Figure Skating

[ML89]

So I'm listening to American Top 40 this AM on Sirius - this week's top 40 in 1979 - Le Freak, What You Won't Do For Love, and next week, You Make Me Feel Mighty Real hits the 40. Whoever mixed the music for Komatsubara/Koleto came up with a great Easter egg along with a great mix.

Edited February 13, 2022 by ML89

[annzeepark914]

Well, I must be the only one who watched the documentary and still can't stand M. Hubbell (along with "Rat Face"...whoever came up with that name, thanks!)  I've always enjoyed ice dance. Don't have to worry about synchronized jumps & scary overhead lifts, & during the past few years of vocals, most of the music is pretty good. But H/D brought along some negativity during competitions. So their retiring (hopefully immediately after the O's) will be a positive for me. 

[jrzy]

16 hours ago, blackwing said:

It seems like many are counting Chock and Bates out of the medals, which is really too bad.  If only one American team is going to medal, I would much prefer them.  I’ve not liked Hubbell and Donahue.  She seems icy, and he just seems like he’s not very nice.  I saw the dust up in practice where he brushed the Russian skater.  She was moving backwards and couldn’t see.  He totally could have made more effort to get out of the way.  Plus he just looks like a rat, he has such a rat face.  

Thats it!  He does have a rat face!  I have not been to figure out what it is that bugs me about him, but its his rat face!  Hubbell just looks like one of those mean girls in high school who tormented the unpopular kids.  I get so tired of the phony eye f@%$#% that they do before,  after and during a performance.   

On 2/12/2022 at 6:55 AM, Lady Whistleup said:

Chinese Elvis was weirdly awesome.

I loved it!

[sweeks]

I will say that P/C do well with the flowy, romantic style. It suits them, and they are very good at it. They may never be my favorites to watch, but I have a healthy respect for their artistry and skills.

I can't warm up to H/D's style, partially because of my dislike of Donohue (I don't love Hubbell - I'm mostly indifferent - but I don't loath her as much as I once did, so I consider that progress) but also because their choices are so questionable. I don't know if their taste is only in their mouths or if I'm missing something, but I don't know if I've ever seen anything they've done that I loved. They have powerful skating skills, especially Hubbell, but they don't seem to know what to do with them. Their attempts at a romantic style, such as "Hallelujiah," A Star is Born, and this year's "Drowning," don't seem to fit, but their attempts at doing something different (I'm side eying the Marilyn Monroe number) also fall flat.

C/B seem to have a much better sense of what works for them, and I have done a complete turnaround with the alien number. They do well with quirky concepts and know how to play to their strengths, such as Evan's excellent skating and partnering skills and Madison's ability to project character and charisma.

[jrzy]

On 2/12/2022 at 5:18 AM, GeminiDancer said:

It’s 6:18 here. Who’s up with me to watch ice dance? 
 

I’m going to pay for this later. 

I am recording all of the early morning events,  and am watching as soon as I am off work!

Of course am spoiling myself by peeking at the comments on this thread.

 

[Jeddah]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CZ7Cl5JM60d/?utm_medium=copy_link

Michelle Kwan’s sweet message for Nathan. I love her baby “cheering” for a Nathan.

Edited February 13, 2022 by Jeddah

[irisheyes]

Kamila’s positive drug test is shining a light on Eteri’s training techniques. 
https://www.vox.com/22927130/kamila-valieva-doping-trimetazidine-ban-olympics-2022?fbclid=IwAR3Hkf_K9nZzIWuIIbyP40I2h8vNvhFtnkiQMzx1OSUwdXZTY-E_LU4pWy0

[MaryMitch]

3 minutes ago, irisheyes said:

Kamila’s positive drug test is shining a light on Eteri’s training techniques. 
https://www.vox.com/22927130/kamila-valieva-doping-trimetazidine-ban-olympics-2022?fbclid=IwAR3Hkf_K9nZzIWuIIbyP40I2h8vNvhFtnkiQMzx1OSUwdXZTY-E_LU4pWy0

That VOX article is spot on; Here's another article:

https://www.vox.com/22929275/kamila-valieva-trimetazidine-eteri-tutberidze-olympics-2022

I have shared it with a lot of people. Eteri should be banned from the sport.

Edited February 13, 2022 by MaryMitch

[legaleagle53]

1 hour ago, MaryMitch said:

Eteri should be banned from the sport.

I agree. And as much as it sucks for Valieva and the other ROC athletes, a strong example has to be made of Russia this time in order to put an end to the crap that they've been letting Eteri and others like her get away with for the better part of a decade. The team gold needs to be stripped, and Valieva needs to be suspended from competition for at least the rest of the season, meaning not just the Olympics, but the 2022 Worlds as well. And Russia needs to be completely banned from the Olympics (Summer and Winter), Europeans, and Worlds for the rest of the decade.

Edited February 13, 2022 by legaleagle53

[NUguy514]

4 hours ago, Jillibean said:

That seems to be the narrative they're going with--even Scott Moir said it on On Edge--but I honestly don't think so. That Moulin Rouge free dance was a juggernaut. It was such an enormous crowd favorite, and went viral right after the team event. I know things like that shouldn't come into play, but awarding it to the sweet, quieter, lyrical program when Tessa was flipping her crotch directly into Scott's face and then dying in his arms and the audience was going nuts, IMO, would have been a very, very tough sell. I think V/M were getting the gold regardless of any wardrobe issues. But hey, if the dress isn't what stopped them from medaling, what exactly is the redemption story?

Again, P/C beat V/M in the free dance.  The wardrobe malfunction in the short dance was good for at least two points in the technical score, and P/C actually beat V/M in the PCS; it 100% cost them the gold.

And that Moulin Rouge program is my least favorite V/M program ever.  Technically fantastic, of course, but it was so incredibly overwrought that I spent the whole dance hoping Scott Moir would be so distracted by his own overacting that he'd skate into the boards.

[Chaser]

22 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Raf rocking out to Rocketman might be the cutest thing ever:

 

Love this.

Also reminds me that Nathan’s rocket launch quad lutz is one my favorite highlights ever.

Watching Moulin Rouge again, it had some great highlights but as an overall program I found it lacking.

[Enero]

1 hour ago, legaleagle53 said:

I agree. And as much as it sucks for Valieva and the other ROC athletes, a strong example has to be made of Russia this time in order to put an end to the crap that they've been letting Eteri and others like her get away with for the better part of a decade. The team gold needs to be stripped, and Valieva needs to be suspended from competition for at least the rest of the season, meaning not just the Olympics, but the 2022 Worlds as well. And Russia needs to be completely banned from the Olympics (Summer and Winter), Europeans, and Worlds for the rest of the decade.

I completely agree with this. I knew Russia had been “banned” from competing due to doping at the Soichi Games, but didn’t know the details. However, upon learning the details I was appalled! I cannot believe they simply got a slap on the wrist for the level of deceit that went on to produce clean drug results. It was absolutely outrageous. And honestly Kamila’s hot drug screening is nothing compared to the unethical behavior that went on at the Games in Soichi. At the very least, Russia should’ve been banned from participating in an Olympics for a cycle or two, but they essentially got no punishment at all. Because allowing them to compete but under ROC is nothing. They still get to compete and take home medals. 
 

To ban or not to ban is obviously very political and I’m sure money is involved too. The IOC may not can afford to lose the financial support that’s provided by Russia. Hence the slaps on the wrist when they violate the rules so egregiously. The fact that Kamila’s case had to be sent to arbitration because Russia refused to do the right thing tells me all I need to know. The punishment, if any, will be minimal. And any “investigation” into the adults that precipitated this whole situation will be window dressing at best. By next season, heck maybe even by Worlds, it will be back to business as usual ie doping and dangerous training methods, for Eteri and the Russian federation. 

Edited February 13, 2022 by Enero

[absnow54]

Kamila’s hearing wrapped up and lasted 6.5 hours. The results should be announced sometime tomorrow morning, but I’m sure NBC is praying they make the announcement during the post-Super Bowl time slot tonight. 

[emmawoodhouse]

The Russians are apparently trying to blame the lab. 

[legaleagle53]

8 minutes ago, emmawoodhouse said:

The Russians are apparently trying to blame the lab. 

Of course they are. Heaven forbid they should throw Eteri or anyone like her under the bus!

[redpencil]

1 hour ago, Chaser said:

Love this.

Also reminds me that Nathan’s rocket launch quad lutz is one my favorite highlights ever.

I could watch that quad lutz, right on the music, over and over on a loop (in fact, I've definitely replayed it multiple times in a row a couple times now). His first combo is also right on music beats, which is cool, but that lutz punctuates the musical moment so perfectly.

I totally agree that the penalties on Russia were toothless, and should have been stricter from the start. I know some sports were stricter (like track & field, where I think there were only like 10 ROC athletes who were able to gain approval at one of the last summer Olympics). Unfortunately you just can't attempt to not punish athletes who may be clean and still have it be an effective punishment against the country/federation. It just was never going to work.

As for the Eteri camp itself, I think RUSADA has said they're doing an "investigation" but I have no faith whatsoever in that. Does ISU or WADA or others have the authority to investigate and penalize coaches/coaching groups? I really don't know.

[ShellsandCheese]

9 minutes ago, redpencil said:

I totally agree that the penalties on Russia were toothless, and should have been stricter from the start. I know some sports were stricter (like track & field, where I think there were only like 10 ROC athletes who were able to gain approval at one of the last summer Olympics). Unfortunately you just can't attempt to not punish athletes who may be clean and still have it be an effective punishment against the country/federation. It just was never going to work.

No punishment for Russia will be effective, people really just have a fundamental misunderstanding of not the athletes or the individual but the system. So yes, they should have been flat out banned for a few cycles and it should have been acknowledged that just like sanctions, the folks with the least amount of power (the athletes) were going to bear the brunt of it - but them just the brakes. Those in charge are always going to play the victim…..

As for Valieva, plenty of blame to go around. First off, whoever was doping her and second off, the lab. There’s just no excuse for a delay of this kind on a Russian athlete during an Olympic cycle. None. Had the sample been tested in a timely fashion, they would have had time to test the B sample to confirm and one of two things would have happened: Valieva would never had been at the Olympics or she would have been cleared as a protected person due to age and that would have been it. 

Now it’s just a disaster for all involved. Kamila has been tainted, the IOC, ISU, WADA have proven to be a total joke. If one good thing can come if this, hopefully Eteri and her team are banned and the skating age for international competitions should be raised to 18. Okay, I guess that’s two. 

[HartofDixie]

 

[Hana Chan]

57 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

Of course they are. Heaven forbid they should throw Eteri or anyone like her under the bus!

It's actually worse than that. They are trying to make this a Russia vs the World issue. There are posters of Kamila with angel wings being put up in Moscow and social media is being flooded with pro-Kamila and pro-Eteri posts. It feels like Russia is loving getting to use this as a Nationalist propaganda tool, which could explain why Kamila is not being shielded from the media. I could easily see them waiting for her to be disqualified from the Olympics so they could have plenty of footage of a crying 15 year old having her dreams shattered when it's been her coach and the circle of people working at the Sambo rink who are to blame.

The Skating Lesson has been following this very closely and the information he'd found out about the doctor attached to Eteri has been fascinating. Someone is going to have to explain to me how a doctor who has already been banned for doping athletes has been allowed to have any role in this mess.

 

[redpencil]

I really want to like ice dancing more than I do. I like some of the programs, but I really hate that the results are more or less predetermined. And that a very small mistake can put someone in 4th after the RD with virtually no shot at the podium. Not like they fell to 10th or something. Literally 4th! And yet basically no shot at a medal barring extremely unlikely big mistakes by others. There would need to be more variability/uncertainty in the outcomes for it to not be a distant 4th for me in terms of which events I'm most interested in.

I get that most of that is the nature of the event, where you're just never going to see the kind of shuffling you can see in the individual/pairs events because of the lack of jumps and such, but it does limit my interest, unfortunately. I'm someone who follows/watches figure skating even outside of Olympics, but I almost never watch the ice dancing for the GP events. I'll just look at the results later.

In any case, to me P/C were clearly the best in the RD. I love C/B, and wish they could medal, but of course that's very unlikely now. I love that their programs are different, and they don't always do the lovey dovey programs that others do, even though they're an actual couple. Oh well.

Edited February 13, 2022 by redpencil

[healthnut]

The announcement about Kamila decision will be at 2pm local time in Beijing. 1am ET, so about an hour or so after the conclusion of the free dance. 

[Jeddah]

Anyone know if the announcement is just about whether or not she can skate, or will it also be about if Russia keeps the team medal?

[GeminiDancer]

24 minutes ago, healthnut said:

The announcement about Kamila decision will be at 2pm local time in Beijing. 1am ET, so about an hour or so after the conclusion of the free dance. 

How can the ISU and the IOC recover if they let her compete? How could any skater believe that they'd have a shot in the future?

2 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

Anyone know if the announcement is just about whether or not she can skate, or will it also be about if Russia keeps the team medal?

I think it'll be both.

[ShellsandCheese]

1 minute ago, Jeddah said:

Anyone know if the announcement is just about whether or not she can skate, or will it also be about if Russia keeps the team medal?

Just about Kamila skating in the women’s competition. There were so many balls dropped and so many screw-ups, it’s going to take a while to sort out the team medal situation. I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s allowed to skate and if they keep the team Gold. If her test had been tested in a timely fashion, she likely would have still have been allowed to compete, so there’s that. 

[KittenPokerCheater]

You would think Russia would be ruthless enough to ban Eteri from coaching so they can have the appearance of cleaning house.

 

[emmawoodhouse]

22 minutes ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

You would think Russia would be ruthless enough to ban Eteri from coaching so they can have the appearance of cleaning house.

 

Nah, from what I've seen, she's the next coming in Russia. They're doing everything they can to protect that cheating snake.

[Enero]

42 minutes ago, KittenPokerCheater said:

You would think Russia would be ruthless enough to ban Eteri from coaching so they can have the appearance of cleaning house.

 

I don’t think Russia cares. Apparently the Russian media is very supportive of Eteri (as is the ROC, RSU). And anytime there is a doping scandal their stance is “we against the world” type mentality. Granted there could be reporters who do want to call out the bad behavior but are unable to do so, due to the environment in which they live that doesn’t allow such freedoms from the press. I think if the Russian press raised  a stink about the doping and dangerous training methods, it could influence public opinion which could in turn result in real investigations into the questionable behaviors and real consequences. But again, I don’t think the Russian media has that type of freedom like here in the west.

As much as anything, this issue starts at home, in Russia. If they are not willing to seriously address the doping and the adults who are precipitating it, then nothing will change, and the cycle will continue.
 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Enero

[galaxygirl76]

I'm expecting this team mess to at the very least to end up with the CAS.

[Mirabelle]

Michelle looks tired and baby Kallista has the thickest head of hair I've ever seen on a six-week-old baby. 

 

Edited February 14, 2022 by Mirabelle

[Maelstrom]

7 hours ago, irisheyes said:

Kamila’s positive drug test is shining a light on Eteri’s training techniques. 

7 hours ago, MaryMitch said:

I have shared it with a lot of people. Eteri should be banned from the sport.

100% agreed. Bonus if it also gets Johnny called out for his blatant favoritism.

[sweeks]

If they let Kamila compete and don't have some serious consequences for Russia/the ROC (I'm not holding my breath that the IOC will actually hold anyone accountable), I might be done with the Olympics. The only way I could watch it is to acknowledge that all of the talk of integrity, unity, and the Olympic spirit is sheer hypocrisy and that the IOC is spineless. I've had other issues with the Olympics, such as how much the IOC makes and how costly it is for countries to host, and this might be the thing that finishes it for me. I don't know if I would be able to fully give it up, since I'd stay on the forums here to see all of your discussions and find out what I missed (and might check out any highlights on YouTube), but the live watching and general enjoyment would be gone. 

Edited February 14, 2022 by sweeks
Spelling correction

[Lady Whistleup]

Meh, Johnny's not really the problem. And his favoritism isn't nearly as loathsome as the Karolyis would get every year. "Marta doesn't like criers." 

[legaleagle53]

So is anyone else going to watch the entire Free Dance on Peacock, or is everyone going to wait for the watered-down version on NBC Primetime?  I for one can't wait to see the Ukrainians' Free Dance!

[emmawoodhouse]

5 minutes ago, legaleagle53 said:

So is anyone else going to watch the entire Free Dance on Peacock, or is everyone going to wait for the watered-down version on NBC Primetime?  I for one can't wait to see the Ukrainians' Free Dance!

It's on USA. Starts anytime now. 

eta From the time NBC is alotted this evening, I imagine they'll show the last group live.

Edited February 14, 2022 by emmawoodhouse

[legaleagle53]

Just now, emmawoodhouse said:

It's on USA. Starts anytime now. 

I'm watching it on Peacock. They're just introducing the skaters now.

[Lady Whistleup]

The whole thing is on USA. I'm going to skip the early groups. IMO ice dance is where you see the biggest gap between the early groups and the last groups.

[choclatechip45]

46 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Meh, Johnny's not really the problem. And his favoritism isn't nearly as loathsome as the Karolyis would get every year. "Marta doesn't like criers." 

Johnny's favoritism doesn't get on my nerves because he has always been like this about Russia. It's not Eteri specific. 

[CherryMalotte]

Jon Snow is skating for Georgia!

[Enero]

1 hour ago, Mirabelle said:

Michelle looks tired and baby Kallista has the thickest head of hair I've ever seen on a six-week-old baby. 

 

She looks tired but absolutely amazing only having given birth 6 weeks ago. The baby has so much hair and of course looks to be sound asleep. Very sweet. 

[annzeepark914]

Re: the siblings...was she wearing a thong? 

[CeeBeeGee]

6 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Re: the siblings...was she wearing a thong? 

I think so.

[GeminiDancer]

8 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Re: the siblings...was she wearing a thong? 

I don't think she was. I think it's a matter of having a booty and moving into position that caused the bottom to ride up.

[legaleagle53]

Wow. That was a bad fall by the Polish dancers -- and right at the end of the routine, too!

[GeminiDancer]

Just now, legaleagle53 said:

Wow. That was a bad fall by the Polish dancers -- and right at the end of the routine, too!

That was so unfortunate for them. You could see that it wasn't going to end well, but thank goodness she's okay.

Oh Christ... Roxanne... 🙄

[BlackberryJam]

Well, that was both overwrought and dull. Diana Davis is not a dynamic skater.

[Lady Whistleup]

Eteri's daughter doesn't really look like her.

[annzeepark914]

Shocking to me but I enjoyed Davis/Smolkin's FD despite that wretched music.

[Mirabelle]

Are Davis/Smolkin really the third best pair from Russia? They seemed slow to me which is not something which I ever thought could be said of Russian ice dancers.

[BlackberryJam]

This choreography for LaJoie and Lagha needs to lean more into being birds, just go full weird instead of 1/3 weird.

Edited February 14, 2022 by BlackberryJam

[GeminiDancer]

Just now, Mirabelle said:

Are Davis/Smolkin really the third best pair from Russia? They seemed slow to me which is not something which I ever thought could be said of Russian ice dancers.

Apparently, so... Though they finished 7th at the Europeans...

Just now, BlackberryJam said:

This choreography for LaJoie and Lagha needs to lead more into being birds, just go full weird instead of 1/3 weird.

You know Madison Chock would have gone in, down to caw-cawing on ice.