2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Finley]

I think lots of people were hoping sad Alina is thing of the past. Are we supposed to act like her looking devastated is okay? That her puffy eyed speech on Gala was no reason for concern? Did she ever skip Gsla before?

I was hoping so many things were 'a thing of the past', but alas!

Based on some of your posts, notably last season, you have been displeased by the expression on Alina's face before and after she skates when she doesn't reflect a confident, secure, radiantly happy skater enjoying herself. It makes me sad to see her sad too. I don't like seeing her be hard on herself or disappointed with herself, but she is a 17 year old girl before she is anything else and I would rather her be true to herself than not.

Let her be who she is and feel what she feels. Even if that doesn't always live up to the expectations of how a happy skater is 'supposed' to look. Is there any highly competitive athlete who is less than devastated when they feel like they haven't performed at the level they believe they are capable of? Some are more stoic than others but it's not a character flaw to show your feelings on your face. It just means Alina probably shouldn't play poker!

Some athletes get nervous before a competition and it shows on their face. It is what it is. Her beautifully expressive face is one of her best assets and her ability to be in touch with emotions, positive and negative, is something that will help her grow as an artist. If you take that away, you take away an essential part of who she is. I would also like to see her in the K&C laughing off her mistakes and taking it all lightly, but that's not her. If one thing is different, everything is different.

Not everyone has to like her, her skating, her ability, her artistry, her personality or even the expression on her face. No skater has ever universally appealed to everyone and no skater ever will.

Alina will find her own way through her life. No victory or defeat is ever final and it's a long road. Injuries happen and they heal with time. The only thing certain is change. Especially at 17.

To 100% clear - it broke my heart into a million pieces to see her that devastated. I don't think anyone on this forum thinks its 'okay' for her to be unhappy. (If they do, please don't tell me about it.) But it is an unavoidable part of any life with or without competitive sports. It is not the first or the last time she will be hurt in life. If this is the worst pain she ever feels then she is one of the most blessed of all human beings.

 

[Nord Stream 2]

Well...doing always the skate of the life is not something common among skaters.
If you follow figure skating you probably remember Carolina Kostner career...especially after Turin olympics she completely lost herself and her joy for skating. She partially recovered in 2007 and she won silver in 2008 worlds but she bombed 2009 season and we remember the disastrous 2010 Vancouver olympics.
Should she have retired after that? Yes, for sure. She was very popular and she could have lived a peaceful life in fashion and photoshoot.
But she choose the challenge of a rebirth and the 2011-2014 Olympic cycle was the best for her.
So...even if everything wrong with Alina, why does she can’t continue only for herself and not for victories?

I never said that she should leave the sport.
On the contrary, I really want her to stay for a long time. In Moscow, with Eteri and great new programs. I hope it will be so.

The meaning of my previous words is that she must learn to skate for her and our pleasure, even if it does not always lead to medals. 99% of all skaters in the world do so and do not feel negative about it.

 

[katymay]

Proposed age restrictions won't change anything, neither will banning Eteri from coaching for that matter.

We have a situation where at least 6 world class athletes are competing for 3 spots in National team. Zagitova is at least, 5th skater if she manages to skate her both programs clean, but she is pretty much guaranteed to stay at home, crazy isn't it?

Before blaming Eteri for ending kid's careers, please think what would have happened if say, FIS limited Norway from having more than 3 skiers at worlds.

in fact, whole 'win whatever you can in 2 years and when you are out of team' thing is easily and logically explainable:

Russian Team has 3 spots but has too many world class skaters.

If you aren't alien a-la Messi or Lebron James and competing in a highly competitive sport with never ending supply of new talent, it's highly likely that your post peak or pre-peak performance won't get you in world top 3. )

It's extremely hard to stay at your peak for very long time and the more demanding is the sport for your body, the harder it gets.

You guys are demanding insane stability from Zagitova and sorry, that doesn't work that way She is good,very good, a legend etc, but she isn't(and frankly, nobody is) good enough to keep up with 3A when she isn't in her top shape.

Same old story will play again and again until either ISU removes quota system and allows world class athletes to compete or number of talented girls decrease in Russia

Fans and rules are making this 'best or bust' atmosphere and then,when their favorite cant stay best for several years in a raw in face of immense pool of talent who are peaking, they are blaming Eteri for robbing fans of 'story and rivalries'. Many stories and rivalries would be different if every sport was like Russian ladies FS, where slightly less than ideal performance means you are going home.

P.S I think Trusova,barring any serious injuries,is here to stay for a long time, sure her peak will probably pass in year or 2,but if anybody has tools to be ahead of competition even post-peak, it's definitely the Quad Queen

Agree, the only place I would disagree is I think Anna will be the last one standing. I think Anna will win the Olympics. I think the odds of Trusova being injured are sky high, but I doubt she will ever do anything less than plowing ahead full steam. She is fearless, but also reckless, I think she would have been a wonderful downhill skiier. LOL But even if Trusova left the sport tomorrow, she has had a huge impact on the direction of the sport (whether people like it or not). Figure skating can really be divided into 'before Trusova' and 'after Trusova'.

 

[RobinA]

Alina is not a machine, she has the right to fail sometimes. It’s not like she popped her programs all the time and yeah it must be difficult for her to have motivation after winning everything. She keeps skating for her and her fans.

I think that if she can wait until the the Quadsters physically mature she might be in good shape. They will lose their quads in a couple years and without that technical advantage she could have them for breakfast. Now, not saying she would want to do this, but she's only a couple years older and waaaaaay past them in maturity. That does presuppose that there won't be another set of quadding tweens behind them, but she might decide to give it a go. Again, whether she wants to is another story. She hasn't looked too happy since the gold medal performance, and she might decide to get on with her life.

 

[flanker]

The point is not that she is failing once. Even pitch perfect she would have ended in 4th or 5th place. And there are no ultra c elements in sight. This is not easy to diguest for someone who once was the technical leader. There is always hope though

It is not true. Pitch perfect Alina is over 150 in free skate (which she was two times of four skates this season, BTW) and she needed 153.5 or so for the bronze. So, pitch perfect Alina would medal.

 

[lesnar001]

I think it is still important for her to prove that she is not a one hit wonder like so many people said after the Olympics

Well, I certainly hope that's not what she's thinking.

I hope she's thinking "I want to win the Olympics again in 2022. So I can be a two-time-one-hit-wonder".

Let's just pretend she didn't win Worlds in 2019.

 

[Artemisa]

I think that if she can wait until the the Quadsters physically mature she might be in good shape. They will lose their quads in a couple years and without that technical advantage she could have them for breakfast. Now, not saying she would want to do this, but she's only a couple years older and waaaaaay past them in maturity. That does presuppose that there won't be another set of quadding tweens behind them, but she might decide to give it a go. Again, whether she wants to is another story. She hasn't looked too happy since the gold medal performance, and she might decide to get on with her life.

well the problem with Quadsters .. is that after one .. you got another ... a new generation with 4 ...

 

[SkatingFan9]

P.S I think Trusova,barring any serious injuries,is here to stay for a long time, sure her peak will probably pass in year or 2,but if anybody has tools to be ahead of competition even post-peak, it's definitely the Quad Queen

Sasha hasn’t even hit her peak yet. She will also never stop upping her tech. Once she masters all the quads, she will move on to quints. Don’t be fooled into thinking she will lose her jumps, by the way, because she won’t. Athletically, she’s in a league of her own. People also don’t get how strong she really is.

 

[RobinA]

Agree, the only place I would disagree is I think Anna will be the last one standing. I think Anna will win the Olympics. I think the odds of Trusova being injured are sky high, but I doubt she will ever do anything less than plowing ahead full steam. She is fearless, but also reckless, I think she would have been a wonderful downhill skiier. LOL But even if Trusova left the sport tomorrow, she has had a huge impact on the direction of the sport (whether people like it or not). Figure skating can really be divided into 'before Trusova' and 'after Trusova'.

I will somewhat recklessly speculate that Trusova will not be major force by the Olympics. By then there may be a new Trusova. Hopefully, "before Trusova" and "after Trusova" will refer to a change in judging standards so that skaters with great presentation have just as much chance to win a competition as people with a handful of Quads and not much else. That way, any skater can hone what he, she, or they are best at and have a chance at the top prize. They don't have to up the age, ban mean looking coaches, or limit jumps. The judging system can be made to reward any type of skating they want it to.

 

[SkatingFan9]

I think that if she can wait until the the Quadsters physically mature she might be in good shape. They will lose their quads in a couple years and without that technical advantage she could have them for breakfast. Now, not saying she would want to do this, but she's only a couple years older and waaaaaay past them in maturity. That does presuppose that there won't be another set of quadding tweens behind them, but she might decide to give it a go. Again, whether she wants to is another story. She hasn't looked too happy since the gold medal performance, and she might decide to get on with her life.

You don’t really believe this, do you?

 

[PrayOrDie]

Some banquet photos

https://www.instagram.com/p/B528y85peqV/

 

[SkatingFan9]

I will somewhat recklessly speculate that Trusova will not be major force by the Olympics. By then there may be a new Trusova. Hopefully, "before Trusova" and "after Trusova" will refer to a change in judging standards so that skaters with great presentation have just as much chance to win a competition as people with a handful of Quads and not much else. That way, any skater can hone what he, she, or they are best at and have a chance at the top prize. They don't have to up the age, ban mean looking coaches, or limit jumps. The judging system can be made to reward any type of skating they want it to.

Prepare to be disappointed, then.

 

[Lechat]

Carolina, skating for Italy, had a direct path to World's and the Olympics that Alina, skating for Russia, does not.

Yup Carolina had a seconde chance but in Russia there are too many talented competitors who want to snatch your throne. I noticed leaders lasted 2 saisons

 

[Lechat]

I will somewhat recklessly speculate that Trusova will not be major force by the Olympics. By then there may be a new Trusova. Hopefully, "before Trusova" and "after Trusova" will refer to a change in judging standards so that skaters with great presentation have just as much chance to win a competition as people with a handful of Quads and not much else. That way, any skater can hone what he, she, or they are best at and have a chance at the top prize. They don't have to up the age, ban mean looking coaches, or limit jumps. The judging system can be made to reward any type of skating they want it to.

Beijin is still far and maybe no summer or winter olympics for the Russian Federation.

 

[NaVi]

Beijin is still far and maybe no summer or winter olympics for the Russian Federation.

2022 will be no different than 2018.

 

[Edwin]

Sasha hasn’t even hit her peak yet. She will also never stop upping her tech. Once she masters all the quads, she will move on to quints. Don’t be fooled into thinking she will lose her jumps, by the way, because she won’t. Athletically, she’s in a league of her own. People also don’t get how strong she really is.

In the GPF interviews, esp those with Russian press only, you could sense the ambition to be better, stronger, faster in Aleksandra's answers and non-verbal behaviour. In between the giggles one could hear the burning desire to be the first in this jump or that, to be able to compete 5 quads now she's found her way in warm ups, to go for 6 quads even, the full collection. She does work on her skating skills, connections, rotations etc, her trainers demand this from her. But she pleaded with them to be allowed the 5 quads routine and after proving her capability, was allowed. I believe to have heard she will go for it in Nationals again.

Once she has achieved these personal goals, she might relax and take her foot off the accelerator pedal and concentrate on other things in her skating.

And yes, unless serious misfortune or grave injury strike her, she will not loose her quads. I too think she is as tough as they get, strong beyond measure, so she'll work hardest to keep those quads and it will be relatively easy for her. She already is quite tall, but of course we'll have to wait and see how she grows into a woman.

 

[Fluture]

Once she masters all the quads, she will move on to quints.

I don’t know if you’re joking but either way... Please just... NO!! She is a human, not a machine or a robot and she‘s risking her health more than enough with these quads. She‘s a teenager, a child! She has revolutionized skating indeed and yet you keep expecting even more...Aren‘t you people ever satisfied... Sorry but I can‘t state that any more eloquently because frankly, I‘m shocked.

 

[flanker]

Oh please, you're comparing apples to oranges. Chen, Daleman, and Lim never "exploded". They've never been superstars and swept the top medals in their debut season.

Yes you can have a couple of bad competitions, but the trend with Eteri skaters is once they start losing, they continue that long-term and their decline always coincides with another skater (or group of skaters) ascent from the same camp. Y'all are focused on cherry picking competitions while the truth lies in the overall trend.

Yeah I agree people truly are not able to learn. I heard the same excuses when Lipniskaia and Medvedeva were struggling and look how that turned out.

Do not say please. This comment is completely illogical. They are all skaters. Saying "you can have a couple of bad competitions, but the trend" shows you are setting completely different standards for one group than for the other. You are suggesting that somebody is either winning or "exploded", while somebody else can be messing all life and nothing bad happens.

Just reread the comment lesnar has posted today, counting Alina's results since olympics. See? This was only the third competition since february 2018 where Alina didn't medal (and fourth since she started competing internationally). Show me a skater with a more succesful last three seasons. This so called "decline" is in fact one of the most succesful careers any skater had in modern figure skating. The fact that she not always won and not always had the skate of her life doesn't mean anything, in todays concurence and with the difficulty of the sport. This attitude "either Alina (or other Eteri girrl) has the skate of her life or she is nothing" applied only and exclusively on Eteri's team is stupid. There is no other word for it, at least decent.

If you are saying people are truly not able to learn, then do something about yourself. Learn.

 

[Fluture]

Some banquet photos

https://www.instagram.com/p/B528y85peqV/

Aw. So nice. They look so pretty. Just missing Alina, I think? I‘m not too familiar with the junior skaters from Team Tutberidze, so maybe there‘s someone else I forgot. I know that Samsonov, Kamila and Daria were at the final. Is that all of them?

Either way, the girls are already back in Moscow:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B527259FsHV1K4zoB_vKNHIRZ6vuYEQq5edkP80/?igshid=1lpoim9ecjpfz

https://www.instagram.com/p/B53Ban7JmPT/?igshid=1px3jcejvc82u

And here‘s another funny moment from the gala. Yuzu scaring Aliona:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B50poNsJ_YW/?igshid=n0mge71vn953

Her look is glorious

https://www.instagram.com/p/B526ieXp_L0/?igshid=1qt9df7aec7wm

 

[SkatingFan9]

I don’t know if you’re joking but either way... Please just... NO!! She is a human, not a machine or a robot and she‘s risking her health more than enough with these quads. She‘s a teenager, a child! She has revolutionized skating indeed and yet you keep expecting even more...Aren‘t you people ever satisfied... Sorry but I can‘t state that any more eloquently because frankly, I‘m shocked.

You don’t get it. It’s what she wants. Her coaches will not let her try quints as of now, but it’s her future goal. For Sasha, making history is just as important as winning. She wants to be remembered as the one who forever changed figure skating and was the first to accomplish something. Never doubt her