Sad that Oda is only one of the Japanese fab five to not medal | Golden Skate

Sad that Oda is only one of the Japanese fab five to not medal

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
Looking at it now it is amazing to realize but Oda is now officialy the only one of the Japanese fab five we have been watching for 5 years+ now who does not have a world or Olympic medal. Now with Hanyu, Takahashi, Machida, Kozuka, all having atleast one, and all atleast a silver as well. Given that he is retired it is sure to remain this way also (unless he makes a comeback at some point). This is sad as he is clearly one of the most talented, if not the most talented, of that group of great skaters. I dont even particularly like his skating, his immature style of artistry was never my cup of tea, but there is no denying his amazing jumping talent, possibly the best jumping technique of his era including even Hanyu, his basic skating skills, probably one of the few on par with Chan, his ability to do spins, footwork, and just his overall abilities as a skater. It is sad his star never truly shone the way it seemed like it would. He even lost a world bronze medal twice- 2006 and 2011, by Zayaking.

He was really skating well this year, and probably could have medalled at the Olympics and worlds had he just made the team. I dont know why he wasnt made worlds alternate instead of Kozuka who did nothing apart from Nationals.
 

Mista Ekko

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 9, 2009
The Japanse fab five ? :unsure:

Didn't realise that's "a thing" :scratch:

I bet Takahito Mura would have something to say about that,

Anyways, I assume Oda wasn't made alternate to World because he finished lower at Nats and has already retired before Olympics,
I do adore him too, Sadly he never had a moment where it all came together, And had a habit of being better early on in the season.
 

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
No, he announced his retirement after the World, Olympic, and 4CC teams and alternates were all named. He might not have retired if he was named as alternate for one of olympics or worlds, or he might have. Who knows. Not being named as even an alternate for either, made it easier though.

I made up the term, but basically of all the really successful Japanese men the last 5 years or so, Oda is now the only one left without a world medal. I wouldnt have even put Machida in a grouping with those others before this year however. Just as I wouldnt Mura right now.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
I agree that Oda is wonderful to watch. He seems to have rockets in his skates! I too am sorry that he has no significant international medals. It's too bad that he couldn't have rented himself out to, say, Sweden or even the U.S. because he'd have appeared on the international roster every year, and he would have had more chances to medal. I was very sad when I heard that he was retiring.
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Yeah, he usually did do better early in the season. At least he's won GP medals, although I can't remember how many. His lack of attention to counting his jumps sometimes caused him to be lower in the standings than he would have been otherwise, lol.
 

nimi

Medalist
Joined
Apr 7, 2014
His lack of attention to counting his jumps sometimes caused him to be lower in the standings than he would have been otherwise, lol.
Oh gosh, the World medal he gifted to Gachinski in 2011 by Zayaking... And when Japan's men had only one place for Torino Oympics, didn't they first proclaim Oda as the winner of Nationals until they found out he had Zayaked but the computer program just had missed it at first or something - so in the end, Daisuke ended up as the winner and went to the Olympics. And then when Nobu made it to the Olys in 2010 there was the shoelace incident...

At least there's the 4cc gold, right? But his competitive history really makes you think whether the punisment for "pulling a Nobu" is too harsh, points-wise.
 

Sandpiper

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 16, 2014
I think the punishment is much too harsh. Zero points is worse than anything. Worse than underrotating and splatting, worse than a double-downgrade, worse than singling.

What if they just downgraded the jump if you repeated it? For instance, say you repeat a triple salchow--give you to the base points of a double salchow for that. It's more than enough points lost to deter people, but not enough to kill someone if they made an honest mistake.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 25, 2013
Unfortunately Oda was a victim to the rules of CoP. I thought his jumps were a dream, especially the flow, knees, and curve on the landing. I don't think he was the most emotionally expressive of the top Japanese skaters (Takahashi obviously setting the bar extremely high).

I would actually put him on par or above Kozuka in terms of success (although Kozuka was hampered by injury). A 4th at Worlds, where he essentially denied himself a medal due to Zayaking, is still not bad. He's also got 4CC, which is more presitigious being an ISU championship than Kozuka. I don't think he needs a World medal to be regarded as a good skater.

He won a GP in his first season on the GP (and qualified for the GPF) - which none of Takahashi, Hanyu, Machida or Kozuka achieved in their first GP season - and that takes a rare talent.

A World or Olympics medal doesn't mean much anyways in the grand scheme of things. There are a quite a few Russian skaters who I hold in higher regard than Leonova, even though she has a World silver. I currently hold Oda in higher regard than Denis Ten, in spite of Ten's world silver and Olympic bronze, and Oda's lack of medaling at either. The same way people hold Kwan higher than Olympic gold medalists in the past.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Unfortunately Oda was a victim to the rules of CoP. I thought his jumps were a dream, especially the flow, knees, and curve on the landing. I don't think he was the most emotionally expressive of the top Japanese skaters (Takahashi obviously setting the bar extremely high).

I would actually put him on par or above Kozuka in terms of success (although Kozuka was hampered by injury). A 4th at Worlds, where he essentially denied himself a medal due to Zayaking, is still not bad. He's also got 4CC, which is more presitigious being an ISU championship than Kozuka and Machida. I don't think he needs a World medal to be regarded as a good skater.

He won a GP in his first season on the GP (and qualified for the GPF) - which none of Takahashi, Hanyu, Machida or Kozuka achieved in their first GP season - and that takes a rare talent.

A World or Olympics medal doesn't mean much anyways in the grand scheme of things. There are a quite a few Russian skaters who I hold in higher regard than Leonova, even though she has a World silver. I currently hold Oda in higher regard than Denis Ten, in spite of Ten's world silver and Olympic bronze, and Oda's lack of medaling at either. The same way people hold Kwan higher than Olympic gold medalists in the past.

:agree:

I'm definitely on team Oda. I love all the Japanese skaters, but for some reason I find that I have a soft spot for him.
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
I think the punishment is much too harsh. Zero points is worse than anything. Worse than underrotating and splatting, worse than a double-downgrade, worse than singling.

What if they just downgraded the jump if you repeated it? For instance, say you repeat a triple salchow--give you to the base points of a double salchow for that. It's more than enough points lost to deter people, but not enough to kill someone if they made an honest mistake.

Yeah, that makes sense..
 

Maria Victoria

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
I felt Nobunari could have medalled in Sochi if he made it to the Japanese national team as he placed third in the season ending GPF. In the beginning of the season he won the Nebelhorn where the British commentator Simon Reed even said that Nobunari could win the Olympics with his 1Quad, 9 Triples LP performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkfzOPCFS88). In any case, he is one skater who I think is greater than his results and even greater as a person. I posted in the Team Japan thread that it was so him to cheer for Daisuke ("Ganbatte Dai chan!") at the 2013 Japan nationals, even knowing that both he and Daisuke were competing to keep alive their respective dream of participating in a last Olympics. I think he's now into coaching, and maybe someday we will see one of his sons win that Olympics or Worlds medal for his Odaddy. :)
 

TheGrandSophy

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
I felt Nobunari could have medalled in Sochi if he made it to the Japanese national team as he placed third in the season ending GPF. In the beginning of the season he won the Nebelhorn where the British commentator Simon Reed even said that Nobunari could win the Olympics with his 1Quad, 9 Triples LP performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkfzOPCFS88). In any case, he is one skater who I think is greater than his results and even greater as a person. I posted in the Team Japan thread that it was so him to cheer for Daisuke ("Ganbatte Dai chan!") at the 2013 Japan nationals, even knowing that both he and Daisuke were competing to keep alive their respective dream of participating in a last Olympics. I think he's now into coaching, and maybe someday we will see one of his sons win that Olympics or Worlds medal for his Odaddy. :)

I read that in the other thread and awwed. Does anyone have footage? *I am a sap*
 

TheGrandSophy

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Aww, thank you!

I don't know whether I am right, but the Japanese team seem to get on with each other as a unit better than any other of the national teams to me.
 

Maria Victoria

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 10, 2014
^ Welcome :). I think one possible reason is that they have more opportunities to develop camaraderie because figure skating is so popular in Japan so they are together in many ice shows. There's also the Japanese culture of "wa" (harmony).
 

TheGrandSophy

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 14, 2014
Interesting. Thank you. The Japanese culture is definitely something I would like to learn more about. Some interesting concepts seem intrinsic.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Aww, thank you!

I don't know whether I am right, but the Japanese team seem to get on with each other as a unit better than any other of the national teams to me.

It certainly seems so, and it's one of the reasons I enjoy Japanese skaters so much.
 
Top