Hand down does not mean downgrading. 4 turns in the air is a quad and a hand down would take a minus 2 at the most from CoE.How the HELL does Stephane end up with TES in the 70's when he botched both quads (essentially downgrading 2 quads into triple toe loops) and landed only 4 other clean triples. Is it the 2X World Champ reputation?
Oops, he's way off his total PB (SP + LP) this time. I think he can score in the 280's on an above average day.
But just going by this description, I think performances like this are a disaster for the sport of figure skating. We ask people to shell out $100 to see the world champion perform, and we get this?
Why am I not surprised at this?But just going by this description, I think performances like this are a disaster for the sport of figure skating. We ask people to shell out $100 to see the world champion perform, and we get this?
It seems Lambiel is the target of his nonfans.
What happened to Daisuke and Johnny? any comments?
nymkfan51 - I am not surprised by the podium being disappointed. Lambiel is not and has never been a world wide favorite (except for me). As Hockeyfan andJaana say he skates beautifully. Daisuke fans who want an all Japanese Worlds podium may get that but that's down the road, but I doubt Daisuke will be on top. If any it will be Nobunari who skates beautifully. Now Johnny who skates beautifully, should have walked away with this. What happened? Let's see.Joe ... I will have to wait and see the performances, but from the commentary provided, this entire podium seems very disappointing.
nymkfan51 - I am not surprised by the podium being disappointed. Lambiel is not and has never been a world wide favorite (except for me). As Hockeyfan andJaana say he skates beautifully. Daisuke fans who want an all Japanese Worlds podium may get that but that's down the road, but I doubt Daisuke will be on top. If any it will be Nobunari who skates beautifully. Now Johnny who skates beautifully, should have walked away with this. What happened? Let's see.
Kwan and Plushenko were exceptions of consistency, but I remember some messy early performances by Kwan. Ordinals didn't tell the story of how well skaters did, especially if they skated early in the last flight and the judges left room. It's a relatively recent phenomenon for early season events to be televised and the organization of them into a Grand Prix series.I don't know, Joe, I guess I am just nostalgic for the good old days when world champions like Michelle Kwan always delivered the goods, early season, late season, world championship, cheesefest.
From this audience member's viewpoint, I didn't expect either Lambiel or Weir to do his ultimate best; that would be competitive suicide at this stage in the season. I expected them to do the best they could at this point. In general, because I don't want to see either peak now and because I expect early season performances to be works in progress, with the choreography still new, or with the skater's head in a new program while skating the old. (A lab of sorts.) In particular, because the post-Olympic season, where the tank was drained, was followed by a tour into August. For Lambiel, the beginning of a season after he was injured and probably didn't have a chance to rest enough before COI. For Weir new programs that demand a lot more from him in energy, attack, and timing and that are stylistically different. In the short term, I think the this is messing with his jump technique: once textbook, he's now lurching into his 3A, making it coarser, I suspect because the choreography isn't giving him his typical set-up time.To answer your question, yes, I do think that the audience expected Lambiel to do his best. Weir, too. Why go out there if you are not going to do your best?
Maybe you will see better skating and maybe you won't, but this contest did stand on its own merit: the crowd was loving Vaughn Chipeur and Shawn Sawyer (and Marc-Andre Craig in the SP), and not because they were home boys: Chipeur had the highest and most powerful jumps of the competition because that's his style -- and to think he was 16th at Canadian Nationals last year -- and Sawyer lit up the house with the execution of detailed choreography, aside from some issues with jumps. (He should have been the bronze medallist, in my opinion.)These contests have to stand on their own merit if we want anyone to attend. We can't just say, oh well, maybe you will see better skating when the world championships roll around.