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OriginalCyn

By OriginalCyn
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ChicksDigScars
ChicksDigScars

“I wish the Shibutanis were [in Milan] because last year I gave them my medal,” Donohue said, “and I don’t plan on doing that this year.” Uhhh..what? Yeah, and they gave you their National title

absnow54
absnow54

I get that figure skating is a jumping sport right now, and Alyssa Lui is the best chance for competing with the Russians, but damn, Mariah Bell’s free skate is the reason I find this sport so compell

Jeddah
Jeddah

I do love the Shibs, but it still would have been an obnoxious thing to say about any team, not just them. It implies that they didn’t earn their medal. That they didn’t work for it. That their two cl

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Jaded

Jaded

I'm watching the Exibition Gala from the WCs this morning since I DVR'd it. I've been enjoying most of the performances. I wanted to enjoy the US ice dance pair Hawayek/Baker that skated to Austin Powers but the camerawork done during it was making me feel queasy and dizzy. So I spent most of it looking at my computer screen when the camera work got to be too much.
 

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HartofDixie

HartofDixie

7 hours ago, Jaded said:

I'm watching the Exibition Gala from the WCs this morning since I DVR'd it. I've been enjoying most of the performances. I wanted to enjoy the US ice dance pair Hawayek/Baker that skated to Austin Powers but the camerawork done during it was making me feel queasy and dizzy. So I spent most of it looking at my computer screen when the camera work got to be too much.
 

 

Better camera

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HartofDixie

HartofDixie

1 hour ago, sweeks said:

This video makes me so very happy!

Also, a few stray thoughts:

  • The more I see of Jean-Luc Baker, the more I like him.
  • Mariah Bell is adorable (and looks all of 13 or 14 here).
  • It was great seeing Gracie look so happy and at ease.

This must have been filmed during Champs camp.  I'm really curious to see who is planning to compete next season.  I think the Shibs are done but I wouldn't be surprised if all 3 dance teams stay around (which will make it harder for Hawayek/Baker).  I just hope whatever tension there is between H/D and the Shibs is resolved before the SOI tour.

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methadonna

methadonna

On 3/23/2018 at 8:53 PM, methadonna said:

 

*Speaking of, I spent H/D’s entire short program wanting to slap the look off her face because it seemed so overwrought act-y and unnatural, and then she put it into better words than I when she got off the ice and proudly told her coaches, while motioning to her face, (something like) “I tried to keep that Tessa/Scott focus.” (Em added to highlight what was quoted)

 

On 3/23/2018 at 11:34 PM, Vera said:

Focus, not performance. And they'll need that focus if they want to keep their spot and challenge for the podium next season.

Which is what I said, but the context removed from what was quoted lays out why I understood her meaning of “focus” to differ from what is suggested here.

I am going off of memory and, if I could rewatch it to see that the rest of what I described was inaccurate or misconstrued, I’d concede that immediately: it’s certainly possible.

But I didn’t just reiterate Hubbell’s statement but rather tried to specifically contextualize the entire scene around it that led to my conclusion: it wasn’t just her saying that line, as you quoted me, but her motioning to her face (I actually recalled it as even more specifically her eyes, but I wasn’t confident enough in that recall and thus didn’t want to inaccurately describe it as even worse if I *was* mistaken, so I went with the more general and less damning description to give err on the side of my being wrong) that led me to interpret it quite differently from how did in your “correction” of my out-of-context quote.

Others have posted on this, too, and (I don’t recall if it was Tanith or one of the others, but) one of the commentators even noted her mentioning them as well, clarifying that she was referring to V/M and, iirc—and, again, maybe I don’t—something to the effect of how intensely V/M focus on each other. 

Again, I could be mistaken: if the details that I included to support why I thought it was telling that they seemed to be trying to imitate the bore-a-hole-through-your-soul visual focus V/M keep on each other (that is, focus as in gaze, not being focused as in staying within the performance/not “losing focus”/getting distracted) are incorrect, please correct me: I think I put enough qualifiers in there to be clear I know I’m not infallible, and I wasn’t queued up on the video to necessarily be accurate; if I misrepresented what they said through both their verbal and non-verbal communication, I apologize and would be happy to be corrected.  

If I’m not mistaken in my description but you disagree with how I interpreted it, please use what I actually wrote to explain why; I may or may not be convinced but at least then I can consider your response (and reconsider my own), and anyone else reading has an accurate context in which to do the same.

And if what I wrote actually failed to communicate that I was referring to anything more than her exact words—the snippet quoted— that’s obviously on me, as I believe that authorial intent is irrelevant, as long as the reader has the ability to comprehend (which I don’t doubt) and the intention to interpret it in good faith.

However, taking one line I wrote and quoting it completely out of context to make your point mischaracterizes what I said and prevents me from knowing if I should reconsider the accuracy of my recollection of that moment and/or my interpretation of it, and I dig dialogue and reason to reconsider my own thinking.

 I don’t disagree with anything you wrote there wrt that type of focus and its importance; I just didn’t refer to any such thing, though, which was why I noted that her statement with her motions, tone, and body language seemed to confirm exactly what bothered me about her performance.

Had she used “unwavering eye-fuck and overwrought smirk at my partner for four straight minutes to convey lust” in lieu of saying “focus” coupled with using gestures to suggest, at least TO ME, that she meant one and the same, just like her “teammates” V/M are noted for to the extent of inspiring comments comparably focused fan shipping and imaginary-baby-making, there’d be less left to interpretation.

But she did use “focus,” which, in another context, certainly can mean what you’re suggesting, and, I totes agree: any skater needs that type of focus if they want to keep their spot snd[/or] challenge for the podium (or just keeping upright! ;-) ) next season.

I just didn’t interpret her usage as such for the reasons I explained; if you want to argue that my context is inaccurate that is easily disproven by what is on the screen and if my lazyass hadn’t already deleted it or done due diligence by finding and reviewing it rather than relying on my memory, I’d see that, please do: I can’t argue with that! 

Or if I’m not but you disagree that it supports my interpretation of it, (not that you need my permission or that I’m trying to cause a problem; on the contrary, I totally dig it: I’m just asking not to have my words misrepresented), please do; just please use enough of what I’ve said so as not to alter its meaning to make your point.

Growsonwalls

Growsonwalls

Hmm I think H/D might have meant "Tessa/Scott focus" as in Virtue/Moir's famous competition intensity and focus. Sometimes that focus has led to them being labeled as unfriendly or "arrogant" but I think it might be a remnant of the time they had to train with Meryl and Charlie and supposedly there was bad blood between teams that got very intense and uncomfortable. 

annzeepark914

annzeepark914

Are you all referring to the staring at each other/chatting that V/M did when approaching center ice?  They started that ridiculous trend and it has always bugged me when the other skaters copied them. Just skate to center ice, please.

I can well imagine there was bad blood between V/M and D/W back in their training together days.  Wonder if that's going to happen now between H/D and P/C up in Montreal?

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SeanC

SeanC

(edited)

I was going over the numbers of the Worlds ladies' competition, just because I enjoy the stats, and boy, the more I look at it, the more I think this'll be a moment that really haunts Carolina Kostner.  She already has a World Championship win, of course, but just about everything happened that she would have needed to win another one on home ice at the tail end of her career except for her own performance:

1.  Evgenia doesn't go due to injury.

2.  She skates a stupendous career best in the short program.

3.  As importantly, all of the skaters with the highest scoring potential in the free skate (145+) perform below their best in the short program, giving her leads of anywhere from 1 point (Alina) to 6 points (Satoko) to 8 points (Kaetlyn) to 14 points (Wakaba).

4.  Everybody in the final flight other than Kaetlyn tanks the free skate.

To win, she needed 142.97, which granted would be a personal best, but if she had gone clean (or even mostly clean), no way do they not give that to her.  And failing that, she only needed 130.63 to win silver, a figure she's exceeded in five international competitions this season.

In unrelated news, Alexandra Trusova just landed an under-rotated quad Lutz in practice.  Maybe she could give Mikhail Kolyada some tips.

Edited by SeanC
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HartofDixie

HartofDixie

26 minutes ago, SeanC said:

I was going over the numbers of the Worlds ladies' competition, just because I enjoy the stats, and boy, the more I look at it, the more I think this'll be a moment that really haunts Carolina Kostner.  She already has a World Championship win, of course, but just about everything happened that she would have needed to win another one on home ice at the tail end of her career except for her own performance:

1.  Evgenia doesn't go due to injury.

2.  She skates a stupendous career best in the short program.

3.  As importantly, all of the skaters with the highest scoring potential in the free skate (145+) perform below their best in the short program, giving her leads of anywhere from 1 point (Alina) to 6 points (Satoko) to 8 points (Kaetlyn) to 14 points (Wakaba).

4.  Everybody in the final flight other than Kaetlyn tanks the free skate.

To win, she needed 142.97, which granted would be a personal best, but if she had gone clean (or even mostly clean), no way do they not give that to her.  And failing that, she only needed 130.63 to win silver, a figure she's exceeded in five international competitions this season.

In unrelated news, Alexandra Trusova just landed an under-rotated quad Lutz in practice.  Maybe she could give Mikhail Kolyada some tips.

You'll like this site: http://skatingscores.com/

 

3 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Are you all referring to the staring at each other/chatting that V/M did when approaching center ice?  They started that ridiculous trend and it has always bugged me when the other skaters copied them. Just skate to center ice, please.

I can well imagine there was bad blood between V/M and D/W back in their training together days.  Wonder if that's going to happen now between H/D and P/C up in Montreal?

What did happen with V/M and D/W?  I wasn't following skating on forums/social media in the lead up to Sochi but what was getting leaked?  When Igor and Marina split it was the perfect time for V/M to leave but maybe it wasn't until the next season that they felt/noticed that they were no longer Marina's #1. 

Growsonwalls

Growsonwalls

58 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

 

What did happen with V/M and D/W?  I wasn't following skating on forums/social media in the lead up to Sochi but what was getting leaked?  When Igor and Marina split it was the perfect time for V/M to leave but maybe it wasn't until the next season that they felt/noticed that they were no longer Marina's #1. 

There was a reality tv show where Tessa mentioned that Meryl and her no longer spoke, even in the dressing room or in passing. I learned from this board that part of it was that right after the Vancouver Olympics Fedor Andreev (Marina Zoueva's son) dumped Tessa and took up immediately with Meryl. Andreev then also worked at the rink as his mom's assistant. Scott also made some rather angry remarks after Sochi about how he felt Marina was very fake with them.

So ... yeah, I can see that situation being very tense. 

Tessa and Scott were able to remain friendly and cordial with P/C and H/D it seems so whatever that Montreal coaching did to lessen tensions, it worked.

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halopub

halopub

I'm not sure how long they'll be up but there are a lot of nice clips from the new figure skating special that I guess was filmed earlier today in Osaka.

Continuing his solid music choices, Nathan debuted a new exhibition to James Arthur's Back from The Edge. I also actually liked his brief little vignette (6:48) during the multi-skater routine to Bolero. It's one of the music tracks that ought to be banned from future competition for overuse, but I could see the potential for him to do something interesting with the choreography.

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halopub

halopub

Agreed. I thought it was nice, for example, to see Evgeni out on the ice again. And it's funny to see a tall skater alongside the current generation of competitors.

In the show Alina seemed in good spirits but if it turns out she needs a change from Eteri, maybe he could coach her. I can't imagine him smirking if one of his students had a rough skate.

(In the show chat she gets asked about what's changed since getting the gold; if her family's seen the medal and what she's going to name the dog she gets from Akita prefecture. Nobunari threw his name out there.)

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doodlebug

doodlebug

1 minute ago, Darknight said:

Why does Eteri look so scary?Her face looks frozen. 

Can anyone explain to me why Ashley didn't take the back up spot?

I think Ashley felt the risk was too great that she would underperform and not medal.  She'd gotten huge amounts of commercial exposure prior to the Olympics. some of which even continued during the Olympics.  Since she didn't make the Olympic team, her time in the spotlight was coming to an end and she was never going to be more marketable than she was at that moment.  So, she quit training and has tried to capitalize on what she's got including doing ice shows and commercial appearances. Going to worlds would've required taking a break from all her side stuff (especially since she herself implied that all the pre-Olympic promo work she did at the behest of US Figure Skated impeded her training).  Then, even if she won the world title, it was a much smaller, less well known competition and the potential income it could generate wasn't that great compared to what she might lose.  And, of course, it was also far more likely she wouldn't win and that would've been worse than not having competed at all.  She got out while the getting was good, IMO.

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Ladyrain

Ladyrain

Please allow me to rant about the horrible camera work during the gala skate.  Whoever was directing that program either isn't familiar with figure skating or didn't watch a practice session to pre-plan camera shots. 

Half of the focus was on faces, instead of footwork (drives me nuts!), and when there would be a pair on the ice, the camera would automatically pan to the woman - in a closeup, yet.  (Hello!  It's skating!)   There would be times when the camera would zoom away at just the critical moment when something spectacular was taking place.  Then there were those stupid lighted stick thingies all around the perimeter of the ice (blocking the view of many audience members, too) that was forever blocking the camera's view of the skaters.  The whole thing was unprofessional - and frustrating to watch. 

There.  I feel better now. This has been bugging me for days.

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

Wow!  I just watched that old video of Natalia and Artur at '92 Worlds.  And while I was glued to my screen, watching pairs perfection, I kept thinking, "This is why I loved pairs back in the day". I rarely watch it today as pairs is so empty of beauty and all those gorgeous in-betweens.  That final death spiral was just breathtaking.  It's too bad there isn't a really good video of this LP.

I didn't watch the gala at Worlds last week.  But the camera work sounds just like it was during competition--wretched.  I really think it was the worst camera work covering competitive skating that I've ever seen (close-ups of faces, close-ups of skates, and across the length of the rink coverage of intricate lifts or jumps when I felt like I needed binoculars).  ABC always had great camera work no matter where the competition was held (at least what I remember of those programs).

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Jaded

Jaded

3 hours ago, Ladyrain said:

Please allow me to rant about the horrible camera work during the gala skate.  Whoever was directing that program either isn't familiar with figure skating or didn't watch a practice session to pre-plan camera shots. 

 

3 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I didn't watch the gala at Worlds last week.  But the camera work sounds just like it was during competition--wretched.  I really think it was the worst camera work covering competitive skating that I've ever seen (close-ups of faces, close-ups of skates, and across the length of the rink coverage of intricate lifts or jumps when I felt like I needed binoculars).  ABC always had great camera work no matter where the competition was held (at least what I remember of those programs).

The gala camera work was worse then then it was during the competition. The "stupid lighted stick thingies all around the perimeter of the ice", awful camera angles and what I'm going to describe as heartbeat shots where the camera would zoom in then out really fast. The whole thing was sensory overload at times which made it really hard to watch. I complained about it as I was watching a couple pages back. The performances I posted that day got blocked by the International Skating Union. There are videos on YT with performances from the gala that aired on channels outside the US with normal camera work that are a lot easier to watch. It seems like whoever was filming it for broadcast in the US decided to do stupid shit that made things unpleasant to watch.

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halopub

halopub

6 hours ago, annzeepark914 said:

Wow!  I just watched that old video of Natalia and Artur at '92 Worlds.  And while I was glued to my screen, watching pairs perfection, I kept thinking, "This is why I loved pairs back in the day". I rarely watch it today as pairs is so empty of beauty and all those gorgeous in-betweens.  That final death spiral was just breathtaking.  It's too bad there isn't a really good video of this LP.

I was only able to find a somewhat clearer video from Japanese Olympics coverage, not Worlds. That Youtuber truly has an excellent archive of high resolution skates and I'm glad NHK (?) spent some money on then-experimental broadcast technology.

59 minutes ago, Tippi said:

Apparently word is that Nathan has been accepted at Yale.  How--or if--he will compete next season not yet determined to my knowledge.

Logistically Stanford would make more sense for an active competitor because they operate on a quarter, not semester system. Elite student athletes like Michelle Wie have successfully studied two quarters out of the year.

I'm personally not a fan of New Haven - it would not have been a good campus culture fit at all for me - but at least the local food scene is truly terrific. And if I recall correctly, Drew Drechsel opened his ninja warrior gym in neighboring Hamden, which could make for a less conventional, more interesting training regimen.
 

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annzeepark914

annzeepark914

@halopub:  Wow!  That was perfect.  Thank you so much.  I'm saving it in my youtube "library of gorgeous figure skating".  I mean...who the heck skates like that today?  In any of the 4 disciplines?  There are so many exquisite moves throughout the program.  Each skater did a spread eagle while the other skated around him/her.  Natalia's splits and incredible flexibility. That pairs spin at the end--geez laweeze.  You never felt as though they were counting off each element.  The Best!!

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MaKaM

MaKaM

2 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

@halopub:  Wow!  That was perfect.  Thank you so much.  I'm saving it in my youtube "library of gorgeous figure skating".  I mean...who the heck skates like that today?  In any of the 4 disciplines?  There are so many exquisite moves throughout the program.  Each skater did a spread eagle while the other skated around him/her.  Natalia's splits and incredible flexibility. That pairs spin at the end--geez laweeze.  You never felt as though they were counting off each element.  The Best!!

And the lifts were just lift, establish a position, down. None of this contort into this position, now this one, guy drops a hand and goes to one skate and an hour later, puts her down as they have slowed to a crawl across the ice. Just to repeat 2 more times in the program.

 

Frankly, across all disciplines, I want them to cut the number of major counting elements down to like 5 with a bonus for being a "balanced" program (at least one jump, spin, footwork, sequence, etc.) and then the rest of the time, they can skate around doing whatever it is they do best interpreting the music and just get minor points for completed extra things--single jumps get 1 point, doubles 2, and triples 3 with no Zayak rule. And significantly reduce the impact of the cheating categories, oh, I mean PCS. I know there are a lot of things wrong with this very basic proposal but it turns out I'd rather watch someone doing 10 double salchows with joy and energy than watching one labor around the rink to get up speed to fall on a quad lutz and then falling again on another one after doing a slow-as-molassas spin that has all the required position contortions but nothing else to recommend it.

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SeanC

SeanC

In the next few months, the crazy politicking of the Grand Prix season begins, between the host federations picking for their home slots, the rotating choices amongst the brackets of the seeded skaters, and the attempts to procure invitations for the unseeded skaters who didn't go to Worlds.

It will be especially interesting to see how that works out for people like Hanyu and Medvedeva, who are depending on being invited.

ChicksDigScars

ChicksDigScars

19 hours ago, halopub said:

Logistically Stanford would make more sense for an active competitor because they operate on a quarter, not semester system. Elite student athletes like Michelle Wie have successfully studied two quarters out of the year.

I'm personally not a fan of New Haven - it would not have been a good campus culture fit at all for me - but at least the local food scene is truly terrific. And if I recall correctly, Drew Drechsel opened his ninja warrior gym in neighboring Hamden, which could make for a less conventional, more interesting training regimen.
 

Nathan seems to have confirmed it himself:

 

image.thumb.png.22e6dba0eda711db86d29e62bb1df800.png

Darknight

Darknight

22 hours ago, Tippi said:

Apparently word is that Nathan has been accepted at Yale.  How--or if--he will compete next season not yet determined to my knowledge.

Plus he plays the violin and has other interests outside of skating. 

Congrats to Nathan. I don't know how he'll manage skating and Yale but Rachel Flatt and Polina Edmonds were/are college students while skating 

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Darknight

Darknight

On 3/31/2018 at 12:20 PM, doodlebug said:

I think Ashley felt the risk was too great that she would underperform and not medal.  She'd gotten huge amounts of commercial exposure prior to the Olympics. some of which even continued during the Olympics.  Since she didn't make the Olympic team, her time in the spotlight was coming to an end and she was never going to be more marketable than she was at that moment.  So, she quit training and has tried to capitalize on what she's got including doing ice shows and commercial appearances. Going to worlds would've required taking a break from all her side stuff (especially since she herself implied that all the pre-Olympic promo work she did at the behest of US Figure Skated impeded her training).  Then, even if she won the world title, it was a much smaller, less well known competition and the potential income it could generate wasn't that great compared to what she might lose.  And, of course, it was also far more likely she wouldn't win and that would've been worse than not having competed at all.  She got out while the getting was good, IMO.

I mean Worlds could have been her chance at redemption at least in the skate world  No offense but she does come off as lazy and entitled. I still can't get over her tweets and likes over not going to the Olympics and being smug about it. 

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halopub

halopub

2 hours ago, Jeddah said:

If he’s planning on graduating in 2022, then he’s planning on being a full-time student. I have so many questions.

Raf must be freaking out. Whether Nathan is taking a break from skating or training in New Haven, it still means Raf is losing his star.

'22 just means that's the class he got admitted to - not necessarily when he'll graduate. Nathan told ESPN last month that he's going to see how he manages frosh year with training before he makes any further decisions.

It's certainly doable to be an elite student athlete who attends school full time. One of my classmates was pre-med and basically had a full time job on top of that for his basketball workouts/games. Throw in an Olympics, though, and scheduling can get tricky. Rower Gevvie Stone went to medical school while still training but had to take two leaves after the first two years for training.

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Jeddah

Jeddah

I definitely respect athletes who do it. Katie Ledecky is the most dominant swimmer in the world, and she’s in college. Debi Thomas was at Stanford while competing. I think Mirai goes part-time and Max Aaron just graduated. 

Nathan clearly is a hard-working, motivated guy. If he wants to do it, I’m sure he can. My questions are more about coaching and how much he’ll compete.

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SeanC

SeanC

1 hour ago, Growsonwalls said:

I kind of think Nathan might give up skating if he really wants to go to Yale. For one even though he's only 18 he seems to have quite a few injuries. I also never got the sense that he really loved skating. I totally respect him if he wants to move on with his life.

At Worlds he talked about having a long career ahead of him, from what I recall.  I didn't get the sense he was planning to quit any time soon.

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halopub

halopub

15 hours ago, SeanC said:

At Worlds he talked about having a long career ahead of him, from what I recall.  I didn't get the sense he was planning to quit any time soon.

Agreed. I think he's also mentioned previously that he wanted to try for and compete in at least two Olympics. @Jeddah, I didn't have a chance to look these up yesterday, but this is what Nathan's said recently:

He delivers very general answers to the media, so we don't know how the specific training logistics would work. Cross-country coaching isn't ideal, but has been done. I'm a track and field fan and I remember reading how as a highschooler Mary Cain got coached from across the country by Alberto Salazar with another coach as her local surrogate in New York.  

On a totally different note, ABC has begun promoting its special athlete edition of Dancing with the Stars which starts broadcasting at the end of the month. I haven't heard any word yet which US skaters have gotten tapped to compete.

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HartofDixie

HartofDixie

4 minutes ago, halopub said:

On a totally different note, ABC has begun promoting its special athlete edition of Dancing with the Stars which starts broadcasting at the end of the month. I haven't heard any word yet which US skaters have gotten tapped to compete.

ABC will announce the cast on the 13th and I've heard the Shibs will be on it.  It's only going to be a 4 week season and they'll be doing SOI too.  I would love to see Adam, Mirai, or even Ashley on it as well.

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Avaleigh

Avaleigh

(edited)

I just want to put in a word of support for not abandoning the world championships during an Olympic year. (Although I do like the suggestion of giving the skaters a bit more time to recover from the Olympics.) 

Not only do the worlds give another chance to athletes who maybe weren't at their best during the Olympics, but it also gives a chance to the skaters who don't normally medal or win to finally take home a prize. There are so many special performances that have been delivered at worlds in an Olympic year. This year we had Kaetlyn and Nathan plus James and Cipres finally taking home a medal. 

There's the beautiful program of Natalia and Artur in 1992 that was posted earlier in the thread. I think of Yuka Sato winning in her home country in 1994 when she had never medaled before. I know Bourne and Kraatz aren't popular here, but I thought they were great in 2002 so it was nice to see them walk away with a medal after coming in fourth so many times. Irina finally got her first win in 2002 and while she wasn't my favorite skater of that generation, I definitely admired her tenacity and overall determination. Michelle skated her heart out in 1998 and it was nice to see her have win that after the disappointment in Nagano. Krylova and Ovsyannikov finally made it happen that year too and since I felt they were robbed at the Olympics it was satisfying to at least finally see them get a world title. Seeing the match up between Mao and Yuna in 2010 when so many other women have bailed right after the Olympics was exciting and awesome to watch. Shen and Zhao finally, finally won in 2002 and capped off an incredible season. I'm pretty sure that Pang and Tong won their world titles in Olympic years.

I think it would be a shame to scrap the event altogether because of some arbitrary rule. Think of how many awesome performances we would have missed out on over the years. Not only that but a lot of viewers who are casual fans sometimes find themselves tuning into worlds because there's residual interest that carries over to the next competition. NonOlympic skating events need as much attention as they can get IMO. 

As for the idea that this will prevent injuries, IMO it's up to the skater and their team to determine if participating will be a risk or not. If skaters don't wish to compete there are always, always other athletes who didn't compete in the Olympics who would be happy to have the spot. I disagree that the entire event should be eliminated during an Olympic year because some athletes haven't perform well. (Also it isn't as if we haven't had splatfests in non Olympic years or at competitions that are early in the season. These things happen. Hell, there have been Olympics where none of the medalists managed to skate clean. See the pairs event in 1998. Splatfests also can't be entirely blamed on the COP. I remember a Skate America one year where Irina Slutskaya was the only skater to be clean (in the short) in a pack that included Michelle. Sometimes it's a rough day for everyone.)

Edited by Avaleigh
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