Favourite Russian Figure Skaters

iluvtodd · Oct 16, 2019

Gordeeva & Grinkov, Katia as a singles skater, too
Ilia Kulik
Alexander Abt
Sergei Voronov
Elizaveta "Tuk-Tuk"
Irina Slutskaya
Evgenia M.
Klimova & Ponomorenko
Usova & Zhulin
Krylova & Ovsianikov (sp.?)
Elena & Anton
Bechke & Petrov

Viktor Petrenko - former USSR, Unifed Team (during the 1992 Winter Olympics), Ukraine

flanker · Oct 16, 2019

Who would guess, Alina :laugh:

But with a huuuge weak spot for all Eteri girls, 3A (don't ask me who I like more), juniors (Kamila, Maiia, Daria) and the novices (Sofia, Adeliya). And, while often blamed of being FFKKR's favourite, I also like Stanislava Konstantinova and truly wish wish wish her to gain stability in her performances. I also like Anastasia Tarakanova, her style and raw energy (edit: and I forgot Alena Leonova, she deserves to be mentioned as well).

In pairs, it is similarly deep field and hard to choose one. Tarasova/Morozov, Boikova/Kozlovskii, Mishina/Galliamov, even newly crafted Stolbova/Novoselov and some other not particularly mentioned, every pair of them has their admirable qualities.

I don't follow men and ice dance so close, but from men I have to say that current juniors deserve attention, their performances improved hugely and they seem to have gained much more stability than current seniors. In Ice dance, I can name Stepanova and Sinitsina for their feminine beauty.

macy · Oct 16, 2019

Alena Kostornaia
Evgenia Medvedeva
Kamila Valieva

Decoder · Oct 16, 2019

Alina, and all the Eteri girls!

surimi · Oct 16, 2019

Among the current skaters - Voronov, Medvedeva, Tuktamysheva. But I also liked Samodurova last season, and the young pairs look promising and could become my favorites.
Among the retired ones, I liked Volosozhar/Trankov, Kawaguti/Smirnov, Ilinykh/Katsalapov in their last season, and also Menshov.

CaroLiza_fan · Oct 16, 2019

I could rattle off a list as long as a few peoples' arms. But I will try to keep it to one answer per category.

My username probably gives away my answer for the Ladies: Liza Tuktamysheva.

For the Men, it has to be Evgeni Plushenko.

For Pairs, I'm going with Yuko Kavaguti / Alexander Smirnov. (It was so great to see them again at the Denis Ten Memorial competition last week)

Ice Dance is harder, because I only started paying attention to it around the time of the Vancouver Olympics. And I am torn between Elena Ilinykh / Nikita Katsalapov and Ekaterina Bobrova / Dmitri Soloviev. But, given how amazing Elena was, I'll go for her and Nikita.

CaroLiza_fan

Ulrica · Oct 16, 2019

Yulia Lipniskaya
Evgenia Medvedeva
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva
Irina Slutskaya

Also I have a soft spot for Alina Zagitova & Alena Kostornaia

Lunalovesskating · Oct 16, 2019

Evgenia Medvedeva

mrrice · Oct 16, 2019

Though I have come to love many of the current Russian Ladies. My favorite Russian Diva will always be Maria Butyrskaya. Sophisticated and gorgeous. :love:

Giltedge · Oct 16, 2019

Anyone who comes to a standstill, before curtseying / bowing. I know I know, call me shallow or irrational if you will.

rugbyfan · Oct 16, 2019

I am going to include USSR in here though I am aware that some of the former USSR skaters would very definitely not have considered themselves as Russian

GOrdeeva and Grinkov, Mishketunok and Dmitriev, Kavaguti SMirnov, Klimova Ponomarenko, Krylova Ovsianikov, Yagudin (above everyone), Kulik, VIctor Petrenko, Oksana Baiul, Slutskaya, Butyrskaya and Medvedeva

Protopopovs but in a different way since they were definitely before my time and likewise Moiseeva and Minenkov

Anni234 · Oct 16, 2019

I started following figure skating seriously around 2013-2014 and most of my favourites have been Russian girls. First Adelina Sotnikova, then Elena Radionova, Evgenia Medvedeva, now also Alena Kostornaia. But honestly, it's hard not to love ALL of them. I think I've been the biggest fan of Elena and Evgenia.

el henry · Oct 16, 2019

Giltedge said:
Anyone who comes to a standstill, before curtseying / bowing. I know I know, call me shallow or irrational if you will.

I have no idea what or who this is referring to. Can you explain?

NoviceFan · Oct 16, 2019

So many great Russian skaters, but my heart belongs to Evgenia Medvedeva :luv17:

Giltedge · Oct 16, 2019

el henry said:
I have no idea what or who this is referring to. Can you explain?

Too many to mention, it's pretty much fifty-fifty. Actually, no, that's unfair. The majority do come to a standstill, it's more like 30-70 or 20-80, but that still means a lot who meet my disapproval. They would do well to observe pairs/dancers, who by and large are impeccable in their bows/curtsies.

Please don't take me too seriously, just a quirk of mine, as I said somewhat irrational.

dunffvanstorn · Oct 16, 2019

First, it was Yulia, I watched her SL program live on tv and was amazed by it. Then, Elizaveta came, I didn’t like her as much, but I used to think it was amazing that she could do 3 axels and that she had a different vibe in her, different than I had seen in other skaters. But the skater that took me to accompanying figure skating was Zhenya, and how amazing her interpretation was. I could feel all the emotions in her eyes and in her movements. I don’t care about what people think about pantomime and open mouth, for me it was and still is beautiful, and I miss it a lot. Right now, Aliona Kostornaia is the skater I consider the new ice princess, and Kamila last season also caught my attention. Sofia Akatieva also has something special, she’s so cute.

Totentanz · Oct 16, 2019

Irina Slutskaya 2005-2006 (my first favorite skater as I became a FS fan during 2005 Worlds, my user name in this forum is dedicated to her SP in 2006)
Alena Leonova 2009-2013 (reminding me Slutskaya at the beginning but becoming such a character herself after her first season, she stole my heart with her performing ability and joyful skating)
Julia Lipnitskaya 2012-2016 (the pioneer of the evolution in ladies figure skating, I liked her not only for her skating but also for her personality, she was a really hardworking girl with the nerves of steel and skating with maturity beyond her years)
Anna Pogorilaya 2014-2018 (became a fan at the first grand prix win of hers ahead of Kostner and Sotnikova which was unexpected, being a fan of Anna was really difficult for most of the times but she had really great achievements, too)
Maria Sotskova 2014-present (elegance)
Alena Kostornaya 2018-present (the most complete skater )
Ksenia Sinitsyna 2019-present (expressive and unique, she really has a star quality)

I also like many of the others (Sokolova, Makarova, Sotnikova, Tuktamysheva, Medvedeva, Zagitova, Samodurova). God bless Russia for producing so many talents.

Ruthypegs · Oct 16, 2019

Dmitri Aliev

colormyworld240 · Oct 16, 2019

Anna Shcherbakova for her unbelievable artistry. Imo she has the best musicality and interpretation in the ladies right now. I also love all her interviews, she seems like a very intelligent and thoughtful athlete in terms of her prospects, limits, diligence, and sportsmanship. She also goes through her losses without devastation and takes each competition at a time.

I love Alina because of her she's a rare combination of many aspects of figure skating. She has both good jumps and spins which is rare and she's musical and a good performer. Is she the only Russian lady so far who has successfully defeated puberty and jumped better than pre-puberty? She looks as good as she did the Olympic season, if not better, with a terrible season (for her standards) in between. I don't know if I can say that about any of the other Russian ladies, which is ironic as she got most of the "puberty will destroy her" comments. She seems to have a good outlook on her limitations and is very gracious in her losses, like at Euros when she said Sofia did better and she was grateful to have any medal at all. This is very important in providing motivation to improve.

I also enjoy many aspects of the other Russian ladies, like Alena's SS and spins, Tarakanova's SS, Kamila's SS, etc., but I don't love them as a whole yet.

I love Sasha not for her skating really, but for how brave she is, and how she strives to be her best instead of just winning medals. She never waters down her content even though she could and would have a better chance of winning (JGPF). And she did quads even before she needed them to win, but she did them because she wanted to. That mindset will help her a lot in competition as she doesn't seem to feel the pressure of having to win. To me she has the strongest mind, rational like Anna, but with a crazy drive to push her own limits despite what everyone else is doing.

Skater Boy · Oct 17, 2019

A lot of favorites. I read the story and saw the skates and how intimidated she was by Katarina Witt. So I will add Kira Ivanova - RIP. Such a tragic life and she always seemed to be in someone's shadow. I kind of but like her. Krylova and Oksianikov were wonderful too. I too enjoyed the Protopopovs = t is hard because they were from a different era. Their skating seems so slow and awkward in some ways but you can't compare.

Favourite Russian Figure Skaters

iluvtodd

flanker

macy

Decoder

surimi

Congrats to Sota, #10 in World Standings!

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA

Ulrica

Lunalovesskating

Moonbear power 🐻

mrrice

Giltedge

rugbyfan

Anni234

Ina Bauer

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.

NoviceFan

Triple Something-Triple Looping

Giltedge

dunffvanstorn

Totentanz

Ursula Gumennik

Ruthypegs

colormyworld240

Skater Boy

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