2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating | Page 171 | Golden Skate

2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Translations of interviews are greatly welcome on Golden Skate. Many Golden Skate members do not speak Russian and the kindness of our bilingual members is the only way we can keep up with all the news. :)

Scott512 was just saying that the interviewer asked the question in a way that put Anastasia a little bit on the spot. (Being truthful and tactful at the same time is not easy for a youngster.)

Exactly.
 

Alexz

Medalist
Joined
Mar 29, 2016
Country
United-States
Zags in her recent interview (about what kind of coaching style she prefers/needs) was like: "to pet me on my head or to try to talk me kindly into training harder or into being more focused - this doesn't work on me, this is not me. I'm the one who needs a magic kick/slap." :unsure: :biggrin:
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
There is a joke in Czech Republic, "we are not even allowed to indicate"... but ok, nothing about new programs, I'm sorry (also nothing aboud bad posture :) ).

Generally it is deeper interview than usually. Some main topics: popularity, overcoming difficulties (here I give one detail: "Sweet talks and patting on the back do not work for me"), relation with coaches, family, what was her mother's attitude to her trainings and results when she was still in Izhevsk etc. They also ask her whether she thinks her parents are proud of her and much more. Alina's answers are honest and well-thought as usually.

This really sounds interesting, probably even more than hearing about her programs. I expect to find out about them soon anyway, so maybe it was time for a deeper interview. Alina is a very thoughtful girl. Of course her parents are proud of her, I mean, who wouldn‘t with a daughter like her? Even if she wasn‘t an Olympic Champion, most parents tend to be proud of their children regardless simply for who they are. :yes:

I know the posture comment was a joke but I don‘t expect Alina to talk about it lol. Why would she even? It‘s like expecting Zhenya to talk in every interview about how she plans to fix the flutz. Not necessary. Skaters usually know best what to work on. They might make their plans public but in the end, they‘ll always show the result on the ice.

Stasya opens a bottle with a middle kick. She wrote then on Instagram that although Mc Gregor and Statham can do a similar trick they never tried it with skates on. Russian figure skating girls are something different, aren't they?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzfmUm7nhX2/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=embed_video_watch_again

Russian figure skating girls break my heart. They’re my favourites. I don‘t know how I‘m supposed to survive the selection for the team next year, let alone the Olympics! Can you imagine how many talented girls we‘ll have who‘ll fight for THREE spots? We already have seven this year and then all the juniors will turn senior too...

Who’s in prime age at the next Olympics and could possibly go for that Gold?

Kanysheva, Valieva, Usacheva, Khromykh, Sinitsyna?

But maybe there‘ll come a Zagitova along the way who was never really known before and then goes out there in her first junior/senior season and wins everything... We don‘t know yet, it‘s practically impossible to predict. People were talking about Gubanova and Nugumanova for 2022 OGM. Or Radionova for 2018... Well, we saw how that worked out. For now, Kamila is hyped and rightfully so, she‘s very strong in all aspects of her skating. Let‘s see if she can keep that up to the Olympics. I‘m inclined to say yes but she hasn‘t even made her junior debut yet so it‘s hard to tell. If I had to bet on someone, though, I‘d bet on Sasha. The girl has fire in her belly and she‘ll go for that Olympic Gold.
 

mat

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 24, 2014

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
This really sounds interesting, probably even more than hearing about her programs. I expect to find out about them soon anyway, so maybe it was time for a deeper interview. Alina is a very thoughtful girl. Of course her parents are proud of her, I mean, who wouldn‘t with a daughter like her? Even if she wasn‘t an Olympic Champion, most parents tend to be proud of their children regardless simply for who they are. :yes:

I know the posture comment was a joke but I don‘t expect Alina to talk about it lol. Why would she even? It‘s like expecting Zhenya to talk in every interview about how she plans to fix the flutz. Not necessary. Skaters usually know best what to work on. They might make their plans public but in the end, they‘ll always show the result on the ice.



Russian figure skating girls break my heart. They’re my favourites. I don‘t know how I‘m supposed to survive the selection for the team next year, let alone the Olympics! Can you imagine how many talented girls we‘ll have who‘ll fight for THREE spots? We already have seven this year and then all the juniors will turn senior too...

Who’s in prime age at the next Olympics and could possibly go for that Gold?

Kanysheva, Valieva, Usacheva, Khromykh, Sinitsyna?

But maybe there‘ll come a Zagitova along the way who was never really known before and then goes out there in her first junior/senior season and wins everything... We don‘t know yet, it‘s practically impossible to predict. People were talking about Gubanova and Nugumanova for 2022 OGM. Or Radionova for 2018... Well, we saw how that worked out. For now, Kamila is hyped and rightfully so, she‘s very strong in all aspects of her skating. Let‘s see if she can keep that up to the Olympics. I‘m inclined to say yes but she hasn‘t even made her junior debut yet so it‘s hard to tell. If I had to bet on someone, though, I‘d bet on Sasha. The girl has fire in her belly and she‘ll go for that Olympic Gold.
Russian Federation should be pushing hard at the ISUfor more than three spots for any country that has earned it through world rankings and dominating the Grand Prix series. If it's a country other than Russia so be it but there needs to be a system in place that rewards dominant countries with more than three spots four worlds Olympics and Europeans. and let's be honest Russian Nationals is something the Russian Federation can improve upon and have more than 16 or only 18 skaters or whatever it is. That's ridiculously low.

when after the last World championships Canada went from three spots to only one rusher should have gotten one of those spots for finishing first third-and-eighth at worlds in the ladies discipline. but I don't know what the Russian Federation is doing maybe they're just sitting on their hands enjoying the brilliance of their top 5 to 10 ladies. it's funny how we've been wondering for decades while Russia was great in the other three disciplines in worlds and Olympics or wondering when are the ladies coming when are the ladies coming? that was the other way around I'm a wondering when the other three Russian disciplines are going to step their games up.

The Russian ladies are going to make the world championships more relevant than ever because of the next five to ten years you could have a handful of different girls winning worlds.
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2018
Russian Federation should be pushing hard at the ISUfor more than three spots for any country that has earned it through world rankings and dominating the Grand Prix series. If it's a country other than Russia so be it but there needs to be a system in place that rewards dominant countries with more than three spots four worlds Olympics and Europeans. and let's be honest Russian Nationals is something the Russian Federation can improve upon and have more than 16 or only 18 skaters or whatever it is. That's ridiculously low.

when after the last World championships Canada went from three spots to only one rusher should have gotten one of those spots for finishing first third-and-eighth at worlds in the ladies discipline. but I don't know what the Russian Federation is doing maybe they're just sitting on their hands enjoying the brilliance of their top 5 to 10 ladies. it's funny how we've been wondering for decades while Russia was great in the other three disciplines in worlds and Olympics or wondering when are the ladies coming when are the ladies coming? that was the other way around I'm a wondering when the other three Russian disciplines are going to step their games up.

The Russian ladies are going to make the world championships more relevant than ever because of the next five to ten years you could have a handful of different girls winning worlds.

If Russia isn't granted extra spots in rhythmic gymnastics or synchronized swimming (where their dominance is absolute), it's definitely not going to get special extra spots in figure skating.

But take heart -- three entrants means they can still sweep a podium, at least in theory.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Russian Federation should be pushing hard at the ISUfor more than three spots for any country that has earned it through world rankings and dominating the Grand Prix series. If it's a country other than Russia so be it but there needs to be a system in place that rewards dominant countries with more than three spots four worlds Olympics and Europeans. and let's be honest Russian Nationals is something the Russian Federation can improve upon and have more than 16 or only 18 skaters or whatever it is. That's ridiculously low.

when after the last World championships Canada went from three spots to only one rusher should have gotten one of those spots for finishing first third-and-eighth at worlds in the ladies discipline. but I don't know what the Russian Federation is doing maybe they're just sitting on their hands enjoying the brilliance of their top 5 to 10 ladies. it's funny how we've been wondering for decades while Russia was great in the other three disciplines in worlds and Olympics or wondering when are the ladies coming when are the ladies coming? that was the other way around I'm a wondering when the other three Russian disciplines are going to step their games up.

The Russian ladies are going to make the world championships more relevant than ever because of the next five to ten years you could have a handful of different girls winning worlds.

This is never going to happen, sorry. Russia will never get more than three spots, on the contrary, look at what happened to Rhythmic Gymnastics. We should be glad to see three Russian girls at the Olympics in figure skating...

And in a way, I understand it. It‘s the Olympics and World Championships, not championship of Russia + Japan + USA and a few selected of other European countries like Italy (Kostner), Finland (Lindfors), Belgium (Hendrickx). And I think these young skaters deserve the chance to compete at the highest level, too. Their success might actually help making figure skating more popular in their own country... And some of them are actually really great. Who would have thought Viveca would win Bronze at Euros? I also immensely enjoyed some of the lower ranked skaters at Junior Worlds this year because they were probably the ones who skated with the most freedom. They know they‘re realistically not going to be anywhere close to medal position, so they‘re just thankful for the opportunity to be there and enjoy every second of it. It‘s refreshing to see something like this after all the fighting of the tough as nails ladies from Russia and Japan. And while I do admit that I enjoy the latter more because their skating is simply more refined and at a higher level, I do think that skaters from smaller federations have every right to go to Worlds as long as they meet the technical minimums. I think they deserve respect and giving 10 more spots to Russia and Japan (which they could all probably fill) is not that.

If I was the one to choose (thankfully I‘m not since as a fan I‘m heavily biased lol) I‘d let the reigning European and 4CC champion get a free ticket to Worlds. So, let‘s say this year Sofia and Rika would have earned their spots respectively and Russia and Japan could have sent three more girls to the Worlds. I think this could be a fair solution, it‘s only one spot more at maximum for a country and it does make a competition like 4CC more prestigious as well. But, like I said, this is never going to happen. We‘ll have to deal with the heartbreak. At least they have three spots, not two like in other sports or like Japan did at the last Olympics... that was horror.

It is a bit curious though that for all the talent in Russia they have not managed to sweep the podium at Euros for the last three years, I think.

2016 was the last time they did, I believe with Medvedeva, Radionova and Pogorilaya.

2017 and 2018 Kostner beat Sotskova for the bronze and 2019 Lindfors won over Konstantinova.

I have a strong feeling that they‘ll do it this year, though. All the girls they send to Euros will have to go through Nationals and whoever makes it out there on top will be ready to stand on any podium.

I do agree that there should definitely be another flight at Nationals. 18 girls is ridiculous. They have so much talent, they should give more skaters the opportunity to skate at Nationals. Money shouldn‘t be an issue. Figure skating is so popular that they will even show the JUNIOR TEST SKATES live on TV. I mean, come on, that‘s just crazy. They‘re not even going to wear costumes, it‘s not even a real competition. And yet so many people want to see this. So, if there‘s so much interest, surely people will also be interested in watching 6 more skaters at Nationals....
 

Lunalovesskating

Moonbear power 🐻
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
I saw someone posted on Twitter that 1tv will also broadcast the senior test skates sept 7-8
Best news ever! So I won't have to rely on fan videos being uploaded! Only one month left. I can't believe it. 3 months have passed so fast. Cannot wait to see Zhenya's and Alina's programs there.
 

Happy Skates

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 18, 2019
I do agree that there should definitely be another flight at Nationals. 18 girls is ridiculous. They have so much talent, they should give more skaters the opportunity to skate at Nationals. Money shouldn‘t be an issue. Figure skating is so popular that they will even show the JUNIOR TEST SKATES live on TV. I mean, come on, that‘s just crazy. They‘re not even going to wear costumes, it‘s not even a real competition. And yet so many people want to see this. So, if there‘s so much interest, surely people will also be interested in watching 6 more skaters at Nationals....

Not to mention they have a skater on the GP this year who didn't even qualify to their nationals last year.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Not to mention they have a skater on the GP this year who didn't even qualify to their nationals last year.

Yeah, right. A skater who scored over 200 points internationally didn‘t even make it to her country‘s own Nationals... That‘s not... how it‘s supposed to be at all.
 

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
If Russia isn't granted extra spots in rhythmic gymnastics or synchronized swimming (where their dominance is absolute), it's definitely not going to get special extra spots in figure skating.

But take heart -- three entrants means they can still sweep a podium, at least in theory.
what you say is fair but I'm aiming to make certain sports better competition wise where the best deserve to be entered into the competition.

Yes dominant countries in figure skating synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics that deserve to have their field expanded to four spots should have it done because increasing the number of best competitors makes the events stronger and more talentedand more interesting and likely more viewers and greater sponsorship money. And money is important. Adding one spot for Russia in figure skating will not cripple a bunch of countries figure skating teams. it's not like you're adding two three or four spots for a dominant country. One should not be a big deal and should not harm anything. if anything a sport gets better every time there's a better performer in it than a weaker performer. many Russian girls as talented as they are can't get into the top three or four of Russia. We know who they are and they have been surpassed by a few others. And the others deserve to go to major events ahead of them. They earned it. That's the way it should be.

Tennis players have to earn their way into tournies by their rankings their world rankings. I wish there was more of that in figure skating. But I will never expect it to happen. If a world championship or european championship add 10 to 12 Russians in the top 30 in the world rankings by the standards of tennis they would get into said events. That I admit would be over the top. That would be amazing and crazy. So all I'm asking for is for them or whomever the dominant country is is to get one more spot.

Getting rid of one less talented spot for one more talented spot is a step up for the sport not a step back. Gee a country like Trinidad and Tobago or Morocco might not get a figure skating synchronized swimming or rhythmic gymnastics spot. If that's the case because Russia or Japan or any other country gets an extra spot so be it. They earned it. The idea is all ways to improve to make a step forward. sending weaker and less talented competitors to major sporting events instead of stronger ones is a disservice to that sport.

As it stands now the only time we will see 3A Alina and Evgenia in the same competition is at Russian Nationals. Or Grand Prix finals which is one of the best competitions because the athletes earn their way there.

I know this subject is kind of like a cat chasing its tail we just go round and round. But it is what it is.

I can't wait for next season the excitement and drama will be off the charts for the ladies.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/BlfkHS4nm-Z/?igshid=1enn9nluq7zbm

Daniil posted this last year on July 21st. Does this mean we‘ll only have to wait roughly two weeks? :yahoo:

Edit: I‘m well aware this is no guarantee that he‘s going to follow what he did last year as I was in fact one of those waiting for Alina‘s SP music announcement. But I thought it was a brilliant idea last year, to show such small snippets from the programs and hope they‘ll do it again this year.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
If I was the one to choose (thankfully I‘m not since as a fan I‘m heavily biased lol) I‘d let the reigning European and 4CC champion get a free ticket to Worlds. So, let‘s say this year Sofia and Rika would have earned their spots respectively and Russia and Japan could have sent three more girls to the Worlds. I think this could be a fair solution, it‘s only one spot more at maximum for a country and it does make a competition like 4CC more prestigious as well.

I wouldn't mind if the GPF medalists all get an immediate entrance to Worlds. It's just three extra skaters. If they are all Russian, so be it.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
I wouldn't mind if the GPF medalists all get an immediate entrance to Worlds. It's just three extra skaters. If they are all Russian, so be it.

I wouldn‘t mind that either. Imagine last season. Liza and Alina get an automatic ticket to Worlds. Medvedeva and Tuktamysheva drama doesn‘t happen. Sofia, Zhenya and Stanislava are the regular entrants. Rika gets an automatic entry as well. Kaori, Satoko and Mai are sent to Worlds. Would be perfect and fair. But will never happen.
 

nussnacker

one and only
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 16, 2019
Daniil just announced Alina‘s program :)
Finally people can chill and stop asking whether or not she’s retiring :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzjI_tGIIPH/
Finally it’s done ✅. New free program. Cleopatra.
Music is : Peter Gabriel - the feelings begin. Maurice Jarre - Lawrence d’Arabie ouverture. Khatir Hicham - Ramses.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
Daniil just announced Alina‘s program :)
Finally people can chill and stop asking whether or not she’s retiring :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BzjI_tGIIPH/
Finally it’s done ✅. New free program. Cleopatra.
Music is : Peter Gabriel - the feelings begin. Maurice Jarre - Lawrence d’Arabie ouverture. Khatir Hicham - Ramses.

Cleopatra! Didn’t expect that. I‘ll have to listen to the songs he listed. But definitely a very interesting choice for her.
 
Top