2016 World Championships Pairs Free Skate

[Bumdid]

I love the little skating drills S/H does before they compete

 

[glorybox6]

The real question of this final group:

Will D/R become the first-ever world champions to have the word "s***" in their music?

 

[Crossover]

As one of the young generation, T/M really need to push themselves to show their personality in comparison to Yu/Jin of China and S/B of Canada. The latter two have established their characters. I see they are working really hard and diligent in technical aspects but still bland to my taste.

 

[Giselle]

naaw is tarasova & morozov a couple off ice?

Yes. Like Alexa & Chris you wouldn't guess watching them skate. Both couple have better chemistry in exhibitions than their competitive programs.

 

[ancientpeas]

So happy that Dylan and Lubov skated well.

Can I root for Tatiana without rooting for Maxim? hmmm..

Go Sui and Han!

 

[blue_idealist]

As one of the young generation, T/M really need to push themselves to show their personality in comparison to Yu/Jin of China and S/B of Canada. The latter two have established their characters. I see they are working really hard and diligent in technical aspects but still bland to my taste.

I find Yu/Jin pretty dull, too (not S/B, though).

 

[4everchan]

i don't think they would know about rankings before they compete ???

Hope not too much pressure on S/H to win and keep the spots =S

 

[Lota]

This team is actually absurdly talented and technically has the potential to eventually be #1 in the World. It is extremely frustrating to see that talent wasted on these boring, one-note, totally vanilla programs. They should be so exciting to watch with these big pristine elements and instead probably no one will remember them tomorrow.

I know what you mean. When they were still juniors and fighting for the gold medal with Y/J, I thought 'wow, both of these teams are probably going to be World Champions one day'. I still stand by my opinion today. Now, if only someone gave T/M better programs and actually let Y/J compete at Worlds...

 

[TatiMax]

If Tatiana and Maxim skate bad I will scream for 5 hours

 

[SaraM]

Cant wait for Draculaaa!

 

[whatif]

I don't think T/M will ever get top class choreo until V/T officially retire and St/Kl also get ready to hand over the lead in Mozer team to them. It's Nina's strategy to keep them low key but close enough.

 

[ericka141]

I just want D/R to skate well.

 

[andromache]

As one of the young generation, T/M really need to push themselves to show their personality in comparison to Yu/Jin of China and S/B of Canada. The latter two have established their characters. I see they are working really hard and diligent in technical aspects but still bland to my taste.

It really seems as if they're content to be Russia #3 instead of fighting to move up, and I doubt Mozer has the motivation to push them past her two star teams. It's all just very unfortunate. I'd looooove to see them with Moskvina.

 

[whatif]

S/H are planning two quads tonight.

 

[tulosai]

Cant wait for Draculaaa!

Me either! It is my personal favorite of all of their programs ever. I'm just sad this is the last time I'll see it

 

[Bumdid]

I know what you mean. When they were still juniors and fighting for the gold medal with Y/J, I thought 'wow, both of these teams are probably going to be World Champions one day'. I still stand by my opinion today. Now, if only someone gave T/M better programs and actually let Y/J compete at Worlds...

I would also like the Chinese Fed to actually give them new programs. Like what did Y/J did that they couldn't compete at worlds and have new programs?

 

[sowcow]

His posture on lifts is horrendous. There is literally no excuse when 170 cm(168?) han cong is zooming across the ice.

Shorter = lower center of gravity.

oh oh lift trouble

That was actually pretty solid from MT/M! Though that last lift looked like it was juuuust on the verge of going majorly wrong.

That was the first time with M-T/M that I wasn't scared to death that he would drop her.

Bless Kirsten. I could NEVER deal with a partner like Michael.

Yeah, Marinade is absolutely the weak link here. It was painful to watch, I feel bad for her.

...I wasn't even really scared for her at all on the first 2 lifts (though his posture is still ) so big improvement there.

That was hard to see

M-T & M are far from my favourite pair skaters; and although certainly improved, they don't yet seem to have 'gelled' as a team.

Nevertheless, in Michael's defense, I feel the need to highlight the difficulty of the man's role in the lift; as he is primarily responsible for:

» Lifting, pressing, and pushing the lift up and over his head ... then holding ... before rearranging & shifting to a new position ... and holding again ... until power-lowering the (unstable and sometimes wobbly) non-solid ~90-110 lb 'weight'.[SUP]**[/SUP]
​

» Performing all the above while he is turning & mohawk(ing) down the ice at 10-15(?) km/h with a big smile on his face!


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[SUP]**[/SUP]Admittedly, that 'weight' does contribute to the lifting effort (to varying degrees)
​

Suffice to say, lifts are not the easiest of pair elements for some male skaters to conquer (...especially 'singles-turned-pairs' men)!

The effort becomes exponentially more difficult the later in the program the lift element is placed. From experience, I can tell you that final lift element in the closing minute of a long program is a killer; especially if...

• you've expended more energy that usual (due to falls or unsuccessful elements); or
• lactic-acid has built up in your quad muscles (the primary muscles used to get lifts up) and your legs feel like wet noodles; or
• you are nervous or overly-excited; or
• you're competing in an arena filled with warm, stale, oxygen-starved air (which can occur even when only small audiences are in attendance); or
• your partner is unusually tired (due to any of the reasons above) and she is not able to assist as much as normal in getting the lift up; or
• probably 50+ more reasons...

[Perhaps surprising to most, mastering pair lifts is usually more challenging for taller men - due to the greater 'lift distances/heights' involved, and having to contend with a higher & less stable center of gravity throughout the lift, as @rollerblade above correctly points out].

Out of all the various 'pair' elements, the lifts were the most challenging for my partner and I...

Signed,
A tall (6'1"), slightly 'hunched-back' lifting, previous male pair skater
:agree:

P.S. CLICK here for comments and a (partial) defense of the habit by male pair skaters to "lumber about the ice"...
​

 

[glorybox6]

I don't think T/M will ever get top class choreo until V/T officially retire and St/Kl also get ready to hand over the lead in Mozer team to them. It's Nina's strategy to keep them low key but close enough.

Exactly. It's so transparent. And T/M deserve so much better.

Is Moskvina taking new students at this point, though?

 

[Alchamei]

I want the little queen Wenjing to win this with her king Cong

 

[WeakAnkles]

Let's hope the last group brings it because frankly the only program that really was a delight (for me at least) was L/M. After a smashing Men's and Dance this has been a bit of anticlimax.