From Russia with Love [#30]: If There Are Test Skate Videos, It Must Be Fall 2018

[Ananas Astra]

Have we finally found a way to time travel? This Yags vs Plush war is soooo 2001.

 

[feraina]

Sadly predictable. It's too bad she didn't recover from her injuries in time/wasn't in competition shape, because this season would be a great opportunity for her to come back, especially with the struggles of many of the other senior ladies.

I mean, I'd love to see Pogorilaya and Tuktamysheva together on a Worlds team again.

Do we think she'll attempt any kind of comeback next season? Since she's a 2016 World medalist, could she come back to the Grand Prix next season as a comeback skater?

I would love to see Pogorilaya skate again. She really had the "it" factor in spades when she matured into a young lady. I also can't help but root for Sotnikova, and keep hoping that she'll finally come back in a serious way. I wonder if seeing Tuktamysheva triumph this season has given her some inspiration, since they are really from the same "generation."

 

[love_skate2011]

I would love to see Pogorilaya skate again. She really had the "it" factor in spades when she matured into a young lady. I also can't help but root for Sotnikova, and keep hoping that she'll finally come back in a serious way. I wonder if seeing Tuktamysheva triumph this season has given her some inspiration, since they are really from the same "generation."

but Sotnikova has had so much injuries like back pain, she cant even do bellman spins anymore and her technical content wouldn't be competitive now, 3T-3T cmon.

 

[Rina RUS]

Have we finally found a way to time travel? This Yags vs Plush war is soooo 2001.

I never said things which I say now - even to Lala - but I don't like cloudy stories turned into "facts".

Я ненавижу сплетни в виде версий, Tinami Amori

(Sorry, that I speak Russian. This is just a good quote about cloudy stories.)

 

[Tinami Amori]

@Rina RUS
Let's continue in PM, if you like, we are annoying people i am sure at this point.

 

[Rina RUS]

@Rina RUS
Let's continue in PM, if you like, we are annoying people i am sure at this point.

If you think you should show me something important, you may do it, Tinami Amori. Up to you. Or you may just stop telling about "facts" which have nothing to do even with Evgeni's version.

 

[Tinami Amori]

If you think you should show me something important, you may do it, Tinami Amori. Up to you. Or you may just stop telling about "facts" which have nothing to do even with Evgeni's version.

I'll prepare a full presentation on the day when we have tea sometime.

 

[Holy Headband]

I find Medvedeva a more appealing athlete to root for, since she has shown some personality and values that I can really relate to and appreciate. The story of leaving behind the comfort and familiarity of ‘home’ to seek out a better lot for oneself in a foreign land is one most North Americans can relate to; the accompanying struggles, homesickness, misunderstanding by your compatriots, frustration and discomfort with a new and unfamiliar way of doing things, the doubts, the struggle, the sense of displacement, the courage... these are all very relatable human qualities and experiences for people who are immigrants themselves or have parents/grandparents who went through it.

I don’t think there’s anything necessarily anti-Russian in this.

As a foreigner who's lived in the US, I actually find Americans' projection of their national narratives about melting pots, bootstraps, immigration and the American dream onto any foreigner who crosses their path pretty offensive. The fact stuff like Piper Gillies's decision to represent Canada is never romanticised in the same way by American fans shows it's not a matter of responding to universally relatable tropes about displacement and perseverance as much as it is a tendency to seek out and root for foreigners who, in becoming Americanised, can confirm the diverse, welcoming image Americans have of their country, which is actually pretty condescending and alienating. See Mirai Nagasu and the ~immigrants get the job done~ stuff (which was made more offensive by the fact Nagasu is not actually an immigrant, but it would have still been pretty distasteful if she had been one). Canadians are similarly self-congratulatory about news stories about the token Syrian refugees they've taken in learning to play hockey and other such rot.

Anyway, the point is, I wouldn't go as far as to accuse anyone of being Russophobic over l'affaire Medvedeva, but there's definitely an undertone of 'look at this RELATABLE Russian girl who's coming over to our side of the world and learning our ways, which takes character and emotional complexity those other samey Russian skaters don't have.' It's like the only way to humanise a Russian skater in the eyes of the Anglophone public is to Westernise her (while of course reinforcing her Russian/immigrant identity so that her acquired Western characteristics may appear impressive and exceptional).

I don't think this is conscious or malicious, but it's there. I don't mean this as a personal attack on anyone, more an explanation of why certain ways of talking about Medvedeva can be bothersome for people from other cultures.

 

[Dobre]

I am an American and the product of many immigration stories. I am proud of it, and you may be as offended by that as you wish. I also spend much of my life working with 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. generation American immigrants of a multitude of backgrounds. It is very much a part of every day life. Don't presume to assume that we are all "projecting." There is, for sure, a mythology around American immigration that most people can dispute personally in one way or another. But there is also a personal reality.

 

[Holy Headband]

I'm not offended by your personal background at all.

 

[analia]

Medvedeva is in no way an immigrant. It's absurd to think she would live in Canada for a minute longer than her competitive career. North Americans, especially the ones on figure skating boards are sympathetic to Medvedeva the same way they are sympathetic to skaters like Jason Brown or Gracie Gold. It's not an anti-Russia bias, just the popular NA narrative du jour (at least from the so-called liberals) of "let's have empathy" and "it doesn't matter if you win as long as you are you". In comparison Alina's story is so last century - 15 year old jumping bean Olympic champion, been there, seen that, who cares. North Americans (especially Canadians) weren't nearly as nice about Medvedeva when she was pantomiming and winning everything.

Med does give a vibe of "mentally defecting from the Russian system" which I don't think she intends to. It just got framed that way by accident and bad timing. It's different from someone like Lubov Ilyshechkina who really was mentally defecting.

 

[TAHbKA]

WTF is this thread about???

 

[Rina RUS]

WTF is this thread about???

Slowly switching from old cloudy stories to new cloudy stories: "personal backgrounds", "summaries" and "generalizations".

 

[Tinami Amori]

Slowly switching from old cloudy stories to new cloudy stories: "personal backgrounds", "summaries" and "generalizations".

It is unwise to entice TAHbKA to fret over past events, her schedule is quite full with hourly occurrences.

 

[Mad for Skating]

CAN WE PLEASE GET BACK TO CURRENT RUSSIAN SKATING???

 

[barbarafan]

As a foreigner who's lived in the US, I actually find Americans' projection of their national narratives about melting pots, bootstraps, immigration and the American dream onto any foreigner who crosses their path pretty offensive. The fact stuff like Piper Gillies's decision to represent Canada is never romanticised in the same way by American fans shows it's not a matter of responding to universally relatable tropes about displacement and perseverance as much as it is a tendency to seek out and root for foreigners who, in becoming Americanised, can confirm the diverse, welcoming image Americans have of their country, which is actually pretty condescending and alienating. See Mirai Nagasu and the ~immigrants get the job done~ stuff (which was made more offensive by the fact Nagasu is not actually an immigrant, but it would have still been pretty distasteful if she had been one). Canadians are similarly self-congratulatory about news stories about the token Syrian refugees they've taken in learning to play hockey and other such rot.

Anyway, the point is, I wouldn't go as far as to accuse anyone of being Russophobic over l'affaire Medvedeva, but there's definitely an undertone of 'look at this RELATABLE Russian girl who's coming over to our side of the world and learning our ways, which takes character and emotional complexity those other samey Russian skaters don't have.' It's like the only way to humanise a Russian skater in the eyes of the Anglophone public is to Westernise her (while of course reinforcing her Russian/immigrant identity so that her acquired Western characteristics may appear impressive and exceptional).

I don't think this is conscious or malicious, but it's there. I don't mean this as a personal attack on anyone, more an explanation of why certain ways of talking about Medvedeva can be bothersome for people from other cultures.

I have no intention of getting into Americans but I think you have a real problem with reality and Canadians. We are all immigrants from somewhere whether where we were born, or our parents or grandparents or great grandparents. It is a country where even if you become legally CDN you do not have to give up your original citizenship. As we become more civilized over the yrs we are more natural with embracing our differences as well as our commonalities.My children went to a great school which had every colour and eye shape in the spectrum as well as children with both physical and slightly mental disabilities.Adult shadows helped out in the classroom and some of the older kids were shadows for hallways ,gym class etc. My son did that in grade 5 and 6 for a little boy with Down's Syndrome where he met him at his bus in the morning, dropped him off in his class...went to gym class with him and made sure he got on his bus at day's end. They do not even notice differences in others...it is just a normal comfortable part of your day. Of course we have loads of dicks within but usually they keep their opinions to themselves as it is more difficult to find a like group and normal people shun them. Cdns do not see Med as a curiosity but a very talented and artistic athlete who found herself in a situation where what she wanted for herself for the future would not be possible in her situation but was not impossible if she made a lot of changes.She had the courage and conviction to do so and that is to be admired.

 

[GreatLakesGal]

Has Brian ever had a Russian skater full time like he does with her? Not just working here and there as a helper but as a primary coach? He speaks like he doesn't fully understand the inner workings in Russia and such and speaks like it's the same as in the US or Canada.

As someone who has followed Brian for many years, I was and am still very surprised that he and Tracy agreed to coach Medvedeva. Their strengths as coaches do not appear to include rebuilding skaters with serious technique problems. All their major successes so far (Olympic medals) have been with skaters who came to them with great natural talent and good basics. Brian's face in the K&C after Med's FS reminded me of how he looked when Nam Nguyen grew several inches and began falling out of his jumps and spins.

 

[Sylvia]

At Tallinn Trophy earlier today, Maxim Kovtun returned to international competition for the first time since 2017 Worlds. He landed a very good 4S+3T before popping his planned 4T to a double, landing 3A and then taking a sudden, dramatic fall in his footwork. Anton Shulepov skated really well (3F, 3A, 3Lz+3T) and deserved higher PCS, IMO:
1 Maxim KOVTUN RUS 80.91 41.81 40.10 8.15 7.90 7.90 8.10 8.05 1.00 #8
2 Anton SHULEPOV RUS 80.86 44.06 36.80 7.40 7.15 7.45 7.35 7.45 0.00 #6
4 Roman SAVOSIN RUS 71.50 35.40 36.10 7.40 6.95 7.30 7.20 7.25 0.00 #22

Re-posting from the Finnish news thread:

... No video on YT yet but here's the protocol.

Serafima Sakhanovich currently is leading the Ladies SP (70.33) in Tallinn.

 

[NAOTMAA]

80 points for doubling a jump and falling (even if it was footwork and not a jump) seems pretty high doesn't it Are the judges at the men's event just not as harsh or was everything else done really good? Or is it just TAT power

 

[Polaris]

As someone who has followed Brian for many years, I was and am still very surprised that he and Tracy agreed to coach Medvedeva. Their strengths as coaches do not appear to include rebuilding skaters with serious technique problems. All their major successes so far (Olympic medals) have been with skaters who came to them with great natural talent and good basics. Brian's face in the K&C after Med's FS reminded me of how he looked when Nam Nguyen grew several inches and began falling out of his jumps and spins.

Fernandez had good technique?

 

[Tinami Amori]

80 points for doubling a jump and falling (even if it was footwork and not a jump) seems pretty high doesn't it Are the judges at the men's event just not as harsh or was everything else done really good? Or is it just TAT power

Videos will soon be available. The event is being streamed "live" right now. Go to ISU pages, find the event, and there will be a link. Also, i sent you a PM into your box, with event page and link.

 

[rfisher]

80 points for doubling a jump and falling (even if it was footwork and not a jump) seems pretty high doesn't it Are the judges at the men's event just not as harsh or was everything else done really good? Or is it just TAT power

The quad combo and 3A were good. The pop on the second quad was just typical Kovtun, albeit to his credit he followed up with a good 3A rather than blowing it as well. The fall on the footwork was pretty funny as was the look on his face. He and Shulepov were far and away the best two skaters of the field.

 

[Tinami Amori]

Tallin Trophy SP videos (few) SP

Sakhanovich - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6PlhYkgi40
(1st after SP)
Goubanova - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4IB14FQjpY
Panenkova - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk0lp0VrVMA
(6th after SP, with 3 deductions, fall + music issues). Daria came alone, Tzareva or assistant coach are not with her.

Kovtun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Ri3OniKLQ
Savosin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDUYs_MsGP8
Shulepov - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66_sIzeFSDQ

 

[rfisher]

Tallin Trophy SP videos (few) SP

Sakhanovich - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6PlhYkgi40
(1st after SP)
Panenkova - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wk0lp0VrVMA
(6th after SP, with 3 deductions, fall + music issues). Daria came alone, Tzareva or assistant coach are not with her.

Kovtun - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0Ri3OniKLQ
Savosin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDUYs_MsGP8
Shulepov - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66_sIzeFSDQ

will add more if i see any (for Russians)

You forgot Gubanova!

 

[Tinami Amori]

You forgot Gubanova!

i was looking for her.... , had to take a call ...will add in a minute.

 

[Emerald66]

Happy for Kovtun and Sakhanovich. Always enjoyed those two.

 

[Koola King]

Everything a okay. I just cut out my unborn foetus, sacrifiicee to da skating gods. Queen Evgenia rise again and people be like yayayayaya.

Sincerely,

Koolaking - Humble groveling worshipper of queen Zhenia

 

[Mad for Skating]

Sima with a 70 is the best thing that's happened this season.

 

[Tavi]

As a foreigner who's lived in the US, I actually find Americans' projection of their national narratives about melting pots, bootstraps, immigration and the American dream onto any foreigner who crosses their path pretty offensive. The fact stuff like Piper Gillies's decision to represent Canada is never romanticised in the same way by American fans shows it's not a matter of responding to universally relatable tropes about displacement and perseverance as much as it is a tendency to seek out and root for foreigners who, in becoming Americanised, can confirm the diverse, welcoming image Americans have of their country, which is actually pretty condescending and alienating. See Mirai Nagasu and the ~immigrants get the job done~ stuff (which was made more offensive by the fact Nagasu is not actually an immigrant, but it would have still been pretty distasteful if she had been one). Canadians are similarly self-congratulatory about news stories about the token Syrian refugees they've taken in learning to play hockey and other such rot.

Anyway, the point is, I wouldn't go as far as to accuse anyone of being Russophobic over l'affaire Medvedeva, but there's definitely an undertone of 'look at this RELATABLE Russian girl who's coming over to our side of the world and learning our ways, which takes character and emotional complexity those other samey Russian skaters don't have.' It's like the only way to humanise a Russian skater in the eyes of the Anglophone public is to Westernise her (while of course reinforcing her Russian/immigrant identity so that her acquired Western characteristics may appear impressive and exceptional).

I don't think this is conscious or malicious, but it's there. I don't mean this as a personal attack on anyone, more an explanation of why certain ways of talking about Medvedeva can be bothersome for people from other cultures.

Do you realize that in trying to describe what’s bothersome for people of other cultures you’re doing exactly the same thing? As an American who has worked, socialized, and studied at university here in the US with quite a few extremely intelligent, educated, and cultured foreigners, it has always bothered me how many of them think it’s okay to generalize about the way “all Americans” think and act. We aren’t all the same, we don’t have the same political or personal views or values, and we don’t all impose the same narratives on others. I know you said your post wasn’t meant as a personal attack, but it’s a divisive way of thinking nonetheless. I would never dream of saying that all Brits (or Finns or Canadians or Spaniards or Russians or Japanese) think the same way about everything.

 

[GreatLakesGal]

Fernandez had good technique?

Sure he did. I said good; I didn't say great. Javi's main problem--which Orser stated repeatedly in interview after interview--was that he was a slacker. So getting him out of bed and to the rink to train was their biggest challenge. Once he started putting in the effort, his results started improving.

Javi's difficulties and eventual success are really not relevant though to Med's situation. They are very different skaters and their circumstances are in no way similar.