- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
Is Aliona Kostornaia the next WC?
- Thread starter skateluvr
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 25, 2013
It could still be close... after all, their SBs are 241 (Trusova) and 240 (Kostornaia), and that's without going perfect. Although Alena seems to be maxed out in terms of difficulty whereas Alexandra adding a 3A to her 4 quads would essentially make everyone, even Kostornaia, battling for silver and lower.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Seems to be, yeah.
TSL constantly trash Sasha's skating skills too.
They're not that bad, in fact i would say they are reasonably good but with room for improvement.
Sasha needs no 3Ax helping quads. OK, it will help but mostly to get rid of 2xx jumps.
The SP is what important.
Having increasingly more and more ladies adding 3Ax in their SP push Sasha (without 3Ax) further down, dangerously close to the penultimate group.
She can attack from 7-8-9 position after SP in the local tournaments, but it will not work internationally. Being 10-15 points below after SP will do her nothing good, only nerves and wrong decisions.
Best she can do for FP is to swap 4S with 3Ax and one of 4T-combo with 4Lz-combo. More or less same BV with only toe-assisted upper jumps. And the flip, yeas, the flip (for 2020).
- Joined
- Dec 9, 2017
I don't think this is a fair comparison. Irina didn't jump 4 quads, she only jumped triples. Michelle had triples as well, with an easier layout. It's not like she jumped all doubles compared to Irina's triples. If Irina jumped 4 quads, she might be considered better than Michelle today.
If Sasha only jumped triples, you best believe she would be losing to Alena by a lot, and she certainly wouldn't be the better skater, even with a more difficult triple layout. But that's not the case, she is doing 4 quads which is a completely different technical gap than between Irina and Michelle.
And regarding your gymnastics analogy, no a high jumper is not better than a floor exercise specialist. But tumbling higher on a floor exercise is more athletic than if your tumbling passes are lower. You can't make that comparison because they're different disciplines. And as far as I can see, no one is saying jumpers are better ice dancers or pair skaters; that's a different discipline.
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2007
Trusova is probably the one to beat this year, although I much prefer Alena. But I can’t imagine that Trusova’s body is going to stay the same more than one more year. She looks like a child and when she has her growth spurt I think her consistency and many of her quads will go out the window. I don’t think Alena is going to have the same problem so next year we’ll see.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Sasha is RIPPED, have you seen this girl's muscles? She's getting stronger and stronger, that might help her through growth more than hinder. I don't think she will grow that much, she's a compact but very very fit body type, and already taller than Alyona and Anna
- Joined
- Jan 5, 2019
Plus she'll probably train the hardest to retain that advantage, her trainers will most likely need to reign her in on many occasions. One should only hope and pray she doesn't get injured by wildly chucking jumps on tired legs in some crazy exhibition. Everything that happens outside of Khrustalniy is beyond control, but no doubt she and her parents know what is at stake and remain cautious.
For now, the process of getting ready for GP Finals and National Championships is in full swing, training intensity and loads according to the periodisation principle will be raised for World Championships later. So the skaters in contention for the WC team will be worked to their physical maximum by Nationals to create a deficit and then their loads will be eased off a little so their bodies and minds can adapt and will be at maximum capacity by the time of World Championships.
Yeah, everyone almost wishes to see Sasha RIP (rest in public school, not skating at all). So many "wait till she will..." whining...
I'm bored.
She may never win OGM as soon as this is well too tricky those times, but she's going to win few majors for sure (let her keep her health long enough...)
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
For that very reason I think that the ISU judges will be kind to her in the short program. They won't want to bury the leader contender and mega-star too far back. Probably no more than 8 points or so.
This happened under 6.0 scoring quite a lot. (Michelle Kwan at 1997 Worlds, Sarah Hughes at 2002 Olympics, etc.)
When I say better skater I mean visually better at skating ability, not scoring more points by doing tougher jumps. Michelle's skating was in a different class than Irena.Your floor exercise comparison would be correct if they were both equal other than jump height. If the gymnast who jumped lower was superior in everything else on the floor, they would be considered a better athlete than the higher jumper.
Sorry, I hit wrong button and replied with a seperate post in this thread.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
Mute point if she puts a 3A in the SP, we know now that she had it and plans to include it.
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
It's tricky. Does "visually better" mean more graceful, more esthetically pleasing? There is another side to "skating ability" -- depth and security of edges, speed and powerful acceleration, that sort of thing. These qualities are numerated in the modern Skating Skills component, but they are prfobably not apparent to inexpert viewers, especially watching on TV.
Still, I do think that this is a good comparison with where figure skating is headed. In the modern floor exercise the tumbling passes are everything and the minimal posing and prancing that the gymnasts do between passes are just trow-away moves for them to catch their breath for their next tumbling run.
Last edited:
You make good points and I agree. Aside from highlightlng my lack of knowledge of gymnastics, I don't think it changes by basic point. Being pleasing esthetically isn't necessarily in opposition to being technically correct or athletic. I do feel that the esthetically pleasing aspect of skating has been neglected too much. Remember the presentation mark had priority over the tech mark for the majority of skating history.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
No it hasn't. Since when?
It used to be that both were scored out of 6.0.
The short or technical program, the technical score weighed higher in a tiebreak
In the short or artistic program it was the opposite.
When I began watching around 1989-1990 the jumps were becoming more and more important, especially triple jumps
Jumps have always been important. It is what makes Figure Skating different. I have been watching Figure skating since before Petty Flemming and those that win are able to do the jumps. First, it was doubles, then triples and since has progressed to Quads. If a skater has mastered the jumps, it is not very difficult to learn the nuances of artistic skating. Even in the 6.0 system, Technical scores counted more than presentation.
As of today, I would agree. But I don't see why Alena could not add more difficulty in her jumps. Her Triple Axel is huge and don't see why she could not do quads. But I love Sasha too. She is bound and determined to be the best.
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2019
Under the 6.0 system, the short program was considered the technical emphasis one, and the long program was considered the artistic emphasis one. Whoever won the long program, as long as they were in the top three after the short, won the competition.
- Joined
- Feb 12, 2014
I think Alyona did say she was trying a quad but kept falling, she was much closer with her 3A and it has turned out to be less risky than injuring herself attempting quads
