Stephen Gogolev

[lariko]

I am surprised with this music choice as well, because I can’t really imagine it as a gliding piece. When I think of it, I imagine Red Army Band with all the bravado whistling and foot stomping. I mean, if they went for nostalgia, i’d have rather seen 80’s and 90’s stuff...

I’ll wait to see it though, maybe it gets reinterpreted....

 

[Alexz]

K. I am giving you a hint guys.

https://youtu.be/K21yj2lEgrA

1982 version: https://youtu.be/OmQHhGuXkyc

1946 (piano version with a tap-dance style): https://youtu.be/S7LOBP7G8qM

This song goes deep into history of Russian Navy (military fleet). This dance is a part of Russian cultural heritage, it is more than 100 years old.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yablochko

More info in Russian wiki-article (use google-translate): https://ru.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Яблочко

In the essence it is a folk dance with sudden rhythm changes and tap-dance elements. It was "balletized" by Bolshoi Theater in 1927. Composer Reinhold Glière made a ballet-stylized classical piece for it. "Red Poppy" / "Red Flower" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Red_Poppy

 

[Alexz]

Stephen's FS from today (an hour ago or so) at Glacier Falls 2019: https://youtu.be/I5juX1BQIpg

 

[shine]

Did Nadia Kanaeva do both of Stephen’s programs? I liked them a lot, much more than last year’s programs. I see a lot of improvement in the way he uses his body and expresses the music in both programs.

 

[Imov]

Seems like stephen is doing well and his choreo doing fine.
I wish him a great season this year.

 

[oatmella]

Did Nadia Kanaeva do both of Stephen’s programs? I liked them a lot, much more than last year’s programs. I see a lot of improvement in the way he uses his body and expresses the music in both programs.

Shae-Lynn choreographed his FS.

 

[StephenGfan]

Stephen is confirmed to skate at the 2019 JGP america (Lake placid)
https://twitter.com/gogogogolev_/status/1156261680130809856

 

[StephenGfan]

For me personally, I am not really liking his SP this year specifically the sailer choreo which looked a bit lackluckster and much rather perferred his run boy run SP, However I like his FS program this season more it really shows off his improved atistry and interpretation and I am here for it! Well done shae. Anyway else noticed while his artistry/Interpertation under raf has improved his speed in his spins have gotten even worse under him? that is what I am mainly worried about this season for him.

 

[Mohacz]

An ISU article about Stephen in their section "Let's Meet":

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...t-s-meet-stephen-gogolev-can?templateParam=15

 

[Imov]

An ISU article about Stephen in their section "Let's Meet":

https://www.isu.org/figure-skating/...t-s-meet-stephen-gogolev-can?templateParam=15

Wow he sure has a good family of athletes. Very impressive.

 

[siberia82]

Stephen is in 2nd place after the SP at the JGP Lake Placid with a new Personal Best score of 78.85! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9A-0iLiSDuU He received the highest PCS in this segment.

 

[lariko]

It was a lovely skate!

 

[vesperalvioletta]

I like the direction Raf and team have taken with Stephen's packaging. I think his new short program gives him just enough opportunities to show artistry while not taking him too far out of his comfort zone. There's a performer in there, and I see him trying to come out.

 

[fierysky]

A great start to the season for Stephen.

He is definitely working and retooling everything, from his jumps and basics. His lutz edge is better, especially the ones in practices. His basics is stronger and better. I guess I'm just impressed how much change and improvements has happened, even though he started with Raf late and everything. He was much more prepared and improved than I had expected, especially since seeing his skate one month ago. He was not at his best then, but here he looks much better even though it's only been a month. Overall, lot's of room to grow, but a great start.

I can tell they are also working hard on his artistry/interpretation with him too. But Stephen is such a reserved and shy person, I think it's going to take a bit more for him to get that performance level up and really project. He's definitely hearing the music and hitting all the choreographic cues, but it's not really coming out to the audience I think. But an improvement from last season.

Regardless, I'm super excited to watch him as we move forward this year. Lot's of good things I'm seeing. His FS will be interesting for sure, since it has such unique music and really different choreography from what we've seen from him.

And did anyone see how he either lost balance, or was too eager and started slightly before the music of the SP and stopped himself? His slight sheepish smile was kind of cute.

And he finally has a costume!!!

 

[Colonel Green]

Rough go in the free skate (well, mainly the opening elements). The big jumps are clearly in the shop, whether that's growth, coaching technique changes, or both. That's all fine, and expected at some point.

But the "costume" has definitely got to go. There are many things for Stephen to imitate in Nathan Chen, but that's not one of them.

 

[lariko]

Aww, I appreciated Ted saying ‘he’ll be fine’, those falls looked ouch. I love how he skates though! Silver is great! :agree:

 

[siberia82]

Phew, Stephen BARELY hangs on to the silver medal: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwmeNcdIDFk I had a bad feeling that his free skate wouldn't go well the moment I noticed in the warm-up that he wasn't wearing a proper costume. It was like a sign that he wasn't fully prepared.

 

[fierysky]

Great fight Stephen! You could see how disappointed he was with himself, but I'm so proud of him.

Honestly this went better than I had hoped. He's uprooted his life across an entire continent, is dealing with a huge growth spurt, and is also learning a completely new technique. Just the first one is a lot to take in even for an adult, let alone having to deal all three. I mean, so many coaches say that it takes a good 18 months to 2 years for the new in technique to settle, therefore I was expecting this to be more of a transitional and rebuilding year for him. So for him to come out with a SP like that, I am beyond happy. And he did all of this only in June! That's like less than 2 months ago. Not to mention, he had to learn 2 new programs and deal with who knows what else. And I can tell he's been attacking the artistry side of things as well. Even with the falls, I can tell he was trying to perform/interpret that FS. His performance ability is already better than last year by a long shot.

It'll be a tough fight in the next JGP, but I think he's going to come out stronger after all of this.

Btw, it was quite sweet seeing how supportive Raf was. He gave Stephen a smile when he came off the ice and was being all around encouraging in the K&C. I always had the impression he was a strict coach, so it was nice to see him giving Stephen support.

On an off note, I discovered today that someone else also did a Russian Sailor dance SP! Why, it's Raf's old student, Alexander Abt. He did one back in 2002-2003 (https://youtu.be/E_NXqI5-Jk4) and even had a similar costume. I believe Abt was already with Zhulin when he did this SP, but I wonder if Raf used his old students for inspiration.

 

[Arriba627]

He looks SO much taller to me than when I saw him in Vancouver in the GPF last season. Does anyone have any idea how much he has grown? I know people sometimes think it's an excuse, but my cousin's son grew 7 inches in one summer and ended up quitting skating because his jumps, spins, everything was messed up. His feet even grew, and he said it was like jumping with someone else's feet! Anyway, I wish Stephen the best of luck.

 

[fierysky]

He looks SO much taller to me than when I saw him in Vancouver in the GPF last season. Does anyone have any idea how much he has grown? I know people sometimes think it's an excuse, but my cousin's son grew 7 inches in one summer and ended up quitting skating because his jumps, spins, everything was messed up. His feet even grew, and he said it was like jumping with someone else's feet! Anyway, I wish Stephen the best of luck.

He just updated his ISU bio which says he is currently 162 cm (about 5'4"). Looking at his pic standing side by side with Shun Sato, who is listed at 160cm (5'3") (https://twitter.com/Sk84it/status/1167624293443878918), I'd say the height info is pretty accurate. I think due to his long legs, he looks much, much taller than Shun on the ice than just 2 cm. lol

Stephen was listed at 154cm (about 5'0") last year. So yah, while not 7 inches, it's still pretty substantial. He's likely still growing too. It also looks like most of the growth happened after Jr. Worlds in March, likely in the summer, since I don't remember him being as tall as now. So it's also within a relatively short period.

Honestly, I also think the new techniques are part of it too. He's definitely reverting back to his older technique under stress since his lutz edge, in my eyes, looks better during practice compared to the comp.

But I think this is for the best. We should be looking long term into seniors, so it's much better fixing/changing the techniques now with his new body than fixing it later.