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Figure Skating


OriginalCyn
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23 minutes ago, Mellowyellow said:

I don't know to be honest. I guess I kept waiting for things to improve and they never did. 

Medvedeva's performances at Rostelecom last season were excellent, I would say she's improved a lot.

It's an open question whether she can ever get the big technical tricks that she'll seemingly need to have a chance of making the Olympic team in 2022, but that's a new frontier.  The project to rebuild her technique for her adult body has gone pretty well, even with the psychological hiccups (and occasional equipment failure).

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12 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

What did Zach do/say? I somehow missed it. And I welcome more reasons to hate him lol.

He tweeted the all lives matter hashtag (and later apologized). You could say it was pure ignorance, but...that’s a lot of ignorance. It seems more likely to me that it represents his true views and he hadn’t gotten the memo that it wasn’t going to be okay this time around. But I could be overestimating his intelligence. 

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59 minutes ago, Jillibean said:

He tweeted the all lives matter hashtag (and later apologized). You could say it was pure ignorance, but...that’s a lot of ignorance. It seems more likely to me that it represents his true views and he hadn’t gotten the memo that it wasn’t going to be okay this time around. But I could be overestimating his intelligence. 

There are lots of people who don't follow current events (indeed, around half of Americans don't even vote), so I don't think there's anything unlikely about him not being familiar with it.  If it doesn't affect you personally, it's easy enough to ignore, especially since he spends all his time in what is not a particularly diverse setting (at least in terms of black performers).

Edited by SeanC
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On 6/13/2020 at 9:02 PM, SeanC said:

There are lots of people who don't follow current events (indeed, around half of Americans don't even vote), so I don't think there's anything unlikely about him not being familiar with it.  If it doesn't affect you personally, it's easy enough to ignore, especially since he spends all his time in what is not a particularly diverse setting (at least in terms of black performers).

No, that excuse just doesn't fly right now.  You don't use #alllivesmatter in a tweet during this particular time in this country without knowing exactly what it means.  ZD has proven time and again that he's a giant asshole, and there's no reason to believe this isn't just more evidence of the same.

Edited by NUguy514
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On 6/15/2020 at 3:56 AM, displayname said:

Season not really going to happen, is it?

I hope it still happens. Maybe with modifications it could still be feasible? 

The US Open seems like it's going to happen only without the spectators. Maybe a similar arrangement could be put in place for skating. Maybe cut down on the number of competitors for the grand prix events so that fewer people are on the ice for each warm up. Maybe have people leave the arena right after they get their marks.

Worlds, 4cc, and Europeans are more problematic but ideally they'd still be able to be held. 

I'm just really bummed with the idea of no figure skating season. I want to see how everyone is shaping up since we're less than two years away from the Olympics. 

Edited by Avaleigh
Clarification and typos.
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On 6/21/2020 at 4:55 AM, displayname said:

I don't know if I'm sad. The skating's been boring, and honestly I can take a break from the godawful stans on twitter. Frankly, maybe the athletes will start feeling like that after a bit.

I’ve done the same on twitter for skating and gymnastics. The stans have gotten worse since quarantine began.

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While watching Athlete A on Netflix (new documentary on the USA Gymnastics scandal), I was constantly reminded of Ladies Figure Skating. They hit hard on the Karolyi's and how they were responsible for ushering in the trend of young gymnasts with child like bodies that could easily do the difficult flips and twists, and how this began the dangerous precedent of young, trusting children being controlled and abused by adults, both physically and mentally. All I could think is that "I hope the ISU is taking notes." 

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On 6/26/2020 at 8:09 PM, annzeepark914 said:

I'm reminded of seeing the "new" style of Russian pairs skaters. Didn't they refer to them as the gorilla and the ant? Or something like that (big male with tiny, very young female partner).

G&G come to mind.

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Bummer. I wonder if any of it had to do with citizenship? At some point that was going to have to be resolved if either of them had Olympic goals. Maybe they felt like it wasn't going to happen and better for both to find other partners now. Or maybe he didn't want to continue? In any case, she is wonderful, so hopefully she finds another partner that suits her.

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14 hours ago, redpencil said:

Bummer. I wonder if any of it had to do with citizenship? At some point that was going to have to be resolved if either of them had Olympic goals. Maybe they felt like it wasn't going to happen and better for both to find other partners now. Or maybe he didn't want to continue? In any case, she is wonderful, so hopefully she finds another partner that suits her.

Ponomarenko and Carreira won’t be eligible for 2022 (she’s Canadian).

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Has anyone heard/read anything further about this?  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that NBC's response is so muted (even though this is Weir's second public offense).  After reading about how they tolerated Matt Lauer's actions over the years, I guess we can't expect anything done about Weir and Lipinski.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/07/02/tara-lipinski-johnny-weir-use-vulgar-term-spoof-olympian/5370126002/

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Lipinski and Weir are constantly trying to market themselves, and no doubt they don't see much work in skating commentary in the near future. They've hosted a lot of D-list type of reality shows on obscure cable stations and are always shopping for a new project. 

I'd be fine with seeing them replaced on NBC Sports too. I really like Ryan Bradley's commentary but I think he works for some other station. I do prefer when singles skaters comment on singles events, ice dancers on ice dancing, etc.  

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On 7/6/2020 at 7:24 PM, annzeepark914 said:

Has anyone heard/read anything further about this?  I guess I shouldn't be surprised that NBC's response is so muted (even though this is Weir's second public offense).  After reading about how they tolerated Matt Lauer's actions over the years, I guess we can't expect anything done about Weir and Lipinski.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2020/07/02/tara-lipinski-johnny-weir-use-vulgar-term-spoof-olympian/5370126002/

The skit in question was a scripted segment for an NBC-affiliated show, so NBC is rather unlikely to say anything about it.

Edited by SeanC
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Scott Moir spent the week at IAM coaching the future of Canadian ice dance; if it hasn't already happened, it seems inevitable that he's going to settle down permanently there at some point.

 

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5 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Too bad. It's been blocked. I was looking forward to seeing a bit of joy on ice during these dismal days.

It's blocked for me to watch within this site, but I can watch it on youtube itself, so maybe try that. There should be a 'Watch on youtube' link when you try to play the video here.

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2 hours ago, peachmangosteen said:

It's blocked for me to watch within this site, but I can watch it on youtube itself, so maybe try that. There should be a 'Watch on youtube' link when you try to play the video here.

Thanks! Just watched this beautiful LP.  Still makes me sad that such an exquisite skater didn't win the gold. 

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(edited)

Rest in peace, Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya, who sadly committed suicide last night after a struggle with depression, apparently prompted by her struggle with epileptic seizures that had forced her to retire from pairs skating earlier last season.  She and former partner Harley Windsor were the first Australian team to win the Junior Grand Prix Final and Junior Worlds, and competed at the 2018 Olympics.

Their history-making win below:

Harley posted his own tribute:

 

Edited by SeanC
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I haven't seen this posted yet - the Peggy Fleming Trophy competition was held virtually - the competitors submitted videos made on their home ice, which were then judged by a panel. It's all explained in the video of the competition I've linked.

https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/watch/?Archive=1704&type=Archive

The skaters had the opportunity to record their programs as many times as they needed to get one they wanted to submit. Unfortunately, the quality of the recordings varied widely. Not the video or audio quality, but most of the people filming apparently had never heard of zooming in, so a lot of time the skaters were at the far end of the rink where you could hardly see them.  But nonetheless, it was interesting.

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On 7/20/2020 at 1:56 PM, HartofDixie said:

Gracie and Sasha will appear in this documentary on HBO.

 

I remember reading about this in an article I read about Sasha awhile back. Seems like this has been in the works for a fair amount of time. I'm looking forward to seeing this subject explored in a broad context like this because I think it's an issue that so many athletes face, even the ones who never become a force on the elite stage. Even people who are wildly successful like Phelps or somebody like Tom Brady--it seems like there's a struggle regarding how to move on and fill the hole that is left when they retire from their respective sports.

Honestly skating could have its own documentary on this subject. How many skaters have their lives dominated by this one thing only to fall short of the expectations they've set for themselves. There are so many names. TSL recently posted an old interview with Shelby Lyons (a name I hadn't thought about since the 90s) and you can see how invested she and her family are it must have been so difficult when she decided to move on. 

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On 7/25/2020 at 11:10 AM, Avaleigh said:

I remember reading about this in an article I read about Sasha awhile back. Seems like this has been in the works for a fair amount of time. I'm looking forward to seeing this subject explored in a broad context like this because I think it's an issue that so many athletes face, even the ones who never become a force on the elite stage. Even people who are wildly successful like Phelps or somebody like Tom Brady--it seems like there's a struggle regarding how to move on and fill the hole that is left when they retire from their respective sports.

Honestly skating could have its own documentary on this subject. How many skaters have their lives dominated by this one thing only to fall short of the expectations they've set for themselves. There are so many names. TSL recently posted an old interview with Shelby Lyons (a name I hadn't thought about since the 90s) and you can see how invested she and her family are it must have been so difficult when she decided to move on. 

I can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to spend 20-25 years putting everything (eating, sleeping, drinking it) into one career, then having to start over at the age of 25 or 30 with a new career, that won’t be all encompassing like the previous career or may not even be your passion. Hell many of us everyday folks are working jobs that we’re not passionate about. 

But I digress. Of course its inevitable for professional athletes having to retire early, unlike those of us in traditional careers. Figure skaters, gymnasts, swimmers etc. in particular, careers seem to end sooner rather than later, unlike other sports careers. 

I remember reading an article years ago where Sasha talked about the depression she went through after retiring. I’m looking forward to this documentary. It should be interesting. I’ll be one of those signing up for the free trial of HBO GO to watch this, then canceling. 😂 

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I am looking forward to it.  I also wonder/worry about the athletes who have given up so much to train, but don’t medal in the Olympics or medal in a sport that doesn’t catch the nation’s interest.  Sasha Cohen and Michael Phelps had income from their sponsors.  What about the kid who came in 8th in obscure sport?  He has to start over without a safety net.  I hope the documentary covers all of them.

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I remember Shawn Johnson’s parents took out like three mortgages on their house to pay for her gymnastics. And it worked out for them as she became a gold medalist but you never hear the stories of the parents who do that and the child doesn’t make it. 

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Eteri is losing it! She's trying to drag a bunch of her ex students through mud in her latest Instagram post.

Apparently Yulia didn't want to go on ice with Zhenya. Zhenya didn't want to train with Alina and now Alena has a list of people she doesn't want to train with. This is so according to the translation on Instagram.

Meanwhile my chosen child is at summer camp in Switzerland, practicing very high and gorgeous Flip-loop combos and looking very relaxed as she does some sightseeing in the mountains.

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One reason is that Eteri's main technical coach (the one that actually taught the jumps) went to Plushenko so it makes sense that Eteri's pupils would follow. 

I love Alena and think she's the most talented of the Eteri A'.s Wish her well.

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Quite a surprise.  And a bit of a landmark, since under previous Sambo-70 stars who left, Kostornaia wasn't reaching adulthood or being eclipsed by a competitor within the camp.

There's a great YouTube account that has been putting up old 00s competitions.  I was recently rewatching the 2009 Four Continents, which of course was the Vancouver Olympic test event.

Such a great moment for Joannie, setting up both her World medal win a month later and her Olympic bronze the following year in the same location.  And, looking back, the 2006-2010 quad had a ladies field that was crazily tilted toward the 4CC division; Kostner was really the only one keeping Europe in the game.

Tracy saying that Caroline Zhang's coaches needed to fix her technique before it was too late.  Oh dear.

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16 hours ago, healthnut said:

Breaking News:

Alena Kostornaia has left Eteri for Evgeny Plushenko’s group. 

I'm almost ashamed to admit how loud my nerdgasp was upon reading this. Can't say I saw this coming. Trusova was kind of a given but Aliona too? More pressure for Anna to make it happen, I guess. More pressure on Kamila and Daria too come to that. 

I agree that Aliona is the strongest of the big three so I hope that Plushenko's group is a good/better fit for her than Eteri's. I really want her to get better music than she had last season. Hopefully they pick something that will really show off her natural artistry.

Eteri must be so ticked. Couldn't have happened to a nicer lady...

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I watched Weight of Gold, and it is very well done and worth people’s time.  It has a triggering warning that should be taken seriously.  Both Sasha Cohen and Gracie Gold take part.

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