Alena Kostornaia appreciation thread

[Vash01]

A question, is it Alena or Alyona. I'm hearing and reading both and I'm confused.

I thought you knew. It just depends on how the skater wishes to spell it.

In Cyrillic it is the e with two dots on it. So it is pronounced like Yo (hence Alyona or Aliona, while writing in English). The other e is pronounced like Ye (Elena is Yelena) in some cases. In English it depends on how they choose to spell it in English if it is the e with two dots. They may use just a regular e instead of how it sounds. I would like them to spell the way it sounds, to avoid confusion.

 

[MR-FAN]

She is exquisite, and her arms are to die for! Buuut, Eteri needs to recognize she is too special to be given the same frantic choreography and 10-positions-a-second moves that she gives her other students. It’s amazing that her elegance shines through DESPITE the choreography

Also her SP is miles better than her LP

 

[Amantide]

I thought you knew. It just depends on how the skater wishes to spell it.

In Cyrillic it is the e with two dots on it. So it is pronounced like Yo (hence Alyona or Aliona, while writing in English). The other e is pronounced like Ye (Elena is Yelena) in some cases. In English it depends on how they choose to spell it in English if it is the e with two dots. They may use just a regular e instead of how it sounds. I would like them to spell the way it sounds, to avoid confusion.

Alyona, Aljona, Aliona, yes. But in this case sounds different to me because of the "e", and I thought these were two different names. On top of that, the announcer in the arena called her "Alyona", while the commentator called her Alena, and I got more confused.

 

[briancoogaert]

Алёна Косторная in russian
ë is "io" in russian.
So, her name is supposed to be pronounced Aliona.

 

[muffinplus]

Kostornaia's spirals:

https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/alenakostornaia/2306370.html

 

[rosewood]

Kostornaia's spirals:

https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/alenakostornaia/2306370.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otIbj_Ro0pM

 

[kwanatic]

She is exquisite, and her arms are to die for! Buuut, Eteri needs to recognize she is too special to be given the same frantic choreography and 10-positions-a-second moves that she gives her other students. It’s amazing that her elegance shines through DESPITE the choreography

Also her SP is miles better than her LP

Agree 100%. It's amazing that despite all of the clutter she's able to find moments to hold/extend a move and make it beautiful. I feel like she would give me happy piddles of joy if she were to get a program from Tom Dickson or Lori Nichol. I know Lori isn't everyone's cuppa but I feel like Alena's style and movement would inspire Lori and they could come up with something beautiful. Or even if the program isn't that great Alena would be able to bring that something special to it to make it shine. Hell, look what she did with Eteri's choreo...

I think Alena and Anastasiia Gubanova are Russia's two most elegant skaters. I love watching both of them skate

 

[VGThuy]

I haven't see too much of her, but from what I have seen, I am a huge fan. I think she'll be the first Eteri skater I'll be actively rooting for. I do wish if she was going to do split jumps and spirals, she'd work on extending them more and hold them longer, but given the circumstances and the fact no lady really holds out these moves or extends them, this is the best we can ask for.

 

[annie_mg]

I haven't see too much of her, but from what I have seen, I am a huge fan. I think she'll be the first Eteri skater I'll be actively rooting for. I do wish if she was going to do split jumps and spirals, she'd work on extending them more and hold them longer, but given the circumstances and the fact no lady really holds out these moves or extends them, this is the best we can ask for.

Unfortunately I don't think extension and holding a move is part of the Eteri camp vocabulary. Personally, it's one of the things I can't stand about the Russian girls' programmes. But Kostornaia somehow makes them work. I hope to see her skate another choreographer's programmes one day (one can dream, no?)

 

[muffinplus]

I don't think her programs are as bad as some people.last year's long and short were both great in my opinion... I like this year's short a lot as well

 

[wickedwitch]

Bringing this thread back up for Alena's senior debut tomorrow!

 

[muffinplus]

3 axel is back!

 

[rfisher]

3 axel is back!

And back with a vengeance. It looks easy. ((((Tuk)))) She's already had to compete against Scherbakova and now Kostornaia who has an equal arsenal of jumps, but far superior spins and skating skills.

 

[Sylvia]

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

 

[Sylvia]

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

 

[Hanna]

 

[Vash01]

Watching (on video) her SP at the Finlandia, it felt like Heaven! She just flows across the ice, while landing difficult jumps and expressing the music. Perfection! I was lucky enough to see her skate live last year at the JGPF.

 

[Finsta]

How is this girl not Russian Champion? Give time. She will be. She’s the most talented of Eteri’s. Not like the others that jump only. She has actual skating. Amazing talent

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

Had she not fallen during her footwork in her SP she would have won Russian Nationals this year.

 

[Seerek]

"This young lady gets it & is a breath of fresh air"

 

[Marco]

She was breathtaking to watch but she needs to watch those hops she does after jump landings. Kinda annoying.

 

[Amantide]

I don't like her free program tbh (love the SP). I think she deserve so much more, but she's stunning and can sell anything. If she can put a 3A in the short as well, I think she's a winner. Just a beauty to watch.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

A breath of fresh air in typicallly overly-busy programs. She's scoring based on the quality, not how muh she can wiggle her foot around in the step sequence. Too bad she can't work with someone like Lori Nichol who works best with classic-type skaters. Definately a possibility for WC podium finish.

 

[mjb52]

I like Daniil G a lot better than most other posters here I feel but I do think Eteri has a lot of skaters for him to be doing all the programs. Is he doing literally everything or do they have other choreographers?

 

[Finsta]

Her interview after she was humble. Great skater and very kind. Good combination. I really like her skating. Hoping for a good season. She will be Eteri’s next star. Her skating is worlds better than the other eteri girls

 

[wickedwitch]

I don't love her LP, but she clearly does, and that's far more important. And the judges are pretty clearly willing to give her solid PCS for it.

 

[MarieM]

The only russian ladies with skating skills to speak of.

 

[rfisher]

The only russian ladies with skating skills to speak of.

Who needs skills when you command dragons? J/K . I do think she and Trusova are looking good for the Russian Euro/World team, albeit it is early. The third spot is going to be a knockdown drag out fight among four contenders.

 

[Vash01]

The only russian ladies with skating skills to speak of.

That's a bit harsh. Others are not terrible; just not as good as the Japanese, but the Japanese have always had great basic skating skills. Also Zhenya Tarasova has great skating skills (she is a lady too), and a bunch of pairs and ice dance ladies. Just because they can jump doesn't mean their skating skills are zero.

 

[Vash01]

Kostornaia may be the only Russian lady who is universally liked on fsuniverse.