speculation thread"

and have my first post simply say:

"Because Machida is not a Russian lady... "

But I'm resisting this urge... resisting it...

Meanwhile, Liza is competing again this week - locally in St Petersburg, I believe.

I actually think a GP prediction game could be fun, but might be more so after worlds
 
I actually think a GP prediction game could be fun, but might be more so after worlds

I'm sure someone will post a thread (in the case of last year, it was yours truly!) after Worlds is over at the end of the month...
 
My mind is boggled by these three.

http://cs621426.vk.me/v621426796/1768d/bHo6AB1GKOg.jpg

How will they perform? Where will they finish? What level will they compete next season?

My mind is officially bottled ;)

I think Evgenia and Serafima will be battling it out for gold and will definitely go senior next season, Maria not sure but I have a feeling she will too, she has already achieved some success at the junior level so I don't see what there is left to do.
 
No Russian junior world podium sweep this year and the question is who will go to seniors next season. Out of the three I heard Sotskova expressing interest. But she is the least likely. Medvedeva is the most likely - she won all the junior competitions she entered this season. Next step is GP. But she can still go to the junior world like Pitkeev if she does not get to the senior national team. As for Serafima, I don't know. I think, it will depend on Yulia's and Adelina's comebacks. If they skip yet another season, Sima might enter. If not, it will be too crowded for her.

The maximum outcome for the next season is:
GP - Tukhtamysheva, Radionova, Sotnikova, Lipnitskaya, Pogorilaya, Medvedeva, Leonova, Artemyeva. The first 6 to form Euro/worlds teams - even if they split they can sweep both podiums.
JGP - Sakhanovich, Sotskova, Proklova, Tsurskaya, Fedichkina, Yuschenko. The junior depth in this configuration while still amazing is not as big as in seniors. That's why I don't think Sima and Maria are going to be released.
 
I've been saying all season that only the winner at JWC should go to seniors.
 
I see absolutely no reason for Sakhanovich to stay junior. I'm guessing she and Evgenia move up for sure. I think Maria could go either way, but I'm not sure if her chances of achieving anything greater in juniors are very high.
 
Oh, I cannot even start making predictions right now.

Liza T. would be the safest bet for one of the three spots for Worlds and Euros, but then again, look at what happened in 2012.

If nationals do not work for Radionova or Sima, Junior Worlds are still an option, ain't no shame in such a competitive field.
 
Only 3 ladies can go to Euros/Worlds anyways, that alone should not keep Serafima and Mariya from moving up to seniors if they want to. They could always go back and compete at Jr. Worlds if they don't make the senior team (or at least compete to make that team). They both beat Leonova and Artemieva at Nationals anyways, they are at least as competitive as those two and under normal circumstances someone like Artemieva wouldn't be getting 2 GPs anyways, probably just 1. Plus I'm not convinced Sotnikova will be back and who knows how any of the young girls handle puberty or how Julia's reworking technique stuff go.

The tano twins should definitely move up to the GP next season. As for Sotskova I'd say she probably should too, especially if she stays in the top 24 SB list at the end of the season because then she'd be guaranteed 1 GP assignment at a minimum.
 
I do not think Sotnikova will be back either. I generally do not understand a certain dislike towards her as I personally enjoy her skating a lot... having said that, I simply cannot see her competing at Olympics in Korea out of all places...even making the team could be problematic. I have an impression she will retire, probably after the 2015-16 season.
 
I think it depends if Sotnikova wants to skate next season or not. If she doesn't then I see no reason when Sakhanovich should stay juniors. If Sotnikova does come back then the top will be just too crowded for Sima. For sure I think Russian Fed will want to keep Sotskova in Juniors for another year because it would be worse for her than Sima in seniors and they would be assured most of the medals in Juniors if they have Sotskova, Proklova, and Tsurskaya.
 
The OGM curse is too strong. I thought Adelina might end like Sarah Hughes - but in the end, she wasn't even able to compete. And her main disadvantage is that everyone thinks she is a very questinable Gold medalist and wouldn't have won if the Olympics weren't in Russia. If she skates well, everyone will say the Russian federation influenced the marks, if she skates bad, everyone will say it proves she is not the rightful winner.
 
The OGM curse is too strong. I thought Adelina might end like Sarah Hughes - but in the end, she wasn't even able to compete. And her main disadvantage is that everyone thinks she is a very questinable Gold medalist and wouldn't have won if the Olympics weren't in Russia. If she skates well, everyone will say the Russian federation influenced the marks, if she skates bad, everyone will say it proves she is not the rightful winner.

Couldn't imagine skating with that kind of pressure in any competition outside of Russia. While I am not a fan of her skating or her "win", I will say the negativity thrown at her and how she's handled it is kinda classy.
 
Just curious. And jealous if you were, because that was one awesome performance. :) From what I could tell in the video, she got quite the crowd response.

Ahh, I was just curious if you were there, as well... or if we somehow ran into each other and didn't know it at the time. Happens more often than you'd think, not just at FS events, but concerts, ice shows, etc. (especially since most of the events I attend have relatively small fan-bases... I see the same people over and over.)

Yes, I will definitely jump on any opportunity to see ISU figure skating when it doesn't involve any real travel on my part! Even Boston 2016 seems entirely reasonably to me.

And if one is familiar enough with the downtown Detroit area & Joe Louis arena like I am (mostly for Red Wings or music gigs in midtown/downtown), definitely gives you an advantage if you want to 'accidentally' run into your favorite skaters... in a non-stalkerish manner, of course. :laugh: I do it all the time with music artists, so is nothing new to me or exclusive to skaters. With many skaters and hockey players being Russian, I'm at least able to hold a conversation in their native tongue.

Haven't had the motivation to seek out Detroit athletes in-person, though I have crossed paths with a few from time to time. Wasn't too long ago I was chatting with Darren McCarty (of the old-school Red Wings) on the steps of St. Andrews Hall, completely by chance (I was there to see a concert)... super nice guy...
 
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