2018-19 Russian Ladies' figure skating

[Spirals for Miles]

And Sofia Samodelkina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF9ZiZkpBdo
February 2007, 3Lz-3Lo (both rippon), 2A, 3F (rippon)

 

[TripleAxelQueens3]

Was Akatieva competing?

Also didn’t Samodelkina have a 3Lz + 3Lo rippons on both jumps? That girl is going places

 

[EdRoz]

How many Team Russia jackets does she have? Alina and Sasha should pool their collections and start a clothing store.

White, Red, Black/Yellow

 

[EdRoz]

I don't know... I mean for me a good coaching situation means to feel secure, relaxed, get positive vibes and fully trust your coach, not the viceversa.

I saw Medvedeva crying after training or during training in some videos.

Girls often cry, maybe something did not work out during training? But torture— it's even strange to think about this version

 

[madmax]

Wow! 23 pages in one day!
I felt some electricity in this thread, after Autumn Classic, Nepela Trophy and Rika's huge score!
This new uncertainty about the result of competitions is exciting, isn't it?
Not knowing the result in advance is the essence of sport: It makes victories even more exciting.

 

[Dmitryfromsiberia]

Was Akatieva competing?

Also didn’t Samodelkina have a 3Lz + 3Lo rippons on both jumps? That girl is going places

Akatieva not competing.

 

[gsk8]

This thread has been derailed by enough bickering. There is no reason discussions can't be held without insulting each other.

It's time to lighten up and stop with the rumors, speculation, political comments, etc.

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Was Akatieva competing?

Also didn’t Samodelkina have a 3Lz + 3Lo rippons on both jumps? That girl is going places

Yes, Samodelkina does 3Lz (rip) + 3Lo (rip)
Akatieva hasn't started her season yet but she'd probably be the next to do 3Lz-3Lo (currently just doing 3Lz-3T)

 

[moriel]

Yes, Samodelkina does 3Lz (rip) + 3Lo (rip)
Akatieva hasn't started her season yet but she'd probably be the next to do 3Lz-3Lo (currently just doing 3Lz-3T)

forget 3Lz-3Lo
we need quads and 3As, everything else is meh

 

[Tolstoj]

Davydov also has Vasilieva, who was 6th at junior nationals, has a 2A-1Lo-3F in addition to 3Lz-3T, and is scheduled to make her JGP debut this week.
He also has Berestovskaya and Samodelkina, who as we all know are insanely good.

(plus Sofia Istomina, who made nationals this past year)

I thought Vasilieva was coached by Viktoria Volchkova. (maybe i saw her in the KnC at some random domestic event)

 

[Spirals for Miles]

I thought Vasilieva was coached by Viktoria Volchkova. (maybe i saw her in the KnC at some random domestic event)

Nope, fskate.ru says Davydov. But previously Viktoria Butsaeva -- is that who you were thinking of?

 

[hippomoomin]

I like your analysis of her costumes. Her SP costume is in the right style, but somehow the cut is a little too low or something wired; the FP costume enlarges her upper body, making her top heavy, and lacks interesting details. Considering all of her previous costumes were super flattering on her, both costumes can be much better. I understand as the top Russian skater, she can change a number of costumes in a reason, not limited by budget or anything. Russia has the best figure skating costume makers in the world. Maybe being away from Russia does not allow her to communicate with designers well and do modifications on time.

While it's a great thing that Medvedeva tries new things, I think the costume decisions are problematic.
They don't do any justice to her performance or her programs.
The short program's dress is not the right proportion, making her look not as thin as she was before, and the arms and thighs are enlarged.
The color scheme is also confusing. The spectators can see her golden blades clearly, but not much of the pink crystals on her boots, so I feel like the beads on her dress should be gold, or orange, but not pink.
Moreover, the SP dress shows too much of her skin. Showing more skin doesn't always translates into being sexy. Her black Anna Karina dress, and Yuna's James Bond dress both are sexy dresses, but they don't show cleavage or much of the skater's butt.

and for the FP dress:
That bright red seems more suitable for an young, energetic program, but her FP music is more matured, slightly dark and calm.
The skirt part doesn't fly in the air as well as the ones she had before, I am not sure if it was on purpose.
There seems to be some small dangling parts on that dress. They serve little purpose because we can't see them very well.
Also, the two strips on the top to hold that dress makes me anxious about wardrobe malfunction.
Even though the costumes might not affect her scores that much, I can't help but to feel disappointed about the choices.

 

[TGee]

I like your analysis of her costumes. Her SP costume is in the right style, but somehow the cut is a little too low or something wired; the FP costume enlarges her upper body, making her top heavy, and lacks interesting details. Considering all of her previous costumes were super flattering on her, both costumes can be much better. I understand as the top Russian skater, she can change a number of costumes in a reason, not limited by budget or anything. Russia has the best figure skating costume makers in the world. Maybe being away from Russia does not allow her to communicate with designers well and do modifications on time.

Zhenya's said in a Tass interview that the SP costume was problematic, and didn't turn out as expected.

It was too heavy so Zhenya and Tracy actually cut off some of the gems and trimmed the fringe before she skated. She wants everyone to know that it will be replaced. The FS will stay, but may have gems added or may be darkened.

 

[moriel]

Overall, i think the SP costume was clearly bad (skirt too short), and i am happy it will be replaced. Also, her TASS interview mentioned that the costume was half made by Zhenya herself, which means it was likely not made by a professional (my guess is Zhenya and her mom/grandma).
As for FS, I am not sure yet.

I personally want to wait till both programs are finished to judge the costumes, because right now too many details are lacking and this may impact also how we see the costumes.

 

[TGee]

Overall, i think the SP costume was clearly bad (skirt too short), and i am happy it will be replaced.
As for FS, I am not sure yet.

I personally want to wait till both programs are finished to judge the costumes, because right now too many details are lacking and this may impact also how we see the costumes.

I agree. It is all is a work in progress. I hope we can all be patient.

The thought of Tracy and Zhenya taking scissors to a costume - including the fringed skirt - in the back changing room is stressful without even being there.

Zhenya also said that she doesn't have the standard physique of a figure skater so that it takes a bit for costumers to make things for her that work on the ice.

It sounds as though she went with someone local who cut the fabric for them and they sewed and finished it, but the top skater couturier in Canada is in Montreal (i.e. the person who costumed Yuna Kim).

 

[moriel]

I agree. It is all is a work in progress. I hope we can all be patient.

The thought of Tracy and Zhenya taking scissors to a costume - including the fringed skirt - in the back changing room is stressful without even being there.

Zhenya also said that she doesn't have the standard physique of a figure skater so that it takes a bit for costumers to make things for her that work on the ice.

It sounds as though she went with someone local who cut the fabric for them and they sewed and finished it, but the top skater couturier in Canada is in Montreal (i.e. the person who costumed Yuna Kim).

overall sounds like there was no time.
but i dunno... I mean she has Ryabenko who can sew for her even without fittings.

 

[tinybluemoon]

Overall, i think the SP costume was clearly bad (skirt too short), and i am happy it will be replaced. Also, her TASS interview mentioned that the costume was half made by Zhenya herself, which means it was likely not made by a professional (my guess is Zhenya and her mom/grandma).
As for FS, I am not sure yet.

I personally want to wait till both programs are finished to judge the costumes, because right now too many details are lacking and this may impact also how we see the costumes.

Zhenya also has a very long abdomen so the cut of the dress itself was doing her no favors as it really highlighted it and shortened her legs. The chest cup was also way to big for her and swamped her. I actually very much liked the design of the dress. Just not on her, not for that program. I want to see her in something similar to Kailani Craines pink dress for her sp.

 

[TGee]

overall sounds like there was no time.
but i dunno... I mean she has Ryabenko who can sew for her even without fittings.

If her physique is changing, perhaps Ryabenko couldn't work without a fitting.

And this seems to be the year of experimentation and risk taking.

I'd like to see what Josiane Lamond in Montreal could do for Zhenya. While some of her work isn't to my taste, she seems to adapt to different characters and physiques of her clients.

 

[tinybluemoon]

Russian ladies better step it up this season so that the 3A can all go to worlds next season :sad4:

I would honestly be surprised if all three even get promoted to senior next season let alone make it to worlds. I know it is blasphemy to say around these parts but unless she wins gold at Nationals, JGPF or JW I suspect they will keep Anna in juniors for another season.

 

[Elaine]

Finally I got to watch Evgenia's new programs.

Even though it's not exactly my cup of tea, I think the SP can be a great program with more confidence and more time to adjust to. It's a fun program, and there are some details that I like. I can see her pulling off this program to its potential, maybe later in the season. Glad to hear that she plans to change the dress.

On the other hand, the free program is... I don't think it really suits her, and the program itself is neither impressive nor even interesting. I can understand why some other posters say it's too generic. The first half is quite boring, and as a whole it lacks the feel of tango(or anything, tbh). Not sure what David Wilson wanted to do with this program. I hope they make some big changes for the choreography overall as the season progesses. As for the dress, I like the design of it, but agree that darker colour would be a better look for this program.

Anyway I'm looking forward to seeing where this new Evgenia goes with all these changes! Good luck for her.