Random Figure Skating Questions

[StitchMonkey]

Just curious, I just watched the video of Gracie's 3 axel and saw it was done while she was in a harness. What does the harness do? Does it make the skater not fall or help them with the jump in some way?

Well the answer is . . . Yes.

As in it it can fill a few rolls. Some say it is to help you get the feeling of the jump without fear/falling. Others see it more of a safety thing so that you don't fall as hard (Anna Pogorilaya for example said she was tying either the 3A or quads and kept basically face plant falling on her stomach - seems a harness could have made that less painful). How much help the skater is getting can very as well. I saw one poster on here whose harness experience was only supportive to help you hurt less on the fall with no support/assistance on the actual jump. Others can of course be more helpful with the pole. Others I recall saying that they played with doing some advanced triples on the harness for fun even though really they are only working on doubles.

So it is a training tool that can be used in a few ways. We also have clips of Mariah Bell and Ashley Cain doing 3As on harnesses recently. Also there is a Liza documentary out that shows her in an off ice harness just jumping and spinning in place, I think Mishin said it was just used as a goal of spinning faster. There is also fair amount of footage of Jason Brown on a harness a few years back as part of an interview with Phill Hersh. If you find this type of stuff interesting (and yes i do, very much so).

 

[KwanIsALegend]

Interesting, thank you. Makes sense that when you are practicing a jump you might want a little extra security so you don't fear crashing down and potentially injuring yourself.

I like seeing skaters practice, it really shows you how much work goes into creating programs and learning new jumps and so forth

 

[Arianne]

I'm a little confused about short programs. Can the same jump be reapeated? For example, what happens if Adam Rippon does his quad lutz and then it gets downgraded and thn he does a triple lutz in combination. How does that work?

 

[gkelly]

I'm a little confused about short programs. Can the same jump be reapeated? For example, what happens if Adam Rippon does his quad lutz and then it gets downgraded and thn he does a triple lutz in combination. How does that work?

The same jump may not be repeated in two different short program jump passes.

It is permitted to repeat the same jump within the jump combination -- i.e., triple toe-triple toe or triple loop-triple loop.

A downgraded quad lutz attempt is coded as a downgraded quad attempt (4Lz<<), not as a triple lutz (3Lz). So it is permissible to do those two different jumps in the same short program.

What would be a problem would be if the quad attempt turned into an actual triple for all practical purposes, so that the technical panel saw it as a triple and called it as a triple. Then the skater would have a problem if one of the jumps in the jump combination had the same takeoff and the same number of revolutions as the solo jump -- the second element would with the same jump would get no credit.

This would be a lot more common with skaters who attempt quad toe loop as the solo jump and triple something-triple toe as the jump combination.

 

[concorde]

Maybe this has been asked before but ... is it only me who thinks that blond Ashley looks like Gracie's twin? Especially when Ashley wore the red dress. Watching the "moment with" video again made gave me the same thought.

 

[moriel]

How judges become judges?

 

[andromache]

Maybe this has been asked before but ... is it only me who thinks that blond Ashley looks like Gracie's twin? Especially when Ashley wore the red dress. Watching the "moment with" video again made gave me the same thought.

They look alike. I think most striking is how much Alexa Scimeca looks like both of them! She has the perfect combination of their facial features.

I have a question. (If this is not the place for this sort of question, feel free to edit/delete, but I've seen people in other threads off excellent advice for watching various videos/livestreams and getting around blocks.) Is there any way to watch YouTube videos that have been blocked by the IOC (but not taken down)? TSL has some multi-part interviews with legends int he sport, but some of the parts have been blocked by the IOC, presumably because they contain Olympic footage. If there's not a way around this block, I'm thinking about emailing TSL about it, although it's hard to believe no one else has....

 

[ice coverage]

Maybe this has been asked before but ... is it only me who thinks that blond Ashley looks like Gracie's twin? Especially when Ashley wore the red dress. Watching the "moment with" video again made gave me the same thought.

All in the eye of the beholder , but to me, blonde Ashley and blonde Gracie both are pretty ladies -- who do not look alike.

We know what Gracie's real-life twin Carly looks like :yes:, so ... :

https://twitter.com/GraceEGold/status/368738271708192769​

 

[HazyD]

Hi everyone, I'm sure this question is already up here somewhere, but I just can't find it. What do I need to do to watch full videos of programs from Sochi?!

Thanks!

 

[concorde]

How judges become judges?

At the lower levels (6.0) , a skating background is helpful but not required. To the best of my understanding, you study a book (understatement here), watch some videos, and they you apply. Once you are "accepted" then you do several (not sure how many) trail judging events where you score an individual (test session and competitions) and then those trial judge scores are compared to an official judge's score. Once you "pass" and become an official judge then you slowly make your say up the ranks and my impression is there are additional tests along the way.

To judge higher levels (IJS), a skating background (I believe Intermediate) is required. Eventually you work your way up the ranks and then you can be selected an International level judge. I think it takes a minimum of 20 years of judging to reach that level (US judge). I believe each country is only allowed a certain number of international judges.

I have pieced this together based on what I have seen and what I have been told.

 

[gkelly]

At the lower levels (6.0) , a skating background is helpful but not required. To the best of my understanding, you study a book (understatement here), watch some videos, and they you apply. Once you are "accepted" then you do several (not sure how many) trail judging events where you score an individual (test session and competitions) and then those trial judge scores are compared to an official judge's score. Once you "pass" and become an official judge then you slowly make your say up the ranks and my impression is there are additional tests along the way.

To judge higher levels (IJS), a skating background (I believe Intermediate) is required. Eventually you work your way up the ranks and then you can be selected an International level judge. I think it takes a minimum of 20 years of judging to reach that level (US judge). I believe each country is only allowed a certain number of international judges.

I have pieced this together based on what I have seen and what I have been told.

It varies by federation, as well as by the candidate's skating background.

For the US, see these pages.

For Canada, see here.

I'm most familiar with the US system. Basically, if you're coming in as a nonskater (e.g., parent or fan), or a low-level skater, you'll spend more time trial judging than someone with more skating experience. You'd start as a test judge and could then also train as a competition judge.

The trialing is the biggest part of what you have to do before you apply for the first appointment, or for a promotion. The written exam comes after making the application.

I know some sectional competition judges who were never skaters or who started lessons as adults. But they were good at judging, even if it was too late to become advanced skaters. I don't think I know anyone who got as far as a national judging appointment in the US, let alone international, without having skated at a higher level, but there might be some.

There's a lot of need for test judges, who can also judge local nonqualifying competitions. Competitions below juvenile (and adult gold) levels are judged under 6.0. Test judges without competition appointments may judge IJS events at nonqual competitions, but the chief referee would need to know that the judge had studied IJS and knew what they were doing before assigning them to those events.

Other federations may do things differently.

 

[peg]

Maybe this has been asked before but ... is it only me who thinks that blond Ashley looks like Gracie's twin? Especially when Ashley wore the red dress. Watching the "moment with" video again made gave me the same thought.

I don't think they look anything alike. The shape of their face and features are completely different.

 

[anonymoose_au]

I was just wondering this while watching the WTT Gala...could a woman death spiral a man? I guess none of the pairs could do it since the woman is so much smaller than the man, but what about ice dancers or something?

Because that'd be something to see!

 

[daphenaxa]

I was just wondering this while watching the WTT Gala...could a woman death spiral a man? I guess none of the pairs could do it since the woman is so much smaller than the man, but what about ice dancers or something?

Because that'd be something to see!

Now i wanna see Gabriella death spiraling Guillaume...

 

[TheGrandSophy]

Now i wanna see Gabriella death spiraling Guillaume...

 

[lighthouse]

Maybe this has been asked before but ... is it only me who thinks that blond Ashley looks like Gracie's twin? Especially when Ashley wore the red dress. Watching the "moment with" video again made gave me the same thought.

Yes, I believe they do resemble each other in some ways. There have been several occasions when, for example, the camera will cut to either Ashley or Gracie, and for a split second I will think it is the other person! However, once you take the time to compare their faces, it is easy to see the differences between them.

 

[dorispulaski]

Bright red lipstick. Blonde-y hair. Similar makeup.

 

[concorde]

^^ Glad it is not just me!

 

[randomfan]

Are skaters allowed to skate to music with non-english lyrics? For example if a Japanese skater wanted to skate to a Japanese pop song, would they have to translate the lyrics into english or are they allowed to keep the lyrics in Japanese?

 

[Tanka]

Are skaters allowed to skate to music with non-english lyrics? For example if a Japanese skater wanted to skate to a Japanese pop song, would they have to translate the lyrics into english or are they allowed to keep the lyrics in Japanese?

Yes.
Stolbova and Klimov skated their Esmeralda with French, English and Spanish lyrics. Unfortunately, we didn't have a chance to hear the Chinese version.