CBC showed 12 but that was probably because of the two Canadian pairs in the 2nd to last flight.Originally Posted by Frau Muller
CBC showed 12 but that was probably because of the two Canadian pairs in the 2nd to last flight.
You know what, everyone (including myself) jumped on Vassiliev for b!tching about big Zhang. But I just read the Second Mark, and I really think that perhaps the Chinese ARE very aggressive practice skaters. The Chinese teams have the biggest throws and twists of any couples. The guys just hurl the girls off into the throw. No doubt that with that kind of athleticism and the competitiveness of their coach, the Chinese are intimidating in practice.
I absolutely agree with everything you said!
Good point... But so happy for S&Z... I love this team and glad to see them on the podium.
As for Zhang's power split.... one word.... ouch!
Before today I didn't really dislike TT/MM, I just didn't like them..no that has changed. What a *****! She hugged Z/S but then she came to Dan (that is the girl, right?) and just shook her hand very cold..not to mention that comment about the fall. Show some sympathi! A shame really when he seems really nice, and actually has the ability to show emotions...
oh, wasn't aware that some words wouldn't show..well, anyway..
I am very disappointed in the quality of the lifts tonight. What happened to "end to end lifts"? First through Fourth place teams had very weak lifts with poor footwork on the mans part!!!!! I was also disapointed with the speed of the programs. I think if we were to compare these programs to 2002 they would be very inferior in these departments
On the other hand the drama was amazing as usual.!!!
I first want to say congrats to S&Z for winning the bronze. They are my favorite pair and I am so estatic by this comeback of theirs.And congrats to Z/Z for continuing on to win the silver.
I would hate to be in P&T position though, talk about losing a medal by such a close margin.
Off topic: Russia only won 2 golds today, not 3. Dmitri did not win, someone else did, unless I am looking at the results wrong.
I commend all the tremendous athletes that competed in the pairs competition. Many beautiful moments. My favorites today: T/M (in the class of their own except for their lifts), S/Z and S/S, D/D (loved their natural unison). Kudos to S/Z and Z/Z for skating in such difficult circumstances!
But I have to say something. I'm not totally comfortable with the effect that CoP is having so far on the discipline. I posted quite the same thoughts after World's last season. MAYBE it's growing pains, I don't know?? Yes there are some creativity and some very interesting things, but I still think the added difficulty and athlecisism are taking too much weight and the quality, the musicality and interpretation, the unison are suffering.
I agree about the lifts. I also noted that in MANY cases, the man doesn't finish the lift on one foot. Pairs have been increasing the level of difficulty of lifts (for example with changes of positions, one-arm take-offs and releasings, etc.) and the price to pay seems to be the lack of speed, stretch and control.
I see the advantages of CoP but I would like it to go under some significative changes.
Last edited by FrenchLady; 02-13-2006 at 06:44 PM.
I don't think that all of the pairs have been increasing the difficulty of their lifts. the gold medallists have very basic lifts....compare their lifts to Sale and Pelletier and you will see the difference.
I have to say I totally agree with this after watching the pairs today. It was full of drama, but IMO not full of memorable skates, which is something quite different.
T/M totally deserved to win, however, it may be the least memorable Olympic Gold skate in recent years, at least IMO. Don't get me wrong, it was skated well - it just lacked that certain something to make it great. This pair just never has learned to share a skate with the audience.
While I have the utmost respect for Z/Z and Shen/Z for competing under such difficult circumstances, I felt neither deserved to finish ahead of Pang/Tong - in spite of the fact that I don't love P/T's choreography or music choice. I simply felt they had the second best free skate here and deserved to finish on the second step of the podium.
I actually couldn't believe Obertas and Slavnov stayed in the top 10 with their dreadful skate. To put things in perspective, yes, I did see the top 10 - in fact between CBC and French CBC I saw the entire field. This team totally highlighted the weaknesses of COP in pairs right now. They skated horribly. There was no speed, no musicality, no grace, no precision with bad choreography. Almost every single element they did, they did badly. All of their lifts were terrible and looked as if they were about to come down at any minute. However, under COP they had shoved enough difficult elements in - no matter how badly they performed all of them - to pull out enough points to stay top 10. The overall mess that was the program didn't seem to matter enough. In my mind, both D/D and Zag/Sui did enough that they should have finished ahead.
On a less specific note, I found the clutter added to many of the elements in the quest for COP points to be extremely ugly. The many ladies who did the shoot-the-duck position going into the death spirals, for example. I can count on one hand the number of actually beautiful death spirals there were in this final. Pairs spins (not to mention the side by side spins) is another area that needs significant work by almost all of the teams.
What really got me was the lack of coherent programs I saw. Almost all of them were a series of elements with some music playing in the background. It significantly lessened by enjoyment of this competition.
On a positive note - yea to D/D for an impressive 10th place finish in their first significant senior international. This team has it all to move up quickly. I fully expect them to be top 5 in the coming years on a regular basis (many of the current top teams I expect to retire after this comp.)
I feel like Tanya but I also have no words - I'm just HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY!!!
It was wonderful for me to see T&M winning the gold. I have followed them for 4 years now (in fron of the TV and live) and I think they are amazing!
They skated fantastic and really deserved to win (even if I may not be objective). While some might be happy that T&M will quit now, I'm going to miss them. I think Tanya is really, really cool!! And Max is SO handsome!!
geisha should be banned!
I agree with every word.
They will be loved, missed and remembered.
shameful for TT/MM's interviwe~~
zhangs did nothing to them ~~but she said that,what a shame~~
good for s/z,z/z and P/T~~they are so woundrful~~
What an amazing performance from S/Z and Z/Z under extraordinary circumstances. However, I do worry that once people look back on Z/Z's actual performance, it's going to be scandal time again. It was indeed magnificient under the circumstances, but ummm not Silver and maybe not Bronze.
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