Anna Pogorilaya - Her future prospects?

[AxelAnnie]

Anna did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown, followed by soap opera style drama on the ice. I would not give her an Olympic spot. She skated well all season long, and was set up to medal, and she crashed and burned..........badly.

She is a stunningly beautiful woman. She won two GP events last year, but other than that, her results are pretty scattered. I think she has some business to get done with herself before she is chosen to go to OLYs.

 

[Spun Silver]

Anna did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown, followed by soap opera style drama on the ice. I would not give her an Olympic spot. She skated well all season long, and was set up to medal, and she crashed and burned..........badly.

She is a stunningly beautiful woman. She won two GP events last year, but other than that, her results are pretty scattered. I think she has some business to get done with herself before she is chosen to go to OLYs.

She does... but I am hoping she does it in the next couple of months and comes out blazing in the fall so there's no way they can imagine the team without her!

 

[manhn]

Two words: Lu Chen.

 

[Vagabond]

Anna did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown

At the 1993 World Championships, Nancy Kerrigan did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown. She didn't even compete at Nationals the following season. Nevertheless, her Federation had faith that she was worthy of an Olympic berth and sent her to Lillehammer, where she earned a silver medal and might have earned a gold one instead if Jan Hoffmann hadn't had more important things to do than watch her skate.

 

[Spun Silver]

^ That is encouraging, as is the Lu Chen example, but I doubt either China or the US had the Hunger Games situation of Russian ladies. Pogo has reason to worry... but hopefully she will prevail.

 

[Vash01]

The competitive situation in Russia is a double edged sword. It prepares their ladies to skate their best every time, and in most cases they do well internationally. The bad side is that many talented ladies don't even get a chance to go to worlds. When Carolina was struggling, she didn't have to worry about not making the worlds team.

 

[Vagabond]

The USFSA didn't have its skaters actually fight to the death back in 1994, but there was some assault and battery, IIRC.

 

[AxelAnnie]

At the 1993 World Championships, Nancy Kerrigan did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown. She didn't even compete at Nationals the following season. Nevertheless, her Federation had faith that she was worthy of an Olympic berth and sent her to Lillehammer, where she earned a silver medal and might have earned a gold one instead if Jan Hoffmann hadn't had more important things to do than watch her skate.

Well, she did have a Bronze OLM from 1992. That is some heavy oomph.

I just re-watched her 1993 Worlds Championship FS. It was a horrible skate, but I wouldn't call it an epic meltdown. She never hit the ice. She should not have been miked in the KnC - that was just mean.

 

[pinky166]

Anna did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown, followed by soap opera style drama on the ice. I would not give her an Olympic spot. She skated well all season long, and was set up to medal, and she crashed and burned..........badly.

She is a stunningly beautiful woman. She won two GP events last year, but other than that, her results are pretty scattered. I think she has some business to get done with herself before she is chosen to go to OLYs.

I can think of a handful of other skaters who had epic meltdowns and then went on to win World and Olympic medals.

Carolina Kostner (she had many meltdowns, ones worse than Anna has ever had, at Worlds and Olympics, but then she came back and became a World Champion and Olympic medalist)

Mao Asada (again, not a one time thing, and leading up to the 2010 Olympics she was really quite a mess, then she went on to win Olympic silver and the world title right after)

Miki Ando (remember the 2006 Olympics? And how she was on fire the entire next season, which culminated in the world title)

Joannie Rochette (complete meltdown at the 2009 GPF months before winning Olympic bronze)

Adelina Sotnikova (she too had a meltdown at the GPF months before she won Olympic gold)

Alissa Czisny (no World medals, but plenty of meltdowns prior to her 2 most successful seasons ever)

In other words, Anna is in good company. She proved this season that she knows how to compete. She had one bad program the entire season, while it's unfortunate it happened at Worlds it's still one bad program against about a dozen consecutive good ones.

I personally hope she can bounce back from this and doesn't give up. I see it as an unfortunate occurrence, not the end of the world.

 

[IceAlisa]

None of which would matter if Zagitova maintains her momentum. It's going to be very crowded at the top for the Russian ladies. The fed will be looking for an excuse to cull.

 

[Spun Silver]

Yeah, this could be magical timing for Zagitova. I have a feeling she will have another great season.

 

[pinky166]

Yeah, this could be magical timing for Zagitova. I have a feeling she will have another great season.

Agreed, but there are 3 spots on the team. Med, Zagitova, and?

There doesn't seem to be a clear 3rd lady right now. If consistency is most important then maybe Sotskova. Otherwise, there are about a half dozen other girls in the mix

 

[PashaFan]

I can think of a handful of other skaters who had epic meltdowns and then went on to win World and Olympic medals.

Carolina Kostner (she had many meltdowns, ones worse than Anna has ever had, at Worlds and Olympics, but then she came back and became a World Champion and Olympic medalist)

Mao Asada (again, not a one time thing, and leading up to the 2010 Olympics she was really quite a mess, then she went on to win Olympic silver and the world title right after)

Miki Ando (remember the 2006 Olympics? And how she was on fire the entire next season, which culminated in the world title)

Joannie Rochette (complete meltdown at the 2009 GPF months before winning Olympic bronze)

Adelina Sotnikova (she too had a meltdown at the GPF months before she won Olympic gold)

Alissa Czisny (no World medals, but plenty of meltdowns prior to her 2 most successful seasons ever)

In other words, Anna is in good company. She proved this season that she knows how to compete. She had one bad program the entire season, while it's unfortunate it happened at Worlds it's still one bad program against about a dozen consecutive good ones.

I personally hope she can bounce back from this and doesn't give up. I see it as an unfortunate occurrence, not the end of the world.

Also, add Michelle Kwan's meltdown at the 97' Nationals. Yet the following season she was amazing.
Some people will do anything to put down a skater. It amazes me why some even watch skating. My friend showed me another site that was saying such disgusting things about Medvedeva. I really hope skaters never see these things.

 

[PashaFan]

Anna did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown, followed by soap opera style drama on the ice. I would not give her an Olympic spot. She skated well all season long, and was set up to medal, and she crashed and burned..........badly.

She is a stunningly beautiful woman. She won two GP events last year, but other than that, her results are pretty scattered. I think she has some business to get done with herself before she is chosen to go to OLYs.

Osmond had an epic meltdown at the 2015 Skate Canada yet has come back this season to produce her best form. Anna did not just win two GP events, she also won a medal at the GPF & Euros & was also stunning at last years Worlds. Only Medvedeva has been more consistent. Let's all be thankful that you DON'T select who get's to go to the Olympics..............

 

[Marco]

Agreed, but there are 3 spots on the team. Med, Zagitova, and?

There doesn't seem to be a clear 3rd lady right now. If consistency is most important then maybe Sotskova. Otherwise, there are about a half dozen other girls in the mix

Sotskova made 2 costly mistakes in the free at both Euros and Worlds. She isn't more consistent than the other Russian girls. Pog has been clean all through the season until the Worlds free. When it's averaged out, they are all quite similar.

 

[becca]

The problem for Anna is Russia has a lot of other girls now. So it's different if Italy had more girls Kostner would have been dropped.

Who else did the USFSA have but Nancy. Tonya and Nicole were not a picture of consistency and Michelle was 13.

I seem to recall Anna having mistakes at Euros??? Looking at protocol if she did minor.

I would be surprised it's not the mistake that has them concerned but the meltdown after the mistake. I do think everyone can have an off day. But if you are going to have an off day you don't want it at Worlds.

 

[AxelAnnie]

Japan is a perfect example of what you are talking about, Becca. Mao did not get to go to Worlds. With all her credentials, she did not make the cut in a deep field.

 

[pinky166]

Japan is a perfect example of what you are talking about, Becca. Mao did not get to go to Worlds. With all her credentials, she did not make the cut in a deep field.

Yeah this year. In other seasons she had very rough skates but then did make the teams by skating well at Nationals when it mattered. I remember there was talk leading up to the 2010 Olympics that Mao might get left off the team.

Yes, the Carolina situation is different. For girls from USA or Japan it's not so different.

The one upside to the Russia Hunger Games situation is that the Fed seems to place the most value on recent success. In other words, leaving Lipnitskaya off the 2015 Euros & Worlds teams & Tuk off those teams in 2016 because they weren't skating well and other girls were.

So basically, I think what a skater has done in the past is not that important. So if Zagitova is suddenly a mess next season (which I don't expect but could certainly happen) and someone like Tuk has good results and is doing the 3a in competitions, then I could see Tuk making the team and Zagitova being left off.

Anna & Maria's Worlds results won't help their chances for next season, but I'm not convinced they will really hurt them either. Basically every girl at Russian Nationals is doing the same elements, and a handful of them have World (or Olympic) medals, so recent performance is the easiest way to separate them all.

 

[Areski]

If she did have an injury, then I feel bad for her, having to skate through pain and enduring that horror yesterday. It's like an awful repeat of Worlds 2015 for her. Well, I hope she can come back from this, and that the Russian Fed is not unkind to her. She is a fighter, for sure. I didn't like her skating when she first started as a senior, but I've become a fan this past year. She has lovely speed on the ice and is really starting to show genuine musicality in her programs, as well as improved line. Really, everything about her skating has improved so much since 2014. I hope this Worlds doesn't disturb the upward track she's been on.

She's one of the few skating Russians whose jumps & overall skating actually improved after growing spurts & reaching maturity (meltdowns notwithstanding), what a shame that this horror had to happen in the most important event of the season, that was one of the most heartbreaking things that I ever witnessed in sport. She's also the only who made Russian team for both Europeans & Worlds every year since 2014 which is remarkable itself given how deep the field is there. Various disappointments did not stop her. If she has similar good results again like she did this season (bar this one unfortunate, disastrous LP that resulted in distant place) she's making the Olympic team. The only ''lock'' is Medvedeva. Actually this season was very successful for Pogorilaya, the only time she left the podium internationally was in Helsinki.

Anna is my favourite Russian lady since 2016 so I believe she can pull herself together again. Rise like a Phoenix!

 

[Spun Silver]

I dont know if it has already been discussed, but someone on fs-gossips.com made this comment:

I read in Vatsekhovskaya’s blog that this season Anna Pogorilaya and her coach had such approach to trainings and run throughs: every time Anna did a mistake, the music was stopped and she started from the beginning. They tried to achieve consistency like that. So when Anna did her first mistake in the free program she didn’t know whta to do next. If it’s true (and I have no reason not to trust Vaitsekhovskaya’s word), it was absolutely stupid. Because the first thing that every coach tries to teach his skater not to give up and fight till the end of the program, to finish the program no matter how many mistakes a skater did. So I have no words….

The woman who writes that blog is not optimistic about Anna making the Olympic team after the Worlds fiasco. Hopefully she does not speak for the skating gods, of either Russia or the universe.

 

[Vash01]

Agreed, but there are 3 spots on the team. Med, Zagitova, and?

There doesn't seem to be a clear 3rd lady right now. If consistency is most important then maybe Sotskova. Otherwise, there are about a half dozen other girls in the mix

Tsurskaya if she is healthy.

 

[attyfan]

Two words: Lu Chen.

IIRC, Shizuka Arakawa also had a bad year between winning her world title and winning her OGM.

 

[rfisher]

Anna did not just have a bad skate....she had an epic meltdown, followed by soap opera style drama on the ice. I would not give her an Olympic spot. She skated well all season long, and was set up to medal, and she crashed and burned..........badly.

She is a stunningly beautiful woman. She won two GP events last year, but other than that, her results are pretty scattered. I think she has some business to get done with herself before she is chosen to go to OLYs.

Given the Olympics are a year away, declaring who should and shouldn't have a spot now is a bit premature. Anything can happen. Pogo is the ONLY Russian lady to make the World team 4 years in a row.

 

[AxelAnnie]

^^^^what is the fun in that?

 

[hanca]

Given the Olympics are a year away, declaring who should and shouldn't have a spot now is a bit premature. Anything can happen. Pogo is the ONLY Russian lady to make the World team 4 years in a row.

She is also the lady with two lowest placements at worlds. 13th and 13th. None of the current top ladies managed to go as low as that.

Saying that I do think that whatever happened this season should not (and will not) have any impact on the selection for Olympics and worlds next season. As long as she is consistent and keeps getting decent scores like this season, she has a pretty good chance.

 

[topaz]

I can think of a handful of other skaters who had epic meltdowns and then went on to win World and Olympic medals.

Carolina Kostner (she had many meltdowns, ones worse than Anna has ever had, at Worlds and Olympics, but then she came back and became a World Champion and Olympic medalist)

Mao Asada (again, not a one time thing, and leading up to the 2010 Olympics she was really quite a mess, then she went on to win Olympic silver and the world title right after)

Miki Ando (remember the 2006 Olympics? And how she was on fire the entire next season, which culminated in the world title)

Joannie Rochette (complete meltdown at the 2009 GPF months before winning Olympic bronze)

Adelina Sotnikova (she too had a meltdown at the GPF months before she won Olympic gold)

Alissa Czisny (no World medals, but plenty of meltdowns prior to her 2 most successful seasons ever)

In other words, Anna is in good company. She proved this season that she knows how to compete. She had one bad program the entire season, while it's unfortunate it happened at Worlds it's still one bad program against about a dozen consecutive good ones.

I personally hope she can bounce back from this and doesn't give up. I see it as an unfortunate occurrence, not the end of the world.

Amen Sister/Mister. I am not giving up on Anna yet.

Alina Z may grow 2 or 3 inches over the summer .....

She'll just have to prove herself and get on the team. She could always skate for Kaz.

 

[Jammers]

Amen Sister/Mister. I am not giving up on Anna yet.

Alina Z may grow 2 or 3 inches over the summer .....

She'll just have to prove hersel and get on the team. She could always skate for Kaz.

Yeah i don't get all this love for Alina. She's had one year on the JGP and that's it for her competitive history. She's all legs right now meaning she could grow 3-4 inches over the next 6 months and then where will she be with her jumps? Even skaters who keep their jumps after puberty have a year or so of struggling before they regain them.

 

[topaz]

Yeah i don't get all this love for Alina. She's had one year on the JGP and that's it for her competitive history. She's all legs right now meaning she could grow 3-4 inches over the next 6 months and then where will she be with her jumps? Even skaters who keep their jumps after puberty have a year or so of struggling before they regain them.

I think Alina has promise but I am not as "wowed" by her as I was of Adelina nor Yulia. Her basics are not as good as Adelina's were. I'm am more appreciative of Polina T who skates with maturity already. I want the Russian ladies Olympic team to be Adelina, Evgenia and Anna.

 

[IceAlisa]

I am not wowed by Alina either but the judges are.

 

[bardtoob]

I am ridiculous, and want the Olympic Team to be Pogo, Tuk, and Lip.

However, chances are the Russian Federation will replace everybody, including Medvedeva, with three born exactly on the cut off date that have 3Lz-3Lp, 3F-3Lp, 4S-2T-2L, 4S, 3S, 3T, and 2A.