Yulia Lipnitskaya

[gravy]

Stalking Yulia's IG. It's so interesting how many Russian skaters post pictures with their closest rivals (IE, Yulia and Elena-- who would probably have some reason to resent Elena for surpassing her) or Tuk & Rad on the couch at Worlds or Pogo with Rad pictures or Pogo speaking very positively of Sotnikova pre-Sochi. It's pretty obvious that their friendliness is not fake.

As opposed to Americans... Gracie, Ashley, and Polina live in the same state (go California! where my alma mater is) and Polina frequently goes to SoCal, but it's next to impossible to find pictures of them together that aren't at Nationals or those forced Team USA pics at banquets or what not. Even at Worlds when all three were in the green room waiting for the next skater's scores, the body language was, "I don't want to talk with you, but the cameras are on us so we have to pretend we like each other". Contrast that with Tuk & Rad cuddling on the couch later (as mentioned earlier).

Hehe, just a random thought.

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

I like this theory!

2011/12 ↑↑↑ - Junior World Champion
2012/13 ↓↓↓
2013/14 ↑↑↑ - European, Olympic Champion
2014/15 ↓↓↓
2015/16 ↑↑↑ - ?
2016/17 ↓↓↓
2017/18 ↑↑↑ - Olympic Champion? :yay:

I thought of this theory at the beginning of this last season but I didn't want to articulate it just in case. I'm glad someone else noticed the pattern. It makes sense though after a demanding season at a high level if you don't have a specific objective or motivation you could just lose steam.

 

[geiger]

Hi All. I know I am late to the party, but I decided to post the complete translation of the interview qiqi already did, just to add some more human dimension to the content. Just please remember that English is not my native tongue, so errors and silliness may happen

- Julia, once you said that the Olympics were the event that has changed your life. Were there any things that you do not like to recall?


- It was not one, but several things. I mean the beginning of the season. At every tournament that I was in, I did not feel well, like I was not myself. As strange as it sounds, I knew that this would happen, that the season would not turn out well. It was not about mental readiness. I struggled to prepare myself, I wanted to compete, I was trying. But the feeling of hopelessness and uselessness or all my efforts did not leave me alone.


- What, after all, was the principal reason you’ve decided to end the season early?


- I hoped that on Russian nationals I would be able to make the team and to have a chance to go to Euros and Worlds. And after the unsuccessful skate at Sochi I realized that it makes no sense to try to get selected via Cup of Russia. If I was unable to make it during the first half of the year, I will not make it with what was left of it. After the failure at Nationals it wasn’t that I didn’t want to skate – I didn’t even want to walk. For a first few days I had a depression. I had neither strength nor will to do anything. I simply could not understand what was happening... I think that it was because the post-olympic season fell on my puberty. My character started to change, my body was changing too. There also were all kinds of thoughts that would get into my head and only distract me. So I decided that it was best to rest, to calm down, to get my head straight. I mean, it’s one thing when you understand what is happening to you, but what if you don’t? At the beginning of the season I did not really understand what was wrong with me. Everything seemed to be the same, but while I could manage the short program, I was always having problems with the long one. I skated the first half of it, but starting with the step sequence, I stopped feeling my legs. I tried to pick up acceleration before a jump, but the felt that I was going with the same speed. I also could not breathe. I felt lack of air. Something similar happened to me during the individual event of the Olympics. Later the doctors said that it had to do with psychological state: strong pressure, stress. And puberty added to it, too.


- Could the reason be that you simply skated the long program less?


- But it did not happen during training sessions, it was more or less ok. Although during the season I couldn’t skate the long program completely clean during training sessions as well. I either had a step out, or I would fall on the last jump.


- Julia, was it even worth starting the season in such a state?


- I needed it. And I did all I could. Unfortunately, that didn’t amount to much. I am very happy for the short program. I thought that now, after Schindler’s List, all my other programs would not look as good, would not be able to reach people’s souls. But the short one, with music by Megapolis, was a success. Doubtless, it was not as deep and philosophical, but it was good.


- Will you leave it for the next season?


- No. I am a bit grown up for it now. And my looks changed too. I now have a broader, more relaxed, more feminine skating, I simply cannot move on ice as fast as I used to. I remember the Sabre Dance now, and I think I would not do even half of the step sequence.


- Do you miss competitions?


- No. I am not ready yet.


- Did you follow other skaters during their events?


- Yes, I watched them. At first it was unusual, it was hard because I was used to being among the participants. But during the European Championships I visited Stockholm, I walked around the city, I spent time with other guys, with Lena Ilinykh. She knows how to cheer me up.


- Do you consider a triple axel by Liza a pivotal event in lady’s figure skating?


- Absolutely. Already several skaters declared that during the next season they will be trying triples, quad salchows and toe loops. But saying it does not make one stable. You could try once and make it, try another time and fall and lose a lot of points.


- Are you planning to try it?


- I do not discount it in the future, but not now. I am not ready for it yet. I am still growing and changing. What if I try a quad, wreck myself and then what? Now I need to get all the triple jumps back, to make sure I do both programs with stability, to construct new programs with new spinning positions, with emotions. Only then, when I am strong and confident, I might try quads. I am not saying for certain that I will be doing them, but I’ll try. Perhaps, I’ll get them done. Perhaps, not. The world will not end because of it. Quads demand huge amount of work, patience and strength. You can get traumas while learning them. It is a risk that demands careful calculation. What is Liza’s advantage? She has a light and huge jump. It is natural. Unfortunately, that’s something I don’t have. When I was a child, I just did not jump. True, I am flexible, I have good extension, and I was showing a stable performance. But my jumps are not that outstanding. I think it is because of my feet.


- You mean?


- I have flexible joints, and my feet are turned in. Because of that I would always twist my ankles when I was little. I had several fractures, and I am not counting how many strains and bruises. I could really get a trauma for no reason at all. I remember, once I was running towards my coach, stumbled (my leg hit a hole in the ground), and lost two weeks because of strained ankle. I had Nikolai Morozov doing programs for me, and I had to skate on a strained leg. It turned out later that it was also a fracture. By the way, some time ago I could not even turn out my left leg at all. It was very painful, so I could not pull off jumping a lutz from the outer edge. When I was learning it, I did single jumps for a week just to get used to how the leg has to turn out. It hurt so much that I thought I wouldn’t be able to walk. But I did it. First the double, then the triple. I’ll never forget my first triple lutz. I was so scared going into it… So, when during this season’s Grand Prix I got an edge call on a flip, I was very surprised. Because of my leg anatomy, I never had problems with inner edges.


- Do you still have feet issues?


- Not anymore. We turned to doctors. They handled it, treated it.


- How are you going to defeat your opponents then, if not with complex jumps?


- With clean and stable skating. When including multirotational jumps in the program, there is a high risk to botch them, or to do them and then “smear” everything else. It is a high risk, but also very tempting. On the other hand, if you do clean triples, both your technical score and your component score go up, because of a flawless and clean skate. Of course, if the girls start doing both quads and everything else well, they will have a huge advantage over opponents. But my goal is different now – to get back everything I could do in the past, and to show clean and mature skating next season. All in all, I should say that now is a very interesting time to compete. I feel like taking risks and trying new things. But to do that you need a cool head, good health, sound approach and a good team of specialists. And luck, of course.


- While off season, were you tempted to do something different, like shows or TV projects?


- I’ve decided to dedicate these months to training, because I have loads and loads of work to do. Before, I rarely had time to work on things that I wanted to work on, and now it became possible. For instance, I took individual skating skills lessons. I was taught how to turn, how to position the body correctly, how to position hands… I also got my own physical training coach. We started to use video in the training process, now it is possible to replay the jumps in slow motion, to replay other elements, in order to understand when something goes wrong. When you see your mistakes, it’s simpler to correct them.


- Do you have time to rest?


- Of course. During weekends I must get my sleep, because I get very tired after a week of work. Sometimes I sleep until 2PM, although I go to sleep on time. I wake up, and then I just lay there for an hour, listening to music, until hunger pushes me out of bed. But the next day I feel completely rested and I can start working again.


- Any hobbies?


- I love painting, but lately I rarely do it. Lately I got into diamond painting, it’s when pictures are assembled out of pieces of glass. Once I entered a shop, asked what it was, bought it, and in two weeks assembled my first painting 60 by 70 cm in size. Now two are ready, and two more are due. I like it very much, and the process itself is soothing. Also, because of that hobby, my fine motor skills have improved so much that I now can make any kind of braids for myself. I also fell in love with poetry. I like Sergei Yesenin. Generally, I read everything that I find in the Internet. In VK there is a group where anyone can publish his own poetry. Honestly, I’m amazed at some of the things people write there. It’s amazing! Poetry makes you think, it teaches you to feel and to be compassionate. I also tried audiobooks, but it was boring. Someone else’s intonations, author’s accents. Not my thing.


- In one of the interviews you said that you have no close friends. Why?


- Best friendships are made in childhood, when you are friends with someone not out of usefulness, but because you simply feel like it. My childhood friends are left in Yekaterinburg, and I did not make new ones in Moscow. My social circle consists of skaters. Although I get attached easily, life taught me that in our sport you should not open your heart to anyone. I took Polina Shelepen leaving our team very hard. There was a time when we were very close.


- Who do you trust with your secrets then?


- I try not to upset my mom too often, because she takes everything very close to heart. The one person I trust completely is my mom’s sister. If I need to talk it out, to consult someone, I call or write her because I am sure that in any situation she will understand and support me. In my life I am a rather guarded person. I cannot just open myself up to the whole world. But this is absolutely normal. Still, I think that with time I’m becoming a more open, softer, more relaxed person. By the way, some people decided that it is because of that softness that my season was unsuccessful. They took it like I stopped fighting. This is not so. I did not stop fighting. I just don’t do well right now. I am trying, but it doesn’t work out. But I know for sure, that this transitional period will sooner or later end, and there will be something new. And I am sure that it will be something good. You’ll see.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Thank you Geiger!! It's much appreciated over here and I must say you do a great job at translations

I was wondering too if any nice person could translate or tell me exactly what is being discussed in this video:

**it starts a bit quiet but gets louder**
https://youtu.be/NUfEYJAzP0Q?t=4m40s


For some reason I felt like watching Julia as Carmen today Of course it's 11yr old Julia who hadn't yet discovered how to connect to the music in such intense ways but considering it's Carmen maybe it's for the best Seriously...it's like she's running a marathon out there. I still love it all the same and watching her in the K-n-C is priceless.

https://youtu.be/2HkfVLLAJcY

 

[Roman09]

what is succesful? what is your predictions?

I do not want to think anything, but do not rule anything out - up to the highest titles of the season. Well, why not?

 

[geiger]

I was wondering too if any nice person could translate or tell me exactly what is being discussed in this video:

Sorry, but I can only discern something about when she was going into the lutz, she was recalling previous years Finlandia Trophy.

 

[witcher]

Dear geiger, http://tinyurl.com/pczdkmj .

 

[geiger]

Dear geiger, http://tinyurl.com/pczdkmj .

Thank you, this is very sweet

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

Hi All. I know I am late to the party, but I decided to post the complete translation of the interview qiqi already did, just to add some more human dimension to the content. Just please remember that English is not my native tongue, so errors and silliness may happen

- I try not to upset my mom too often, because she takes everything very close to heart. The one person I trust completely is my mom’s sister. If I need to talk it out, to consult someone, I call or write her because I am sure that in any situation she will understand and support me. In my life I am a rather guarded person. I cannot just open myself up to the whole world. But this is absolutely normal. Still, I think that with time I’m becoming a more open, softer, more relaxed person. By the way, some people decided that it is because of that softness that my season was unsuccessful. They took it like I stopped fighting. This is not so. I did not stop fighting. I just don’t do well right now. I am trying, but it doesn’t work out. But I know for sure, that this transitional period will sooner or later end, and there will be something new. And I am sure that it will be something good. You’ll see.

Thank you so much for the translation. I love hearing what she thinks about things, and her personality just makes me love her skating more.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

What on earth is going on with these photos these days

http://cs543107.vk.me/v543107261/cab0/_7it_S7HCYM.jpg

I love that people take the time to make such goofy things. :yes:

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Is Julia doing Game of Thrones for one of her programs?

 

[sabinfire]

Is Julia doing Game of Thrones for one of her programs?

Would she play Arya Stark?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Would she play Arya Stark?

I've never seen game of thrones so I'm of no help but a picture appeared on her fan page today:

http://cs543107.vk.me/v543107261/cb3d/b8ZSYJOhk9w.jpg

Granted it could mean nothing at all but I just thought it to be quite random if it wasn't a sign. Then again an Alice and Wonderland one appeared some time back too.

 

[sabinfire]

Maybe she's just a fan? And that quote is definitely Arya-related.

How can you not have seen GoT???

 

[Sugarpova]

She'd make a superb Arya!

 

[witcher]

I've never seen game of thrones so I'm of no help but a picture appeared on her fan page today:

http://cs543107.vk.me/v543107261/cb3d/b8ZSYJOhk9w.jpg

Granted it could mean nothing at all but I just thought it to be quite random if it wasn't a sign. Then again an Alice and Wonderland one appeared some time back too.

Definitely looks like a sign.
Is there any special soundtrack theme connected with Arya?

 

[moviebuff]

Definitely looks like a sign.
Is there any special soundtrack theme connected with Arya?

As much as I would love for Yulia to skate a dark and epic Game of Thrones program (just imagine an SP to 'The Rains Of Castamere'), I highly doubt she'll be skating one this season. Plus, didn't Marina mention something along the lines of programs showing off 'femininity'? And...the thought of Zueva having GoT in her playlist is...highly amusing.

Most of the music from GoT's OST are quite bleak and monotonous, with perhaps the exception of 'Mhysa' (which I can not stand), and the 'GoT theme' is too short to be used by itself for a program. Perhaps a more suitable piece would be a mashup medley...like this GoT/Dark Knight violin medley by Jason Yang, which mixes 'The Rains Of Castamere' with 'The Dark Knight' (soundtrack) and then ending with the 'GoT Theme'. It might be good for a LP, a couple of variations and changes in tempo throughout (e.g. Dark Knight bit would be great for a fast and powerful step sequence). Again.....wishful thinking here.

 

[MalAssada]

I would love a program that starts with House Stark Theme and ending with The Children . A dark, somber beggining to a happy ending. I'm trying to find the correct piece of House Stark to cut, so I can show a basic version of what I am thinking. Yep, I'm that bored.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

Well...I'm doubting the Game of Thrones program now. When I first posted it I had my suspicions but now I think it's just fan art much like the shark one I posted above. We (GS Julia fans) got an honorable mention in the comment section for the GoT picture that started all this. Ironically enough it was one of those Keep Calm Pictures

Come on Julia......the suspense is killing me. How am I supposed keep calm

 

[sabinfire]

Come on Julia......the suspense is killing me. How am I supposed keep calm

Is this you?

https://twitter.com/sabinfire/status/625121111546724352

Geez, every post I've made over the last few days is on a new page...