#Nikita Volodin

[eggplantgifs]

Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin: Stay » 2024 World Championships

[contagiousrhythminmybrain]

Minerva Fabienne Hase & Nikita Volodin, Stay || 2023 Grand Prix Final

[figureskatingcostumes]

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin's short program costumes at the 2024 Europeans, 2023 Lombardia Trophy, 2023 Nebelhorn Trophy, 2023 NHK Trophy and 2024 Worlds. They skated to Stay by Rihanna and Mikky Ekko.

(Sources: 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5)

[allekha]

Very happy for Deanna & Max becoming the world champions, and also glad for Riku & Ryuichi (good to hear they turned out to be okay after having to miss the medal ceremony) and Minerva & Nikita! Congrats to all of them, it was a great event.

[jennibeultimate]

Personal recap at European Championship - Pairs FS

I guess this is one of the best attended Pairs events all season or even of most European championships! Also Kaunas really impresses with the quality of filming and the flag thing is quite cool.

Can't say the result is what I wanted...

The favorites struggled, first Conti/Macii in the SP and now Mini and Nikita.... wasn't their Europeans but both are great teams and imo overall better than those that placed above them. Anyway congrats to the other two Italian teams! 🥳🇮🇹

CATS WON! 😸😻I am really happy for Matteo Guarise, a European medal on his 10th European championship! This team with Lucrezia Beccari works really well and I like the fun they have with the program - hate the music cuts though. I also like that with their age gap they don't portray a loving couple on ice but go for something different.

I am just glad Luka Berulava/Anastasia Metelkina didn't win honestly...I will never forgive him how he treated his former partner Karina Safina and dumped her so horribly when she was struggling. A silver on the first try as a new team is still admittedly a very good result. I really didn't like the program. I am all in for quirky but this was just weird. I also love Queen music usually but not on them...

Ghilardi/Ambrosini were great! 👏👏👏Finally a really good program for them! Europeans seems to be their competition. A medal last season, a medal this season! I also like the dark Bram Stoker theme, they sell it so well!

I am really sad about Minerva Hase/Nikita Volodin 😭😭😭 Their chemistry is spellbinding. And in such a short time they developed so well. Today they were too many mistakes but as they struggled with illness and couldn't train this much, it's still a good achievement honestly. Also pressure was certainly high coming in as GPF champions. This season is just a start to their career and I am really sure there is more greatness to follow! ❤️ How about winning Worlds??? (I may be a bit biased as Mini is from my hometown and her mother and grandparents greeted me at German Nats bc they remembered me from Nebelhorn Trophy 😅, but aside from my bias they just deserve the world)

Hocke/Kunkel also did the best they can in the current condition. 🫶 Robert Kunkel should probably not be skating at all with his severe back injury that also will not really heal if you carry a partner daily around. But I applaud him for not giving up. Annika shines bright like the sun, but she seems to have some mental problem with the 3S. She does them well in practice and well in warm-up and then doubles them in competition or falls. I swear if not for those jumps they would be top contenders for every international medal, but she really has to get her mental state together.

The Hungarian team Pavlova/Sviatchenko are technically superb. They lack a lot of connection to music but I think for the way they are they did well. I do think they were scored quite strictly compared to others but I think the final placement is right. Loved her reaction at the end of the program!

[erinaonice]

hase/volodin very elegant

[raininyourblackeyes]

I didn't expect to be this thrilled for Minerva and Nikita omg I'm so happy they won. Very well constructed programs and amazing performances!

[figureskatingfanblog]

The first medals were awarded at Worlds today.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps of Canada won gold, and Stellato-Dudek became the oldest woman to win a World title in any discipline.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara of Japan won their third straight medal, the silver. Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin of Germany won the bronze in their debut season together.

[austerlitzborodinoleipzig]

Favorite 2023/2024 Programs Pairs SP

Pairs event at Worlds was so fucking good even without the Russians. (You'll only see me saying this for pairs. This is the only discipline where Russians were legitimately above the rest). But this season did prove that the field can actually manage without them.

Have to say tho that most the programs aren't really good and we're desperately in need of some good Choreo which is too rare at this point (Cheng Peng save me!).

So here's list if my favourite programs from this season. Rankings are to be taken with a grain of salt.

Honorable mentions go to

Ghilardi/Ambrosini (The Ecstasy of Gold). Choreo did not left an imprint but I love the music choice the costumes and the general vibe. G/A had some great packaging this season.

Ariano Kent/Laliberté Laurent (500 miles). You just can't keep the Canadians away from Sadboi music and this baby pairs came out with the weepy ballad variant of 500 miles. It's an experience for sure.

7th - Yuna Nagaoka/Sumitada Moriguchi - Can’t Take My Eyes of You, by John Lloyd Young, choreo by Cathy Reed

Fun. Charming. Nice to watch. Nothing special but this is one of those feel good programs. The fact that YunaSumi for their first season together have better packaging than RikuRyu is nothing short of tragic.

6th - Anastasia Golubeva/Hektor Giotopoulos-Moore - Architect of the Mind, by Kerry Muzzey, choreo by Jonathan Guerreiro

Recycled from last year. I love the baby Australians so much and this routine show why. Ability to follow the relentless pace of the music. A sense of drama. Good unisson and well matched lines. I especially love the step sequence where their bodies unfurl to the swirls of the music a bit like an accordion. It scratches an itch. Love Nastya's lines and love Hektor's commitment to the performance.

5th - Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin - Stay, by Rihanna, choreo by Paul Bolle and Mark Pillay

Not the most original thing and Virtue/Moir did it better. But Hase/Volodin are not Tessa and Scott, nor do they need to be. It could be a bit bland and tbh if the team were only slightly less talented it would be.

But instead we have a nice, light, romantic program. It goes perfectly well with Minerva's softness. Volodin is very solid but non existent as a performer and that's ok ! They only have to move prettily to the music and it works for them.

4th - Ellie Kam/Danny O’Shea - East of Eden, choreo by Drew Meekins

What good skating skills does to a motherfucker !!!

Even with the tech shortcomings (that throw jump is not even close to ready), when I saw them live in Angers this seasons they blew everyone put of the water with this SP. Skating skills are so rare among pairs skaters and it's so good to see them being rewarded by the judges for it. The sheer ice coverage the breath the ease of their skating is wonderful to see live. And East of Eden, overused as it is, is a perfect match for their brand. The music is suitably intense. Definitely one of the highlights of the season.

3rd - Cheng Peng/Lei Wang - The Storm Driven Sea, by Christopher Tin, choreo by Lori Nichols

Definitely the best choreo of the bunch, gets bumped from first place because Peng/Wang are a new pair and it shows. We sadly did not get the performance that short program deserved. The drama the position, the intensity... Unmatched.

Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps - Oxygen, by Cirque du Soleil choreo by Julie Marcotte

I HATED the music at the start of the season. The loud breathing triggered my misophonia and the vocals were grating.

I love it ! It's unlike anything else in the current pairs' field. Cirque du Soleil doesn't get more Québécois than that. The step sequence is fun. The lift rocks.

1st - Annika Hocke/Robert Kunkel - I Love Rock and Roll, by Joan Jett, choreo by Luca Lanotte

Speaking of rock... Best short of the season hands down. Gorgeous lifts with hard and creative dismount? Check! Massive throw jump? Check! Big twist? Check! Great step sequence with loads of attitude? Check! Music that will make the audience loose it? You bet! Performance levels? Unmatched!

Of fucking course they judges hated it and they were robbed blind at worlds.

[fa-cat]

2024 World Figure Skating Championships Results

Women Gold: Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) — 222.96 Silver: Isabeau Levito (USA) — 212.16 Bronze: Kim Chae-Yeon (KOR) -- 203.59

Men Gold: Ilia Malinin (USA) — 333.76 Silver: Yuma Kagiyama (JPN) -- 309.65 Bronze: Adam Siao Him Fa (FRA) -- 284.39

Pairs Gold: Deanna Stellato-Dudek/Maxime Deschamps (CAN) — 221.56 Silver: Riku Miura/Ryuichi Kihara (JPN) -- 217.88 Bronze: Minerva Fabienne Hase/Nikita Volodin (GER) -- 210.40

Ice Dance Gold: Madison Chock/Evan Bates (USA) — 222.20 Silver: Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier (CAN) -- 219.68 Bronze: Charlène Guignard/Marco Fabbri (ITA) -- 216.52

[panelki]

Opinion | Russia’s Outrage Over U.S. Strikes Against Houthis Is Just Bluster By Nikita Smagin Predictably, Russia has been deeply critical of strikes by the United States and the United Kingdom against Yemen’s Houthi militia, which had been attacking ships passing through the Red Sea. In reality, however, Moscow is likely not at all opposed to Washington restoring order in the Red Sea and ensuring maritime traffic can continue to use the Suez Canal: an important transit route for Russian oil bound for India. Russian officials responded angrily to the news of the U.S. and U.K. attacks on the Houthis. President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said they were “illegitimate”; State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin called for U.S. President Joe Biden to face criminal proceedings; and the Foreign Ministry requested an urgent UN Security Council meeting. The views expressed in opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the position of The Moscow Times. Read more | Subscribe to our channel

[figureskatingcece]

2023 GPF Thoughts - Sr Pairs

minerva hase and nikita volodin (ger) burst out of nowhere. their clean lines and solid landings are gorgeous, and while they have their elements down, i would love to see them continue to grow in skating skills, connection to each other, and unity between them and the music. two excellent programs, win was very deserved. 1 SP / 2 FS / 1

sara conti and niccolo macii (ita) get better every season, and i love watching them. it looks like they've finally hit their stride, and i am so happy for them it's unreal. that cinema paradiso free skate is incredible. can't wait to see them at euros (repeat pls!!!) and worlds. they can absolutely challenge for a world medal. 3 SP / 1 FS / 2

deanna stellato-dudek and maxime deschamps (can) are still solid, and have gorgeous lifts and extensions as always. however. i am beginning to wonder if it might be time for deanna to re-retire. she's FORTY. which is incredible, and i give her all the props and credit for her hard work and dedication, but... how is her body surviving training. oof. 2 SP / 3 FS / 3

maria pavlova and alexei sviatchenko (hun) were the surprise of the event. since annika hocke and robert kunkel (ger) pulled out, they were the first alternates, and they were surprisingly lovely to watch. skating skills and presentation not at the level of the other teams, to be sure, but solid elements held them up. 4 SP / 5 FS / 4

rebecca ghilardi and filippo ambrosini (ita) are one of my favorite teams to watch. their lines are gorgeous, and their ability to storytell through their choreography and execution is so good. aside from the side-by-sides, their programs were nicely done. can't wait to see them solidify everything for the rest of the season. 5 SP / 4 FS / 5

lia pereira and trennt michaud (can) are STUNNING. i love watching them, and i'm so excited to continue to see how they develop. i was a HUGE fan of trennt with his previous partner evelyn walsh, and watching him with lia is just as good if not better. gorgeously laid-out programs, and can't wait to see them at 4c and worlds! 6 SP / 6 FS / 6

[figureskatingcostumes]

Round 6: Pairs

The contenders are:

Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin

Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea

Barbora Kucianova and Martin Bidar

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (free skate)

Lucrezia Beccari and Matteo Guarise

Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko

Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps (short program)

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara

[mariacallous]

It’s looking more and more possible that Stalingrad will return to the map of Russia sometime after March 2024, supplanting “Volgograd” and undoing Nikita Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization of the city’s name, more than 60 years ago. Sources told Meduza that Volgograd Governor Andrey Bocharov has the personal motivation and the political connections needed to plow ahead with this initiative, despite objections from local residents and the Kremlin. Meduza’s Andrey Pertsev explains how the name of the USSR’s most brutal dictator became a priority in 2023.

One person familiar with Andrey Bocharov described him as a “fighter” whose interest in resurrecting the Stalingrad name is “sincere, not opportunistic.” Bocharov is a decorated former paratrooper who commanded a reconnaissance company during the First Chechen War. “He’s the real deal, not some armchair officer, albeit in the past,” another source told Meduza.

According to both sources, Bocharov has “dreamed” since becoming governor in 2014 of renaming Volgograd after Joseph Stalin. His associations with the name are apparently based on his personal devotion to Russia’s military and his love of Soviet legacy. His reasons aren’t exactly local: Bocharov had no connections to the Volgograd region before being appointed governor.

With the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bocharov sought to realize his renaming goal, but Vladimir Putin’s domestic policy team reportedly opposes the idea for three reasons:

The presidential administration views the subject of Stalin as the Communist Party’s home turf, meaning that restoring the Stalingrad name would give the party a “bargaining chip” for no reason.

There is a political rivalry between Sergey Kiriyenko, Putin’s domestic politics czar, and Kiryenko’s predecessor, Vyacheslav Volodin, who has close ties to Volgograd and Governor Bocharov.

Most of the people living in Volgograd don’t want their city renamed.

In February 2023, the state-owned Russian Public Opinion Research Center published polling results showing that 67 percent of Volgograd residents oppose the Stalingrad renaming. Bocharov initially signaled that he would respect the popular will, but he later combined forces with regional parliament Speaker Alexander Bloshkin, orchestrating the adoption of legislation that changed the parameters of a potential referendum on renaming the city. Under the new rules (adopted in late November), the majority vote is opened to people living not just in the city itself but throughout the region (where ballot fraud is far easier to manage). 

But what about the presidential administration’s objections? Every person who spoke to Meduza agreed that Bocharov has the political means to plow ahead with his Stalingrad plan. Since working at the All-Russia People’s Front coalition, he has enjoyed direct access to Putin, allowing him to circumvent Kiriyenko’s team on an issue like renaming the city. The president “isn’t exactly a fan of Stalin,” said one source with ties to the Kremlin, but he could likely be convinced to see “something mystical” and “symbolic” in returning the Stalingrad name.

However, if and when the initiative is permitted, it won’t be until after Russia’s March 2024 presidential election, say Meduza’s sources. Before Putin’s reelection, pitting Volgograd’s city residents against the rest of the region’s population, thereby risking protests, is an unacceptable gamble for the Kremlin, says a source close to the governor.

[dare-g]

Five Evenings (1979)

[figure-skating-watch-party]

Russian Cup, stage 4

I’ll try to mention some of the lesser known skaters this time. Because they are all so good but often this is not enough because this is Russia: there are countless talented skaters and only a very limited number of international spots. (I came to the conclussion that - especially in juniors - the key is not to get attached too much to one skater, one team and just appreciate everything we get to see)

Pairs

Sometimes I really can’t wrap my mind around it. They are all sooo good. First warm-up group and they are so good, second group and they are great, third group world class. 

Let me scream VIKTORIA VASILIEVA / Nikita Volodin. She was a singles skater a year ago. I saw her two years ago at JGP with my own eyes. And now? She is a pair skater. That was such an awesome debut for this new pair. I am in awe. And especially their Mickmacks FP is great. 

I also liked Maria Alchova/Sergei Bezborodko and their Peal Harbour FP. (Poor them and the death spiral though)

Karina Akopova/Nikita Rakhmanin they are speeeed. (Limelight SP and based on my very limited knowledge of cyrilic alphabet a mix of P. I. Tchaikovsky’s music with A. Bocelli’s Fall on me???) Anyway they are so quick on the ice.

I love every Memoirs of a Geisha program and of course I loved Jasmina Kadyrova/Ivan Balchenko and their SP. 

I love Boikova/Kozlovskii so so so much. And I love their SP, I’m so happy that we finally saw them. Their SP is so light, tender, classical. Their FP was good but not just that magically great as we maybe got too much used to it. It couldn’t be easy for them skating just hours after their coach’s husband passed away on top of everything else. (I absolutely didn’t know but they formed a pair in 2015 having skated only in singles prior to that.)

I have to admit I have a complicated relationship with Tarasova/Morozov. Though I liked their Adagio FP and after rewatching Bolero many times, yeah, there’s in fact nothing wrong with this program... They are just not my favourite skaters but I can still see why they are one of the best in the world. If I associate B/K with lightness, T/M are definitely power. 

Mishina/Galliamov are back. Well, they were not away, it was just one bad comp and it happened to be Russian nationals which was so unfortunate. They were oozing confidence this time. They were flawless, I loved the low death spiral and the whole Esmeralda SP and the dance lifts and creative choreo sequence in their Bohemian Rhapsody FP. 

Ice Dance, Sr. 

I really appreciate that the organizers give the opportunity to foreign skaters training in Russia to unofficially take part in the Russian Cup series. You won’t find them on the results pages, but I think for them the most important thing is that they can skate in whatever form it is... 

This time, it was Hungarians Anna Yanovskaya/Adam Lukacs skating to Grease RD and Hymne l’amour FD. (I love these combinations of programs: one more upbeat one more classical). 

If I’m counting right it’s at least fifth Grease I’ve seen this (or last) season: Guignard/Fabbri, Shpilevaya/Smirnov, Pavlenina/Aleksanian and the queen and the king of Grease Smart/Diaz - I enjoy watching and comparing these programs, so there’s never too much Singing in the rain, Too darn hot... etc. ;) ) 

If you want to see passion and also synchronized hydroblades watch Vlada Pavlenina/Aleksandr Aleksanian La sal de la terra FD. 

I like L’Opera Rock FD of Svetlana Lizunova/Alexander Vakhnov. 

And then Julia Tulseva/Anatolii Belovodchenko. Cabaret / Umbrella. I simply love these programs, Cabaret, Burlesque... And their FD was even better, their speed, the interpretation, the curve lifts, the jazzy feel...

And I’m really happy that Anastasia Skoptsova/Kirill Aleshin won this stage and that they kept their Bonnie & Clyde RD.

Ice Dance, Jr. 

Let’s take a look at some junior ice dancers! Of course Arina Ushakova/Maxim Nekrasov (I like their Chicago RD) and Vasilisa Kaganovskaya/Valerii Angelopol (here I like their FD) were the best but there were so many great performances:

Polina Kocherigina/Evgenii Artyushchenko - Mala Luna FD.  

Polina Usova/Egor Goncharov - Anything goes RD / Sigur Ros FD. Especially the FD was such a mature performance. 

Ksenia Davidova/Michail Antonov - Singing in the rain RD I liked the choreography, the whole performance aaand the speed. 

Daria Bukovschikova/Alexander Vdovin - New York, New York RD A relaxing “feel-good” program (a style I really like)

Taisia Linchevskaya/Timur Baklanov-Smirnov - Cabaret RD The stylization, the poses, the carriage on the ice...

Alexandra Shabalina/Maxim Kiryukhin - Romeo and Juliet FD

And now let me present three teams I absolutely fell in love with:

Alina Abdulina/Maxim Nuralyev - Fifty checks / Mindfields I love the variations of the famous P/C lift in the RD. And the more pop/rock feel of the FD and synchronized cartwheels?!!  (I called it “P/C lift” but let’s not be like twitter moral police saying that anyone else doing this lift is a copycat; this lift was there long before P/C, eg. Belbin/Agosto did it...)

Sofia Kachushkina/Oleg Muratov - A chorus line / Walking castle?? I nicknamed them Team Red according to their RD costumes. The RD is such a fun and energetic performance, they even use the lyrics - saying steps, walk, ministeps and they do on the ice. And their FD is totally different, very balletic, like a fairy tale. 

Alisa Ovsyankina/Matvei Samokhin - Aladdin / Dance of the Sugar plum fairy

They are babies and these programs are so fitting for them. The FD is from Nutcracker and I squealed. Yes, yes, yes, yes, that’s a perfromace, that’s so cute and just lovely to watch.