#also loving that 3A2T exit

[persimmontea]

Rika Kihira ~ 2020 Four Continents Championships FS (International Angel of Peace)

Congrats on your 2nd 4CC Title 💚✨

[lazuliblade]

Skate Canada Men’s FS (Group 2)

Writing down my live impression of the second group!

Deniss Vasiljevs 143.39, TS: 227.40

3A3T nice, 4T double footed shaky landing, 3Lo2T nice exit, 1A pop, StSq3, 3LzEu3Sal nice, 3F, 1Lz pop. Not the best skate, but at least he pulled through. I like his costume. I think the skate would hold better if he had skated clean, because these few mistakes really cost him on performance. The program didn’t feel like it built up in momentum as a result. Andrei Lazukin 133.08, TS 212.07 4Lz (it sounded like his free leg touched down?), 2T pop, 2A foot down, 3FEu2S, StSq3, 3Lo, 3Lz1T - you could tell the 3Lz looked wrong from the takeoff, so kudos to him for staying upright and tacking on something, 3F2T, oof he slipped into his spin. Mmm, the music is nice, but I feel like there wasn’t much choreography to work together with the music. After he popped that 4T into a 2T it felt like he lost concentration or confidence. It was rough to watch, but at least he didn’t fall much. Keiji Tanaka 169.91 250.02 4S, 4S1T - it was getting really close to the boards so I wonder if he didn’t feel he had enough room to try a bigger combo, 3A3T the 3A had a lot of power going into it wow, his camel spin was timed to the tempo of the music change so that felt very satisfying to watch, 3F very nice running edge, 2T pop, 3LoEu2S(pop?), 3Lz nice, StSq2. He uses his arms well throughout and takes advantage of the quiet moments in order to create contrast with the more energetic moments later. I love how he ends this program. It feels very fitting for the character. C’mon Keiji, I need you to bring it this year! Bring down the house and then give the judges that sultry(?) last look!

Camden Pulkinen 155.73 TS:244.78 4T not the best exit but not bad, 3A very nice, 3Lo, 3LzEu3S, StSq2, 3A2T, 3Lz, 3F step out. I like how when the music changed going into the second half he used his arms to highlight the softness and flow of the music. I really like this program and look forward to seeing it throughout the season. Also, Yuzu’s right in calling his 3A “dynamic” it really had a lot of height and power into it. Yuzuru Hanyu

212.99 TS:322.59

YOOOOOO

Ahhh that was so good! No falls! His opening 4Lo wasn’t the best exit but he held it, 4S was huge holy heck the height on that, 3Lz was clean and easy, the 4T was easy as pie (it felt like he was talking to himself before he went into it? confirming something? I thought he would be turning this into a combo), then the 4TEu3F was nice - I was not expecting him to do that. His 3A3T was so fast and tight, and for the final 3A2Trippon the Axel had a lean on landing but he held to turn it into a combo. HE GOT A STSq4! First of the men today! All lvl 4s on his spins as well.

The way he thanked the ice after he finished skating was precious. He fought well. Brian in the K&C: “You may have won your first Skate Canada” Yuzu: “Skate Canada, yaaay”

Nam Nguyen 178.69 TS: 262.77 4S3T nice!, 4S, 3Lz easy, 3A1T (pop), 3AEu3S not a good running edge, but he held it, 3Lo, 3F nice. StSq3. Aaaaah, wow that was such a great skate. He started off with a lot of energy and really got the atmosphere going. I think he used the atmosphere of the arena to his advantage and rode the wave of excitement leftover from Yuzu’s skate, and then just let it build up. When the music changed to the slower portion I appreciate that he lengthened his lines. Then the entire end was like a victory lap - he really sold it and it was so nice to see him really get into it. This was such a nice ending to this entire competition. He got so emotional at the end. I’m so proud of him! Final Standings: 3rd: Keiji Tanaka 2nd: Nam Nguyen 1st: Yuzuru Hanyu

[alena-kostornaia]

Alena Kostornaia - The ideal figure skater. What is she good at?

Russia’s Match TV released an article written by Anastasia Panina analyzing Alena Kostornaia’s quality of skating. Translated by Edwin, edited by @birdie02​.

Spoiler: Kostornaia is good at everything, but she also has problems.

As soon as she appeared on the international junior scene, specialists and fans started talking about Alena Kostornaia, astounded by her marvelous skating quality. The girl stood out with her high jumps and her strong command over her skating despite her tender age, a command many top 10 senior figure skaters would envy.

In her sixteen years, Alena managed to stand on the podium of the Russian Championships twice, win Junior Grand Prix Final and win the silver medal at Junior World Championships, losing only to Alexandra Trusova.

Alena started this season with two victories. First, at the Finlandia Trophy, she won and left Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, the 2015 World Champion with her three 3As, in the dust. At her first senior Grand Prix competition of her career, Alena also convincingly won and bested 2018 Olympic Champion Alina Zagitova.

Now everyone is talking about Kostornaia. What is known about her? She is studying in a regular – not sports – school. Until recently,  she dreamed of becoming a neurosurgeon. She loves horses and unicorns. The girl is emotional and straightforward – she does and says what she feels. For example, at IDF 2019, she disappointedly grumbled “why did I strain myself?” When she saw her low marks for her SP with her 3A. And then, at the award ceremony, she laughed contagiously along with other medalists when the organizers mixed up the medals and handed Kostornaia’s gold medal to American Mariah Bell.

Match TV figured out what exactly is so strong about Alena Kostornaia and how she can be defeated.

JUMPING

As far back as last season, Kostornaia’s jumping set did not stand out among a dozen other figure skaters in Russia and the world – 

While it was not distinctive in complexity, it was praised for the cleanness of its execution.

At the Russian Test Skates, Alyona looked like an obvious outsider among her Team Tutberidze classmates – there were no quadruple jumps, experience in senior-level performances, world records, or titles. Back then, she also made mistakes. Alena did not put up with this situation, and immediately after the Test Skates she began to learn the 3A. A month later, two 3As elements were performed at the Finlandia Trophy in the free program, allowing Kostornaia to defeat the other 3A wielder, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva.

Now Kostornaia’s content is as follows:

SP: 3A // 3Lz, 3F3T (BV: 24.35 points)

FS: 3A2T,  3A, 2A, 3Lo // 3F3T, 3F1Lo3S, 3Lz (BV: 53.55)

From the point of view of the current rules, Kostornaia’s jumps should be awarded high GOE's. She jumps with amplitude, like Tuktamysheva, but always uses a difficult entrance (for example, from an Ina Bauer), exit (several one-leg turns on the landing leg), and sometimes  a difficult air-position variation during the jump (tano or rippon).

Unfortunately, Alena has a problem with her blade edge on toe jumps. Exclamation marks indicating an unclear edge on the Flip and Lutz appear from time to time in its protocols, but the “e” mark is a wrong edge – the technical team has marked Alena’s jumps since 2017.

In particular, at the recent Grand Prix competition in Grenoble, where the judging was especially strict, Kostornaia immediately received two exclamation marks - on the Lutz in her short and on the Flip in her free program. What does this mean in the future for Alena? If you do not try to correct these errors, Flip and Lutz will always be a convenient tool for manipulating results - this issue can negate all advantages that the 3A brings to it.

SPINS

Spins account for approximately 20% of the base technical value of a program, therefore, a loss of levels or poor performance can significantly affect the total score. Kostornaia has no problems with this at all - over the past two seasons, she has never lost a single level on spins. In addition, the GOE given for her spins are large – on average “+3” and “+4,” with some “+2” and numerous “+5.” While Alena does not have the outrageous flexibility of Yulia Lipnitskaya and the stunning Biellman spin of Kamila Valieva, she spins with very high quality – maintaining the position and achieving the desired number of revolutions without losing centering or speed.

STEPS SEQUENCES

In the 2019 – 2020 season, Kostornaia receives level 4s for her sequences. Last year, she received approximately an equal number of level 3s and level 4s. Again, her GOEs are high – an average of at least “+3.” The only exception is the Russian Championships, where Alena tripped and fell during the step sequence.

Achieving level 4s on step sequences with high GOE is a sign of a top-level figure skater. The best step sequences elevate figure skaters to become Olympic champions, World champions, and Continental champions [Europeans and Four Continents]. Kostornaia’s step sequences look spectacular thanks to her quality skating skills, which is a separate point of our analysis.

SKATING SKILLS

Let's see what criteria are used by the International Skating Union [ISU] in determining the parameter sliding:

- Deep edges, steps and turns

- Balance, rhythmic knee work and leg accuracy

- Ease of gliding

- Variety in force, speed and acceleration

- Multi-directional skating

- One-footed skating

Since she started competing on the Junior Grand Prix, Alena never received less than 7.5 points in the components for skating skills, and by the time she entered the senior ranks she often received 8.0 or 8.5, corresponding to a rating of “very good.” Above this rating are only “excellent” (9.0 – 9.75 points) and “outstanding” (10.0). Provided consistently clean performances, Kostornaia will be eventually evaluated at this top level. 

During the short program at IDF 2019, Alyona lost to Alina Zagitova in the components score by about 3.5 points. In the free the gap was no longer so large – only 2 points. This should be expected – on one hand we are talking about the reigning World and Olympic Champion, and on the other about a debutant in senior competitions. 

PRESENTATION, INTERPRETATION

In a recent interview, Alena admitted that if she is touched by a certain piece of music, more than anything, she desires to skate to it so that everyone around her says that her performance is very good. Whether the acting lessons that Alena attended as a child helped or whether her natural abilities played a big role, only Kostornaia can perform to music with a superb interpretation, even when given an unremarkable music piece.

An example is her new free program to the Twilight soundtrack. There is no outstandingly dramatic music, and even in the plot of the film there is nothing that would motivate the viewer to rewatch it again after many years – there is nothing substantial to cling to. But thanks to how Alena carefully arranges her choreography and her energy according to the layout of the program, her performances always look sublime for such an exceptional skater.

PSYCHOLOGICAL STABILITY

Last season, Alena performed immaculately for six competitions, only making three mistakes in twelve skates – a singled 1A in the short and a fall on a 3F in the free (both errors were made during JGP Czech Republic) as well as a fall during the step sequence during the Russian Championships. Moreover, her execution of jumping elements is phenomenal – almost 97% of cleanly performed jumps and combination jumps. Only Evgenia Medvedeva is comparable if you sample her first two senior seasons.

Alena Kostornaia is undoubtedly one of the strongest skaters in the world at her age. Her strength is not only that she can jump high and difficult or skate beautifully, but that she is good at almost everything – a sort of ideal product of the 15-year existence of the ISU judging system. Problems with edges on the Lutz and Flip can somewhat complicate Alena’s competitive life, but with a competent coaching approach this can be fixed.

[lazuliblade]

Skate Canada 2019 Men’s FS group 1

And as usual, I’m writing down some live impressions for each skater. This time I got the stream sorted out so hopefully I’ll be able to watch everyone today.

Brendan Kerry 137.02, TS: 193.77

4T, 3LzEu2Sal, 3A clean, 2Lo pop,  3A2Trippon, 3Lz, 3S I didn’t know he was also skating to the Sherlock movie OST. I saw Keiji’s practice, but didn’t catch the first group so this was a surprise. The end had some frantic energy that I think fit the music’s frantic energy, but the arm waving needs some polish. I also really hope I didn’t see him mime a violin with the left hand bowing. He kept up with the fast pace, though. He got a StSq2, I wonder if this will be like the SP where nearly no one got a lvl 4.

Paul Fentz 135.92, TS: 202.24

3A2T very nice, 3A held, 3Lz-turn out-2T held, 3Lo held, 3S3T held, 3Lz step out (”I’m still standing” goes the music), StSq3, 2A not the best edge coming out, but it was OK. His last spin was a bit slow and labored. His jumps were shaky but at least he didn’t fall. I’m not sure how I feel about this program overall. It feels like he could project a little more, or... something more with his expression? 

Roman Sadovsky 139.06, TS: 204.35 4S fall, 3F , 3A very telegraphed and not the best running edge but he held it, 3Lo OK, StSq2, 4SEu3S, 3Arep, 3Lz wow that was a crazy save - almost put a hand down with how low he leaned forward, his final ChCoSp had very nice speed and positions. 

Matteo Rizzo 153.66 TS:223.78 3Lo easy, 4T foot down?, 3A3T nice, 3Lz2Trippon nice exit, StSq3, 3A turn out, 3FEu3S, 3Lz nice. I do like the choreographic hand movements he put in during the StSq. It’s nice to see when a skater commits to the movement. I wish there was a little more carried throughout the full program, but it’s already lovely. It’s also the early season, so there’s plenty of time for him to grow with it.

Nicolas Nadeau 147.11 TS:222.33 3A3T nice, 3T, 3Lo2Aseq was really fluid, StSq3, 3A very nice flow out, 2A2T2T, 3F, oof he fell forward?, 3S, I like how he started getting into the music during the ChSq. He felt kind of heavy across the ice, but not bad.

Julian Zhi Jie Yee 135.99 TS:211.63 3A2T nice, 3A lots of power going in and a bit off-balance going out but he held it, 3F,  3S2T nice flow, 3F3T, 2Lo, 2Lz rough -  pop and the exit was a turn-out, StSq1 oof. But he got all lvl4s for his spins. He’s always a joy to watch and I’m glad he could bring a positive atmosphere. He seemed to be getting tired toward the end - you could see him breathing heavily before the Ina Bauer.