Russian women news & updates, 2021-22 season

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Cachoo

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I think she might be one of those girls that peaked at the wrong time. Her strongest season was the 18-19 season. Then C19 hit and Alena got a very bad case. Isn't she a long hauler? Since then a lot of disruptions -- coaching changes, program changes.
She is such a wonderful skater and seems lost. Also seeing her and Kamila together at Skate Canada was telling. Every part of K.’s choreography, costuming is put together beautifully. And now A seems like an afterthought to her coaches. She was so beautifully packaged once upon a time. And then putting her coaching change in her introduction. It is like they are shaming her at every turn. I think she would be better off with Orser.
 

Alilou

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Seriously, and yes, even with all this, if she were in any other country, even Japan, she'd be #1.

She is earning every point she gets this year, doing it the hard way (without federation support). I respect her.

Olympic seasons are crazy in normal times, let alone during a *********.

It wouldn't surprise me if she ended up in the Olympics.

If everyone is healthy, I expect the team to be Kamila, Sasha and Liza, with Maia, Anna and Alena as the alternates, in that order, although how Anna stays ahead of Alena without a quad or 3a is a good question.

ETA: @rfisher I recall her crying years ago as a junior after a Grand Prix or a championship, but what is your actual evidence for these tantrums you are talking about?

I think some criticisms of her skating are valid but a lot of internet commentary on her seems to be people funneling their disappointment at her declining results through attacks on her character. It's simply wouldn't be possible to show the improvement she's shown since last season's Russian Cup and the test skates without an enormous amount of hard work.
Practices were open at the arena yesterday from noon until they ended at 12.30. I wasn't there but the woman sitting next to me for the competition was and told me that Aleona was crying and very frustrated during this practice. For what it's worth.
 

tony

Throwing the (rule)book at them
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She is such a wonderful skater and seems lost. Also seeing her and Kamila together at Skate Canada was telling. Every part of K.’s choreography, costuming is put together beautifully. And now A seems like an afterthought to her coaches. She was so beautifully packaged once upon a time. And then putting her coaching change in her introduction. It is like they are shaming her at every turn. I think she would be better off with Orser.
The whole 'coaching change in her introduction' thing needs to stop being looked at as intentional shade. It's being read verbatim from her ISU bio, just like every other skater's intro was done.

And I don't buy that she's an afterthought now, because these programs were supposedly made prior to her moving to Plushenko-- when she would've been just a few months out of missing the Worlds where she was the favorite to win. What reason would Eteri & co have to sabotage her at that point, or even now? Bad results are going to look bad on Eteri, too.

I loved the Twilight program but I can see why she'd want to move on from that. Its kind of juniorish. The Billie Ellish program isn't a bad idea on paper. Ellish is a popular singer whose music has become familiar to people around the world. She;s just not really presenting the program well.
Twilight has the same kind of audience that Eilish has so :lol: .. but she was really feeling one program and she's not into the other nor does it work as well in my eyes.
 

zigzig

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mm yeah don't see kosto being in the mix for the O at all - and I’m leery about that wrap that’s starting to creep into her jumps.

agreed that 2020 would have been her year.

crazy that one of val, tuk, tru and shcherb is gonna be off the team.
 

love_skate2011

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Kostornaya is hanging by a thread, if she wont qualify to the GPF then Its over, she is DONE.

Hopefully only for the season not career wise, at least she can be inspired by TUK, who had a rollercoaster career in 10 years
but can she wait that long and endure the ups and downs ?
 

Karen-W

How long do we have to wait for GP assignments?
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Kostornaya is hanging by a thread, if she wont qualify to the GPF then Its over, she is DONE.

Hopefully only for the season not career wise, at least she can be inspired by TUK, who had a rollercoaster career in 10 years
but can she wait that long and endure the ups and downs ?
She's probably qualified for the GPF as long as she can manage a silver at IdF (only real competition there is Shcherbakova), especially if Sasha skips NHK to heal her foot. It's pretty rare for a skater with a 2nd & 3rd place finish to not make the GPF. It's not a lock yet but she is looking pretty solid.

Next week we have Anna and Maiia at Gran Premio d'Italia. Even if Maiia scores an upset win, she's looking at silver at best at Rostelecom (Valieva and Tukt there).

Valieva - 1st & 1st = 30 pts
Maiia - 1st & 2nd = 28 pts
Anna - 2nd & 1st = 28 pts
Tukt - 2nd & 3rd = 24 pts
Aliona - 3rd & 2nd = 24 pts

NHK has Trusova, Usacheva, You, Sakamoto, Liu, Glenn, & Kihira (who can't qualify for the GPF due to her withdrawal from SCI). That's really the event to watch as it will most likely determine who gets the final GPF spot - Usacheva could be vulnerable here because she only barely eked out that silver ahead of You & Sakamoto last week.
 

Cachoo

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The whole 'coaching change in her introduction' thing needs to stop being looked at as intentional shade. It's being read verbatim from her ISU bio, just like every other skater's intro was done.

And I don't buy that she's an afterthought now, because these programs were supposedly made prior to her moving to Plushenko-- when she would've been just a few months out of missing the Worlds where she was the favorite to win. What reason would Eteri & co have to sabotage her at that point, or even now? Bad results are going to look bad on Eteri, too.


Twilight has the same kind of audience that Eilish has so :lol: .. but she was really feeling one program and she's not into the other nor does it work as well in my eyes.
I would not say sabotage—I still go with afterthought. She is not a priority compared to other skaters. She is getting lost in the shuffle and it is a shame because she is so watchable.
 

Frau Muller

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I’m wondering if the whole Sergei Romanov situation - whatever that really may be - may not be playing into Sambo70 and the Russian public’s feelings about AK in general? (Conservative society etc)
 

canbelto

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Well Kamila seems to be the chosen one from this year's crop. But I disagree that Alena is being neglected -- neglected is like Morisi. Eteri does seem to have made Alena more technically consistent since she returned -- remember how with Plushy's team she didn't even skate a triple axel.
 

Karen-W

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I’m wondering if the whole Sergei Romanov situation - whatever that really may be - may not be playing into Sambo70 and the Russian public’s feelings about AK in general? (Conservative society etc)

Well Kamila seems to be the chosen one from this year's crop. But I disagree that Alena is being neglected -- neglected is like Morisi. Eteri does seem to have made Alena more technically consistent since she returned -- remember how with Plushy's team she didn't even skate a triple axel.
Well, if the Roganov off-ice gossip is to be believed, in addition to getting a really bad case of YKW, then there are some external factors that kept Aliona from going for good technical content last season. I do take that stuff with a grain of salt but I don't think Plushenko or his team (apart from Roganov) were the reason why Aliona's tech content was watered down and I don't necessarily think going back to Team Eteri has magically restored it. It probably would have come back through hard work and training on its own, whichever camp she was in, if she was inclined to put in the work.
 

Coco

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Speaking as a long time Mirai fan, when a skater is struggling to rotate and land jumps and just get through these cardio killer programs, presentation suffers. Choreo is omitted, what is done is not committed to and the 'face' or emotional engagement is just not there. So it's really hard to judge these programs with the way she's delivering them. If it were the 90s, or even 2010 and she could get by with 6 triples, I bet she'd be presenting these programs differently. But, you know, it's a little tough for her right now to attempt 8 triples, repeating lutz & flip, a 2a, all L4 spins and L3 steps. Most skaters in the world would love to struggle like this.

She is showing improvement and I hope that pushing through all these struggles turns out to be a confidence booster some day. Her base value was up a tick from Finlandia, overall TES down less than .5 due to, imo, harsher or more accurate calling. She didn't leave points 'on the table' here as she did in Finlandia, repeating the lutz without one being in combination.
 

Bigbird

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We carry on as if we haven't seen this all before. In sports it is all about timing. Aliona is simply going through what Zagitova and Medvedeva went through but after the OGs. She's not a shrinking violet but an emotional teenager. So we have what we have. I see it all around me every day. When we have grown adults like Trankov carrying on like an absolute turd as a grown adult, we can cut this little lady a bit of slack. Shabalin went throught it albeit through injuries, Sinkats now the same with their own struggles.

The girl is not oblivious. She knows that she's changed both physically and psychologically. She was just experimenting to see what external stimuli could do. I think she already knows that her claims to the OGs is weak. All that is left is to appreciate who she was and who she is now. JMHO.
 

love_skate2011

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She's probably qualified for the GPF as long as she can manage a silver at IdF (only real competition there is Shcherbakova), especially if Sasha skips NHK to heal her foot. It's pretty rare for a skater with a 2nd & 3rd place finish to not make the GPF. It's not a lock yet but she is looking pretty solid.


NHK has Trusova, Usacheva, You, Sakamoto, Liu, Glenn, & Kihira (who can't qualify for the GPF due to her withdrawal from SCI). That's really the event to watch as it will most likely determine who gets the final GPF spot - Usacheva could be vulnerable here because she only barely eked out that silver ahead of You & Sakamoto last week.
It all depends in NHK, If Trusova doesnt withdraw then she will need the help of Sakomato and You.

Both You and Usacheva currently have higher score, so Kostornaya needs a higher score in France.
does the GPF criteria needs to have total of both GPs to be higher or only the highest score from their GP ?

Then Sakomato needs to be second and You 3rd, Usacheva has to be 4th
If You is second, she needs to have a lower score than Kostornaya ?

If Trusova withdraws, then Sakomato wins and Usacheva wins silver, shes out too.
 

tony

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It all depends in NHK, If Trusova doesnt withdraw then she will need the help of Sakomato and You.

Both You and Usacheva currently have higher score, so Kostornaya needs a higher score in France.
does the GPF criteria needs to have total of both GPs to be higher or only the highest score from their GP ?

Then Sakomato needs to be second and You 3rd, Usacheva has to be 4th
If You is second, she needs to have a lower score than Kostornaya ?

If Trusova withdraws, then Sakomato wins and Usacheva wins silver, shes out too.
The tiebreaker after total Grand Prix points and highest placement is the total combined score from both events.
 

love_skate2011

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The tiebreaker after total Grand Prix points and highest placement is the total combined score from both events.
In that case Kostornaya needs Usacheva to be 4th in NHK, silver for Sakomato and bronze only for You. She will need the help of Alysa too. Kind of a tall order.
 

Karen-W

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In that case Kostornaya needs Usacheva to be 4th in NHK, silver for Sakomato and bronze only for You. She will need the help of Alysa too. Kind of a tall order.
Well, it really all depends on who turns up for NHK. If both Trusova and Kihira are there then it is very possible that Usacheva winds up 4th (or lower).
 

Scott512

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So right now who do you guys see making the Oly team? It's going to be a bloodbath and a lot of talented girls won;t make it.
KV Anna and Sasha.

Once Anna and Sasha get it together by December Liza aliona Maya and Dasha will be in big trouble.

Anna is the reigning and defending world champion and the reigning and defending three-time national champion in Russia just unbelievable achievements with more to come. Unless she doesn't get her quads back that Anna may be on the outside looking in but I'm counting on her getting her quads back and we know she has the clutch gene.

Russia will most likely have all six spots for the Grand Prix final yet only three spots for the Olympics and it's a joke. Why I value the Grand Prix season and Grand Prix final so much is because it matters and those who deserve to be there are.
 

Scott512

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She is such a wonderful skater and seems lost. Also seeing her and Kamila together at Skate Canada was telling. Every part of K.’s choreography, costuming is put together beautifully. And now A seems like an afterthought to her coaches. She was so beautifully packaged once upon a time. And then putting her coaching change in her introduction. It is like they are shaming her at every turn. I think she would be better off with Orser.
The new programs are working better for Aliona. let's see what happens in the next couple months because nationals isn't until January.
She is still a world class skater and has at least an outside chance to make the Olympic team. Like you I also don't like some of the endless shaming of this girl for being a teenager and making decisions that are dubious.

Yes KV is the it girl. She puts up numbers that are astronomical.
 

Karen-W

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The new programs are working better for Aliona. let's see what happens in the next couple months because nationals isn't until January.
She is still a world class skater and has at least an outside chance to make the Olympic team. Like you I also don't like some of the endless shaming of this girl for being a teenager and making decisions that are dubious.

Yes KV is the it girl. She puts up numbers that are astronomical.
Russian Nationals is Dec 21-26 this year, same week as it has been the last several years. She has 3 weeks before her next GP though, so we should definitely sit tight and see how much progress she makes in the interim.
 

canbelto

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Aliona posted this to her IG:
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
I want to say a huge thank you to my coaches, @ tutberidze.eteri @daniil_gleikhengauz @teamtutberidze_official for not turning away from me after everything that I sometimes allow myself. Thanks to my parents who believe in me no matter what. Thanks to my fans @kostornaiateam @kostonation for your support. And of course to friends who, despite the difference in time zones, wrote me congratulatory sms and set me up for a decent rental
 

LoopCombo

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I personally think the Russians will send the top three senior women at Russian nationals to Euros. Top three seniors, without any reference to ‘body of work,’ just whoever it happens to be on the day. Then anyone who struggles at Euros will end up in a skate-off situation with #3 and 4 from Russian nationals (or anyone who happened to miss Russian nationals from injury) at the Cup final to determine the final Olympic team. I’m not sure why anyone would be a lock for the Russian women’s Olympic team, especially this early in the season. It’s not how the USA picks an Olympic team, with reference to past seasons and marketability. The Russian fed tries to treat it more like a sporting event. Almost everyone is competing or at least practicing ultra-c. Anyone could get injured during the season, for one thing. I wouldn’t even count Kostornaia or Usacheva out for making the final team.
 

Coco

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All I would say is that depth can work against a country at Worlds / Olympics. It can be so difficult to make the team / be anointed #1. And then even after the team is named, there will be jostling for team event lineups, etc. I hope those who do make it somehow save their best for last.
 
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