Pairs Event Wrap-Up: Your thoughts on the podium! | Golden Skate

Pairs Event Wrap-Up: Your thoughts on the podium!

skatemom1122

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 22, 2009
Well, what did you think? Did the judges get it right? What did you agree with/disagree with? Post away! ;)
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
I'm so happy that Shen & Zhao won and Pang & Tong got silver!!!!!!!!! I would have been so upset if Kavaguti & Smirnov had won or even medalled with that performance.. I was afraid that was going to happen, because they're Russian and all, but I'm so impressed that the judges didn't hold them up. :) Pang & Tong were SO WONDERFUL, but Shen & Zhao have better PCS, IMO, and they were my emotional favourites as well!!! I'm also happy for the Germans although they were def. not at their best. I wish the Canadian teams had skated better. For the record, I think Sale & Pelletier's version of Love Story was MUCH better than Mukhortova & Trankov's.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
It came out right and quite in the Olympic vein with the surprises like P/T rising above themselves and K/S having such an abysmal skate.

S/Z and S/S were clearly the top two teams based on long records, and both skated reasonably close to their own levels.

P/T had the skate of their lives and their ovation will go down in Chinese skating history (at least). They won the FP but not the whole competition. It would have felt terribly wrong if they sailed away with the OGM based on one fabulous skate.

That said, if anyone but S/Z had won over P/T with the mistakes in their FP, the skating world would rise up in indignation. But it was S/Z, and most of us are thrilled! I wish we could all party together!

For tonight I'm a fan of the judging system. We'll see how long that lasts!
 

NatachaHatawa

Final Flight
Joined
Feb 4, 2008
The event was very well judged and there's nothing to say about the podium. I'm obviously a little sad for S/S, but I saw it coming.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
For me it was wonderful!!! Pang and Tong had the skate of the lives to rise from 4th to the silver and they looked understandably thrilled. S/Z's mistakes were not so terrible that they should have lost the whole competition to the 4th place SP finishers - at least from my humble perspective as a fan watching on TV. I'm sure others will have more interesting and details things to say about how the scoring played out.

Now if S/S had outskated S/Z tonight ... that would have been a different story. But they didn't and I can understand Aliona's tears of disappointment or bittersweetness or what not. That was a little sad but congratulations to them on the bronze and for their absolutely terrific SP. It's one of my faves!

And congrats to the Chinese for going 1-2. And I love you S/Z!!!!!!!:love:
 
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magicalwords

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
If there was at least one thing teh judges got right in this pairs competition, then it's the podium.
Hope this continues throughout the figure skating event.

Whatever, whoever, whichever, whyever :)p), however the scoring turned out, at least they got the podium right.. or rather, if they had some other team on that podium, it would've been major wtfruzrobbed moment in the history of the sport..
 

ARipp42014

Medalist
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
Shen & Zhao: we finally get the happy ending we've been waiting for. While they weren't perfect (I got worried during that lift), there was only one pair I felt worthy of the title and it's them. Where are they ranked all time? As I stated on the LP thread, they're up there amoung the top 3 or 5 All Time best pairs. Now they can live happily ever after and have a little Xue or Hongbo.

Pang & Tong: I remember 4 years ago when I said they were robbed of a medal. However after they won Worlds in Calgary, they still weren't given any respect. Tonite, vindication! What was turning into a splatfest from everyone else turned into the SOTL for them! While there might be a small handful who think they were robbed of gold, I don't think so. The silver was well earned and I couldn't be more proud of them.

Savchenko & Szolkowy: I was hoping they would skate clean because I really do love their "Out Of Africa" LP. But once Robin fell, I knew the gold was gone. But they fought back to make sure Yuko & Sasha take their silver or bronze away from them. It's a beautiful program despite being flawed and should be proud of all the work they have done in the past couple of years. I do hope they'll compete one more time in Torino for a 3rd straight Worlds title for redemption for tonight but we'll see as we get closer to Worlds. If this season is their last, they will be missed.

As for the rest of the competition, it was a splatfest! Everyone fell at least once. However, I was kinda jinxing Yuko or Sasha to fall. (I know I'm bad) I do hope Maria & Max stick for another cycle but it would be tough with Vera and Yuri in the mix in the next couple of years. I also think it's the end of the line for Dube & Davison. I do like them but it's just not working anymore. I am proud of the Americans, who despite knowing they have no chance at medaling, they just went out there and go for it. That's what the Olympics is all about... performing your personal best. I'm also impressed by the lesser known names in pairs such as Vera & Yuri, Vanessa & French Yannick, Anais & Antoine, and Nicole & Italian Yannick.

And judging wise... it was fair (with the exception of Dube & Davison's scores in the SP) and I applude them for doing their job. I hope this keeps it up for the Men's comp. tomorrow.

Finally... 2 thoughts: thank you NBC for keeping chatting to a min. because a lot of fans were able to enjoy the skating; and who would've thought Russia would be shut out in Pairs! If Shen & Zhao can beat the Russians, I wouldn't be surprised if it carries through in other skating events.
 

aurora100

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
If Shen & Zhao can beat the Russians, I wouldn't be surprised if it carries through in other skating events.

Just wondering about that too. This could be the thin edge of the wedge, or blowing the door open for the other skaters. The scoring system allows for whoever skate well to be marked accordingly (over scoring across the board not withstanding). But before this event, I was not able to believe that Russians would not be on the podium. It will be interesting to see what happens in Dance. Can the North Americans overthrow the Dance throne?
 

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
I want to know why Aliona cried. Did she cry because she was relieved this whole thing was over? That they won bronze? Or was she sad that they didn't win gold? I'd feel bad for her if she was depressed over not getting a higher placement.
 

Jaana

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Country
Finland
I have not seen the skating yet, but I´m extremely happy for Shen & Zhao as they have been my favourite pair since fall 1998. I´m also very glad for Pang & Tong´s silver medal, great event for Chinese skaters! I like Kawaguchi & Smirnov and would have been happy if they had got the bronze.
 

pista04

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
The only sad that I have to say is I feel like Yuko was getting yelled at or made Moskvina really angry...which is sad. She really tried her best, and I bet she feels like it was her fault...=/
 

skatemom1122

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 22, 2009
I want to know why Aliona cried. Did she cry because she was relieved this whole thing was over? That they won bronze? Or was she sad that they didn't win gold? I'd feel bad for her if she was depressed over not getting a higher placement.

Do you feel they deserved a higher placement?
 

aurora100

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
The only sad that I have to say is I feel like Yuko was getting yelled at or made Moskvina really angry...which is sad. She really tried her best, and I bet she feels like it was her fault...=/

They both made mistakes. She fell out of throw triple sal which was supposed to be a quad, he steped out of a double axel (can't do that in the Olympics) and then she stepped out of the other lift I think. So she can't take all the blame for the poor performance night.
 

aurora100

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
The only sad that I have to say is I feel like Yuko was getting yelled at or made Moskvina really angry...which is sad. She really tried her best, and I bet she feels like it was her fault...=/

I watched the medal ceremony. It was strange how the camera stayed on Aliona when Pang/Tong were receiving their medal. I didn't see Aliona cry but she looked just pissed off and no energy. The HD shows too much sometimes.
 

ARipp42014

Medalist
Joined
Feb 1, 2010
I want to know why Aliona cried. Did she cry because she was relieved this whole thing was over? That they won bronze? Or was she sad that they didn't win gold? I'd feel bad for her if she was depressed over not getting a higher placement.

Most likely is because they had a tough season (changing programs after that horrible performance in Paris, bad bout of the flu that we thought it was Mono, losing to K/S at Euros) and thought maybe things would turn around after performing very well in the Short but it didn't. They had a chance and it slipped away with that fall. While I applude her for keep it together, I do wanna give her a hug.
 

pista04

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 27, 2007
Yeah, but I just think she herself would take the blame for the throw and her other fall. She seems like the kinda pair skater who would, and with the strength of Moskvina, Im not to sure they'd reassure her it wasn't her fault.
 

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Do you feel they deserved a higher placement?

Not at all. But I'd still feel bad for her if she's sad over not getting a higher ranking, rather than being proud that after a rocky season, she and Robin pulled it together to win bronze at the Olympics. In fact, they are the first German pair to win an Olympic medal in 12 years. The previous pair had some guy named Ingo Steuer in it. :biggrin:

Most likely is because they had a tough season (changing programs after that horrible performance in Paris, bad bout of the flu that we thought it was Mono, losing to K/S at Euros) and thought maybe things would turn around after performing very well in the Short but it didn't. They had a chance and it slipped away with that fall. While I applude her for keep it together, I do wanna give her a hug.

Shouldn't she be proud they did as well as they did, then? And maybe she was proud and relieved? That's what I want to know. So if someone has a relevant interview that can lend some insight, please do cough it up.
 

Lightbulb

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
i've been shen and zhao's fan since discovering their worlds 2003 lp to turandot. it broke my heart that zhao got injured in 2005, but it's really amazing how the pair managed to get the bronze in turino. and now 4 years later, they are the olympic champions!

shen and zhao's long program was not perfect. but they hung on for the gold. according to michael weiss' tweet, if zhao wasn't able to complete 2 turns (he was able to do 2 1/2), pang and tong would have won. i guess the lift should have more than two turns to be credited. props also to shen for hanging on to the landing of the throw 3 salchow. even with the mistake in the lift, their stupendous performance in the short makes them really deserving to win... it's been a few hours since the medal ceremony, and it still feels like a dream to me that they have finally won gold. :love:

thank you to the poster who pointed out pang and tong's lp in a chinese site. marvelous performance for them. anyone knows who choreographed their lp? their lp is wonderful and well choreographed. big moves were in time to the crescendo of the music.

congratulations also to s/s for fighting for their program after the disastrous sbs jumps.

thank goodness, k/s were not in the podium after that performance. when i saw kavaguti ripping her costume to expose her shoulders and the heart, i thought for that alone they should be off the podium. :laugh: and it's creepy how she pops her shoulder back.

on a side note, it's my first post here in gs. been lurking the entire gp season as i was content on reading everyone's posts. but shen and zhao bagging gold made me register pronto! i'm in the philippines, and lo and behold, they broadcasted both the short and the long programs in its entirety! even better, there was no commentary for the lp. :) i do want to see the fluff on bin yao though.

congratulations again to shen and zhao, pang and tong, and savchenko and szolkowy!
 
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screech

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
So overjoyed for S/Z. The placements were spot on. Actually, the placements made me think of the old scoring system in a way... right after I was thinking that if S/Z were 3rd in the LP, P/T would have won... not quite true, but still made me think of 6.0.

S/Z - not the skate of their lives, but still pretty good, especially considering how tense they looked right before. So much pressure for them, but they came through and completely deserved their gold medal. And their reactions when they saw that they won were amazing and so perfect. My heart was pounding and I could not sit still through their whole performance, I was so nervous for them, but YAY!

P/T - WOW! That was amazing. They skated lights out and were brilliant. They fully deserved that silver medal, and though I'm glad they didn't win, I would have been okay with them getting gold with a skate like that. They fully deserved their LP win... do skaters get the mini-medals for each segment here like they do at ISU events (like will P/T get a mini-gold for their LP win, S/S a mini-silver for their SP 2nd, etc)?

S/S - so sad. I was cheering full out for S/Z but when he fell I actually stood up and shouted NO!!! This was the first time I saw their program and man, was it ever gorgeous! Sad for their result, but instead of losing gold, they completely earned their bronze.

In other Pairs stuff... the commentators here were saying how D/D's program is so beautiful and could reduce people to tears. I'm sorry but I didn't quite get that. To me it was their typical 'pretty' program. Good job for the US teams, though both ladies need to work on their posture quite a bit. I really hope that for next season Volosozhar gets a partner that is good enough for her, but I don't know if she'll get one as good at lifts as Morosov. Kudos to him for his effort in the LP and for the attack on his jumps.

Really looking forward to the tiny Russians (their sizes make me think of G&G) and James/Bonnheur in the future!
 

magicalwords

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 1, 2008
thank you to the poster who pointed out pang and tong's lp in a chinese site. marvelous performance for them. anyone knows who choreographed their lp? their lp is wonderful and well choreographed. big moves were in time to the crescendo of the music.

I believe it's David Wilson's work.
 
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