Alena Kostornaia leaves Tutberidze

[macy]

Let me explain. Many people dislike Anna because of her excessive pre-rotation (both triples and quads) and poor skating skills. Most of her jumps have no significant height nor significant distance. (In another FS forum people are saying that she can barely jump over a newspaper.)

Let me rephrase this.

YOU do not like Anna because of her "excessive prerotation" and "poor skating skills"

 

[Amei]

Well, when Alena took the ice this season, everybody noticed. She is a skaters skater. She had the complete package: jumps and artistry. She was the break out star of the season. People from countries outside of Russia fell in love with this young girl from Russia that was different than the rest. It wasn’t just about the jumps and tricks, and the judges and fans noticed. She won the international competitions, so it seems very odd the breakout and unexpected star of Eteri’s team was not given any sponsorships or endorsements. There is also much talk surrounding Anna being Eteri’s new favorite. Anna won RN, yes, but the only thing she was talked about for was her costume change. It just seems odd that she got sponsors before the #1 ranked and most successful of the season.

I suggest you look up a few posts esteticlove made an excellent post about endorsements; basically its very rare for Russian skaters and/or figure skaters in general to get sponsors/endorsements prior to winning big competitions like the Olympics, it took Medvedeva several years of winning everything before she got endorsement deals, Zagitova didn't have endorsements until after she won the Olympics. Trusova and Shcherbakova are the outliers, likely because they both came into seniors with a lot of buzz for the historic quads that they were doing.

All 3 of the new seniors, Shcherbakova/Kostornaia/Trusova, were noticed when they took the ice, Kostornaia for her artistry, Trusova for her quads and Shcherbakova for her combination of the 2. Shcherbakova was also talked about for being a mixture of the quads and good artistry, not just for the costume change. Nike executives in charge of handing out endorsement deals could see both Kostornaia and Shcherbakova and they made their pick, not sure why you need to belittle Shcherbakova and all that she accomplished because someone picked her over Kostornaia.

There is also much talk surrounding Anna being Eteri’s new favorite.

There is talk about Shcherbakova being Eteri and team's new favorite because she's the only 1 of the 3 left. Previous discussions have basically been that everyone thought Eteri was done with having a 'favorite' due to the poor break-up with Medvedeva.

 

[vorravorra]

No, there had been talk about Anna being the favourite before either Sasha or Alyona left.

 

[Amei]

Based on what we saw of Alyona's new programs, I am actually relieved that Alyona apparently didn't think much of them. At least people can't use the "maybe this is the kind of thing she wants to skate" excuse any more. A skater like Alyona deserves good programs. No guarantee of that with the new team but let's hope.

I remember an interview with Kostornaia/Shcherbakova/Trusova after last year's nationals where they were asked what music they liked and they all responded with Billie Eilish, and from what's been said the Twilight music/vampire theme program was her request. So I would think that the eilish music wasn't something that was forced upon her, and I'll we really saw was what like 30 seconds - its hard to distinguish a program being good or bad based on that.

 

[Mathman]

Well, when Alena took the ice this season, everybody noticed. She is a skaters skater. She had the complete package: jumps and artistry. She was the break out star of the season. People from countries outside of Russia fell in love with this young girl from Russia that was different than the rest...

The problem is that figure skating just doesn't have a big enough commercial footprint for even the most wonderful artists/athletes to cash in.

I believe that the top 10 female money-making athletes in the world are 8 tennis players, plus race car driver Danika Patrick and rough-and-tumble kick-boxer Ronda Rousey. Smash-face wins, lovely grace not so much.

 

[IndiaP12]

Well, when Alena took the ice this season, everybody noticed. She is a skaters skater. She had the complete package: jumps and artistry. She was the break out star of the season. People from countries outside of Russia fell in love with this young girl from Russia that was different than the rest. It wasn’t just about the jumps and tricks, and the judges and fans noticed. She won the international competitions, so it seems very odd the breakout and unexpected star of Eteri’s team was not given any sponsorships or endorsements. There is also much talk surrounding Anna being Eteri’s new favorite. Anna won RN, yes, but the only thing she was talked about for was her costume change. It just seems odd that she got sponsors before the #1 ranked and most successful of the season.

Well, obviously there’s a reason that Anna got picked for the Nike contract, and she has it doesn’t she so it’s no point in trying to argue about it. Anna wasn’t only talked about for her costume change. In fact I wasn’t a huge fan of that costume. Anna has such charisma and artistry on the ice as well as the fact that her quads became consistent and she is also a very polite and well-spoken girl off the ice. Maybe they also liked her for her slender physique and long legs but that shocked be a main important reason.

 

[vorravorra]

I remember an interview with Kostornaia/Shcherbakova/Trusova after last year's nationals where they were asked what music they liked and they all responded with Billie Eilish, and from what's been said the Twilight music/vampire theme program was her request. So I would think that the eilish music wasn't something that was forced upon her, and I'll we really saw was what like 30 seconds - its hard to distinguish a program being good or bad based on that.

Even if Alyona wanted Twilight it doesn't mean she wanted that particular program. Same for Billie Eilish. At least now there is a hope that maybe she has taste. Of course, maybe not.

 

[NadezhdaNadya]

Let me rephrase this.

YOU do not like Anna because of her "excessive prerotation" and "poor skating skills"

Oh, no, no. There are other FS forums (maybe it is forbidden to write their names here), where people are saying she does not jump very high and that she barely can jump over a newspaper, that she is a mushroom skater, she pre-rotates about 270 degrees, etc. Here is always Amen! to Anna.

 

[vorravorra]

Let me rephrase this.

YOU do not like Anna because of her "excessive prerotation" and "poor skating skills"

That's a pretty common opinion, certainly not unique to that particular user.

 

[Amei]

Oh, no, no. There are other FS forums (maybe it is forbidden to write their names here), where people are saying she does not jump very high and that she barely can jump over a newspaper, that she is a mushroom skater, she pre-rotates about 270 degrees, etc. Here is always Amen! to Anna.

Umm, not really is this board not crazy pro-Anna, a lot of people get on her technique if you read the threads about test skates from last year there was a lot of people talking about how she was going to be the forgotten 1 of the 3 new seniors and even if she placed above Zagitova/Medvedeva at Nationals they would still be sent to Europeans/Worlds over her. But for the purpose of the entire conversation of her sponsorship deal with Nike how good or bad her technique is matters very little. This thread is getting a little "Amen Anna" because people seem to be talking down as if she doesn't deserve her sponsorship deal over Kostornaia - which is strange, and as others have said marketability has little to do with on-ice victories (even though Anna has had many); for instance Danica Patrick was a horrible professional racecar driver (check her results) but she was very marketable so she had no issues with getting sponsors and endorsements and big-time rides.

The "barely jump over a newspaper" is a gross exaggeration, her quad jumps are pretty equal in height to Trusova's; I'm not sure why her triples don't go as high but perhaps she does that to better control their flow into and out of transitions.

 

[lopsilceci]

Errr... do you mean almost none except Alina and Yuzu?

Yes, that's what I meant. Out of the currently active skaters, they're the only ones that have foreign sponsors (that I'm aware of).

 

[lesnar001]

Well, when Alena took the ice this season, everybody noticed. She is a skaters skater. She had the complete package: jumps and artistry. She was the break out star of the season. People from countries outside of Russia fell in love with this young girl from Russia that was different than the rest. It wasn’t just about the jumps and tricks, and the judges and fans noticed. She won the international competitions, so it seems very odd the breakout and unexpected star of Eteri’s team was not given any sponsorships or endorsements. There is also much talk surrounding Anna being Eteri’s new favorite. Anna won RN, yes, but the only thing she was talked about for was her costume change. It just seems odd that she got sponsors before the #1 ranked and most successful of the season.

I think Anna generated a lot more conversation than a "costume change".
And I love the way you mention Anna winning RN (for 2 straight years - don't forget that) as some kind of afterthought.

I'm beginning to see Fried's point....
Way too much in the way of being dismissive of other skaters accomplishments and abilities.

So now Anna is Eteri's favorite?
Based on "much talk".
Well, maybe she is now - as she is the only one left from the skaters formerly known as the "3A".

 

[Thrashergurl]

I believe there was talk of Anna being the favorite before either Sasha or Alena left. I’m certainly not the first to mention it on this forum. It does strike me as odd that she would get endorsements before Alena, however I’m not going to argue with any of her fans about it. I stated my opinion, which is what this forum is all
about.
I am now hoping for a season so that we can see how these young girls all perform. Only time will tell.

 

[colormyworld240]

Let me explain. Many people dislike Anna because of her excessive pre-rotation (both triples and quads) and poor skating skills. Most of her jumps have no significant height nor significant distance. (In another FS forum people are saying that she can barely jump over a newspaper.)

Funny, because calculations of Anna's quads have them among the highest jumps of all the current ladies, on part with Alena's 3A (around 57cm) and just behind Sasha's 4T (around 62cm). I'm not sure what kind of newspaper you guys are reading. If Anna's jumps are small, everyone else must not be jumping at all.

It doesn't surprise me that Anna has endorsements. She's been known for her artistry long before she skated internationally and had tiny jumps, bent arm tanos, and certainly no quads. Even at Euros, some interviewers singled out her Firebird program for its artistry. Ted Barton was able to see it right away the first time she skated in the JGP and even asked her about her feeling for the music.

And of course, she was invited to an international show in Japan before her international debut, something which no other Russian lady has had to my knowledge. In addition to her artistry, she is always polite, well spoken, and thoughtful. Alena herself has described Anna as intelligent and strong willed but kind, so she leaves an impression on her peers and I would imagine the sponsors see that as well. Anna also has a good story like Alina; broken arm, broken leg, and coming back stronger.

I have no idea why Alena doesn't have any big sponsorships yet, maybe she will in the future.

And I highly doubt being Eteri's favourite, whether that is true or not, has any effect on sponsors. Otherwise she would have sponsors herself. And Sasha would have lost all her contracts once the split happened. There's no conspiracy where Eteri choses which of her skaters should get sponsorships.

 

[flipsydoodle]

Nooo, no way! I’m sure all marketing managers of all companies are looking closely who prerotated minimally and who doesn’t! That’s their life mantra and the sole selection criteria!
Brand book? Throw that out of the window!
Who cares about what the brand represents and what brand’s identity is? It doesn’t matter, all they care about is prerotation, that’s a 100%.

Besides, we all know Anna is a culprit and a great sinner, she knows how to jump perfectly, but she doesn’t do it because she likes to have people angry at her, and she’s obviously the sole person in the world who doesn’t jump perfectly, so why Nike picked her is a mystery only Sherlock can solve.

/sarcasm warning for some of our smart forum members/

This doesn't sound likely at all.

 

[esteticlove]

I believe there was talk of Anna being the favorite before either Sasha or Alena left. I’m certainly not the first to mention it on this forum. It does strike me as odd that she would get endorsements before Alena, however I’m not going to argue with any of her fans about it.

How do you people exactly imagine this favouritism? I mean, do you believe that Team Tutberidze gives extra on ice hours for their new favourite or they spend more time on teaching them difficult elements? Or maybe they bribe the judges in order to get nice results for a particular skater?

And why people see only Anna as their favourite? For my part, for example, I always thought that Dudakov had a special place for Sasha, since he seemed always ecstatic when she nailed the quad jumps. But this didn't make me think that he intentionally put less work into improving the technical skills of other skaters from the group.

I can agree, that at the time when Evgenia was their only senior skater, there was an obvious warm relationship between herself and Eteri, however, once Alina moved to seniors they didn't neglect her in terms of training (based on the fact that through the season she improved her technical stability in the programs). Those skaters are at the end also only human beings and they have different personalities, some probably find it easier to interact with their coaches on a daily basis but I do believe that the coaches expect the same work ethics from all of their students and try to bring the best out of each of them.

As for the endorsements, I don't believe that the decision for Aliona to change the team was due to money issues. At least, from what we got as info, it was rather a sudden decision and the most logical explanation would be her struggling to get her 3A back, especially after seeing that Zhillina and Trusova still have their quads, even when training with Plushenko (or rather with Rayazanov..).

 

[readernick]

Let me explain. Many people dislike Anna because of her excessive pre-rotation (both triples and quads) and poor skating skills. Most of her jumps have no significant height nor significant distance. (In another FS forum people are saying that she can barely jump over a newspaper.)

Your post should be rephrased. Anna's style of skating is not particularly to my liking. (due in part to what you mentioned), although I appreciate her musicality, but I certainly have no personal dislike for Anna. Anna seems like a lovely, intelligent, positive and gentle girl. I am sure that the majority of figure skating fans feel the same, even if they aren't particularly drawn to her skating. We need to careful how we phrases criticism. It shouldn't be personal, the quality of a person's skating and the quality of a person's character are not equal or even related.

 

[Azikin]

How do you people exactly imagine this favouritism?

People imagine lots of things... especially when it comes to Anna..

 

[Shayuki]

Interesting, really. Some time back I was thinking that Anna was the one most likely to stay with Eteri, Alyona indeed gave out some strange interviews that made it seem like she wasnt happy with how things were and seemed unsatisfied, though she did have great success and got her triple axel steady since then. I think that that is quite different from Trusova in that Trusova actually had a very weak season, unlike her.

Let me explain. Many people dislike Anna because of her excessive pre-rotation (both triples and quads) and poor skating skills. Most of her jumps have no significant height nor significant distance. (In another FS forum people are saying that she can barely jump over a newspaper.)

Her quads are the same height as Trusova's so I assume these aren't counted in your considerations. Her pre-rotation also is similar to - or lower than - Trusova's.

 

[ali0125]

Interesting, really. Some time back I was thinking that Anna was the one most likely to stay with Eteri, Alyona indeed gave out some strange interviews that made it seem like she wasnt happy with how things were and seemed unsatisfied, though she did have great success and got her triple axel steady since then. I think that that is quite different from Trusova in that Trusova actually had a very weak season, unlike her.Her quads are the same height as Trusova's so I assume these aren't counted in your considerations. Her pre-rotation also is similar to - or lower than - Trusova's.

How about her edge? She barely had right edge for her lutz last season and you can argue many other ladies do the same. However, no one else like her putting like 5 lutz at once, not to mention she also has almost full blade from take off. That's why many people don't like her. It's okay that you don't have perfect techniques but having 5 is way more than reasonable. I couldn't image any decent person could ever do so.