If Yuna skates relatively clean, I don't think Julia will win, Russian inflation or not. I mean, that's like scoring I/K over V/M or D/W.
Gold isn't Kim's to win, it's Lipnitskaya's to lose, and in all honesty, if she skates as well as she did in the team competition, there is no way she will.
THIS!
But I hope people can recognize that there can be multiple winners, and at the end of Thursday, when all dust settles, we have just that. If Julia can give 2 clean performances at the Olympics, before the home crowd as an inexperienced, 15-year old, that should be honored as a tremendous accomplishment, regardless of the color of the medal. If Mao can nail her triple axels at the grandest and final competition of her career, that should be recognized again as a great Olympic triumph, regardless of the color of the medal. If Ashley can give two great performances to redeem herself, that would also be a great triumph. I sincerely hope to see many winners when this competition is over. Let the greatest event at these Olympics begin!!
THIS!
But I hope people can recognize that there can be multiple winners, and at the end of Thursday, when all dust settles, we have just that. If Julia can give 2 clean performances at the Olympics, before the home crowd as an inexperienced, 15-year old, that should be honored as a tremendous accomplishment, regardless of the color of the medal. If Mao can nail her triple axels at the grandest and final competition of her career, that should be recognized again as a great Olympic triumph, regardless of the color of the medal. If Ashley can give two great performances to redeem herself, that would also be a great triumph. I sincerely hope to see many winners when this competition is over. Let the greatest event at these Olympics begin!!
I think Mao only did the 3-3 before they started scrutinizing jumps so closely. I'm sure she would have tried to add that jump if she could. I still think she should give up on the triple-axel, at least in the long program. Whatever 1 or 2 points she might be able to eke out on a botched jump will probably be lost in PCS. She should do the double axel-3T and a triple on all of the other jumping passes. With a clean 7 triple program, she could challenge Yu Na in the long and hope she makes a mistake somewhere to lose any advantage in the short.
What about Yu-Na? What achievement could be her triumph?
I don't know if Yuna would crush a clean Julia. At Worlds last year, Yuna scored around 69 in the short and 148 in the long. Didn't Julia get something like 71 in the short and 141 in the long? That would put Yuna ahead, but not by a "crushing" margin. And for those who say Yuna was underscored in the short at Worlds, I'm sure an equal number would say she was overscored in the long.
IMO, this is disingenuous and not logically sound.I don't know if Yuna would crush a clean Julia. At Worlds last year, Yuna scored around 69 in the short and 148 in the long. Didn't Julia get something like 71 in the short and 141 in the long? That would put Yuna ahead, but not by a "crushing" margin. And for those who say Yuna was underscored in the short at Worlds, I'm sure an equal number would say she was overscored in the long.
Vladimir Lenin: A lie told often enough becomes the truth.
A lie is a still lie doesn't matter who told it and how many times and by what method. It may not have been found out today, but truth will always reveal itself; and those who took part, they will have to live with their own conscious and their reputation and integrity is tarnished forever.
COP is suppose to remove subjectivity from the sport. If Julia is not skating for Russia today but for Jamaica, if Olympics did not take place in Sochi, if the package was not Schindler's list, if she is not a fair child with blonde hair blue eyes that has youth on her side with probably the most partisan audience in the world, will she be earn these astronomical home PCS inflation that took the veterans years of blood sweat and tears to earn them? Should an Olympic medal be earned this way? If Sochi is to have taken place 2 years ago, it will have been Liza instead of Julia (who has far better jumps) will the whole thing still happen?
The Olympic Charter state respect, fairplay, dedication, true universality are to be followed on the moral philosophy called 'world ethos'. It is anti discrimination, corruption, or manipulation of any kind which would be the most serious infringement of the Olympic spirit. I hope this sport will abide to these ethical principles, be responsible and continue to celebrate these universal values. For it to be part of the Olympic movement, the sport must be politically neutral even if inside the arena, many of the audiences aren't.
It is one thing how general audience may feel moved seeing Schindler's list on ice from a laymen's view, but one would expect an educated, experienced, credible and knowledge judging panel should able to separate hype/sensationalism versus what is actually being delivered on ice ON THE DAY. With no agendas or biases and treat ALL skaters with equal fairness. This lady's event will be the final event to test the credibility of COP to see whether it can fulfill its stated purpose. Whether as a human race, we just can't resist tell lies under any judging system doesn't matter how preventative it is as long there are little accountability or transparency.
Can we just wait? Thank god we'll find out soon enough and stop all this silly speculation.
Kim > Lipnitskaya > Asada. I think clean Asada beats clean Lipnitskaya but unfortunately I think Putin will start officiating gay marriages before Asada lands all the jumps she has planned.
IMO, this is disingenuous and not logically sound.
-Under the WC13 standards of judging, Julia would have gotten edge calls on her lutzes (and would have deserved them more than Yuna on her SP flip), dramatically lower GOEs on jumps, and hugely lower PCS. She would have been lucky to score 65 and 135, and would have been crushed by Yuna by a margin of 15-20 points. Minimum.