Russian figure skating news & updates in 2022

[rfisher]

to be or not to be.....that is the question......Is this Valieva on drugs again. Obviously there is no-one in Russia who would report it. They would just switch samples.

Well, since I don't know if she's had any drugs, I can't answer that. She did have a back injury three months ago and has only been training the 3A and quads the last few weeks which is the most likely reason for the failed attempt. She did not attempt them at the test skates in September. She said a couple of weeks ago the injury has healed enough that there is no concern about aggravating it due to falls in practice. Trusova was also nursing a back injury over the summer and didn't attempt any quads at the test skate. (She also grew a lot). We'll have to wait till this weekend to see if she attempts them in competition.

Everyone does know the Russians have an internal competition series called the Russian Cup which was their means for a slot at Nationals for skaters who did not compete at a senior GP or juniors on the podium at the JGPF? They've done this for years. In fact, it was the Russian cup final that determined whether Med or Tuk went to Worlds a few years ago. All they are doing differently this year is having the skaters who would normally be at junior and senior GP events compete along with those who would be doing the internal comps and awarding cash prizes so the skaters have a chance at some prize money.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I call the fake Russian Grand Prix the Russian Grand Faux.

lol. On skate America videos on YouTube the few that there are so many people are calling skate America the fake Grand Prix, I’m assuming they’re from fans of the actual fake Grand Prix? Lol

 

[mtnskater]

I suspect some of the male Russian skaters, including pairs skaters, may also want to continue skating to try and avoid Putin's draft.

 

[Hedwig]

I read this thread not for skating news (but I don't begrude people the joy if they are still able to watch Russian skating with joy - I really don't, I just simply cannot stomach it, especially with known drug taking and known war enthusiasts) but for news about Russia per se, about how the general atmosphere is there and if there are people protesting because I am very much afraid of this new world and the destabilized world we are in and I hope that a revolution from within Russia will help us all.

 

[Karen-W]

Everyone does know the Russians have an internal competition series called the Russian Cup which was their means for a slot at Nationals for skaters who did not compete at a senior GP or juniors on the podium at the JGPF? They've done this for years. In fact, it was the Russian cup final that determined whether Med or Tuk went to Worlds a few years ago. All they are doing differently this year is having the skaters who would normally be at junior and senior GP events compete along with those who would be doing the internal comps and awarding cash prizes so the skaters have a chance at some prize money.

Well, yeah, and calling it the Grand Prix instead of just continuing to call it the Russian Cup Series and holding them during the same exact weeks as the ISU's Real GP. In years past, the Russian Cup Series events were more spread out from late September through the end of November. Remember how Nikita hurt his back at that early October RC comp last year and we spent the next month wondering if SinKats were going to make it to their first ISU GP event? It is more than a little disingenuous what they are doing this season, and it's certainly not just an attempt to thumb their noses at the ISU, but blatant propaganda for the domestic audience. But, really, let's continue to peddle the notion that sports is separate from politics...

 

[Ananas Astra]

Regarding Pairs: If you ask me, I am still very much willing to throw T/M under the bus, since I prefer all of M/G, B/K and P/Kh to them. T/M are boring and have openly praised Putler and his ****ing war, so I'd be very happy to never see them again.

 

[greenapple]

Regarding Pairs: If you ask me, I am still very much willing to throw T/M under the bus, since I prefer all of M/G, B/K and P/Kh to them. T/M are boring and have openly praised Putler and his ****ing war, so I'd be very happy to never see them again.

I won't cry if I never see any of them again. Competitions have a refreshing blend this season that has been missing for some years and I am enjoying every moment of every one of them.

 

[Karen-W]

Regarding Pairs: If you ask me, I am still very much willing to throw T/M under the bus, since I prefer all of M/G, B/K and P/Kh to them. T/M are boring and have openly praised Putler and his ****ing war, so I'd be very happy to never see them again.

Well, MishGal have also been supportive of Putler, which saddens me to no end because I can't support that or them, but I'm fine with seeing BoiKoz and PavKho win everything, provided they aren't also closet Putler and his war supporters. But if I never have to see another TarMor program again, it will be too soon. Not just because of their Putler support, but, like @greenapple notes, they're boring as heck.

 

[Ananas Astra]

I won't cry if I never see any of them again. Competitions have a refreshing blend this season that has been missing for some years and I am enjoying every moment of every one of them.

Well...the level of Pairs has EXTREMELY declined without the participation of the Russians and Chinese. Even a blind person could see that.
If I wanted to see mediocre pairs skating, I'd just watch some Novice competitions. This is world-class level we are talking about and it is non-existent without the Russian (and Chinese) pairs.

 

[Karen-W]

Well...the level of Pairs has EXTREMELY declined without the participation of the Russians and Chinese. Even a blind person could see that.
If I wanted to see mediocre pairs skating, I'd just watch some Novice competitions. This is world-class level we are talking about and it is non-existent without the Russian (and Chinese) pairs.

The Chinese pairs program is not what it once was. They have one mediocre team they sent to one JGP this fall and Peng/Jin. That's it. Let's not pretend that Sui/Han are really going to come back for Milano-Cortina. To be brutally frank, the Chinese program is in worse shape than the US, Canadian, German or Italian pairs programs, and only nominally better than the French or Georgian programs (though I don't really think Georgia has a pairs program since both of their teams are Russian imports and they have no junior teams).

 

[greenapple]

Well...the level of Pairs has EXTREMELY declined without the participation of the Russians and Chinese. Even a blind person could see that.
If I wanted to see mediocre pairs skating, I'd just watch some Novice competitions. This is world-class level we are talking about and it is non-existent without the Russian (and Chinese) pairs.

Perhaps you should phrase that as your opinion. It certainly isn't mine. You might miss the robotic Russian pairs but I don't. Just because the pairs teams competing on the GP are not all world class, doesn't make them any less interesting to me.

 

[Dobre]

Knierem & Frazier are an up & down team, for sure; and they had a typical Skate-America type start. In fact, they scored quite close to their score from SA last season.

Would the field be stronger with Russian teams? Sure. Would some of the Russian athletes be retired right now if the guys weren't in danger of being drafted? I suspect, yes.

Regardless, we were fortunate to have the teams we did at SA. Deschamps has dialed back the power in the throws, which really needed to happen; and it is nice to see Stellato-Dudek & Deschamps skating now with all the major elements. There's a lot of rebuilding to be done internationally right now in the pairs field, in the U.S. where a number of athletes tried to stay in 4 more years after having only the 1 berth in 2018; but also in China and Canada, which have had more depth over the past several quadrenniums.

Anyway, I think we were fortunate to have a full field at SA. A lot of younger pairs who were happy to have the opportunity. If I recall correctly, we only had 5 teams at IDF one year so I'm glad Skate America filled its replacement spots.

 

[Vagabond]

Better to have mediocre pairs skating than to have even one Russian soldier on Ukrainian soil.

 

[airgelaal]

Plushenko talking about his school.

Evgeni Plushenko: “I occasionally hear well-known foreign coaches and athletes, how happy they are that the Russians are finally removed.”

Interview with Evgeni Plushenko. About his school, coaching approach, problems of Russian male skaters and ban of Russian skaters.

fs-gossips.com

"Maybe in a year they will freeze and change their minds – they will remove these sanctions from us."

While people in civilized countries are trying to find excuses for "innocent" russians, "innocent" russians will enjoy watching the innocent freeze to death.
In the civilized world, this is called blackmail and terrorism. This is how the russians plan to return to the world sports arena.

 

[greenapple]

That is truly unbelievable. Plushenko is a disgrace to figure skating on most days but this tops the cake.

 

[Vagabond]

From the Plushenko interview:

When I saw on the recording from the cameras how one of the coaches throws his four-year-old daughter on board, I was shocked. How is this possible? It’s your child! Now this madam works in another school, I will not say which one.

Firing a child abuser does not solve the problem at hand, which is child abuse. Plushenko should not only have fired her, he should have gone to the police and whatever child protection agency there might be, and he should identify her publicly so that other parents will know better than to send their children to her.

 

[soogar]

It is more than a little disingenuous what they are doing this season, and it's certainly not just an attempt to thumb their noses at the ISU, but blatant propaganda for the domestic audience. But, really, let's continue to peddle the notion that sports is separate from politics...

At least they have an audience for their Events. I would like to see the USFS organize a similar series and actually fill the stands like they are doing in Russia. These events are reminiscent of what skating looked like 20-30 years ago, even prior to the whack, events were well attended in the US, especially pro events. There's nothing political about the Russian fans and their genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for their skaters.

 

[Karen-W]

"Maybe in a year they will freeze and change their minds – they will remove these sanctions from us."

While people in civilized countries are trying to find excuses for "innocent" russians, "innocent" russians will enjoy watching the innocent freeze to death.
In the civilized world, this is called blackmail and terrorism. This is how the russians plan to return to the world sports arena.

There is so much else in this interview to unpack. I wish Plushenko wasn't such a Putin-lover, because I do think he is trying to build a much healthier training environment for his skaters than what we've come to realize is a very abusive, harmful skating culture in Russia.

From the Plushenko interview:




Firing a child abuser does not solve the problem at hand, which is child abuse. Plushenko should not only have fired her, he should have gone to the police and whatever child protection agency there might be, and he should identify her publicly so that other parents will know better than to send their children to her.

Does that even really exist in Russia, though? I would agree only that he shouldn't be scared to publicly identify this coach, but beyond that, we're talking about a sporting culture where it is deeply engrained to accept this sort of mistreatment and abuse of athletes. There is certainly a lot that he can and should do, but it does seem like he is at least trying, in his own academy, which he and Yana control, to change this. Is it enough? You have to start somewhere. At least he is willing to speak about it and say, openly, that that is NOT how he operates.

At least they have an audience for their Events. I would like to see the USFS organize a similar series and actually fill the stands like they are doing in Russia. These events are reminiscent of what skating looked like 20-30 years ago, even prior to the whack, events were well attended in the US, especially pro events. There's nothing political about the Russian fans and their genuine appreciation and enthusiasm for their skaters.

Are they filling the stands though? I have to admit, I didn't watch any of this weekend's fakeGP, but I did see a handful of videos from the test skates and there were a lot of empty seats in the arena. Might be harder to notice since the arena's seats are those multi-colored ones, arranged in a random pattern.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

The Chinese pairs program is not what it once was. They have one mediocre team they sent to one JGP this fall and Peng/Jin. That's it. Let's not pretend that Sui/Han are really going to come back for Milano-Cortina. To be brutally frank, the Chinese program is in worse shape than the US, Canadian, German or Italian pairs programs, and only nominally better than the French or Georgian programs (though I don't really think Georgia has a pairs program since both of their teams are Russian imports and they have no junior teams).

THIS

And also world class pairs skating is not nonexistent, we just saw two stellar teams this past week, both world class.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Perhaps you should phrase that as your opinion. It certainly isn't mine. You might miss the robotic Russian pairs but I don't. Just because the pairs teams competing on the GP are not all world class, doesn't make them any less interesting to me.

THIS

 

[Vagabond]

Does that even really exist in Russia, though? I would agree only that he shouldn't be scared to publicly identify this coach, but beyond that, we're talking about a sporting culture where it is deeply engrained to accept this sort of mistreatment and abuse of athletes. There is certainly a lot that he can and should do, but it does seem like he is at least trying, in his own academy, which he and Yana control, to change this. Is it enough? You have to start somewhere. At least he is willing to speak about it and say, openly, that that is NOT how he operates.

Yes, it does.

Services to Protect Children in Russia Have Improved Significantly, but Further Progress Needed, says World Bank

Child protection services and support for families in difficulty have improved dramatically in Russia over the past 30 years, but several challenges remain, according to a new World Bank report, Organization and Delivery of Child Protection Services in Russia, which is accompanied by Two Case...

www.worldbank.org

Also, remember that this is Plushenko, the woman in question was not prominent enough for the incident to have leaked out on its own, and the incident was recorded on video.

 

[TAHbKA]

From the Plushenko interview:




Firing a child abuser does not solve the problem at hand, which is child abuse. Plushenko should not only have fired her, he should have gone to the police and whatever child protection agency there might be, and he should identify her publicly so that other parents will know better than to send their children to her.

It's lovely thinking whatever exists in the USA exists in Russia. Sweet of you. A bit naive, but really sweet.

 

[hanca]

It's lovely thinking whatever exists in the USA exists in Russia. Sweet of you. A bit naive, but really sweet.

I love the level of bitchiness in this thread. Info about Russian skating is very rare here, but why not use the thread to bitch against each other.

 

[rfisher]

Are they filling the stands though? I have to admit, I didn't watch any of this weekend's fakeGP, but I did see a handful of videos from the test skates and there were a lot of empty seats in the arena. Might be harder to notice since the arena's seats are those multi-colored ones, arranged in a random pattern.

Yes, the stands were full and the YouTube numbers ranged from 3000-9000 live viewers depending on the event. Senior events had higher viewership than junior as expected. The junior events did not have a live audience (no idea why), but the senior events were full. Channel 1 did not geoblock the youtube stream. I've no idea how many views the events have had post event as I don't rewatch skating I've already seen.

 

[Bigbird]

"Maybe in a year they will freeze and change their minds – they will remove these sanctions from us."

While people in civilized countries are trying to find excuses for "innocent" russians, "innocent" russians will enjoy watching the innocent freeze to death.
In the civilized world, this is called blackmail and terrorism. This is how the russians plan to return to the world sports arena.

It bears repeating so I will again. Using the war as the prime reason for removing Russians was an act of cowardice. The multiple incidences of institutionalized doping should have sealed the deal. This is why the likes of Plushenko can speak so boldly, they are emboldened by the hypocrisy.

 

[Vagabond]

nm

 

[znhurston]

Maybe Evegnia was busy planning her wedding and didn't have time to learn a new program? Don't know that that is the case, but it's certainly possible. But, with the young teams and Boi/Koz and Mish/Gal still having something to prove, it may be a mistake.

It bears repeating so I will again. Using the war as the prime reason for removing Russians was an act of cowardice. The multiple incidences of institutionalized doping should have sealed the deal. This is why the likes of Plushenko can speak so boldly, they are emboldened by the hypocrisy.

Countries have been using war to justify the exclusion of nations from international sports for as long as I can remember and as long as athletes compete on behalf of countries, this will continue to be case. But I can only think of one such ban that helped to defeat tyranny--the ban of South African athletes during the apartheid era. Now, personally, I agree with Russia being banned and, yes, I would have preferred it was for doping. But the truth is national sports teams are by their very nature political whether they are state-sponsored or not.

 

[Holy Headband]

Perhaps you should phrase that as your opinion. It certainly isn't mine. You might miss the robotic Russian pairs but I don't. Just because the pairs teams competing on the GP are not all world class, doesn't make them any less interesting to me.

The current state of international pairs skating is absolutely dire. If "Russian pairs are the best in the world and most competitions are unwatchable without them" is an opinion, I share it wholeheartedly.

This is not the case in any of the other three disciplines, but without Russian pairs the technical level in international pairs skating has dropped precipitously, below the level necessary to enable any artistry or performance in many cases. Skate America was painful to watch. Let's not pretend all Russian pairs have the same 'robotic' style and for some reason that makes them worse to watch than, uh, Roscher/Schuster or whoever.

I'm not saying this to argue they should be allowed back for the sake of pairs skating but because we should be honest about these things.

Also, to the recent exchange about why Russia "should" have been banned, I have no idea why some people seem to think waging a war of aggression is a less legitimate reason to ban a country from international competition than doping. One, the invasion of Ukraine is far, far more important that some doping scandal. Two, there is an argument to be made that collective punishment of all Russian athletes on the basis of several doping cases is unfair because Russian athletes train under different coaches and in different places and there's no way to prove they're all part of the same state-sponsored doping program, whereas the success of every skater who represents Russia internationally becomes fodder for jingoist propaganda regardless of their personal beliefs.

Anyway. I can only conclude some people don't agree with this ban because they don't really care about the war.

 

[4rkidz]

Russian pairs are my favourite discipline, but not this year. I dont agree that the rest of the world will suffer, in fact it will create more opportunities for others to gain amazing experience. Technically i dont think other teams are behind at all, but I do agree artistically no one comes close to ballet trained Russian pairs. I will miss that.

 

[rfisher]

I don't think the move to Sokolovskaya had benefited Trusova. At. All. She just doubled and stepped out of the 2nd jump on her combo. Then to add insult to injury Petrosyan followed with a gorgeous 3A and is ahead by almost 9 points. And she sings along to the music in French for the entire skate.

Going to be some reflection going on here.