AshleyN

I get the sense that there are pretty big differences between Ice Dance and the other disciplines (aside from the obvious lack of jumps), because I find that singles and pairs skaters often tend to struggle when they have to commentate on it. I actually liked that he seemed to kind of sit back there and let Carol Lane take the lead, since she's clearly more of an expert in the field. I've enjoyed his commentary in the other disciplines personally. And this isn't really a new thing, but I continue to appreciate that when they recognize something special is happening on the ice they're willing to step back and just let you enjoy it, and then break it down afterward. When Virtue and Moir skated their free dance I don't think they said a word until after the music stopped. Same for Papadakis and Cizeron IIRC.

That's been the case for awhile now though: Homan's win at last year's World Championships (where she actually went undefeated) was Canada's first for a women's team in almost a decade. Tbh, when it comes to the women in particular I don't think we've every been as dominant as a lot of Canadians probably assume we are. I guess the big difference though is in the depth of the competition -- there aren't really a lot of gimme wins anymore to get you through when you're struggling. I imagine this was more a case of the pressure getting to her, then getting rattled and panicky when things started to go badly.

I mean, she had her costume fall apart and distract her during the biggest skate of her life, followed by her tit falling out in front of a global audience. I'd probably have been locked in a closet somewhere sobbing if I were her, so I'll give her a pass for seeming "cold".

Lol at CBC having not one but two Virtue and Moir career retrospective fluff pieces ready to go after the event. I wonder if they still would have run them if they'd lost? Probably, since this was their last skate I guess.

I feel like the medalists in all three disciplines so far have been exactly right?! Biggest upset of the games tbh.

Win or lose, that was beautiful. Tessa is such a great dancer.

Yeah, after that score it looks like it's silver again for Virtue and Moir.

That's quite the shirt on Cizeron.

That was lovely.

Chock and Bates fell on their spin.

Speaking of Russian Ice Dancers, does anyone know the story behind Ilinykh and Katsalapov splitting up? I remember watching them in Sochi and thinking that they were the future of the discipline, only for them to split just a couple of months later. I gather that they're both skating with different partners now, but with nowhere near the same success. Given how controlling the Russian federation is supposed to be I'm surprised they would have let such a promising team throw it all away like that.

Oh is she crying? That's terrible for them.

Good lord at the description of the British girls broken kneecap. Sounds excruciating.

That's a gorgeous dress on Piper Gilles. Neat idea for a program too, and that last lift was kind of nuts.

The Spanish couple's spin was really pretty. I don't think I've every seen that before.

This conversation on quads and body types is interesting to me because I remember Elvis Stojko, one of the original "quad kings" being kind of stocky looking. Was he just an exception to the rule then?

Lol that's the perfect description of that run and I think is the detail that makes it so funny, as opposed to if she was genuinely terrible. I remember seeing someone joke before that all Olympic events should have a regular person competing in them just for comparisons sake and that's what this felt like. Like, she's clearly a perfectly competent skiier, but seeing something so normal next to all these people doing flips and twists and shit is completely hilarious to me for some reason.

Thanks for the clarification. That being said I...liked H/D last night? Maybe not more than the Shibs, but I liked them nonetheless. Maybe it helps that I haven't payed close attention to figure skating the last couple of years so I'm not coming in with any particular preference there. Tbh, I also didn't really see anything wrong with that video someone posted of them reacting to the scores earlier -- they looked disappointed in it, but I don't really consider that a crime.

So I know people here seem to think that Hubbell/Donohue have bronze in the bag now, but looking closer at the scores it looks like the Shibs actually had higher component scores and received higher GOEs from the judges. From what I can tell it was only the Level 2 on their rhumba that put them behind H/D, and that comes from the technical caller rather than the judges, doesn't it? So if they hit their levels in the Free Dance shouldn't they at least have a shot?

Question: are all figure skating disciplines this much of a soap opera behind the scenes? Or is Ice Dance just special that way? Because this shit is kind of amazing.

Canada currently in danger of missing the playoff in both men's and women's curling? Are we in bizarro world?

Okay, France was expected, but what did Tessa and Scott ever do to that US judge? Lol at the blatant homerism all around though. Can they just let Japan and Israel judge the competition alone? They seem reasonable enough.

I thought it was six for singles, five for dance, and four for pairs?

That looked laboured to me?

Did they get a good GOE? Because even to my (very) untrained eye they looked wonky and slow.