From Russia with love [#28]: Autumn to Winter 2017

I don't see any indication that Medvedeva or anyone in her camp became complacent about anything: she trained with Zagitova. Tutberidze doesn't have experience with skaters navigating remaining on top, which is different psychology. Michelle Kwan in 2000-2001 was the last skater before Medvedeva to win two in a row, and Medvedeva has also survived puberty.

Medvedeva had an injury which could have taken her out of the Olympics, and she tried to heal and adjust for it.
 
kwanfan1818 said:
I don't see any indication that Medvedeva or anyone in her camp became complacent about anything: she trained with Zagitova. Tutberidze doesn't have experience with skaters navigating remaining on top, which is different psychology. Michelle Kwan in 2000-2001 was the last skater before Medvedeva to win two in a row, and Medvedeva has also survived puberty.

Medvedeva had an injury which could have taken her out of the Olympics, and she tried to heal and adjust for it.
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I agree with this. At the start of the season Med was planning to do all her jumps in the second half. I suspect her ankle problems started much earlier than they made them public. She was having uncharacteristic falls on jumps. One poster here even noticed her taped up ankles.

The switch to the Anna Karenina LP gave her a more balanced (choreographically) program, and she liked that program. It took away the pressure to do all her jumps in the second half. It wouldn't have worked with the fast AK music.

So i suspect the calculation was that her consistency, improved artistry and reputation as a two time world champion would push her over the top.

Unfortunately it seems neither her fed nor her coach had confidence in her ability to compete after the injury. They relied on Zag to win the gold for Russia. They didn't care which Russian won the gold.

Medvedeva skated to a tragic story and her own ended in a minor tragedy, at least for these Olympics. I don't see an OGM in her future. The competition will be even tougher. This was her best chance. IMO the RSF should have saved Zagitova for 2022. Of course they don't have a shortage of talented young ladies. So they didn't care for Med.
 
Marco said:
Over-scored PCS, over-relying on one trick to score TES - it worked for Evgenia, and it is only a matter of time before someone else out-does her, and a third person will out-do both of them too.
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Happens to every top athlete. Eventually someone overtakes him or her. That doesn't diminish her accomplishments so far. All of her wins were well deserved, whether you agree with the marks or not. I did not agree with Yu na Kim's marks in 2010 but I had no problem with her win. Like Yu na, Medvedeva is a great champion.
 
Alina Zagitova's interview for Russia Today

Unfortunately, Alina doen't sound like the brightest perosn. She says that you can't explain anything to people like that (Wagner). Then she says that one day she might think just like Wagner. Basically, Alina has just insulted her own intelect by saying that she is someone to whom things cannot be explained...

And dont tell me that she's just 15. At that age one should already be smart enough to not say things like that.

Also, good job RT for once again showing your hack journalism by asking such provocative questions. :wall:
 
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From Alina’s interview^
https://russian.rt.com/sport/article/486647-zagitova-chempionka-olimpiada-intervyu
Q: You probably heard what Ashley Wagner said about your free program.
A:Yes, I saw it somewhere on social media. I can say her words only motivated me, made me want to prove her wrong. But of course you cannot prove anything to people like her. Let her try and skate an identical program at the Olympic Games, it will be fun to watch, but I will not comment afterwards.
Q: Do you think current system favors younger skaters due to their physical abilities?
A:Yes, figure skating is progressing very quickly these days. There is already a queue of junior skaters behind me. A couple years from now, there will be a new generation of skaters, then another one. There will be a day when I will start thinking like Wagner and other critics. There are already girls in our group who do quads. But I will do my best to stay on top as long as I can.
 
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To be fair, I'm not surprised Alina is upset that her competitors have openly taken to twitter to criticise her. Some skaters feel very free to criticise the Russian girls but I don't think theyd be as willing to do this to a Japanese or North American skater. Perhaps the language barrier and there being no shows for foreigners to do in Russia makes it the case.

It's also a valid point she has. Everyone else is entitled to back load their program.
 
quiqie said:
Not sure what you mean by “no shows for foreigners.” Joubert, Lambiel, Verner, Weir performed often quite often in Russian shows.
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Oh yes, of course. I didn't immediately recall them. I think lots of Western skaters doing Japanese shows and doing their utmost to gain favour with Japanese audiences was at the front of my mind.
 
Tyranid said:
Alina Zagitova's interview for Russia Today

Unfortunately, Alina doen't sound like the brightest perosn. She says that you can't explain anything to people like that (Wagner). Then she says that one day she might think just like Wagner. Basically, Alina has just insulted her own intelect by saying that she is someone to whom things cannot be explained...

And dont tell me that she's just 15. At that age one should already be smart enough to not say things like that.

Also, good job RT for once again showing your hack journalism by asking such provocative questions. :wall:
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She sounds like a 15-year-old athlete of normal intelligence who has never had this level of media scrutiny in her life. Mirai got a lot of flack for her interview and she is 24. I would assume most of the skaters who go to the Olympics spend most of their time training rather than prepping for interviews, and are understandably spent & exhausted both mentally & physically, so I'm not sure what you expect from them. Ashley OTOH has plenty of media training, years of experience, and still sounds bitter, jealous and not very bright at all.
 
zebraswan said:
She sounds like a 15-year-old athlete of normal intelligence who has never had this level of media scrutiny in her life. Mirai got a lot of flack for her interview and she is 24. I would assume most of the skaters who go to the Olympics spend most of their time training rather than prepping for interviews, and are understandably spent & exhausted both mentally & physically, so I'm not sure what you expect from them. Ashley OTOH has plenty of media training, years of experience, and still sounds bitter, jealous and not very bright at all.
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Love Ashley and really wanted her on the US Team (still think it was wrong to send Karen in her place) BUT her comments about Alina's LP were just wrong. The reason no one else backloads their programs is because it's incredibly difficult to do!! Even Evgenia who practically invented backloading couldn't do it this season when injury and age caught up with her. Alina's LP was unbelievably difficult to skate and she did it superbly twice at these Olympics. That's to be admired by a fellow athlete, not looked down upon!
 
All Zagitova was saying is 1. Wagner couldn't do what she did (which is true) and 2. In a couple of years, she'll be like Wagner (complaining because she's no longer relevant) because there are younger skaters who will push her out (also true).

Even Medvedeva has made the same comments. They know very well what Trusova, Kostornaia and others are doing and also very aware that they need to skate as well as they can today because they might not get out of Russian nationals in a couple of years. See Tuk, Pogo, Radionova, Leonova. (and that was before Pogo's injury).
 
Wagner says the programme is super hard and she can't do it, and that she doesn't like it
Zagitova says she would like to see Wagner do her programme, she realizes in a coulpe of years she will be critisizing things she can't do.

The media and the FSU make sure to make a huge deal of every word each of them said, jump to all the wrong conclusions and talk about that ad nauseum and then some more
 
It's beyond difficult to be a ladies skater in Russia now. Unless the skater has natural grace and elegance (Kostornaia and Gubanova), they simply won't be granted the time to develop those skills. Kostner was Bambi on ice at age 15: all legs and jumps. But, she had the luxury of being the only real contender in Italy and spent 16 years refining her skills. That simply isn't going to happen in Russia. The top 15 skaters at Russian nationals would be national champions for any number of countries and could develop those qualities, but it won't happen in Russia. Personally, I'd be more than happy to adopt a half-dozen of them if they'd skate for the US. :lol: But Eteri and now Mishin (now that he's decided girls can do the hard jumps) are pushing the sport and until Russia runs out of little girls willing to learn the hard elements, they will only have a short shelf life before someone comes along who is better. I have no idea where the limit is. Med was better than Lip, Zag is better (jump wise) than Med, the current 13-14 yos are better than Zag and sadly they probably won't make the 2022 Olympics because there are 12 year olds who will be 15 and will be better than they are.

I don't see the ISU changing the backloading rule because very few skaters can really do it. But, what I don't see are people complaining about the Japanese girls who are doing the same thing as the Russians. There's a reason it's been all Russian/Japanese JGPF for the last 4 years. The US and Canada are way behind and as these kids start moving into seniors, it's going to become even more so. Just the way the sport is at the moment.
 
TAHbKA said:
Wagner says the programme is super hard and she can't do it, and that she doesn't like it
Zagitova says she would like to see Wagner do her programme, she realizes in a coulpe of years she will be critisizing things she can't do.

The media and the FSU make sure to make a huge deal of every word each of them said, jump to all the wrong conclusions and talk about that ad nauseum and then some more
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Nobody is making a big deal out of it. I just pointed out that Zagitova, unlike Wagner, made a PERSONAL insult (whether she understood it or not).

Wagner made a comment on just the program.

Tan'ka, you should be familiar with Russian "khamstvo" (I am assuming you are familiar with the country of Russia :)). Nobody is saying that Zagitova is a bad person. It was an unprofessional move by RT to provoke it.

And before I get comments for being "anti-Russian", try living in the country if you aren't in it. Things aren't too good, and all this imperial chauvenism and endless moaning about athelete bans and "eevile west" have gotten rather tiresome.
 
I was asked on goldenskate to tell what Yagudin was saying about Kolyada and Aliev, when he was commenting SP for the "Russia" TV-channel. You can see the text by the link, if it is interesting:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...exei-Yagudin&p=2009755&viewfull=1#post2009755

Now Aliev is skating in the tour together with Averbukh's team, together with Yagudin

from Yagudin's instagram
(https://www.instagram.com/p/BfoQ9igACoC/)
alexei.yagudin: 2011 and 2018. @dimaaliev practiced figure skating and ski racing. He has chosen figure skating, and this is a good choice! Now he is a real artist on ice, and we can admire his skating! I wish you good luck at the Worlds in Milan and in other seasons! #sport #overcome #dimaaliev

and some other Yagudin's comments on SP, which I had posted earlier:
https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/s...exei-Yagudin&p=2003830&viewfull=1#post2003830
 
Is there any significance to Nikita being with Elena at her masterclass? Will Nikita continue to skate with Victoria? Is there any word on Elena finding a partner and returning to competing?
 
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