German Skating News - 2024 Onwards

It was a nice piece and Daniel Weiss was pretty interesting there, I thought. He's very biased in his skating commentary, but also knowledgable, I've kinda gotten used to taking the good with the bad and enjoy it for what it is. Bindl and Winkler were also fine for their events. I thought they did a creditable job with the Olys commentary in general.

Anyway, back to Weiss here. I kinda agree that the FP is great when it's skated cleanly. It's a bit risky because IMO it falls apart if they start making mistakes and makes less of an impression. The music and choreo are kinda constructed towards it being viewed as a whole piece, so if they disrupt it with mistakes, it falls apart more than perhaps more energetic/easier music.
 
I just looked at it, from the timing I'd guess it's the score she doesn't like, maybe some levels.

I watched a documentary about her and Julia Grabowski 1 or 2 year ago and thought her personality sure is something.

Last season during the JGP she messed up a jump and after her program, when the next skater had already taken the ice, instead of directly leaving she repeated the failed jump and rage stormed off the ice :shuffle:

I don't think this level of ambition will mix well with puberty (and the typical adjustment phase were your body doesn't always do exactly what you want it too)
 
Team for Worlds:

DEU-Team für Eiskunstlauf-WM 2026 in Prag nominiert

Die Deutsche Eislauf-Union e.V. ist nationaler Spitzenverband für Eiskunstlaufen, Eistanz und Synchroneiskunstlaufen und einer von nur 7 olympischen Wintersportverbänden.
www.eislauf-union.de www.eislauf-union.de

Männer
Genrikh Gartung (EC Oberstdorf)

Paarlaufen
Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin (Berliner SV 1892)
Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel (SC Charlottenburg)

Eistanzen
Jennifer Janse van Rensburg/Benjamin Steffan (EC Oberstdorf)
 
Gerke and Gartung seem talented juniors. Are their coaches well known in the sport? Would Gartung pick up the pace if he was with a big-deal coache - Orser, Aritunian, etc.
 
So glad the German Team did well at Junior Worlds.
Those JGP spots are desperately needed for next year especially for the ladies!

German Fed posted a summary too:

Kruk/Eisenhaber tanzen bei Junioren-WM in die Top Ten, Gartung Elfter

Die Deutsche Eislauf-Union e.V. ist nationaler Spitzenverband für Eiskunstlaufen, Eistanz und Synchroneiskunstlaufen und einer von nur 7 olympischen Wintersportverbänden.
www.eislauf-union.de www.eislauf-union.de
 
Marta24 said:
We used to have a "Best KnC reactions" poll on FSU. Surely both Anna Gerke and Ian Somerville would have been very high up on that one.
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🛑 What did Somerville do? (I depend on the German Skating News thread for important information about U.S. ice dancers.)
 
Is there any more info in the German press about the uncertain future of the Berlin rink?
https://twitter.com/x/status/2031085754428932385
Not sure if this video excerpt is the source? https://x.com/minikiupdates/status/2031163738779275649

This video report is geoblocked outside of Germany:
www.sportschau.de

Eiskunstlauf: Vor der WM: Paarläufer Hase/Volodin bei "Holiday on Ice"

Ende März steigt die Eiskunstlauf-WM. Dort greifen Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin nach einer Medaille. Zur Vorbereitung gehört auch ein Auftritt bei der Show "Holiday on Ice" in Berlin.
www.sportschau.de www.sportschau.de

Clip of Hase/Volodin doing a throw 3S into sbs 3S during Art on Ice rehearsals: https://x.com/minikiupdates/status/2031093210273948055

German pair skaters on IcePartnerSearch.com:
Letizia Roscher, 21 (she and Luis Schuster announced their split after German Nationals): https://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=7988
Lukas Röseler, 24 in April: https://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=7858
Lukas Gneiding, 23 in June: https://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=8012
Maxim Knorr, 23 (recently split from his Swiss partner Pazienza https://www.isuresults.com/bios/isufs00118534.htm): https://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=8066
Aliyah Ackermann, 18 in May: https://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=7760
 
@Sylvia
I've found this:
However, this could be their last joint appearance at a world championship. Because: “If we are to continue, then it must be in a professional and favorable environment,” explained Hase. “But our federal training center is still hanging in the balance. We have to see whether Berlin will remain a federal training center and whether our coaching team wants to continue. There are still a lot of unanswered questions.”
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Eiskunstläuferin Hase: Olympia-Saison ist "mental anstrengend"

Für Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin geht es Schlag auf Schlag: Nach den Olympischen Winterspielen ist vor der Eiskunstlauf-WM. Auch in Prag zählt das Berliner Paar zu den Favoriten - doch eine gemeinsame Zukunft über diese Saison hinaus ist ungewiss.
www.rbb24.de www.rbb24.de

The background for all of it (source press release DEU 25.07.2024)
The DEU's application for recognition of Berlin as a federal training center (BSP) was reviewed and approved by the DOSB on the basis of the structural plan, the federal training center structure, and taking into account the structural, milestone, and regional discussions held since 2022 with the aim of optimizing cooperation between the umbrella organization (DEU), state association (BEV), and Berlin clubs, and was approved on sporting grounds.
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The DEU's vision of expanding cooperation between coaches at the national training center in the coming years is being implemented in accordance with the training center concept. Under national training center director Jens ter Laak, national junior coaches Rico Rex (pair skating) and Stefano Caruso (ice dancing), as well as new training center coach Robynne Tweedale, state coach Karin Hendschke-Raddatz, former pair skater Nolan Seegert, and other on- and off-ice coaches have established team building in order to jointly develop promising talent. The cooperation between DEU, BEV, and the Berlin clubs is crucial for the future promotion of the location in order to continue to receive support from the DOSB and the funding agency as a federal training center for the new Olympic cycle starting in 2026.
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I don't know weather all the personnel is still there, didn't follow closely the last couple of years
 
text_skate said:
@Sylvia
I've found this:

Eiskunstläuferin Hase: Olympia-Saison ist "mental anstrengend"

Für Minerva Hase und Nikita Volodin geht es Schlag auf Schlag: Nach den Olympischen Winterspielen ist vor der Eiskunstlauf-WM. Auch in Prag zählt das Berliner Paar zu den Favoriten - doch eine gemeinsame Zukunft über diese Saison hinaus ist ungewiss.
www.rbb24.de www.rbb24.de

The background for all of it (source press release DEU 25.07.2024)



I don't know weather all the personnel is still there, didn't follow closely the last couple of years
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If Berlin is loosing its status than DOSB has really lost it!
Its the only location in Germany where all 5 disciplines are successful.
Right now it looks like 20 out of the 55 potential national team members for 2026/2027 are associate with a Berlin skating club (basic calculations for now until the list is confirmed).
15 (1W, 2M, 8P, 4D) athletes met the Team OK - NK1 criteria as far as I can see and another 5 NK2 (3W, 2P).

They finally closed the GAAP in ladies skating with a few promising novices coming up and are the main hub for pairs. they are getting more dance teams too.
Not to forget the best SYS teams are based their too.

Oberstdorf should be save, even though "only" 14 skaters fully met the team envelope criteria. (8 PK - NK1 and 6 NK2) and they don't have any pairs right now.

Dortmund is the center with the lowest number of national team members from what I can see. They will likely be down to 8.
They don't have a pairs program at all, hardly any men and only dance and ladies seems to have any success.
Looks like it will be 5 NK 1 skaters and 2 of those actually train in Berlin, plus another 3 NK 2 (2W, 1M)
Of course DEU might give some more skaters the EK or NK2 status that missed it by a margin but that's not guaranteed.
They do have some promising novice ladies coming up though.

Mannheim / Stuttgart which lost the status a few years ago is behind with 7 - 5 in singled and 1 pair.
 
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Grigorii Rodin received his release to skate for Germany. He and Darya Grimm will compete in Juniors in the next season.

www.instagram.com

Deutsche Eislauf-Union | DEU ⛸️ on Instagram: "New Pair 🤩 Die Deutsche Eislauf-Union hat von der International Skating Union die Startfreigabe für das neue Junioren-Eistanzpaar Darya Grimm/Grigorii Rodin erhalten. Der 20 Jahre alte gebürtige Russe is

106 likes, 0 comments - deutsche_eislauf_union on March 17, 2026: "New Pair 🤩 Die Deutsche Eislauf-Union hat von der International Skating Union die Startfreigabe für das neue Junioren-Eistanzpaar Darya Grimm/Grigorii Rodin erhalten. Der 20 Jahre alte gebürtige Russe ist der neue Partner der...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com
 
They'll be in juniors? How old is he? I can't seem to find an age listed for him anywhere.
 
Oh, I missed that. :) Couldn't get that part of the article to translate.

Well, it will be interesting to see if they shake things up in junior dance.
 
Marta24 said:
Grigorii Rodin received his release to skate for Germany. He and Darya Grimm will compete in Juniors in the next season.
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Excerpt from „Mein kleiner Eiskunstlauf-Blog":
mein-kleines-eiskunstlaufblog.de

Freigabe für Rodin - Mein kleines Eiskunstlaufblog

Russland hat Grigori Rodin die Freigabe erteilt. Nach Bestätigung des Wechsels durch die ISU ist das Paar Darya Grimm / Grigori Rodin ab dem 01. Mai für Deutschland startberechtigt. Damit erhält die russische Fraktion im deutschen Auswahlkader weiteren Zuwachs und dürfte inzwischen größer sein...
mein-kleines-eiskunstlaufblog.de mein-kleines-eiskunstlaufblog.de
Auto-translation:
Since the German Skating Federation (DEU) forgot to mention it, we would also like to address the Russian's previous results. In the 2017/18 season, he skated with Anastasia Lukinskaya and won the Egna Dance Trophy in the Basic Novice division. A year later, the pair won the Andorra Open in the Intermediate Novice division. In the 2020/21 season, he skated with Kristina Dobroserdova. They won the Torun Cup and the Bratislava Grand Prix in the Advanced Novice division. In the following years, he skated with Elizaveta Maleina. With her, he achieved, among other results, fourth place in the Russian Advanced Novice Championship and third place in a Russian Junior Grand Prix.
Finally, he formed a pair with the Chinese skater Xua[n]tong Li, with whom he did not compete.
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https://twitter.com/x/status/2037308047710900480
Minerva Fabienne HASE / Nikita VOLODIN 🇩🇪 148.55 / 228.33

On what the medal means to them

Minerva: “This medal means a lot. It shows that we were on the right path and that we worked so hard to get here. Now we have a whole collection—bronze two years ago, silver last year, and now gold. It shows that we are growing as a team and that we can perform under pressure. I’m so happy that today’s performance, even with a mistake, felt so much better than at the Olympics. For the first time, we really felt like we were pushing from the beginning to the end without fear of mistakes. We just went for it and enjoyed it so much. The audience was unbelievable—so loud—and gave us so much energy that we just wanted to give it back. This medal is also for everyone who supported us over the last three years.”

On the growing popularity of skating in Germany and this being the first World title for Germany since Aljona and Bruno 8 years ago:

Minerva: “Of course we look up to Aljona Savchenko and Bruno Massot, especially Aljona. She put in so many years of work and never stopped believing in her dream—that alone is incredibly inspiring. Their performances, their strength, and how they handled pressure taught us a lot, and we are trying to achieve that as well. They are big idols for us. It’s amazing that figure skating in Germany has come back into the spotlight. To actually feel the support here in Prague, after seeing it grow in the media and on Instagram, was something completely different. We’ve never felt this level of support before. We really hope we can keep this momentum and make skating in Germany big again, also so that sponsorship improves for athletes.”

On their performance today:
Minerva: “We were a bit more nervous than yesterday, but we kept reminding ourselves that this was the last big moment of the season, so we should just enjoy it. That really helped our approach. After the combination, I thought, “Oh my God, it’s going well,” and the audience was so loud that we couldn’t hear the music for a few seconds—I was even thinking, “Please keep it down a little, we still have nine elements left.” Then the mistake on the Salchow happened, but it didn’t affect us the way it did at the Olympics. We went into the remaining elements without fear, which was an amazing feeling. We pushed all the way to the end, showed all our emotions, had speed, stayed in character—it was just incredible. The crowd gave us that final boost of energy, and that made it really special.”
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Annika & Robert finished 7th in the FS and overall (194.11 total, 128.76 in FS is their ISU SB):
https://twitter.com/x/status/2037279670094152087

On their feelings after the performance:
Annika: “I am still a little bit speechless, of course. I dreamed about it, and I already said before, sometimes things turn out even better than you think they would have—and that’s what happened today.”
Robert: “We were both actually super nervous. We don’t know why, but we were more nervous than at the Olympics. We are very proud of how far we’ve come. We can’t thank our coaches enough, the medical staff in Berlin, the physiotherapist, the rehab coach.”
Annika: “I’m not going to start from the beginning of the season, but we all know where we came from, and there’s a huge gratefulness that we can stand here and finish the season as we did.”

On handling the nerves:
Annika: “Yes, that’s also a huge win. We learned from it, and as hard as last season was, you decide to either learn from it or just let it go. But we care about the sport.”

On the headbanger and taking risks:
Robert: “We tried to check the rules. It’s the last element and it cannot be identified as a different element. We didn’t get a deduction in the end, but we weren’t completely sure. Still, we wanted to take the risk—like what Adam did with the backflip.”
Annika: “Exactly. And I think that backflip made way more impact than that one deduction, so it’s definitely worth it. Honestly, in the last competitions we already had a time deduction, so we were like, whatever. Some people will like it, some won’t. There are people who can’t watch the headbanger and others who love it. There was a lot of controversy about the backflip, but in the end we do it for the sport. Of course there will be people who don’t like it, but they don’t need to like us. There are enough other pairs they can like. We are here to do what we stand for—and we went for it.”

On the inspiration for the headbanger element:

Robert: “Actually, our inspiration to put this element into the program was Deanna and Max, because they started the season with a surprise and said they prepared something, and then it was a guided backflip. We talked to them a lot about it at the Olympics. They didn’t do it there because of injury, but we said, you know, we also want to have this spirit and do something new. We’ve done new choreo elements before, but we really wanted to do a fixed element where you can say, okay, this was the first time it happened in competition—like a really cool trick.”

On how long the headbanger took to learn:

Annika: “Actually not long. It’s an element that you either feel or you don’t. I was pretty lucky because I could do it with Andre , and he knew how to do it. There’s no way to train a headbanger off the ice, so it’s kind of all or nothing—you can’t do a half headbanger. But it worked for us pretty quickly, and we’ve already been doing it in shows for about two years.”

On future plans and the off-season:
Robert: “Don’t even start—we have a five-and-a-half-week army camp coming up. That’s a long time without skating, and you always have to find your way back after that. The rules are changing a bit, so we’re excited about that and really interested. We’re just lacking a bit of time. We don’t know if we’ll do Nebelhorn Trophy this year, because five and a half weeks is a long time. Other pairs can take a vacation and still have time for choreography, and after that period we haven’t even thought about vacation yet. We also have some small medical things to fix, hopefully during that time.”
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