Women's SP: Olympics - Thoughts?

[gsk8]

Kamila Valieva skates to lead in Beijing

The Women’s Figure Skating event at the 2022 Olympics kicked off with the Short Program on February 15, 2022, at the Capital Indoor Stadium in the Haidian District of Beijing. […]

www.goldenskate.com

I have always liked Valieva's skating, and this program in particular.

Shcherbakova did a great job and Sakamoto's double Axel was HUGE!

“From the first element, I really controlled each gesture, each movement, jump, turn,” said Shcherbakova. “I understood that I am skating at an Olympic Games and I wanted to do this skate to the best of my abilities, so I am very happy that I was able to accomplish that.”

“I am actually quite satisfied!” said Sakamoto. “I am very happy. Actually, not long ago, I chatted with my coach and choreographer online to talk about how to adjust the details of my program and how to get a better score. I think that paid off. I’m very happy about it.”

Trusova:
“This time I almost wasn’t nervous at all,” said the 2021 World bronze medalist of the triple Axel. “It was a long-awaited performance. Usually I am nervous and I can’t do it and I feel that I can’t do it, but this time I was absolutely prepared for everything. After I fell on the axel, everything else I did with ease. I didn’t think about anything else. I was trying to get into character.”

Nice triple Axel by Higuchi! It's too bad about the underrotated jumps.

"I am actually quite satisfied with my triple Axel, but I think it was a pity because one of the jumps got downgraded," Higuchi noted. "The score was not as high as I expected, and I think that is the only pity I had for this performance. In general I am still quite happy with this performance, but the score was actually lower than the team events. So that is what I'm feeling not happy about."

What were your favorite moments of the event?

 

[halulupu]

Really Gsk8 commenting on Valievas sp? Are we pretending nothing happened, whats going on.
Wakaby was robbed by the Callers!

 

[Pereiro]

Well, it was really good.
Kami was great all things considered and i am sure in FP it all also will be good.
Anna - simply her best SP of this season, very proud for her.
Sasha - well, it was her usual 3A-thing, but we all know it is not a problem for her. Her real strength is in her FP (same with Kami and Anna).

From non-Russian girls i really mad about this fall from Mariah. I really like her, but it seems like she just unlucky, i guess. Really hope for her redemption FP.

 

[gsk8]

"I am actually quite satisfied with my triple Axel, but I think it was a pity because one of the jumps got downgraded," Higuchi noted. "The score was not as high as I expected, and I think that is the only pity I had for this performance. In general I am still quite happy with this performance, but the score was actually lower than the team events. So that is what I'm feeling not happy about."

 

[chuckm]

Trusova was way overscored in PCS. There was nothing in her performance but jumps, as always, and even with a fall she had the 4th highest PCS score.

I really hated the smug faces of Team Tutberizde after Valieva skated.

 

[Ali81]

Overall the competition didn’t live up to the hype I’m afraid. Kaori Sakamoto was one of the few bright spots and gave by far the most complete performance. Her skating skills are not matched and she brought powerful and moving artistry to boot.I think she should have been a notch over Scherbakova. Anna S was solid but her edges and flow are not comparable to Kaori. Good artistry though. Since Valieva had a mistake, I don’t think she should have been top in pcs . But she has great fundamentals so she is always going to be near the top indubitably. Wakaba was dinged badly overall by the judges which is a shame . The only other skate that moved me was Mariah Bell -old school elegance and maturity. I don’t think you can deny that the antecedent events have definitely taken the lustre off this competition.

 

[Skatelife]

I was afraid of Kamila's meltdown, but she's fought that axel.
Anna very good considering she had to changes skates.
Sasha is in a very good position as has been said, her strength is the FS
Well done ladies

 

[BlackAxel]

Kaori's SP was the skate of the night in my opinion. I honestly would have put her in second place over Anna.

 

[cake]

I liked Higuchi and Sakamoto best. I have no idea what they would need to do more to be properly rewarded by the judges. I´m no special fan of Higuchi, but I think she was screwed big time. At least they got Sakamoto about right (although I would have had her in second). And no, I´m not from Japan

 

[Mathman]

In spite of everything, no surprises really. Valieva is way out in front with Shcherbakova second. Trusova's score was about what was expected -- now she has her 4- or 5-quad LP for a chance to move up.

Sakamoto gave an outstanding performance.

 

[DancingCactus]

Kaori was the best and Wakaba had the only clean 3A - they should both have been awarded more points, but I'm still glad they didn't dare place Kaori lower than Trusova. Scherbakova as usual had good expression and upper body movement but comparatively bad skating skills and tiny, ugly jumps. Trusova was terribly overscored.
Leona made stupid mistakes...I wasn't really camptivated by any of the other women, but then, I'm more of a Mens and ID fan anyway.

 

[[email protected]]

I usually don't care about scores and pcs wars when they don't affect the placements. This time they did although without dramatic consequences yet. My placements and scores would be:

1. (1) Valieva 82 She was very nervous, could not land a clean 3A, and the time between the jumps in the combo was longer than usual. Well, she got 8 points less than at the Europeans and this is a lot.

2-3. (2) Scherbakova 80 She has a breath-taking program which she delivered flawlessly. She could differentiate herself with 3Lz-3Lo. Then she could have been at par with Kamila but she decided to play it safe.

2-3. (3)Sakamoto 80 That was a powerful performance. Kaori is a very different skater than Anna. Both have their strengths. I would tie them

4. (5) Higuchi 73 I don't care about her skating but she is the only one who landed a clean 3A

5.-7. Trusova (4), You (6), Liu (8) 71 There are strong things about each of these skaters. And there is some area for critique as well. Well, Sasha fell on 3A and You had a downgraded 3A

8. - 10. Gubanova (10), Hendrixx (7), Kim 68 (9) Out of this trio Leona was overscored and Nastya underscored

 

[Lamente Ariane]

The scandal that the media won't be talking about is the fact that nearly every single woman here who wasn't competing on behalf of ROC had their edges and rotations scrutinized to a comically unreasonable level by this technical panel. It is insanity pure and simple that Wakaba, with a fully ratified 3A and a clean program was placed behind a skater who fell on an underrotated 3A attempt. I genuinely don't know if I can stomach watching the free skate after this. I mean, we already know the rest of the field's going to be left in the dust when the quads come out, is it really necessary to create such a massive points disparity before the higher tech even materializes? Is it not bad enough to raise PCS and other element GOE for skaters when they land quads, we're now giving the quad bonus when the quads aren't even in the program? I don't know how Kaori managed to get a fair shake, did they just run out of room to leave at the top since she was last? It's hard not to be sarcastic and bitter because this was an absolute slaughter. The judges made it abundantly clear they consider everyone but the ROC skaters and Kaori to be of a lower class of skating, and it's simply not true.

 

[Amei]

2-3. (2) Scherbakova 80 She has a breath-taking program which she delivered flawlessly. She could differentiate herself with 3Lz-3Lo. Then she could have been at par with Kamila but she decided to play it safe.

2-3. (3)Sakamoto 80 That was a powerful performance. Kaori is a very different skater than Anna. Both have their strengths. I would tie them

Shcherbakova had to change boots a few days ago given that on top of the fact her SP combo has given her fits pretty consistently this year I think it was a great move for her to go with a slightly safer combo.

 

[mrrice]

I didn't watch and after seeing the results, I'm glad I didn't. Not a single US lady in the final flight and hearing that Mariah fell makes me curse Bradies injury. She is the only US lady that I trust to go clean under pressure. Have a great day everyone. When I was young, there was a saying, cheaters never prosper. That doesn't seem to be the case here.

 

[Novalis]

When I think about it, it seems to me that all the top 4 are in good position for the free skate. Interesting times ahead

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

With the standings after the SP, there is still a non-0% possibility that eventually Sasha Trusova will go down in the official record books as the first woman to land a quad at the Olympics.

 

[yume]

Insta showed me pics, i couldn't resist to at least check the judges' scores.
Well, this was CoC 2.0 .
I don't think that Sakamoto's and Shcherbakova's lutz edges suddenly got outside while Higuchi and Trusova's flip edges are still flat. Seems like TP had a magnifying glass for everyone but those two.
Sakamoto has now a real chance to be an olympic medalist (not just because of Valieva possible DQ). She can even win gold with some serious mistakes from others. Though i will not stop to think she's way overscored.
Glad to see that Valieva didn't implode. Anyone else probably would have. Tomorrow will be tougher.
Wakaba is the third Japanese to land a clean 3A at olys! TP and judges were tough with her but what is new? I'm just glad she skated clean visually.

 

[Ali81]

I don't know how Kaori managed to get a fair shake, did they just run out of room to leave at the top since she was last? It's hard not to be sarcastic and bitter because this was an absolute slaughter. The judges made it abundantly clear they consider everyone but the ROC skaters and Kaori to be of a lower class of skating, and it's simply not true.

Kaori also didn’t really get a fair shake by the judges . I think overwhelming popular opinion is that she was the best performance of the night by a long shot but this wasn’t reflected in the scores ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Lamente Ariane]

Kaori also didn’t really get a fair shake by the judges . I think overwhelming popular opinion is that she was the best performance of the night by a long shot but this wasn’t reflected in the scores ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

True, they could’ve rewarded Kaori more. I was more referring to the fact that she got the benefit of the doubt re: edge and UR calls from the panel.