Are Evgenia & Alina the "Michelle & Tara" of 2018?

[pETEs (Sasha Fan)]

Just wondering about this National rivalry revival. The young and powerful vs. the younger and (even more) powerful. The ratified vs. the "up-and-coming". Would Alina winning over Evgenia be considered an Olympic upset? Just as the Tara win over Michelle is to many?

 

[bardtoob]

Possibly, although Tara had already won Worlds ... But Zagitova might win that in the Spring.

 

[Jammers]

More similarities. Michelle suffered a stress fracture that put her out of the GPF that Olympic season just like Evgenia this season.

 

[jenniferlyon]

Seems like it.

 

[Tinami Amori]

oh, but it is not the same.... Which ever wins this time (if one of them wins), the Russian tax payers still got their money's worth....

 

[Coco]

Insofar as that would mean Med is like Michelle, I would say no.

 

[Deleted member 40371]

Insofar as that would mean Med is like Michelle, I would say no.

I agree Med is far superior

 

[AxelAnnie]

Oh - so not the same. Michelle relied on her artistic score, and Tara on her Tech score to make the difference. Both Med and Zag are totally tech skaters.

 

[Marco]

Well, if the OGM is to be won by one of them, I hope Med wins it. Her style is far from my taste, but in my mind she is a far more complete skater.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Evgenia and Alina are nice technical skaters.

 

[shady82]

What a finessed SP from Alina, has she been training ballet since she could walk?? Why bother going to the Bolshoi to see Swan Lake after her CAPTIVATING SP? And not even 39+ for PCS, stingy judges.

In all seriousness, I observe that during the Olympic year, judges sometimes like to judge the favorite from previous years a bit less generously and close the margin between the favorite and another underdog. Perhaps to keep things interesting, and not necessarily because the underdog has improved so much. This was my observation with Chan and Hanyu in 2014. I in fact that both improved equally that season, so it did not make sense to me that Hanyu made such a huge score leap.

In the Kwan vs. Lipinski case, I think the score margin between Michelle and Tara had been larger throughout the year than between Evgenia and Alina this year. Only at Nagano did things shift.

 

[Amantide]

Would Alina winning over Evgenia be considered an Olympic upset? Just as the Tara win over Michelle is to many?

I think it would. I have never been a fan of Evgenia. I much prefer Zagitova, but I would feel for Evgenia if she doesn't win. She dominated the scene the last 4 years. Winning everything and breaking records. She managed to stay fit and healthy all these years, and it's really unfortunate that she had this injury so late in the Oly season.
I still think she can win this. If she skates clean as she used to.

 

[shine]

What a finessed SP from Alina, has she been training ballet since she could walk?? Why bother going to the Bolshoi to see Swan Lake after her CAPTIVATING SP? And not even 39+ for PCS, stingy judges.

Was this meant to be sarcasm? I seriously cannot tell.

 

[Vagabond]

This thread should have had a poll. Now, if your answer to the OP's question is yes, raise your hand.

 

[chapis]

What a finessed SP from Alina, has she been training ballet since she could walk?? Why bother going to the Bolshoi to see Swan Lake after her CAPTIVATING SP? And not even 39+ for PCS, stingy judges.

t.

Awww, so cute, her mom comes to comment here.

 

[ChiquitaBanana]

Awww, so cute, her mom comes to comment here.

Go back and read the second paragraph...

 

[Meoima]

I think it's 50/50

 

[ssminnow]

Michelle and even Tara were much more complete skaters than Evgenia and Alina currently are.

 

[floskate]

As skaters? Absolutely not, but in terms of scenario you can't deny the similarities in the way things are panning out. Tomorrow's free will be interesting that's for sure.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Zagitova definitely has momentum on her side.

Especially, with significant wins at the Grand Prix Final and her national championships.

It was good to see Medvedeva back on the ice, after her absence from both of the above events. However, she seemed very tentative (for her) during the short program.

Does anyone know how recently she returned to the ice after her cast was removed?

 

[berthesghost]

They'll have to finish a close 1,2 like Kwan and lipinski did. I never see anyone rehashing sotnikova over litniskaya (sorry for the misspellings) much. But already it has none of the 98 drama: Tara winning 97 nats and worlds, then Michelle winning 97 SA and 98 nats plus Tara losing Lalique to Hubert. It's telling that decades later we're still regularly rehashing 90s skating.

 

[skatingguy]

Does anyone know how recently she returned to the ice after her cast was removed?

My recollection is that she was back on the ice just before Russian Nationals, but I don't remember the exact date.

 

[shady82]

Was this meant to be sarcasm? I seriously cannot tell.

Of course I was serious, I would give Alina perfect 10 in skating skills!

I do consider Evgenia to be an artist, even if her style isn't everyone's cup of tea. Relative to Alina, she is certainly an artist. Her programs this year are a bit more generic, but her 2015-16 programs were lyrical in her own wistful, quirky way. Evgenia's main weakness is skating skills, but I thought she had some lovely programs.

 

[Areski]

Evgenia and Alina are nice technical skaters.

I am not sure whether it can be applied to Evgenia. Almost all her jumps are fundamentally flawed yet she gets super extra points like free candies as they always turn their blind eye to her because she's their poster girl that represents Russia. And don't even get me started on badly executed helicopter tano and questionable components.

 

[shady82]

I am not sure whether it can be applied to Evgenia. Almost all her jumps are fundamentally flawed yet she gets super extra points like free candies as they always turn their blind eye to her because she's their poster girl that represents Russia. And don't even get me started on badly executed helicopter tano and questionable components.

I think Evgenia developed favor over time because in 2016, she was a better skater than Radio, maintained her consistency in the following season, and generally doesn't get URs from judges. It would be satisfying to see her win gold though, to cap off a very successful quad.

With that said, there is probably less reason for judges to keep scoring her so well if the rising Russians stay consistent. Many of them (Trusova, Kostornaya) already do everything she and Zagitova do, and then some. Triple axels and quads might become more important in future programs. I’m already looking forward to the next quad because I literally like all the top junior girls, while I feel lukewarm about half the current top ladies. Looking forward to Kihira, Eunsoo Lim, Gubanova, and Konstantinova (not really a junior but has been competing on the JGP) next season. And then the Tutberidze juniors and Young You after that.

 

[Areski]

I think Evgenia developed favor over time because in 2016, she was a better skater than Radio, maintained her consistency in the following season, and generally doesn't get URs from judges. It would be satisfying to see her win gold though, to cap off a very successful quad.

With that said, there is probably less reason for judges to keep scoring her so well if the rising Russians stay consistent. Many of them (Trusova, Kostornaya) already do everything she and Zagitova do, and then some. Triple axels and quads might become more important in future programs. I’m already looking forward to the next quad because I literally like all the top junior girls, while I feel lukewarm about half the current top ladies. Looking forward to Kihira, Eunsoo Lim, Gubanova, and Konstantinova (not really a junior but has been competing on the JGP) next season. And then the Tutberidze juniors and Young You after that.

Also to Evgenia's credit - she literally never pops any jump

 

[manhn]

Oh, you mean like how Kaetlyn Osmond is better than Med/Zag and Lu Chen was better than Kwan/Lip? Now that you mention it....

 

[berthesghost]

Can we just stop pretending Med’s been around for an entire quad please. In that respect, she’s more like Lipinski than Kwan was, either time.

 

[Cachoo]

In terms of artistic grace I think I'd rather talk about Michelle and Carolina together over and above Med/Zag.

 

[Vash01]

In terms of artistic grace I think I'd rather talk about Michelle and Carolina together over and above Med/Zag.

If you compare Michelle and Evgenia at same age, they both are artistic, and complete packages.

If you compare either one with Carolina, it's no contest. Michelle and Evgenia beat her by a mile upto age 24.