The New York Times: In Russia, Skating Booms Again

[sky_fly20]

link: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/05/sports/olympics/in-russia-skating-booms-again.html?hp&_r=0

“There were two, then three, and now there’s already really a lot of competitors, and so Russian figure skating is blossoming,” said Tuktamysheva, rolling through Moscow on a bus after a training session. “In order to be selected, you need to be able to do the more complicated moves, and so that was a sort of stimulus from the very beginning.”

interesting they profiled Tuktamysheva who wont be in the Olympics

 

[gmyers]

I think it's interesting that when there was no talent emerging coaches went looking for talent and found it which created more talent!

3000 post official

 

[guanchi]

The NYT article is wrong about Kim's and Asada's age- they are both 23 now, not 24. They will be, come September.

 

[gkelly]

And is Radionova 15 yet? She certainly wasn't in time to be eligible for Olympics or Worlds this year.

 

[sky_fly20]

The NYT article is wrong about Kim's and Asada's age- they are both 23 now, not 24. They will be, come September.

they did mention in the article, Elena missed the cutt off date by July 1 and is ineligible for the Olympics

 

[Olympia]

I think it's interesting that when there was no talent emerging coaches went looking for talent and found it which created more talent!

3000 post official

I think that's a good point. In other words, talent takes cultivation. Benign neglect doesn't make a good skating program. We could learn from that in the U.S.

I'm rather excited at the revival of Russian skating. In the small, nationalistic sense, they're a "threat" to other countries, but in the sense of the good of skating overall, they're a tremendous resource and always have been. They have always added technical and artistic excellence to skating in both the individual and the couples disciplines. It's interesting to see how many longtime skating fans (including me) put skaters from the Russian or old Soviet teams at the tops of their favorites lists. (In my top five of all times in their respective disciplines, I number Yagudin for men, Klimova/Ponomarenko for ice dance, and of course Gordeyeva/Grinkov for pairs. I know I'm not alone in that.)

Oh, and congratulations on your three-thousandth post!

 

[Amei]

And is Radionova 15 yet? She certainly wasn't in time to be eligible for Olympics or Worlds this year.

Yes, she was born 1/6/99

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I love how Julia's own mother compared her to a bear in referencing her conversation and training nature. “You can teach a bear to dance on ice if you train a lot.” This article was great! I wish they would not have put Tuktamysheva in such a bad light especially in the photo section but its kinda hard not to I guess. There is definitely something very interesting happening in Russia! Great read.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

I think that's a good point. In other words, talent takes cultivation. Benign neglect doesn't make a good skating program. We could learn from that in the U.S.

I'm rather excited at the revival of Russian skating. In the small, nationalistic sense, they're a "threat" to other countries, but in the sense of the good of skating overall, they're a tremendous resource and always have been. They have always added technical and artistic excellence to skating in both the individual and the couples disciplines. It's interesting to see how many longtime skating fans (including me) put skaters from the Russian or old Soviet teams at the tops of their favorites lists. (In my top five of all times in their respective disciplines, I number Yagudin for men, Klimova/Ponomarenko for ice dance, and of course Gordeyeva/Grinkov for pairs. I know I'm not alone in that.)

Oh, and congratulations on your three-thousandth post!

My favorites in the disciplines that you mentioned are the same - Yagudin for the men, Klimova & Ponomarenko for Ice Dance and Gordeeva & Grinkov for Pairs. And now, I can add Julia Lipnitskaya and Adelina Sotnikova for favorite Russian ladies (I have fave ladies and men too from other countries of course).