Figure Skating

[blackwing]

If Savchenko retires, which I would assume she will since she's old, what happens to Massot?   He seems significantly younger and may still want to keep at it.  Does he give up his German citizenship and go back to skate for France?  Or will it look bad so he stays with Germany?

[MaryMitch]

1 hour ago, CeeBeeGee said:

A little more context about the statement of the Knierims after their free skate. They literally found out about the shooting moments before stepping onto the ice and it sounds like they were genuinely horrified and upset.

I was out of the country when the Virginia Tech shootings occurred. Between not having a lot of information and wondering if anyone I knew was affected (I knew a lot of parents with kids at Va Tech), it was a horrible couple of days. I certainly understand how hearing about the Florida shootings could shake someone up right before an Olympic skate.

[HartofDixie]

24 minutes ago, blackwing said:

If Savchenko retires, which I would assume she will since she's old, what happens to Massot?   He seems significantly younger and may still want to keep at it.  Does he give up his German citizenship and go back to skate for France?  Or will it look bad so he stays with Germany?

They are planning to go to Worlds.

[methodwriter85]

That is truly touching. Wow, what a movie moment.

I did really hope the French would get the bronze because there's something really likeable about them, but I'm glad Team Germany hit the Gold. You can tell how much it meant.

[herbz]

Aljona! I am thrilled. Meaghan and Eric are such rockstars for managing to do so well in both the team and individual. 

Skating while (OAR) Russian is becoming a serious judging issue here. Russian PCS was higher than the Canadians. That is some sweet sweet bullshit. Their PCS should've been behind the French. That makes way too high components awarded to Russians in pairs, dance, men's and ladies. Only in ladies will it not really affect what the rightful podium should be. Seriously starting to wonder about B/S in dance (do not go there judges, your judging is whack enough as it is). There's something fishy going on behind the scenes.

Edited February 15, 2018 by herbz

[fakeempress]

3 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Hmm ... with Savchenko and Massot ... I sort of wonder whether it is now unequivocally a bad idea to Skate Pairs While Dating Your Coach? Because Aliona tried for so many years but was dating her coach Ingo Steuer. The relationship on-ice between her and Robin always looked somewhat awkward and businesslike. I don't know how close Aliona is to Bruno off the ice but they seem like a real pair on the ice, which is what matters. And it warmed my heart to see them clutching hands waiting for the results. I just think dating your coach while skating is sort of a bad idea and brings an awkward energy to the pair.

I saw Alyona's husband (not a coach as far as I am aware) congratulating Bruno very warmly. I was very happy for her (and Bruno) to get the OGM, and with a great performance.

Ironically, Robin Szolkowy is one of Tarasova /Morozov's coaches and was sitting with them in the K&C.

Edited February 15, 2018 by fakeempress

[NUguy514]

 Well, I cried.  When Aliona/Bruno absolutely THREW DOWN that free skate, I realized how much I wanted them (her) to win.  The way the podium ended up was perfect.  I love Sui/Han, but their program just wasn’t as clean as it needed to be to justify being ahead of Aliona/Bruno; I don’t find Duhamel/Radford to be particularly interesting to watch, but they certainly deserved the bronze for a really nice skate overall (and congrats on that throw quad salchow!).

And none for cheating Russians, bye.  I mean, that music...those costumes...HER PONYTAIL...BYYYYEEEEEE.

[mostlylurking]

18 hours ago, CeeBeeGee said:

Adam himself made the team the same way and he's a good friend of Ashley's so I doubt he's taking a dig at her. He doesn't seem to be that petty anyway.

Yep, I said this in my next comment.  Just wishful thinking on my part!  I can be petty that way:)

[vibeology]

7 hours ago, BitterApple said:

I think the judges got it right (for once) and the finishing order GER/CHN/CAN was correct. The Russian program was such a monstrosity I think it will go down in Olympic history as one of the worst free skates ever. Not because of mistakes, but because of horrible music choice, ugly costumes and embarrassingly bad choreography. Just disastrous all the way around.

That has to be one of the worst programs I have ever seen from people skating at this level. It was like they made a few bad choices early on in designing the program and then instead of just coming up with someone new, compounded those problems with more problems.

Pairs is not a discipline I follow as closely, but my sense is they are not a pair suited to a cheeky upbeat program. It doesn’t fit them but they first opted to go that route for some reason. Maybe they’re very fun off the ice? Maybe they guessed what styles their competitors would be doing and wanted something different to stand out? I don’t know but that first decision ruined them.

Then they picked Candyman. It’s a fun song but it’s also dirty. Too dirty for the family friendly sport of figure skating. They had to edit the song so heavily to avoid the worst of the lyrics that it made it very start and stop and that showed in the routine. And once they edited it, they had to include all those other songs to fill out more of the time. The routine had no cohesion. Even if they had skated it perfectly all the tempo changes made it very difficult to develop any flow.

The costumes were another bad choice. Very few people look good in yellow. Again, it helped them stand out but the costumes didn’t suit the pair and didn’t even really go with the song.

It was just bad choice atop bad choice and it resulted in a very ugly routine to watch and they never seemed comfortable in it.

[AuntieDiane6]

Quote

A little more context about the statement of the Knierims after their free skate. They literally found out about the shooting moments before stepping onto the ice and it sounds like they were genuinely horrified and upset.

Moments?  I would think they'd be in a zone with their coaches and not playing on their phones or wanting to hear outside news. And WHO ON EARTH WOULD TELL THEM THAT NEWS?  

[galaxygirl76]

It's been around for a while now but I will never get used to music with singing being used. I don't know why it's rubbing me wrong, I just know I don't like it and tend to like the just musical pieces used better.

 

Now get off my lawn.

[mtlchick]

14 minutes ago, vibeology said:

Then they picked Candyman. It’s a fun song but it’s also dirty. Too dirty for the family friendly sport of figure skating. They had to edit the song so heavily to avoid the worst of the lyrics that it made it very start and stop and that showed in the routine.

I think it's a fun cheeky song to do an exhibition skate.  (Plushy's skate to Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb" is one of the few reasons I don't detest him.")  But when your Olympics dreams are on the line?  Talk about tone deaf.  Not to mention as you said, the song is short so you need a song to cover the rest of the time and it just didn't fit.

[vibeology]

14 minutes ago, mtlchick said:

I think it's a fun cheeky song to do an exhibition skate.  (Plushy's skate to Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb" is one of the few reasons I don't detest him.")  But when your Olympics dreams are on the line?  Talk about tone deaf.  Not to mention as you said, the song is short so you need a song to cover the rest of the time and it just didn't fit.

I love cheeky and Sex Bomb is super fun. But I would argue that Candyman is more than cheeky. There are things lyrically that are too extreme for even an exhibition. (And I say this as someone who does love the song as a cute pop number.) Figure skating is a family friendly sport. "He's a one stop shop, makes my cherry pop" or "He's a one stop, got me hot, makin' my (uh) pop" or "He's a one stop shop with a real big (uh)" wouldn't fly even in an exhibition. They had to edit around so much of the song to make it appropriate and that should have been the first sign to bail out and design something different. (Even if they wanted the same feel Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is right there!) I just don't understand how they ended up with that program? I keep coming back to it because it's just so baffling.

[absnow54]

It's been around for a while now but I will never get used to music with singing being used. I don't know why it's rubbing me wrong, I just know I don't like it and tend to like the just musical pieces used better.

Unfortunately most of the non-lyrical music chosen last night was terrible. At least the song the first group of Canadians skated to. I liked the Star Wars medley one though. I don't get why Princess Leia's Theme isn't as overused in skating as Moulin Rouge medleys.

[Jeddah]

2 hours ago, mtlchick said:

I think it's a fun cheeky song to do an exhibition skate.  (Plushy's skate to Tom Jones' "Sex Bomb" is one of the few reasons I don't detest him.")  But when your Olympics dreams are on the line?  Talk about tone deaf.  Not to mention as you said, the song is short so you need a song to cover the rest of the time and it just didn't fit.

I thought Marchei and Hotarek had fun, cheeky programs that still managed to seem Olympic caliber. There are some teams who can pull it off, but Tarasova and Morozov are really, really not a team who can.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Jeddah
Spelling

[Lovecat]

On 2/13/2018 at 3:14 PM, herbz said:

I think people are referring to the Kerrs? Not as good technically as the Shibs, but brilliant performers. They did the most joyful Scottish dance which was horribly undermarked by the judges: 

 

Oh, that was DELIGHTFUL!!  I'm a sucker for a handsome man in a kilt...my husband wore one to our wedding :)

On 2/13/2018 at 3:37 PM, HartofDixie said:

Who remembers the ending to the Kerr's OD...

Awkward.  But he's still handsome in jeans ;)  I can't help but wonder if that tramp stamp on her is authentic, or part of her "American" costume...

[Tanichka]

I was happy to see a couple of the women had the full leotard (?) jumpsuit.  I wish some of the others would realize that the thong is not an attractive costume.  Very distracting.

[HartofDixie]

 

http://www.nbcolympics.com/news/winding-path-germany-aliona-savchenko-and-bruno-massot

[selkie]

9 hours ago, blackwing said:

If Savchenko retires, which I would assume she will since she's old, what happens to Massot?   He seems significantly younger and may still want to keep at it.  Does he give up his German citizenship and go back to skate for France?  Or will it look bad so he stays with Germany?

There's talk over on GS that he's got back issues that are significant enough he might just decide to retire and go out on a career high.

[Ohwell]

9 hours ago, BitterApple said:

The Russian program was such a monstrosity I think it will go down in Olympic history as one of the worst free skates ever. Not because of mistakes, but because of horrible music choice, ugly costumes and embarrassingly bad choreography. Just disastrous all the way around.

Yes.  The music was AWFUL!  I had to put it on mute.  The costumes and choreography were bad.  What were they thinking?

[HartofDixie]

NBC has added Mirai's free skate from the team even:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvEFtNYVQVI

And got Savchenko & Massot free up fast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT6SnklMkVU

[Chaser]

For those who have been following the season, what are Nathan Chen's chances if he hits his programs?

[proserpina65]

So I bought a new tv for my bedroom (because I was taping Amazing Race downstairs) and got it all set up in time for the men's downhill and the pairs' finals.  Of course I fell asleep before I saw a single pair skate, and only woke up to see the German pair taking their bows.  Damn it.  I'll have to find their routine on the internet and brave much buffering to watch it.

Sui and Han had such a lovely program, and I'm sorry they made those mistakes at the beginning, but I'm also glad that the Germans won.  I'm thrilled that the Russians blew it, because everything about that program was awful, the music, the costumes, their performance level, all bad.

[HartofDixie]

3 minutes ago, Chaser said:

For those who have been following the season, what are Nathan Chen's chances if he hits his programs?

He’s a medal contender!

Men’s Preview

[HartofDixie]

10 minutes ago, proserpina65 said:

So I bought a new tv for my bedroom (because I was taping Amazing Race downstairs) and got it all set up in time for the men's downhill and the pairs' finals.  Of course I fell asleep before I saw a single pair skate, and only woke up to see the German pair taking their bows.  Damn it.  I'll have to find their routine on the internet and brave much buffering to watch it.

Sui and Han had such a lovely program, and I'm sorry they made those mistakes at the beginning, but I'm also glad that the Germans won.  I'm thrilled that the Russians blew it, because everything about that program was awful, the music, the costumes, their performance level, all bad.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oT6SnklMkVU

[AshleyN]

2 hours ago, AuntieDiane6 said:

Moments?  I would think they'd be in a zone with their coaches and not playing on their phones or wanting to hear outside news. And WHO ON EARTH WOULD TELL THEM THAT NEWS?  

Apparently there was a television in the warm-up area that was showing CNN International.

[Jeddah]

22 minutes ago, Chaser said:

For those who have been following the season, what are Nathan Chen's chances if he hits his programs?

If he skates clean his chances are very, very, very good. 

I am going to be so nervous watching him skate tonight.

[leopardprint]

Maybe I am guilty of stereotyping, but I am surprised whatever governing Russian skating body allowed that routine? I freely admit I don’t know much about skating, but it seemed so tasteless all around and I think even if it was well executed it still would have been a WTF? from me. I’m all for pushing boundaries and making skating fun but that was like if a 14 year old from 2007 designed that routine. 

[ChicksDigScars]

11 hours ago, Growsonwalls said:

Hmm ... with Savchenko and Massot ... I sort of wonder whether it is now unequivocally a bad idea to Skate Pairs While Dating Your Coach? Because Aliona tried for so many years but was dating her coach Ingo Steuer. The relationship on-ice between her and Robin always looked somewhat awkward and businesslike. I don't know how close Aliona is to Bruno off the ice but they seem like a real pair on the ice, which is what matters. And it warmed my heart to see them clutching hands waiting for the results. I just think dating your coach while skating is sort of a bad idea and brings an awkward energy to the pair.

Did they say that Meagan Duhamel is married to her coach? Was that the salt and pepper haired guy sitting next to her in the Kiss and Cry? The other coach was older. And bald. Not that that's a bad thing (sorry, Dad).

 

I love Sui and Han, but just think of how wonderful it would be to win their first OGM in Beijing. Little consolation., but with their mistakes, they deserved the silver. I don't like her hair plastered down. Let that adorable haircut bounce FREEEEE.  I hope that the injuries that Sui has suffered don't become a thing and they can continue.  It seems that there will be a mass retirement exodus after this season.  I'm hoping that Zhang is one of them, unless they find another 13 year old to partner him with, because he seems to keep breaking the ones that he has.  The Skating Lesson Twitter account calls him "Big China." Made me laugh. 

 

And OMG. Everything about the Russians was bad, from the music selection, to the costuming to the actual performance.  I also secretly love when the Russians miss the podium in pairs, because they seem to think that they OWN that discipline, which past results wise, I guess that they do. 

[BitterApple]

25 minutes ago, leopardprint said:

Maybe I am guilty of stereotyping, but I am surprised whatever governing Russian skating body allowed that routine? I freely admit I don’t know much about skating, but it seemed so tasteless all around and I think even if it was well executed it still would have been a WTF? from me. I’m all for pushing boundaries and making skating fun but that was like if a 14 year old from 2007 designed that routine. 

It's hard to fathom that for as long they worked on that program, nobody at any point said "this is complete trash, let's go back to the drawing board." I don't know if the Not-Russians were trying to be the antithesis of what people expect from Russian pairs or what, but it was tragically bad. 

[Eyes High]

12 hours ago, mtlchick said:

Doesn't this make Radford the first openly gay athlete with multiple medals at the Games? 

I believe so, and his gold in the team event makes him the first openly gay Olympic gold medallist (not sure whether that's for the Winter Games or overall), which is pretty awesome.

Yay for Duhamel and Radford! So happy for the Germans, though, and I loved Meagan hugging Aliona. 

The Russian routine...yeesh. The less said, the better.

Can't wait for the other events, although Patrick Chan is going to have to do a lot better than he did in the team event if he wants to medal.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Eyes High

[ChromaKelly]

3 hours ago, vibeology said:

I love cheeky and Sex Bomb is super fun. But I would argue that Candyman is more than cheeky. There are things lyrically that are too extreme for even an exhibition. (And I say this as someone who does love the song as a cute pop number.) Figure skating is a family friendly sport. "He's a one stop shop, makes my cherry pop" or "He's a one stop, got me hot, makin' my (uh) pop" or "He's a one stop shop with a real big (uh)" wouldn't fly even in an exhibition. They had to edit around so much of the song to make it appropriate and that should have been the first sign to bail out and design something different. (Even if they wanted the same feel Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy is right there!) I just don't understand how they ended up with that program? I keep coming back to it because it's just so baffling.

Well, they won with that shit program at the European Championship not even a month ago, so I guess they figured why not try it at the Olympics.  Also, James/Cipres missed the podium by 0.01 at the Euros. Another reason I was really, really pulling for them. 

http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1718/ec2018/CAT003RS.HTM

[Growsonwalls]

Here is a nice article on Savchenko and Massot:

https://www.olympic.org/news/german-golden-pair-are-figure-skating-s-best-ever

I like that she didn't blame or yell at him after his mistake in the short program. Really happy for them. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Growsonwalls

[iMonrey]

Quote

Doesn't this make Radford the first openly gay athlete with multiple medals at the Games? 

Yes, and I have a soft spot for Duhamel and Radford. Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy are getting all the press for being openly gay athletes while Radford sits quietly by. Pairs skating just doesn't get a lot of respect. The free program was a thrilling nail biter! So happy for the Germans and the Canadians. So glad the Russians were shut out too.

[ChicksDigScars]

47 minutes ago, Eyes High said:

I believe so, and his gold in the team event makes him the first openly gay Olympic gold medallist (not sure whether that's for the Winter Games or overall), which is pretty awesome.

 

Probably just the Winter Olympics. Hasn't the US Women's soccer team won gold since Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach came out years ago? Plus, there are so many Summer sports and medals given out, there has to be more than just the women soccer players. 

[Jeddah]

13 minutes ago, Growsonwalls said:

Here is a nice article on Savchenko and Massot:

https://www.olympic.org/news/german-golden-pair-are-figure-skating-s-best-ever

I like that she didn't blame or yell at him after his mistake in the short program. Really happy for them. 

That is a nice article. He was already blaming himself so much. It’s sort of sweet that after the short program he was more upset that he let her down than he was upset that he almost ruined his own medal chances. As much as Aliona wanted it, she still had a healthy “We’re in this together” attitude, which was really nice to see. The nervous handholding while waiting was sort of adorable.

There’s a part of me that’s glad Sui and Han both made mistakes, so it’s not on one person. Although with that margin they would have won if it had been only one of them to mess up.

[HartofDixie]

1 hour ago, ChicksDigScars said:

And OMG. Everything about the Russians was bad, from the music selection, to the costuming to the actual performance.  I also secretly love when the Russians miss the podium in pairs, because they seem to think that they OWN that discipline, which past results wise, I guess that they do. 

This is when they owned the podium:

 

 

 

[catray]

Aliona and Bruno's program was just amazing. Whatever minor mistakes were made, it was gorgeous and beautifully skated and I'm so so happy they took home the gold! I am bummed that Sui/Han struggled a bit because their program was so so good. Duhamel and Radford were charming, though I wasn't totally into their skate. I was rooting for James/Cipres as well but they struggled too.

I can't even wrap my head around the Candyman program, though. What were they thinking? The music choice, the costumes-- they seemed totally disconnected from their skate. What a mess.

[HartofDixie]

Just found out that Christopher Dean choreographed Aliona & Bruno's free skate.

[dankesean]

1 hour ago, Eyes High said:

I believe so, and his gold in the team event makes him the first openly gay Olympic gold medallist (not sure whether that's for the Winter Games or overall), which is pretty awesome.

As far as (openly) gay athletes winning gold, I think Matthew Mitcham was the first to do so back in Beijing. So Eric gets to be the Winter King.

[scarynikki12]

9 minutes ago, HartofDixie said:

Just found out that Christopher Dean choreographed Aliona & Bruno's free skate.

We should have guessed. It has the Dean Beauty all over it.

[selkie]

Bradie Tennell is a huge 'Spuernatural' fan- has watched every season several times, the music is on all her playlists, etc. 

 

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2018/02/14/olympic-figure-skater-bradie-tennell-opens-up-about-her-supernatural-obsession/

 

Now she's just got to do a 'Carry On Wayward Son' program because you know she's done the choreography for it in her head until it's perfect for the song. 

[Chaser]

3 minutes ago, selkie said:

Bradie Tennell is a huge 'Spuernatural' fan- has watched every season several times, the music is on all her playlists, etc. 

 

http://www.justjaredjr.com/2018/02/14/olympic-figure-skater-bradie-tennell-opens-up-about-her-supernatural-obsession/

 

Now she's just got to do a 'Carry On Wayward Son' program because you know she's done the choreography for it in her head until it's perfect for the song. 

The CW invited Gabby Douglas on TVD. The guys should invite Bradie to cameo.

[AshleyN]

47 minutes ago, iMonrey said:

Yes, and I have a soft spot for Duhamel and Radford. Adam Rippon and Gus Kenworthy are getting all the press for being openly gay athletes while Radford sits quietly by. Pairs skating just doesn't get a lot of respect. The free program was a thrilling nail biter! So happy for the Germans and the Canadians. So glad the Russians were shut out too.

For those interested, there was a really nice article in the Toronto Star about Radford yesterday:

Edited February 15, 2018 by AshleyN

[honeywest]

Patrick Chan is retiring:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/figureskating/patrick-chan-lasting-legacy-retirement-1.4510258

[galaxygirl76]

46 minutes ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Probably just the Winter Olympics. Hasn't the US Women's soccer team won gold since Megan Rapinoe and Abby Wambach came out years ago? Plus, there are so many Summer sports and medals given out, there has to be more than just the women soccer players. 

Ireen Wust from the Netherlands, ten time Olympic medalist, is openly bisexual and married to a woman.

[Jeddah]

I’ve noticed that the Grand Prix events and Worlds have made the top three sit together while waiting for other teams. They didn’t do that at the last Olympics, but last night it seemed like the top three teams were all sitting together. Anyone know if they make the skaters do that? Is there a penalty if they don’t? It seems like sometimes they wouldn’t want to be near each other, or just want to go the locker room and cry in private. How does it even work? If someone bumps you into fourth, are there people who come to tell you to get off the couch?

[basiltherat]

Why doesn't Patrick Chen just retire NOW instead of teasing us!

If you want to go Conspiracy Theory, perhaps Robin sandbagged the Russian team he's coaching so his old partner Aliona has a chance to win!  or did it subconsciously.

[ChicksDigScars]

7 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

I’ve noticed that the Grand Prix events and Worlds have made the top three sit together while waiting for other teams. They didn’t do that at the last Olympics, but last night it seemed like the top three teams were all sitting together. Anyone know if they make the skaters do that? Is there a penalty if they don’t? It seems like sometimes they wouldn’t want to be near each other, or just want to go the locker room and cry in private. How does it even work? If someone bumps you into fourth, are there people who come to tell you to get off the couch?

Imagine having to sit next to Barbara Fusar-Poli and then telling her to move after they'd gotten knocked off the podium. 

[Tanichka]

2 hours ago, ChicksDigScars said:

Was that the salt and pepper haired guy sitting next to her in the Kiss and Cry?

Apparently that's the one.  If you google Meghan Duhamel husband, there are photos of their wedding.  He coaches a bunch.  He was sitting at the Kiss & Cry all evening.

23 minutes ago, Jeddah said:

It seems like sometimes they wouldn’t want to be near each other, or just want to go the locker room and cry in private.

They seemed to be getting along.  At least they're forced to look like good sports.  I'm sure they know each other from years of skating the same events.