Let's see her land it first.
Is Aliona Kostornaia the next WC?
- Thread starter skateluvr
- Start date
Let's see her land it first.
I think Trusova is, gulp, the next world champion. Would that it was Kostornaia, as she at least has some skating skills along with the jumps, but as we've seen the judges are willing to give Trusova ridiculously high PCS in spite of her shortcomings, and her base value is so high she can afford several falls and still win.
Personally, I wish it was none of the tiny teenagers, and was instead a more mature skater.
Personally, I wish it was none of the tiny teenagers, and was instead a more mature skater.
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
If PCS were scored fairly Alena would have a better shot, but Trusova’s PCS is way higher than it should be, comparatively speaking. Still, Alena is playing for 2nd at this point both nationally and internationally given Tru's content. It also remains to be seen if Kostornaia can deliver in a high pressure senior competition against even harder opponents.
With a 3A though Trusova is untouchable and by a lot, even if her PCS was sub-60.
With a 3A though Trusova is untouchable and by a lot, even if her PCS was sub-60.
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2017
If Sasha manages to successfully incorporate 3A in her programs she will be one foot on top of WC podium. However, not everything we see on social media comes alive in competition. We are yet to see Sasha's and Anna's quad flips, Young You's quad lutz and so on. Also, Aliona has some time to learn a quad - a toe, sal or flip would all be great options for her.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Sasha is not devoid of non jump skills and continues to improve on them as well as her jumps.
Sasha got 66PCS at home... not ridiculous in the slightest.
You want ridiculous check out Zagitova's 35PCS SP at NHK, around the same as a pristine glorious Alyona.
Personally I wonder what age has to do with anything?
Alyona is 16 and has considerable "maturity" already.
Sasha doesn't skate immaturely, she skates more like the men do.
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2017
This :agree:
Gonna blame "jumping beans" for "lack of artistry" - blame your own sexism. If Samarin is getting almost 90 in PCS - why Sasha can't get at least mere 66?
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
Not sexism at all lol. There was quite an outrage over Samarin‘s PCS as well and rightly so.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
If PCS was factored like it is with the men she would still win.
Hell, if she skated in the mens, she would probably still win!
She is Midori Ito x1000 and then some.
A very very rare female skater who is truly competitive in either division.
Some might not like that she's not pretty princess Elegant or that she doesn't have the performance skills of the very best such as Miyahara... but she is working hard on that too. It is obvious each time she skates, more so in the SP though with far fewer big jumping passes.
There are very few men who can truly combine multiple quads with great artistry.
It is much rarer to have skaters who are superior at both tech and artistry.
The athletes vs artists argument has been around a long time and I remember it being that way back in 1992 where it was "artistic skaters" Kristi and Nancy vs "athletic skaters" like Midori and Tonya
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
It was wth is with that pcs... yeah I don't understand it either.
Sasha would have beaten him on TES alone however that's the point I think
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
Same. But beating 4 quads and 3A? Not gonna happen.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
And rightly so in my opinion, that is unprecedented in ladies skating and not particularly common in mens either.
But that's to land them
So we will have to see what Sasha does next.
She may try a 3 quad 2 3A layout in the FS
Who knows.
Personally I would be happy with either Alyona or Sasha winning if they can both skate well enough.
Sasha even if scored a little lower on PCS could beat the opposition with quads and 3A if she lands most of them...
Unless the rules change to reward PCS much much more than TES and that would be even worse IMO, we would have skaters who can barely land a triple (I'm looking at you Satoko Miyahara) winning everything.
That's not sport to me, that's art and last time I checked figure skating is a sport. It has to develop as one too much like any other.
I do appreciate artistry, don't get me wrong, I love Alyona and I really like Satoko's programs this season and feel I'm "getting it" finally why she's gushed over.
At the same time I very much think her jumps are awful and are absolutely holding her back, it has nothing to do with the scoring.
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2018
That’s a terrible example as Samarin shouldn’t be getting near 90 PCS in the first place. Don’t even get me started.
But y’all acting like Trusova is getting 75 PCS or something. What ya’ll should be complaining about is how her PCS seems to hover in the mid-60s regardless of the skate. I think she’s around a 65-66 with a cleanish skate. Her PCS should drop lower than that with falls.
Off topic: I think her 33 PCS in the SP is deserved. I like her SP more than Scherbakova’s.
- Joined
- Apr 26, 2018
Well, for sure, if she lands them, she deserves to win. It‘s not something I enjoy watching, though, because it‘s not figure skating for me but figure jumping. Rules are the rules, though, so kudos to Sasha for pushing the limits.
I personally prefer more artistic skaters who listen to the music, have skating skills and performance quality and don‘t just rush from jump to jump. And nope, it’s not “sexism“, I prefer it for both genders and disciplines. For the ladies it doesn‘t have to be all princess like, elegant skaters either, like it’s often assumed, I very much enjoy more powerful skaters as well. First examples that come to mind are Kaetlyn Osmond (when she was competing) and Wakaba Higuchi who, at her best, is a joy to watch as well. Sasha has time to grow of course but for now I do not see performance, interpretation or skating skills that would warrant the PCS she‘s getting. I also think that in the future we will inevitably have to talk about the artistry vs jumping aspect further, whether some like to or not. Figure skating is still supposed to be an artistic sport, the balance between jumps and artistry should remain. For now we‘re in the middle of something groundbreaking, though, and it will take some time to get used to. In the meanwhile, Sasha will win and it will be deserved according to the rules we have now. For the upcoming Worlds, I think there’s no bigger favorite than Trusova and I would be surprised if there was anyone who came even close to her. It‘s definitely reassuring to see that there are still lots of people who value different things in skating as well, though.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
I do see artistry in Sasha, she has her own style and is working to nurture it. There is a lot of focus on her quads, she will probably learn to balance both like the men are closer to being able to do, naturally as the men have had quads longer.
I like lots of different styles, for different reasons and love to see the diversity in performances.
I've seen criticism of Mariah Bell's Britney SP, that she's 23 and should skate more a "mature" program, but personally I think it's very fun to watch and don't understand what the problem is.
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I do see artistry in Sasha, she has her own style and is working to nurture it. There is a lot of focus on her quads, she will probably learn to balance both like the men are closer to being able to do, naturally as the men have had quads longer.
I like lots of different styles, for different reasons and love to see the diversity in performances.
I've seen criticism of Mariah Bell's Britney SP, that she's 23 and should skate more a "mature" program, but personally I think it's very fun to watch and don't understand what the problem is.
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No idea why that repeated and I am too tired to fix it
I like lots of different styles, for different reasons and love to see the diversity in performances.
I've seen criticism of Mariah Bell's Britney SP, that she's 23 and should skate more a "mature" program, but personally I think it's very fun to watch and don't understand what the problem is.
- - - Updated - - -
I do see artistry in Sasha, she has her own style and is working to nurture it. There is a lot of focus on her quads, she will probably learn to balance both like the men are closer to being able to do, naturally as the men have had quads longer.
I like lots of different styles, for different reasons and love to see the diversity in performances.
I've seen criticism of Mariah Bell's Britney SP, that she's 23 and should skate more a "mature" program, but personally I think it's very fun to watch and don't understand what the problem is.
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No idea why that repeated and I am too tired to fix it
- Joined
- Nov 19, 2017
I wouldn't worded it like that though. If she jumped higher and rotated her triples properly - she couldn't conserve enough energy to invest it in a choreo to the same degree as now. She is able to be so consistent and artistic exactly because she is cheating on almost every jump she is doing - otherwise her stamina would ended much sooner and she would ended either fallng many times or simplifying/dropping her choreo significantly. Moreover, if she would be able to jumps quads - her choreo would be similar to Trusova's at best - if not much simpler
From that point of view it's quite hypocritical to criticize Trusova for lack of choreo similar to ladies jumping triples - while being lenient in assessing mens choreo - "they jump quads after all!" 
That's the thing - the more difficult content you are presenting - the more strength you need to have to be artistic as well. You can even say that Satoko's qualities are making her not fit to figure skating (it's similar to watching short baskeball player or skinny sumo wrestler - they can be very good in what they are doing, but.. there is always ceiling in what they can achieve in their type of sport). She would be more comfortable in ice dance discipline - however her height is not enough to make impression on judges - and height matters in ice dance (preferably partners should be of the same height and tall enough). Single figure skating discipline requires to be quite athletic in addition to artistry - and that is what she lacks. Therefore you can't call her "balanced skater" unfortunately.
That said, Kostornaia IS able to combine difficult rotated jumps, complex choreo, steps, spins and keeping high level of performance. She is strong enough physically as well as artistic. So you can call her "balanced skater" or "ideally fit to figure skating". So it's not something that is not possible. And as Kostornaia lagged behind others some time in learning difficult, energy-consuming jumps - Trusova could develop her other qualities as long as she start to be so comfortable with quads that she could conserve enough energy for choreo tricks as well. Time will tell.
