Team we're fewer but still good!

[Paskud]

So happy for Josefin!

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[airi]

Fingers crossed for Allison

 

Happy for Josefin and Nikolai! They deserve to go

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Absolute Skating interview with Josefin Taljegård:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CY47eo8oKTQ/

 

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At #Euroskate2022Tallinn Josefin finished 18th after her SP, 15th in FS and 14th overall. "There were some things I felt I did well like the toe loops and the step sequence, especially the choreographic step sequence. I made some mistakes on the jumps and I know I can do so much better. But I had a great time with the audience. I was really in the moment and between all the jumps I could catch the audience’s eyes and I did have fun," she summarised her experience.

Step sequences are indeed her strong suit, the one from her new SP to "Ready Or Not" is probably one of the best step sequences of this season! We caught up with her in the mixed zone and asked about this program.

- How did the idea of this SP come about?
- We talked with Nikolai (Morozov, choreographer) about doing something like a modern dance or street dance. I found the music and I trained with the dance coach. I learned it mostly on the floor, before starting working on the ice. And I also watched a lot of YouTube videos.

- With this program, especially with StSq, you could totally participate in the rhythm dance this season! I'm joking, of course, but did you see any of the RDs, was there any favourite?
- I haven't watched that many. But I trained with @annabelle.morozov and @andr3y_bagin this summer, we share the same choreographer and they went in a similar direction with their RD, street dance and a bit of hip-hop.

- Can you tell a bit more about your SP costume?
- I wanted to have something that makes me feel strong and confident. And I really like having a one-piece costume. I also think that black colour suits this program well. I work with Kim Zandvoort (@kimzavi), she designed it and Galina Loutkova made it.

Although the initial requirement of the Swedish Olympic Committee was for her to obtain 198,77 points which she couldn't accomplish in the end, we were happy to learn that Josefin was selected to represent Sweden at #Beijing2022 based on so-called "future criteria".

 

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Interview with Ekaterina Ryabova:

Ekaterina Ryabova: “Ultra-c jumps are necessary if you want to fight for medals. I understand that I won’t be able to learn any. But I can skate clean and enjoy it, which I try to do.”

 

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That is, in women’s single skating, you can still compete without ultra-c?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: They are necessary if we want to fight for medals.

 

Then the medal is not important, is it?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: I understand that I won’t be able to learn any ultra-c element anymore. But I can skate clean and enjoy it, which I try to do.

 

Do you plan to stay for another Olympic cycle?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: I don’t know, it’s really difficult. I’ll look at my health at the end of the season. With this covid, everything is very difficult. Constant tests at competitions, and you are more worried not about the performance, but about the result of the test on a particular day.

 

Are these doubts about continuation of your career due to physical loads or a desire to live a different life?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: I try to combine with my studies, it’s just physically hard. You have to keep an eye on your health.

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What is the difference between training with Evgeni Plushenko and your parents?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: There are no special differences, parents, all coaches try to do the maximum, but parents – supermaximum. They are with me 24/7, support. This will never change.

 

Is a return to Plushenko possible?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: But I didn’t leave him, I left another coach – Alexander Volkov, and this was not related to work, just his group moved. And I physically could not, in my graduate year at school, drive two hours to the skating rink and back.

 

Plushenko does not consult you now?

 

Ekaterina Ryabova: He does not consult, because my coaches are parents. But I’m glad that Evgeni Viktorovich and I stayed on good terms.

 

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Interview with Donovan Carrillo

 

 

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Interview with Anastasiia Gubanova:

Anastasiia Gubanova: “I don’t know how much raising the age minimum will help figure skating, but it will definitely lengthen careers.”

 

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At the end of 2020, you said that raising the age minimum would make the fight more fair. Has your opinion changed since then?

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: Basically, it hasn’t changed. I understand that it has always been like this – the little ones grow up, the adults leave. But I’m still for raising the age minimum.

 

What age is optimal for you? 16? 17? 18?

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: I think seniors should be after 18. Everything is already completely different at this age. This is more conscious, more mature skating. It’s not even about some jumps, although it is clear that with age it’s more difficult to jump. It’s more about being aware of what you’re doing.

 

When a girl grows up, becomes more mature, it’s a completely different feeling. I don’t know how much this will help figure skating, but it will definitely lengthen careers.

 

Will your career be long?

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: I definitely plan to skate until the next Olympics.

 

To fight for medals, you need ultra-c jumps…

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: I worked on them. both when I was in Moscow, and when I moved to Evgeni Vladimirovich in St.Petersburg. I can do it – I have a fairly high jump. The coach sees the potential, so everything is possible. The closest is a quadruple toe loop. After all the competitions this season, I will work on it.

 

Isn’t it traumatic?

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: So what to do? (Smiling.) To win and be in the top, you need to complicate the programs. And I want to prove to myself that I can do it.

 

So in the future you plan to fight for medals at competitions like the European Championships?

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: Certainly. It is clear that first of all I do all this for myself, I enjoy it. But I also want results.

 

Didn’t you get the feeling at the competitions in Tallinn that the Russian skaters and everyone else are two different leagues?

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: Well no. Any girl, if she works hard, performs one or more quads in the free program, if she has a high rating and represent her country at such competitions for many years, then why not? You can compete.

 

But the same PCS score often depends on the flag.

 

Anastasiia Gubanova: Yes I understand this. But that’s for now. Rating is important, of course. And I’m just starting to skate for Georgia. And when I compete for many years, prove to myself and others that I skate beautifully, that I can, then the components will grow.

 

You don’t get many points right away. It’s all earned over the years.

 

[Paskud]

interview with Kurakova

WTH?!

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(...) last year there were terrible moments when I already accepted that I would have pain all my life. The pain very quickly entered into normal life: I could not just sit down without a warm-up. And that was scary. I'm eighteen and I can't live normally without pain. This was really scary.

It was very hard, I asked myself why I was there (at the World Championships, - Sport24). To be honest, when I was walking, I was sad that it happened, but on the other hand, I understood that due to the fact that I do not have a free program, I have more chances to stay healthy.

Once it was such that I fell and for a few seconds I stopped feeling my leg. I sit on the ice and don't feel it. And it was scary to understand that you did not feel the limb. It's horrible.

But now everything is fine: I qualified for the Games, went to two stages of the Grand Prix. Now I have a coach, I have his care. Because all last season I skated without a coach - I prepared for the competition myself, I performed myself. That is, there was simply nothing ... No support, no family nearby. There were also injuries. It was a terrible year in my life.

(...)

That year, I jumped the triple axel very often, I put it in my free program, but when I started to roll back, the situation with my back worsened and worsened. Didn't attach any importance to it. I thought that all this did not matter, because I have a triple axel. I'm doing it! Yes, let it be in one daw (with underrotation), but I do it. I'll show it! And it was a mistake.

https://sport24.ru/news/figureskating/2022-01-25-figuristka-yekaterina-kurakova-intervyu-o-medvedevoy-orsere-troynom-aksele-chempionate-yevropy-2022