Team we're fewer but still good!

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

Withdrawals from 4CC:

• Women 
  Joanna So (HKG)
• Men
  Donovan Carrillo (MEX)
• Pairs
  Maria Chernyshova / Harley Windsor (AUS)

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

Great article on Donovan Carrillo:

 

Defying the odds, a Mexican figure skater will compete in Olympics

 

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“Since I was little, I was always very passionate with music, feeling the voice and every sensation of the artists that they were trying to express,” said Carrillo, whose interpretations are aided by an expressive, angular face that is mostly cheekbones, accented by smoldering brown eyes and a wide, bright smile.

 

That smile is on constant display, even as he prepares for demanding jumps. “Sometimes, athletes are just focusing on the technique or the jumps. I try to be a little bit more on the audience, expressing myself and feeling the emotions even if the skating is not perfect,” added Carrillo, who, despite his artistry, looks frail and vulnerable on the ice, which also plays well with crowds if not judges.

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As a child, he had natural rhythm and could dance to anything, from the romantic boleros of Luis Miguel to the bland pop-rock of boy bands such as the Backstreet Boys. Skating added that final element.

 

“I was missing the passion, the artistry,” he said. “With skating, I could use my whole package: my strength, my flexibility, my mind, my emotions.”

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At the mall rink, Carrillo frequently has to dodge recreational skaters — and some of Núñez’s other students.

 

He shrugs at the inconveniences.

 

“It doesn’t matter if I have a very nice rink or I have this one. Because at the end of the day, if I just focus on what I don’t have, I couldn’t be able to grow as a skater,” said Carrillo, who must adjust his routines at the last minute to account for the larger rinks used in competition.

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However, of all the deterrents, COVID-19 has been the most challenging. After rinks all over the country closed in the early days of the pandemic, Núñez ordered a jump harness from the United States and talked a local blacksmith into making a frame from which to hang it, allowing Carrillo to practice jumps and turns on dry land.

 

It proved to be one of the most important improvisations of Carrillo’s career because it forced him to break down his moves and focus on technique. When he returned to the ice four months later, he was a far better skater than when he left.

 

“I saw a lot of benefits working at home,” said Carrillo, who continues to train with the harness five to 10 minutes a day. “This actually helped me a lot with the quad because you have to be really under control when you’re jumping those jumps. Those are super hard and kind of dangerous.”

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“Donovan has shown that despite how complicated it is, it is not impossible,” Núñez said. “When you dream something and fight for that something, and you believe in it, sooner or later life adjusts and you get that prize.”

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

New article on Nikolaj Majorov 

 

Majorov coronasmittad – missar EM

12 January 2022

 

DeepL translation

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Nikolai Majorov's European Championship is over before it even begins.

 

The skater tested positive for covid-19 on site in Tallinn and he is dropped from today's short program and the championship.

 

Majorov gave a negative test as recently as Sunday. Two days later, he was infected.

 

Anna Burwall, sports director at the Swedish Figure Skating Federation, comments on the federation's website.

 

"It is incredibly sad for Nikolaj and for Swedish figure skating. He has followed all the recommendations and has also taken precautions for the European Championships. He has no symptoms and the tests we took before his departure were also negative," she says.

 

The positive PCR test is a death blow for the 22-year-old. He made his way to Estonia to try to convince the Swedish Olympic Committee that he is a man for the Beijing Winter Olympics as early as next month.

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SOK has set the score requirement to 258.45 points.

 

- My international record is 217-218. At the moment it is impossible for anyone representing Sweden. But what to do? It is SOK that has set the score but I try not to think about it so much either. But it is clear that the Olympics is the dream, absolutely, he said recently to Norrköpings Tidningar.

 

About the risk of being infected by the coronavirus he said:

 

- I have not been sick once in the last two years, which is somehow very sick. I usually get sick at the end of April and the beginning of September. But ever since the coronas broke out, I've been healthier than usual in some sick way.

 

- But the wave in Sweden is high right now and it's a disease with so much at stake. I myself have been staying away from some social events lately, just to be a little extra safe.

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

Another article on Nikolaj Majorov 

 

Konståkaren Nikolaj Majorov covidsmittad – missar EM
12 January 2022

 

DeepL translation

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- After the test yesterday, they told me to go up to my room and wait. I did so and after fifteen minutes the phone bastard called and I had to come and do more tests. When they all came back positive it was a shock. I got angry, then sad, then angry again. I broke down," he tells Norrköpings Tidningar.

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- It's incredibly sad when Nikolaj has worked so long for something and feels that he is at the top and wants to show everyone. It's a tough news to get, especially as he had no symptoms. The tests we took before departure were also negative, says Anna Burwall, sports director at the Swedish Figure Skating Federation, to SVT Sport.

 

What does it mean for Majorov's Olympic plans?

 

- We have not yet received any information from SOK but we are in close contact. Nothing is clear yet, says Burwall.

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Can be taken out on the future criterion

 

On 18 January, the SOK will decide whether or not 22-year-old Majorov gets a place in the Olympic squad. Even if his results do not meet the requirements, there is a good chance that he will be selected via the so-called future criterion.

 

When did he test positive?

 

- It was when he arrived in Tallinn.

 

Was Josefin Taljegård on the same trip?

 

- No, they had two completely separate trips and have not been in contact with each other at all and it feels very good for that reason.

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

Full video: The first Mexican Olympic figure skater in 30 years:

https://olympics.com/en/original-series/episode/the-first-mexican-olympic-figure-skater-in-30-years-i-winter-tracks

[lajoitko]

There is a very good mini-documentary of Valtter Virtanen in Finnish. Unfortunately there is no eng sub, but Swedish sub is available, if it helps anyone. They show his cute little daughter several times. In the documentary Virtanen speaks about how it is to be a male skater in Finland. He speaks well and brings up many good points so I truly regret that there is no English subtitles.

 

He speaks about how the sport has evolved so fast during the last decade. When he was learning jumps 20 years ago, three rotations were enough to be successful in the competition and he stopped there instead of going for four rotations. Now he kind of regrets that, but at the same time he couldn't have known then what he knows now and besides he wonders, if he had trained quads earlier, would his body been able to handle the training and would he still be skating now. He mentions briefly Yuzu and his quest for 4A and calls the whole idea absurd (in positive way). He is very direct and honest about his life choices. His best years as a skater collided with his studies and at the time he prioritized his studies. When he looks back now, he would still make the same choices.

 

He is now working couple of weeks per month as a doctor in Mikkeli, which is hour and half drive away where he is currently living and then he is training in two different ice rinks where it also takes half an hour-hour by car (that's why so much time spend in the car in documentary). Addition to this, he also works as a doctor for fairly famous and successful ice hockey team. He remembers how he was mocked by the junior hockey players as a child and sometimes even now, but how the team respects him not only as a doctor but also as a fellow athlete and he is happy about that. He enjoys being part of the team after so many lonely years as a single skater

 

Also he says that his wife is his main coach at this moment. He goes to Oberstdorf time to time to train with other skaters, but lesser now when he has a little girl and he hates to be away from her. He acknowledges how bad situation is for men single skaters in Finland and says that it would take many actions and much time to change it so he is not optimistic about it. Often the lack of funding and life realities ends male skater's career early on. He himself is able to fund his skating (he calls it hobby) by his own work of which he is proud as he is now responsible only to himself.

 

https://areena.yle.fi/1-50628447 (you should be able to watch without vpn)

[Guest turquoiseblue]

Daniel Grassl wants to train with Tutberidze in the summer and hopes Shcherbakova will win a medal at the European Championships

 

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Daniel Grassl: I’m just happy. After the fourth place in Graz (2020 European Championships – ed) with such a pity backlog I really, really wanted to get on the podium here.

 

But I know that I can do even better. The components can be higher, I just have to work even harder. Especially on the free program, there is still so much work to do.

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You said that you would like to work with Eteri Tutberidze.

 

Daniel Grassl: Yes, I would really like to try to train with Tutberidze in the summer (at the training camp), but this did not happen first because of the covid and then I had to join the army. I hope I can visit her in the future.

 

You also said that you are a fan of Anna Shcherbakova’s skating. Now she’s in trouble. Are you following her results at this competitions?

 

Daniel Grassl: I am a big fan of her, she is a very strong girl. I really hope she gets through the hard times. You know, I’ve seen a lot of bad comments about her and I don’t get it at all. Her business is just to skate, and the Federation has to decide who will go to the Olympics. I really think that writing bad things about her is terrible. Even I noticed these comments. I hope tomorrow she will show her best and win a medal.

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[sallycinnamon]

27 minutes ago, turquoiseblue said:

 

 

Fingers crossed for Olga in Beijing.  Her grandmother and mother make costumes for her. And her German is excellent!

[Guest turquoiseblue]

 

[Figure_Frenzy]

A recent article on Loena Hendrickx recent outing at Euros by Sporza (Belgian sports website)

 

https://sporza.be/nl/2022/01/14/de-glimlach-van-loena-hendrickx-is-breder-dan-ooit-ik-ben-verliefd-op-deze-sport~1642155106284/

 

(I'll add translation to (some parts of) the article later — it's quite a lengthy one 🙈)

[Guest turquoiseblue]

[sallycinnamon]

34 minutes ago, turquoiseblue said:

 

Great news for Josefin and Nikolaj! I didn't expect Skate Sweden to be this flexible.

 

I hope they'll have a great Olympics!