2019-20 U.S. Men's Figure Skating

[YuBluByMe]

The Professional Skaters' Association has announced their awards for best performance at US Nats, and Jason won, but for the SP.

Well, I’m not a member of the Professional Skaters’ Association, but if I was, I would have some things to say. Brown should win, but for the FS not the SP. My not-so-humble opinion is that Brown was out-skated, out-classed, and out-performed by Torgashev in the SP at USNats. (Matter of fact, Torgashev really should’ve been second in the SP, but I’m certainly not naive.) Now Brown’s FS, on the other hand, was second to none. I’m kind of curious why they chose his SP and not the FS.

 

[el henry]

Well, I’m not a member of the Professional Skaters’ Association, but if I was, I would have some things to say. Brown should win, but for the FS not the SP. My not-so-humble opinion is that Brown was out-skated, out-classed, and out-performed by Torgashev in the SP at USNats. (Matter of fact, Torgashev really should’ve been second in the SP, but I’m certainly not naive.) Now Brown’s FS, on the other hand, was second to none. I’m kind of curious why they chose his SP and not the FS.

Well, I'm known for being Andrew T.'s number one fangirl, but I would not put it quite that strongly (then again, Jason is obviously a great favorite as well). As engrossing and as stirring as Bloodstream is and was, I think "I Cant Go on Without You" is an amazing piece of choreo as well (when Jason stutter steps across the ice, it reminds me of Toller in "Graduation Ball", and my heart is happy )

That said, certainly Schindler's List appears to be the most talked about and praised of Jason's programs this year. The clue may be "performance", and Jason's performance of the SP could not have been any better technically at Nats, whereas not so in the LP.

But you are right, I would be curious to know as well

 

[corinthia]

US Nats being rebroadcast on NBCSN, NBC, OLY. Men's short tonight and men's free tomorrow, on NBCSN. See schedule posted in this thread:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...Figure-Skating-in-the-US#post_message_2590548

(Thought it was worth posting here because I'm assuming it might include what was pre-empted by the Kobe Bryant news updates.)

 

[Tavi...]

US Nats being rebroadcast on NBCSN, NBC, OLY. Men's short tonight and men's free tomorrow, on NBCSN. See schedule posted in this thread:

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...Figure-Skating-in-the-US#post_message_2590548

(Thought it was worth posting here because I'm assuming it might include what was pre-empted by the Kobe Bryant news updates.)

Ooh thanks! I have Sports Gold so I saw the streams in January, but I missed all the broadcast stuff. Looking forward to it!

 

[ice coverage]

Today Vincent Zhou and Brandon Mroz will be special guests in Colorado for Tom Z's live-streaming of jump classes (off ice).

Brandon will be the guest for the morning class (starting soon).
Vincent for the afternoon class.
(Per Tom's Insta Live yesterday.)

Tom's long Facebook post with information about the classes:

https://www.facebook.com/CoachTomZ/posts/2668072559958115 (posted Mar 21)​

---

BTW, with adherence to social-distancing and other safety guidelines, Tom and a few of his skaters have been able to use a very small private rink in a barn in Colorado. In the last day or two, Tom's Instastory showed Vincent breaking in new boots there.
(Again, they are following safety guidelines.)

 

[Ice Dance]

So both Tom & Vincent are in Colorado?

 

[el henry]

An interview, in Russian, of Andrew T., Maxim Naumov and Ilia Malinin for Russian television.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llihrI55KW8

H/t to Flanker in the Russian men's thread for the link. Making do with YouTube auto translate, nothing particularly new (although of course I skipped to the Andrew T. parts first ) but Ilia looks so young. And Andrew is all grown up now:thumbsup:

Andrew does say the obvious, if auto translate is to be believed, that American men are skating for 2nd, 3rd and 4th, because, well, Nathan.

 

[Skater Boy]

I wonder if they really are skating for the third spot. It seems like whether Jason is second or third he is going to get a spot. Mind you if he doesn't get a quad these Young Russian Americans get theirs and then some who knows.

 

[el henry]

I wonder if they really are skating for the third spot. It seems like whether Jason is second or third he is going to get a spot. Mind you if he doesn't get a quad these Young Russian Americans get theirs and then some who knows.

Jason had a very disappointing LP in 2018 and didn’t get on the podium; he is certainly not guaranteed anything When Jason skates well, he will earn the commensurate scores and probably medal.

And I get the impression, although I speak no Russian, that Andrew included all skaters not named Nathan in the same group: himself, Vincent, Jason, Tomoki, whoever that may be. And I think he’s right

 

[ice coverage]

So both Tom & Vincent are in Colorado?

From Vincent's Instagram within the last fifteen minutes:

Who would win?
covid-19
tiny ice sheet in a barn​

His message is accompanied by two short videos showing him jumping triple axels on the barn ice, with Tom Z saying a few words of narration.

The answer to Ice Dance's question was Yes as of Sunday -- and if the newly posted videos were shot today (as is likely), then the answer still is Yes.

ETA:

Another video of Vincent, from Tom Z's account a few minutes later:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-IDYwRJHD5/ (Mar 24)​

 

[karne]

I wonder if they really are skating for the third spot. It seems like whether Jason is second or third he is going to get a spot. Mind you if he doesn't get a quad these Young Russian Americans get theirs and then some who knows.

Yawn.

"these young Russian Americans" getting their quads is far from a certainty, either.

I was backing Jason for a medal at Worlds. His momentum was so great I was quite sure he'd even land that quad at Worlds. We will now never know, but surely Nats and 4CC helped boost his National stock a little.

 

[el henry]

@Lariko has kindly provided a translation of the interview of Andrew T., Ilia, and Maxim in the Russian Men's thread.
I seem unable to link to the exact post, but here is the page link (I think):

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?80854-2019-20-Russian-Men-s-figure-skating/page39

Reprinted from the Russian Men's thread:


Edit... it is a long interview, so part 1, first two questions...

My Russian is way out of date, so I sometimes feel it is strangely accented even when I listen to the commentary on Russian TV by modern Russian speakers. And diction had moved on, heh.

To my ear, Malinin sounds the most impacted accent-wise and have the most difficulty with the language, Naumov—the least & he is at ease speaking. Torgashev is in between, some of his vowels sound anglicized to me, rather than the stronger Russian ones. All three young men are easy to understand, so if they were mains in a spy movie caught by that one guard in Russia in a thrilling scene, they would have stood a chance to wing it, unlike the movie stars, lol.

The first question asked is: did it surprise you that the full team has Russian roots?

Naumov and Malinin talk about it being funny, Malinin says it was really a coincidence, what if they didn’t send him, it would not have happened. Torgashev says that they speak Russian or mix both languages to one another.

Feelings after the Championship/Results

Naumov speaks about being pleasantly surprised with the result, he did not go with the expectations to achieve this high of a placement, and still can’t believe it. This championship was a wonderful experience for him.

Q to Naumov: how did you focus before the free (where he achieved the 4th placement)?

N: There is additional stress and emotional problems when one goes into the free after a good short. This was not the case for him here, as he was the tenth after short. He skated for himself. Because he wasn’t focusing on the placement, he wasn’t worried about selling the whole program, he was just doing it the best he could, element by element, without rushing it, calmly.

Malinin: He liked his performance. He thinks he could have done better, but he was just happy to come, because he should not have been selected, but he was invited.

Q to Malinin: Why?

Malinin: Because to be selected, he should have won the US Nationals, and he didn’t compete there this year.

He really wanted to go though. He was meaning to jump a quad, but at the last moment changed the program. He did not feel confident, so he downgraded the jump, but performed axels and lutzes successfully.

Torgashev: This is his 3rd junior worlds, his first time was five years ago, also in Tallinn. He grew and learned a lot since that first time. Most significantly, how to prepare himself for the performance. How to put the best foot forward.

The next question is

Your Life in the States

 

[el henry]

Part Two of the Interview with Andrew T., Ilia and Maxim,

as translated by Lariko in the Russian Men's thread

Next Three Questions from that interview with JWC US team with Russian roots (Part 2)

Your life in the States

Malinin: He lives in America, in Virginia, with his parents and younger sister, Lisa. He gets up before 6 am to skate till 7 am and then go to school. He finishes school earlier, at noon, and skates till 5 pm, then does general physical conditioning.

Question to Malininoes he go to a regular school/did they consider home-schooling

Malinin: Yes, he goes to a regular school part-time and combines it with home studies. They are considering full homeschooling starting next year.

Torgashev: He now lives with his mother and sister in Colorado, they followed him there a couple of months after his move. His mother had just purchased a house for them. His father still lives in Florida and coaches there. His mother still trains him 20 min a day, and works full time as a coach.

Question to Torgashev: What does your mom work with you on in those 20 min?

Torgashev: the skating skills, gliding

Naumov: He finished his studies, graduated from a high school, 12 grades, and he is taking a gap year before going to a university to focus on figure skating, so it’s a bit of a break for him. He gets up about 6:45 am, to make it to the rink on time for training around 8-9am. The first training session is about 90 min, then he rests and sometimes does additional training such as spinners. The second training session starts at 1 pm and goes on for about 1 hour. Every second day he has general conditioning. The other days he rests or does the visualisation to help with the mental preparation.

Question to Naumov: You are growing up in the family of the World Champions. Tell us if it helps you or is it difficult.

Naumov: He couldn't have asked for better in terms of support. This is a unique thing, hard for him to even convey. It is not just in relation to the on-ice time, it is the home life as well, he feels that their family is his team. Without one or another, they could not have worked like that, always together. His parents are knowledgeable, teach him everything, and every day he does the best he could do with his goal being to achieve the same level as his parents did.

Which Language is used at home?

Malinin: Usually they communicate in Russian, sometimes in English. Particularly because his grandparents are visiting, so they always try to speak Russian.

Naumov: Russian. Sometimes they mix in English, but in general it is Russian. His father adds in that he switches to English when he is not happy with Maxim, and Maxim doesn’t like it. He tries to stick to Russian. He is more comfortable with it.

The interviewer suggests as concrit that Naumov expands his vocabulary, Naumov laughs.

Question: Does anyone in the skating rink ever ask you to teach them Russian words?

Naumov: Yes, that happens, and he teaches the essential Russian words like Hi/Bye and whatever else they would ask.

Torgashev: They use their own language, a few words in Russian, a few words in English. He doesn’t know if it is even; he would start in Russian, then would search for a word, and slip into English. Then back to Russian, so, yes, it is mixed.

Question to Torgashev: Which language it is easier for you to think in?

Torgashev: If he is speaking Russian, like now, he thinks in Russian, and vice versa.

Question to Torgashev: Did you teach anyone in America Russian words? Are they interested?

Torgashev: They are only interested in dirty words (he does smile cutely when he says that).

Question to Torgashev: So, did you teach them?

Torgashev: Naturally.

Have You Ever Been to Russia?

Torgashev: Yes, he visited a couple of times. The last time he had been to Russia was when he had a stage in (JGP?) in Saransk. He thinks it had been in 2016-2017. He also stayed in Moscow for a couple of days.

Question to Torgashev: Impressions?

Torgashev: He liked it. It is a different atmosphere than in AMerica, but pleasant. He stayed with his paternal grandfather while visiting with his father. They stayed in a Moscow apartment and he was comfortable, but traffic congestion was bad.

Question to Torgashev: Had you seen something in Russia that you could not find in America (save for the traffic jams).

Torgashev: He can notice a different culture, but he had lived in America all his life, while he only visited Russia for a week. He also did not do a lot of sightseeing, basically it was to the skating rink and back for him, but he felt comfortable, and finds it easy to interact with the Russians because he doesn’t have a language barrier. He thinks he could have lived in Russia.

Malinin: No, not once. He wanted to go, even this year for a Grand Prix stage. To see how it is. But here in Estonia, it feels a lot like what it would have been like.

Question to Malinin: Because everyone speaks Russian? (they refer to the neigborhood in Tallinn where JWC took place, it is predominantly Russian)

Malinin: And because everyone lives in the high rise apartment complexes.

Question to Malinin: What do you think about the apartment complexes?

Malinin: It is weird to him, because he lives in a suburb, and when he trains(?) in the city, the other kids live in the highrises. (I am not sure if he is referring to Russians living in the apartment blocks or his peers in America).

Question to Malinin: Did your parents tell you a lot about Russia?

Malinin: Yes, he was told how Russia looks like and how it is different than America, it’s backward in comparison.

Question to Malinin: In which respects?

Malinin: Technology.

Naumov: Yes, yes, yes, he’d been to Russia. When he was a kid they went a few times, and recently went for New Year holidays. He has grandmothers, a grandfather and cousins still living in Russia. So he has a lot of family in Russia.

Quiestion to Naumov: Impressions?

Naumov: He likes Russia. It is different, a bit more disciplined than America, but he likes that. They stopped by the skating rink to see skaters training, it was a good experience for him. The skating rink was in St.Petersburg. He really likes metro/subway. Everyone drives the cars in the States, but he really loved the subway. And he found the people to be nice, though they do not show it immediately. In America people are always smiling at you. Though he does not want to generalize. He also likes it that in Russia everyone minds their own business.

Question to Naumov: Could you have lived in Russia?

Naumov: He thinks he could have. When he was a kid he stayed for a month with his grandparents, at the summer cottage, he’d been to a banya (Russian steam room/sauna), and loved it.

Next Question: Is it expensive to train in America?

 

[lariko]

And here is the last, third part of the interview with the young and eager Malinin; flushed with success and well adjusted Naumov, & intractable and airy Torgashev, team USA at JWC.

Is It Expensive to Train in the States

Malinin: It depends on the results. On a certain level of achievement, they receive boots and blades. They pay for the ice time, but since he is coached by his parents, the price is lower. They also have flights and hotels paid for by the Federation

Torgashev: Yes, it is expensive. The Federation helps. The grants are not automatic if you made the team; it is the results that matter. One has to prove to the Federation that you are worth helping. That opens up money for choreography, costumes, skates, coaching. But overall, one has to pay their own way.

Question to Torgashev: What’s your current situation?

Torgashev: The Federation is helping him currently. The better his results, the more funding he could count on.

Naumov: Yes, they receive funding from the Federation for skates and costumes. If you make the national team, you receive a good level of support. He doesn’t think it differs that much from in Russia, though he does not know for sure.

Question to Naumov: Could you eyeball how pricey it is to just go and figure skate in the States? Can many people afford it there?

Naumov: This is a difficult question, he doesn’t even know how to respond to it (looks at his dad). Dad tells him to tell as is.

Naumov: It is expensive, before you make the team, as you are building up. Skates, ice time, coaching. Obviously, he counts himself lucky. It is probably not for everyone.

Figure Skating Doesn’t Seem Popular in the States?

Malinin: It’s too expensive. You need to pay for the ice time etc, when starting out. In Russia, there are many people who skate, so maybe that drives down the prices. Plus, there are a lot of other sports in America, so people are more drawn towards the other sports.

Torgashev: In US, the popular sports are basketball, football and baseball. All these team sports. Not many are aware of figure skating as a sport, had seen a competition or wanted to try it out. They give a ball to their kids, and that’s what they keep doing as sports.

Also the word figure skating does not really attract people. He thinks if more people saw figure skating, maybe they would have liked it. It’s like dancing, some people like watching it, others don’t.

Of course, he would have wanted more fans in the USA, like in Russia or Japan. But he appreciates his American fans who message him about watching his skating and liking it, even if it is just a couple. It’s all that he needs.

Question to Torgashev: Do you have audience during the competitions in the States?

Torgashev: Yes, there are people who come to watch. Sometimes the stadium is half-full.

Naumov: (sighs) Yes, compared to twenty years ago, the popularity of figure skating in America had declined. Back then, many people were watching it, and the TV broadcasted the competitions. They still do, but much less. Sometimes they cherry pick as little as possible. But some people are interested in checking out what Chen is up to, and he gets advertisement. But there is no comparison to Hanyu’s fandom in Japan. He’s like a god there. Back at the time of Kwan and Lipinsky, figure skating was a popular sport. That was the Golden Era of the figure skating, back in his parents’ times.

Question to Naumov: Did the other sports push figure skating to the curb?

Naumov’s dad: The Federation lost its support and a huge TV contract with ABC after the pair scandal. After that contract expired, the TV broadcasts slowly disappeared.

Even the big tours like Stars on Ice/Champions on ICe failed because people stopped attending without the big stars. No more hype, no more drama with Nancy and Tonya, no more interest.

Is the national competition among men steeper in USA or in Russia?

Malinin: He thinks it’s in Russia.

Question to Malinin: Is it because there are more figure skaters?

Malinin: Yes, because it is less expensive to start out.

Naumov (expels a breath): Yes, he thinks it’s hard in Russia. All the boys are on the super-high level, so it’s hard to make it. Like in Tutberidze’s group, she has plenty of students, all in one place, both boys and girls, and one is better than the other. So it is a continuous competition. He is used to the States, where it is more spread out throughout the regions, more of individual space (for each emerging skater?). But don’t imagine it’s easy either. He doesn’t think the difference is that big. But it exists. He thinks it is a bit easier in America.

Torgashev: He is unsure. There are a lot of good athlete approximately on the same level. He saw the results of the Russian Nationals and whoever was in the fifth position (Lariko: that would be Mozalev, sorry, couldn’t resist) could have been the first. So, the competition is who shows himself better on that given day. In USA, they fight it over for the second through the fourth placements. Because the top guy is Nathan, and it is impossible to beat him.

What do you think about the success of the Russian ladies in figure skating?

Torgashev: He sees them doing quads, makes him think he needs to do better than that. When ladies do quads, it motivates gentlemen to work on quads and perform them easily. He would not have wanted to compete against the Russian ladies at the moment. They are too very, very, very, very good in competition.

Naumov: He is impressed, and he agrees it’s a revolution. In the last three years the ladies moved from doing a triple-triple combo as the coolest thing to triple axels and quad, quad, quad… If someone said it would happen three years ago, nobody would have believed it. He thinks it’s excellent progress in the sport. They also have Alicia, who is tiny but super-strong, so the competition is coming their way from USA.

Malinin: He thinks it’s cute that the girls are already jumping quads. A couple of years ago he thought the girls would never jump quads. Now all of them do. Hell bells.

Who are your idols in figure skating?

Malinin: Nathan Chen and before he liked Michail Kolyada, his lutz was great

Torgashev: Patrick Chan, he is the one Torgashev watches to learn from, how he skates, how he won the WC, because of his excellent skating skills and stable jumps. Denis Ten, his skating skills were deluxe.

Naumov: When he was young he watched figure skating all the time. And still watches everyone and learns from everyone. He does not feel he had a single idol. For example, from Yagudin, he is crazy about Yagudin’s vertical take off on the jumps, particularly axel (lariko: I am trying to interpret him talking with his hands here) and Plushenko, he used to watch Plushenko skate non-stop. Jumps and consistency in each competition.

Daisuke Takahashi for his skating skills and blade control. So, yes he watches everyone, learns from everyone.

Chen, Hanyu, what’s his name (remains unnamed) he takes bits of their performances that he admires and studies them. But on the other hand...

Plushenko… yeah. Plushenko. He always rooted for him, 2010 was hard for him with divided loyalties. When the Americain won without a quad, his free was shaky, but he still went for everything and rotated everything, proving himself. But it was just after the change of the system, and that GoE…yeah. On his last jump, the triple lutz, he flew out of it like that (mimics horizontally with his hand) it was impossible to save it, but he did and added a double toeloop to it too. He was overawed.

(lariko: At this point I can safely say that Naumov’s idol is Plushenko, he is all bright-eyed and excited)

Question to Naumov: Do you feel that the result was unfair?

Naumov: It was right, but it wasn’t right. He understands how the scoring worked, but he wanted it to be different. It’s politics.
Question to Naumov: Had he ever met Evan L or Plushenko?

Naumov: No, never, but he wished he did.

Question to Naumov: Had he ever met anyone else he admired as a young skater?

Naumov: He met Chen, and he watched him raise through the ranks and met him at the Nationals, using the same locker room. He talked to him and introduced himself.

How much of you (%) is American, and how much--Russian?

Torgashev: Maybe 65% Americain, 35% Russian

Malinin: I never had been to Russia, so because of that 70% American, 30% Russian

Naumov: A difficult question. Fifty-fifty?

Question to Naumov: Well, I am going to reveal to you that you are the most Russian of the group, Ilya said he was 70/30 and Andrew said he was 65/35. So you win the title of the most Russian on the American team here.

His dad calls Naumov an American with Russian spare parts

Naumov: Russia will always be in my heart, and my family is all Russia. I can’t really say that I am more American than Russian because of my family, grandparents. So, yes, 50:50.

 

[el henry]

An American with Russian spare partsI like this description of all our US skaters who are sons of Russian émigrés.

And now that I know Andrew T. likes messages of support, I may need to come out of hiding on Instagram

Thank you again @Lariko!

 

[Seven Sisters]

And now that I know Andrew T. likes messages of support, I may need to come out of hiding on Instagram

Thank you again @Lariko!

I had the same reaction, El. Reading this gave me an “awww” moment, I wanted to message Andrew and tell him that I too watch his skating and like it

I also loved the shout-out to Denis Ten!

 

[lariko]

I am sure they all can use a bit of extra love now, particularly the juniors without much career security

 

[Tavi...]

Interesting that apparently not one of the three admires or watches Jason.

 

[el henry]

Interesting that apparently not one of the three admires or watches Jason.

I think the skaters know their audience, particularly since 3/4 of the questions (understandably) were Russia, Russia, Russia. Andrew T. is old enough to see Jason as a competitor, and he is the only one whose style, in my view, captures any of Jason’s charms.

ETA: and I don’t mean that the other boys don’t have their charms, just not those ones

The other ones still have time

 

[shine]

Can we not tout our own preference of a style as if that’s what everyone wants or that’s what everyone should aim to achieve?