Rika Kihira to add Brian Orser as her secondary coach

starlight97 · Jul 11, 2020

Still baffling to me that people think Evgenia's skating overall has improved and even more baffling that there's actually people who believe she could ever get a quad.
Not even Zagitova was/is able to get one and she is training under Eteri, the one coach with a proven record and methods to get girls quads and has always had far stronger jumping technique than Evgenia.
Evgenia has quiet nearly lost even her 3F-3T, never had a 3Lz-3T to begin with, is slower, her choreo is simplified, transitions are reduced, spins are what has declined the most and her jump content has also been watered down.
So no, she is not only getting lower placements because of the 3A or Rika appearing, she also simply declined overall.

About Rika and Orser, I wonder what it is that she thinks that he can teach her that her Japanese coach can't, and that she needs so badly that she is willing to spend all that money, get into a complicated schedule and lots of oversea travel for? It's very interesting

yume · Jul 12, 2020

I'm surprised that Orser getting Rika even came on table. After all those rumours 2 seasons ago about Wakaba going to TCC but not going finally, and Satoko going to Granite instead of TCC while she was working with Ghislain on her jumps, i thought Orser wasn't interested in getting another top lady. Maybe to give better attention to Medvedeva who he sees like his challenge maybe.
If Rika finally goes to TCC i wonder what will be the dynamics with the other skaters. Seeing her throwing 3As and quads can be inspiring or....

Amei said:
My critical post was regarding Medvedeva's consistency which is her second biggest problem after the fact that she's no longer doing the most difficult technical content of the field.

She never had the most difficult tech of the field. In terms of BV or jump difficulty. There were other skaters with higher BV or jump difficulty. Her wins were on GOEs and PCS. Not on BV like Trusova or even Zagitova against her.

Gabby30 said:
None of the "3A's" is consistent either.

Skating Kostornaya's layouts and having like one step-out and one fall the entire season is being inconsistent.
Having two falls and one step-out on quads and no mistake on any other jump in a season like Shcherbakova is called inconsistency.
Interesting.

eaglehelang · Jul 12, 2020

starlight97 said:
About Rika and Orser, I wonder what it is that she thinks that he can teach her that her Japanese coach can't, and that she needs so badly that she is willing to spend all that money, get into a complicated schedule and lots of oversea travel for? It's very interesting

To train 4S or a quad with Ghislain. Before this Rika goes to USA every few months to train her quads.
This is something that Hamada is not really specialist in.

Other than the court case issue on allegations of abuse from Nobu Oda. Satoko, who also trained under Hamada, left to go to Canada few months after the case was made public.

Shayuki · Jul 12, 2020

Gabby30 said:
None of the "3A's" is consistent either. Anna is UR'ing her "quads" and even tripels, and Trusova was bombing at all the important competitions. Same with Kostornaia, who has only the 3A, but still wasn't able to skate clean.

Medvedeva is improving in many areas, and there are a lot of things to fix, that's why she might not be at 100% yet, which is logical. But it's also possible, that the peaking strategy is different ( just as with Yuzuru), it's more important to be in top form at nationals and in the second half of the year

Kostornaya was within 12 points during her season from sGP on, while Shcherbakova was within 16 points. Just how is that not consistent? You'd be hard pressed to find several more consistent ladies. And it's much tougher to be consistent with quads and 3As, obviously. Both likely could skate every competition clean if they weren't attempting either.

Should I even comment on the second paragraph, probably not. But I doubt peaking strategy's the issue.

macy · Jul 12, 2020

Kostornaia is one of the most consistent ladies skating today. she had 1 fall and 1 step out the entire season. the season before i believe she only popped 1 jump, no falls. thats an outstanding record, and not many others can say theyve stayed on their feet that well.

lzxnl · Jul 12, 2020

Can we please keep this thread on topic and refrain from discussing other skaters?

Skatefan15 · Jul 12, 2020

Thought there was more news about Rika on here but it seems to be mostly about other skaters :slink:

Lunalovesskating · Oct 7, 2020

According to Rika's ISU bio she is now coached by Stephane Lambiel.

Greengemmonster · Oct 7, 2020

Lunalovesskating said:
According to Rika's ISU bio she is now coached by Stephane Lambiel.

I sooooooo happy to hear that! I was worried about her coaching situation and the only thing that made me feel better was to see the wholesome time she was having there with the others.

Soooooo glad all the other rumours weren't true!!!!! But because this is skating I hope I haven't jinxed it!

kolyadafan2002 · Oct 7, 2020

Pattinaggio artistico, Stèphane Lambiel è il nuovo allenatore di Rika Kihira. Arriva l'ufficialità

Si allarga ancora il roster dell'eccellente scuola di pattinaggio artistico di Champery (Svizzera): Stèphane Lambiel, come conferma la scheda biografica ISU aggiornata nella mattinata di mercoledì 7 ottobre, è infatti diventato ufficialmente il nuovo allenatore della fuoriclasse nipponica Rika Kihir

www.oasport.it

nussnacker · Oct 7, 2020

kolyadafan2002 said:
Pattinaggio artistico, Stèphane Lambiel è il nuovo allenatore di Rika Kihira. Arriva l'ufficialità

Si allarga ancora il roster dell'eccellente scuola di pattinaggio artistico di Champery (Svizzera): Stèphane Lambiel, come conferma la scheda biografica ISU aggiornata nella mattinata di mercoledì 7 ottobre, è infatti diventato ufficialmente il nuovo allenatore della fuoriclasse nipponica Rika Kihir

www.oasport.it

This clearly isn’t Brian’s year... happy that Rika found a new place at Champery though. More than happy for Lambiel, he has quite a few top skaters now and looking at making a name for himself as an A list coach!

kolyadafan2002 · Oct 7, 2020

nussnacker said:
This clearly isn’t Brian’s year... happy that Rika found a new place at Champery though. More than happy for Lambiel, he has quite a few top skaters now and looking at making a name for himself as an A list coach!

I feel that Lambiel needed to get some talented jumpers to prove he could also coach jumps and mental strength (with Deniss getting the quad now and other skaters improving technically maybe this myth will be dispelled).

I can't wait to see how Rika has developed choreographically as well as technically.

FayD · Oct 7, 2020

The pandemic really put TCC's foreign skaters in a very complicated situation

I'm still not sure if Rika will be staying with Steph permanently though, I'd like to hear more from Rika herself.

Lunalovesskating · Oct 7, 2020

FayD said:
The pandemic really put TCC's foreign skaters in a very complicated situation

I'm still not sure if Rika will be staying with Steph permanently though, I'd like to hear more from Rika herself.

My guess is it will be permanent, there are rumours that Canadian borders won't open before Spring 2021 and I personally don't think it is a great idea to switch coaches during the Olympic season, it involves a lot of risks.

kolyadafan2002 · Oct 7, 2020

FayD said:
The pandemic really put TCC's foreign skaters in a very complicated situation

I'm still not sure if Rika will be staying with Steph permanently though, I'd like to hear more from Rika herself.

Her quad is improving under Steph, and I'm sure her SS will too. I think this partnership could lead to an Olympic podium especially if PCS increases.

sailormoon · Oct 7, 2020

Lunalovesskating said:
My guess is it will be permanent, there are rumours that Canadian borders won't open before Spring 2021 and I personally don't think it is a great idea to switch coaches during the Olympic season, it involves a lot of risks.

It could be a temporary arrangement to compete in Paris. Evgeni Plushenko could become her new coach. According to new media reports, they are communicating with each other prossibly via Instagram to give and receive instructions. Rika is still exploring alternatives to Brian, who is no longer available due to Canada's entry restrictions.

Winnie_20 · Oct 7, 2020

sailormoon said:
It could be a temporary arrangement to compete in Paris.

Nobody is going to be competing in Paris.
I assume you meant Grenoble (which is quite a ways from Paris).

readernick · Oct 7, 2020

Actually, I don’t think we can say her quad has improved under Lambiel. She was landing fully rotated 4S in practice last season, too. If she does it it competition, then that would be a good indication it has actually improved.

Rika’s SS have always been good. Of course, she can always work to get better. But honestly, Rika’s PCS scores would probably benefit more from her learning to be a more outward performer. I think she is very musical, but her facial expressions could be more dramatic. Also, having a European coach might make people believe she has become better which will help her PCS scores.

On the whole, I think the most important thing is that Rika is happy and healthy. I wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of her working with Lambiel, but she looks so happy in her pictures. Her former training environment was definitely one of the more questionable/bordering on abusive ones, so this is likely a good change. Happiness is in the end, more important than other considerations.

Edit: Based on Japanese sources, Rika had not confirmed that this is permanent. She is adding Stephane as her coach so he can be with her at the GP France.

lzxnl · Oct 7, 2020

I'll be keen on seeing if Rika's 4T improves under Lambiel. She'll definitely need that for next season.

ali0125 · Oct 8, 2020

All Stephane's students look very happy, good to hear the news!

Rika Kihira to add Brian Orser as her secondary coach

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Pattinaggio artistico, Stèphane Lambiel è il nuovo allenatore di Rika Kihira. Arriva l'ufficialità

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Pattinaggio artistico, Stèphane Lambiel è il nuovo allenatore di Rika Kihira. Arriva l'ufficialità

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