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- Feb 16, 2010
Controversial judging in men's figure skating stirs up debate on quad jumps
Note: I have merged all threads discussing the judging system into this thread. Doris P
A compilation of some interesting articles on Evan's win, quads, and the direction of figure skating.
DiManno: 'It's not figure skating'
New rules send sport on bad trajectory, as skaters in cahoots with clever choreographers avoid hard stuff
http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/article/768720--dimanno-it-s-not-figure-skating
Lysacek's Gold: Are Olympic Skaters Playing It Too Safe?
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1963484_1963490_1966649,00.html
I predict Chan will win the title next month by landing just one 3A in long program.
Steve Milton's Olympic Notebook
http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/725201
Scoring controversy in Men's Figure Skating
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Sports/vancouver2010/2010/02/20/12957091.html
I think Mao Asada will likely benefit from this debate. Do you believe technical controller dares to downgrade Mao's two landed 3As in the free skate? Do you believe judges dare not to handle her the title if Mao lands two 3As and even if Yu Na skates clean? Imagine the outrage...
Note: I have merged all threads discussing the judging system into this thread. Doris P
A compilation of some interesting articles on Evan's win, quads, and the direction of figure skating.
DiManno: 'It's not figure skating'
New rules send sport on bad trajectory, as skaters in cahoots with clever choreographers avoid hard stuff
http://olympics.thestar.com/2010/article/768720--dimanno-it-s-not-figure-skating
It took a century for skaters to develop the athletic ability for a four-rotation jump. That came to separate the men from the boys, and now it apparently means squat. There's no payoff in taking a quad risk, pushing those boundaries, being an athlete. Now it's about polishing what you can do and skipping what you can't.
Lysacek's Gold: Are Olympic Skaters Playing It Too Safe?
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1963484_1963490_1966649,00.html
But one casualty of raising the technical precision of the sport is the spontaneity that makes sports exciting. Athletes at this level live on the edge of control and chaos, and it's the collective 'wow' of moments when they butt themselves up against that line that take our breath away and keep bringing us back to watch. "It's important for any sport to continue to raise the bar and move forward," Paul Wylie, 1992 silver medalist told me after the men's short programs. "I have to admit as a performer who did two triple axels in my program in Albertville, I am surprised that more guys aren't doing the quad."
Regardless of where you weigh in on the debate, that's the thing that should be worrying skating officials and athletes alike — that the scoring system may be sucking out the drive and inspiration for innovating and evolving the sport that jumps like the quad represent. The stricter scrutiny that the system places on the execution of elements is biasing skaters to play it safe and skate programs that are constructed — move for move, from fingertip to toe point — with an almost passionless precision.
The reality, however, is that the past two world champions earned their titles without a quad, and now, after three consecutive Olympic champions winning with programs that included a successfully landed quad, Lysacek has won without one. It's no coincidence that all of these titles were won under the new scoring system.
I predict Chan will win the title next month by landing just one 3A in long program.
Steve Milton's Olympic Notebook
http://www.thespec.com/Sports/article/725201
And Tatiana Tarasova, one of the most decorated skating coaches in history and daughter of the great Soviet hockey mentor Anatolie Tarasov, said to the same station that Lysacek's component scores -- equal to Plushenko's -- was "simply hooliganism."
Tarasova has helped Lysacek with his training in the past.
Scoring controversy in Men's Figure Skating
http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/Sports/vancouver2010/2010/02/20/12957091.html
I think Mao Asada will likely benefit from this debate. Do you believe technical controller dares to downgrade Mao's two landed 3As in the free skate? Do you believe judges dare not to handle her the title if Mao lands two 3As and even if Yu Na skates clean? Imagine the outrage...
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