Modern Skating is Ugly – European Champions
http://en.rian.ru/sports/20120207/171194117.html
http://en.rian.ru/sports/20120207/171194117.html
I love Volosozhar and Trankov for recognizing it and having the guts to say it. The level features have ruined death spirals in pairs skating completely. And why for all that is holy, is grabbing your skate blade a reusable level feature for pair lifts? It's completely unnecessary even once. The COP loves to pretend that complexity/difficulty should be heaped with rewards. Well, that's just wrong. It's a lazy way to make skating quantifiable. Every season there needs to be a review, and ugly moves should be singled out for deductions.
If it's ugly, don't do it. That would be real guts and real dedication.
Their funding and livelihood depends on producing results for the Russian skating federation, as do some of the funding and livelihood of their team. They have more responsibilities than just their artistic ideal. Speaking out against the rules without ignoring them is a valid compromise in their situation.
Their funding and livelihood depends on producing results for the Russian skating federation, as do some of the funding and livelihood of their team. They have more responsibilities than just their artistic ideal. Speaking out against the rules without ignoring them is a valid compromise in their situation.
But they can choose to do something difficult and pretty, or something a little lower on BV but make it so pretty to score high GOE.
You have a point there, bsfan, I honestly lost interest in pairs (except for the USA) after 2002. I do like Shen & Zhao and think they should be commended for never giving up, persevering, and staying in the game while into their mid-30's. However, Shen's positions come nowhere close to someone like Elena Berezhynia & Ekaterina Gordeeva. And though S&Z's throws were HUGE, the technique was not good; Zhao's feet always left the ice when he threw Shen. This is also what cost Artur Dmietriev the gold in 1994; his technique on replay was the same as Zhao's, whereas the split screen showed the correct way to do it, that of Sergei Grinkov, feet firmly planted on the ice and the flow he still carried after throwing Katia into the air. These little things may not seem like much, but they do matter, especially when it comes time to deciding who should win ~ apples versus oranges ~ that was the famous saying at the 1994 Olympics in Pairs.
I'd rather see an element done right with perfect technique versus a harder one with imperfect technique. Hopefully the powers-that-be are reading this thread and institute some changes to bring back the beauty in skating. Jmho.