Men's Free Program: 6:45 AM Eastern

[Layfan]

Exactly. For now Tomas needs to focus on jump consistency and getting his confidence back, and he's doing just that. He said he still trains the 4t, but he also said he is building toward Euros and Worlds this season, so for now, that is not his focus. I give him major props for turning things around and think that if he can bring back the quad and give a little more signature Tomas performance quality come winter I think we could very well see him on the European AND World podiums (honestly he can probably medal at/win Europeans even without the quad if he keeps this up).

Plus to be honest, the old Tomas trend of landing the 4-3 and then popping most everything else was so frustrating. I much prefer him landing and rotating jumps, it shows good work ethic. Plus these clean/almost clean performances are boosting his PCS, I mean 78+ in the FS, that's pretty impressive!

Gmyers - What about this point of Silverlake's? Why should Verner concentrate on the quad to the detriment of his other jumps? In the 2002 Olympics, the medalists won because they did quads AND nearly everything else well. It wasn't like Yagudin got up there, did a quad, and then said, right, game over. I won. But there aren't any male skaters right who now are capable of doing a two-quad performance and still skate the rest of the program beautifully. I think some like Verner and Takahashi are working towards that - or at least one quad - but I don't see how it makes sense to keep doing the quad in competition if you know it's going to mean falling or popping every other jump. Or sacrificing choreography and the rest of the elements. That is not what Yagudin and Plushenko and Goebel did in 2002.

As for Chan, it's awesome that he is a very fine skater - I agree with Joesitz - but having beautiful skating skills shoudn't be an end to itself. He needs to use those skills to skate clean programs and definitely to interpret the music and project better ... I know people think he doesn't care because he keeps medaling but I hope that is not true. I hope he is disappointed that he lost the gold and more importantly that he delivered another splatfast. I think he pushes himself. He wouldn't be trying the quad if he didn't.

That said, I would've had Chan ahead of Abbott because Abbott made to many little mistakes along with his falls, so he would still have won silver. So I guess I agree with the placements overall.

yeah, honestly, I'd be more fussed about Chan being second if Jeremy had skated better.

Oh Jeremy. What is going to work for that guy? He's even more heartbreaking than Alissa because we KNOW he is capable of perfect perfomances under pressure. Look at nationals.

[Bluebonnet]

Oh, Jeremy! Must be that Cheburashka he has! Get rid of it!

Congratulations to Thomas! But I am not happy. He didn't win this event. Chan and Abbott handed it to him. Needs more time to recover and write later.

[museksk8r]

I foresee a hefty penalty for falling on the horizon for COP rule revisions. It will be called the Chan rule because some of the higher-ups in the ISU are going to have a problem with someone being able to win events with 4 falls. If that doesn't scream corruption and further ruin figure skating's reputation, I don't know what does.

[blue_idealist]

I foresee a hefty penalty for falling on the horizon for COP rule revisions. It will be called the Chan rule because some of the higher-ups in the ISU are going to have a problem with someone being able to win events with 4 falls. If that doesn't scream corruption and further ruin figure skating's reputation, I don't know what does.

Haha, that would be hilarious if they actually called it the Chan rule, but I can't see it taking that name. :P

[bibi24]

Congrats to all medalists!! See you in GPF

[herios]

post #98

He said it clearly that the quad is coming for the Euros and worlds, he just started tarining here in Canada under a different regime and for now the focus is something else, not the quad.

[i love to skate]

I know people think he doesn't care because he keeps medaling but I hope that is not true. I hope he is disappointed that he lost the gold and more importantly that he delivered another splatfast. I think he pushes himself. He wouldn't be trying the quad if he didn't.

How on earth people think that athlete enjoys and doesn't care about going out and performing poorly is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. You could see the disappointment on his face after the long as well as the look on his coach's face. They both know that there is work to do. Of course he pushes himself - he is committed to trying the quad this year in competition. He is having a rough time with adding it to his repertoire while maintaining the difficulty on his other elements. People were asking him to improve the difficulty on his jump elements and he has!

I foresee a hefty penalty for falling on the horizon for COP rule revisions. It will be called the Chan rule because some of the higher-ups in the ISU are going to have a problem with someone being able to win events with 4 falls. If that doesn't scream corruption and further ruin figure skating's reputation, I don't know what does.

I thought you were done watching skating after Skate Canada:

***?! ***?! ***?! That's it, I'm done watching this sport!

[herios]

Here you have Tomas Verner LP just uploaded ( I was the first viewer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY-gTdEUfW0

[Mrs. P]

yeah, honestly, I'd be more fussed about Chan being second if Jeremy had skated better.

Oh Jeremy. What is going to work for that guy? He's even more heartbreaking than Alissa because we KNOW he is capable of perfect perfomances under pressure. Look at nationals.

Actually I'm OK with this. I rather him peak at Nationals and Worlds than right now. Let him get the quad fall out of the way now!

[chuckm]

Verner is sure of the GPF (11+15, second in the standings for now)!
Chan too (15+13), just if anyone doubted , while Abbott is still not certain (13+11, and he'll have to look for anyone among Kozuka/Mroz/Amodio).

So, GPF will be Takahashi, Chan, Verner, Oda and two out of Kozuka/Abbott/Mroz/Amodio, right?

Ah, and Joubert and Reynolds are still there too!! But they both has to be at least second place in Paris, if my maths still work...

Kozuka makes it to the GPF if he finishes 4th or better.

2nd place won't do it for Joubert and Reynolds, since they both have only 9 points. 2nd would give them 22, less than Abbott's 24. For either to make it to the GPF with a silver medal, Kozuka would have to finish 5th or lower, and Mroz 4th or lower with a lower total score.

[chuckm]

How on earth people think that athlete enjoys and doesn't care about going out and performing poorly is one of the most ridiculous things I have ever heard. You could see the disappointment on his face after the long as well as the look on his coach's face. They both know that there is work to do. Of course he pushes himself - he is committed to trying the quad this year in competition. He is having a rough time with adding it to his repertoire while maintaining the difficulty on his other elements. People were asking him to improve the difficulty on his jump elements and he has!

Chan clearly enjoyed his win at SC with the same number of falls (albeit most in the SP). He exulted over the fact that the judges wanted to give him the win.

People didn't ASK Chan to improve his jump elements. He blathered on last season, pooh-poohing all the quads and boasting about his marvelous transitions. He CHOSE to try the quad, and so far has had only a 50% success rate with it. Meanwhile, his success rate with the 3A has fallen to 33%, down from 50% last season. I don't see that there is much improvement when it comes to jumping. He has racked up a total of 8 falls in two events.

I think he should have worked on the stability of his 3A before tackling the quad. Now he has TWO jumps that consistently give him trouble.

[evangeline]

At this point, I think I'm just going to be grateful if Patrick Chan wins worlds with only like three falls or something....at least it's an improvement from the four-fall competitions he's having this season. Takahashi may be putting up giant scores too but at the very least he keeps his butt off the ice considerably more than Chan.

I wonder what would've happened on this board if Chan didn't have the fourth combo and won yet another competition with four falls

But I'm so happy for Tomas--I'm sure this season will be a real confidence-booster for him! Glad to see that training in Canada seems to be doing him a world of good

[bigsisjiejie]

Chan clearly enjoyed his win at SC with the same number of falls (albeit most in the SP). He exulted over the fact that the judges wanted to give him the win.

People didn't ASK Chan to improve his jump elements. He blathered on last season, pooh-poohing all the quads and boasting about his marvelous transitions. He CHOSE to try the quad, and so far has had only a 50% success rate with it. Meanwhile, his success rate with the 3A has fallen to 33%, down from 50% last season. I don't see that there is much improvement when it comes to jumping. He has racked up a total of 8 falls in two events.

I think he should have worked on the stability of his 3A before tackling the quad. Now he has TWO jumps that consistently give him trouble.

Agree with all of this. As to the first comment, I got the same impression from Chan on the "exultation". I am incredulous that anybody could be personally proud of winning a medal with a 4-fall competition. As a skater, I'd be darn embarrassed to receive a reward for putting out a disaster.

[Blades of Passion]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I laughed so hard when Patrick Chan did too many combinations.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

No, actually, it does suck that his 2Axel-3Toe was worth nothing. The Lutz he fell on should have been discounted instead.

[gmyers]

Gmyers - What about this point of Silverlake's? Why should Verner concentrate on the quad to the detriment of his other jumps? In the 2002 Olympics, the medalists won because they did quads AND nearly everything else well. It wasn't like Yagudin got up there, did a quad, and then said, right, game over. I won. But there aren't any male skaters right who now are capable of doing a two-quad performance and still skate the rest of the program beautifully. I think some like Verner and Takahashi are working towards that - or at least one quad - but I don't see how it makes sense to keep doing the quad in competition if you know it's going to mean falling or popping every other jump. Or sacrificing choreography and the rest of the elements. That is not what Yagudin and Plushenko and Goebel did in 2002.

I saw that point. I am just thinking that now that he was won an event without quads it might make the problem worse if he adds it back in. He didn't always pop jumps after landing quads. Euros 2008 which he won. He did well at 2009 Trophee Eric Bompard, 2007 worlds. 2009 Worlds. Rather than work through his problems with doing quads and other jumps he seems to have given up this GP season and that's not good. Plus I just focused on how similar his program is to the Olympics gold medal winning one and maybe that's the whole issue.