Random Figure Skating Questions

Srin Odessa · Oct 24, 2013

SimplyLex said:
Great thread!

Another name issue: is Aliona and Alena the same name? The commentators in my country very often say "Aliona Leonova".

Ok, and here I go with possibly the dumbest question ever (but I was never a skater, so I really wouldn't know):
Do female skaters wear underwear? I mean, it always looked to me that they have that attached-to-the-dress underwear (a la gymnastics) and the tights underneath. So... is this it?

I do realize this is a terribly down-to-earth, silly, maybe even tasteless question, but it always fascinated me/made me wonder. Please put me out of my misery and answer

They're both in a family of names derived from Helena.

cinnamon · Oct 28, 2013

Here is my question:
Who is watching Rachael's two huge dogs when the family is out??

skatingfan4ever · Jan 13, 2014

In pairs and ice dance at US Nationals, why are some couples announced as representing two different skating clubs (for example, the Shibs and D&W)? Since they have to train together anyway, why don't they represent just one club? That's always confused me. Can someone please explain why this happens?

Olympia · Jan 13, 2014

skatingfan4ever said:
In pairs and ice dance at US Nationals, why are some couples announced as representing two different skating clubs (for example, the Shibs and D&W)? Since they have to train together anyway, why don't they represent just one club? That's always confused me. Can someone please explain why this happens?

I'm so glad someone asked that. I noticed that announcement being made several times (the most amazing one to me was Meryl and Charlie, who have been like two halves of the same whole for fifteen years), and I wondered about that and never thought to ask the experts on GS.

aftertherain · Jan 14, 2014

Question!

What does "Zhenya" mean? I always hear it associated with Evgeni Plushenko, but I think I've heard it with Evgenia Kanaeva. Is it a nickname for people whose names have "Evgen-" in them?

sk8aloha · Jan 14, 2014

skatingfan4ever said:
In pairs and ice dance at US Nationals, why are some couples announced as representing two different skating clubs (for example, the Shibs and D&W)? Since they have to train together anyway, why don't they represent just one club? That's always confused me. Can someone please explain why this happens?

I am an announcer and a parent of a skater. In pairs and ice dance, the two individuals may come from different areas, thus represent different clubs. In pairs and dance specifically, skaters are not required to change clubs to reflect the club that they currently train in. (The are rules are a little different for singles skaters below the Novice level)

There are many reasons for each member of a team to continue to represent their own "club of origin." If the individuals have clubs in two different regions, it might be strategic to skate in a region that has fewer teams at their level so that they can advance from Sectionals to Nationals easier. As a parent of a skater, I know there are also "heart" ties, pride and gratefulness that make skaters want continue to represent their own clubs. Clubs also can be giving support in grants to skaters who skate at the qualifying competitions. Skaters usually have spent lots of years in their club and have many friends and supporters that they honor by continuing to skate for their respective club.

Sometimes in pairs and dance, the skaters may split time between the two clubs and coaches, sometimes not.

Hope that makes sense.

Ziggy · Jan 14, 2014

tulosai said:
1. In pairs skating, how are the twist levels determined. What is a level 2 triple twist as opposed to a level 4?

http://isuprod.blob.core.windows.net/media/104201/tp_handbook_pairs_2013-14_version_13-08-03.pdf (page 23)

Gigi13 · Jan 14, 2014

Question!

Why does the British Eurosport pronounce Yuzuru's name wrong most of the time? For example Yazunori. And why do they sometimes mess up the skaters countries? For example Patrick Chan of China and Mirai Nagasu of Japan.

Ziggy · Jan 14, 2014

Gigi13 said:
Question!

Why does the British Eurosport pronounce Yuzuru's name wrong most of the time? For example Yazunori. And why do they sometimes mess up the skaters countries? For example Patrick Chan of China and Mirai Nagasu of Japan.

Because British Eurosport commentators are completely clueless a lot of the time. They will also, for example, tell you that a double-footed twist where a lady lands on the man's shoulder is 'wonderful' or 'fantastic.'

cassiem · Jan 14, 2014

Gigi13 said:
Question!

Why does the British Eurosport pronounce Yuzuru's name wrong most of the time? For example Yazunori. And why do they sometimes mess up the skaters countries? For example Patrick Chan of China and Mirai Nagasu of Japan.

For a time, they also liked to pronounce Szolkowy as SKolkowy, and Smirnov as Schmirnov (a German accent for a Russian skater with a common Russian surname). :laugh:

Ziggy · Jan 14, 2014

FSGMT said:
New question: why (in your opinion, obviously!) do the judges give +2 and +3 GOEs to V/T SP lift? It looks really awkward to me...

Because instead of rewarding each element as it is executed, they are still stuck in the 6.0 mindset and use GOE and PCS as if they were ordinals.

Olympia said:
I think many East Asian countries put the family name first.

In some collectivist cultures (like China, Japan and Korea) family name comes first, given name second.

ISU should finally stop being imperialist bastards and start to respect that. Same with Spanish and Hispanic naming customs. IOC can do it, why can't ISU?

And yes, in Hungary the surname is listed first also.

(They should also start spelling skaters' names correctly, for that matter. For example, it's Amélie Lacoste and not Amelie Lacoste).

aftertherain said:
What does "Zhenya" mean?

Evgeny and/or Evgenia.

skatingfan4ever · Jan 14, 2014

sk8aloha said:
I am an announcer and a parent of a skater. In pairs and ice dance, the two individuals may come from different areas, thus represent different clubs. In pairs and dance specifically, skaters are not required to change clubs to reflect the club that they currently train in. (The are rules are a little different for singles skaters below the Novice level)

There are many reasons for each member of a team to continue to represent their own "club of origin." If the individuals have clubs in two different regions, it might be strategic to skate in a region that has fewer teams at their level so that they can advance from Sectionals to Nationals easier. As a parent of a skater, I know there are also "heart" ties, pride and gratefulness that make skaters want continue to represent their own clubs. Clubs also can be giving support in grants to skaters who skate at the qualifying competitions. Skaters usually have spent lots of years in their club and have many friends and supporters that they honor by continuing to skate for their respective club.

Sometimes in pairs and dance, the skaters may split time between the two clubs and coaches, sometimes not.

Hope that makes sense.

Yes, that makes sense. Thanks for the info.

invisiblespiral · Jan 14, 2014

Why are so many people claiming the only reason Mirai is off the team is due to her race?

and

Why is the entire board ridiculously pessimistic right now?

:slink:

Kitt · Jan 14, 2014

invisiblespiral said:
Why is the entire board ridiculously pessimistic right now?

Because of USFS inconsistency in sending Denney/Coughlin and Max Aaron to Worlds, and not sending Mirai. It just seems too unfair, like they can apply their "rules" as they see fit (just like any other backroom-dealing federation). There, I said it!

MoonlightSkater · Jan 14, 2014

Ziggy, I read your title as "Axle of Evil" first, and found it greatly amusing.

aftertherain · Jan 14, 2014

invisiblespiral said:
Why are so many people claiming the only reason Mirai is off the team is due to her race?
:

Because racism is an important world issue that can arguably be applied in many aspects of society--but I don't think it was a very big factor in selecting the Olympic team compared to, say politics or sponsorship $$$. I believe that politics was the main motivator (again), which should not come as a surprise to anyone.

Kitt said:
Because of USFS inconsistency in sending Denney/Coughlin and Max Aaron to Worlds, and not sending Mirai. It just seems too unfair, like they can apply their "rules" as they see fit (just like any other backroom-dealing federation). There, I said it!

Ditto. I highly dislike the way that the USFSA decided to send the bronze medalists of other disciplines to the World Championships, but only skipped Mirai.

If I may try to be unbiased with this next point--As others in this thread have pointed out, to send Polina to the WC may have been a completely political decision to boost her up quickly and efficiently in front of international judges because the USFSA believes that she is the one who can (and will?) challenge the upcoming juniors from other countries. The fact that they sent Polina to the OT and WT indicates, to me, that they're investing heavily in her future and attempting to make her "potential" into reality.

invisiblespiral said:
Why is the entire board ridiculously pessimistic right now?

I know.

I had to watch episode 2 of tessa & Scott again just to "cleanse" myself of the negativity surrounding the other threads. I haven't ventured into them since!

cptnhastings · Jan 14, 2014

I would've thought if it was racism they would've also done D/C for Olympics over ZHANG/B as well.

My stupid question: if the lutz is the hardest non-axel jump, how come people have attempted a quad lutz but not a quad loop or flip? (to the best of my knowledge among the "elites")

Is there possibly a physical reason that a quad loop or flip might be harder than a quad lutz even if a triple lutz is harder than a trip loop/flip? (All my knowledge comes from tv/print so I dunno virtually anything except from what I've seen/read.)

I also found it weird that one Canadian pair does side-by-side lutzes but no one seems to do side-by-side loops or flips. Maybe that's just easier to time together? Does anyone do sbs loops or flips among the elites?

burntBREAD · Jan 14, 2014

cptnhastings said:
I would've thought if it was racism they would've also done D/C for Olympics over ZHANG/B as well.

My stupid question: if the lutz is the hardest non-axel jump, how come people have attempted a quad lutz but not a quad loop or flip? (to the best of my knowledge among the "elites")

Is there possibly a physical reason that a quad loop or flip might be harder than a quad lutz even if a triple lutz is harder than a trip loop/flip? (All my knowledge comes from tv/print so I dunno virtually anything except from what I've seen/read.)

I also found it weird that one Canadian pair does side-by-side lutzes but no one seems to do side-by-side loops or flips. Maybe that's just easier to time together? Does anyone do sbs loops or flips among the elites?

I know Daisuke Takahashi attempted 4F at 2010 Worlds. Also, I think one of Mishin's students attempted 4Lo, don't know who though -- just remember seeing a report of someone almost getting it.

cheerio2 · Jan 14, 2014

I'm not sure who among the elites does those jumps, by I've definitely seen skaters successfully do the quad loop on YouTube (I also remember seeing a Russian skater who was popping them off like they were nothing). I also remember seeing a Canadian skater do a quad flip on YouTube. I can't remember their names though.

Stupid question: What do commentators mean when they say a skater "looks tight"? Sometimes they also say a jump looks tight...which I guess means underrotated or not much height/flow?

noskates · Jan 14, 2014

Cheerio......I think it's body language which may be hard to explain. Shoulders come up a little, the skater is shaking his hands/arms and legs coming on to the ice and just looks like the weight of the world is on him or her.

Random Figure Skating Questions

Srin Odessa

cinnamon

skatingfan4ever

"Our blade takes us in the most amazing places."

Olympia

aftertherain

sk8aloha

Ziggy

Gigi13

Ziggy

cassiem

Ziggy

skatingfan4ever

"Our blade takes us in the most amazing places."

invisiblespiral

Kitt

MoonlightSkater

aftertherain

cptnhastings

burntBREAD

cheerio2

noskates

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