Figure Skating

[SeanC]

Performances of the night for me were Van Zundert (who squeaked into the free skate in 24th position and climbed all the way to 16th; lots of work to do on the PCS side, but the jumps were solid, and she's from a country that hasn't been a real presence in figure skating in decades), Taljegard (the most fun performance of the night; shame that she couldn't have the big home crowd that moment deserved) and Hendrickx (I'm a long-time fan and the last few years have been rough since she kept getting injured).

Hendrickx and Van Zundert have the same coaches (one of them being Loena's brother Jorik), so it looks like they're trying to raise the sport's profile in the Low Countries.

[SeanC]

Also, I find it amusing that all the ladies who Mathieu Caron designs costumes for (basically everybody at I.A.M. plus the Ontario pairs teams) have custom-designed Caron masks that match their costumes, while none of their partners bothered.

[Dr.OO7]

I can't believe it's been 30 years since the US women swept the ladies competition.

[Lady Whistleup]

Go Nathan! Yuzu had a very rough skate. 

[specialj67]

4 minutes ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Go Nathan! Yuzu had a very rough skate. 

I haven’t watched yet. Based on the scoring, it seems like a lot of the higher ranked men had less than stellar skates today—similar to the ladies event yesterday? 

[AuntieDiane6]

Just now, specialj67 said:

I haven’t watched yet. Based on the scoring, it seems like a lot of the higher ranked men had less than stellar skates today—similar to the ladies event yesterday?

I wouldn't say that at all. Nathan redeemed himself, Yuma, Shoma and Jason did themselves proud....

[Tippi]

Nathan won!

[SeanC]

1 hour ago, specialj67 said:

I haven’t watched yet. Based on the scoring, it seems like a lot of the higher ranked men had less than stellar skates today—similar to the ladies event yesterday? 

No, the final two flights were really good overall.  The final flight, especially, everybody skated well except maybe (by his standard) Hanyu.

Orser and Wilson are going to have to pull a major salvage job on Jin Boyang in the next year.  What a disaster, particularly since it cost China its second men's spot (which will cut out Yan Han, who actually placed higher than Jin here).

Ecstatic that Messing got Canada that provisional second spot back.

Edited March 27, 2021 by SeanC

[Cherrio]

I am older so I am not a fan of how skating has changed, as I miss the flow and artistry.

So, I think Karen Chen was robbed.   I get the whole quad thing, but I feel her program was so far superior to the rest, even sans quad.

And Bradies free skate dress? Awful, reminded me of an ashtray that needs to be cleaned.

Am I seeing the TV coverage right? They are repeating the womens free skate tonight ?

[healthnut]

Well the dance event sucked. Thank goodness I still have good vibes from Nathan’s free skate. 

[Lady Whistleup]

Really gutsy of Nathan to program his most problematic jump (the 3Axel) as the last one in the program. Respect.

[SeanC]

I had become resigned to Gilles & Poirier never winning a World medal, so I'm over the moon and kinda don't care about anything else that happened.  So deserved after all their years of work (as Mark Hanretty noted, Paul has been to every Worlds since 2008 except for 2012, when Piper wasn't eligible to go yet).

[honeywest]

Bates made the same mistake on the twizzle that he did at Nationals.

[annzeepark914]

5 hours ago, Tippi said:

Nathan won!

I had a feeling he'd repeat what he did at the '18 Olympics LP...go all out to make up for his SP. He's amazing!!

[specialj67]

5 hours ago, SeanC said:

No, the final two flights were really good overall.  The final flight, especially, everybody skated well except maybe (by his standard) Hanyu.

Orser and Wilson are going to have to pull a major salvage job on Jin Boyang in the next year.  What a disaster, particularly since it cost China its second men's spot (which will cut out Yan Han, who actually placed higher than Jin here).

Ecstatic that Messing got Canada that provisional second spot back.

Finally got to watch the men’s competition, and you are so right! That was one of the best final flights of skating I’ve seen in awhile. Even with Hanyu not able to deliver his best, he was still really good. Everyone fought for every jump, and no one imploded.

Of the other top ten men: glad to see Jason stayed upright on the 4 sal even if it wasn’t fully rotated; ecstatic that Kevin Aymoz held it together; and just plain appreciative of the beauty that is Mikhail Kolyada’s free program. Of course I wish he could have medaled, but it was nice to see him fully back in the mix with the other top skaters. 
 

Of the lower ranked skaters, the skater from Belarus, Konstantin Milyukov, was a delightful surprise for me. I liked his intensity and commitment to his program—and his sparkling turtleneck top. And Hen Yan actually caused me to well up at the end of his program. I’m just happy to see him still competing at championships like this; his is just plain good skating, with or without the jumps.

[annzeepark914]

Of all the ice dancing teams I saw today, the one that really grabbed my attention 100% was Fear/Gibson from GB.  As Tanith said, they did what the judges ask ice dancers to do--dance through their elements. 

[Lady Whistleup]

The ice dance competition made me miss Virtue/Moir and Papadakis/Cizeron showdowns. 

[annzeepark914]

I found myself missing the Shibutanis today. And the exhilarating Davis & White. 

[Lady Whistleup]

I only wish Nathan could skate with the kind of speed and smooth stroking of Hanyu. Hanyu's stroking and edges are so smooth and fast.

[Cherpumple]

7 hours ago, specialj67 said:

just plain appreciative of the beauty that is Mikhail Kolyada’s free program. Of course I wish he could have medaled, but it was nice to see him fully back in the mix with the other top skaters.

Yes! I've always liked him and am glad that he seems much more confident now. At first I was skeptical that he could pull off a balletic routine, since his style is usually so sharp and precise, but he did wonderfully. I hope he keeps this one for the Olympic year!

[Lady Whistleup]

I actually really like this program.

[redpencil]

I just heard the stat that before this SP, Nathan hadn't fallen in competition in 120 jumping passes. Mind blown. That's amazing. No wonder it was so shocking.

[iMonrey]

Someone refresh my memory. What are the skaters from Russia designated as being from the Russian skating Federation or some such? Why not just Russia? I vaguely recall Russia was sanctioned or something.

Quote

I agree about Jason being underscored on performance. I feel sad knowing that if he had existed just a decade and a half earlier, he probably would have been the undisputed king of figure skating with multiple world championships and probably an Olympic championship as well.

Doubtful. Quads were already becoming mandatory as far back as '98 with Ilia Kulik and Timothy Goebel. Evan Lysacek pulled off an Olympic win without a quad in 2010 but we'll never see that happen again.  

[Chaser]

It was a national (not athlete) ban for doping. 

 

[Lady Whistleup]

16 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Someone refresh my memory. What are the skaters from Russia designated as being from the Russian skating Federation or some such? Why not just Russia? I vaguely recall Russia was sanctioned or something.

Doubtful. Quads were already becoming mandatory as far back as '98 with Ilia Kulik and Timothy Goebel. Evan Lysacek pulled off an Olympic win without a quad in 2010 but we'll never see that happen again.  

Also Jason Brown doesn't have the consistency to make it to the top of the podium. He's gotten more consistent, but he's not like Nathan Chen. Men's FS's technical standards have always been very high and harshly judged. I feel like Jason Brown is like Johnny Weir, Emmanuel Sandhu, Paul Wylie -- other extremely talented but technically inconsistent skaters.

[surreysmum]

13 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

I actually really like this program.

It's blacked out in my country, and you didn't say which program. Could you specify so I can check it out?

 

Thanks

 

[Lady Whistleup]

S&K winning program.

[specialj67]

It seemed inevitable S/K would win. I guess I wish I liked their free dance more—it’s boring to me.

The highlights of the free dance for me were Gilles/Poirier medaling and Lewis/Gibson finishing in the top ten.

The overall depth of talent in ice dance now is amazing. This was the only segment In which I watched every competitor. Even the teams in the first group were thoroughly entertaining.

[annzeepark914]

5 hours ago, specialj67 said:

It seemed inevitable S/K would win. I guess I wish I liked their free dance more—it’s boring to me.

The highlights of the free dance for me were Gilles/Poirier medaling and Lewis/Gibson finishing in the top ten.

The overall depth of talent in ice dance now is amazing. This was the only segment In which I watched every competitor. Even the teams in the first group were thoroughly entertaining.

Actually, ice dance and pairs are the only disciplines I watched (except for catching just in time Karen Chen's LP and Jason Brown's nonstop SP).  Katsalapov was more interesting as a skater leading up to & including the 2014 Olympics. I think whoever is coaching him & his new(ish) partner has toned down his skating style, unfortunately. Fear/Gibson stole the show yesterday, IMO. I was as riveted to the screen watching them as I was during Jason's SP. Glad we have NBCSN but I guess I'm going to have to pay to see skating in the future. 

Edited March 29, 2021 by annzeepark914

[Cherrio]

After reading here I watched some of the ice dancing.   I LOVED the Brits too, Fear and Gibson.

I did like the Russians Singin In The Rain program, to me that is dancing.

Brings back memories of one of my all time favorite programs.  I was there in Halifax for Worlds,  Also the year of Ito's triple axel and Chris Bowman's Desi Arnaz's Bob-a-loo meltdown on ice.

 

[annzeepark914]

21 minutes ago, Cherrio said:

After reading here I watched some of the ice dancing.   I LOVED the Brits too, Fear and Gibson.

I did like the Russians Singin In The Rain program, to me that is dancing.

Brings back memories of one of my all time favorite programs.  I was there in Halifax for Worlds,  Also the year of Ito's triple axel and Chris Bowman's Desi Arnaz's Bob-a-loo meltdown on ice.

 

Aww...I loved K/P. Saw them twice at Champions on Ice. The best part of those two shows was going early and watching this team just quietly stroking around the ice for maybe 10-15 minutes (but their programs were OTT  stunning). Their son looks so much like his mother.

[JES004]

Jason stood on the quad! Yes. A little under rotated, but he didn’t fall.  

Great performance by Gilles and Poirier  I’m so happy for them.

ISU should do a review on Trusova PCS marks. They were egregious. 

The Scottish announcer the ISU selected for their broadcast (which aired on PeacockTV) was a delight. He commented on something each skater did well. When there was an error, he pointed it out, but in such a nice way. 

So, Hanyu’s camp is trying to blame his performance on an bad asthma attack? Right. 
 

 

 

[Cherrio]

18 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

Aww...I loved K/P. Saw them twice at Champions on Ice. The best part of those two shows was going early and watching this team just quietly stroking around the ice for maybe 10-15 minutes (but their programs were OTT  stunning). Their son looks so much like his mother.

We are buddies !  Ice Dancing warm ups were also my favorite.  The sounds and the strength of the stroking always blew me away. In those days too, you could hardly hear a blade.    These days a lot of skaters sound like hockey players.

[Quof]

Torvill and Dean did the best warmups. They skated separately, and didn't do any of the elements of the dance.  They just stroked around, to feel out the ice and to make sure their muscles were warm.   Their reasoning?  They warmed up separately at practices, why change just for an audience?  And they had practised the elements countless times, doing them one more time just before they competed wasn't going to make any difference.  

[Lady Whistleup]

Well next year should be a good showdown between Nathan and Yuzuru. 

[emmawoodhouse]

3 hours ago, Lady Whistleup said:

Well next year should be a good showdown between Nathan and Yuzuru. 

Especially if Yuzu can master the quad Axel, as he's talked about. 😁

[Good Queen Jane]

I was at Halifax too! (waves at Cheerio). That was a great competition and a great city to visit.

[Cherrio]

14 hours ago, Good Queen Jane said:

I was at Halifax too! (waves at Cheerio). That was a great competition and a great city to visit.

Wow !    Brings back a lot of memories. I still have my T shirt.  We sure saw some of the greats.

[healthnut]

This is the best episode of the Skatinh Lesson I’ve ever listened to, Elena Bechke was great! She has terrific stories of her days with Tamara Moskvina and really great insight into current pairs. 

[annzeepark914]

1 hour ago, healthnut said:

This is the best episode of the Skatinh Lesson I’ve ever listened to, Elena Bechke was great! She has terrific stories of her days with Tamara Moskvina and really great insight into current pairs. 

I'm only halfway through...will finish it later. But who was rude to Tamara after they finished skating their LP?  This is a great interview! 

[healthnut]

19 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I'm only halfway through...will finish it later. But who was rude to Tamara after they finished skating their LP?  This is a great interview! 

Alexandra Boikova, bronze medalist

[Impromptu]

On 3/28/2021 at 10:48 AM, Lady Whistleup said:

Also Jason Brown doesn't have the consistency to make it to the top of the podium. He's gotten more consistent, but he's not like Nathan Chen. Men's FS's technical standards have always been very high and harshly judged. I feel like Jason Brown is like Johnny Weir, Emmanuel Sandhu, Paul Wylie -- other extremely talented but technically inconsistent skaters.

Actually, he's extremely consistent - he's never finished worst than 9th place in any (national or international) competition (going back to 2009), including medaling at 4 continents twice, winning 7 Senior Grand prix medals, 9 medals (including 5 Gold medals) at other senior international events, and one of the reasons for that is that he normally lands his jumps, lands them cleanly and with high grades of execution. He has some of the purest technique out there, and the most difficult non-jump content there is. There is a reason why you'll hear the commentating crew always refer to him as a "skater's skater" - it's because other skaters understand just how technically difficult what he does is. I look at his current short program and I can only think of three other skaters from the past decade who could pull that off (Hanyu, Patrick Chan, or Daisuke Takahashi).

Now, you could say that he's not consistently landing a quad jump, and that would be true. But he's pretty consistent on everything else.

[Harry24]

4 hours ago, Impromptu said:

 I look at his current short program and I can only think of three other skaters from the past decade who could pull that off (Hanyu, Patrick Chan, or Daisuke Takahashi).

I'm so glad you mentioned Takahashi.  I think he’s a true master.  Back to Sinnerman, IMO Chan and Hanyu may have the physical skills to pull it off, but I don’t think either man would “get” the vocabulary of movement to do it.  Daisuke would totally get it; although he doesn’t have JB’s flexibility and long limbs, he is an even greater dancer on ice and IMO skated with even more soul.  I also would have loved to see Kurt Browning or Robin Cousins in their respective heydays do something like it.  

[BlackberryJam]

20 minutes ago, Harry24 said:

I'm so glad you mentioned Takahashi.  I think he’s a true master.  Back to Sinnerman, IMO Chan and Hanyu may have the physical skills to pull it off, but I don’t think either man would “get” the vocabulary of movement to do it.  Daisuke would totally get it; although he doesn’t have JB’s flexibility and long limbs, he is an even greater dancer on ice and IMO skated with even more soul.  I also would have loved to see Kurt Browning or Robin Cousins in their respective heydays do something like it.  

I loved Robin Cousins! 

[Impromptu]

12 hours ago, Harry24 said:

I'm so glad you mentioned Takahashi.  I think he’s a true master.  Back to Sinnerman, IMO Chan and Hanyu may have the physical skills to pull it off, but I don’t think either man would “get” the vocabulary of movement to do it.  Daisuke would totally get it; although he doesn’t have JB’s flexibility and long limbs, he is an even greater dancer on ice and IMO skated with even more soul.  I also would have loved to see Kurt Browning or Robin Cousins in their respective heydays do something like it.  

Interesting ideas.  I was only going back ten years, because that's been the decade that Brown has competed in. Robin Cousins and Kurt Browning are in my top five male skaters of all time (Cousins' "Satan Takes a Holiday" routine I still remember vividly and it's been almost 40 years since I saw it live at World Pros). I could see Kurt skating to "Sinnerman," but I'm not 100% certain I'd pick Robin... Toller Cranston, or Gary Beacom... oh, or David Liu. Now, when it comes to "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue," I'd absolutely have Robin Cousins or Kurt Browning skate that program - and I could imagine both of them doing a better job with it than Jason at this point (not that he does a bad job with it, but I don't think he's competed it enough yet for it to really gel, and honestly, I'm not loving the programs that David Wilson has given him - they don't instantly fit Jason as well as Rohene's programs do). 

[ChicksDigScars]

Is that the same TSL interview where Renee Roca comments on ice dance and the overscoring of "Vikki and Nikki?" I saw a Twitter post talking about it, but was too exhausted to listen to it, yet.

Bummed that Sui and Han didn't win. Bummed that Chock and Bates didn't podium, and that S/K won. I would have even preferred the Entitlement Twins to that result. I mean, just think. Maybe if H/D would have won, they'd have taken their Gold Medal and retired? Yeah, fat chance the year before the Olympics, but it was a dream in the back of my mind. Kaitlyn Hawayak looked upset at their scores. 

I saw some speculation on Twitter that P/C, seeing the propping of S/K, and having lost to them at Europeans last year in their last match up, may see the writing on the wall and NOT go to the Olympics? That the "establishment" would punish them for not showing up this year. Now, who knows if they'd actually think that, but this year's Worlds smacked of Sochi 2014 to me. Skating While Russian bonus, indeed. Karen Chen should have gotten a Bronze. The fact that Trusova spent most of her time on her ass, and got high scores for basically skating back and forth, setting up for her next quad with little to no connecting artistry to speak of, and was rewarded with a medal, gave me that Sochi distaste in my mouth again. 

And Twitter was loaded with Fanyu's Tweeting to the ISU, nitpicking Nathan's artistry scores, demanding to know why he got .5 of a point for this, and .25 of a point for that, and attaching rule sheets, spelling out the protocols for earning such scores. Eyeroll. It wouldn't have done any good with the long program Nathan threw down, but they're still at it. It's ridiculous. I find myself rooting for Hanyu to fail because his fanbase is insufferable. I was actually happy that the lack of an audience meant a lack of Pooh Bears all over the ice. He's a sweet man, and a brilliant skater, but his fans ruin him for me. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 31, 2021 by ChicksDigScars

[honeywest]

@ChicksDigScars Everything you said!

[specialj67]

55 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Is that the same TSL interview where Renee Roca comments on ice dance and the overscoring of "Vikki and Nikki?" I saw a Twitter post talking about it, but was too exhausted to listen to it, yet.

Bummed that Sui and Han didn't win. Bummed that Chock and Bates didn't podium, and that S/K won. I would have even preferred the Entitlement Twins to that result. I mean, just think. Maybe if H/D would have won, they'd have taken their Gold Medal and retired? Yeah, fat chance the year before the Olympics, but it was a dream in the back of my mind. Kaitlyn Hawayak looked upset at their scores. 

I saw some speculation on Twitter that P/C, seeing the propping of S/K, and having lost to them at Europeans last year in their last match up, may see the writing on the wall and NOT go to the Olympics? That the "establishment" would punish them for not showing up this year. Now, who knows if they'd actually think that, but this year's Worlds smacked of Sochi 2014 to me. Skating While Russian bonus, indeed. Karen Chen should have gotten a Bronze. The fact that Trusova spent most of her time on her ass, and got high scores for basically skating back and forth, setting up for her next quad with little to no connecting artistry to speak of, and was rewarded with a medal, gave me that Sochi distaste in my mouth again. 

And Twitter was loaded with Fanyu's Tweeting to the ISU, nitpicking Nathan's artistry scores, demanding to know why he got .5 of a point for this, and .25 of a point for that, and attaching rule sheets, spelling out the protocols for earning such scores. Eyeroll. It wouldn't have done any good with the long program Nathan threw down, but they're still at it. It's ridiculous. I find myself rooting for Hanyu to fail because his fanbase is insufferable. I was actually happy that the lack of an audience meant a lack of Pooh Bears all over the ice. He's a sweet man, and a brilliant skater, but his fans ruin him for me. 

 

 

 

 

 

IIRC, in her appearance on TSL, Renee Roca said she thought Hawayek and Baker were held down in the scores, and I agree. Maybe it’s the difference of seeing in person instead of on a screen, but I don’t get how they were 8 points behind the Canadian team who finished in 8th?

And I agree about the Fanyus! I realized during this competition how pleasant it was to watch Hanyu skate without having to see a wave of Pooh bears cover the ice after he finished. And how nice it was to watch him skate without the loud crowd roar after every single jump. I wonder what will happen when he does stop competing—will the Fanyu forces transfer their energies to a different skater, will they stop caring about skating as much, or bemoan it’s decline with Hanyu no longer on the scene , or constantly compare every new skater to the great Hanyu? Probably a little of all of that.

[CeeBeeGee]

3 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Is that the same TSL interview where Renee Roca comments on ice dance and the overscoring of "Vikki and Nikki?" I saw a Twitter post talking about it, but was too exhausted to listen to it, yet.

Bummed that Sui and Han didn't win. Bummed that Chock and Bates didn't podium, and that S/K won. I would have even preferred the Entitlement Twins to that result. I mean, just think. Maybe if H/D would have won, they'd have taken their Gold Medal and retired? Yeah, fat chance the year before the Olympics, but it was a dream in the back of my mind. Kaitlyn Hawayak looked upset at their scores. 

I saw some speculation on Twitter that P/C, seeing the propping of S/K, and having lost to them at Europeans last year in their last match up, may see the writing on the wall and NOT go to the Olympics? That the "establishment" would punish them for not showing up this year. Now, who knows if they'd actually think that, but this year's Worlds smacked of Sochi 2014 to me. Skating While Russian bonus, indeed. Karen Chen should have gotten a Bronze. The fact that Trusova spent most of her time on her ass, and got high scores for basically skating back and forth, setting up for her next quad with little to no connecting artistry to speak of, and was rewarded with a medal, gave me that Sochi distaste in my mouth again. 

And Twitter was loaded with Fanyu's Tweeting to the ISU, nitpicking Nathan's artistry scores, demanding to know why he got .5 of a point for this, and .25 of a point for that, and attaching rule sheets, spelling out the protocols for earning such scores. Eyeroll. It wouldn't have done any good with the long program Nathan threw down, but they're still at it. It's ridiculous. I find myself rooting for Hanyu to fail because his fanbase is insufferable. I was actually happy that the lack of an audience meant a lack of Pooh Bears all over the ice. He's a sweet man, and a brilliant skater, but his fans ruin him for me. 

 

 

 

 

 

Every word of this, Chicks. I actually like Trusova's crazy tricks and I admire her pushing the boundaries of the sport but in NO way did she outskate Karen. Had she landed every one of those quads, I could see her winning. But bouncing twice and the complete lack of artistry and the lack of choreography? Seriously? I was super pissed off about Sochi--Sotnikova got her highest ever PCS for waving bye bye to the audience? Play tug of war?--and the next gen of Russians mollified that anger somewhat because they at least had it, unlike Sotnikova. You could see why Tuk was winning everything in sight, you could see Radionova's hunger and charm, and you sure could see why Zag stepped in and snatched the gold in 2018. But you can never convince me that Sotnikova wasn't gifted that gold or that Trusova deserved the bronze.

[Lady Whistleup]

2 hours ago, specialj67 said:

IIRC, in her appearance on TSL, Renee Roca said she thought Hawayek and Baker were held down in the scores, and I agree. Maybe it’s the difference of seeing in person instead of on a screen, but I don’t get how they were 8 points behind the Canadian team who finished in 8th?

And I agree about the Fanyus! I realized during this competition how pleasant it was to watch Hanyu skate without having to see a wave of Pooh bears cover the ice after he finished. And how nice it was to watch him skate without the loud crowd roar after every single jump. I wonder what will happen when he does stop competing—will the Fanyu forces transfer their energies to a different skater, will they stop caring about skating as much, or bemoan it’s decline with Hanyu no longer on the scene , or constantly compare every new skater to the great Hanyu? Probably a little of all of that.

I have to admit ... I have never seen the Fanyus in action. I've heard about them but they don't seem crazier than the Yunabots, the Tessa-and-Scott-have-secret-babies-in-the-basement fans, or (this is really going back in time) the Sergei widows who stalked Ilia Kulik and harassed Katia nonstop. They just seem like younger fans who like a skater who in all fairness deserves the love. He's a very humble person and a brilliant skater. 

Edited April 1, 2021 by Lady Whistleup