Figure Skating Domination: The Russian Girls

[Krunchii]

all people know about is Mao and Yuna (maybe a little Carolina Kostner) but one is retired and it's very very unlikely the other two will come back so it's time for some new girls.

 

In Russia there are endless amounts of wonderbabies who are up and coming and they're all medal contenders, you have all these girls who reel off triple-triple combinations like it's nothing and I want to rope all of you into them. I guarantee in the next quad we will have multiple Russian sweeps of the ladies podiums like all the Japanese men this past quad. I'm going to introduce you guys to the senior Russian girls who are currently on the senior main team

 

Adelina Sotnikova 

Pros: Big jumps, gorgeous extension, finished puberty, spins

Cons: inconsistent, occasional flutz, (this isn't objective but I don't like most of her dresses)

Programs: Tolko Ex,

, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso LP

The oldest of the bunch, she's about to turn 18, a lot of you may know her for her controversial win at the Olympics this year but that shouldn't take away from how good of a skater she is. She's a skater who has the goods to make it, but sometimes she would succumb to her own nerves (see GPF 2013 FS). She has stellar spins with great flexibility and big jumps. She won her first nationals at age 12 and in 2010-2011 she had won everything there was to be won in Juniors and was hyped as a contender for Sochi. For me I like her attack in her programs but she needs better choreography in her competitive programs, Burlesque is something I like to pretend never happened and Introduction & Rondo Capriccioso was not my cup of tea.

 

Yulia Lipnitskaia

Pros: Great flexibility, amazing spins (I put her up there with Lucinda Ruh tbh), transitions

Cons: small jumps (her 2A is worrying), flutz, is she done puberty?

Programs: 

,

,

She became the darling of the Olympics after her stellar performances in her Team SP and FS in the Sochi Olympics. Super competitive and very focused, if she messes up she will fix it even if she has to fix it in the second half her program. Lots of people say she has no emotion in her skating but she is still young and has plenty of time to develop that. Her small jumps are worrying because if she grows any taller and gains some weight, she might not be able to jump high enough to rotate them. She does have good flow out of them though.

 

Elena Radionova 

Pros: Great edges, spins, great performer

Cons: Puberty (again)

Programs: 

,

,  Zombie Dance EX

First girl to win two World Juniors and currently the record holder for highest scores ever for a Junior girl. Elena Radionova has the technical goods (she's done triple-triple-triple combinations in practice) and the star power. If she can survive through puberty she's a definite contender for that gold medal in Pyeongchang 2018. She had a growth spurt recently so that might affect her jumps. 

 

Anna Pogorilaya

Pros: big jumps, looks like she's done puberty

Cons: Spins, lines need some work, (she needs better dresses too)

Programs: Mermaids LP,

, Cats Ex (she did make a mistake here but I think she handled it very well)

The underdog of the current crop of senior Russian girls right now, not as much attention as the others but she seized her chance when she was gifted a spot to Worlds this year. She had a 4th place finish at Worlds this year which arguably should have been a bronze medal with 2 fantastic performances. At this point it doesn't look like she'll grow anymore so she's safe now from puberty, however I don't like how she lands her jumps, she needs a deeper knee bend. I didn't really like her FS music choice this year but she made it work for her, hopefully she can get some better choreography. People are saying she should skate for Ukraine so she can get international spots (she has Ukrainian heritage) but she said that she only wants to skate for Russia.

 

 

 

In the reserve team there's also Elizaveta Tuktamysheva but she's been inactive due to injuries and is battling the effects of puberty on her jumps so right now she's a wildcard I guess, she was known for her great jumps and was labelled a prodigy for landing triple axels in practice. Apparently she said when she gets better she'll attempt the triple axel and quad toe (sounds like a great way to end your career early...). There are also a lot of Russian junior girls who have swept the junior podiums multiple times, we'll have to see who will survive puberty and retain all their jumps and techniques but namely watch out for Alexandra Proklova, Serafima Sakhanovich, Maria Sotskova and Evgenia Medvedeva.

 

But to summarize, GUYS GET INTO FIGURE SKATING THERE'S MORE THAN YUNA AND MAO AND YUZURU

If you guys like this I'm willing to do a mens one and ladies from other countries ^-^

 

[Schitstainz]

The KGB wins.

[thot]

i like yulia, she has a great balance between her component and technical scores.

 

adelina's component scores were severely overscored during the olympics considering all season long she suffered with low component scores.... then all of a sudden one night her component scores rivaled yuna's? i don't think so.

 

but i digress, yulia is amazing for her age.

[Krunchii]

i like yulia, she has a great balance between her component and technical scores.

 

adelina's component scores were severely overscored during the olympics considering all season long she suffered with low component scores.... then all of a sudden one night her component scores rivaled yuna's? i don't think so.

 

but i digress, yulia is amazing for her age.

I agree that her components were way way too high, only the holy trinity deserves to be in 70s but this thread isn't to really argue about whether or not she deserved her gold medal, I still like her, my friend is a figure skating coach and scored front row tickets for Worlds 2013 in London, met her there and said she's sweet and very pretty in real life =)

[auroras]

I only know of Adelina and Yulia. I only watch the world's and grand prix finals, so if they don't make it to those events, I wouldn't know them.

[HvD]

I'm currently supporting Li Zijun.

 

She has had sloppy performances in the recent competitions due to her growth spurt and leg injuries, but I faith that she will overcome those obstacles within the coming years.  Hoping to see her more in the future

 

Also:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlYGfkxaL20

 

[Krunchii]

I only know of Adelina and Yulia. I only watch the world's and grand prix finals, so if they don't make it to those events, I wouldn't know them.

All 4 of these girls made it to the Grand Prix Final this past skating season

 

I'm currently supporting Li Zijun.

 

She has had sloppy performances in the recent competitions due to her growth spurt and leg injuries, but I faith that she will overcome those obstacles within the coming years.  Hoping to see her more in the future

 

She was in Toronto for 3 weeks training with Lori Nichol, I tried to stalk her but the rink she was at was too far for me, Mao Asada is getting choreo from Lori Nichol right now in preparation for THE ICE 2014 so I'm considering attempting to stalk (I'm not creepy at all I promise...). ANYWAY I saw videos of Zijun working on her skating skills which is good because I find her too slow sometimes. 

[mgl]

I was really impressed by Yulia, she can go far as she matures and gains more experience.

[Anthropology]

I was amazed at Yulia's performance during the Winter Olympics. I hope to see more of her the next time it comes.

[HvD]

She was in Toronto for 3 weeks training with Lori Nichol, I tried to stalk her but the rink she was at was too far for me, Mao Asada is getting choreo from Lori Nichol right now in preparation for THE ICE 2014 so I'm considering attempting to stalk (I'm not creepy at all I promise...). ANYWAY I saw videos of Zijun working on her skating skills which is good because I find her too slow sometimes. 

Stalker fan!!!  lol jk

 

On a side note, I feel like Li Zijun's current coaches aren't able bring out her full potential.  If they really want Li Zijun to do well in the future, I think it's best that they continue to let Li Zijun train outside of China; preferably in Canada.  So it's good to hear that she recently received training in Canada with Lori Nichol.  

[auroras]

All 4 of these girls made it to the Grand Prix Final this past skating season

 

Missed the 2013-14 season completely, but I haven't been following the ladies closely for a while now. Have been mostly focusing on men's and ice dance.

[Krunchii]

Stalker fan!!!  lol jk

 

On a side note, I feel like Li Zijun's current coaches aren't able bring out her full potential.  If they really want Li Zijun to do well in the future, I think it's best that they continue to let Li Zijun train outside of China; preferably in Canada.  So it's good to hear that she recently received training in Canada with Lori Nichol.  

I'm actually not entirely sure if Mao is here right now, she was with Zijun right before she left so that's how I know she was with Lori, it's been like a week since then, Zijun, Han Yan, Nan Song, Peng/Cheng were all here in Toronto for 3 weeks training with Nichol

 

and yeah her coaches don't bring out her full potential, other skaters are trained to avert disaster where they can tack on a 2T or something to the end of another jump if they miss out on a combo due to a step out on the first jump while Zijun didn't do that when she messed up her combination in her SP in Worlds this year. China only uses their own coaches which is frustrating to say because they have skaters who have a lot of potential.