#4 toeloop

[mayday505]

BSD Figure skating AU !!!

I've had this idea bouncing round my head for so long because I skate and i need the drama of the sport as the main plotline in the fic for ONCE instead of romance so HERE WE GO:

Also some context before i go; this is written BEFORE the ISU raised the age limit for seniors from 15 to 17, so this will reflect that. In this AU, it is based loosely off both current skaters and former skaters, ill make another post about who each character is modelled after, BUT the time periods these skaters are from fluctuate from now all the way back to 2014, so in this AU the only quads that have been landed by men are 4 toeloop and Salchow, and none in the womans. COOL NOW ON WITH THE RAMBLE!!!!

Dazai Osamu, prodigy figure skater under infamous coach Mori Ougai. He, alongside his teammate, friend and rival Nakahara Chuuya, sweep Juniors for their first two seasons, with Dazai winning every competition he enters.

Commentators and experts describe him as the future of figure skating and claim he has a talent that can't be trained. This includes very limited amounts of pre-rotation despite Mori's way of coaching (which teaches his skaters to rotate from the back instead of the hips), incredible artistry, and beautiful spins

Both him and Chuuya are tagged to be the two most likely contenders for the gold medal in the next olympic cycle, which as of their first junior season, is 3 years away, over current senior world champion and current 2 time Olympic Gold medallist Dostoyevsky and the Japanese National Champion at the time, Edogawa Ranpo.

Two years later, in their first senior season, Dazai becomes the youngest Japanese man to complete the grand slam, winning every competition he entered, beating out Fyodor by a heavy margin

This all points towards Dazai being the next olympic champion and subsequently he qualifies for the national team.

The next season starts out strong when he once again takes the GPF gold, and then wins again at the japanese nationals

At the olympics, Dazai is chosen twice for the Team event, making history by breaking multiple records and acquiring the gold for the team. Everything points to him sweeping the individual event the next week.

However, in the days before the individual event, a japanese news outlet reports that Dazai had failed a drug test during Nationals earlier that year.

At first Mori stays quiet, until he gives some half hearted excuse shifting the blame off of himself whilst the media continue to hound Dazai, and other skaters become animous towards him, blaming him for doping/ruining the competition.

Dazai is allowed to compete, and as a result, the prediction of three years that he would take gold is flushed down the drain as he fumbles through both programs, placing in 4th.

The hearing for his doping case is adjourned soon after, finding him innocent. He is reinstated for competition just before worlds, where fans expect him to take Gold and reclaim his title after the mess at the olympics.

He doesn't and proceedes to bomb out at worlds, later withdrawing from the world team trophy and not being heard from all summer.

The next season, Dazai comes back for test skates, visibly injured and distressed, abandoning Mori's coaching team the week after in favour of Fukuzawa and former world champion and japanese skating legend Oda Sakunosuke.

OKAY THATS AS FAR AS I GOT!!!! thats like the expostition of it all or like the kind of intro to what i have planned for this fic!! i love rambling im gonna write this istg. SEND ME ASKS PLS ABT ANY CHARACTER THIS AU IS MY BABY.

[seafood-33]

2012-10-01

Yuzuru said "Javier said in some interview that Yuzuru is working hard, so I have to work hard."

"Javier is jumping in an ideal way, so I stole and made it into an image in my mind."

Interview by Hitomi Hasegawa.

Excerpt.

Q.その世界選手権後、練習環境をカナダに移しましたね。

Q. After that World Championships, you moved your training environment to Canada.

「世界選手権である程度自分の力を出し切れたというのがあって、新たな地でもっといろんなことを吸収したいっていう気持ちがありました。もちろん仙台にもいいスケーターはいますが、同じレベルで競い合いながら、というのはなかなか難しい。毎日刺激を受けられるところに行きたい、という思いがありました。どこに行くか、選択は難しかったですけど」

I had a feeling that I could show my ability to some extent at the World Championships, and I wanted to absorb more things in a new place. Of course, there are good skaters in Sendai, but it is difficult to compete with them at the same level. I wanted to go somewhere where I could be stimulated every day. It was difficult to choose where to go.

Q.カナダのブライアン・オーサーコーチのもとに行ったことは少し意外でした。もし移るなら、ロシア系のコーチかなと思っていたので。

Q. It was a bit of a surprise to go to coach Brian Orser in Canada. If moved, I thought would be a Russian coach.

「でもスケーティングのことや練習環境を考えた時に、オーサーコーチがいいなと。やっぱり、ハヴィエル（・フェルナンデス）の4回転の確率の高さは、自分の中で大きなきっかけになりました。あれくらいばんばん跳べないとこれからは通用しないと思いますし、この時代で4回転を跳ばないっていう選択肢はない。あれだ��滑りの上手いパトリックが4回転を跳んでチャンピオンになっているわけだから、まだまだスケーティングとかが足りない僕が跳ばないで勝てるわけがない」

But when I thought about my skating and training environment, I thought Coach Orser would be good for me. Javier's (Fernandez) high quadruple jump rate was a big trigger for me. If you can't jump like that, you won't be able to compete in the future, and in this era, there is no choice but not to jump 4T. Patrick, who is such a good skater, jumped 4T and became a champion, so there is no way I, who still lacks skating and other skills, can win without jumping.

Q. サルコウですが、4回転だったら行ける？

Q. It's Salchow, but can you go if it's 4 turns?

ナム『お前のサルコウ、トウループみたい』みたいことを言われたんですよ（笑）。

そういう刺激がいっぱいあるし、同じチームにはハヴィエルもエレーネ（・ゲデヴァニシヴィリ）もいるし、お互いに教え合っているわけじゃないですけど、いいイメージをもらえるのですごくやりやすいですね。

Nam said something like 'Your Salchow looks like Toeloop' (laughs).

There is a lot of stimulation, and Javier is on the same team, and we don't teach each other, but it's very easy to do because we get a good image.

Q.練習は主にその3人で？

Q. Do you practice mainly with those three?

うーんと、夏はあんまり来ないですね、ハヴィエルは（笑）。ハヴィエルは、ある日練習が終わってへばっていたのに、白い短パンに着替えて 『今からテニスのレッスンに行ってくる』って（笑）。日本人は真面目だって、ブライアンに言われました。でもハヴィエルも何かのインタビューで、ユヅルががんばっているから僕もがんばらなきゃって思うと言ってくれていました

Hmmm...Javier doesn't come here much in the summer (laughs). Javier was exhausted after practice one day, but he changed into white shorts and said, "I'm going to take a tennis lesson now." Brian told me that Japanese people are serious. But Javier also said in some interview that Yuzuru is working hard, so I have to work hard, too.

Q. 楽しそうですね。

Q. That sounds fun.

そうですね。やっぱり4回転を降りられる人が近くにいるっていうのは大きいですね。自分が跳べなくなってイメージがなくなった時、そばにイメージを作れる人がいるっていうのは大きい。

Yes, that's right. It is great to have someone who can do quadruple jumps nearby. When I can no longer jump and lose my image, it is great to have someone nearby who can create an image.

跳べなくなった時って、変に焦ってだんだん煮詰まってきちゃうんですけど、でもハヴィエルがいると、今までの煮詰まりとは違って 『負けたくない』って思うんです。煮詰まる時って 『何で跳べないんだろ何で跳べないんだろ』ってばっかり考えて気持がガーッと下がっちゃうけど、その負けたくないって思いから、かろうじて上がれるんですよ

When I can't jump anymore, I get strangely impatient and gradually come to stuck. But when Javier is around, unlike the stuck I've done in the past, I think "I don't want to lose." When I get stuck, all I can think about is, "Why can't I jump, why can't I jump," I think about it all the time and my spirits drop. Because I don't want to lose, I can barely climb.

Q.ザ・アイス日光公演の囲み取材で、ハヴィエルのジャンプの跳び方がブライアンの（教える）ジャンプの跳び方だと思うので、照らし合わせたいと言っていましたが、具体的にはどんなことですか？

Q.In the box coverage of The Ice Nikko performance, you said that you think Javier's jumping style is Brian's (teaching) style of jumping, so you wanted to compare it, so what exactly do you mean?

脚の運び方とか、うーん、跳ぶ瞬間の、例えばサルコウだったらシュッてやる���の右足の運び方とか、トウループの締める速さだったりとか、いろいろあるんですけど、そういうことに関してブライアンから、今までとは違った視点で言われているんですよ。今まで自分が習ってきたこと、（阿部）奈々美先生と試行錯誤して作り上げてきた自分のそのフォームを、ブライアンは違う視点から見ているから、言われたことを自分の中でイメージしきれないところがあるんです。それを、ハヴィエルに跳んでもらって、あ、こうやればいいんだーっていう感じで照らし合わせています。

There are many things, such as the way you carry your legs, well, the way you carry your right leg when you jump, for example, the way you carry your right foot when you swipe in the case of a Salchow, the speed at which you tighten the toe loop, and so on. It is said from a different point of view. Brian looks at what I have learned and the form that I have created through trial and error with Nanami (Abe), from a different perspective, so I am not able to fully visualize what he says. So, I have a hard time visualizing what he says to me. I have Javier jump with me, and I compare it with what I know I should do.

Q.確固たるものになってきているわけですね。

Q. So it is becoming a firm thing?

そうです。それを見つけ出すために、やっぱり時間は必要ですけど、ハヴィエルが理想的な形で跳んでいるから、その中で 『あ、こんな感じかな』っていうのを盗んでいって、自分の中のイメージに付け加えています。それがこの2ヶ��くらいの作業でしたね。あんまりハヴィエル跳んでくれないんだけど（笑）。自分が望んでいたフォームのようなものがやっと見えてきました。今まで試行錯誤して作り上げてきたものは、自分の中ではその時の完成形だったんですけど、そこからまた次の段階へ。例えていうと、今までアナログテレビだったのがデジタルテレビになったかなっていう感じです。ただ、完成形はハイビジョンなんですよ。さらに3Dまでいくかどうかはわからないですけど（笑）、まだ過程なんです。

That's right. It takes time to figure it out, but Javier is jumping in an ideal way, so I stole what I thought, "Ah, this is how it feels", and made it into an image in my mind. I am adding. That was about two months of work. Javier doesn't jump much (laughs). I finally saw something like the form I wanted. What I've built up until now through trial and error was the completed form in my mind at that time, but from there I moved on to the next stage. For example, it feels like digital TV has changed from analog TV until now. However, the finished form is high definition. I don't know if it will go further to 3D (laughs), but it's still in the process.

Q.自分の中で、今はこのあたりで、ハイビジョンや3Dはこのあたりだなっていうのは、わかっているのですか？

Q.In yourself, do you know that you are around here now, and that high-definition and 3D are around here?

わかっています。あと、ジャンプを跳ぶ瞬間に、全部考えてから跳ぶんです。例えば、トウループだったら助走していって前向くところがあるじゃないですか。その助走の瞬間に（頭の中で）跳ぶんですよ、イメージの中でわーーーーって跳ぶ。その時にしっかりいけば絶対跳べるんです。

I already know. Also, when jumping, I think about everything before jumping. For example, if it's a toe loop, there's a point where you run up and look forward. At the moment of that run-up, I jump (in my head), jumping in the image. If you stick to it then you will definitely be able to jump.

Source

フィギュアスケートDays vol.15

Full list from 2011 to present

[kazuha-pista-badam]

a thread about sambo 70's dirty work

tw// abuse of young kids in figure skating

this thread was originally made by someone else on twt. i'm just posting it here so y'all can spread it. you can also translate it in different languages.

for those who don't know: sambo 70 is a major sports club in russia and the figure skaters under this club are abused by their coaches eteri tutberidze & daniil gleikhengauz

some keywords: owg- winter olympics gp- grand prix jgp- junior grand prix gpf- grand prix final fs- free skate/long routine 4cc- 4 continents cup

Thread: Eteri Tutberidze and the team at Sambo 70 have a long and horrifying history of disregarding skater health, diminishing serious injuries, and forcing injured teenage athletes into premature retirement. All of this has been enabled by the ISU, judges, and commentators.

1. Yulia Lipnitskaya OWG: 🥇 (2014) WC: 🥈 (2014) Retired at: 19 (injury & anorexia) "Eteri Tutberidze was proud to inform the press that Yulia Lipnitskaya ... sometimes existed almost entirely on a diet of 'powdered nutrients.'"

2. Polina Tsurskaya Youth Olympics: 🥇 (2016) Junior GPF: 🥇 (2015) Retired at 17 after struggling with consistency due to body changes. Polina at her prime

3. Daria Panenkova Junior GP: 🥇🥈 (2017) Retired at 17. After she left Sambo, her old coaches accused her of shirking training: "[She] once again refused to go on the ice ... she said that did not want to go to training."

4. Anastasia Tarakanova Junior GPF: 🥉 (2017) Retired at 17, citing "health reasons." She also struggled with receiving funding and federation support at the end of her career.

5. Alena Kanysheva Junior GPF: 🥉(2017) - under coach Svetlana Panova. Switched to ice dance from singles at 15 following a chronic back injury aggravated by training the 4T (Quadruple Toeloop, a jump) at Sambo. Retired from the sport entirely at 16. Alena's beautiful JGPF FS

6. Elizabet Tursynbaeva (KAZ) Youth Olympics: 🥉 (2016) 4CC: 🥈 (2019) Worlds: 🥈 (2019) Retired at: 21, but had not competed since age 19. Despite a chronic back injury, she trained and competed a 4S. She cited her health as the reason for her retirement.

7. Evgenia Medvedeva Olympics: 🥈🥈 (2018) - had a stress fracture. Worlds: 🥇🥇🥉 (2016-17, 2019) Has not competed since age 20. She can only safely execute two types of jumps due to a chronic back injury that leaves her unable to turn to the left.

8. Alina Zagitova Olympics: 🥇🥈 (2018) Worlds: 🥇 (2019) Has not competed since age 17. Alina commented that she and Evgenia were not permitted to drink water to keep their weight down at the Olympics: "We just rinsed our mouths and spit it all out."

9. Daria Usacheva Jr Worlds: 🥈 (2020) Jr GPF: 🥉 (2019) Daria fractured her hip (reported by Russian media as an upper leg injury) in warmup at the 2021 NHK Trophy, at age 15. She left in a wheelchair and has not competed since. Tw: Injury, bodily harm

10. Alena Kostornaia GPF: 🥇 (2019) Euros: 🥇 (2020) Eteri claimed Alena had refused to share the ice with other girls. When Alena returned to Sambo after a season with another coach, she was placed on a "probationary period" that required her to re-master the 3A (triple axel, one of the hardest jumps) in two months. Alena later fractured her wrist during a 3A attempt and could not compete for an Olympic spot. Eteri said, "I believe that with such an injury it was possible to skate." She is 18

11. Anna Shcherbakova (2022 Olympian) Worlds: 🥇 (2021) Euros: 🥈🥈 (2020, 2022) Sambo's choreographer, Daniil Gleikhengauz, bragged that Anna could eat two shrimp for dinner and be full, and said he was "glad that she was not obsessed with food." Anna contracted pneumonia in the fall of 2020 and visibly struggled to breathe at 2020 Russian Nationals. Her coaches gave her something to inhale at the boards, possibly smelling salts. Despite this, her "tenacity" was praised by commentators. She is 17.

12. Alexandra Trusova (2022 Olympian) Worlds: 🥉 (2021) Euros: 🥉🥉 (2020, 2022) Sat out most of the fall of 2021 due to a fractured foot, but still competed quadruple jumps in the events that she entered. She is 17.

13. Kamila Valieva (2022 Olympian) Euros: 🥇 (2022) Kamila is undefeated this season and the favorite for the Olympic title. On Feb. 8, after the team event, it was revealed that she had tested positive for TMZ, a banned substance used to increase heart metabolism. She is 15.

14. Adian Pitkeev Jr Worlds: 🥈 (2014) Jr GPF: 🥈 (2013) Left singles skating at 18. Most elite men are able to compete well into their late 20s. Spent much of his career competing on a chronic injury. Despite this, Sambo coaches persisted in having him train quadruple jumps.

Skating fans are well-aware of the horrors that arise from Sambo 70's training methods. I hope that this thread will help bring this into a mainstream light. As fans, there's little we can do, but sports authorities can and should act.

Please protect these kids.

[gofigureelectra]

NHK Trophy 22 Mens SP - Shoma Uno - JPN

Program - Gravity

Elements:

4F +3.85 | 4T + Combo (fall)| FCS 4 | 3A | StSq4 | ChSS4 | ChCoSp4

Everything except for the Quad Toeloop/Missed Combo was just 🥰👌🏻 near perfection. That Flip was one of the best I have ever seen Shoma do. And that Step Sequence… Shoma’s musicality, emotion, passion and speed… it is just so captivating, and for about 40 seconds you just forget you’re watching a competitive program… for him skating to John Mayer, that says something HUGE about his performance and ability to reach every beat of the music.

The costly error will still put him solidly into 2nd behind Sota’a squeaky clean program.

Score: 91.66 into 2nd

[adito-lang]

So in honor of World Team Trophy (国別対抗戦) which should really have been cancelled this year, here’s Part 2 of Japanese figure skating vocabulary, focusing on ✨ jumps✨ (who needs them?)

Most of these are words/expressions I’ve heard over the course of countless hours watching and reading about figure skating in Japanese. This focuses on singles, but if anyone’s interested I can try making one for pairs. 

Part 1 - ✨ competitions and the figure skating season✨ 

Jumps ジャンプ

Counter for jumps ~本

to jump two lutzes ルッツを2本跳ぶ

Types of jumps in ascending order of base value 基礎点が低い順から並べるジャンプの種類

toeloop トーループ

salchow サルコー

loop ループ

flip フリップ

lutz ルッツ

axel アクセル

How to identify a jump ジャンプの見分け方

edge before takeoff 踏み切る前のエッジ

flat edge フラットエッジ

to take off on an inside/outside edge 内側・外側のエッジで踏み切る

to take off with toe assistance トウをついて踏み切る

Rotation 回転

single 1回転 (but it’s more common to say シングル）

double 2回転 (but more common to say ダブル）

triple 3回転 (but more common to say トリプル）

quadruple 4回転

underrotation 回転不足

to under-rotate (a triple loop) （３回転ループで）回転不足を取られる

(to be) downgraded ダウングレード（される）

Perfect jump 完璧なジャンプ 

Good jump technique 質の高いジャンプ技術 

Jump height and distance ジャンプの高さと距離

To jump ジャンプを跳ぶ・ジャンプを決める（you’ll hear commentators say 決めました！when a skater successfully lands a jump）

tano jump タノジャンプ

combination jump コンビネーションジャンプ・連続ジャンプ

To land 着氷する

to have flow on a landing 着氷で流れがある

to hold on to a landing 着氷で堪える

to have a wobbly landing (on a loop) （ループで）着氷が乱れる

(to) step-out ステップアウト（する）

To fall 転倒する

to fall (on a loop) （ループで）転倒する

to lose one’s balance バランスを崩す

To make a mistake (on a quad) （4回転で）ミスをする 

To succeed/fail (a jump) （ジャンプを）成功・失敗する 

And here’s a screenshot from a short article about Shoma Uno’s jumping performance today, which includes some of the terms I’ve listed. 

今度のテーマ：✨ 採点のルール、演技 ✨  Next time: ✨ scoring rules, performance ✨

♥️ Adito

[kamilavalieva-1]

Clean 4 toeloop and 3 toeloop

[quadaxxels]

ISU Worlds Men’s Short Program Group 4 - Live blog

Ok we’re pArt way through Shoma Uno’s program and my fuji tv stream has finally decided to behave - I’ve missed the first half of the program 😩😩

Ooft nasty fall on the 3A but good recovery - before the fall it looks like everything was clean,, shoma gets level 4 for the spin straight after

Lmao @ Stephane at the boards love him

Not the cleanest but he looks happy so that’s all that matters 🥺

On another note I’m still obsessed w his song choice LMAOOO it’s chaotic,, just like him 😌

Shoma uno currently in at 3rd place behind Yuma and kolyada I think??

Jin boyang is now up skating to Trio in D,, falls on the opening quad loop,, doubles the planned triple of his following quad triple combo

Beautiful 3A tho

So far out of 5 elements 3 are to be reviewed

Also a shaelynn bourne choreo apparently

Every spin combo but the last was a lvl 3, the last one was a lvl 4

Boyang scores 77.95 coming in at 11th rn oofttt

Kevin Aymoz nails the quad toeloop to open and the following triple triple combo, toe loop and loop I think it was?

Ooft he juuuust managed to save a 3A after a v nice step sequence

I never realised but Kev aymoz actually has really good skating skills, he’s got a lot of floor work in this program also

Music choice is just as chaotic as shoma’s and Yuma’s lol - what’s going on here

His 3A has been giving a red light but has come in at 5th place

LMAOOO TRUST FUJI TV THEYVE CUT TO A PREPARED PROMO THING OF THE UPCOMING YUZU VS NATHAN SHOWDOWN GBYEEE

Keegan Messing is up next skating to Mr Ed sheeran’s Perfect,, nails the opening quad toe loop triple toe loop combo, also nails the following 3A,,, lvl 4 for the spin - his spins are really stable w great speed

Effortless 3lutz follows EFFORTLESS

Keegan is really on his game today, could get a podium place - everything is clean!!!

Idk why I forget but he really does have beautiful skating skills and excellent tech skills!!

Mr Messing overtakes shoma for third

Lmao they’ve cut to yuzu entering rink side all sassy

OMFG DENISS VASILJEVS HAS GROWN HIS HAIR OUT??? IT’S IN A LITTLE PONY TAIL A LA SEASON 4 EREN JÄGER???? IM-????

In any case he nails opening triple triple,, hangs on to the 3A,, lvl 4 sit spin

Wowww his got see through panels and everything in his costume damn son ok we see you,, looks like we’re channeling ~sex appeal~ for this short lol

Just a friendly reminder for all the baby fs fans that deniss is shoma’s rinkmate and trains w Stephane lambiel too!!

Step sequence is nice as always and fits the music well but tbh I would’ve liked a bit more energy??

Deniss comes in at 81.22 making him 10th atm

Next up, the final group!!

[notpam]

Me watching Shoma fall on the 3 axel + 4 toeloop combo

He's such a great skater tho 🥺🤧💙

[rika-kihira]

Exclusive Birthday Confession, Rika Kihira talked about Mao Asada and the hope of an 18 year old. 

Q: How does “18 year old” sound to you?

R: Somehow it’s like being closer to an adult...until 17 years old there was a sense of (being) a kid, but after becoming 18 years old I want to be careful of details on speech. I am surprised that it has become such year already. And then at this age I could get a driving license. I don’t intend to get one yet, but if I have the time I would like to get it (the driving license) *laughs*. I also intend to go voting each time and I properly learned about it.

Q: The world is in the middle of a difficult situation. How is your condition?

R: It is really an unexpected situation. But adjusting better to the circumstances of Coronavirus, now I am training at the rink, doing gym muscle exercises, I am able to train so my conditions don’t change, I am not deeply shaken. I am spending my days by thinking, “What should I do so I can be better at skating while being careful to not be infected by Coronavirus”.

Q: Your goal, Worlds in March was cancelled. Do you feel exasperated or frustrated?

R: No, I thought that Coronavirus would definitely spread more if Worlds were to be forcibly held in that situation. More than feeling frustrated that I couldn’t skate, the feeling of not wanting to go through that was stronger. In the end, I looked at it objectively. At the point in time when Coronavirus started spreading I stopped thinking only about myself.

Q: Kihira-san always values “Peace”

R: That is right. Everytime I visit temples, the first thing I would do is to pray that “I want the world to be peaceful”. We learn at school about the wars happening in the world, knowing that even now there are a lot of people still suffering in this condition, just as I thought the most important thing is “world peace”. I feel it strongly especially at this time.

Q: That token of peace, holding the Olympics, is in a predicament

R: I think athletes that set the goal on Tokyo Olympics are in a tough situation. Since they were small, aiming for medals, thinking of cherishing their dream....the ideal would be to properly develop a vaccine, entirely putting out the Coronavirus and hoping that (the Tokyo Olympics) can be held next year. For me too the Olympics are special. Different than Worlds, it is an important competition held only once every 4 years.

Q: When was the 1st time you paid attention to Olympics?

R: At the time I watched Mao Asada-san participating in the Olympics. Even though I’m skating myself, from back then I don’t really watch competitions on TV, but Mao Asada-san was special. I would always watch the last group where Mao-san skated, and I also went to the competition. I was really moved at the moment (Mao Asada) did the pose after the Free program at the Sochi Olympics, in 2014. I paid attention to the Olympics at that time.

Q: What is the thing Mao Asada possesses but Rika Kihira doesn’t?

R: First of all, the mentality. She showed such performance at the stage where everyone feels the pressure, and it was awesome how she answered people’s expectations. At the Olympics you don’t know what will happen, the placement dropped in the Short program but she recovered in the Free Program with a perfect performance. Unrelated to the medals, I respect that mental strength. And then during that time Mao Asada alone kept challenging the 3A and fought. I was really fixated on her performance ability and the steps. I want to reach that place too. 

Q: Your thoughts about the 2022 Beijing Olympics

R: I want to add up more experiences, so now I don’t want it to come around yet. Whether it is really nervous or exciting, I have not totally understood it yet, but I understand that it won’t be an easy thing. I also think of continuing after Beijing, but maybe there is only once chance of being the no.1. It is an era where it becomes increasingly tough as one gets older, so I think the match would be Beijing Olympics. Next year I pray for the Tokyo Olympics event to be held, assimilating and properly learning the process, with the condition of getting the knowledge of the Olympics, I am going to do my best to get to be in the 1st place at the most important competition of my skating life.

**(Thinking about continuing to College) In the 20-21 figure skating season, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, it is not certain how things will turn out. Rika was planning to request choreography from Mao Asada’s choreographer, Lori Nichol, but due to country entry restriction the subject hasn’t progressed. In this condition Rika is also unable to meet directly (face to face) with newly added Canadian coach, Brian Orser. There are planned changes to the program and song, but it will depend on the Coronavirus situation. Rika restarted training on the ice at the end of May after the emergency declaration was lifted. Current training bases in Japan are Okinawa and Kansai. She planned to add two type of quads, Toeloop and Salchow for the Beijing Olympics.

When asked about advancing to college next year, currently on 3rd year of N High, Rika answered that she hasn’t narrowed it down yet, but she is thinking of advancing to college. Number 1 priority is skating so she wants to choose a school that doesn’t interfere with her participation in the sport.

[hydrosblade]

handy guide to figure skating

hi!! so i’m here trying to explain figure skating to you in the simplest and easiest way i can, so you can learn the basics and don’t get so lost when i rant about it! this guide will be in english because everything i’ve ever read and learned about figure skating came from tumblr or live commenting in competitions, so i know all the technical terms and names in eng ;p anyways!!!! enough chit-chat, let’s get this icy bread!

understanding the blades:

i think knowing edges is a good start and they are not as complicated as they seem. believe me, they were a nightmare when i started learning about fs, because in my head ice blades were like this \/ not like this /_\ , but once we get the basics on how the skating boot works, things will start to make sense. the pic im sending along with this text is very helpful to understand what is a figure skating boot. if you look at it, you will see the edge is not flattened, but it has a hollow space and actually two edges

> inside edges are always facing each other (inside part of the foot)

> outside edges are never facing each other (outside part of the foot)

it’s important to remember this because it’s a vital point in understanding jumps (but also spins and steps. edges are very very important!)

telling jumps apart:

ok so this is the fun part! but also the very confusing one… i had a breakdown over jumps once because i couldn’t, for the life of me, tell those shits apart. BUT DON’T WORRY, it gets easier with time and with watching tons of figure skating programmes and paying close attention to the jumps. they are the most important part in the technical side of the sport and basically everything revolves around them.

we have 6 different kinds of jumps in figure skating, divided into two groups:

> toe jumps, in which the skater will strike the toe pick into the ice to launch themselves in the air (toeloop, flip, lutz)

> edge jumps, the skater won’t have the assistance of the pick, therefore applying only their strength onto the edge of the blade to jump (axel, salchow, loop)

jumps can have one, two, three or four rotations. we call them single (1 rotation), double (2 rotations), triple (3 rotations) or quad (4 rotations). the more rotations, the harder the jump gets, since if you, for example, jump a triple jump, you'll be landing basically thrice your weight when you hit the ice on one little blade.

the only way in which we can differentiate a jump is by how they take off, since every jump lands the same way (on the right backward outside edge [also known as RBO] (or LBO if they spin in a counterclockwise direction)).

rbo, lbi, lfo and etc are abbreviations we use to tell a jump’s take off or landing, each letter corresponds to:

R = right leg

L = left leg

B = backward position

F = forward position

O = outside edge

I = inside egde

CCW = counterclockwise

CW = clockwise

so let’s break down the entry of every jump, starting from the easiest to the most difficult!!

TOE LOOP (T)

uses the toe pick to vault the body in the air

usually strikes the ice with the left toe pick (again, if it’s in a CCW direction, the skater uses the right toe pick)

it’s the only toe jump in which the skater rotates towards the foot that strikes the ice, meaning they are open to the rotation, and that makes it the easiest to execute

it’s a RBO jump, the skater’s right foot has to be on the outside edge when the toe pick strikes the ice

most of the time a turn will precede the jump

here is yuzuru hanyu (JPN) jumping a 4T + 3T combo at the 2018 olympics:

SALCHOW (S)

an edge jump, no toe pick assistance

left leg will sweep behind the body on a LBI (left backward inside edge (or right edge for CCW skaters)) and use the knee bend to apply force onto the blade to vault the body in the air

legs will form a / \ shape

most of the time the skater will do a three-turn (which is deadass what the name suggests, they turn three times) and then jump, that’s to create momentum and speed

here's rika kihira (JPN) jumping a 4S at the japanese nationals 2020:

LOOP (Lo)

also an edge jump, doesn’t use the toe pick

legs will cross and look like an X

just like the toeloop, the loop will take off on a RBO (right backward outside edge (or left edge for CCW skaters)) and will vault their body in the air with the strength of the knee bend

fun fact: yuzuru was the first skater to ever land a quadruple loop!

here's yuzuru jumping the 4Lo in the four continents championship (4CC):

ok so now let’s talk about the flip and the lutz, two of the most difficult jumps and the ones most people lose their minds over because they can be v v v similiar, but the key to differentiate them is their take off edge:

FLIP (F)

back to toe jumps, it has the use of the toe pick

the skater will always do a turn and then immediately jump (for beauty and grace’s sake, some skaters might do a three-turn before jumping)

IMPORTANT TO ALWAYS REMEMBER AND NOTICE THAT THE FLIP IS AN INSIDE EDGE JUMP, so the take off will always be on the LBI (left backward inside edge (right edge for CCW skaters))

the skater strikes the ice with the toe pick, but rotates in the opposite direction of the toe pick, which makes the body closed to the rotation.

fun fact: the flip is my favourite jump ever lol

here's yuzuru jumping a 3F at an ice show (notice the three-turn leading to it!!):

LUTZ (Lz)

the final toe jump, has the assistance of the toe pick

different from the flip, when going into a lutz, the skater will always do a long lean forward before jumping

LUTZ IS AN OUTSIDE EDGE JUMP, so the left foot will always be on a DEEP LBO (left backward outside jump (or right edge for CCW)). the deepest the outside edge, the more beautiful and correct the jump is

same as the flip, the toe pick strikes the ice while the skater’s body rotates in the opposite direction, so it is closed to the rotation.

here's yuna kim (KOR) jumping a 3Lz + 2T in the 2014 olympics:

AXEL (A)

the last edge jump, so no toe pick

the only jump with a forward entry, therefore the easiest to recognize

because it has a forward take off, every axel has an additional 0.5 rotation (like if you jump a 3A, its actually a 3.5A, with three and a half rotations instead of just three)

most skaters do a long backward line looking over the shoulder and then they turn, lean forward, sweep the right leg in front of the body and jump. (but yuzuru hanyu (a.k.a. the God of fs) almost always jumps the axel from a backcounter, which is insanely difficult and rare)

the axel take off is LFO (left foward outside edge)

fun fact: the axel is the only jump without a quad variation, since it would have 4.5 rotations, and that’s A Lot. but yuzuru said he’s been training like crazy and will be the first skater to ever land a quadruple axel.

here's yuzuru jumping his trademark 3A during practice:

that's it for now!!! if u have any questions feel free to hmu and after the jumps we can move on to spins, steps and scores!! hehe hope u enjoyed it 🥰

[geckomoon]

Yuri!!! on ice as irl skaters (part 1???)

Its 2020 and I miss yoi so here are my personal headcanons about which irl skater the you cast skate &/or act like because why the hell not.

(photos at the bottom of the post because I couldn't get the format to work the way I wanted it to)

Yuri Katsuki ➡️ Boyang Jin (China)/Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia)

Yes, 2 people because PARALLELS.

So my reason for saying Yuri is like Boyang is because, his step sequences are always gorgeous and his jumping power, oofttttt, and that one scene where Yuri tries a jump and lands in the wall, you know the one. Boyang Jin is known for jumping super close to the boards and scaring the hell out of us all, seriously, just watch one of his skates, it's amazing and terrifying. Also Boyang is a bit of a nerd and Yuri is canonicaly pretty into video games, nuff said.

Boyang is a two-time World bronze medalist (2016–2017), the 2018 Four Continents champion, a two-time Four Continents silver medalist (2016, 2019), the 2017 Asian Winter Games silver medalist, and a five-time (2014–2017, 2019) Chinese national champion.

Evgenia however, this is more of a parallel in how her 2018/19 season went and how Yuri kinda flopped. Zhenya had a crappy start to the 18/19 season, she'd just switched coaches and mover halfway across the world, for the 1st time in her senior career she didn't make the gpf. However by the end of the season she had bounced back and won bronze at worlds and my god what a skate that fp was. Remind you of anyone huh???

Evgenia has a lot of medals (and actually made a cameo in the end credits of episode 10) She is a two-time Olympic silver medalist (2018 ladies' singles, 2018 team event), a two-time world champion (2016, 2017), a two-time European champion (2016, 2017), a two-time Grand Prix Final champion (2015, 2016), a two-time Russian national champion (2016, 2017), silver medalist at the 2018 European Figure Skating Championships and bronze medalist at the 2019 World Championships. Also, she is a huge Anime fan and has a sailor moon exhibition program and its adorable.

Victor Nikiforov ➡️ Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan)

I know a lot of people compare Yuri to Yuzu but I think Victor is a better fit.

Yuzuru has a legion of super duper dedicated fans, they are pretty scary at times. If you watch the 2018 Olympics, the ice literally was covered in Pooh bears after his skate. People love this man, and rightly so. Clearly Yuri isn't the only one who loves Victor, he's very popular in the yoi skating world and almost everyone loves and looks up to him.

His skates are almost immaculate every time. Not only is his technique amazing but his artistry is what really sets him apart from other skaters who may have higher bv on jumps etc. Not that he dosent have high bv, seriously he tries combos that are super wierd just for the bv (see the wierd 4t-3a combo thing he does idk). Plus he's dead set on doing a quad axel. See Victor's super high bv with all the quads and also the fact everyone goes nuts over how his skating is 'like no other'.

Also his medal collection is absolutely mad, he is a two-time Olympic champion (2014, 2018), two-time World champion (2014, 2017), four-time Grand Prix Final champion (2013–2016), Four Continents champion (2020) and three times silver medalist (2011, 2013, 2017). Just like how Victor is canonicaly an Olympic champion and 5x world champion and probably many time euros champ.

Also, he's a sweetheart, he literally crawled behind Shoma Uno because he didn't want the attention taken away from Shoma. I love him.

Victor Nikiforov gives big Yuzuru Hanyu energy.

Yuri Plisetsky ➡️ Yulia Lipnitskaya (Russia)/Alexandra Trusova (Russia)

Again, 2 people.

It's canon that Yuri P was modeled after Yulia for the flexibility and artistic portion of his skates so I feel like I don't need to elaborate much in it however his determination and his wanting to back load with quads reminds me a lot of Sasha Trusova.

Sasha only started juniors the year after yoi came out (she had a Makkachin tissue box which was given to her by Evgenia M which is adorable) so she was not really that popular when the show was being made but she really made a statement when she became the 1st woman to land 2 quads in 1 program (4 salchow and 4 toeloop) at the age of 13 at 2018 junior worlds.

She has just started senior and this season she had 5 quads in one program and I think I cried. She now has a quad sal, toe, flip and lutz and is apparently working on a loop. On top of that she can land a 3 axel but has yet to do so in competition. Did I mention SHE'S 15 AND I'M TERRIFIED.

She currently holds the world record for the free skate (166.62 points). She is the 2020 European Bronze Medalist, the 2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist, the 2019 Skate Canada champion, the 2019 Rostelecom Cup champion, the 2019 CS Ondrej Nepela champion, the 2019 Russian national silver medalist, and the 2020 Russian national bronze medalist.

Her determination to win and high TES reminds me of Yurio a lot.

Phichit Chulanont ➡️ Nam Nguyen (Canada)

This one is fun.

I love Nam with all my heart, he's actually my favourite male skater and not just because of his skating. However his skating is great. He is the 2014 World Junior champion, 2019 Skate Canada silver medalist, and two-time Canadian national champion (2015, 2019). He has placed as high as fifth at the World Championships, in 2015. He's not the best skater ever, kinda like Phichit but his personality shines through so much when he skates and I love it.

My main comparison to Phichit is the fact that Nam Nguyen is a huge meme. His Instagram is one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen (@ namnamnoodle). I can't explain it with words seriously just go look at it, he makes memes using professionnally taken skating photos of himself and honestly it's just a giggle. He's almost always posting on his story and half the videos he takes end up on fan twitter and everyone freaks out.

Also he's good friends with Evgenia, thought I'd mention that seeing as who I compared her to :)).

Yeah, Phichit and Nam are memes and I adore them both.

Jean-Jacques Leroy ➡️ Nathan Chen (USA)

Jj is definitely more of a technical focused skater. He tends to put all his eggs in the '800000 quads' bucket and isn't as artistic, in my humble opinion.

Just like Nathan surprisingly, though Nate isn't as egotistical (not a dig, just an observation).

Nathan is compared to Yuzu a lot, and had actually scored higher than him a few times in competition. He is an amazing jumper and is the first skater to have landed five types of quadruple jumps in competitions: toe loop, Salchow, loop, flip and Lutz. Currently he is two-time World champion (2018, 2019), a 2018 Winter Olympic bronze medalist in the team event, the 2017 Four Continents champion, three-time Grand Prix Final champion (2017, 2018, 2019), and four-time U.S. national champion (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020).

So yeah, he's good.

However at the 2018 Olympics (he was only 18 at the time) he bombed under pressure in the team event and in the sp, only to come back with a WR free skate, but didn't medal because of his sp score,kinda like how Jj bombed at the GPF. (Ngl, I cried in school when I saw Nate bomb at the Olympics, I was so upset).

Also, Nathan is super smart and is training to be a doctor. Not related to Jj but I thought I would point it out.

Christophe Giacometti➡️ Adam Rippon (USA)/Javier Fernández (Spain)

Chris is a hard one to pin to an irl skater because he's just so... Chris.

The closest comparison I can get is Adam Rippon but dialed up to 11 because Adam is quite a bit more tame than Chris is. However he did have a point in his sp where he literally beckons the judges to him in a way that can only be described as vaguely sexual. Seeing that at the Olympics was an event I'll tell you that.

Adam was the first openly gay man to make a U.S. Winter Olympic team, and the first to win a medal at the Winter Games. (team bronze).

Plus, I'm pretty sure he owned a Chris plushie at one point or another.

However other than the obvious Chrissness, his technique and medal winning achievements most closely match up with Javier Fernández (who may I add is pretty much Yuzuru Hanyu's best friend). He is the 2018 Olympic bronze medalist, a two-time World champion (2015, 2016), a two-time World bronze medalist (2013, 2014), a seven-time European champion (2013–2019), a two-time Grand Prix Final silver medalist (2014, 2015), a three-time Rostelecom Cup champion (2014–2016), a two-time Grand Prix in France champion (2016–2017) and an eight-time Spanish national champion (2010, 2012–2018). Javi is an amazing skater but usually ended up playing 2nd fiddle to Yuzuru on the world stage, but with euros, he literally won 7 times consecutively. Anndddd, he was the flag bearer for Spain at the 2014 Olympics and I still cry about it.

Otabek Altin➡️ Denis Ten (Kazakhstan)/ Matteo Rizzo

So it's canon that Otabek was based on Denis (rip Denis) so like Yuri and Yulia I do not feel like I need to elaborate much as you can read it on the wikia page. But Otabek also reminds me of a less talkative version of Matteo Rizzo. Matteo is the 2019 European bronze medalist, 2018 NHK Trophy bronze medalist, 2019 Winter Universiade champion, and 2018 Italian national champion.

The reason he reminds me of Otabek is that they just joth exude the same level of cool and I can't explain it any further than that. That's it. Just watch him skate and you'll see.

So that's all I have for now because this post got pretty long so if this gets enough attention I'll do a part 2 :)).

[stormskates]

thoughts on the rule changes

Update: They’re bringing back the old scales and rules for now, thank fuck. Still leaving this rant here though, because their rationale for suspending the changes was COVID (*rolls eyes*) and I worry they’ll bring back these ridiculous suggestions post-pandemic. I really wouldn’t put it past them.

My unsolicited opinions with the new rule changes, because I need to vent and characters in tweets aren’t enough. Fair warning: I’m not using polite language here. Also, I’m not looking to discuss, just to vent, so don’t argue with me because I have no time to be mentally exhausted over this any further.

1. On the new ‘q’ mark

The new q mark is wholly unnecessary. There is no fair reason to penalise rotations that land just right on the quarter mark, when (besides this not being possible to apply evenly and fairly, if the past seasons are any indication) it is enough to simply clarify that jumps that are short of 1/4 rotation will be called UR.

This new notation is ridiculous. Do you see other sports, like volleyball and badminton, halving points when the ball lands on the boundary line? Oh, the ball landed on the line, let’s give it half a point? 

And just look at the difference it makes in the scale of values:

If you see a number in those columns that’s different from the ones without a q mark, let me know, because to me it’s just another six rows copied and pasted and underlined to highlight that it’s new but not different. What does this contribute, really? 

2. On the new reductions for errors

There is no reason to give judges a range of GOE point deductions for errors in elements, when you can simplify this by just putting a solid cap on the GOE. Say skater A and B have the same flat edge on a flip, but A gets a -1 deduction and B gets a -3 deduction for the same error. How is that clear? How is that fair? This does no favours to anybody and deliberately justifies dodgy scores as it is.

In addition to that, there is no reason to add “unclear edge, no sign” as well. Forgive my language but what the fuck is that? Should I add “wrong edge, no sign” as well, even though this already occurs and judges still have no problems giving +5 GOEs regardless?

Again, to illustrate how ludicrous this is: Skater A and B both have an unclear edge, but only A gets the sign and a -2 deduction. B only gets a -1 deduction, and because there is no sign noted they can assume the deduction is attributed to other facets of the jump. Again, I ask: how is that fair?

The only win in these changes is the acknowledgement of full-blade assistance and excessive pre-rotation (the latter has always been there, though, fyi) but considering how scarcely and selectively they’re applied, it’s not a significant victory.

3. On the new base values for triples

If they wanted to make the 3F more competitive, then they could have just increased its BV to make it more competitive with the 3Lz. Levelling their base values by decreasing the 3Lz BV instead — unevenly, I might add, as the Lz in singles and doubles is still worth more than the F — is saying it’s easy, when at the end of the day, you could still count more flat lutzes than correct ones. This change is diminishing the value of its difficulty, not levelling the game, because if the ISU sought to make things fairer, then they would have increased the value of the flip without touching the base value of the lutz. Doing that would have sent a different message: if the flip is your stronger jump then this change will simply help you maximise it a little more. 

It’s also not like most skaters don’t already know their strong and weak elements in the first place. Remember they can only repeat two types of triples in the free program, and those without a 3A or quads typically maximise GOE by repeating their best jump, be it flip or lutz, and the triple toeloop in combination. 

If the ISU's reasoning for the entire change is due to body type, then they ought to remember that there are plenty of top skaters still naturally rock to a flat edge on both jumps. Though I suppose when the Head of the ISU Technical Committee himself can’t differentiate an inside edge from an outside edge, all this doesn’t matter. 

4. On the new base values for quads

Bianchetti claims they did research during the past season, and that this is the basis they’ve made for the changes. I’d very much like to see this report, because the changes on the BVs for quads seems very arbitrary apart from being extremely disappointing.

What the new values say is that 4Lo is as difficult to execute as the 4F and the 4Lz. See, if this were true, then skaters who do a 4F or 4Lz should be able to do a 4Lo as well, but the only one who has attempted a 4Lz and a 4Lo in the past season in Yuzuru Hanyu. 

If the hierarchy of quads is based on the frequency of attempts, then 4T and 4Lz should have the lowest base values, while 4Lo and 4A have the highest values. 

If the hierarchy of quad jumps isn’t based on the frequency of attempts, and the same hierarchy of jumps applies, then why is the difference (1.5) between 4Lz and 4A not the same as the difference (2.7) between 3Lz and 3A? I agree that the hierarchy of jumps in quads ought to be different from triples, doubles, and singles, but if you aren’t going to change this, then at least make the differences standard. 

If your argument against giving the 4A a higher base value is so that skaters wouldn’t risk injury to attempt it, then wow, what are you even doing in the sport? Athletes risk injury all the time, regardless of proper technique; it’s part of their career. They have the right to pursue new elements if they want to. They know the risks.

The long and short of it all is that the changes aren’t designed to be fair or transparent, which is what you would want to see in a sport. There are several loopholes for judges to score ambiguously and as much as I wish this didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, it does. It’s bad enough the rules in this sport are applied selectively; it only becomes worse when they’re designed to be unfair. 

We’ve seen athletes spend half their careers reworking their tech because of consistent penalties, while others with the same errors have the privilege of being overlooked. A system that perpetuates that is complete and utter bullshit. 

[degracieuse]

Naairiem Knoop- en haakwerk. Afbeelding No. 52ab en 53. Grijs koordgaren of beurzentouw, groene zephirwol, zwarte naaizijde, groen zijden veterband. De naairiem wordt in plaats van een plomb gebruikt. Het model bestaat uit een in knoop- en haakwerk vervaardigden band ongeveer 60 d. lang, 5½ d. breed, aan het eene einde waarvan eene lus gevormd wordt, waardoor men, bij het gebruik van den naairiem, den toon steekt, terwijl het andere einde in eene punt uitgaat; laatstgenoemde dient om het werk vast te steken. Ter vervaardiging van den naairiem zet men eerst met grijs garen over een knoophoutje van 1½ d. in omvang 400 steken op en werkt daarop teruggaande den 1. toer. Over een knoophoutje van 3 d. in omvang (in dezen, alsook in de overige toeren gedurig 1 steek in 1 steek van den vorigen toer). 2. en 3. toer als de 1. toer, doch men moet hier, alsook in den volgenden toer, de 100 laatste steken van den 1. toer onbewerkt laten. 4. toer over een knoophoutje van 1½ d. in omvang. Van den smallen band aan het eene einde van het werk wordt de lus van den naairiem gemaakt. Nu haakt men volgens afbeelding No. 53 om elken opzetsteek aan de eene lange zijde van den geknoopten band 1 vasten steek met grijs garen; aan het einde van den smallen band gekomen zijnde, verbindt men dezen met de andere lange zijde van den breeden band, daar men 1 v. st. in den naastbijzijnden steek van laatstgenoemden band haakt; men gaat zoo voort tot dat men aan het einde van den breeden band is. Daarna haakt men met grijs garen om dezelfde geknoopte steken, evenwel langs de rij knoopen, 1 toer halve vaste steken; de werkdraad moet hierbij gedurig onde den geknoopten grond liggen (zie afb. No. 53). Op dezelfde wijze werkt men 2 toeren h. v. st. om de geknoopte steken van den tweeden toer, insgelijks langs de knoopen. Nu volgen er nog 2 toeren h. v. st. met groene wol om elk van de knoopsteken van den 1. en 3. toer (zie de afb.). Om de nog onbewerkte steken van den rand voor het gedeelte voor de lus bestemd haakt men 1 toer v. st. met grijs garen. Dan stopt men de steken van den 2. toer (middelste streep) volgens de afbeelding met groene wol met den point-de-reprise door, haalt door de steken van den 1. en 3. toer een groen wollen draad, zoodat telkens 2 naast elkander liggende steken zich kruisen (zie afb. No. 53) en rijgt door de opzetsteken en de steken van den laatst geknoopten toer een groen zijden veterband naar aanwijzing van de afbeelding. Eindelijk werkt men op de middelste doorgestopte streep eene eenvoudige versiering van zwarte zijde met den gekruisten naad (zie afb. No. 52ab). Daarna haakt men op den rechten dwarsrand van den band heen en weder 14 toeren v. st. met grijs garen, waarbij men gedurig om de beide bovenste lussen van elken steek moet steken. In den eersten van deze toeren moet men tevens de overstekende draden en einden van het veterband bevestigen, in de volgende toeren moet men telkens aan het begin en einde minderen, opdat dit gedeelte volgens de afbeeld. spits toeloope. Hiermede is de naairiem waarvan afb. No. 52ab het bovenste, 52b het onderste gedeelte verkleind voorstelt, voltooid.

[sashas4t]

Russian Juniors (Ladies) and Bad Technique (Toe Jumps)

It seems to be a trend, or a rumored trend at the least, that many Russian Junior Ladies nowadays have bad technique on their jumps. Since I love a bunch of the Russian Junior Ladies, and I personally never really placed too much attention on their jump technique, I thought it would be interesting to share how the facts match up with the rumors.

Eteri’s Juniors

Kamila Valieva

This season, Eteri has once again, produced the top junior (so far) of the season. This time the pupil who has brought her the title is Kamila Valieva. While Valieva has been applauded for her flexibility, her beautiful spins, her lines, and her skating skills, it is rare to see anyone praise her jump technique. There is a reason behind that, and the reason is that Valieva’s jump technique is rather bad.

Even in real time, and without a closeup, you can clearly see that Valieva’s jump technique in combinations is extremely weak. She bobbles in between the triple lutz and the triple toe loop, and this results in her basically doing the 3T with no speed going in. Though she has managed quite well so far with this technique, it is surely not one to rely on forever.

This GIF is from JGP Chelyabinsk, the most recent competition, and you can clearly see an outside edge. You can also see quite an amount of prerotation:

Valieva’s outside edge is actually quite good in this competition, but many have claimed that Valieva’s edge is consistently getting worse. This image proves otherwise, and you can see clearly that Valieva still has maintained a rather good outside edge.

However, her biggest issue is with prerotation.

Valieva places her entire blade down on the ice, and this creates a very awkward takeoff that almost make my ankles hurt looking at it. Her takeoff technique is similar to her senior in Eteri’s Camp - Anna Shcherbakova - except it seems to be even worse, as she leaves after 1/2 a rotation. The image above shows clearly that at 1/2 a rotation (when the screenshot was taken) her toepick is still on the ice.

On Valieva’s 3F, we see a similar issue. The edge is correct, but the prerotation is massive and results in a full blade.

However, the entrance doesn’t look nearly as awkward as the lutz, and she leaves the ice before 1/2 a rotation. Her edge is constant and never looks to be close to flat or outside. I would definitely say her flip is leagues better than her lutz.

Surprisingly, Valieva’s toe loop technique is also better than her lutz.

This shot is of Valieva’s 4T at 180 degrees. She definitely has taken off before 180, as you can see her foot is pretty high off the ice. Toeloops actually allow for up to 180 degrees PR (a fan made standard I believe actually), so her 4T technique isn’t that bad!

Daria Usacheva

This girl is one of my personal favorites. I love how expressive her movements are, and how powerful her steps can be. However, while her jump technique is better than Valieva’s, it’s not wonderful in anyway either.

Though her lutz edge, even in real time, is obviously very shallow, and possibly a flat edge, you can see that the takeoff is not nearly as awkward as Valieva’s.

Right as the toepick hits the ice, Dasha’s blade is flat or slightly inside. Her entrance is kind of similar to Medvedeva’s, in the sense that she gets on an outside edge before she picks, but rocks into a flat/slightly inside edge when she actually gets off the ice.

However, like Valieva, Dasha also uses a full blade. Unlike Kamila however, she doesn’t place her entire blade onto the ground, and so...

She leaves the ice a little before 180 degrees, somewhere around 160-170 I would say. This make her technique very similar to Sasha Trusova’s, who also uses a full blade, but doesn’t completely slam her blade on the ice. Another reason Kamila’s takeoff might look more awkward is because right as she picks off the ice, she uses a full blade, while Dasha stats out with a toepick and then places the rest of the blade on the ice.

Her flip has very similar technique to her lutz, so I’m not going to go into full detail about it. (Interestingly, you can see that Dasha’s full blade never fully hits the ice, rather she places the toepick in a sideways manner that allows her to rotate on the ice).

Dasha has a proper inside edge on her flip, not surprising since she has a flutz.

Similar to her lutz, Dasha takes off just a little before 180 degrees, since she doesn’t put her full blade on the ice. She does still PR more than the allowed amount however.

Maiia Khromykh

While I definitely prefer the former two skaters to Maiia, I feel like people don’t nearly give her enough credit. Her FS choreo is terrible and so she can’t so off how elegant she is and how nice her lines are, but there are certain moments when you can see how nicely she controls her lines and movements. But, how does her jumping technique compare with her training mates?

Again, the edge looks fine, but the prerotation looks rather obvious.

When the toepick hits the ice, Maiia is at a slightly outside edge, but once her full blade hits the ice, the blade shifts to a slightly inside edge. Maiia’s technique is like a mix of Kamila and Dasha’s. She doesn’t immediately hit the ice with her blade, but she also fully puts her blade on the ice.

This angle is horrible! But I can only guess that here Maiia has left the ice. I would guess she has 170-180 degrees of PR.

Here, it seems more obvious that Khromykh picks with her blade, which is odd considering she takes off a little before 180 degrees on the flip as well.

Conclusion:

All of Eteri’s students have improper jump technique. I would say Valieva has the worst prerotation technique, while Usacheva’s is slightly better than the rest.  None of them are good though. So, those who say Tutberidze’s new trio of juniors don’t have the best technique are not in the wrong.

Panova’s Juniors

Kseniia Sinitsyna

Kseniia is my other favorite junior this season (along with Dasha). Her technique is much better than those who are coached by Tutberidze. Panova is actually known for teaching textbook technique and training students who have good skating skills and edges.

Her jumps look really nice and tight in real time because she has excellent air position, and a very nice rippon as well. But how do they measure when we slow them down?

Again, very nice outside edge on the lutz!

Kseniia has a very nice outside edge here, but in the second picture it seems that she has a full blade. Its odd, though, that despite having what seems to look like a full blade, Kseniia leaves the ice at around 90 degrees (a little more, but not by too much). So what do you think? Is it textbook? Or does the possible full blade mean Kseniia also has bad technique.

Again, very nice edge with a good lift and good transitions into the flip.

The same strange technique that Kseniia uses on her lutz appears here as well. She seems to have a full blade, but still PRs within a good amount.

Anna Frolova

Another one of the more underrated skaters. I have personally never purposefully actually looked into Frolova’s technique, so I am excited to see how Panova trained her!

While the PR looks to be pretty good, the edge seems to look less stable than Kseniia’s.

As I suspected, the edge is flat, bordering inside, and like Kseniia, she uses a full blade. She, like Kseniia, lifts off the ice at around 100 degrees, and so the PR is definitely within a good amount.

It also seems like Frolova uses a full blade on the flip, but I’m not sure. By the time she is at around 75 degrees, she is already using a toepick so that’s what I included. Again, pretty good technique!

Conclusion:

Panova’s students are known for having relatively good technique. They usually PR an acceptable degrees, and though Frolova doesn’t have the best lutz edge, that seems to be a rarity within Panova students.

Davydov’s Juniors

Viktoria Vasilieva

Another one of my underrated favorites this season. Similarly with Frolova, I have never looked closely at Vasilieva’s technique, so I am interested to see how textbook her technique really is.

The jump looks pretty nice in real time - with a pretty good outside edge (from what I can see), and a very nice rippon.

Here, we can see that the edge looks a lot less deep than it does in real time. However, it still looks to be an outside edge. Her takeoff is also very nice to the eyes, similar to the Panova students.

Vasilieva seems to barely manage an outside edge when she picks. Her technique is not as strange as those of Tutberidze’s students, and she seems to be able to keep an outside edge. She does, however, use full blade and that results in her having 180 degrees PR.

Like her lutz, Vasilieva has a full blade and takes off around 180 degrees. However, she does have the correct edge.

Conclusion

Russian skaters don’t seem to struggle on flip edges, but many of their lutz edges can only barely pass. The two Panova skaters both have very good technique in terms of PR, and Sinitsyna seems to be the most full Russian skater there is, with good edges, good PR and good interpretation. Anyways, this doesn’t mean that these skaters are bad, they just weren’t taught the correct technique.

PR amounts (best estimates):

1. Sinitsyna - 95 degrees

2. Frolova - 100 degrees

3. Usacheva - 165 degrees

4. Khromykh - 175 degrees

5. Vasilieva - 175 degrees

6. Valieva - 185 degrees

[kurooscoffee]

English Translation: Massimiliano Ambesi talks Worlds 2019

Part 1 (Men) can be found here.

video: https://youtu.be/BjuxW0B_LWo

Part 2: Ladies

Massimiliano Ambesi: What can I tell you about the Ladies competition?

Interviewer: That's just what I wanted to ask you about.

M: I think that Zagitova’s victory was legitimate and well-deserved. We’re talking about an absolutely outstanding athlete, someone who in the last two years won everything there is to win. In last three seasons, everything in junior and senior. How many ladies skaters have managed to do that before her? One. Yuna Kim. So we have to acknowledge her for what she is: the greatest Russian athlete of all times. Many people have already written her off. When I saw her in practice, I was cautious, because I thought she seemed extremely thin, especially her thighs. And when an athlete of this type is pushed to such extremes, they usually manage to complete the rotations and land their jumps. And she’s landed them all. She came to face these Worlds in a difficult psychological situation.

I: She was so tired I’d say, she had a difficult season.

M: In Nationals she was defeated by her younger training mates by 30 points. At Europeans she was expected to win, but she didn’t. She was beaten by an athlete who isn’t at her level and never will be.

I: Not in the Worlds either.

M: Yes. Zagitova just wasn’t in the best shape in all these competitions. Maybe a competition at the beginning of the season in Oberstdorf, where the stakes were low, and there she skated magnificently. But…

I: She gave it her all in this last try.

M: Yes, but the true champions do this. Then, it is also clear that if the Japanese Rika Kihira hadn’t made mistakes, she would have won. But she gave away two important jumping elements: a triple axel in short and another in the free. And at this moment, in some of the PCS categories, Kihira might be better than Zagitova. Not in all of them. Zagitova’s programs, under Tutberidze, are put together in a smart way. They are made to take advantage of athlete’s characteristics. So, even if they are lacking in some aspects - the quality of Zagitova’s skating is not like Kihira’s – that much is obvious. But Zagitova’s packaging is convincing. So this is the reason why, in my opinion, her victory was legitimate. Others threw that victory away. Kaori Sakamoto could have been second. She probably didn’t have enough points to beat Zagitova – with this scoring system. She’s an athlete that stole the spotlight, an athlete that had to accept a placement off the podium, she was capable of so much more. But, guys, the winners were those who didn’t make mistakes and that at that time had the most complete package. Now, will it be like this the next year as well? I highly doubt it.

I: Next year, the situations will be turned around a little, especially in the light of the juniors that are about to become seniors, right?

M: In my opinion, this is Year 0, year 1, you can choose whichever you prefer.

I: It’s an apocalypse.

M: Year 0/Year 1, because here we have a Kazakhstan skater that came and delivered a quad Salchow and took home the silver medal, and she’s not the last one to come. This is a skater with talent and an interesting story behind her. And next year, we’ll see many other athletes attempting quads. And they will probably succeed. In her career, Trusova has already accomplished Lutz, Toeloop and Salchow. In practices, she’s attempting the triple Axel. She can land quad flip. So this is someone who can execute virtually all the quads.

I: The entire array.

M: Then, if we want to talk about the jumping technique, and about the fact that perhaps some of these quads are very pre-rotated, let’s talk. However, let’s be careful: I’d like to make a distinction between the Men and Ladies disciplines. In Men, we have athletes that execute the quads well, without pre-rotating. Hanyu Yuzuru has completed a 4Lutz in his career, it was an exceptional Lutz. Jin Boyang, the Chinese, the same. And then we have other athletes who do execute these quads, but pre-rotate. Shoma Uno has a 4Flip that is undeniably pre-rotated, right. Well above the acceptable limit. In Ladies field, I haven’t seen any athletes that can execute a quad without pre-rotation yet. So, when I see them, I’ll be able to denounce the technique of various Trusovas and Sherbackovas. At the moment, even if pre-rotating, these athletes are the only ones that can complete 4 rotations on a Lutz.

I: They are pioneers.

M: Yes, exactly, they are pioneers. And I don’t feel like attacking them, because it wouldn’t make sense. I feel like saying that: they are athletes who push themselves to the maximum, that in the Russian system, you are required to go for the 4 rotations. Because the number of girls who are 13 years old and can do all the triples including the 3 Lutz, is up to 50! And to win, you have to add something else.

I: To stand out from the crowd.

M: Exactly. And it is obvious that these athletes then go and can win in the international competitions, even without the quads. Let’s also add that we have someone like Kostornaya, who doesn’t have quads, she was able to land the 3A in the practices, but I’m not sure if she’ll be able to do it again. She has everything – she is the complete package.

I: Extraordinary elegance.

M: An extraordinary elegance, unmatched skating quality – unmatched among those who were at Worlds I mean. But this is the problem: with the current scoring system, Kostornaya is being punished. Now, let’s try to raise the factorisation of the Program Components in ladies field too. We’ll see if Kostornaya will be able to win or not against Trusova. It goes without saying that if Trusova completes all that she is planning to: the three quads, it’ll still be her that wins. But it’s fair that she wins, for what she has done. And obviously, if she makes a small mistake, two clean programs of Kostornaya should be enough for a victory in a Grand Prix Final, World Championships, Russian Nationals, or whatever it be.

I: A change like this has happened in the world of Artistic gymnastics too. Maybe it’ll also happen in figure skating, we could hope?

M: I am hoping for it, as a fan, as someone who started visiting the ice since I was 4, and apart from speed skating I’ve trained all the possible disciplines on the ice.  So my wish is that things could change for the better, to benefit the sport. After that, I’m not sure what will happen, but I’m aware that in this moment, there isn’t any balance. And if I have to answer to the other question, I’d say that the three Russian skaters – if they won’t have injuries, physical problems, or uncontrollable grow spurts…

I: That will put them out of balance.

M: Exactly. They are destined to dominate. Because even Trusova, who sometimes gets lower marks, has a good skating quality, observe her attentively. And maybe Scherbakova, is better compared to Trusuva in some of the components, and worse in some others. But we’re looking at athletes that have so much to offer on the ice. We’re not talking about an athlete in Men’s field who seems to be merely a quadster but doesn’t communicate anything to you when you see him on the ice. We’re talking about athletes that you might like more or less.

I: Who have different styles, too.

M: And they have so much to offer. So, if they stay well and healthy, I can’t see anyone that would be able to beat them except Rika Kihira with a 3A and a 4S that she’s able to land in the practices.

I: Last thing. Can we talk about Medvedeva? Who was also able to pull off an amazing feat after an extremely difficult season.

M: Yes. Medvedeva has proven to be an athlete of an amazing character. But we already knew that. She’s an athlete who has been on the podium in every ISU championship of her career. Whether she was 14 and participating in Junior Worlds, whether she was older and participating at Senior Worlds. So that’s what we’re looking at.

I: She’s saying that she wants to practice the quad.

M: I won’t believe it until I see it. But I’d also like to say another thing. Medvedeva under Tuberidze is an athlete of a certain type. With programs built to play to her strengths that can add value to her qualities and hide her defects. Medvedeva that I see under Orser’s group, is a weaker Medvedeva. She doesn’t have program that are built to hide her defects.  So we can see the skating skills that are inferior to so many that participated at these Worlds – I think this is obvious. These programs are less rich, with less transitions. You take those away, and there’s another defect that comes to the front. In my opinion, this is a weaker Medvedeva. If we put her current clean program against other clean programs, she gets beaten by Zagitova, Sakamoto, Kihira… That’s three already. I also have to add Tursynbaeva, because she does quads. Plus, there’s also the ones from Russia that will advance to seniors next year. However, if she has the chance to go forward, she’ll be competitive. However, if I had to bet on a skater today, I’d bet on someone else. And sincerely, I find more pleasure in watching someone like Kihira, who is able to project something more, who has a superior quality, compared to the current Medvedeva. This is of course a personal opinion, if there’s people thinking differently, I acknowledge it.

I: Thank you so much Massimiliano. We have concluded the Year 0, and we’re waiting on Year 1, right?

M: We’re waiting on Year 1, and we’ll have a lot to talk about with all the things that might happen, because this could be the year of revolution in Ladies skating.  It could happen, but maybe it won’t. Because we need to wait and see how these athletes will grow. Another thing before we say goodbye: I hear many talks about raising the age limit to 18 for seniors. This might be one of the ideas. But it needs to be studied well. It cannot be done from today to tomorrow. If you have reasons and analysis from a period of, let’s say, 6 years, you can say “Let’s do it like this.” But rules don’t get changed from today to tomorrow. Every game has its rules, and they have to stay for a certain amount of time. As long as we’re just talking about the changes in points, and retouching the rules that aren’t working, that is okay. We can discuss about the age limit, but this thing is done gradually. And definitely not from today to tomorrow.