Ok, my thoughts on the Olympics (some of which may well not please everyone!)
a, I'm annoyed at their coaching team. They had four coaches at the event, and they were sent out on the ice with a costume not suitably fixed for the short dance. Yes, Gabby had personal responsibility, but when you are competing with that level of difficulty with that level of physical performance, logistical or preparatory work that is not relevant to the physical act of skating should be handled by others and competently so. It wasn't the case; and that is amateurism in my opinion. The malfunction also left a young woman to experience something that she really shouldn't have had to have experienced.
b, The short dance set pattern was one of the best I have ever seen; and with the non-touching was the best they have skated this season. They were completely on for that short dance, and I have no doubt they would have got a level 4 for the partial step.
c, The costume malfunction noticeably impacted on any point where Gabby had to perform a fast rotation- the twizzles, the double twizzle in the partial step and the turn after the straight line lift. Apart from that it had little impact on the overall performance and energy. The pcs was deserved.
d, the score without the costume malfunction would have seen about a half point increase in PCS, an amount more in GOE and a very likely level 4 for the partial step, setting them up for the win. Even without the level 4 I think they would have been much closer to V/M anyway. The costume malfunction also gave those judges antagonistic to P/C to severely lower their pcs. Leanna Caron should not functioning as a judge, but at least in the short there was a French judge as well.
e, Gabby and Guillaume were great in both dealing with the issue mid-skate and also afterwards.
f, Virtue and Moir skated the lights out of both their programmes. The free skate in particular was skated much better than they have all season. There are things that I personally have issues with- Too many turns added just for difficulty's sake, the two choreo elements don't work for me, the musicality is lost choreographically in the second half of the circular step, the twizzles at the end of the mist aren't the best timed, the transition after the rotational lift has no correspondence to anything musically etc. etc. However, the overall skating quality and performance quality were top-notch, the timing much better, and the line and strength of their more postured moments spot on. (they don't quite have P/C's ease and sense of glide though)
g, I feel that in the pressure of the competition of the freedance V/M skated a bit more like P/C and P/C a bit more like V/M.
h, the wind was against P/C in the freedance because of the skating order and the judge selection. Especially in the absence of a French judge who would have somehow counterbalanced the inappropriate and blatant political scoring of Leanna Caron.
i, In the freedance, they were really spot on with everything. The twizzles were the best they have done all season, both step sequences were spot on. The slight awkwardness after the choreo spinning movement had been rectified. The choreo lift which was changed slightly (not for the better imo at Euros) had again been very slightly tweaked and was back to being great again. In terms of the actual skating, it could not have been performed better. It had lost a little of theatricality it had earlier in the season, and I think that is due to a very necessary concentration on getting all the levels. Finlandia for example was an electrifying performance for example, but I also wouldn't have wanted them to skate like that here if they had got the same levels (or risked another fall)
j, the judges here with their pcs scores made clear that they consider P/C to be the better skaters (but only just). There is a lot of chatter about P/C deserved less than V/M etc because of the costume malfunction in the short, but the underlying fundamentals of how they skate IS seen as better by the isu judges. Both are of course way ahead of everyone else.
k, I think there is historically a tendency to cautiousness in the way that issues that arise during the season are dealt with with regard to P/C. i think particularly of that hand catch in the transitions after circular step which was fumbled at IDF. The stretch of Gabi before then for that hand catch was one of the highlights of the free skate- so simple and so effective. In its post-mistake compromised form it lost something. I think that's something that they and their coaches need to watch out for.
l, Talk of V/M having brilliantly paced themselves for the season I am hearing is nonsense. I'm sure they didn't want to go the amount of stress they probably had to go through in order for their freedance still to be rated as second-best (but only just). Plus their not winning at GPF and their getting those scores was blatantly not part of any plan.Congratulate them for being brilliant fighters, but don't make out that fight was part of some plan, because it wasn't.
j, Gabby and Guillaume broke nine world records this season. That's amazing. I wish they still had the overall score one though, of course.
k, I'm fine with the result overall, because it's a sport, them's the rules, and the lobbying and everything else that goes on is part of the sport as well (as long as it doesn't cross the line in to blatant cheating or fixing of scores). With a French judge in the free it would probably have been a little closer, and also with a different skating order, but I don't think the result would have been any different.
l, I think we will see G and G have a Mao Asada moment now. As in when she came back and was no longer this big rival for Yuna Kim and everyone fell in love with her.
m, I'm not sure how they should approach Worlds. Should they go fully out to beat V/M's score at the Olympics, using the same tactics. Or should they forget the rivalry and now skate those two programmes exactly as they want, preparing themselves for next year when they can be more indulgent, take a little more time to develop things and be a little more experimental. I think the latter.
n, I don't see any of the current teams coming close to them in the next quad (without a radical shake up). The next team that will likely start to come close is probably Carreira and Ponomarenko, or another team in juniors.
o, Overall, I don't think Gabi and Guillaume could have worked harder, had more success this season (except the obvious), planned better or been more tactically astute this season, or have made better choices in terms of music and programmes and choreographic input. They flew a heck of a lot more than other teams and also competed in Europeans, and that should all be taken in to consideration when looking at their achievements. But for a technicality with a costume and they would have had the perfect Olympic season.
So finally, a big congratulations to them and their team for the silver! The contest and this season won't be forgotten and the details of the journey to the podium for both the top teams will always be the addendum to the results itself.
And I've never seen them skate with more emotional abandon and genuine vulnerability. They charmed me.
But then we've been watching them for a long time and maybe people aren't used to it yet ? But they'll be now :thumbsup:
I love their more avant garde exploration of more complicated music. In some ways I think they start breaking some conventions of ice dance here, so looking back this might be an extremely important program. 
