Team Russia

[Melodie]

 

 

[ralucutzagy]

 

Good luck, Anastasia! 

[yuzuangel]

 

Anastasia Tarakanova retired it's too bad these talented young ladies were never able to have their talent nurtured due to the high level of competition in Russia. Good luck in coaching!

[EisElle]

On 7/5/2021 at 4:55 AM, Melodie said:

 

 

are they shading Morozov/Bagin and Davis/Smolkin?

and Shanaeva/Naryzhnyy, but afaik no powerful parents there. Also, at least S/N medalled at latest Russian jr Nats + two medals at latest JGPF and JWC. Contrary to Davis/Smolkin who have no "big" jr medals and didn't even compete at russian nats. S/N are also closer to S/E in WS and PB

I've read that some russian official specifically explained why Davis/Smolkin are goign to SCI: apparently "per the rules" rusfed has no say in who the other GP organizers invite, and Skate Canada chose D/S... 

do they really expect people to believe that Eteri's influence within rusfed didn't play a role in her daughter getting an assignment?

It's FS after all, backroom dealings happen all the time, regardless of "rules" (or should we say, guidelines).

I bet they exchanged favours (and those favours may or may not include giving a helping hand to G/P not only in SCI, where there are no big russian contenders -- and G/F are the only team that might challenge G/P for gold -- but also IDF where other than P/C there's S/B. We'll see...)

 

 

On 7/5/2021 at 6:57 AM, ralucutzagy said:

 

Good luck, Anastasia! 

Good luck to her, but... I'll miss her, and mourn what could have been.

I loved her passion on the ice... pplus she was so well-rounded too. Good jumps (all she needed was to improve on the occasional leg wrap and better control her jumps), good creative spins, good skating skills.... to me she is one of the very few skaters that made me a fan at first sight, and the performance that drew me wans't even her best one. It was jus the way she skated, the fire that I saw in her skating, the potential... but even when she was still with Eteri and getting jgp medals it felt a very uphill battle. Then all the coach changes (and i'll never forgive Plushenko for trash-talking her), the scoring, the loss of motivation and then coming back to skating and again dealing with a system that would hold her back even when clean... I really just wanted her to be happy

So now she joins Polina Tsurskaya ad Alena Kanysheva* as yet another very talented skater that the russian system broke too early... and it's at least in part due to fake quads and scoring shenanigans. The way Nastya looked so happy and proud of herself after finishing a clean skate... only for scores to suck the life out of her

 

*I know Alena in theory is still competing, but she's another amazing well rounded skaters whose career in single ended entirely too early. And I'm not optimist about her career in ID either, the jr domestic field is stacked with supertalents (and some of those also have political backing).

[Paskud]

Rozanov left Angels of Plushenko

https://rsport.ria.ru/20210727/rozanov-1743057438.html

[rockstaryuzu]

On 7/27/2021 at 10:52 AM, Paskud said:

Rozanov left Angeks of Plushenko

https://rsport.ria.ru/20210727/rozanov-1743057438.html

Boy, AoP  seem to be going downhill just as fast as they rose up this time last summer. 

[Fay]

Sorry for promoting TSL - but they uploaded Kolyada’s Nutcracker SP 

 

[Melodie]

5 hours ago, Fay said:

Sorry for promoting TSL - but they uploaded Kolyada’s Nutcracker SP 

 

If you don't mind clicking through twitter then here is the link to Misha's new SP (2 parts). Unfortunately, I think TSL took from this poster so it is better to watch here instead. 

 

 

[monchan]

Anyone immediately recalls her heartbroken image in K&C of PC after hearing the news like me? It still feels like yesterday that I'm suddenly sad.

She was soooo determined then to move on with BO. It's been tough 4 yrs for her and nothing went as she wished. 

Yuzu has taken pictures with top female skaters from Mao, Yulia, Adelina, Alina, Evgenia and one by one gradually disappeared from the scene and he's still here trying his best... I feel like even when his rivals like Shoma and Nate go their own way, he might still be here conquering 4A, while skating community still stuck w the same old debate of Yuzu vs skater X to keep the sport relevant 

[sallycinnamon]

1 hour ago, monchan said:

Anyone immediately recalls her heartbroken image in K&C of PC after hearing the news like me? It still feels like yesterday that I'm suddenly sad.

She was soooo determined then to move on with BO. It's been tough 4 yrs for her and nothing went as she wished. 

Yuzu has taken pictures with top female skaters from Mao, Yulia, Adelina, Alina, Evgenia and one by one gradually disappeared from the scene and he's still here trying his best... I feel like even when his rivals like Shoma and Nate go their own way, he might still be here conquering 4A, while skating community still stuck w the same old debate of Yuzu vs skater X to keep the sport relevant 

 

It's just not a surprise she won't do any competitions next season. I think she moved on already with her career, with all these shows with Averbukh in the summer and autumn etc.

 

In 2018 it was clear she would have a hard time to remain in good form. After not a strong GP season and a weak Nationals result in the fall of 2018, the federation helped her to get into the team for Worlds 2019 and thanks to her reputation she was managed to get a bronze medal there. Then came another weak GP event and her WD from Nationals, and we all know what happened after that.

Learning a quad ands staying in form for another 4 years wasn't really realistic, she had injuries, her technique was never the best and all the other young girls in Russia were queuing for those three spots. On top of that she couldn't even remain in Canada because of the situation with the pandemic.

 

It is easier to remain an active athlete on paper because of money from sponsors and show organizers. Eteri gets a lot of money from it as well. 

 

But many fans of her (and fans of Tutberidze) think she could return to competition - not in singles but in pairs. I just read a comment today she could compete in pairs and finally win a gold in the team even at Olympics 2026. How far is it from reality? 

 

[Paskud]

Ksiu with Nastka😘

[Melodie]

 

Mood 

 

[Melodie]

 

 

[rockstaryuzu]

On 8/6/2021 at 4:42 PM, sallycinnamon said:

But many fans of her (and fans of Tutberidze) think she could return to competition - not in singles but in pairs. I just read a comment today she could compete in pairs and finally win a gold in the team even at Olympics 2026. How far is it from reality? 

I don't know. Pairs is a whole different ballgame. There's more to it than just being a really good singles skater and finding a guy to toss you around the ice. I think Evgenia would have to change her personality to some degree, to be successful in pairs. 

 

the irony of all this is, if she were with any other fed than Rusfed, she wouldn't even have to sit out - the country would be falling all over itself to help her through whatever she needed. Just goes to show how Russia has an embarrassment of riches in ladies. 

 

To be honest with you though, I think she got some really really bad advice last year about what to do after Worlds was canceled and in the long run it cost her everything. had she hunkered down in Toronto, I think she'd still be in contention, even with all the interruptions in training due to lockdowns etc. I mean, look at how Jason has prospered. 

 

Also, I'm not going to count her out until she counts herself out. Someone as determined as her to win? if there's a way, she's got the will. 

[sallycinnamon]

21 hours ago, rockstaryuzu said:

I don't know. Pairs is a whole different ballgame. There's more to it than just being a really good singles skater and finding a guy to toss you around the ice. I think Evgenia would have to change her personality to some degree, to be successful in pairs. 

 

the irony of all this is, if she were with any other fed than Rusfed, she wouldn't even have to sit out - the country would be falling all over itself to help her through whatever she needed. Just goes to show how Russia has an embarrassment of riches in ladies. 

 

To be honest with you though, I think she got some really really bad advice last year about what to do after Worlds was canceled and in the long run it cost her everything. had she hunkered down in Toronto, I think she'd still be in contention, even with all the interruptions in training due to lockdowns etc. I mean, look at how Jason has prospered. 

 

Also, I'm not going to count her out until she counts herself out. Someone as determined as her to win? if there's a way, she's got the will. 

 

I don't think it was possible for her (and for her mother) to stay in Canada because of visa restrictions. Jason probably has it easier because of his citizenship. 

Her decision was really bad after Worlds, but even if she had stayed in Canada now she probably wouldn't be as competitive as she was before. She had health issues even before the virus. And without 3A and quad(s) it is not enough to get into the team these days anyway.