Ladies LP 2:00 AM Eastern Time Saturday

[enlight78]

This is yet another problem with CoP that I've talked about so many times - rotation within a jump is not defined. A jump is supposed to be downgraded if it is more than 1/4 turn short, but, 1/4 short of what exactly?

Some skaters pre-rotate less than others on the entrances to their jumps. It is acceptable for any jump to leave the ice 1/2 turn into the jump but, for those who leave the ice before that, shouldn't it be accounted for? (I say yes)



Almost nobody completes 3 full rotations in the air on a Triple jump (unless it is the 3Axel but, even then, a ratifiable 3Axel can be 2.75 rotations total in the air).

I know; I ment that she doesn't finish her rotation in the air and land almost most Backward or parallel to how the blade took off. She often land perpendicular of 90 degrees short of landing backwards; I have seen a lot a male skaters and few females skater land completely backwards with good flow and ride out; so I would say yes jumps require prerotation but not excessive prerotation (more than a 180 degrees) and if one is finish the rotation(90 degrees or more) on the ice i would considered that under rotated( that is only 2.25 rotation in the air; I would say and the end of the program miria was doing like 2.15

[Blades of Passion]

Her last toeloop is seen in the replay. She gets to the 1/4 turn mark.

Her second 3Lutz was underrotated and her 3Loop was drastically underrotated. None of the others should have been downgraded.

[Kinga]

What I see is that if Rachael misses a few jumps or gets a little sloppy - there is nothing else about her skating that stands out or racks up the points. Her spins, spirals, speed are all average or below average. She looked a little more juniorish to me this year than last year. But maybe she will skate better at SA.

I partially agree, yet, I think the choreography and the interpretetion of her LP was something that stood out for me. She was emotional, musical, and she had plenty of linking elements. Her LP need refinement. But those spins.... Gosh, I think they got WORSE this year (at least basing on this first performance).

It seems that now only Yuna and maybe Miki are able to perform 3-3. I hope that this opens the doors for lovely skaters that do not have 3-3 in their arsenal to medal at big events. Or maybe someone could pull off 3T-3T? When executed well, it is such a pleasent combo to watch!!

[Medusa]

Her last toeloop is seen in the replay. She gets to the 1/4 turn mark.

Her second 3Lutz was underrotated and her 3Loop was drastically underrotated. None of the others should have been downgraded.

The 3T of the 2A-3T you can barely see because of the camera angle, no way we can say anything about rotation there.

And the solo Triple Toeloop was so underrotated, I rewatched it on TV Asashi with high qualitiy. No question to me. Alright, I can't believe I did this again. But I made a picture - here. From the TV Asashi broadcast. In the first picture you see the moment where she should take off for the Toeloop. Her freeleg is already one quarter prerotated, but lots of skaters do it. The second picture is very shortly before the take-off. The ice is white, but I think you can clearly see that the blade of the left foot is completely on the ice. So when she actually takes off, she already rotated half a rotation on the ice. The landing was one quarter revolution, perhaps a little less short. But in my opinion this Triple Toeloop is a perfect Toe Axel.

I checked other skater's toeloops, just to be on the safe side, e.g. Kim's. They don't take off like that.

What kind of nonsense were you talking about with Suzuki? She is not attractive enough to be a star? Huh? I don't get that.

[Trewyn]

Random note; but I kind of feel for Frank Carroll: he has two new Ladies skaters and they both have major issues. Luckily, after watching Mirai's K & C he seems good at doing the pep talk. It's kind of weird imagining Mirai and Carolina being training mates; they are so different!

[janetfan]

What kind of nonsense were you talking about with Suzuki? She is not attractive enough to be a star? Huh? I don't get that.

I have not seen as much of Akiko compared to the other other Japanese ladies.
I thought at COC she showed very strong command of the ice and her skating had a wonderful, fresh quality to it. I thought her skating was very attractive!

ETA: If we are talking about "it factor" she has plenty of it from what I saw.

[Blades of Passion]

The 3T of the 2A-3T you can barely see because of the camera angle, no way we can say anything about rotation there.

On icenetwork her 2A-3T is shown directly on replay. I didn't see it being more than 1/4 short.

And the solo Triple Toeloop was so underrotated, I rewatched it on TV Asashi with high qualitiy. No question to me. Alright, I can't believe I did this again. But I made a picture - here. From the TV Asashi broadcast. In the first picture you see the moment where she should take off for the Toeloop. Her freeleg is already one quarter prerotated, but lots of skaters do it. The second picture is very shortly before the take-off. The ice is white, but I think you can clearly see that the blade of the left foot is completely on the ice. So when she actually takes off, she already rotated half a rotation on the ice. The landing was one quarter revolution, perhaps a little less short. But in my opinion this Triple Toeloop is a perfect Toe Axel.

That's not what a Toe Axel is at all.

It is standard for any jump to leave the ice up to a half rotation in.

A Triple jump is 2.25 rotations in the air, at minimum.

I checked other skater's toeloops, just to be on the safe side, e.g. Kim's. They don't take off like that.

Some skaters pre-rotate less, but that isn't the norm for the Loop, Salchow, or Toeloop. Watch a Quad Toeloop by Yagudin or Plushenko (the two most consistent skaters in history on this jump). The toepick leaves the ice 1/2 rotation into the jump.

What kind of nonsense were you talking about with Suzuki? She is not attractive enough to be a star? Huh? I don't get that.

I'm not sure what you don't get. Suzuki is objectively not very attractive. I think she is receiving lower scores because of that. Superficial beauty is a driving force in just about every area of society.

[demarinis5]

I know!! I felt so sad, she really wanted to do well... it was funny how she asked Frank Carroll for the skates' guards and he said something like "after they give your scores, now you have to keep smiling" it was very cute.

Frank's quote may have sounded cute but I interpreted it as a lesson in mental toughness for Miria. Frank knew Miria was upset of course but instead of coddling her he told her to keep smiling. Mirai has all the goods to be a champion in the future, she just needs to listen to Frank.

That said I did feel bad for her. She was so happy going into the FS in first
place then dropping to fifth is quite a disappointment for any skater.

[Medusa]

I'm not sure what you don't get. Suzuki is objectively not very attractive. I think she is receiving lower scores because of that. Superficial beauty is a driving force in just about every area of society.

I just stop the underrotation talk with, obviously this, strangely enough, a subjective topic.

But there is nothing objective about beauty, you can say that you don't think that Suzuki is very attractive, but saying that she is objectively not very attractive is a paradox.

[ImaginaryPogue]

Thanks Medusa. I wasn't even gonna touch that one.

[i love to skate]

Article on Joannie.

http://www.edmontonsun.com/sports/ot...96321-sun.html

She must cut back on travel and obligations. She has been to Asia and back three times in the past four months. I'm looking forward to her performance at Skate Canada....I think she will have a very strong competition!

[R.D.]

But there is nothing objective about beauty, you can say that you don't think that Suzuki is very attractive, but saying that she is objectively not very attractive is a paradox.

Although I also think she's not big in the looks department, I agree with this statement 110%. Beauty/attractiveness is anything BUT objective.

However, you *might* be able to find rare counterexamples (i.e. where virtually EVERYONE agrees, mainly on not being attractive)

[chloepoco]

As for the actual skating:

***Akiko Suzuki was absolutely brilliant. She is very, very musical and a joy to watch.

I saw this with no disrespect at all, but, if Akiko Suzuki was more attractive she would be a big star in the figure skating world. She simply has an objectively homely face and I feel that is very much holding her back in terms of the scores she receives.

What a terrible thing to say! And, I think she's very pretty.

[Andalusia]

What a terrible thing to say! And, I think she's very pretty.

No kidding. The idea that the judges give Akiko lower scores because they think she's unattractive is fairly idiotic. Her TES won't be very high because she can't gain big GOEs on her non-jump elements, and her jumps, while neat and flowing like Medusa said, are not the most difficult or hugely impressive to watch. Her PCS will be lower because she hasn't had much international exposure at major events thus far.

I enjoyed her LP the most out of the top ladies, almost as much as I did Joannie's. I also thought it was adorable that she picked up little bits and pieces off the ice that must've come from the soft toys; it shows that she's probably a very conscientious person.

[oleada]

I think Suzuki has an amazing innate musicality that a lot of ladies would be jealous of.