From Russia With Love (No 32): Spring to Summer 2019

[rfisher]

This reminds me so much of those little Russian ballerinas who are put on pointe when they are 8 already....and can do ballet variations on pointe by the time they are 12 and everybody claps and finds it amazing. I haven't seen many of them actually manage to become adult dancers...those bodies are fragile, bones and muscles need to form before you start going on pointe.

Good for Akatieva as it must be thrilling to be able to land jumps that some men can't do, but does she really need a 4-3 at 11 years old? What is she planning to do? Change her passport and go to worlds next year and win with her jumps? What's the point really? Scare the opponents?

Same reason Gogoliev has quads at 13 or Liu had a 3A by age 12.

 

[Bigbird]

Strange Article About Soloviev and Bobrova

I get the feeling that there is little enthusiasm in certain important circles for a Soloviev Ilinykh pairing as such Ilinykh may have stepped aside. Is this article aimed at putting public pressure on Bobrova to make a decision about her career? Why is this approach necessary, isn't Dima allowed to make a decision independent of his partner as Katsalapov was able to do? It is a rather odd piece of journalism.

 

[hanca]

Strange Article About Soloviev and Bobrova

I get the feeling that there is little enthusiasm in certain important circles for a Soloviev Ilinykh pairing as such Ilinykh may have stepped aside. Is this article aimed at putting public pressure on Bobrova to make a decision about her career? Why is this approach necessary, isn't Dima allowed to make a decision independent of his partner as Katsalapov was able to do? It is a rather odd piece of journalism.

Considering that Ilynikh has not competed for a few years, and Bobrova also had a break, and I think the other Russian dancers improved in the meantime quite a lot, I wouldn’t be surprised if Sinitsina/Katsalapov and Stepanova/Bukin were already much better that Ilynikh/Soloviev or Bobrova/Soloviev.

 

[mjb52]

With young teams in 2nd and 4th at the recent Worlds and another young team having recently made the GPF (I think? Didn't Zahorski/Guerrero make the GPF last year?), there may be some anxiety about shaking things up just when things finally seem to be gelling for Russian ice dance after such a long drought, which I think is understandable.

BTW, I have been way behind and only just now watched the RDs from Worlds and I think S/K should have been way closer if not ahead of P/C in that part of the competition.

 

[Dobre]

With young teams in 2nd and 4th at the recent Worlds and another young team having recently made the GPF (I think? Didn't Zahorski/Guerrero make the GPF last year?)

They made it this season (technically last year as it was December). GPF qualifying will be a very different battle this coming year with deeper & likely more balance fields, assuming Weaver & Poje, Chock & Bates, and Papadakis & Cizeron all skate two events on the GP. But qualifying three teams to the GPF is a huge achievement certainly.

Personally, I suspect that if there is real news about Soloviev and anyone competing, we'll know it. (Zhulin would probably blast it from the rooftops).

 

[Perky Shae Lynn]

This reminds me so much of those little Russian ballerinas who are put on pointe when they are 8 already....and can do ballet variations on pointe by the time they are 12 and everybody claps and finds it amazing. I haven't seen many of them actually manage to become adult dancers...those bodies are fragile, bones and muscles need to form before you start going on pointe.

Good for Akatieva as it must be thrilling to be able to land jumps that some men can't do, but does she really need a 4-3 at 11 years old? What is she planning to do? Change her passport and go to worlds next year and win with her jumps? What's the point really? Scare the opponents?

She needs it, I guess, to stand out. Because the competition is so brutal in Russia. Not every coach, parent and skater has the patience of Samodurova / Mishin. I expect all these extreme jumpers to be out of the sport by 16 - 17 y.o. The bodies just can't hold up. Hip and back issues will do these kids in.

 

[Bigbird]

Fair play is always a good thing. Just saying.

 

[Mad for Skating]

I have a feeling Bobrova isn’t coming back. She seems so happy being a mom-to-be and I think she just wants to retire and have a beautiful family. Ilinykh is the only suitable option for Soloviev if he wants to continue. Personally, I’d love it.

 

[Mad for Skating]

I made a cheer thread for Stolbova and Novoselov: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...selov-cheer-thread-morticia’s-revenge.105465/

Paging @rfisher and @Ka3sha!

 

[Tinami Amori]

I have a feeling Bobrova isn’t coming back. She seems so happy being a mom-to-be and I think she just wants to retire and have a beautiful family. Ilinykh is the only suitable option for Soloviev if he wants to continue. Personally, I’d love it.

On russian chats few days ago there was a discussion about Ilin/Sol partnership prospects. Some "insiders" said that there was an "issue" between the skater/s and Zhulin/Navka (Navka is helping him, with some projects, so she has a say in it too). don't know how correct it is. but it was said.

 

[aemeraldrainc]

On russian chats few days ago there was a discussion about Ilin/Sol partnership prospects. Some "insiders" said that there was an "issue" between the skater/s and Zhulin/Navka (Navka is helping him, with some projects, so she has a say in it too). don't know how correct it is. but it was said.

Hmm, I wonder what kind of “issue”(if true).

 

[Rina RUS]

don't know how correct it is.

Maybe rain, maybe snow...
Maybe was, maybe no...

 

[Tinami Amori]

Hmm, I wonder what kind of “issue”(if true).

I do not follow Elena on social media, but i see that she still has devoted fans, who follow her every move, in hope to learn she is returning to skating and found a partner. Elena has some open, and some "by subscription only" social media accounts and posts enough fotos and information to keep hopes up, or at least the interest about her plans.

Week before last she posted fotos from a private dinner after the "BraVo Awards", with John Travolta and 2nd foto with his daughter.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvRGcI4j-50/

Last week she posted info about traveling to Munchen to see the ballet "Spartak", and is said to be invited by the infamous and controversial ballet dancer Sergey Polynin
https://www.binoculars-travel.ru/sergej-polunin-spartak-bavarskaya-opera-2019/
https://a.radikal.ru/a37/1903/1b/5278c4e7ee99.jpg
https://a.radikal.ru/a35/1903/f8/a8d333aa5814.jpg

Then she posted a foto with Dmitry Solviev practicing a lift, from Aeroflot Terminal in Moscow..
https://www.instagram.com/p/BveZ3lODAXH/

And now she is posting from Qatar where she is "rehearsing" something for the "Love Ball Arabia" event in Doha.
https://c.radikal.ru/c20/1903/3e/32f3c38dc64e.jpg
https://i.servimg.com/u/f61/19/85/83/54/blacks14.jpg

... and every fan of her knows "something extra"... and they are sharing it.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I actually think Z/E could be a very cool pair, but they need programs that are unique without being dorky (aka the Alexander Nevsky SP). I could even see them doing goth rock like Evanescence, Natalia has that intense, dark beauty for it.

The Alexander Nevsky music is amazing. But of course it is being composed by a master like Prokofiev Problem with that program was Mozer and her once again highly questionable packaging. She disgracefully made brilliant music look tacky and gimmicky

I think that music and all its drama and power would have looked brilliant with T/M's glorious skating skills. It should have gone to them!

 

[hanca]

Older age nationals are taking place this week. I hope we will be able to watch it. A good opportunity to see some of the Russian ladies that will become junior eligible next season.

Russian junior pairs also will have a few slots open for next seasons’ JGP because a few junior pairs have split up or aged out, so we may see some of the new talents coming through.

 

[taz'smum]

I'd love to see Elena back in competitive skating as she is one of the most talented female skaters ever.
However it would be a long shot for Ilinykh/Soloviev to become a competitive team.

It takes a good 3 years for a team to gel properly and to build an ISU ranking.
They have a slight head start having already skated together in shows, but would need to be knuckling down to some serious hard training pretty soon, to have any chance of having programs ready for the test skates.
This doesn't appear likely, as Elena is clearly not even in Moscow.

Also Elena has been out of competitive skating for some time now, and it is difficult to return to the extreme discipline required after such a long time.

There would additionally be the problem of who would coach them, as they would not be coming back to play 2nd fiddle to S/K. I would doubt too, that Zhulin would be prepared to take them on given the history between Elena and Nikita.
If Elena could bury the hatchet, Morozov would be a great choice. Morozov is a genius when he puts his mind to it. If anyone could launch a new team straight to the top, it would be him!

There is also the fact that Soloviev is no spring chicken (almost 30) , and even Elena might feel that as she turns 25 this month, she is a little old to start again from scratch.

Another factor would be that they would have to play catch up to the 2 top Russian teams, who are now both firmly World medal contenders. That would be a tall order.

Though never say never, it would be so much fun if they did team up. Ice dance has certainly been less dramatic without Elena!

 

[Japanfan]

Finally, Sui Han did not suddenly become what they are. They went through their learning curve too.

Sui/Han naturally had the 'wow' factor. I first saw them at Skate America some years ago, when they performed their well-known cowboy/cowgirl routine.

I saw them on the concourse during intermission and wanted to tell them how much I enjoyed their program, but did not get a chance because there was a huge line-up of others wanting to do the same.

T/M don't have the 'wow' factor IMO. For me, they are largely vanilla and rather forgettable. I don't know what programs or packaging can change that.

 

[Ka3sha]

Alena Leonova is not retiring and has started preparations for the new season

(not a joke)

 

[mjb52]

If this is too nosy, just ignore it, and it's not meant to solicit gossip or speculation, I am just curious if Nikita ever gave an answer in a formal setting like a Q & A or an interview about why he split from Elena from his perspective. It seems like the kind of thing someone must have asked at some point but I can't remember ever seeing it.

 

[Bigbird]

I'd love to see Elena back in competitive skating as she is one of the most talented female skaters ever.
However it would be a long shot for Ilinykh/Soloviev to become a competitive team.

It takes a good 3 years for a team to gel properly and to build an ISU ranking.
They have a slight head start having already skated together in shows, but would need to be knuckling down to some serious hard training pretty soon, to have any chance of having programs ready for the test skates.
This doesn't appear likely, as Elena is clearly not even in Moscow.

Also Elena has been out of competitive skating for some time now, and it is difficult to return to the extreme discipline required after such a long time.

There would additionally be the problem of who would coach them, as they would not be coming back to play 2nd fiddle to S/K. I would doubt too, that Zhulin would be prepared to take them on given the history between Elena and Nikita.
If Elena could bury the hatchet, Morozov would be a great choice. Morozov is a genius when he puts his mind to it. If anyone could launch a new team straight to the top, it would be him!

There is also the fact that Soloviev is no spring chicken (almost 30) , and even Elena might feel that as she turns 25 this month, she is a little old to start again from scratch.

Another factor would be that they would have to play catch up to the 2 top Russian teams, who are now both firmly World medal contenders. That would be a tall order.

Though never say never, it would be so much fun if they did team up. Ice dance has certainly been less dramatic without Elena!

But does Morozov have stable training conditions? He seems to be a traveling nomad? Or is he now based in Russia training Stol/Nos? How could he train them as well as Weaver and Poje? It's sort of telling that in Russia nobody is able to train multiple elite athletes as say the Gadbois team.

I think also Nikita and Elena have both moved on from 2014. I think Lena's only issue is she wants that world medal that he lost for her in 2014. Soloviev seems to partner much better with her than Katsalapov based on show performances. He knows how to slow down and he knows how to use speed. Katsalapov likes to move at the speed of light and luckily for him Sinitsina is strong enough to follow him. I think K feels very comfortable with Sinitsina and her training with Soloviev would not be an issue.

They have three seasons so theoretically they could make a good run if given a chance. I hope they're able to resolve the coaching issues and make a go of it.

 

[Bigbird]

If this is too nosy, just ignore it, and it's not meant to solicit gossip or speculation, I am just curious if Nikita ever gave an answer in a formal setting like a Q & A or an interview about why he split from Elena from his perspective. It seems like the kind of thing someone must have asked at some point but I can't remember ever seeing it.

He mentioned it in interviews many times.

1. He thought figure skating was not the most important thing in her life. (He and Victoria practically live at their rink, Lena on the other hand is comfortable with calling it quits after a 8 -10 hr day, for example)
2. She was too unpredictable and prone to error

But I think in general he just wasn't comfortable skating with her as he is a purist, a classical skater and I think she has different views on things that he was uncomfortable with.

 

[Ka3sha]

If this is too nosy, just ignore it, and it's not meant to solicit gossip or speculation, I am just curious if Nikita ever gave an answer in a formal setting like a Q & A or an interview about why he split from Elena from his perspective. It seems like the kind of thing someone must have asked at some point but I can't remember ever seeing it.

I don’t remember any Nikita’s interviews / answers about the break-up. They moved to Canton and deliberately avoided all journalists and interviewers.

There was an interview for German Piruette with Victoria, Nikita and Zueva, in which Marina said something about Elena being prone to mistakes or something like this

 

[hanca]

I'd love to see Elena back in competitive skating as she is one of the most talented female skaters ever.
However it would be a long shot for Ilinykh/Soloviev to become a competitive team.

It takes a good 3 years for a team to gel properly and to build an ISU ranking.
They have a slight head start having already skated together in shows, but would need to be knuckling down to some serious hard training pretty soon, to have any chance of having programs ready for the test skates.
This doesn't appear likely, as Elena is clearly not even in Moscow.

Also Elena has been out of competitive skating for some time now, and it is difficult to return to the extreme discipline required after such a long time.

There would additionally be the problem of who would coach them, as they would not be coming back to play 2nd fiddle to S/K. I would doubt too, that Zhulin would be prepared to take them on given the history between Elena and Nikita.
If Elena could bury the hatchet, Morozov would be a great choice. Morozov is a genius when he puts his mind to it. If anyone could launch a new team straight to the top, it would be him!

There is also the fact that Soloviev is no spring chicken (almost 30) , and even Elena might feel that as she turns 25 this month, she is a little old to start again from scratch.

Another factor would be that they would have to play catch up to the 2 top Russian teams, who are now both firmly World medal contenders. That would be a tall order.

Though never say never, it would be so much fun if they did team up. Ice dance has certainly been less dramatic without Elena!

I agree that Morozov is very talented and skilled in creating a program that hide many weaknesses, but I don’t think her being coached by Morozov is an option. It wouldn’t be her who has to bury the hatchet, it would be Morozov who would need to bury the hatchet because if I recall correctly, she dumped him. So he is likely to have negative feelings against her. Morozov isn’t a very forgiving person. I remember him starting to coach Joubert because Amodio left him and he immediately had a strong urge to help Amodio’s direct competitor. (He got involved a bit too late so it didn’t really helped Joubert much, but I thought it showed the way Morozov operates. Someone hurts him and he retaliate with force).
And I can’t imagine the atmosphere at the rink - Morozov coaching his current partner Stolbova to launch a new pair team, and at the same time coaching his ex to launch a new ice dance team? I wonder how the dynamics between Stolbova and Ilynikh would work...

 

[Bigbird]

I agree that Morozov is very talented and skilled in creating a program that hide many weaknesses, but I don’t think her being coached by Morozov is an option. It wouldn’t be her who has to bury the hatchet, it would be Morozov who would need to bury the hatchet because if I recall correctly, she dumped him. So he is likely to have negative feelings against her. Morozov isn’t a very forgiving person. I remember him starting to coach Joubert because Amodio left him and he immediately had a strong urge to help Amodio’s direct competitor. (He got involved a bit too late so it didn’t really helped Joubert much, but I thought it showed the way Morozov operates. Someone hurts him and he retaliate with force).
And I can’t imagine the atmosphere at the rink - Morozov coaching his current partner Stolbova to launch a new pair team, and at the same time coaching his ex to launch a new ice dance team? I wonder how the dynamics between Stolbova and Ilynikh would work...

Funnily enough I have a feeling they would like each other. Elena might even give her pointers for stringing the old guy along . He is such old news to her, which is probably the reason he wouldn't want to train her.

 

[hanca]

Funnily enough I have a feeling they would like each other. Elena might even give her pointers for stringing the old guy along . He is such old news to her, which is probably the reason he wouldn't want to train her.

I don’t think they would like each other. Even though they wouldn’t be direct competitors because each of them is in different discipline, to launch a new team (especially in ice dance) takes a lot of time. In pairs if the team has consistent elements (with a decent level of difficulty), the team will be alright. In ice dance it takes hours and hours working on every tiny details to get the team gel. So they would be ‘fighting’ for his time and attention. Everyone saw the results Morozov achieved with Davankova within a year, but I don’t think people fully appreciate how much time he must have put into it.

 

[lala]

Alena Leonova is not retiring and has started preparations for the new season

(not a joke)

Fumie Suguri II.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Technically, a skater or team can make their way to the penultimate starting group for the Olympics in two years plus Olympics Fall, because only two years of points count.* They'd pretty much need to hit the ground running with intense focus and/or skater-whisperer coaching in their first season, racking up senior B points in early summer and middle of GP/Middle of Nowhere Cup Senior B's, and only if the Split Couple rules, for placing 1-6, which are not in the GP Announcement are the same as Comeback rules, in which case both of Ilinykh and Soliviev would qualify for two. At GP, a first group start wouldn't be fatal, and those starter points, needed for their second championship season, would be replaced by Olympic season GP points.

A first season early start at Euros where depth is at the top, would garner championship points, which might be a wash if they made Worlds first season.

There's a lot of maximizing they could do if:
a. They are laser-focused and disciplined**
b. They start at close-to-mid-season form
c. They are healthy for three years
d. They are on the same page
e. They get a few breaks, like depleted GP fields or the right line-up of judges.

*Shen/Zhao were such outliers starting 1st in the SP in Vancouver as unranked skaters, I'm surprised anyone can find their data point.

**This is Ilinykh were talking about, even if Morozov were in the mix. One Hail Mary season of alchemy after two "So brilliant, but if they'd only not made this or that mistake" seasons, plus capitalizing on a split internal politik, maybe. From scratch, I don't see them lasting long.

Plus, she doesn't seem to have the kind of animus to want to prove anything or slay anyone.

So, I agree, no.

 

[zebraswan]

There is no way in hell that Elena and Dima would be willing to move to Perm to work with both of their exes (did you all forget that Ksenia and Dima were a couple)? I don't see any sense of urgency from them as far as competing is concerned anyway...yeah, I don't think it's happening.

 

[hanca]

There is no way in hell that Elena and Dima would be willing to move to Perm to work with both of their exes (did you all forget that Ksenia and Dima were a couple)? I don't see any sense of urgency from them as far as competing is concerned anyway...yeah, I don't think it's happening.

It’s a small world.

 

[Vash01]

Stolbova and Morozov? Since when? What happened to his young bride Vasilisa Davankova?