Favourite competitions of the year?

[sk8kirsty]

We are coming to the end of 2019, coming to the end of another decade in fact! This year I have been more into skating than any other year, spending pretty much all my free time watching skating [emoji13]
There have been so many amazing competitions this year but I must say that my favourite would just have to be the GPF (senior ladies especially)
Its was such an exciting, nervracking and emotional competition and I must admit, I've watched it about 7 or 8 times since then [emoji28]
What have been your favourite competitions from this year?

 

[ruga]

It hasn't even started, but RusNats probably I also enjoyed the GPF, mainly because my faves won/achieved very good results, but the competition was very strong, almost all best skaters were there.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

We are coming to the end of 2019, coming to the end of another decade in fact!

Off topic, but is anybody else with me in thinking that we still have one more year left to the current decade?

Think about it - you start counting at number 1, not at 0.

And with the calendar system that we use, there was no year 0 - we went straight from 1 BC to AD 1. So, if you class 2019 as the end of the decade, that means there must have been a 9 year decade in there somewhere. Which is nonsense.

Sorry, this is something that really gets to me.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[SkateSkates]

I would have to say GPF as well, because so many of my faves and the top skaters were there. But I also think NHK had some great skating, as did Skate Canada. And I was lucky enough to be at IDF live so I can’t leave this one out either! Bonus Japanese nationals for Wakaba and Rika’s LPs only

 

[readernick]

GPF was exciting. I was especially into the Junior ladies this year. (such good skating skills). The wonderful FS of Shun Sato and the fabulous ice dance battle in juniors. The Senior Ice Dance competition was also very well skated by all teams.

But, Japanese nationals is generally my favorite competition each year simply because I love good skating skills/ great step sequences and no other country consistently teaches their skaters such wonderful foundational skating. The 25th ranked skater at Japanese nationals may not be technically competitive but their basic skating is almost without exception great! This holds true for Japanese ladies and men. (even young junior skaters have wonderful flow)

Russian nationals will also be exciting this year. I love Russian pairs and it will be one of the most exciting pairs competitions of the year!

 

[Mishaminion]

GPF Mens and Ladies were my favourites.

Mens started out rough but the top 3 made it all worth it! Amazing performances.

Ladies was just...mind blowing that a lady with 2 3As and a fully rotated quad attempt didn't even medal.
9 quads attempted in the Ladies FS, 5 landed.

Insane!

 

[sweetener]

Skate Canada, NHK, GPF, JNats, and JGP Croatia men’s!

 

[sk8kirsty]

Off topic, but is anybody else with me in thinking that we still have one more year left to the current decade?

Think about it - you start counting at number 1, not at 0.

And with the calendar system that we use, there was no year 0 - we went straight from 1 BC to AD 1. So, if you class 2019 as the end of the decade, that means there must have been a 9 year decade in there somewhere. Which is nonsense.

Sorry, this is something that really gets to me.

CaroLiza_fan

That's a good point actually [emoji28][emoji108]

 

[ladyjane]

Well, if you look at the whole year (so the second half of season 2018-19 and the first half of season 2019-2020), I particularly liked Euros (last chance to see Fernandez skate competitively, surprise win Samadurova, Rizzo's great Free Skate) and Worlds (the wonderful Free skate of Sui/Han, the great showdown between Yuzu and Nathan, Zagitova and Medvedeva both showing their grit and perseverance). The GPF was okay, particularly the men's but the Pairs were a bit of a let down in the Free Skate. In that sense I liked some of the individual GP events a lot better. Cup of China had the return of Han Yan which was just great and Sui/Han skated better there than at the GPF, Nam Nguyen had a great skate at Skate Canada while my Russian pairs favourites Boikova/Kozlovskii had a much greater FS at Rostelecom than at GPF. There was only one pair that actually skated at their best at GPF, and even that skate was with a SBS 2S instead of a 3S! I have also enjoyed Japanese Nationals last weekend (a lot) even though the Pairs (only one pair) and ID weren't that interesting, and I'll probably will enjoy Russian Nationals too, especially the Pairs discipline because it doesn't get deeper than there.

 

[eppen]

No competition here for me (pun intended): Europeans and actually only Javier Fernández in his last competition. It was a week I will never forget. Everything as usual and at the same time, never anything like that before. The number of Javi fans who came to Minsk was pretty impressive. The skates were not perhaps vintage Javi, but the Angry Javi after the SP and the (also IMO bogus) UR call on the 4S. Had I been one of the other guys on ice with him, I would have been intimitated just by his angry aura... The perfect 4S in the FS with a look towards the judges "Deduct from that if you dare". And the joy of getting the 7th gold. The escape from the gala (probably just to avoid Lukashenko's loooong speech?!). Figure skaters usually just disappear fairly quietly in the off season, so going out this way in a bang was way cool!

Also, managing to see Alena Kostornaia's first 3As live in Finlandia Trophy was not bad.

E

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Except for the pairs, the GPF was stellar and had some wonderful performances.

 

[iluvtodd]

2019 US Nationals - we were there in person - seeing Nathan's amazing performances, Sean Rabbitt's glorious short program & his priceless reaction afterwards!

Europeans - Javi winning his 7th title! Matteo Rizzo medalling!

 

[Aino]

Off topic, but is anybody else with me in thinking that we still have one more year left to the current decade?

Think about it - you start counting at number 1, not at 0.

And with the calendar system that we use, there was no year 0 - we went straight from 1 BC to AD 1. So, if you class 2019 as the end of the decade, that means there must have been a 9 year decade in there somewhere. Which is nonsense.

Sorry, this is something that really gets to me.

CaroLiza_fan

This calendar system was not used in the 'year 0'. But this is a very interesting idea, mathematicly the first 'decade' had 9 years.

 

[lariko]

We are coming to the end of 2019, coming to the end of another decade in fact! This year I have been more into skating than any other year, spending pretty much all my free time watching skating [emoji13]
There have been so many amazing competitions this year but I must say that my favourite would just have to be the GPF (senior ladies especially)
Its was such an exciting, nervracking and emotional competition and I must admit, I've watched it about 7 or 8 times since then [emoji28]
What have been your favourite competitions from this year?

In 2019 calendar year it was 4CC, Junior Worlds and Skate Canada.

 

[Skuratov]

Off topic, but is anybody else with me in thinking that we still have one more year left to the current decade?

Think about it - you start counting at number 1, not at 0.

And with the calendar system that we use, there was no year 0 - we went straight from 1 BC to AD 1. So, if you class 2019 as the end of the decade, that means there must have been a 9 year decade in there somewhere. Which is nonsense.

Sorry, this is something that really gets to me.

CaroLiza_fan

You are right. The twentieth century ended 12/31/2000. The decade will end on 12/31/2020.

 

[PaulE]

Off topic, but is anybody else with me in thinking that we still have one more year left to the current decade?

Think about it - you start counting at number 1, not at 0.

And with the calendar system that we use, there was no year 0 - we went straight from 1 BC to AD 1. So, if you class 2019 as the end of the decade, that means there must have been a 9 year decade in there somewhere. Which is nonsense.

Sorry, this is something that really gets to me.

CaroLiza_fan

This is something that bothers me too. According to an article by Stephen J. Gould that I read a long time ago we can blame it on Dennis the Short (Dionysius Exiguus) the inventor of the Anno Domini era. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_Exiguus.

 

[Skuratov]

I watched several historical events.
Nepela Memorial: Ladies Event. Sasha broke Alina's record (TSS = 238.69) and set others, FS TES = 98.34 FS TS = 163.68 and she became the first lady to land 3 quads in official competition.
Japan Open: Although not recognized by ISU as an official competition, Sasha became the first lady to land 4 quads, 2 in combo. 3 different quads: 4S, 4T and 4Lz. Kihira's Coach shocked face was priceless.
Skate Canada: Sasha broke her own records of FS TES = 100.20, FS TS = 166.62. (both still valid), TSS = 241.02.
GPF ladies: Sasha first lady to land a 4F in official competition. Alyona broke Sasha's record TSS = 247.59 and set a new record in SP TS = 85.45.
Will we see Sasha land 5 quads in her FS in unofficial competition before the end of the year?

 

[Dreamer57]

For me: Four Continents, NHK and Winter Universiade (ladies). I was really happy to see Mai win that competition.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

That's a good point actually [emoji28][emoji108]

Thank you.

This calendar system was not used in the 'year 0'. But this is a very interesting idea, mathematicly the first 'decade' had 9 years.

Don't worry, I realised that the Gregorian Calendar (and the Julian Calendar, for that matter) was introduced retrospectively. But, knowing that the word "decade" specifically refers to the number 10 does make it hard to come to terms with the idea of a decade having 9 years.

You are right. The twentieth century ended 12/31/2000. The decade will end on 12/31/2020.

This is something that bothers me too. According to an article by Stephen J. Gould that I read a long time ago we can blame it on Dennis the Short (Dionysius Exiguus) the inventor of the Anno Domini era. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dionysius_Exiguus.

Thank goodness that there are other people out there who think the same. Because every 10 years or so, I have been wondering if I was odd!

Over the years, I have thought that having a year 0 would have been better. After all, we have 0 in our normal counting system. And having a 0 works in other measuring systems that have plus and minus values, such as the Celsius or Fahrenheit temperature scales.

But, thinking about it since I posted that comment, I have realised that the way we like to refer to decades would make having a year 0 just as complicated, as you wouldn't know which decade to put it into - the first decade BC, or the first decade AD. And whichever one you didn't put it into would end up as a 9 year decade if you class decades by the number in the "10 column". So, we would still have the same problem, except that we would only have one 9 year decade instead of two. You could split the year 0, but then you would have two 9.5 year decades. The best solution would be to have the year 0 shared between the two decades. But, that just seems strange.

So, now, I think that the current numbering system is the best compromise. Well, either that or having a year 0 which is not part of any decade. But, again, that would just seem strange. And we would still have the same debate about where the decade ends.

The whole calendar system is just messed up. I often wish that when the Gregorian reforms were being done, that a more lunar-solar calendar system was adopted. It could have made everything a lot more straightforward. But, alas, it didn't happen.

Anyway, sorry again for taking the thread off topic.

And before I go, I hope you all have an enjoyable festive period! Whenever it may be! :agree:

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Aino]

Off topic, but is anybody else with me in thinking that we still have one more year left to the current decade?

Think about it - you start counting at number 1, not at 0.

And with the calendar system that we use, there was no year 0 - we went straight from 1 BC to AD 1. So, if you class 2019 as the end of the decade, that means there must have been a 9 year decade in there somewhere. Which is nonsense.

Sorry, this is something that really gets to me.

CaroLiza_fan

This is still off topic, but started reading about this and noted that we have already passed the year 2020 if we use the current calendar as it was supposed to be. 1 AD was meant to be the year of birth of Jesus. However Jesus was actually born a couple of years earlier. So we can already celebrate the new decade