Random Figure Skating Questions | Page 6 | Golden Skate

Random Figure Skating Questions

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I just added a few skaters to my twitter (which is normally used to track food trucks, haha!). Seems that Ashley and Marissa are chummy, and Maia posted a pic of her, Felicia and Gracie, all smiles to be reunited.
But I agree, Golden411, a bad roomie situation could really throw someone off, so I hope they are all comfortable!

I guess the glass-is-half-full way of looking at things is that many lifelong friendships probably have been born between athletes who originally were just arbitrarily assigned to room together for a matter of days.

ETA, based on Kaitlyn Weaver's tweet/photo, I wonder whether her Sochi roommate is Tessa? I can't think of any other "T" (female or male skater) on Team Canada? And they are old friends.

(Off topic: agree that Twitter was "made" for food trucks :)).

Hmm I wonder about the pro hockey players do they stay in the "dorms" too or do they spend some of their millions on a luxury hotel - mind you there are security issues.

I understand the point that you are trying to make, but seems to me that security would be far better within the Olympic villages than at any fancy hotel in the Sochi region -- meaning that access to the Olympic villages surely is far more restricted.
But IIRC, Olympic athletes are not allowed to bring their own personal bodyguards into the villages (even at the athletes' own expense). I suppose that some would consider that a justification for finding outside lodging.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
The only case I remember of copied ladies' gestures was a competition back in the late '80s where Dick Button and Peggy concluded that Kadavy, Trenary, and some other lady from the Broadmoor camp must all have the same jazz dance coach because they were all using the same little jazz hands moves and booty shakes.

Re copying in general: there are no points for whether you are the only one doing your lift or whether someone else uses it, so while it might be mildly annoying, it really has no effect on scores. I doubt skaters worry too much about this stuff; it's something uber-fans get worried about. Sometimes I have seen fans getting upset because 2 teams (their favorites and their rivals) are doing a similar lift. What they often fail to note is that 10 other teams are also doing the same lift, because it's one of the very common ones.
 

lilshorty

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
The only case I remember of copied ladies' gestures was a competition back in the late '80s where Dick Button and Peggy concluded that Kadavy, Trenary, and some other lady from the Broadmoor camp must all have the same jazz dance coach because they were all using the same little jazz hands moves and booty shakes.

Re copying in general: there are no points for whether you are the only one doing your lift or whether someone else uses it, so while it might be mildly annoying, it really has no effect on scores. I doubt skaters worry too much about this stuff; it's something uber-fans get worried about. Sometimes I have seen fans getting upset because 2 teams (their favorites and their rivals) are doing a similar lift. What they often fail to note is that 10 other teams are also doing the same lift, because it's one of the very common ones.

Thanks for your response. I seem to remember that the coach of the skater copying/being copied was Carlo Fassi, so it may have been either Kadavy or Trenary...

But I've always thought that the reason why teams rarely did their lifts in practice had more to do with risk of injury, or reinjuring themselves, which kind of makes a little sense. I just gave the copycat story as an example for why teams might be worried about other teams stealing their moves, but it probably isn't the case in most situations.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'm sure I have seen pairs practicing lifts at competitions.

But if they're going to leave out some of their moves during runthroughs at competition practice, to save energy, I can understand why lifts would be likely candidates to leave out, just for safety reasons. The chances for collision are higher with lifts than with most other pair moves, and the negative consequences could be much greater.

Most teams do have to practice at home with other pairs on the ice. But at least they would be more likely to know each other's programs and to give way to the skater doing a runthrough. At competitions they'll more likely be focused on what they're doing themselves, to maximize the use of limited ice time.

At competitions, 4 pairs is generally the maximum on the ice per session. Do any training centers tend to allow more than that 4 high-level teams at once?
 

tommyk75

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Two new dumb questions for the experts:

1) At the 88 Olympics, all the skaters had to include a double loop in the short program's jump combination? Why? What was so special about the loop? And was that a common rule to require specific jumps in combinations?

2) I remember the technical mark was the tiebreaker for the long program in 88, allowing Boitano to win. But at every Olympics since then in the 6.0 era, the artistic mark was the tiebreaker, enabling Baiul's win. Was that change heavily discussed at the time? It seems like such a significant change with huge ramifications. I wonder what rationales were used by the officials.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
1) At the 88 Olympics, all the skaters had to include a double loop in the short program's jump combination? Why? What was so special about the loop? And was that a common rule to require specific jumps in combinations?

Nothing was particularly special about the loop, except that like the toe loop it can be performed directly from the landing of a previous jump.

Yes, between 1973 and 1988 the short program always specified one of the jumps in the combination (usually alternating between toe loop and loop), and also specified the solo jump and the solo spins and the shape of the step sequence. It wasn't until 1989 that skaters were given more free choice in those elements. And juniors still have some specified elements that alternate in a three-year cycle.
 

KKonas

Medalist
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
Two new dumb questions for the experts:

1) At the 88 Olympics, all the skaters had to include a double loop in the short program's jump combination? Why? What was so special about the loop? And was that a common rule to require specific jumps in combinations?

2) I remember the technical mark was the tiebreaker for the long program in 88, allowing Boitano to win. But at every Olympics since then in the 6.0 era, the artistic mark was the tiebreaker, enabling Baiul's win. Was that change heavily discussed at the time? It seems like such a significant change with huge ramifications. I wonder what rationales were used by the officials.

During the 80s the single jump in the short program was pre-designated (ISU rules), (don't know when that rule started) but that changed in the 1988 ISU Congress in Davos, Switzerland to allow for the skater to choose the jump used. Also changed was increasing the SP elements from 7 to 8 and renamed the "original" program. Also at that Congress the free skating (and ice dance free) was changed to make the second mark (composition and style) the "tiebreaker."

I don't recall a lot of fuss over any of these changes.
 

CarneAsada

Medalist
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Nothing was particularly special about the loop, except that like the toe loop it can be performed directly from the landing of a previous jump.

Yes, between 1973 and 1988 the short program always specified one of the jumps in the combination (usually alternating between toe loop and loop), and also specified the solo jump and the solo spins and the shape of the step sequence. It wasn't until 1989 that skaters were given more free choice in those elements. And juniors still have some specified elements that alternate in a three-year cycle.
Maybe they should bring back some of the stricter requirements. Say, alternate between toe loop and loop as required combination jumps (either double or triple), alternate between flying sit/camel, cycle the step sequence pattern (Ci/Sl/Se)?
 

KKonas

Medalist
Joined
Oct 31, 2009
I forgot to add that at the 1988 ISU Congress, the biggest area of contention was the elimination of the Compulsory Figures at ISU competitions, which was slated to begin after 1990 Worlds.
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Why is everyone really pessimistic today?

People is really pessimistic every day. We talk about happy things until someone else feels the need to needle us and then it all goes downhill from there.

It's like this forum is one giant unhappily married couple.

(Joking.)
 

viennese

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
I was watching clips of the 1982 World Championships earlier. The required jump in the SP, for the combination jump, was the double flip!
Some of the ladies were doing 2f-3toe, while others were opting for easier double-double combinations (2f-2r or 2f-2t).
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Thanks for the info! I would imagine it's probably best to keep roomies close in age, yet not in direct competition with each other. For example a Meryl/Marissa combo or Gracie/Felecia combo would work out well. Same thing goes for the gents, of course.

Team USA roommate updates:

- A. Shibutani/Brown/Bartholomay
https://twitter.com/AlexShibutani/status/431434364988440576 (incl. fun photo of the trio -- at the airport, I think?)
http://instagram.com/p/kFBLZETXAL/ (photo from @jasonbskates of his side of the room)​

- Zhang/Wagner
https://twitter.com/felicia_zhang/status/431764033268883456 (incl. photo of scenic view from their room)​
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
Team USA roommate updates:

- A. Shibutani/Brown/Bartholomay
https://twitter.com/AlexShibutani/status/431434364988440576 (incl. fun photo of the trio -- at the airport, I think?)
http://instagram.com/p/kFBLZETXAL/ (photo from @jasonbskates of his side of the room)​

- Zhang/Wagner
https://twitter.com/felicia_zhang/status/431764033268883456 (incl. photo of scenic view from their room)​

Hey, thanks for posting this. Love that Jason made his place cozy and the ladies' view is quite enviable :)
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Hey, thanks for posting this. Love that Jason made his place cozy and the ladies' view is quite enviable :)

And this just in:
M Shibutani and Gold are roomies, posing together here decked out in their official Opening Ceremony regalia:

Based on the caption of Jason's Instagram, I think USFS staff personalized his area to welcome him/make him feel at home ... wonder whether they did the same for all Team USA skaters??

As I have described in previous threads, Scott Moir's half of his room was one of my favorite parts of the aforementioned Patrick Chan video tour of their shared suite in Vancouver. On the wall above his bed, Scott had displayed a long and perfectly straight row of what looked like fan letters from school kids. Adorable. And whereas Patrick's and Bryce's bedding remained unkempt from the previous night, Scott had made his bed very neatly. Adorable x 2.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
And this just in:
M Shibutani and Gold are roomies, posing together here decked out in their official Opening Ceremony regalia:

Based on the caption of Jason's Instagram, I think USFS staff personalized his area to welcome him/make him feel at home ... wonder whether they did the same for all Team USA skaters??

As I have described in previous threads, Scott Moir's half of his room was one of my favorite parts of the aforementioned Patrick Chan video tour of their shared suite in Vancouver. On the wall above his bed, Scott had displayed a long and perfectly straight row of what looked like fan letters from school kids. Adorable. And whereas Patrick's and Bryce's bedding remained unkempt from the previous night, Scott had made his bed very neatly. Adorable x 2.

The girls look so cute, maybe they have a big room and Polina will be with them? And the Canadian guys' room, so funny. Personally, it would drive me batty to room with people who don't make their beds, but we're talking about guys here :) Hope all are squeezing every bit of enjoyment out of this!
 
Top