Alena Kostornaia | Page 211 | Golden Skate

Alena Kostornaia

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
I just hope she is ok. :pray:

Her face at the start was clearly disappointed.
She was still moving when the music started.

She looked absolutely gorgeous.
Are we sure she's not growing up again?

That Flip was underrotated despite an impressive height.
I hope it was just a bad takeoff and not the result of balance problems.

Her step sequences are always breatkating and her head movement are delicious.
A simple head rotation with so much grace it's like a choreo move.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
I've only ever seen Adios Nonino start at the center of the rink. It seemed odd to me too.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lNxG8XPP41M

When she skated it competitively, it started at the center of the rink. I think there was some kind of mistake and she had to improvise. She looks a bit confused too for a moment but then did a great job! She looked absolutely beautiful with her new costume. I‘m a bit worried about the jumps, I haven‘t seen that kind of leg-wrap from her all season and her flip was also UR (which it rarely, if ever has been). Hopefully she‘s alright and was just overwhelmed that she basically had to change the beginning of her program on fly. :pray:
 

SkateSkates

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Unfortunately it looks like the unavoidable has come about a month earlier than we fans would have hoped for Aliona’s debut season. Even the difference between Euros last month and today is obvious, not to mention the difference vs the start of the season. Hopefully she is able to restore her jumps and stability for worlds, but it is going to be tough with only 3 weeks to get into top form.
 

Batsuchan

Medalist
Joined
Mar 8, 2014

Those eyes!! :drama: Especially the second one! :drama: :love:

Unfortunately it looks like the unavoidable has come about a month earlier than we fans would have hoped for Aliona’s debut season. Even the difference between Euros last month and today is obvious, not to mention the difference vs the start of the season. Hopefully she is able to restore her jumps and stability for worlds, but it is going to be tough with only 3 weeks to get into top form.

My first impression when I saw Aliona's skate today was the same as yours, SkateSkates! I can't believe how much she seems to have matured in just a month! :eek: And I was quite alarmed by her jumps, which didn't seem to have the same snap and height as we're used to. :(

BUT I think we might be overreacting. Aliona does tend to struggle a bit at show performances--she fell in her first EX at Bolzano passion gala, when we know she was still pulling off beautiful 3A+2T combos in practice. And she did pull off a decent 3F in the finale.

And although her 3F looked a bit off today, if I'm being 100% honest, I'm wondering if that was on purpose. At Euros, I actually was feeling like her 3F was getting a little TOO big--too much height and distance, which meant that she was struggling to add the 3T afterwards. So maybe they were working on making the 3F a little smaller, but maybe they over-corrected...? :confused: (I also wonder if the problem is that Aliona has been trying a quad flip and that is throwing off her triples).

Also, maybe Team Tutberidze only decided recently that Aliona should perform "Adios Nonino," and so she didn't have sufficient time to practice.

In other words, I think there are many possible reasons why Aliona didn't look her best, and they don't necessarily mean that we should really worry.

At least that's what I'm hoping!!! :pray: :pray:

The costume was interesting--kind of a mix between her original Twilight EX costume and Alina's SP costume. :agree: I'm not sure I cared for the new hairstyle, but I guess it did make her look sophisticated...?

Honestly, my favorite "costume" for this program was when Aliona forgot her costume altogether and had to perform in black practice clothes at GPF 2018. Then there was nothing to distract you from the pure beauty of Aliona's skating (and Aliona herself). :agree:
 

McBibus

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 7, 2019
Are we sure she's not growing up again?

Unfortunately it looks like the unavoidable has come about a month earlier than we fans would have hoped for Aliona’s debut season. Even the difference between Euros last month and today is obvious, not to mention the difference vs the start of the season. Hopefully she is able to restore her jumps and stability for worlds, but it is going to be tough with only 3 weeks to get into top form.

My first impression when I saw Aliona's skate today was the same as yours, SkateSkates! I can't believe how much she seems to have matured in just a month! :eek: And I was quite alarmed by her jumps, which didn't seem to have the same snap and height as we're used to. :(

I'm usually happy to be on the same page with you guys, but this time not so much.
We know it should happen, but I hoped she could finish the season.
Someway she reminded me of Alina in Grenoble (pure sensations not technical analysis)

I had the impression live even before she started skating when she was on screen just before the youtube video started.
She always look taller with skates on, but seemed more than usual to mee and she looks like a stunning young lady more than the usual adorable pretty girl
 

Good Vibes Only

On the Ice
Joined
Sep 22, 2019
I feel like there are too many factors that might have contributed to Aliona not skating clean. First off, not being introduced can really throw off a skater. Second, that lighting was kind of crazy and over the top in my opinion. While I am sure that it looked cool live, I could definitely see it being a challenge to skate with those lights. Third, it does seem like Aliona is growing, but this is nothing that Team Tutberidze can’t handle. Between the four coaches there, I am sure that Aliona will get the proper help adjusting to her new height. Fourth, it did kind of seem like she was holding her side after ending pose so I wonder if she did bruise her hip or something. No matter which of these scenarios is true, I just want Aliona to try her best at worlds. We all know that she skates well under pressure, so hopefully that will be the case at worlds :pray:
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
i can imagine she was really thrown off by her music just starting unexpectedly, when she was supposed to be announced. that really can throw off the entire performance. she had to improvise to get towards the center of the ice very quickly to do her first spin where it should be.

i would not think too much into her mistakes, i think a lot of it can be contributed to the starting mishap. we forget these girls are still human and not robots, they are not going to be perfect and solid every time we see them. Aliona knows this is not a competition, just a show, and in the end it doesn't matter. she knows when it counts and will make it count- this is our reigning GPF and Euro champion, after all :)
 

SkateSkates

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Yes, I hope I am just overreacting and the other factors (bad lighting, music starting early) had something to do with her struggles. However, I can’t deny that she is changing physically before our eyes and looked to be in pain not just after the fall, but also in the Ina Bauer and at the end when she took her bow.

It’s not just the added height, but also the redistribution of weight that can throw her jumps off axis as she adjusts. Plus, annoying teenage things like hormone swings causing water weight to be randomly held on a certain day/week that is completely out of anyone’s control. (I hope this isn’t going too far/being disrespectful, but it’s a reality for everyone)
 

Vemvane

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 11, 2019
Agreed. She was taken by surprise when the music started, improvised the beginning of her skate, and was also dealing with the spotlight, the shadows outside it, and the moving patterns on the ice. Of the performances I've watched so far, only Anna and Maiia landed all their jumps successfully, so I think it's fair to say that skating under show conditions is a challenge even for these excellently prepared girls, before they are rattled by their music starting unexpectedly.

Besides, it's only a show, and nobody's perfect. I sometimes feel we* do the top skaters a disservice by holding them to unrealistically high standards, where one fall, let alone one less than perfect skate, can lead to people wringing their hands and forecasting doom and gloom. Skaters like Aliona are perfectionists themselves; as a fan, I would rather be more laid-back so that I can still enjoy a performance that the skater might consider flawed. (To be the Horse Person, perhaps my attitude is more philosophical because when you compete with a horse, no matter how good your training and preparation, you can't control how the horse feels on the day of the competition, and it happens to all of us, from the lowly riders like me to the best in the sport, so you get used to not expecting perfection and seeing even the best have bad days.)

*Generalising here, not saying that it has happened over this show performance.
 

Hammer24

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 20, 2019
Country
United-States
A couple of thoughts on Alena's recent performance....first, it appears that she is bigger and stronger and maybe carrying a little extra weight. SS might be correct about hormones and water retention. I'm not too concerned about the body changes because she is athletic enough to compensate but it might take a little time to adjust her rhythm. Remember that athletically she seemed to learn the 3a pretty quick last summer. No easy feat. Of greater concern is how badly she missed the one jump. She appeared ok afterwards and I don't think she injured herself (knock on wood) but it's the kind of thing that has the potential to harm confidence.

Figure skating must be one of the most difficult and challenging athletic pursuits. It's literally a sport on a razor's edge performed in a pressure cooker. I am truly amazed at these wonderful athletes and hope Alena the very best in worlds!!!
 

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
I don't think so because Worlds is in Canada with smaller rinks. She is probably preparing for that most of the training time and is moving her jumps away from the corners or getting adjusted to shorter entrances.

Smaller rinks? Lol this isn't a world championship hockey game this is World Championship figure skating and The rinks they skate on all years should be the same damn size ice surface.
 

summeryu

Spectator
Joined
Oct 7, 2018
I won’t worry too much about her ex performance. She always struggles during the practice, especially at the beginning, and delivers beautifully in competitions. I think she just need a proper warm-up.
 

katymay

Medalist
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
A couple of thoughts on Alena's recent performance....first, it appears that she is bigger and stronger and maybe carrying a little extra weight. SS might be correct about hormones and water retention. I'm not too concerned about the body changes because she is athletic enough to compensate but it might take a little time to adjust her rhythm. Remember that athletically she seemed to learn the 3a pretty quick last summer. No easy feat. Of greater concern is how badly she missed the one jump. She appeared ok afterwards and I don't think she injured herself (knock on wood) but it's the kind of thing that has the potential to harm confidence.

Figure skating must be one of the most difficult and challenging athletic pursuits. It's literally a sport on a razor's edge performed in a pressure cooker. I am truly amazed at these wonderful athletes and hope Alena the very best in worlds!!!

I sort of wondered whether the dress was too small, which made her look more filled out. At one point though she was standing near Sasha and Anna and it does appear she has grown-quite a lot. (Maybe 3 inches or so?). At the jumping finale she looked to be her same speedy powerful self.
 

sclloyd

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 20, 2019
Country
United-States
I feel like there are too many factors that might have contributed to Aliona not skating clean. First off, not being introduced can really throw off a skater. Second, that lighting was kind of crazy and over the top in my opinion. While I am sure that it looked cool live, I could definitely see it being a challenge to skate with those lights. Third, it does seem like Aliona is growing, but this is nothing that Team Tutberidze can’t handle. Between the four coaches there, I am sure that Aliona will get the proper help adjusting to her new height. Fourth, it did kind of seem like she was holding her side after ending pose so I wonder if she did bruise her hip or something. No matter which of these scenarios is true, I just want Aliona to try her best at worlds. We all know that she skates well under pressure, so hopefully that will be the case at worlds :pray:

Yeah also other people mentioned it but her Flip is already massive and I don’t think she gets more speed in a program than in adios nonino so I can imagine being thrown off by the opening and then, after not having practiced the program super intensely for a long long while forgetting that she needs to control her speed and entrance so she doesn’t sail across the ice like she did. Also, Aliona seems to be a patterned jump skater, not unlike Tennell. She takes the same entrance for her jumps all season, and this seems to give her consistency. I don’t think she would still be super comfortable with an old jumping layout she hasn’t practiced.

And considering her training a quad is confirmed, that all of her jumps had a little bit of a loose leg wrap which we’ve really only see in her doubles this season, and that it seemed she delayed the rotation of the flip, I also wouldn’t be totally surprised if she’s still trying to manage the rotation between a quad and a triple. Especially with all the speed she had going into it. It looked a lot like Sasha’s 2A at Europeans (or was it RusNats?) where it seemed she realized halfway through she was not supposed to be doing a 3A.

Anyways, I’m not super concerned. Like already pointed out, only Anna and Maia skated clean, and Aliona always has a solid mind when she’s performing competitively. Bruises after falls happen, and managing growing is something every skater has to deal with. It isn’t as if she has faulty technique where long term sustainability of jumps is in question, really she just needs to practice and adapt to the height/weight. Anyways, working on quads might help this. When I ran in high school for soccer tryouts, I would always run further practicing than we were expected to. If I was used to 3 or 4 miles, then the 2 would be easier. Regardless of strategy, the coaching staff is clearly not incompetent, so pending bad news from them directly, I wouldn’t expect anything out of the norm.
 

macy

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2011
has anyone heard anything regarding a back injury from training a 4S that is supposedly similar to Tursynbaeva's? i just heard this on TSL so obviously i'm taking it with a grain of salt, but i haven't seen any discussion of it anywhere at all.
 
Top