8 Days | Golden Skate

8 Days

patsue47

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
In just about eight days the excitement that has been building for the new season to begin will explode!

While some of the elite female skaters ( the Worlds Gold, Silver, and Bronze medalists) will be at Campbells, many won't and then another round of excitement will start building again and will cease with the start the Grand Prix season, and so it goes........

Campbells will surely give answer to many of the questions we have re: Michelle, Elena, Fumie, AP, Jenny and Sasha, i.e. new 3/3 combos? Triple axel/quads? worked on fixing blatant faults? speedier? less crossovers and simple stroking between elements? pushing the envelope? new and improved footwork? better, faster, more centered spins? better jump technique?, etc. Unlike last year all of these ladies have had ample time to choose their new music, get new choreography, design (or have designed) new costuming and most of all to PRACTICE their new programs. No flimsy excuses allowed this year to justify bad skating!

Granted--Campbells is just a "fluff" competition--used mainly to get reactions to the new programs and to fine-tune, however, I would like to think little, or no, fine-tuning is needed and all the competitors are ready and rarin' to go.

I expect a decent showing from all of these women (and good luck to each and every one). I would like this competition to be the gauge by which we judge the 2003/04 figure skating season.

Hope I'm not expecting too much!!
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
All of the Campbell's skaters except Michelle will compete at the Grand Prix. I don't think you're going to see much envelope-pushing, if they're trying out programs they'll use at the GP. Skaters at the Nebelhorn who tried things they couldn't quite manage were heavily penalized, and in some cases only a tenth of a point separated bronze from 4th.

It's early in the season yet. Give the skaters a chance to work into their new programs. They can save the envelopes for Worlds, at least this year.
 

patsue47

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Euterpe--The questions raised in my original post were gleaned from posters on this forum and from other forums--not mine, so to speak. Frankly, most of the skaters I mentioned , IMO, do a fairly good job. I thought I was fairly clear on the aspect of Campbells being a place to get the new programs out there and to use the event to fine-tune what the skaters are doing. If skaters choose to try things they are not capable of doing then they shouldn't be doing them at the start of competition--they need to PRACTICE until they can do them regardless of who they are performing for, knowing the risks they are taking. I am perfectly willing to give them the benefit of doubt however.

Also--if I read your post correctly-- no skater this year will be pushing the evelope because of being heavily penalized according to the COP? Correct? Well then I say Hip, Hip Hooray--no more endless diatribes against skaters who do the same old, same old or do just enough to win. Lol.

And yes, as a fan of figure skating--I can, and do, have expectations regarding a decent showing from ALL of the skaters I mentioned. The distractions of the Olys and a long COI season are over. These skaters have had more than enough time to perfect their new programs for the up coming season and Campbells will be a good gauge as to how they are doing. If a skater has had bad technique on some elements then Campbells will give us an indication on how well these techniques were improved on over the last 5-6 months. I am not expecting a finished, polished program from any of them--just a promise of what is to come.
 

Ptichka

Forum translator
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
patsue47 said:
Also--if I read your post correctly-- no skater this year will be pushing the evelope because of being heavily penalized according to the COP? Correct? Well then I say Hip, Hip Hooray--no more endless diatribes against skaters who do the same old, same old or do just enough to win. Lol.
That's an interesting question. On the one hand, you have GP that will be judged using CoP -- safety is good; OTOH, you have Nationals/Europeans/4CC/Worlds that will be judgedusing the old system. I have no idea how skaters will deal with that.
 

euterpe

Medalist
Joined
Sep 4, 2003
I'd think skaters are going to have to go all out to win their National competitions. It's been said by many commentators that Nationals is a much harder competition for skaters than any of the ISU competitions. Skaters have to do well at Nationals, because if they don't, they won't get to go to Worlds / Europeans/ 4C.

Last season, Sasha's worst performances came at Nationals. After her gold medals at 3 different competitions, Sasha was expected to win Nationals, especially since Sarah hadn't skated all that well at Crest and Hallmark, and Kwan hadn't competed at all since Skate America. But the pressure was just too intense.

Skaters may well experiment with 3/3s and quads at Worlds this year. It may be the last time they can throw that new move in and possibly walk off with a medal.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I can't wait to see what Michelle brings, especially. This may not be accurate, but it seems like she has been galavanting about the world, going to movie premiers, making public appearances, etc., etc., all month. All I have heard from the other ladies is that they have been home working diligently on their programs.

For the other ladies, all of whom are competing in the Grand Prix, this really is the start of the season. But Michelle may not appear in any other competition until Nationals. So we might not see everything that she has in mind for the finished product.

Fumie, on the other hand, last year had an insecure start to an inconsistent season. But this year, I believe that she is coming out of the blocks ready to make a statement with strong new choreography.

Like I say, I can't wait.

Mathman
 

nymkfan51

Medalist
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Mathman ... I think when you look at it, Michelle hasn't really been doing all that much. She made the trip to Hong Kong to take part in their celebration ... but all the other things (maybe just a handful of them), have been going to movie premiers and such ... which, when you think of it, are just a few hours of a day.
I think the reason it seems like she has been doing alot is that most of her appearances have been media events ... so we hear about them. I could say that the past three months I went to Boston for a weekend and I took a week's vacation to California ... plus I went to the movies and out to dinner once a week with my friends ... and took a cooking class at the local high school. In a three month period , that would still leave ample time for me to go to work or whatever.
My guess is that she still has had ample time to devote to her practice. I agree though, that she will probably turn it on high between Campbells and Nats like she did last year. Why show the other ladies everything at Campbells?
 

patsue47

Rinkside
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Me either Mathman. I we are going to be surprised at how ready they all are--including Michelle. I know they will make adjustments but the basics will be there. Just a week to go and then some of the questions will be answered!
 
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Re: Re: 8 Days

Ptichka said:
That's an interesting question. On the one hand, you have GP that will be judged using CoP -- safety is good; OTOH, you have Nationals/Europeans/4CC/Worlds that will be judgedusing the old system. I have no idea how skaters will deal with that.
Interesting point from our ever-insightful, Pitchka (seriously). Will the skaters--and let's not forget the men, pairs, and ice dancers:)--use the same strategy for every competition regardless of the judging system or will they adapt their programs according to whether the COP or the 6.0 system will be used? I have a feeling this will be one of those seasons that gets "curiouser and curiouser.";)
Rgirl
 

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Are they using the same system they used at 03 Worlds for Dortmund? Anyway, I don't think Michelle will be at the top of her game. It seems that she finds her groove as January approaches and competing early in the season has rarely produced her most memorable performances (except, perhaps, for the 95-96 season). I'm sort of sad Irina isn't competing...she is usually so strong early on. I remember her 2001 GWG performances....it was September and she was magnificent.
 

registered

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
As I remember, skaters looked pretty rusty at the last year's Campbells. It is the first competition of the year, and it's a Pro/Am. I don't have high expectations for upcoming championship either, everyone would start peaking later on in the season, IMO.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
registered said:
As I remember, skaters looked pretty rusty at the last year's Campbells. It is the first competition of the year, and it's a Pro/Am. I don't have high expectations for upcoming championship either, everyone would start peaking later on in the season, IMO.

Exactly! This is a Dress Rehearsal for what's to come. Check out the music; the choreography, the new tricks, if any; and, of course, the costume. Put them all together and then predict the Nats.

Joe
 

gracefulswan

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
BronzeisGolden said:
Are they using the same system they used at 03 Worlds for Dortmund? Anyway, I don't think Michelle will be at the top of her game. It seems that she finds her groove as January approaches and competing early in the season has rarely produced her most memorable performances (except, perhaps, for the 95-96 season). I'm sort of sad Irina isn't competing...she is usually so strong early on. I remember her 2001 GWG performances....it was September and she was magnificent.


uh, kwan has skated brilliantly clean programs at the 1998 world prof. championships...her very first outing for the season... landing 7 clean triples with no glitches to ariane (and she did get at least one 6)...plus, skating a very moving artistic program to East of Eden... which earned 6's in tech. and pres. from the german judge(and many other 6s)... talk about a season opener!:D
 
Last edited:

BronzeisGolden

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Gracefulswan,

I forgot about those performances and they were indeed wonderful! But, if you look at it what has occured the majority of times in Michelle's career it would overwhelmingly indicate that she is much stronger towards the end of the season. Especially after 99, when Irina began to dominate most of the Grand Prix events. Certainly, they were solid skates mostly, but nothing compared to what she would eventually produce at the season's end (2000-2003 Worlds for instance). The reverse can often be said about Irina. She has started out so strongly early in the season (00 & 01 especially) only to deliver comparably weaker performances at Worlds. I was glad to see her turn this trend around at the 2002 Worlds.
 

gracefulswan

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
yes....often she does seem to build to a climax at worlds...she's done that several times already. wonder if this season will be similar.. she's had so many perfect performances...memorable ones that i've lost count now.:laugh:
 
Top