State of Russian Men's Figure Skating 2015-2016

[Sofia]

http://fsrussia.ru/intervyu/1611-al...l-povod-zadumatsya-nad-mnogimi-veshchami.html
Lakiernik's comments on Russian Mens Single Skating after watching the GPF

That's probably the feeling when the Russians try to catch up but others just progress faster...as much as I hate to hear this word, I tend to agree with him on much of his analysis.
Anyway, about half of the guys qualified for Nationals have brought pleasant surprises for me during one competition or another, and I wish all the contenders could bring their A game to Nationals so that he can stop giving dismissive remarks for a while. Although they won't be Worlds podium favorites immediately, by building an environment with vigorous competition, they could spur each other towards a skill level no Russian man has ever reached.

In this article, Lakernik seems to attribute the lack of top world-level contenders to the insufficient influx of boys into figure skating, but it's a worldwide problem and I don't think their pool of talent is necessarily inferior to that of any country except maybe Japan. It could be that they don't know how to unlock a boy's potential. Sometimes I do wonder if any current Russian male above Novice level would make attempts to switch to foreign coaches in the future.

 

[Abraxis12345]

The problem is finding boys who A) can jump B) are IJS friendly and C) are consistent. Kovtun has the jumps but his skating skills are horrid. Voronov skates as if it was 2002 and not 2015. Pitkeev and Aliev lack consistency

 

[silverfoxes]

http://www.rg.ru/2015/12/24/chempionat.html

I guess Artur is retired & it's been known for awhile now? A statement might have been nice...that's assuming I'm reading this right.

I don't understand why negative people feel compelled to post here. If you don't like the Russian men or their skating style then it's really ok not to comment at all. I happen to still like Russian men's skating circa 2002, so if someone can skate like that & still be competitive, then it's his prerogative. Why does everyone have to look the same?

 

[Sofia]

http://www.rg.ru/2015/12/24/chempionat.html

I guess Artur is retired & it's been known for awhile now? A statement might have been nice...that's assuming I'm reading this right.

Oh no Artur...maybe too soon to give it up. You're only 22!

 

[silverfoxes]

Oh no Artur...maybe too soon to give it up. You're only 22!

I don't know if it's just the translation, but it seemed kind of like "oh yeah...Artur." Like he retired months ago & nobody thought it was worth mentioning until a journalist brought him up? He's a Worlds medalist, not just some random skater who never accomplished anything. I don't know why Artur himself never said anything, but maybe he didn't want to deal with people saying he never should have left Mishin, etc. I wonder what his injury was, or whether it was also mental. He didn't seem like someone who really thrived on competing. Anyway, hopefully he'll have a good show career, there seem to be a lot of opportunities for that in Russia at least.

 

[Abraxis12345]

http://www.rg.ru/2015/12/24/chempionat.html

I guess Artur is retired & it's been known for awhile now? A statement might have been nice...that's assuming I'm reading this right.

I don't understand why negative people feel compelled to post here. If you don't like the Russian men or their skating style then it's really ok not to comment at all. I happen to still like Russian men's skating circa 2002, so if someone can skate like that & still be competitive, then it's his prerogative. Why does everyone have to look the same?

This is a thread to talk about the state of Russian men's skating, not a cheer thread. Right now, the state is not very good. Even the federation admits the situation is pitiful.

 

[Marta25]

The problem is finding boys who A) can jump B) are IJS friendly and C) are consistent. Kovtun has the jumps but his skating skills are horrid. Voronov skates as if it was 2002 and not 2015. Pitkeev and Aliev lack consistency

They are only 17 and 16. I`ve seen Aliev live in Barcelona and I really liked him. He is finally someone who doesn`t seem to be stuck in the 90s. I hope he is going to breakthrough in the senior ranks.

 

[karne]

http://www.rg.ru/2015/12/24/chempionat.html

I guess Artur is retired & it's been known for awhile now? A statement might have been nice...that's assuming I'm reading this right.

We don't have a heartbroken emoticon.

Oh no Artur...maybe too soon to give it up. You're only 22!

Only 22...but has had people calling for this very day since he was 18. Somewhere, that evil skyfly is celebrating...

I don't know if it's just the translation, but it seemed kind of like "oh yeah...Artur." Like he retired months ago & nobody thought it was worth mentioning until a journalist brought him up? He's a Worlds medalist, not just some random skater who never accomplished anything. I don't know why Artur himself never said anything, but maybe he didn't want to deal with people saying he never should have left Mishin, etc. I wonder what his injury was, or whether it was also mental. He didn't seem like someone who really thrived on competing. Anyway, hopefully he'll have a good show career, there seem to be a lot of opportunities for that in Russia at least.

Of course nobody thought it was worth mentioning. Why should they? His own federation treated him like dirt. He got all the blame for loss of the second spot, he got pilloried and torn apart, but then the very next year when Kovtun did worse than Artur did he got petted and coddled. If that's not going to screw with your head than what is?

I know he has had back problems for a long time, perhaps exacerbated by the coaching change? Apparently he was in low-heeled boots and lightweight blades with Mishin, but when he went to Tarasova she put him back in full heels and full-weight blades. I remember him saying that it helped, but it didn't seem much longer until it started becoming a problem again.

He was the best and most talented of all the young ones. It was him who should have got the support, not Kovtun.

 

[Abraxis12345]

They are only 17 and 16. I`ve seen Aliev live in Barcelona and I really liked him. He is finally someone who doesn`t seem to be stuck in the 90s. I hope he is going to breakthrough in the senior ranks.

I like what I've seen from Aliev too. His jumps are good, he seems to have some musicality, and he knows what a transition is. However, I'll wait until he can put together a string of solid competitions before determining if he can actually be a contender.

 

[Sofia]

The problem is finding boys who A) can jump B) are IJS friendly and C) are consistent.

TBH it's the goal of every federation to have such boys, but no federation can simply "find" them and enjoy immediate results. Outstanding athletes are like shiny diamonds. We don't pick them up from the ground but make them by hours and hours of grinding and polishing. Thus the concern about possible causes of “sad spectacle” in the opinion of certain fed officials.

 

[Sofia]

Of course nobody thought it was worth mentioning. Why should they? His own federation treated him like dirt. He got all the blame for loss of the second spot, he got pilloried and torn apart, but then the very next year when Kovtun did worse than Artur did he got petted and coddled. If that's not going to screw with your head than what is?

I know he has had back problems for a long time, perhaps exacerbated by the coaching change? Apparently he was in low-heeled boots and lightweight blades with Mishin, but when he went to Tarasova she put him back in full heels and full-weight blades. I remember him saying that it helped, but it didn't seem much longer until it started becoming a problem again.

He was the best and most talented of all the young ones. It was him who should have got the support, not Kovtun.

Artur was certainly mistreated, but it shouldn't be the reason to let the federation make the same mistakes on others. Sometimes I feel that Kovtun needs more petting and coddling than others to achieve the psychological comfort essential to a decent performance, so I can't say the treatment he's got in the last 2 years is totally unjustifiable. Still, what happened to Artur should be a huge lesson for the federation if they don't want to bury another talent with tremendous untapped potential.

 

[whatif]

http://fsrussia.ru/intervyu/1611-al...l-povod-zadumatsya-nad-mnogimi-veshchami.html
Lakiernik's comments on Russian Mens Single Skating after watching the GPF

LOL, that was hilarious. I love how Russians never mince their words. No matter the subject. Speaking of, here is Plushenko's take on Kovtun and Kovtun's competition in Russia. Along the same lines as Lakernik's, singing praises to Hanyu and calling out Kovtun for crawling across the whole rink before attempting a quad or 3a and then falling on them. Big fan of Kolyada and Pitkeev. http://www.sports.ru/others/figure-skating/1035690232.html

 

[Jaana]

LOL, that was hilarious. I love how Russians never mince their words. No matter the subject. Speaking of, here is Plushenko's take on Kovtun and Kovtun's competition in Russia. Along the same lines as Lakernik's, singing praises to Hanyu and calling out Kovtun for crawling across the whole rink before attempting a quad or 3a and then falling on them. Big fan of Kolyada and Pitkeev. http://www.sports.ru/others/figure-skating/1035690232.html

I guess P. has not forgotten that Kovtun did beat him at Russian Nationals....

 

[Jammers]

I guess P. has not forgotten that Kovtun did beat him at Russian Nationals....

Plushenko can talk big since he competes about once ever two years. Better that he stay retired because as we saw at the GFP those skaters were in a different league and while Plushenko might be able to still land some jumps his overall skating is not up to their level. As he found out in 2010 COP demands more then jumps and it would be even more obvious now with what we saw in Spain.

 

[coldblueeyes]

Well, if anything became sure after the Nats is that Kovtun might not stay in the number one for longer. The difference between Kolyada and Kovtun was really small, and in the FS Kolyada was very, very tentative, while Kovtun almost gave the performance of his life. The scores didn't reflect that much of a difference, as they shouldn't. Let's just hope Kolyada manages to skate clean in his next competitions and then Russia might have a very good number one to push forward.

 

[plushyfan]

I guess P. has not forgotten that Kovtun did beat him at Russian Nationals....

No. This is so boring.In last year P praised K when he deserved it. But P. didn't forget that many people attacked him because they said he didn't allow to skate the young super talent guy..But the supertalent has ugly jumps, inconsistent, isn't a hard worker, he doesn't bring the results. But K. always receive incredible high PCS.
Plus P knows something about the young guy which is not really worthy of a young athlete...But P is elegant and he didn't mentione it during the Sochi debate...

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Well, no matter previous losses, Plush is right when saying that Kovtun lacks speed and transitions - or actually even some, erm... confidence going into his big jumps. He has other qualities, but in those areas he's definitely not the strongest Russian man right now.

 

[LRK]

Note: "P" also said something nice about "Y" - and those two are not, as far as I know, even on speaking terms at present.

ETA - Maybe a more interesting, constructive conversation would be to actually discuss Kovtun's and Kolyada's relative jump technique, and whether people agree with "P" or not. Personally I don't know remotely enough to comment myself. If people find it more amusing to discuss "P"'s perceived personality & potential motives in saying what he did, they are of course free to do so, however... (shrug)

 

[gmyers]

Just before the young russian girls were allowed to break through ksenia doronina was Russian ladies champ twice. I feel kovtun is like the male doronina and its really up to the judges to just move on to the younger talents and make them champions and move on to a new era. Even If there too young just like it was to no ones benefit to continue having doronina champion its the same with kovtun.

 

[Jaana]

As Russia has 3 slots for the men at Europeans, it will be easy for the Federation to pick the best competitors for Worlds. There they have only 2 slots, right?