OVER-ROTATION

Figure Skating for the Masses

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Throwback Thursday: Alexei Yagudin & Evgeni Plushenko

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TRIVIA: Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan is only the 3rd man to win a back-to-back Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final gold medal, after Evgeni Plushenko of Russia and Patrick Chan of Canada.

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TRIVIA: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva is only the second Russian lady (after Irina Slutskaya) to win the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final.

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With their similar athletic build and blond hair, Aliona Savchenko and Tatiana Volosozhar can easily be mistaken for sisters. Both are also praised for their excellent skating skills, deep edges and sound jumping techniques. 

These two pairs skaters with very similar backgrounds and career trajectories were born in the former Ukrainian SSR, represented Ukraine in previous Olympics and trained at Dynamo Kiev. However, both now compete for different European countries (Savchenko for Germany and Volosozhar for Russia) after finding partners from those countries.

Coincidentally, both were former partners of Stanislav Morozov (Savchenko: 1998-2002 & Volosozhar: 2004-2010) and former students of famed German coach, Ingo Steuer, in Chemnitz, Germany.

The pinnacle of the ladies' rivalry came at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi where four-time world champions Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy had to settle for bronze for the 2nd straight Olympics, while Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov took home two gold medals: one from the team event and another from the pairs event.

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TRIVIA: Tessa Scott and Scott Moir two teamed up when Moir’s aunt, Carol Moir, who coached both of the skaters for singles, decided they would make good dance partners.

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TRIVIA: Russia's sweep of the podium at the 2014 World Junior Championship with Elena Radionova, Serafima Sakhanovich and Evgenia Medvedeva is the 4th time that country has done it in the ladies' event (2014, 2013, 1998 and 1996)

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TBT: Olympic bronze medallists, Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, were paired together by their first coaches, Irina Lobacheva and Ilia Averbukh. They split in 2005, but renewed their partnership in 2008. They are now skating with new partners after finishing 4th at the World Championships in Japan.

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The Russians aren't the only ones causing drama on the ice with their newly-formed teams. The Canadians also have 2 new pairs after the split of Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch. Moore-Towers already debuted this season with her new partner, Michael Marinaro, in 2014 Skate Canada, finishing 6th. Moscovitch is now paired up with Russian skater, Lubov Iliushechkina, after her release by the Russian Federation. They are waiting confirmation to compete in the 2014 Warsaw Cup.

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Heading to the 1976 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, there was a rivalry between three women: East Germany's Christine Errath, the Netherlands' Dianne de Leeuw and the USA's Dorothy Hamill.

Despite her success nationally, the 19-year-old Hamill was not the favourite to win Olympic gold. Both Errath (in 1974) and de Leeuw (1975) were World Champions. Their wins did not sit well with American media because Errath is from East Germany, a state within the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War period, while de Leeuw holds dual Dutch and American citizenships but chose to skate for the Netherlands.

The three girls had been playing musical chairs with each other on the podium for the past three years, but Hamill had never won the gold over the other two.

In the end, Hamill won gold, de Leeuw silver and Errath bronze. All three ladies are still revered in their respective countries.

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TRIVIA: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva is the first ladies' skater to win her senior debut event and to win both events in her senior Grand Prix debut.

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TRIVIA: The first Olympic figure skater from a tropical country, Michael Christian Martinez, is mainly sponsored by the Philippines' largest shopping mall chain.

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TRIVIA: Russia's Elena Radionova is the first ladies' single skater to win two World Junior titles (2013 and 2014).

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Quotes from one of the most recent Olympic rivalries in figure skating - Yuna Kim of South Korea and Mao Asada of Japan:

We’ve been compared and have competed for so long, and it seems like there won’t be that competition between us again. I think I’ll remember her the most. I don’t think there are many skaters like us two, who were constantly being compared. - Yuna Kim

She and I have shared ups and downs since Juniors, always under the spotlight, always trying our best. For both me, and I’m sure it’s the same for Yuna, this Olympics was about a challenge for ourselves. And we both did it. And I’m so glad. - Mao Asada

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TRIVIA: Canada finished the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi with 10 gold medals, which is the 2nd most successful Canadian performance ever, exceeded only by the achievements at the home Olympics in Vancouver in 2010. Canadian figure skaters contributed to 3 silver medals.

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TRIVIA: Russia's Evgeni Plushenko is tied with Gillis Grafström of Sweden for the most number of Olympic medals in figure skating - four.

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Guess who this Russian diva who is known for her overly passionate facial expressions on ice is?

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ROUND 1: Rostelecom Cup 2014

Ilinykh/Zhiganshin: 1

Sinitsina/Katsalapov: 0