2019-20 Russian Ladies' Figure Skating

[Mawwerg]

“Refereeing is politics. I am sorry for Tuktamysheva. ” The results of the Grand Prix in the USA commented by the world champion Mariya Butyrskaya: https://sport24.ru/news/other/2019-...ovoy-sudeystvo-tuktamyshevoy-video-podrbnosti

"RUSSIANS ARE THE BEST IN THE WORLD; ANY ERROR OF THEM IS JUDGED STRICTLY." Opinion of Katarina GERBOLDT here: https://teamrussia.pro/olimpijskij-...bka-suditsya-strogo-mnenie-katariny-gerboldt/

Interview with Maria is not bad. I do not agree with them regarding Jason Brown and quads and I added one to conspiracies counter. However I don't like the direction Emma moves. Her early interview were more neutral without such amount of discussions about conspiracies, judges and fan wars.

 

[Amei]

Yeah, they are, so it would be a hassle for one of them to rearrange their programs for junior rules, and since the submission deadline is before RusNats, we won't know if or which on of them will be left off of the worlds team (the possibility of them not making the Worlds team is what makes the situation different from Evgenia's in 2016). I could maybe see it if one of them does not qualify for the GPF though. If the submission date were after Nats, it might make sense, because they're all so amazing that it would be a real bummer to go without a major competition to end their season. Youth Olympic Champion would be somewhat of a consolation prize. But since the submission is so early, RusFed will probably just see which juniors are doing the best based on JGPs for most of them, and hopefully cup events for Kanysheva. I really hope Kanysheva and Tarakanova end up going - Sinitsyna and Vasilieva already have the JGPF, and already have scores that will likely remain on the SB list. Kanysheva and Tarakanova both need opportunities to get higher international scores (and hopefully Tarakanova gets a Challenger too). Plus I feel for Tarakanova, who must be frustrated with her results despite pretty good skates. I guess we'll see.

They adjusted last year's programs for senior nationals, and I would think adjusting a program down to junior level would be relatively opposed to adjusting up to a senior level program

 

[Edwin]

Interview with Maria is not bad. I do not agree with them regarding Jason Brown and quads and I added one to conspiracies counter. However I don't like the direction Emma moves. Her early interview were more neutral without such amount of discussions about conspiracies, judges and fan wars.

I remember to have seen a clip which indicated Emma Gadzhiyeva is now a MatchTV reporter/presenter, which is an all together higher and more serious position. However, she is still a video blogger too, and up-to-date with the inclusion of social media in all of its good and bad outings. Her "Figurka" video blogs are way above the level of Rodina's and I find them very informative and enjoyable. Perhaps now Emma is with TV, she can be a little more 'agressive' in her vlogs?

 

[Jontor]

Would it be possible to put Alena and Anna as subs for YO and then sub them in if they dont qualify for Euros?
(I Assume Sasha will qualify if he remains somewhat conisten with the quad)

Otherwise I would say that coosing between Sinistyna, Vasilieva, Tarakanova and Kanysheva is probably the smartest move.

I would bet it will be Sinitsyna and Vasilieva. Kanysheva has not shown anything yet and we all know it's uphill after an injury. I don't think there is a chance that she will get Youth Olympics. Tarakanova was only the 6th Russian girl at JGP, and I suspect she got the Volvo Cup assignment as a consolation prize...OR...maybe Volvo Cup is a Tarakanova test in RusFeds eyes? We'll see. But I actually think Frolova has bigger chance for YO than Tarakanova.

About the 3A, I don't think they will be in the mix for Youth Olympics as there will be so much going on with them on senior level. It will be very interesting to see how it all plays out after RusNats. In my opinion, only the Eteri girls are fighting for the World spots. One will be left out... My guess it will be Anna or Alina (!)

I think it is highly likely we will have a skate-off scenario again at Russian Cup Final to determine who goes to Worlds. Whoever is the 3rd Russian at Euros will go up against the 4th that was left out at RusNats and maybe Tuktamysheva and Medvedeva will be in the mix too. If so, the Russian Cup Final will be VERY important again this year.

 

[Mishaminion]

Thanks, however I don't have the time to interpret all ;-)

Team Russia is the official Russian Olympic Committee channel.

Most news reports, blog postings and articles I find interesting. Many opinions, some a little more subjective than others. Better and more informative than mishaminions posting history over the last couple of days.

National press and official governing bodies of course have a certain bias, but with figure skating being one of the highest profile sports, esp in the women, there are of course lots of opinions and challenges of these opinions.

Okay I know what you mean now, no need for the personal attack

 

[Jontor]

Interview with Maria is not bad. I do not agree with them regarding Jason Brown and quads and I added one to conspiracies counter. However I don't like the direction Emma moves. Her early interview were more neutral without such amount of discussions about conspiracies, judges and fan wars.

I loved the Maria interview. It was interesting what she said about skating in America. "It feels good in the morning but at night you are just exhausted". I think that was an explanation about Stasya and the effects of jetlag. Maria said she always tried to avoid skating "over there".
It was also funny how she said that in her time they used to relax and recover during the spins!! That is not the case anymore and Maria is impressed how high the standard has become.
And Russian Nationals, Maria said it is the worst competition of them all. Everyone is very well prepared but it will be the thoughts in the head that decides...
Which is very impressive in Maria's case as she is the most decorated Russian National Champion and had 11 (!!) consecutive podium places at RusNats!!!

(OK. I am a bit Maria biased, as she was the one that made me a figure skating fan, and it all was because of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5sRk-mpC4Q
Crazy, huh?)

 

[flanker]

I loved the Maria interview. It was interesting what she said about skating in America. "It feels good in the morning but at night you are just exhausted". I think that was an explanation about Stasya and the effects of jetlag. Maria said she always tried to avoid skating "over there".
It was also funny how she said that in her time they used to relax and recover during the spins!! That is not the case anymore and Maria is impressed how high the standard has become.
And Russian Nationals, Maria said it is the worst competition of them all. Everyone is very well prepared but it will be the thoughts in the head that decides...
Which is very impressive in Maria's case as she is the most decorated Russian National Champion and had 11 (!!) consecutive podium places at RusNats!!!

(OK. I am a bit Maria biased, as she was the one that made me a figure skating fan, and it all was because of this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5sRk-mpC4Q
Crazy, huh?)

There can be something about that. If I consider Stanislava's best skates from last season, those were GP Finland (close to her hometown), RusNats and Universiade (moving east is easier).

 

[SnowWhite]

There can be something about that. If I consider Stanislava's best skates from last season, those were GP Finland (close to her hometown), RusNats and Universiade (moving east is easier).

Actually from what I've read, it's the opposite. East to west is easier and takes less time to adjust, you can check the wikipedia page (I know Wikipedia isn't always trustworthy, so I checked the citation, but I'm not linking it here since it's an academic paper that a lot of people probably can't access).

But St. Petersburg to Krasnoyarsk is a 4 hour time change, whereas St. Petersburg to Las Vegas is a 10 hour time change, so your point about jet lag affecting her still makes sense.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

There can be something about that. If I consider Stanislava's best skates from last season, those were GP Finland (close to her hometown), RusNats and Universiade (moving east is easier).

However, Zhenya won Worlds in USA and Alina won Worlds in Japan. Even skating on a different continent may be harder, it shouldn't be an excuse or a topic, at least not for the top skaters in the world.

 

[Jontor]

However, Zhenya won Worlds in USA and Alina won Worlds in Japan. Even skating on a different continent may be a problem, it shouldn't be an excuse, at least for top skaters.

But I guess it depends on when you arrive at those championships. I would guess that both Zhenya and Alina was well prepared and arrived early? or at least had time to adjust to the time difference at home.

In this Skate America competition, I suspect that all three Russian ladies suffered from jetlag in the short. That silly mistake on the StepSeq for Anna, that unclean 3T3T by Tukatmysheva...very out of character for both of them.

 

[Baron Vladimir]

But I guess it depends on when you arrive at those championships. I would guess that both Zhenya and Alina was well prepared and arrived early? or at least had time to adjust to the time difference at home.

In this Skate America competition, I suspect that all three Russian ladies suffered from jetlag in the short. That silly mistake on the StepSeq for Anna, that unclean 3T3T by Tukatmysheva...very out of character for both of them.

Mistakes happen. And even if a 'jetlag' was a cause of it, there is no point to complain about it, when it is a part of your 'job', or what you chose to do in your life

 

[Jontor]

Actually from what I've read, it's the opposite. East to west is easier and takes less time to adjust, you can check the wikipedia page (I know Wikipedia isn't always trustworthy, so I checked the citation, but I'm not linking it here since it's an academic paper that a lot of people probably can't access).

But St. Petersburg to Krasnoyarsk is a 4 hour time change, whereas St. Petersburg to Las Vegas is a 10 hour time change, so your point about jet lag affecting her still makes sense.

Yes I've heard that too, east to west should be easier. But interestingly, Butyrskaya said in that interview (if my google translation was correct) that she never had problem with going east...only west.

 

[Jontor]

Mistakes happen. And even if 'jetlag' was a cause of it, there is no point to complain about it, when it is a part of your 'job', or what you chose to do in your life

True. You have to prepare for this kind of thing. you always have the choice to make the time adjustment at home.

 

[Amei]

Yes I've heard that too, east to west should be easier. But interestingly, Butyrskaya said in that interview (if my google translation was correct) that she never had problem with going east...only west.

It probably depends on whether someone functions better in the morning or night; however I agree with what some other's have said - if your choice in profession makes you travel where you will have to deal with jetlag you best learn how to deal with it and unless you were a last minute substitute it's not a valid excuse. **I don't think Stanislava has commented and this is just something someone else suggested for her performance.

 

[Jontor]

It probably depends on whether someone functions better in the morning or night; however I agree with what some other's have said - if your choice in profession makes you travel where you will have to deal with jetlag you best learn how to deal with it and unless you were a last minute substitute it's not a valid excuse. **I don't think Stanislava has commented and this is just something someone else suggested for her performance.

Yes, if you have to travel through time zones, that's the name of the game - be prepared.
But I would say it was a very bad decision by Tuktamysheva to compete at Finlandia last week, she didn't even give herself the chance to adjust to the jetlag thingy.

 

[flanker]

However, Zhenya won Worlds in USA and Alina won Worlds in Japan. Even skating on a different continent may be harder, it shouldn't be an excuse or a topic, at least for the top skaters in the world.

Of course it's not an excuse. But some people can stand it easier and the fact that Stasya had most of her good skates on relatively close distances makes me think that there can be some correlation in her case. It's not full theory of course, just an idea.

 

[Orlov]

Mistakes happen. And even if a 'jetlag' was a cause of it, there is no point to complain about it, when it is a part of your 'job', or what you chose to do in your life

mmm... Eteri Georgievna... just a little... five minutes... I'm just doing part of my job right now...

 

[Amei]

Yes, if you have to travel through time zones, that's the name of the game - be prepared.
But I would say it was a very bad decision by Tuktamysheva to compete at Finlandia last week, she didn't even give herself the chance to adjust to the jetlag thingy.

Tuktamysheva for years has done lots of 'minor' competitions, below are the minor competitions she did prior to her first GP and any minor competitions between GP and Nationals. (pulled this from her Wikipedia page). So it's actually normal for her to do several minor competitions prior to her GP events.

2014-2015: Cup of Nice, Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Skate America + she did Warsaw cup between her second GP event and GPF
2015-2016: Japan Open, Cup of Nice, Skate Canada + Warsaw Cup and Golden Spin between her second GP and Nationals (Didn't make GPF)
2016-2017: Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Skate Canada + she did Golden Spin between her second GP and Nationals (Didn't make GPF)
2017-2018: Finlandia, Lombardia, GP China (though there was like a month between the CS events and GP) + she did Golden Spin between her 2nd GP and Nationals.
2018-2019: Finlandia, Lombardia, Skate Canada

 

[Orlov]

Tuktamysheva for years has done lots of 'minor' competitions, below are the minor competitions she did prior to her first GP and any minor competitions between GP and Nationals. (pulled this from her Wikipedia page). So it's actually normal for her to do several minor competitions prior to her GP events.

2014-2015: Cup of Nice, Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Skate America + she did Warsaw cup between her second GP event and GPF
2015-2016: Japan Open, Cup of Nice, Skate Canada + Warsaw Cup and Golden Spin between her second GP and Nationals (Didn't make GPF)
2016-2017: Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Skate Canada + she did Golden Spin between her second GP and Nationals (Didn't make GPF)
2017-2018: Finlandia, Lombardia, GP China (though there was like a month between the CS events and GP) + she did Golden Spin between her 2nd GP and Nationals.
2018-2019: Finlandia, Lombardia, Skate Canada

Judging because Tuktamysheva herself says, it’s still not so normal.

Q: - What was the problem in the short program?
A: - Maybe I was influenced by jet lag. There was a feeling that I'm just "not on the legs" [Russian idiom]. I was really tired, but alas - such is the fate of the athlete, you should be able to "pack yourself" and skate. Now at last I have two and a half weeks get one's breath and calmly prepare. I hope that in China everything will be different, and I will skate more confident.

Q: - The next stage will be in China. Have a little time, how will you recover and prepare?
A: - First of all, I’ll just lie and rest, disconnect from all thoughts related to skating. It is necessary to switch, especially because I now have a University, last courses.

I dunno, for me, Liza definitely signals "I have been mentally and physically tired lately"

 

[skatenewbie]

Judging because Tuktamysheva herself says, it’s still not so normal.

Q: - What was the problem in the short program?
A: - Maybe I was influenced by jet lag. There was a feeling that I'm just "not on the legs" [Russian idiom]. I was really tired, but alas - such is the fate of the athlete, you should be able to "pack yourself" and skate. Now at last I have two and a half weeks get one's breath and calmly prepare. I hope that in China everything will be different, and I will skate more confident.

Q: - The next stage will be in China. Have a little time, how will you recover and prepare?
A: - First of all, I’ll just lie and rest, disconnect from all thoughts related to skating. It is necessary to switch, especially because I now have a University, last courses.

I dunno, for me, Liza definitely signals "I have been mentally and physically tired lately"

i think doing Finlandia Trophy is not a good thing for her. Getting low scores, edge call and losing to senior debutant Kostornaya..... it can make her confidence go down. I know she's a strong woman and have lots of fighting spirit. But after treatment she get last season i guess she has a limit too. She's human after all. Hoping her the best luck in Cup of China!