Favourite Russian Figure Skaters | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Favourite Russian Figure Skaters

ladyjane

Medalist
Joined
Jun 26, 2012
Country
Netherlands
I'm going to leave out the current crop in my listing, as I can't oversee whether I will still like them in overviewing their whole body of work. So, sorry Alena, Dmitri, Alexandra/Dimitrii, and so on. I'll only take skaters/couples into account that were present for a while, never one year wonders.

Pairs: Miskuteniok and Dmitriev. They're my absolute favourites, although of course I like others. G&G come to mind. I love the Protopopovs too. Bereshnaia/Sikuralidze also score high.
Dance: I rather liked Usova and Zhulin while Klimova and Ponamarenko also come to mind. Krylova and Oksianikov would also score high with me.
Ladies: I just love Irina Slutskaya (her Wonderland Free skate can still move me to tears, and that was in 2005), and Maria Butyrskaya also scores high.
Men: Alexei, Alexei, Alexei. I'm just a big fan of Yagudin's. Having said that, I also admire Ivgeni Plushenko and Alexander Abt who both had some wonderful skates. I like Ilia Kulik as well, but he's too much of a one day wonder to get as high marks as the others.
 

Ulrica

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
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...

Irina Slutskaya had better jumps and overall skating after puberty, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva maintained her jumps through puberty and got better after as well, her best season regarding medals was when she was 18 after all, also Anna Pogorilaya never lost her jumps to puberty but to injury.

And Evgenia's jumps are arguably getting better, her sal has more height and her axel more distance.

Yes, there are not many and Alina is certainly one of them (she seems to have improved her SS as well), but not the only one.
 

klena

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 23, 2019
Among currently competing

Ladies: Alina and all Eteri's girls
Men: Dmitry Aliev, Daniil Samsonov
Pairs: Boikova/Kozlovsky
Ice dance: Sinitsina/Katsalapov
 

ragdoll

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 27, 2010
Oh the Russians! What have figure skating been without them? Their creativity, their extensions, their lines etc etc. I have had many favourites:

Pairs:
Mishkutenok/Dmitriev
Berezhnaya/Sikharulidze

Men:
Kulik
Abt
Yagudin
Urmanov

Ladies:
Butyrskaya

Dance:
Usova/Zhulin
Krylova/Ovsiannikov
Grichuk/Platov

Time will tell which current ones will come to mind ten to twenty years from now.
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
I'm going to infect this thread with my Yuzu and Shoma fangirlness and say that my favorite Russian figure skaters are Vadim and Dobromir Voronov (because if I'm perfectly honest, they are).

As for skaters over four feet tall, my favorite seniors are Mikhail Kolyada, Alina Zagitova, Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and Shevchenko/Eremenko, and my favorite juniors are Daria Usacheva, Kamila Valieva, and... all the top men and pairs and ice dancers...

Evgeny Plushenko and Yulia Lipnitskaya are my favorite retired Russian skaters, and Nikolay Kolesnikov and Viktoria Zhilina are also incredible.
 

Seruleane

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Elena Radionova got me interested in the Russian ladies. I think it was right before the Sochi Olympics, so everyone was talking about Yulia and Adelina, but I happened to see Elena's FS to Frida/Spanish Swat at one of the GP events, and she just completely won me over with her charm. I feel Elena never quite reached her potential. I was really rooting for her to go to Pyeongchang and win a medal there. Anyway, Elena remains one of the best performers on ice IMO, rivaling Oksana Baiul.

After Elena, I started following Alina Zagitova during her junior season- interestingly, Alina caught my attention first because some people were comparing Alina's "poor posture" to Elena's. What can I say- I guess I like skaters with poor posture, though I think Elena and Alina are very different skaters. Alina's jumps/elements are much better, whereas Elena is better at emoting/performing. Anyway, I followed Alina all the way to her Olympic Gold, and was completely won over by her gracious, muted reaction to winning Gold. I still consider Don Quixote as one of THE all time best figure skating performances by a lady, backloading and all. The backloading fits the program climax perfectly.

After Alina, I would say Anna Shcherbakova is my favorite Russian lady. She is so expressive, that it is easy for me to overlook some of her weaknesses. I did not start out liking her, but have to say she has won me over in the past year. Her Firebird program is hands down my favorite ladies program this year. Anna also seems incredibly kind, well-spoken, and gracious. I also greatly admire Aliona Kostarnaya- her speed across ice, her grace and ease of skating. I think this is a really exciting time to be following Russian skaters, and am just sad we won't get to see more of them at Worlds.

Other honorable mentions: I liked Anna Pogorilaya when she was competing, and way back in the day, I liked Irina Slutskaya though she was considered Michelle Kwan's main rival.
 

colormyworld240

Medalist
Joined
Dec 9, 2017
Irina Slutskaya had better jumps and overall skating after puberty, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva maintained her jumps through puberty and got better after as well, her best season regarding medals was when she was 18 after all, also Anna Pogorilaya never lost her jumps to puberty but to injury.

And Evgenia's jumps are arguably getting better, her sal has more height and her axel more distance.

Yes, there are not many and Alina is certainly one of them (she seems to have improved her SS as well), but not the only one.

I never followed the Slutskaya era so I don't know much about her. Did her jumps get better post puberty while still doing the same or more difficult layouts than she did pre-puberty? Liza has maintained some of her jumps, but she misses the flip and salchow in past few seasons and didn't have a second 3-3, where as she was able to jump them in her programs many seasons ago iirc. Evgenia also hasn't been able to maintain her consistency pre-puberty, or like her 2015-16 season when I thought she jumped the best. Overall, I'd say very few ladies have maintained their pre-puberty ability, but especially in Russia as the competitive field doesn't allow for seasons of adjustment.
 

medoroa

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 30, 2017
I never followed the Slutskaya era so I don't know much about her. Did her jumps get better post puberty while still doing the same or more difficult layouts than she did pre-puberty?

Slutskaya won Jr. Worlds in 1995 with six triples, 2A, and +2T and +2Lo combinations. In 2000, she landed a 3Lz+3Lo in competition (the first woman to do so).
 

Ulrica

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 22, 2018
I never followed the Slutskaya era so I don't know much about her. Did her jumps get better post puberty while still doing the same or more difficult layouts than she did pre-puberty? Liza has maintained some of her jumps, but she misses the flip and salchow in past few seasons and didn't have a second 3-3, where as she was able to jump them in her programs many seasons ago iirc. Evgenia also hasn't been able to maintain her consistency pre-puberty, or like her 2015-16 season when I thought she jumped the best. Overall, I'd say very few ladies have maintained their pre-puberty ability, but especially in Russia as the competitive field doesn't allow for seasons of adjustment.

As commented above, she landed 3ltz-3loop for the first time in 2000 at 21 years old (and continued to land it), her previous layouts were all easier, and got her first world gold medal at 23 as well as her first olympic medal, her second world gold medal at 26, and second olympic medal at 27. She was a technical beast. Here's her SP at worlds 2005, 26 years old, landed 3ltz-3loop https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zek69FhRfBc

About Liza, I'll just say that she is the lady with the best technique currently. And her 3axel is looking better than ever. And even if you don't agree with that, her best season again was at 18 years old, all women are done with puberty by that age.

Evgenia did not maintain her consistency because her technique was pretty bad and was just not maintainable with a more mature body. She is improving that now, and has not lost any triple at all. When you change techniques, inconsistency is natural, just look at Mao Asada.
 

lariko

Medalist
Joined
Jan 31, 2019
Country
Canada
Lipnitzkaya, Tuktamysheva, Zagitova, Trusova, Sinitzina
Pavlyuchenko/Khodykin, Zabiiako/Enbert
Voronov, Mozalev, Danielyan, Kutovoy
 

Interspectator

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 25, 2012
I miss Elena Radionova. She had such a personality and performance quality on the ice.

Currently, I really enjoy watching Demitri Aliev.
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
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:

I would have been PROFOUNDLY DISAPPOINTED if you hadn't said that.

Like I said, Maria was many things but most of all she was never ever ever boring. Bless her.
 

LadyB

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 7, 2016
I'm a Team Russia fan by default (but love skaters from other countries as well) and the sport owes a lot to them.

Most of all Ksenia Stolbova (best pair girl of all times to my mind) and Fedor Klimov (no explanation needed :love::love::love:) They had an abundance of sex appeal and skated so much in character ... Mesmerising! At least, this is how I perceived them.
But as far as pairs are concerned, I love them absolutely all, Senior and Junior. Big Team Mozer fan, but also adore Mishina/Gallyamov and Boikova/Kozlovski.

Ice Dance:
Sinitsina/Katsalapov (I just love their lines), Popova/Mozgov (for being quirky and refreshingly different), Efdokimova/Bazin (I could watch them all day long).

Men:
Sergei Voronov for not giving in and still conjur up all that energy! :hap10: Provided that we don't know how the Youngsters fare in a few years time, at present I very much like Samsonov, Yablokov, Kunitsa, Kovalev, and Vetlugin.

Ladies
My least favourite discipline, but when I came back to FS after a long absence, I fell in love with Zhenya and Radionova. It is still Zhenya for me, but I'm quite impressed by Trusova and Shcherbakova. Having said that, I totally love Liza Tuktik for her attitude alone.

Historical faves
Bobrova/Soloviev (I miss them very much!), Rodnina/Zaitsev, Vladimir Kovalev, Bestemianova/Bukin and Yags.
 

sk8kirsty

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 24, 2019
I'm a Team Russia fan by default (but love skaters from other countries as well) and the sport owes a lot to them.

Most of all Ksenia Stolbova (best pair girl of all times to my mind) and Fedor Klimov (no explanation needed :love::love::love:) They had an abundance of sex appeal and skated so much in character ... Mesmerising! At least, this is how I perceived them.
But as far as pairs are concerned, I love them absolutely all, Senior and Junior. Big Team Mozer fan, but also adore Mishina/Gallyamov and Boikova/Kozlovski.

Ice Dance:
Sinitsina/Katsalapov (I just love their lines), Popova/Mozgov (for being quirky and refreshingly different), Efdokimova/Bazin (I could watch them all day long).

Men:
Sergei Voronov for not giving in and still conjur up all that energy! :hap10: Provided that we don't know how the Youngsters fare in a few years time, at present I very much like Samsonov, Yablokov, Kunitsa, Kovalev, and Vetlugin.

Ladies
My least favourite discipline, but when I came back to FS after a long absence, I fell in love with Zhenya and Radionova. It is still Zhenya for me, but I'm quite impressed by Trusova and Shcherbakova. Having said that, I totally love Liza Tuktik for her attitude alone.

Historical faves
Bobrova/Soloviev (I miss them very much!), Rodnina/Zaitsev, Vladimir Kovalev, Bestemianova/Bukin and Yags.
Idk why but I don't like Liza because she does this weird thing with her hands when she lands jumps and they look all floppy [emoji23] I'm weird I know haha
 

Jetta

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 13, 2018
Topping the list- Gordeeva & Grinkov. They had a presence and chemistry together on the ice that is still unmatched today.

Other notables from the past whose skating is always worth watching. They all had a great combination of skating skills, performance ability and charisma:

Petrenko
Plushenko
Yagudin
Kulik

Current Russian skaters who I enjoy watching and am eager to see compete and do well:
Aliev
Kostornaia
Trusova
 

supersloane

Rinkside
Joined
May 1, 2017
Pairs - Berezhnaya and Sikharulitze - they are my absolute faves and the first pair I was ever made aware of.
Ice Dance - Usova/Zhulin, Kostomarov/Navka, Stepanova/Bukin
Men - Kulik - he's so wildly bizarre in how fearless he was on ice and yet how anxious of a competitor he was. Liebestraum and Faust are unparallelled
Abt - Ugh, the legs and the musicality and how the hell does he come back from not insignificant injuries? Bad date but killer skater.
Yagudin - "The Best" - so says Tim Goebel on TSL
Aliev - his debut senior season was so so good and I have high hopes for his 2019-2020 season.
 

lusterfan

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 23, 2018
I mostly follow ladies, so I will stay in my zone.

Shcherbakova for her alluring musicality. Medvedeva for her confident theatricality. Radionova for her emotive passion.

And ... K O S T O R N A I A for everything.

For the juniors, I have a major soft spot for Usacheva. So pleasing to watch, but so so nerve racking at the same time. Sinitsyna and her polished intricacies are also so so enjoyable.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I miss Elena Radionova. She had such a personality and performance quality on the ice.

Currently, I really enjoy watching Demitri Aliev.

Oh I forgot about Radinova - I just like these Russian ladies but it is so so so sad they are almost treated by the "system" like disposable skating dolls. In particular Radinova, Lipnskaya, Leonova, Pogolorya, Sotnikova, Sotskova, Evgenia, Liza, Sofia, et al. It is not intentional but there are only so many spots. Fortunately, skating fans have bigger hearts than the podium at worlds or olympics.
 

Mishaminion

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 12, 2014
Years ago: Irina Slutskaya.

Fairly recently: Liza Tuktamysheva, Adelina Sotnikova, Anna Pogorilaya.

Current Favourites: Alena Kostornaia, Sasha Trusova, Viktoria Vasilieva.
 

jenm

The Last One Degree
Medalist
Joined
Jan 28, 2014
Definitely, Alyona K. I mean, her skating is just magnificent and now paired with high technical content. She's actually the only Russian female skater whose skating left me in awe. She's so different from the rest of the Russian girls and completely hooked me in. So graceful and artistic and still so young so I'm excited to see her progress. Her and Rika are currently tied as my favorite among competitive skaters. I don't mind either of them winning everything.

As a person/sportswomen, I love Zhenya and Alina. Zhenya because she's a total weeb like me. And Alina because she seems like a nice person, powerful athlete but soft like marshmallows and also HI MASARU :))))
 
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