2019-20 European Ladies’ Figure Skating

[DenissVFan]

And I hope it will not. It's not fair for native skaters.

I guess it depends on the country and the circumstances. Kurakova and Safonova have no real competition in their new federations – there were no Polish or Belarussian ladies skaters at last year's Worlds. KK and VS are perfectly able to get 2 spots for the 2021 Europeans and they can also get more JGP spots for the local skaters, so it's a win-win situation. I'm less pleased with Shabotova switching to Ukraine because Arkhipova at her best is a really good skater in her own right and I'd like to see her at ISU championships.

 

[SnowWhite]

I guess it depends on the country and the circumstances. Kurakova and Safonova have no real competition in their new federations – there were no Polish or Belarussian ladies skaters at last year's Worlds. KK and VS are perfectly able to get 2 spots for the 2021 Europeans and they can also get more JGP spots for the local skaters, so it's a win-win situation. I'm less pleased with Shabotova switching to Ukraine because Arkhipova at her best is a really good skater in her own right and I'd like to see her at ISU championships.

But then, Shabotova is the one with a real connection to the country she switched to, unlike the others as far as I know. I read that she has a bunch of family in Ukraine.

Personally, I'm fine with them all, to be clear.

 

[Manitou]

And I hope it will not. It's not fair for native skaters.

It depends on a country, but in countries with practically no competitive level skaters and no FS tradition, a classy foreign skater may bring some boost and raise interest in the discipline. Which in the long run may benefit the local skaters too.
So yes, if they start coming to Canada or US then it's not really the same as they come to Poland, Slovenia or Portugal.
And from the marketing point of view it's even beneficial for ISU itself to allow those skaters to switch countries. It looks much better to see more countries on their charts, rather than just the same old four: Russia, Japan, US and Canada.

 

[DenissVFan]

But then, Shabotova is the one with a real connection to the country she switched to, unlike the others as far as I know. I read that she has a bunch of family in Ukraine.

Personally, I'm fine with them all, to be clear.

Fair enough. It's just that I've cheered for Arkhipova for a long time and expected to see her contend for the top 10 at Euros (she still might. I hope she fights for these spots), so I'm not as thrilled about Shabotova's switch as about the others but I wish them both well. Maybe this will motivate the Ukrainian ladies even more.

 

[Tolstoj]

And I hope it will not. It's not fair for native skaters.

I don't mind it, if anything it pushes the native skaters to up their level.

At the same time i don't like when it looks like one Federation is doing a favour to the other sending that skater, or the opposite when Federations go out shopping for new skaters from other countries.

It has to be a decision that comes from the athlete, not because of some politics behind.

I guess it depends on the country and the circumstances. Kurakova and Safonova have no real competition in their new federations – there were no Polish or Belarussian ladies skaters at last year's Worlds. KK and VS are perfectly able to get 2 spots for the 2021 Europeans and they can also get more JGP spots for the local skaters, so it's a win-win situation. I'm less pleased with Shabotova switching to Ukraine because Arkhipova at her best is a really good skater in her own right and I'd like to see her at ISU championships.

Imo Arkhipova is a really talented skater who just need to spend some time with a technician to fix her jumps, especially the combos (which are always barely happened, with not a lot of speed and flow).

Besides that the rest is great: amazing spinner, she knows how to perform, and decent skating skills as well.

 

[Alegria]

I don't mind it, if anything it pushes the native skaters to up their level.

As if they never want. If Russian girls will still train in Russia, I don't think native girls will ever have a chance.

 

[Manitou]

For Russians coming to Poland is like not a big deal at all. Even Uncle Joseph himself once said: "курица не птица, Польша не заграницa". Which translates: "Chicken is not a bird, Poland is not abroad".

 

[haribobo]

Top 10 Non-Russian European Ladies SB

Ekaterina Kurakova POL 201
Ekaterina Ryabova AZE 187
Jenni Saarinen FIN 181
Alexia Paganini SUI 179
Lara Naki Gutmann ITA 178
Nicole Schott GER 177
Alexandra Feigin BUL 177
Alessia Tornaghi ITA 175
Viktoriia Safonova BLR 171
Lucrezia Beccari ITA 167

 

[MaHa75]

Top 10 Non-Russian European Ladies SB

Ekaterina Kurakova POL 201
Ekaterina Ryabova AZE 187
Jenni Saarinen FIN 181
Alexia Paganini SUI 179
Lara Naki Gutmann ITA 178
Nicole Schott GER 177
Alexandra Feigin BUL 177
Alessia Tornaghi ITA 175
Viktoriia Safonova BLR 171
Lucrezia Beccari ITA 167

Just a little remark that lot of these ladies has got these high points in home competition and hasnt got outside home the same points. For example Schott in Nebelhorn Trophy, Saarinen in Finlandia Trophy, Beccari in Lombardia Trophy and Kurakowa in Warssaw So I am not convienced about that list!

 

[jvpiter]

It depends on a country, but in countries with practically no competitive level skaters and no FS tradition, a classy foreign skater may bring some boost and raise interest in the discipline. Which in the long run may benefit the local skaters too.
So yes, if they start coming to Canada or US then it's not really the same as they come to Poland, Slovenia or Portugal.
And from the marketing point of view it's even beneficial for ISU itself to allow those skaters to switch countries. It looks much better to see more countries on their charts, rather than just the same old four: Russia, Japan, US and Canada.

From that perspective, I agree it could benefit the development of the sport in countries where it’s not popular or even practised at all.

No chance of any skater switching over to Portugal, as our skating federation isn’t even a member of the ISU and is more focused on roller skating.

 

[haribobo]

Of the ladies list, Kurakova, Saarinen, Gutmann, Feigin, Tornaghi, Safonova, and Beccari were not on the GP series this season (some were JGP and some just did senior B), so its nice they were able to score over 170 somewhere to have a shot at it next season, for those who choose to go senior.

 

[ladyjane]

Just a little remark that lot of these ladies has got these high points in home competition and hasnt got outside home the same points. For example Schott in Nebelhorn Trophy, Saarinen in Finlandia Trophy, Beccari in Lombardia Trophy and Kurakowa in Warssaw So I am not convienced about that list!

I saw Kurakowa skate, and she really did an excellent programme, home advantage or not. Bradie Tennell was there as well, and had a bit of a meltdown in the Free, while Kurakowa skated lights out. Really impressive. Schott had an excellent SP at Nebelhorn, and that held her up to become third. The first German lady in many years to get a medal at Nebelhorn, so I don't think it's her being German got her the points at all. Don't know about the other examples as I didn't watch these competitions.

 

[Ice Dance]

It's a fair point. Of course Medvedeva, Kihira, Valieva, Tennell, Liu, & Vasilieva out of the top 20 also have their SB scores from home. (It's pretty common to have an SB at home if A. you skate at home and B. you don't splat or pop more often than elsewhere while doing so).

 

[aname]

I saw Kurakowa skate, and she really did an excellent programme, home advantage or not. Bradie Tennell was there as well, and had a bit of a meltdown in the Free, while Kurakowa skated lights out. Really impressive.

Kurakova was indeed fabulous in Warsaw! I just can't fathom how somebody can think she didn't actually deserve that 200+ score just because she delivered those performances at home!

Don't know about the other examples as I didn't watch these competitions.

I can tell you that Saarinen also skated her FS a lot better in her home country than she did at her other two CS event, and the protocols reflect that. Both in Lombardia and in Warsaw she started out strong but then it went downhill with falls and/or pops, whereas in Espoo she held it together, landed her jumps and stayed on her feet... and got a better score. Shocker. :sarcasm:

 

[TT_Fin]

Kurakova was indeed fabulous in Warsaw! I just can't fathom how somebody can think she didn't actually deserve that 200+ score just because she delivered those performances at home!


I can tell you that Saarinen also skated her FS a lot better in her home country than she did at her other two CS event, and the protocols reflect that. Both in Lombardia and in Warsaw she started out strong but then it went downhill with falls and/or pops, whereas in Espoo she held it together, landed her jumps and stayed on her feet... and got a better score. Shocker. :sarcasm:

Jenni was clean at Finlandia, and she is not that very often. Compare to national qualification competition this year: She got only something like 158.

 

[DenissVFan]

Loena has just posted that she doesn't want to risk jumping triples yet and will be doing just doubles in practice for some more weeks. I hope she'll be ready for Euros

 

[Alegria]

Anastasiia Arkhipova is out for rest of the season due to knee injury

 

[DenissVFan]

Anastasiia Arkhipova is out for rest of the season due to knee injury

:sad21:

 

[DenissVFan]

From the entry list of Bosphorus Cup: Kurakova, Mikutina, Gennaro, Urushadze, Dubinina, Bayir and some others.

 

[icetug]

And I hope it will not. It's not fair for native skaters.

However they can take advantage from good results of those "adopted" skaters. Thanks to Katia Kurakova's JGP results one Polish girl can go to the Youth Olympic Games next year .