LOL, the "actual landings" mean nothing without first establishing a takeoff point! A skate can land in ANY direction and it being "backwards" or not is entirely relative to where the jump took off!
Imagine if spin rotations were only counted at the point when a skater starts getting into a position, instead of when they actually achieve it. Let's just call all sit spins as starting when the skater is halfway down in the knee or call all Beillman's as starting when the skate is next to the skater's head, because that makes so much sense!
I've said it so many times now, but it's like looking at a race where people start in different locations. If two people are supposed to both run 1 mile and see who can do it fastest, then it would not be fair to allow one person to start 1/4 of a mile later and declare them the winner for reaching the 1 mile endpoint first. Of course that person will reach the "finish line" first, because they only actually had to run 3/4 of a mile, not a full mile!
You're really comparing apples and oranges and watermelons (watermelons being the race analogy) here.
Jumps have always had leeway in technique and called rotation because no two skaters really jump exactly the same. The way it's standardized is to look at the landing. Judges don't have time to look at every single jumping pass and pull out a protractor. Of course, those skaters with better technique should be rewarded for it, but it's not like there were World champions who didn't have technical flaws.
Let's be honest, if the ladies today were truly scrutinized for < and << due to pre-rotation and rotation on their landings, we'd see more tech calls than there were at Skate Canada. Most of the ladies simply do not have the strength and physique that the guys do which allow them to vault higher. They would go back to stroking around if they saw the judges were penalizing them harshly, to ensure they get the speed/height/rotation. I don't really consider Zagitova one of the higher vaulters either, and I think if she had a more balanced program, she would be less likely to fall or UR her jumps.
There are not a ton of skaters. from this era and the past, who can do high, unquestionably rotated jumps AND do intricate programs (and the programs of today are much more intricate than decades ago). and as consistently as Medvedeva or (tentatively, consistently) Zagitova.
That's because the scoring system and judges have allowed it to happen!! Several decades ago, Triple jumps were absolutely NOT executed like Medvedeva does them! Pretty much ALL of the skaters jumped more like Yu-Na Kim!
You're wrong about saying the technical marks in 6.0 did not reflect the somewhat smaller jumps of Kwan. They absolutely did. Both times that Kwan won Worlds with 7 Triples including a 3-3 combo, the highest tech mark she received from any judge was 5.8! The judges clearly left room for the higher jumps of Slutskaya and this was also reflected in their SP technical mark.
Also, Kwan did not pre-rotate her 3Toe combo like Medvedeva does. Yes she used the "turn to forward on the toepick" technique for the Lutz and Flip that so many people use these days, but at this point that is simply unavoidable as an acceptable technique. Despite doing that, Kwan didn't twist her body into the rotation as much as others do and she remainded straight in the air. She first jumped and THEN rotated. Those issues can be handled in the GOE scores, although the rules should also provide extra allowance when counting rotation for better takeoffs on the Lutz and Flip. It's way harder to jump like that and it needs to be taken into consideration, because this IS the textbook technique and the sport should not be diminishing this technique as less desirable.
Several decades ago skaters stroked around the rink and motored into jumps, so OF COURSE they would jump higher and more fully rotated. Things have gotten harder, especially with skaters having to do footwork with actual difficult turn incorporate (even if some sequences go overboard), or spins with more than 5 rotations. In the case of Zagitova, she's challenging herself to do all jumping passes in the 2nd half -- something skaters decades ago wouldn't have dared to do, or been capable of doing (maybe a powerhouse like Ito, or a mentally tough one like Kristi), even if they stripped a program of all the transitions and spin positions.
I'm sure Medvedeva would be able to jump more like Kim or some (definitely not "pretty much ALL") of the stronger-jumping skaters from decades ago, if she didn't put such difficult entrances before her jumps.
Re: Michelle compared to Med:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzwg2cxpPq0 Michelle also used the "turn to forward" on her 3Ts. Some of them were better than others, and her 3-3 technique certainly improved over the years as that video demonstrates (as Medvedeva could too, what, with this being her 3rd senior season), and I
loves me some Michelle Kwan, but girl had her technical issues even if most of us consider her flawless (which is to say, she's almost flawless
). She certainly does not have the jump technique or ability that Kim had.
The judges at 2001 Worlds left room for Slutskaya not because they had marked down Kwan's jumps but because they knew Slutskaya had two 3-3 combos and harder ones, a 3S+3L and a 3Z+3L, than Kwan at that.
In 2000 Worlds, Kwan was 3rd after the SP, and was first to skate in the final flight, so the judges obviously gave her clean skate only max 5.8, leaving room to see what others - namely, Slutskaya and Butyrskaya. who had beaten her in qualifying/SP - would do. Even the Eurosport guys knew it, and alluded to it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFNDDlYSoXM#t=4m55s Had she gone last, she absolutely would have scored in the 5.9's.
