Yeah, Kolyada is not motivated this season... people are so quick to judge
So he went to USA in the summer to train with Raf, he got Lambiel to choreo his SP and partly LP, he competed in more events than any Russian man and all that just for fun apparently?
It has been the common knowledge that he's struggled this season due to health problems - a chronic sinusitis which caused fatique, breathing difficulties, balance & coordination problems, it got worse as the season progressed and he finally was hospitalised and had a surgery 6 days prior to RusNats. The day before SP was the first time he was on the ice after hospital, he barely lasted through LP and yet managed to finish in second.
Again in case you don't know at Euro he got injured on 3A during LP and barely could finish the program his wrist was in the cast for 2 weeks.
Undoubtedly, consistency is his biggest problem but anyone can see he had to deal with a lot this season. Even with all the struggles his PBs remain the highest of Russian men and he will be the only Russian in SP final group in Saitama, for that alone I don't think RusFed is mad enough not to sent him
I also think Kovtun could sneak into the SP final group if he goes clean, with the Russian champ bonus and higher BV with 2 quads. Regardless, I hope both of those guys redeem themselves at Worlds.
SP groups depend on world standing, no? Kolyada would be in the final group, Samarin in the penultimate, Kovtun in an earlier group.
After today, I really don’t see a convincing reason to change the team. Lazukin won here, but he placed sixth in the free. With everybody equally likely to melt down (excluding Samarin, who seems relatively consistent), it’s smartest to send the three with the highest scoring potential imho.
SP groups depend on world standing, no? Kolyada would be in the final group, Samarin in the penultimate, Kovtun in an earlier group.
After today, I really don’t see a convincing reason to change the team. Lazukin won here, but he placed sixth in the free. With everybody equally likely to melt down (excluding Samarin, who seems relatively consistent), it’s smartest to send the three with the highest scoring potential imho.
I don't even think it's a matter of consitency and scoring potential at this point. The guys at the Cup Final did a meager job of trying to upstage their peers. Kovtun had a bit of a meltdown at Euros, but Kolyada would have won the competition here, even with that mess of a FS at Euros. But then, Maxim is the Russian champion, so I don't see why they would change the team in any way right now.
Seriously, is Aliev injured because this is the worst he has performed?
It feels like he is going downhill instead of up. What is happening to him?
I really think he should change coaches or get another one that is a jump specialist because it is not working.
He needs to make a major change this season because this has been a mess for him this season.
He is such a beautiful skaters and did well last year so dont know what is going on with him this season.
only Samarin, Kolyada or Samsonov are going for another Olympics the way I see it already.
so useless for others.
Unless someone saw a complete FS run-through in practice with all the jumps and non-jump elements, it can't be said with any certainty that there is nothing wrong with Aliev's form (there is something wrong with it at the best of times in his particular case, stamina is not a strength).He is not mentioning any injury in this interview, he says that he was prepared well for this comp. According to live reports his jumps in practice & warm-up were very good. So it seems like a mental issue than anything else:
https://www.sports.ru/figure-skating/1071862660.html
Unless someone saw a complete FS run-through in practice with all the jumps and non-jump elements, it can't be said with any certainty that there is nothing wrong with Aliev's form (there is something wrong with it at the best of times in his particular case, stamina is not a strength).
As I have said in Kolyada's fan fest, he is a survivor who can rise to the occasion at desperate times. It's when expectations are high that he has problems.That's true, but at RC it was really his SP which buried him (same as at RusNats IIRC) which stamina issues hardly can explain thats why I thought it seems more like a mental issue. He might bounce next season I am sure
A credit should be given to Kolyada who despite the struggles with consistency & health problems manages to stay relevant in that ever changing field of Russian men
As I have said in Kolyada's fan fest, he is a survivor who can rise to the occasion at desperate times. It's when expectations are high that he has problems.
I think Misha and Dima are having somewhat different problems right now, or rather their heads seem to be in different places. Misha isn't giving interviews that he wants to take a break from skating and go for a holiday in Paris and then at the beach. Or that he understands how Medvedeva feels.Dmitry might be at crossroads between training new quads and shaping up. We all know how well Misha did with new quads. I'm sure getting them right in practice is a completely different ballgame than the competition.