2014 Olympics Team Event Ladies Free Skate

[marcolee925]

I was disappointed by Gold. It seemed to me that her FS choreography has been simplified since the GP. Or maybe Carroll made her move 'softer' when that music is really big and powerful and strong movements were very appropriate. She did very well on the jump front but I expected a bit more from her performance.

It's all relative. I feel she is much more controlled and paced (i.e. knows what she is doing) compared to last season, but Carroll hasn't been able to teach her to understand and express music. It looked to me to be a total act and she couldn't even do her final pose right. She skated great and should end with a bang instead of the limp wristed, confused, hesitant pose she was going for.

 

[Ziggy]

Thing is, I actually really liked Gold's FS at the GP series. Yeah, she's still wooden but she's using her arms better and was hitting all the musical accents in time at least. I also thought the program had a fair amount of transitions.

Watching her FS in the team event, it felt a bit flat and I thought some of the choreo has been taken out. But I don't know, I was in a pretty crap mood when I was watching it so maybe it was just me.

 

[MaiKatze]

I thought every free was lacking here. Even Julia had better performances of her long before. I think the individuals will be more exciting. I hope they will be. Clean good programs all around. The pressure won't lessen, but I hope the older skaters can handle it better than here. But it somehow seems that the only one to handle pressure well is 15 year old Julia. :think:

 

[jcsamex]

So you (some) guys say that Gracie Gold is one to watch for the future because she also has facial beauty? ***?!?!?! ROFL!!!

Those guys have made my day so early. I didn't realize this was the Miss Universe pageant. Come on! If that was the case, not Michelle, nor Slutskaya (she got much prettier later on her career) and nor even Yuna would've made it so far.

I like Gracie but I find her skating style a little boring. I like Julia's explosiveness on her tiny jumps and her overchoreographed programs better. At least for this year.

I guess the judges agree with me because of her 15 year old face and skin are quite stunning (Lol xD).

 

[MidnightSkater]

Thing is, I actually really liked Gold's FS at the GP series. Yeah, she's still wooden but she's using her arms better and was hitting all the musical accents in time at least. I also thought the program had a fair amount of transitions.

Watching her FS in the team event, it felt a bit flat and I thought some of the choreo has been taken out. But I don't know, I was in a pretty crap mood when I was watching it so maybe it was just me.

This is what I get when I watch Gracie skate.
Everything was there yesterday but I find her very cold to watch & her arms just fly around.
Then you look at Akiko & it's all emotion. She lives her programs & understands everything.
But she is older than Gracie so I think she will improve.
If anything I thought Gracie was over-marked. Technically very good but from the artistic side very little.
Julia is amazing for a 15 year old.
I sat watching yesterday with two American friends & they both said "I wish Julia was from the USA".
Sometimes I think that's the problem on these threads.
Julia is Russian & Gracie is American.
We still live in the "Rocky era". Russia=Bad, USA=Good.
Please people don't look at the country a skaters competes for, look at the skater & their talent.

 

[cheerio2]

Gracie was so underscored and underrated. She just skated one of the most technically difficult clean programs at the Olys ever, with great jumps, skating skills, and transitions, and only gets a 129? LOL. It really does not matter to me whether she looked "cold" or not. At the end of the day, this is a skating competition, not a "facial expressions" competition, and that skate that Gracie put out would have easily won the gold at any Olympics besides 2010.

 

[sky_fly20]

I was disappointed by Gold. It seemed to me that her FS choreography has been simplified since the GP. Or maybe Carroll made her move 'softer' when that music is really big and powerful and strong movements were very appropriate. She did very well on the jump front but I expected a bit more from her performance.

because Gracie has learned to control herself and calmed down
though she is a bit slower now when she powers through her jumps, before her take off was huge

 

[marcolee925]

Gracie was so underscored and underrated. She just skated one of the most technically difficult clean programs at the Olys ever, with great jumps, skating skills, and transitions, and only gets a 129? LOL. It really does not matter to me whether she looked "cold" or not. At the end of the day, this is a skating competition, not a "facial expressions" competition, and that skate that Gracie put out would have easily won the gold at any Olympics besides 2010.

Because how she expresses herself affects her PCS.

But I do agree her GOEs are ridiculously low compared to Lipnitskaya.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Really? I also thought it was distracting, but I really feel sorry for the skaters that are getting scared! Figure Skating is so exposing - you are completely alone in singles and to have the crowd against you or at least unsupporting, must be the hardest thing. Good for Yuzuru that Plushenko was long gone when he skated, but I felt that Machida was nervous he looked a bit fragile out there.

I understand Akiko's skate a bit better now that I read this. But honestly, I love her and all, but a performance like this just won't do. I don't understand why she didn't go and performed the hell out of her beautiful program. She had literally nothing! to loose.

Did you see the faces of some skaters when their marks were shown? I think they all kind of think, ok, that's the kind of judging I have to expect here. No favours.

Haha, I just asked at the Hanyu forum if someone knew about Yuzuru warning the others and Kalina said she read an interview with Akiko where she said Yuzuru warned them the screams are so loud, you can't even here the commentator. I get being proud of your own nation and what not, but this is simply disrespectful, unfair and annoying. And now think about that there wasn't even a russian skater in the same warm-up group as Hanyu. I also thought you could hear those screams right before Chan and Hanyu skated, when there wasn't any russian skater in sight. The Olympics are pressure filled and stressful enough, and if the skaters don't even have a calm moment for themselves to come down before their performances because the audiences thinks its nice to show them they just want to support someone else... I feel really sorry for all of those athletes.
The faces of Takahashi and Hanyu were really telling in the K'n'C, IMO (although I kind of loved them sicne they're reaction gif gold). They both looked at Machidas score like they didn't know what to think of it, and both of them aren't exactly known for being fast to complain.
OTOH, as a Hanyu fan, I'm even more impressed he skated clean under these condidtions, especially since he was the first one of the japanese team to get to meet the nice audience.

One of the russian members of a Mao Asada group I'm in said she thinks it will change for the individual events though. Since the events are so expensive, every real skating fan she knew decided to go to the individual events and the team event was probably filled with a lot of people who know nothing about this sport. And there should be more non-russians there too (especially korean and japanese fans ).

 

[Tinymavy15]

I am so proud of Gracie for that skate. She has come so far in 1 year (last year she looked afraid of her shadow out there) and how she is as calm and cool and confident as a champion. This looks good for the individual event for her.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

Gracie was so underscored and underrated. She just skated one of the most technically difficult clean programs at the Olys ever, with great jumps, skating skills, and transitions, and only gets a 129? LOL. It really does not matter to me whether she looked "cold" or not. At the end of the day, this is a skating competition, not a "facial expressions" competition, and that skate that Gracie put out would have easily won the gold at any Olympics besides 2010.

I'm very, very far from a Gracie fan (actually, since her "Asian face" on twitter I pretty much can't stand her at all) and prefer Julia to her big time, but her scores were a lot lower than I expected. She has her short-comings, but since when is actual artistry something the judges care about at all? She has the skating skills and speed and big jumps, and if she would have skated like this anywhere else, she would have been 4-5 points higher easily I guess. Let alone her opening combo got 0.4 on GOE, which is weird.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Excellent skates for Gracie, Julia, and Valentina!

sky_fly, if Gracie is unable to clear 130 with a clean freeskate, how do you suppose she will clear 150+, let alone win gold over Julia who thoroughly beat her even when she skated clean?

Speaking of which, Julia definitely deserved to win, but LMAO at those PCS scores. Lipnitskaia got 69.82 points for program components -- for comparison, she got 60.88 PCS at Skate Canada and 60.52 at the GPF for clean skates. The amount of effort that the Russian fed has done to boost her PCS scores is crazy, to have a clean skate go up 9 points in PCS within the season. Although I suppose if at Cup of Russia she can land 3 triples and get a personal best PCS 63.64, of course in Sochi a clean skate gets her 70 points PCS.

 

[NYscorp6]

I agree. I also liked the fact that Gracie was not treating the team event as a "warm-up" but as a real competition, which it was. And it showed!

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I agree. I also liked the fact that Gracie was not treating the team event as a "warm-up" but as a real competition, which it was. And it showed!

Yeah, I was very impressed by that. Her jumps looked solid, and she's refined her arms and movements in between them.

I thought she should have cleared 130+, but seems like even with a clean skate, she still hasn't quite reached the 130-club as Kim, Lipnitskaia, Asada, Ando, Suzuki, Murakami, Tuktamysheva, Kostner, Cohen, Sotnikova, Rochette, and Slutskaya all have.

Which makes it that much more amusing when sky_fly thinks she would clear 150+.

 

[mskater93]

I fully own my middle aged prudeness, but day-um I feel like I am being mooned watching Osmond. She pretty much has a thong under her skirts on all her dresses.

We have taken to calling it "butt floss"

 

[ForeverFan]

Agree, totally disgusting

 

[tulosai]

OMG.

So look I agree Julia was overscored, but the truth is this:

Julia made her move all season and is being rewarded. Gracie had a chance to make her move all season too, but instead imploded at her first GP event and only managed 4th in her second one. She did not make it to the GPF and that hurt her. The fact that until now she has never skated clean internationally also has hurt her. Is this fair? No not really. And should Gracie be punished because she is making her 'move' later? No, she shouldn't. But it's not like any skater with half a brain doesn't know how it works. Judging is partly reputation based, and it's not fair but everyone knows it. Gracie has had 2 years to build her reputation and failed to do so until US Nats this year. People do bloom at different times, peak at different times, etc, and I hope Gracie will keep skating and be there in the hunt for gold in 2018. She did not position herself to be in the medal hunt this time though and that is a fact. I am NOT saying it is fair, but I do NOT know how anyone can be surprised.

In addition, the way Julia got higher TES is obvious. Her spins are better than Gracie's. Period.

I also think some people are a bit delusional about how Gracie and Julia's PCS should be scored next to one another based on these SPECIFIC long programs that they have. I would NOT apply the same analysis to the SP's for what it is worth.

Gracie should win on SS by about a point and a half no question. The marks Julia is getting next to Gracie (and others) on SS are a travesty and I admit that.

However, Julia should win over Gracie in the LP on Choreography, also no question, by a point or so as she is. I understand some people think her choreo is manipulative. This is a way people who don't like Julia communicate the fact that she has the judges and the majority of the viewing audience eating out of her hand. It is a masterfully executed and choreographed piece that effectively hides all of Julia's weaknesses and elicits a strong emotional reaction among MOST people. To try to deny this is not realistic. Gracie's LP on the other hand is generic and confused. I still don't see the 'power witch' she claims to be.

TR they are about equal. They have different approaches to transitions (more of Julia's are flexibility based. I understand and respect that those transitions are not everyone's cup of tea but that they are difficult can't be denied) but around an equal number and I'd argue equal difficulty. Gracie should maybe have a SLIGHT advantage here but I'd give her at most an advantage of .25. Essentially I call this equal.

And on THESE SPECIFIC LP's, I think Julia kills Gracie on IN and PE. Gracie, I am sorry, still has not come into her own as an artist. She is very paint by numbers. She is a powerful skater with a lot of energy but IMO this has still not been channeled into a program that truly captures her strengths. The judges do seem to agree. While it is true that JuLip has a lot of work to do herself in these areas, in this program in particular, she has AMAZING IN and PE. This IS because the music, subject matter, etc are definitely masking her weaknesses to an extreme degree. She could not achieve this effect with any upbeat music whatsoever. No one denies that. But she's played to her strengths and it is working. On these programs I think a gap of 1+ points between her and Gracie is appropriate.

You need not like it, and you need not like her, but these are the facts.

 

[mskater93]

Except, Julia got better GOE on jumps, tulosai, including on a direct comparison 3Lz+3T. Julia got an additional point there alone which I don't see as justifiable. That is one of the complaints of the TES overscoring

 

[TonyaHardlyEver]

I don't think Julia is cooked yet. I think Russia is taking her out of the oven way too soon., but, because the Olympics are in Russia she has that advantage.
She still needs to mature and develop and HOLD HER MOVES so we can actually see them. I think the Russian federation is pushing her and it may backfire.

I like Gracie, just 'like', she is good, a good jumper and seems pretty consistent, but she doesn't wow me.

It is weird to think Yuna may not win. With Julia being Russian ..ya know what that means as we have seen with the scoring so far.

I think Akiko has one heck of a great smile and I enjoy her skating style.

Is this a skating competition or a beauty pageant?

 

[zamboni step]

In addition, the way Julia got higher TES is obvious. Her spins are better than Gracie's. Period.

I'm not so sure about the combination spin and flying spins being compared honestly, here Julia's travelled a lot on the combination, and I know that's the battle cry of the Julia basher but I honestly think that it was a flaw Gracie didn't have. On the flying spin, I think Gracie's was equally good, the positions were good, fast and well centered. Julia's positions were better and she was a little faster but the control wasn't quite as good. The layback is unquestionable though, Julia's was better.

I also think some people are a bit delusional about how Gracie and Julia's PCS should be scored next to one another based on these SPECIFIC long programs that they have. I would NOT apply the same analysis to the SP's for what it is worth.

Gracie should win on SS by about a point and a half no question. The marks Julia is getting next to Gracie (and others) on SS are a travesty and I admit that.

However, Julia should win over Gracie in the LP on Choreography, also no question, by a point or so as she is. I understand some people think her choreo is manipulative. This is a way people who don't like Julia communicate the fact that she has the judges and the majority of the viewing audience eating out of her hand. It is a masterfully executed and choreographed piece that effectively hides all of Julia's weaknesses and elicits a strong emotional reaction among MOST people. To try to deny this is not realistic. Gracie's LP on the other hand is generic and confused. I still don't see the 'power witch' she claims to be.

I agree that Julia deserved bette PCS, a healthy amount more. Gracie's win on SS is, as you say, about a point and a half. And I agree Gracie's choreography is a travesty especially comared to the ingenious packaging of Lipnitskaya here. And I actually believe the choreography being manipulative is part of what makes it so clever, if it makes people feel things, it's a success. Gracie is about as much of a "Power Witch" as Taylor Swift. She needs to study Sarah Palin more and should be a good two points down on Julia in that area.

TR they are about equal. They have different approaches to transitions (more of Julia's are flexibility based. I understand and respect that those transitions are not everyone's cup of tea but that they are difficult can't be denied) but around an equal number and I'd argue equal difficulty. Gracie should maybe have a SLIGHT advantage here but I'd give her at most an advantage of .25. Essentially I call this equal.

I wouldn't agree they are equal, they have an equal amount of transitions, but Gracie's are siginificantly more difficult even if they are a little less seamless/intricate, I'd have Gracie .50-.75 higher in TR I think.

And on THESE SPECIFIC LP's, I think Julia kills Gracie on IN and PE. Gracie, I am sorry, still has not come into her own as an artist. She is very paint by numbers. She is a powerful skater with a lot of energy but IMO this has still not been channeled into a program that truly captures her strengths. The judges do seem to agree. While it is true that JuLip has a lot of work to do herself in these areas, in this program in particular, she has AMAZING IN and PE. This IS because the music, subject matter, etc are definitely masking her weaknesses to an extreme degree. She could not achieve this effect with any upbeat music whatsoever. No one denies that. But she's played to her strengths and it is working. On these programs I think a gap of 1+ points between her and Gracie is appropriate.

I'd say Julia is a point higher in IN and PE than Gracie, it'd be higher, had she shown more diversity of expression/performance/atmosphere. I understand that this program doesn't call for it, but I think it should still be reflected slightly in the marks. Though she still trounces Gracie's quite muddled mish-mash of "Badass *****" and "Pwetty princess".

Overall I'd score it

Julia Lipnitskaya

SS- 7.25
TR- 7.50
PE- 7.75
CH- 7.75
IN- 8.00

Gracie Gold

SS- 8.00
TR- 8.00
PE- 7.00
CH- 6.50
IN- 7.00

And that's without even getting into the ridiculousness of jump GOE.