2018 Europeans Ladies FS

[Trewyn]

So excited about Loena’s great performance. Great to have such a talented Belgian skater! It’s quite an accomplishment to be the best European skater after the Russians and Kostner.

I feel a bit torn about Kostner’s bronze.
I feel like she was “robbed” of the small SP silver medal but she probably should’ve lost the long even to Loena. Did not like the green jumpsuit. (A non skating watching friend asked “is she pretending to be the green teletubbie?”) But I’m happy for her for getting another Euro medal.

 

[frallik]

Medvedeva - warm up, Etery, FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRFMtM28uIw&t=101s
Zagitova - warm up, Etery, FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWDuz7Y_KyM&t=93s
Sotskova vs Kostner FS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoDqQg6ZFO4

 

[rollerblade]

Alina Zagitova is about to be a next Tara Lipinski.

Not wishing for Zagitova to disappear in competition soon after winning everything even though she is far from my favorite skating styles. However, the way she enters into the field has quite a striking resemblance to Tara; her age during the Olympics and 3Lo to a jump combo and higher layouts, etc. Though if Zagitova would have a half of sophistication or presentation skillsthat Tara had (not a fan of both Tara and Kwan), there would've much less outcries over her skyrocketing PCS rising all season long.

HALF of Tara's sophistication? 20 years ago?

 

[Skater Boy]

I feel sad for Evgenia too, despite Alina’s stronger jumping. Just as Julia was replaced by Evgenia, Evgenia is replaced by Alina, and Alina will soon enough be replaced as well. It’s painful to watch these shooting stars burn out.

Well this is not exactly true. Wasn't Yulia replaced by Adelina who was replaced by by Liza and Radinova who got replaced by Evgenia who got replaced by Zagitova with skaters like Pogo and Maria trying to jump in but failing? And life was over by 19?

 

[Skater Boy]

HALF of Tara's sophistication? 20 years ago?

Zagitova is far more finished and artistic than Tara whose jumps were also puny.

 

[Crossover]

HALF of Tara's sophistication? 20 years ago?

Not that I would say that Tara is an epitome of sophistication or grace in our sport (unfortunately, her scream in the KnC is too strong to forget), she was quite mature and polished for her age on the ice and had much better skating and presentation skills than Zagitova's unfinished movements in a hurry or poor posture. I would also blame Zagitova's choreographer for the first part mostly. I should've said it like "not a similar level of Tara's SS or presentation" for better understanding. Tara's OGM was quite sensational at that time, so it would be somehow interesting if Alina follows the same path which could be a help to attract more new and young fans. Therefore a new Olympic star can be born, but we can never be certain about Olympics.

 

[yume]

She can do a 3Lz-3Lo combo, she can do all of the jumps Alina does..

So why she doesn't do that in her programs? Practice and competition are differents. We've seen skaters land quads and crazy combos in practice but never in competition.

 

[Jaana]

I think the whole entity (performance, choreography, music, costume plus the person inside it) of Zagitova´s freeskate was just enchanting!!! She was definitely the star of the evening. I like Medvedeva´s skating very much, but the music and choreography somehow do not really interest me. With her new costume the words "less is more" came into my mind.

So, our Emmi Peltonen will participate at the Olympics! Hopefully she will give A LOT better freeskate there.

 

[Anni234]

I couldn't watch yesterday, but I did spoil the results and then looked at the competition today. Not gonna lie, I am a bit disappointed, because I wanted Zhenya to win so much, but my consolation is that this is just Euros and Olympics is more important. And it's not like silver is the end of the world or the end of her career. She had a really good score and Zagitova had an awesome performance, so both girls deserve an applause.

What was the letdown of the night for me was Carolinas costume. What the heck was that about? I'm gonna have to go through this thread to see what others thought about it, but I found it absolutely hideous.

 

[mysticice]

Kostner’s costume is beyond ridiculous. I can’t help but laugh and I have hard time taking anyone wearing something like that seriously.

I wonder what was her motivation for choosing it though. Is she so desparate for attention now that the Russian girls get so much attention? She must have known that most people would hate it. Why deliberately make people talk about her costume (in terms like cucumber, celery, pickle, gecko, Kermit etc.) and remember that instead of her skating after the competition?

I think that the costume made her just a little bit more self-conscious and thus affected her performance. Her nerves in competitive situations aren’t the best in the world and she should know it by now.

 

[FSGMT]

While as a fan I am obviously very happy for Caro's medal (11th medal, unbelievable!), I think her score was generous to say the least: her performance and interpretation were visibly affected by the mistakes, and she even left out some choreographical moves (after the first jump for example), I would have definitely never given her more than 70. As others, I have mixed feelings about the costume, too hwell:
But the thing that really shocked me is how reckless the judges are: 75 for Zagitova? The problem was for me that they left no room for Medvedeva. I don't mean to say that they should "leave room" as they did in the 6.0 era, but that Zagitova's program was not that close to perfection (80 should mean perfection) and the judges knew that a much more mature, refined and complete skater was going to skate: there was no way her PCS could have made up the technical difference. They basically stated "we wanted her to win, no matter what". It was almost painful to see how much better Evgenia's program/interpretation/skating skills etc are and then see just a tiny PCS difference, which really looked like a consolation prize. There should have been at least 5-7 points in PCS between the two

 

[silverfoxes]

Well this is not exactly true. Wasn't Yulia replaced by Adelina who was replaced by by Liza and Radinova who got replaced by Evgenia who got replaced by Zagitova with skaters like Pogo and Maria trying to jump in but failing? And life was over by 19?

Do you think the results of sporting competitions are about "replacing" people? That is a strange way to look at it. I thought they were athletes trying to outperform each other and that was the whole point.

None of their lives are over, btw.

 

[Tolstoj]

I feel sad for Evgenia too, despite Alina’s stronger jumping. Just as Julia was replaced by Evgenia, Evgenia is replaced by Alina, and Alina will soon enough be replaced as well. It’s painful to watch these shooting stars burn out.

Wait for the Olympics.

This may be a good thing, a good wake up call for Evgenia, and it's not the end of the world: she was unbeated for almost 3 seasons, it was just a matter of time.

Alina is now the favourite , but can she deal the pressure there (which is higher than Worlds or Europeans)? Tara did but she was a dark horse (everyone was rooting for Michelle), Julia didn't as a favourite.

I'm a little disappointed by the components and no one will said this because they are all happy that Evgenia lost but her skating is much more sophisticated than Alina and she has better transitions.

You can still see Alina rushing that ina bauer at the end of the steps sequence or that spiral into the 2a-3t.

 

[Tolstoj]

Not that I would say that Tara is an epitome of sophistication or grace in our sport (unfortunately, her scream in the KnC is too strong to forget), she was quite mature and polished for her age on the ice and had much better skating and presentation skills than Zagitova's unfinished movements in a hurry or poor posture. I would also blame Zagitova's choreographer for the first part mostly. I should've said it like "not a similar level of Tara's SS or presentation" for better understanding. Tara's OGM was quite sensational at that time, so it would be somehow interesting if Alina follows the same path which could be a help to attract more new and young fans. Therefore a new Olympic star can be born, but we can never be certain about Olympics.

Her jumps were a complete disaster though, like nowhere near Alina. Her 2a technique in particular i believe is the worst 2a i've ever seen.

 

[Zora]

But the thing that really shocked me is how reckless the judges are: 75 for Zagitova? The problem was for me that they left no room for Medvedeva. I don't mean to say that they should "leave room" as they did in the 6.0 era, but that Zagitova's program was not that close to perfection (80 should mean perfection) and the judges knew that a much more mature, refined and complete skater was going to skate: there was no way her PCS could have made up the technical difference. They basically stated "we wanted her to win, no matter what". It was almost painful to see how much better Evgenia's program/interpretation/skating skills etc are and then see just a tiny PCS difference, which really looked like a consolation prize. There should have been at least 5-7 points in PCS between the two

I think Alina's program construction plays a big part in this. Because the way the program is built, by the end everyone is excited, the audience, the skater, the judges. With that kind of energy I think it's easy to give a few points more.

 

[MaiKatze]

But the situation is still the same, only the name of the winner changed.

It is not. We have a rivalry now, an equal to Medvedeva who challenges her dominance. The last two seasons, there was not one skater that came close to Medvedeva's scores. Europeans is one competition. The first competition where Alina and Evgenia competed against each other. Evgenia made mistakes, and just comes back from an injury. I don't believe that Alina will win everything now, because she also showed not so perfect skates during the season. So there are at least two competitors fighting for the Gold at Pyeongchang. It still could go to Medvedeva.

 

[rollerblade]

They basically stated "we wanted her to win, no matter what". It was almost painful to see how much better Evgenia's program/interpretation/skating skills etc are and then see just a tiny PCS difference, which really looked like a consolation prize. There should have been at least 5-7 points in PCS between the two

On the flip side, there should be a wider gap in the TES. Room or no room in PCS, Med got away with several technical calls, with positive GOEs on wrong edge and URs. (and/or PRs)

 

[koatcue]

So, okay, some analysis from me, being in that arena and watching them live. Zhenia's long program seemed short to me, that't how good she was as a performer. She skates bigger than Alina too. Her jumps let her down this time, but overall I preferred her live. It doesn't mean that I didn't enjoy or like Alina - I did! But comparing them back to back left me wanting Zhenia to win, even though it should have taken some sort of miracle after Alina's score. ALSO! LadyB and I were surprised by Carolina's suit. It was so SPARKLY and drew so much attention during the warm-up I even made an assumption that she might change the program, as this costume didn't make much sense to her LP. I get that Fawn is a creature of nature, but you should have seen it. Waaay too green and glittery.

 

[koatcue]

In my opinion, the Fawn shoud be more subdued (color-COLOR)

 

[silverfoxes]

ALSO! LadyB and I were surprised by Carolina's suit. It was so SPARKLY and drew so much attention during the warm-up I even made an assumption that she might change the program, as this costume didn't make much sense to her LP. I get that Fawn is a creature of nature, but you should have seen it. Waaay too green and glittery.

Afterhours at Studio 54 of the Fawn was all I could think of. It would be ok for a disco program. Actually, if she did a disco program I might start to enjoy her skating more...