Which skater's performance at Sochi 2014 is most likely to boost the sports popularity?
- Thread starter Mao88
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better rate landing them than Chan's falling 3A and quads
Actually, no. Not even close. But feel free to keep telling yourself that.
Yuzuru fell on his 4S at Nationals, the GPF, and Skate Canada, and popped it at TEB (where he fell on his 4T).
This season Chan has never fallen in any of his programs, FYI.
better rate landing them than Chan's falling 3A and quads
Facts, my friend.
Chan has been 10 for 12 on his quad attempts (83 percent).
He has been far less consistent on the 3A, but not terrible. He's 5/8 in 3A attemps with + GOE (62.5 percent).
Ironically, I think Chan may offer the biggest boost to the sports popularity if we measure it by the number of new viewers/fans who will be introduced to the sport. Should he win OGM in the individual event, not only he will be the first Canadian man to do so, thereby, giving a boost to FS in Canada - it would be the potential media frenzy that it could create in China that would get the ISU salivating. As it stands, Japan is by far the most lucrative market for FS whereas the Chinese market is largely unexplored due to the lack of major stars since retirement of S/Z and Lu Chen. S/Z only came out of retirement briefly in 2010 for the Olympics. In actuality, China has been without a major skating star for about 2 Olympic cycles already. Yet, during the same period, China's economic clout has dramatically increased, now ranking as the 2nd largest economy in the world. In a patriarchal society like China, a man's win will always be more highly valued than women's, just like Japan even though no one will openly admit it. Many current Chinese skaters such as Han Yan and Nan Song have openly stated they view Patrick Chan as their idol - not a coincidence when you think about it. With Worlds 2015 set to be in China, the Chinese media will be all over the place reporting Chan's win as the first OGM for a "Chinese" man in Figure Skating. This is typical given when Ang Lee (Taiwan) won the Oscar or Jeremy Lin (USA) became a household name, Chinese media immediately co-opted them as being "Chinese" notwithstanding there needs to be several * besides the use of word Chinese in those situations.
Although a Chan's win will probably boil the blood of many here without a doubt, it may in fact be an outcome the ISU would be too happy to see.
Although a Chan's win will probably boil the blood of many here without a doubt, it may in fact be an outcome the ISU would be too happy to see.
Similarly, Davis/White's Bollywood OD got a tons of views - from India. Not sure India is becoming a major Figure Skating country quite yet.
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Yup. In comparison, Hanyu has been 1 for 5 on his 4S attempts this year (20 percent).
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does getting worn out at GPF
and falling on his butt even with hyper inflated score at nationals doesnt count ?
Uh...why are you using facts to argue with you know who?
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no and no
that's none sense as claiming Taiwanese as Chinese you'll have a polarized mostly offended response
I doubt they will grab Chan as the first OGM or World Champion, didnt happen with Kwan
Lin is Taiwanese btw
As I noted elsewhere (or maybe just in my own thoughts), Jason's viral sensation is quite different than the one D/W got with their OD. Jason is getting interviews from major U.S. media outlets, both traditional and online. He was on NPR's "All Things Considered." He's been featured on Mashable, Buzzfeed and Business Insider, three online publications that have a HUGE (and well-off) reader base. There's chatter that someone at the New York Times flew to Colorado to do an interview at his rink. "The Insider," a show known for reporting on Justin Bieber than figure skating, also did an interview at Jason's rink.
Not to mention the fact that he caught the attention to the folks from Riverdance.
And he even trended on Twitter!
So yes, we can argue that Jason's Riverdance isn't as dancy as B/K (I agree to some extent in that regard), but there's no doubt that he's gaining a LOT of attention in the U.S. right now. Well more than the people who actually WON the competition.
Because I was curious and I like stats.
uh...when did Chan fall at GPF or his Nationals? Can someone please pinch me to see if I am still alive or dead or somehow transported to an alt universe?
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He would be the first men's OGM of Asian descent, and wally makes a good point that, being Chinese-born, Chan winning could very likely to spur further interest in figure skating in China and the rest of Asia.
With Kwan it didn't because she didn't win the Olympics. But with Arakawa there was a surge in popularity of figure skating in Japan and the rest of Asia when she won.
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That's what I have been sayign all along! But he has potential.
Not to mention, Kwan was competing against Lu Chen. It didn't help that Kwan beat Chen at the 1996 Worlds for Gold a win that many Chinese and non-Chinese alike felt was stolen from Lu Chen.
You made a good point about the spillover effect. When Jeremy Lin surged to become a household name, even the Japanese media went after him extensively despite the fact he is not Japanese. Naturally, the Chinese and Taiwanese media had a good war of words what he really is and what is the definition of "Chinese" but that's a political question and beyond the scope of discussion here.
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Because I was curious and I like stats.
Me too! And thanks for those stats.... I didn't realize how consistent Chan has been on his quad (10 out of 12 is amazing!) and certainly better consistency on his 3A too! Certainly gives me confidence in his potential to win the OGM. :agree:
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there are already alot, you have regional skaters with like the many talented Japanese men raising and giving further interest in figure skating which has sifted mostly to asia now, Chanwont/isnt the credit for boosting FS popularity in Asia.
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weren't we talking here about ethnic background
I think that on one thing Sky_fly was right... that no skater could boost the popularity of figure skating in the ALL big world... but I agree with her/him that there are a few skater, not counting the big name that were already around at 2010 olympics, because many of them already had an impact on the numbers of the skating fancomunity, that could bring many new fans in the sport:
in the men:
Jason Brown is already doing it in the usa and thanks to his presence and showmanship can quite surely attract many new fans...
Yuzuru hanyu... I do think that he can attract new fans, hell I've become a fan after watching his 2012 world performance, but I thnk that a medal of any metal by him wouldn't change much the popularity of skating in japan, probably it would just not drop, or not too much, after Mao and Daisuke retirement.
in the ladies:
I'm sorry but no one of the new ladies comes to me as an "idol"... sure if one of them wins a medal it would increase the interest of the population for them, but I'm not sure that they would makea big splash outside the borders...
that said I wholeheartedly agree with Canadianskaterguy that what attract the casual viewer is the DRAMA, the COURAGE... During turin olympics I was just a kid, but still now the only thing I do remember is the Zhangs free skate, while I don't even remember the face of the winner of that nigth I remmeber clearly Zhang's fall, her tears and her smile wen they won the silver medal...
in the men:
Jason Brown is already doing it in the usa and thanks to his presence and showmanship can quite surely attract many new fans...
Yuzuru hanyu... I do think that he can attract new fans, hell I've become a fan after watching his 2012 world performance, but I thnk that a medal of any metal by him wouldn't change much the popularity of skating in japan, probably it would just not drop, or not too much, after Mao and Daisuke retirement.
in the ladies:
I'm sorry but no one of the new ladies comes to me as an "idol"... sure if one of them wins a medal it would increase the interest of the population for them, but I'm not sure that they would makea big splash outside the borders...
that said I wholeheartedly agree with Canadianskaterguy that what attract the casual viewer is the DRAMA, the COURAGE... During turin olympics I was just a kid, but still now the only thing I do remember is the Zhangs free skate, while I don't even remember the face of the winner of that nigth I remmeber clearly Zhang's fall, her tears and her smile wen they won the silver medal...
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