Alena Kostornaia

[McBibus]

I finally got around to watching the full version of the Bolzano Passion Gala...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-uS0_5hrBY

Can one of our Italian friends please tell us what the commentators said about Aliona? Thanks in advance!

She does her first EX around 38:20, and the second one is around 1:12:16.

This time I noticed that she actually styled her hair differently for the two performances. :luv17:

Nothing worth translating.
Ex 1 they say she's the GP final winner
Ex 2 that she will skate on part of her competition program and be a vampire

 

[McBibus]

Fancam on Alena at the GP Final gala finale.

part 1 https://youtu.be/caxWxRRD2eI
part 2 https://youtu.be/7YNaBmxxGSM

Sorry if already posted I just found them now
I could not help but smiling like an idiot the whole video :

 

[Batsuchan]

But not so favourable comments on Alyona in the press conferences: https://inosmi.ru/social/20200111/246575415.html , which I do agree with, Alyona was really showing disdain for the press at these occasions. But hopefully, the training staff and FFKKR press officer will keep Alyona from developing a 'diva attitude'.

I was wondering if this article would end up on Goldenskate somewhere... :sarcasm:

This is actually a Russian translation of a JAPANESE article in a publication called "NUMBER," which I would say is a pretty mainstream magazine (not a tabloid). The original article is here:https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/841745

I saw this article soon after it was published (right after GPF), and though I was extremely upset by how the Japanese press was criticizing Aliona, I decided not to share this on the forum, because Aliona was already starting to getting a ton of criticism (not just here, but also on Russian sites), and I did NOT want to add any fuel to the fire. :disapp:

But now that it's out there, I have A LOT to say about this.

First, let me give some context for this article.

1) I would say that prior to the GP season (and even through the middle of it), Aliona was NOT well known by the Japanese media/the general skating-watching public. Yes, serious skating fans in Japan knew all about her, but most of the media coverage through the early part of the GP series was only about Anna and Sasha because they had quads, and they were the gold and silver medalists from the 2019 Jr worlds.

2) As a result, I think the Japanese media was kind of taken by surprise when Aliona won IDF, and even the JSF (Japanese skating federation) was surprised by how well the new senior Russian ladies were doing.

Here's the NUMBER article on IDF (written by a different author):
https://number.bunshun.jp/articles/-/841352

"After IDF, the head of the Japanese Skating Federation, Yoshiko Kobayashi, expressed her reaction like this. 'Last year, we predicted that the Russian ladies--or rather, the three junior ladies who would move to seniors--would be a threat. But we thought that maybe they would grow [and not be able to do quads anymore], or that even if they got good PCS scores as juniors, those scores would go down slightly when they moved to seniors. We shouldn't really be saying this since we're not doing [quads], but that was the slight expectation we had.

'But that hasn't been the case at all. They have moved to seniors with all their force/energy [i.e., quad jumps], and well, different people say different things, but it does seem that that force is showing up on the PCS side as well.'"

In other words 1) the JSF had severely underestimated how good the 3 A's would be, and 2) they were not happy that the new senior girls were getting such high PCS.

The rest of this article is actually quite favorable to Aliona. The author of this article, Akiko Tamura, goes on to say that she thinks Kobayashi's criticism of Trusova and Shcherbakova was valid, but that Aliona is different because "compared to the other two, she has already developed a senior-level of expression."

Then the author talks about how the press conference became awkward because they weren't sure how to ask questions to Alina now that it seems that you can't win without big jumps, but unexpectedly Aliona was the one who eased the situation by bringing up the example of Carolina Kostner.

3) Despite Aliona's win at IDF, I think she still wasn't that well known in Japan, and so NHK Trophy was advertised as the showdown between Rika and Alina. But then not only did Aliona--a relatively unknown skater--beat the home-crowd favorite, she also beat her by ~8 points, and to add insult to injury, she also broke Rika's SP record.

Thus, when the first negative Japanese article appeared after NHK Trophy, it seemed to me a bit like the Japanese media were being sore losers, and I, as well as a lot of Japanese fans on Twitter, were not happy with what it said.
https://sportiva.shueisha.co.jp/clm/othersports/figure/2019/11/24/_split_16/

I don't want to translate the full article, but basically it starts by talking about how Aliona came late to the press conference, and then the first thing she did when she sat down was take a photo of Alina. Then it goes on to suggest that Aliona is cold/aloof and calculating, in that she says what she thinks is the correct thing to say even if she doesn't really believe it.

This article was discussed a lot by the Japanese fans on Twitter, and I would say that almost all of the comments I saw were in support of Aliona, :yes: because most of those fans have seen Aliona's goofy side, or the way that she was laughing at the IDF medal mix-up, so they just couldn't believe that Aliona is cold and aloof, and so they didn't really take this article seriously.

4) Since I had seen the negative article after NHK Trophy, I was not surprised to see another negative article after GPF. My reaction was something like, "sighh, not again!!"

But while the article after NHK Trophy had a rather uncontroversial title--"Winning with frightening perfection. The 16-year-old-like behavior shown by aloof Kostornaia"--the article after GPF had a much more critical title--"Doubts about Kostornaya's attitude at the press conference. The skater character of a newly-crowned champion"--and as a result, it got a lot more attention.

I would say that just like with the first article, there were A LOT of Japanese fans who rushed to defend Aliona and criticize the author of the GPF article. Many of them said the same things we have said--"they are just teenagers, of course they don't know any better," "it's impolite to call others impolite," etc. And they posted pictures/videos of other skaters being on their phones during press conferences.

But, unfortunately, I also saw some people who agreed with the article and wrote things like, "they need to learn some manners." And that made me very sad. :noshake: Because I really wanted Aliona to get endorsements for Japanese companies like Alina/Zhenya have had, and if she has a bad reputation then it's probably not going to happen. :sad21:

Thankfully, people seemed to forget about this article after a few days and/or Alina's announcement about taking a pause in her career kind of made everyone forget about it. But then around the end of the year, NUMBER published a list of their most-read articles, and this one was #2! So this made a lot of people talk about this article again.

And now when I search for "Kostornaia" on Google Japan, this is the FIRST thing that pops up.

From my perspective, yes, there are certainly things that Aliona could do better with her press conference behavior, and, yes, she would probably benefit from some media training. :yes:

However, I DO think that no matter what Aliona does--no matter if she behaves like an angel in a press conference--she is going to get criticized, unfortunately.

This post is already really long so I'm going to continue in my next one.

 

[Batsuchan]

However, I DO think that no matter what Aliona does--no matter if she behaves like an angel in a press conference--she is going to get criticized, unfortunately.

Continuing my thoughts:

If you recall, way back at the beginning of the season, *I* was the one who wrote about fearing the day when people turn against Aliona, and unfortunately we seem to have reached that point. Whenever one skater starts to look dominant, she receives a lot of criticism, unfortunately. We saw it with Sasha early in the season (and Zhenya and Alina in the past).

In my opinion, the reason why Aliona's character is getting criticized so much is because it's VERY difficult to criticize her skating.
Her jumps are big and powerful; she skates with great speed; her posture is wonderful; she uses her arms and upper body beautifully; her edge quality is so high; she embodies the music...I can go on and on.

Yes, we have seen others on this forum quibble about her shallow lutz edge, or what they see as a lack of facial expression, but really, it's quite difficult to complain Aliona as a skater, and so we've seen lots of complaints about her character instead. :yes:

And while *I* adore Aliona's devilish side, I can see how some people might be annoyed/offended by some of her antics.

I will say one more thing--which is that even if Aliona were no longer doing figure skating, I think there would still be people who don't like her. Not only because she has a devilish side and is prone to getting into trouble, but also because she's so stunningly pretty. I think that, unfortunately, there will always be people who are jealous, or intimidated, or who feel like she's being rewarded because of her looks.

Thankfully, Aliona herself seems quite aware that some people get the wrong impression of her. See one of her early interviews:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...a-Kostornaia&p=1881195&viewfull=1#post1881195

What do you think, what kind of person are you?

- Difficult. To communicate with me, you need a lot of patience, because I do not immediately get used to people, open up. I need to look at you first, to understand. I'm not one of those who will immediately come up, say: "Hello" and start to communicate. I have to see first how a man behaves, what he does and only then will I talk to him. But not everyone understands it. They think I'm arrogant. But this is not really the case.

For better or for worse, I think that Aliona kind of doesn't care what the broader public thinks, as long as her parents, her coaches/training mates, and her friends support her.

She didn't know anything about the rumors about her withdrawing about Nationals, so I *really* hope she doesn't see all the criticism she gets online either.

Just keeping striving to be the best and forget about all the rest!

 

[Batsuchan]

Phew, now that I got all that off my chest, time for some fun!!

OMG I was really hoping someone would post this video because it made me when I saw it in Enrico's IG story:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7Lau3jIF5l/
He clearly wanted a photo with just the two of them!

Fun photoshoot with 4A!!!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7MN2-Aooft/
Can't wait to see the finished product!!

 

[Scott512]

Continuing my thoughts:

If you recall, way back at the beginning of the season, *I* was the one who wrote about fearing the day when people turn against Aliona, and unfortunately we seem to have reached that point. Whenever one skater starts to look dominant, she receives a lot of criticism, unfortunately. We saw it with Sasha early in the season (and Zhenya and Alina in the past).

In my opinion, the reason why Aliona's character is getting criticized so much is because it's VERY difficult to criticize her skating.
Her jumps are big and powerful; she skates with great speed; her posture is wonderful; she uses her arms and upper body beautifully; her edge quality is so high; she embodies the music...I can go on and on.

Yes, we have seen others on this forum quibble about her shallow lutz edge, or what they see as a lack of facial expression, but really, it's quite difficult to complain Aliona as a skater, and so we've seen lots of complaints about her character instead. :yes:

And while *I* adore Aliona's devilish side, I can see how some people might be annoyed/offended by some of her antics.

I will say one more thing--which is that even if Aliona were no longer doing figure skating, I think there would still be people who don't like her. Not only because she has a devilish side and is prone to getting into trouble, but also because she's so stunningly pretty. I think that, unfortunately, there will always be people who are jealous, or intimidated, or who feel like she's being rewarded because of her looks.

Thankfully, Aliona herself seems quite aware that some people get the wrong impression of her. See one of her early interviews:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...a-Kostornaia&p=1881195&viewfull=1#post1881195



For better or for worse, I think that Aliona kind of doesn't care what the broader public thinks, as long as her parents, her coaches/training mates, and her friends support her.

She didn't know anything about the rumors about her withdrawing about Nationals, so I *really* hope she doesn't see all the criticism she gets online either.

Just keeping striving to be the best and forget about all the rest!

Some of her antics? Aliona has no antics. And if any of this BS about her being arrogant or having poor behavior gets back to her it's just going to make her withdraw even more from the media.

 

[madmax]

I agree that Aliona will have to improve her relationship with the media, but for different reasons than those for which they criticize her.

It's evident that she has a great personality, one of the things that makes me think that she’s the only one who can do the qualitative leap from a champion to a true star.

Most of the champions, strong athletes but without great personality, usually give pre-packaged interviews, filled with trivial statements, really of no interest.

They give us the usual blah blah, hidden behind a mask of plastic smiles, only concerned to avoid any controversy. I hope she never become like that.

Aliona needs to learn the importance of the role of the media and how to use them at their best.

In this field (as in every other field), my benchmark is still Katarina Witt who besides being a great athlete, knew very well how to manipulate the media to project an image of herself useful for her interests.

I want to quote a newspaper article as an extreme and funny example, which exemplifies how she was not afraid to make even politically incorrect statements to strengthen her image as a femme fatale (she was promoting her Carmen).

Press conference at the Calgary Olympics (she was a beautiful young woman of 22 at that time, not a teenager).

Those folks filled both the aisles and the 450 seats in the auditorium, and their number did not include the dozen film cameramen and three-dozen still photographers who wanted just one more shot.
They began shooting as she walked in the door, and they trailed after her as she moved to her seat at center stage.
"This way, Katarina" they demanded, and she turned and looked over her left shoulder and smiled at them.
"This way" others demanded, and she repeated her peformance for those to her right. Then, finally, she was looking straight ahead, and she was flirting outrageously with the forest of cameras
in front of her.
...
Then, finally, she was asked how she reacted to so many people showing up to see her.
Here Katarina Witt blushed, then giggled, then paused dramatically.
"I think it`s a very popular sport in the first place. I think that`s one of the reasons" she said modestly, and then she paused again.
"And, well, I know people like young women, but I am surprised so many are here. But it`s nice."
Katarina Witt smiled again after saying that, and again the cameras clicked away.

I think, no, I'm sure that a smart girl like Aliona will learn how to relate to the media without giving up her personality.

 

[Edwin]

I think, no, I'm sure that a smart girl like Aliona will learn how to relate to the media without giving up her personality.

Fully agree on the 'superfluousness' of most press conferences and the majority of questions asked. Athletes get bored pretty quickly once the novelty has worn off.

The 'hot seat' interviews are much more interesting with the skaters' emotions still raw.

Alyona and any other skater must behave for their 'media image' is as important as their results for a future 'in business'.

Slightly disappointed in FFKKR's press officer, she should perhaps have instructed the skaters beforehand to put their phones away.
But the japantimes article was on almost all Russian figure skating media sites and blogs, so both FFKKR and Sambo-70 must have taken notice.

 

[Hammer24]

Along with an abundance of talent, elite athletes have a super sized will that drives them to higher levels. By nature, it’s often easy for them to dismiss mediocrity, especially as exhibited by the press. The Katerina Witt story posted above by mad max s brilliant and is probably the lesson that Aliona will learn.

At the same time, Aliona is a superb artist. My favorite video of her is in Vancouver at the JGP exhibition. The lighting and camera work cast an unworldly performance that is sublime in it’s sheer brilliance. As others have said before, this is a rare bird. Throw in beauty, intelligence and a precocious personality that loves to test the bounds, and you have a skater that can easily rock the boat.

My hope is that she stays true to herself while breaking new ground. The establishment thought Dylan was finished when he went electric at Newport. Along the way, it’s safe to say that Aliona will learn to manipulate the media in her own special rebellious way and although she will surely lose some fans, many more will flock to see her....

 

[McBibus]

I agree with many of you that Aliona can shine in press event.
Aliona has the potential to do everything she wants, commanding the press room and manipulating (don't take the word in a negative way) the journalists and the public at home.
She just need to be confident enough to be herself.

Look at this https://www.instagram.com/tv/B59bfYOokgj/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
this https://www.instagram.com/tv/B5xN-nyIHfL/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
ot this https://www.instagram.com/p/B5PzIWRIZQX/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Anna for example will probably be "perfect" but also predictable.
A confident Aliona can suprise tha audience and be funny and sassy in a way that will charm the press and the viewers.

 

[Scott512]

Aliona needs to do press conferences by herself once in a while and not always be with Sasha and Anna. She would be more interested then.After she went to the next gold medal I do not want to see her at a press conference with Sasha on one side and Anna on the other. That can be very awkward especially for the two that did not win the gold. Which ever one of these three amazing young ladies ones Europeans and worlds gets to do the press conference all by themselves.

 

[McBibus]

Aliona needs to do press conferences by herself once in a while and not always be with Sasha and Anna. She would be more interested then.After she went to the next gold medal I do not want to see her at a press conference with Sasha on one side and Anna on the other. That can be very awkward especially for the two that did not win the gold. Which ever one of these three amazing young ladies ones Europeans and worlds gets to do the press conference all by themselves.

It's not a choice: it's the protocol to have a conference with the podium

 

[Scott512]

It's not a choice: it's the protocol to have a conference with the podium

Well that needs to change especially in this situation because the girls are so close personally and professionally. I hope they aren’t getting tired of seeing each other every time they turn around. Lol. When your toughest competitor are the girls and train with every day it has to be very hard. It eventually took a toll on Zhenya and Alina. I hope the same doesn’t happen with these three awesome athletes. But If it happens it’s OK because this is sports and this is life.

I think one of the reasons I am on edge about some of this is because I’ve noticed a couple posters in the Russian ladies thread taking shots at Aliona like she has a big ego or something. I can’t stand that. She is very tiny but has a big personality and big star power. I can tell because I’ve seen a lot of stars come and go. Aliona probably realizes she is the most beautiful skater and the best tehnically as well. But she doesnt act like it. I think becuse Anna is so reserved people take Alionas more outgoing and bubbly personality the wrong way. Thats on them not Alena.

 

[McBibus]

Well that needs to change especially in this situation because the girls are so close personally and professionally. I hope they aren’t getting tired of seeing each other every time they turn around. Lol. When your toughest competitor are the girls and train with every day it has to be very hard. It eventually took a toll on Zhenya and Alina. I hope the same doesn’t happen with these three awesome athletes. But If it happens it’s OK because this is sports and this is life.

I think one of the reasons I am on edge about some of this is because I’ve noticed a couple posters in the Russian ladies thread taking shots at Aliona like she has a big ego or something. I can’t stand that. She is very tiny but has a big personality and big star power. I can tell because I’ve seen a lot of stars come and go. Aliona probably realizes she is the most beautiful skater and the best tehnically as well. But she doesnt act like it. I think becuse Anna is so reserved people take Alionas more outgoing and bubbly personality the wrong way. Thats on them not Alena.

I also fear the press pushing them one against the other.
I fear we can count on it.

They are so close for two reasons I think:

1 - They're very differen both on and off the ice.
This gave each one a reason to look at the other two with admiration for something and theyr personalities are complementary.
Anna is the brain (or the voice of common sense) the one whose opinion is always regardes and has the ability to calmly look at things from another angle and
Aliona is the heart: the one who make always sure there is a good reason to travel togheter and makes sure it will not be boring.
Sasha is the legs: when the other may call it a day is the one that alwats says "Come let's reach that tree down there before camping.

2- Great plause on Eteri for that: she taught the girl to look at themself and how good they performed.
You did not skated well it's bad even if you won because you opened the chance for someone not so good as you to beat you
You skated weel it's ok even if you lost. You did your best and now we will train again to raise your potential

I agree on the star potential. She has it all.
Aliona has personality and allure not inflated ego.

Every time you read something about her being spoiled ot other insinuations just remenber that she was so kind to take my pic with Liza with a smile like the most natural action.
If you did not read my post The-Sweetest-Thing do it and tell me if this is a girl with diva attitude, or a bad person like I read in some press.
One word for those insinuations: Bull****

 

[Scott512]

I also fear the press pushing them one against the other.
I fear we can count on it.

They are so close for two reasons I think:

1 - They're very differen both on and off the ice.
This gave each one a reason to look at the other two with admiration for something and theyr personalities are complementary.
Anna is the brain (or the voice of common sense) the one whose opinion is always regardes and has the ability to calmly look at things from another angle and
Aliona is the heart: the one who make always sure there is a good reason to travel togheter and makes sure it will not be boring.
Sasha is the legs: when the other may call it a day is the one that alwats says "Come let's reach that tree down there before camping.

2- Great plause on Eteri for that: she taught the girl to look at themself and how good they performed.
You did not skated well it's bad even if you won because you opened the chance for someone not so good as you to beat you
You skated weel it's ok even if you lost. You did your best and now we will train again to raise your potential

I agree on the star potential. She has it all.
Aliona has personality and allure not inflated ego.

Every time you read something about her being spoiled ot other insinuations just remenber that she was so kind to take my pic with Liza with a smile like the most natural action.
If you did not read my post The-Sweetest-Thing do it and tell me if this is a girl with diva attitude, or a bad person like I read in some press.
One word for those insinuations: Bull****

I agree with every word. Like you I am somewhat concerned that the media will try to drive a wedge between these three amazing girls. All they can be is themselves and do the best they can. They are potential is off the charts awesome. Anna is the most levelheaded and perfect of the three. Alyona is the heart like you said. Sasha is the Supergirl kind of a freak of nature. They get along so well it’s so wonderful to see you but I do wonder if the media will drive a wedge between themJust to get at their coach.

Thank you for that report on meeting Alyona and the other skaters. It was wonderful to read the report and I’m glad you had such a good time and everyone was nice. Alyona is definitely not a diva as a diva attitude. To me she is the sweetest thing like your title said. If she has some evil angel and her that’s OK.

 

[Batsuchan]

So, apparently the Japanese fans on Twitter now know that that horrible Japanese article got translated into Russian, and some of them are mortified, so they started a hashtag #日本はコストルナヤ選手が大好き, which basically means "Japan loves Kostornaia," to show their support.

You can see their posts here:
https://twitter.com/hashtag/日本はコストルナヤ選手が大好き?f=tweets&vertical=default&src=hash

**

On an unrelated note, Aliona has almost 90K followers on Instagram now! :eeking:

I remember back at the beginning of the season, she had around 30-35K followers, and then by NHK it was 50K, and then 60K by GPF, and now, almost 90K! :agree:

As a very greedy fan, I do wish she would post more! But I understand, as she said herself, she's not an Instagram model...yet.

 

[Batsuchan]

Also, I posted this in the Russian Ladies thread, but I'm reposting it here because it's sooo friggin' cute!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhkqnieFxYQ

Our little angel/devil was SOOOO tiny! :luv17: And as usual, talking and giggling the whole time!

 

[sclloyd]

I also fear the press pushing them one against the other.
I fear we can count on it.

They are so close for two reasons I think:

1 - They're very differen both on and off the ice.
This gave each one a reason to look at the other two with admiration for something and theyr personalities are complementary.
Anna is the brain (or the voice of common sense) the one whose opinion is always regardes and has the ability to calmly look at things from another angle and
Aliona is the heart: the one who make always sure there is a good reason to travel togheter and makes sure it will not be boring.
Sasha is the legs: when the other may call it a day is the one that alwats says "Come let's reach that tree down there before camping.

2- Great plause on Eteri for that: she taught the girl to look at themself and how good they performed.
You did not skated well it's bad even if you won because you opened the chance for someone not so good as you to beat you
You skated weel it's ok even if you lost. You did your best and now we will train again to raise your potential

I think your assessment of them is spot on and I was going to comment something similar.

Another commenter mentioned Aliona’s negative image in Japan may prevent endorsements but I think she was already limited in that regard anyways. Anna has a pretty large Japanese fan base so if I was going to suggest anyone who might get Japanese endorsements it would be her. She’s also very similar to Alina— quiet and always polite and conscientious about what she says. There is nothing controversial about her. She fits the image the Japanese seem to like.

I haven’t quite yet been able to place Sasha. She seems like she hasn’t yet found her place, or that she feels she doesn’t necessarily deserve it. This season, she’s fallen in basically all her competitions, so even when she wins I don’t see her personality exposed. She was also competing against Zhenya whom she dearly looks up to so she may feel like she shouldn’t be completely celebratory.

But I think in both of these instances, we see why Aliona is different. She was able to fully enjoy her victory’s over Zagitova while still commending her teammate for her athleticism and performances. She brought out the personality of Mariah Bell, and the moment with the medal mix up made her really well liked in Russia despite the 70 year rivalry between the two nations. She pulled a mic fight from Sasha despite that we rarely see her being spontaneous.

Aliona seems to me very, dare I say it, American. She is friendly, loud, and always joking around. She isn’t afraid to speak her mind but she is careful— when she does speak it is intelligent. She is hardly unafraid to be herself. On an international platform, skating to Twilight and toting super bright unicorns around may be immature, but the fun and joy she gets from such things exposes her youth and makes them enjoyable in ways that other people, not fully committed to the image or the performances, would make seem cheap. And she gets away with it because there is such complexity. To me, her angel vs vampire performances perfectly reflect *her*. She is able to portray both characters well, but more so they seem genuine, and it makes it apparent that she isn’t a one dimensional person.

To me, this makes her able to eclipse Japanese marketing and really, if she plays her cards right, become an international figure in athletics. I think she has the capacity to be popular in the west, in Europe and the US and get endorsements for more western companies and products in the way that even Zhenya hasn’t necessarily been able to do. This is all very long term though, and largely depends on the Olympic season as well.

And you are totally on point about the reactions of the girls— be happy when you perform your best, not just for winning.

All of this culminates into the reactions we got from Aliona and Sasha at Nationals. Perhaps, because Aliona’s few mistakes weren’t near as notable as Sasha’s falls people considered her disappointment unwarranted or the casual fans just didn’t understand then which would contribute to the reactions that she was arrogant and bitter over her loss. But, as another person said, it is easy to criticize the person when you cannot criticize the skating.

 

[Batsuchan]

To me, this makes her able to eclipse Japanese marketing and really, if she plays her cards right, become an international figure in athletics. I think she has the capacity to be popular in the west, in Europe and the US and get endorsements for more western companies and products in the way that even Zhenya hasn’t necessarily been able to do. This is all very long term though, and largely depends on the Olympic season as well.

Speaking of endorsements, I mentioned earlier (before Nationals) that I would love to see Aliona as a face of a major luxury brand like Dior or Louis Vuitton. :yes:

And it looks like a Japanese fan had the same idea but made some lovely "ads" featuring our girl:
https://twitter.com/L_oveee/status/1214554732422844417?s=03

***

Flying vampire!
https://www.instagram.com/p/B7QpKTuJ4C4/
Amazing height!

 

[McBibus]

On an unrelated note, Aliona has almost 90K followers on Instagram now! :eeking:

I remember back at the beginning of the season, she had around 30-35K followers, and then by NHK it was 50K, and then 60K by GPF, and now, almost 90K! :agree:

As a very greedy fan, I do wish she would post more! But I understand, as she said herself, she's not an Instagram model...yet.

90K is nothing for her.
She could easily reach the million mark if she start using the platform.
More if she decides to weaponize it (but that would be out of scope for now)