- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Anna: 3Lz+3T, 3F+2T+2T e, 3Lz, 1Lo (pop), 2A+3T, 3S, 2A [38.0]
Beatriz: 3A (fall), 3A+2T, 3Lz, 3F+3Lo, 3F+2T+2Lo, 3T (fall), 3S [44.3]
Catherine: 3Lz+2T e, 3F+2T, 3Lz e, 3F, 3Lo<, 3S<, 2A+3T+SEQ [33.94]
Diana: 3T+2T, 3S+2Lo, 3T, 3S, 2A, 2F+2Lo+2Lo, 2Lz (all clean) [30.5]
Elena: 3F<< (fall), 3Lo<, 3T+3T (fall), 3F<, 2A+1Lo+3S, 3S, 2A [26.4]]
Fabia: 3S<+1T, 3S<<, 3T<<, 2A, 2A+2T, 2F+2T+2Lo<, 2Lz [18.2]
I told Anna not to put that loop into her program!
To the naked eye, Catherine landed the most triples -- 7 -- with the the fewest obvious errors. Should she win, or should Anna and Beatriz get more credit for attempting greater difficulty and executing with mostly greater quality?
Anna and Beatrix should be ahead of Catherine. The "quality and difficulty" (especially the quality) should be evident even to the untutored fan.
Should the fall penalties be set large enough so that Beatriz couldn't beat Anna in this situation even if she replaced one of the triples she fell on with a successful double and only had one fall?
Beatriz should win if she hit the triple toe at the end -- or maybe even if she bailed with a double.
Diana had an easier jump layout, but she executed everything she attempted with no mistakes. Is two falls from Beatriz enough to put her behind Diana if Diana had good quality on everything?
No. It's between Yuna and Mao (oops, I mean Anna and Beatriz). Diana is out of the picture.
Should Elena's program with three successfully landed triples (one in combination with a failed triple), two landed/somewhat cheated triples, and two falls challenge Fabia's with zero rotated triples?
Elena is better. At least she tried.
What if Diana was slow and cautious and did nothing but skate around with bad posture, telegraphing her jumps, with easy spins and steps only to the minimum required? Should it then be possible for an energetic, charismatic, well, choreographed and musical performance from Elena to beat her despite the falls?
Should the number of visible errors be the deciding factor? Should the number of triples landed be the deciding factor? or should there be room for other qualities of the jumps and other qualities besides jumps to make the difference?
That is why this exercise in inconclusive. I think the points awarded by the IJS for the different elements is OK as is. What is not included in this study are precisely things like, was Diana slow and lumbering while Fiona zipped around the ice with panache and grace -- in other words, who skated the best. That question is not addressed by looking at base values for jumps and deductions for elements on errors. What about all the huge positive GOEs that Anna deserved on all of her jumps? That is not reflected in this study.
Is it more important to make sure that Beatriz is punished for her falls and prohibited from winning this event? Should the punish-Beatriz rules be indifferent to how they affect lower-ranked skaters, e.g., whether Diana or Elena or Fabia earns the coveted last top-10 spot at Junior Worlds?
I think the "punish Beatriz" should come in mainly with the program components. As exquisitely as Beatriz skates, and as much as she looks like the Blue Fairy come to turn Pinocchio into a real boy, the falls should affect the scores for interpretation, choreography, and presentation/execution.
About the top ten at junior worlds question, strange as it seems my gut reaction is that it does make a difference. It is not necessarily wrong to have a double standard, one for those who aspire to call themselves champion of the world, and another for everyone else. (I don't know how this can be worked into the rule book, though.)
By the same token, I predict that the judges will be tougher on falls at the Olympics than at lesser events. Events like junior worlds are for the participants and their parents. The Olympic Games are for the whole galaxy. (My granddaughter once asked me what five worlds Michelle Kwan was champion of, and guessed Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon and Mars.)
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