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Interviewer: Sofia, I really want to support you and make sure that you don’t feel, even for a moment, that you’re all alone here. I’m going to be your coach for a couple of minutes, and in that role, I want to tell you: you did a great job! It’s okay that the triple flip didn’t work out today. You know what you’re doing, you have all the skills, and I’m sure everything will work out for you this season.

Now, how would you assess today’s performance from a skater’s perspective?

Sofia Muravieva: I was really nervous. I think it was obvious. I don’t know, I haven’t been this nervous in a long time. I guess it’s because there’s no one standing by the boards. Sorry for crying.

Interviewer: How does that actually work? Shoma Uno also experienced what it was like to train independently at one point. We saw you skating with headphones during practice, and the music seemed to help. When there’s no one to give you advice or support you before you step onto the ice, what’s going through your mind?

Sofia Muravieva: I try to find that support within myself. But this time, the support from the audience really helped me. It kind of snapped me out of it, and I smiled. Then suddenly they showed Evgeni Plushenko on the screen. That made me laugh, and it helped lighten the mood a little.

Interviewer: You’ve actually anticipated my next question! Evgeni Plushenko specifically came out and watched you very closely. Do you think that means something?

Sofia Muravieva: I don’t know. I think anyone who’s interested in figure skating might want to come and watch a performance. I don’t consider myself some kind of great athlete, so I don’t know what made him come. But the fact that Evgeni Plushenko came out to watch me… It was really nice, honestly.

Interviewer: Yesterday, after practice, you said, “I’ve given myself quite a challenge, putting together a free skate in just a couple of weeks.” Tell us about that.

Sofia Muravieva: We choreographed the program, and I only had about five days to get it competition-ready, considering we arrived here on Thursday evening. I still had one light practice session on Thursday, and then another practice here on Friday.

Usually, I work on my short program the day before a competition, but this time I decided to practice my free skate. I’d actually wanted to do that for a long time, but I was always told to practice the short program instead. This time, though, I needed to test the free skate because I’d had so little time to prepare it.

I’ve been spending a lot of time working on it lately. I’ve really been dedicating a lot of my time specifically to the free skate.

Interviewer: So, do you have something to show us tomorrow?

Sofia Muravieva: Yes. We’ll see how my legs hold up. I really hope they won’t let me down.

I cannot wait! He’s sticking with YMCA for the free.

So, death-spiral for Riku is like spread-eagle for some men, just a little bit more dangerous?

Do many pair girls feel the same?

(I got a warning of Rule.9, but I hope this is okay. If not, please let me know!)

Source: Riku's reply post on X (EDIT: the link removed! thanks for the tip (人''▽｀)☆)

they got key point 3 for the Golden Waltz both at Nepela and Budapest!

Link to the their GoFundMe from a previous post. They are training in Austria after having to leave Ukraine in 2022, and Iryna has had some health problems. www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkating/comments/1p4xvc1/ukrainian_ice_dancers_ask_for_your_support/

There is something special about watching Evgenia skate! She is so soft, and light and when she was on - she was on!

Inspired by the hair and makeup post, what are your favorite very theme-y programs?

My personal fave is Lara Naki Gutmann's Squid Games, but I also love Kneirim/Frazier's Stranger Things.

In a new episode of Dobrofon, Evgenia Medvedeva asked Vladislav Dikidzhi how he felt about competing against Ilia Malinin at the Grand Prix event in Japan.

Here’s the whole quote:

Medvedeva: Tell us you’re feeling about it (competing against Ilia Malinin at Grand Prix Japan)

Dikidzhi: Well, I hope it gets me so fired up, gives me so much inner energy and adrenaline, that we’ll land a quadruple Axel together, post a photo, and say, ‘We did it.’ And that’s it, I’ll head back home.

——————

Can’t wait to see it!

The Grand Prix event in Japan will take place November 27th - 29th in Tokyo.

I recently got new aura skates after being in custom auras for several years. My customs had 9.25 gold seals mounted. To avoid having to buy new blades, as aura recommends 9.5 for that size, my skate tech (who I definitely trust) compares both sizes and thought that 9.25 would work.
Now that I’ve begun skating on them, they feel too short in the back. To be entirely fair, I have been using my coaching skates in the interim, which have a 9.75 blade on them. Is this a matter of adjusting back to a 9.25 blade? And what are the effects of skating on the shorter length vs longer length of recommended blade sizes?

no Sasha:(

(books from 2023)