Chen upstages Hanyu in Moscow

[gsk8]

The Olympic figure skating season began in earnest Friday with the first stage of the ISU Grand Prix (GP) series─the Rostelecom Cup in Moscow. The Men’s discipline immediately produced the first surprise: USA’s Nathan Chen won the first Grand Prix title of his career by defeating the reigning World and Olympic Champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. The 2017 Russian National Champion Mikhail Kolyada won the bronze.

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“I came a long way this past year,” he added. “Especially after the injury and coming back and having a year and half that I have, I am really proud of myself.”

“After experiencing so many competitions and working outside Japan, I realize how much support I need from other people,” said 22-year-old Hanyu. “I wouldn’t have done it without it. So it is not a burden for me to have these expectations. Sometimes when I can’t get the results I want, I feel that I am sorry and I feel that I have to apologize, but these emotions also give me motivations to perform better as well.”

“I did the minimum that was required of me today,” said Kolyada after the end of the competition. “I rotated all the jumps. Of course, there were mistakes. I was too relaxed going into the last jump, but in principle. I liked my performance. I felt that I got into the character well and I hope there was enough energy for the audience and the judges. It was definitely enough for me.”

We're you surprised by Chen's win? What are your thoughts in general on the men's performances?

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

This dude!!! Wow. I don't think he's done improving the little in between movements with his programs either :hap85: I love the FS so much and am blown away by how much progress he's made in his execution of steps and his overall presence.

I think Raf looked very proud of his padawan

I wasn't surprised by his win but I think this season we'll be on the edge of our seats to see if he can hold on!! It's definitely exciting to watch and I think it will be fun.

Yuzu is still my guy but I think Chen is only going to fuel him and the men's field in general.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Not surprised whatsoever. GO NATHAN!

 

[Spirals for Miles]

Not surprised whatsoever. GO NATHAN!

Me neither, haha.

 

[Roast Toast]

I love Nathan's SP, but I wish he would settle on a final layout for his FP soon. I know that being able to switch quads around is his greatest strength but you can't really choreograph the entry into "maybe a quad flip, maybe a quad loop". It makes his FP look unfocused imo and I think Yuzuru does a better job of pretending his has consistent choreography. Overall I find both his programs a lot more engaging than last year -- mostly they feel more personal, while the ballet ones seemed like they were trying to push a narrative that didn't fit. I know Nathan has nice lines but he is much better at projecting a "cool" attitude than a balletic one.

 

[Mathman]

padawan

I love it when I have to look up words after reading this board.

I wasn't surprised and I wasn't not-surprised. Hanyu usually gets better and better as the season progresses (I guess everyone does). Hanyu is still the Olympic favorite, I think, but Go Nathan!

I liked Yuzuru's quote about how the fans help relieve the pressure of expectation. Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.

 

[4everchan]

If anything, I was surprised that Yuzuru was "that" ready early on this season. Both guys brought it up with stellar content.
Congrats to both of them! Go Nathan!!!!

 

[evasorange]

This competition really cemented imo how it was a bad call for Yuzu to threepeat and repeat two beloved programs...when they've hit such high peaks before mistakes seem extra glaring and really bring the program down more then they would if it was something we were only seeing for the second time. Also this quote from Mikhail "I liked my performance. I felt that I got into the character well and I hope there was enough energy for the audience and the judges. It was definitely enough for me.” ummm Lets see if that kind of performance is "enough" outside of your home country...he needs to go study Javi's elvis program from last year if he feels his performance was enough

 

[beki]

I wasn't so enthused about Yuzu repeating, but I disagree, I now think it's a good call. One approach is to skate the same layout to different music, another is to skate a new layout to the same music; only a few are shaking up everything. I thought it was very exciting to see the 4Lz landed. Nathan won, but I again disagree that he upstaged Yuzu. Nathan's new programs are an improvement for him, but I'm still not crazy about them. We know Yuzu's programs can be epic, and I believe they will be when the time is right.

 

[HanDomi]

I get that some people don't like that Hanyu is reapeating programs, but in my opinion both programs deserve to get olympic moment and be shown to bigger audience. This programs belongs to best mens program ever category. Chopin is just one perfect seamlesss piece, and Seimei is just motoring from start to BIG (hopefully olympics moments) ending.

 

[snowflake]

Yusuru is great and has support in spades. As I remember he got a big applause for a double toe in Moscow. And i don’t understand to whom he has to apologize; fans, federation, family, coch/choregrapher or himself?

Love Nathan's skating and I really hope he medals at olympics. His relaxed skating puts me in the right mood .I enjoyed his skating last season also though then he was focusing on jumps.

Kolyada is cool and interesting but oh so inconsistent. His jumps are great when on.

Anyway, overall men's olympic season is exciting! Perhaps Nathan and Yusuru are the gold contenders(?) in PyeongChang... let's see next week how Patrick and Shoma skate... and of course Jason if he gets his quad done And then Boyang and Fernadez in Cup of China... and Max, Han Yan, Vincent and all. So much to enjoy :yay:



Way to go all guys

 

[kiches]

I don't think there were any real surprises for the men at Rostelecom, the level of skating was good for this early in the season, but nowhere where I expect it to be as we move into the second half.

I haven't had a chance to watch the entire event as it was on at an early hour for me (hope to have a chance to catch up this week), but I enjoyed what I saw so far. I like Nathan's SP a lot, Shae-Lynn really did a great job there. As for the FS, I have to agree with Roast Toast here in that the choice for Mao's Last Dancer seemed like it was meant to push the narrative of his ballet training = artistry than a personal connection to the music or story, but I also like it a lot more than his free skate last year. Did I read correctly somewhere that both Shae-Lynn and Lori were the ones that chose these songs for him?

Unlike others, I really don't understand the reasoning behind the renewed criticism I see on GS about the repeat programs for Yuzuru, I'll quote what I said in his fan fest about repeating the SP again, and I still stand by it.

When I think about the SP performance, mistakes and all, I think choosing to repeat Chopin again showed it's value today. I think if he was doing a new SP and began it with a mistake he may have allowed it to unravel further than it did with Chopin at COR. Since he was familiar with the music he was able to keep a certain level of concentration for the axel and combo (even if he fell), and the choreography, to prevent the program from completely falling apart. So I am firmly in support of the repeat decision if it allows him to maintain a level of cool even if he makes minor mistakes.

Also, I don't see any reflection in the scores that seem to suggest that Yuzuru's program repeats were a poor choice, only that skating fans who have seen and remember his past performances can't help but compare them to his older ones which were done cleanly and at a different level than he was here currently in Russia. If I were to put myself in the imaginary shoes of a fan who was watching these programs for the first time, I think Seimei in particular would still stand out as unique and different from what many non-skating enthusiast are used to seeing from men's figure skating. I would say that about a lot of the men's programs I see today as well, and I think that's what makes this discipline the most interesting for me. It definitely feels that the competitions this Olympic season are starting at a very high level, I hope everyone stays healthy and continues to build as the season progresses because we'll be in for some great skating if that's the case.

 

[visaliakid]

I must tell you that I made it a point to watch the movie Mao's Last Dancer... really outstanding in every respect. The fabulous music from the film which forms the body of his Free Skate program speaks to both his ballet career in his youth and was used brilliantly by Lori Nichols to construct the program. You will definitely acquire a strong perspective and appreciation on the program from viewing the film.

 

[shine]

I don't think there were any real surprises for the men at Rostelecom, the level of skating was good for this early in the season, but nowhere where I expect it to be as we move into the second half.

I haven't had a chance to watch the entire event as it was on at an early hour for me (hope to have a chance to catch up this week), but I enjoyed what I saw so far. I like Nathan's SP a lot, Shae-Lynn really did a great job there. As for the FS, I have to agree with Roast Toast here in that the choice for Mao's Last Dancer seemed like it was meant to push the narrative of his ballet training = artistry than a personal connection to the music or story, but I also like it a lot more than his free skate last year. Did I read correctly somewhere that both Shae-Lynn and Lori were the ones that chose these songs for him?

If like you said it was simply chosen to push the narrative of his ballet training they would've picked a much more tried and true classic ballet piece that's easier for the skater to intepret as well as the audience to digest, especially in an Olympic year. Something like what he did with his SP last year. He definitely has not performed the program to it's fullest yet and there's much room for growth, but even so to me it's clear they went out of their way to pick a unique piece that Nathan could resonate with and it felt personal. It's not just your everyday ballet program.

 

[MaiKatze]

I must tell you that I made it a point to watch the movie Mao's Last Dancer... really outstanding in every respect. The fabulous music from the film which forms the body of his Free Skate program speaks to both his ballet career in his youth and was used brilliantly by Lori Nichols to construct the program. You will definitely acquire a strong perspective and appreciation on the program from viewing the film.

I agree with that. Fortunately I had already watched the movie years ago. It's really a fitting program, and I'm so happy about it because I didn't like Nathan's program last season, at all. If that is what he's capable of, I would hate it if he retires after the Olympics, especially if he gets the Gold. There is so much more potential for the years to come, it would be a shame if he would go one and done.

 

[MedoLove]

I really like that Chen has made his way to the top. If we talk about performance, I think Hanyu is at a level of expression and superior refinement, Nathan is young, energetic, if he works on his PCS he can certainly fight for Olympic Gold.


I think Hanyu will not sit idly by, he will train the 4Lz to completely dominate it. It does not bother me that he have repeated the program, in fact it seems very strategic and intelligent.


Kolyada has a giant Lutz, I think he's much higher than Chen and Hanyu, I hope he can fix the landing. I notice that his expression is much more worked.


Anyway, there's still Javi, Patrick Chan, nothing is insured. It will be a good season, very competitive.

 

[rabbit1234]

It is not surprising.
Nathan is winning three times over Hanyu out of the four times in this year.

2017 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
ISU World Team Trophy 2017
ISU GP Rostelecom Cup 2017

 

[Eeyora]

i will says men’s skating has gotten more like skiing... so unpredictable that on any given day anyone of 5 different men can win.

 

[SnowWhite]

This competition really cemented imo how it was a bad call for Yuzu to threepeat and repeat two beloved programs...when they've hit such high peaks before mistakes seem extra glaring and really bring the program down more then they would if it was something we were only seeing for the second time. Also this quote from Mikhail "I liked my performance. I felt that I got into the character well and I hope there was enough energy for the audience and the judges. It was definitely enough for me.” ummm Lets see if that kind of performance is "enough" outside of your home country...he needs to go study Javi's elvis program from last year if he feels his performance was enough

Or Nicolas Nadeau's. Especially the Canadian Nationals performance. He committed to it so much that I couldn't enjoy Javi's as much after watching it.

 

[silverfoxes]

Or Nicolas Nadeau's. Especially the Canadian Nationals performance. He committed to it so much that I couldn't enjoy Javi's as much after watching it.

Nic's Elvis is definitely the best by far & thankfully we will get to see it at SC this weekend. Javi's was pretty bland and lifeless, Mikhail's completely misses the mark in every way. I could see Moris K. pulling it off but Mikhail just doesn't have any of the necessary swagger for this kind of program.