2018 Olympic Figure Skating Ladies FS

[zschultz1986]

The fact that Zagitova got higher PCS than Satoko and nearly as much as Kostner and Osmond is a JOKE.

The fact that Med didn't get dinged for her flutz, but Osmond did is a JOKE.

This entire year has been a joke. The PCS for all of these girls is NUTS, especially Med and Zagitova. Med is not two points higher in PCS than Katelyn. The fact that Med got a higher SS score than Osmond is hilarious. Apparently, barely made muscled jumps means you have better skating than a jumper who flies across the ice and actually has JUMP in her jumps.

 

[shan22044]

The main event of figure skating has always been Ladies. It's... really not about the context, or an opinion.

There isn't bigger proof of that than the fact it was last (the main event), with a day in between the two skates.
Yes, this Olympics cycle the men have been big news and ice dancing has been pretty compelling in the last decade but it's ladies skating that got an entire generation of people to even follow this sport. Cheating scandals don't count - it's the rivalries and the other drama that added to the popularity of the ladies event.

 

[Tigerlily87]

There isn't bigger proof of that than the fact it was last (the main event), with a day in between the two skates.
Yes, this Olympics cycle the men have been big news and ice dancing has been pretty compelling in the last decade but it's ladies skating that got an entire generation of people to even follow this sport. Cheating scandals don't count - it's the rivalries and the other drama that added to the popularity of the ladies event.

The day in between was likely to accommodate other sports as well. I don’t believe it’s been like this in the past.

 

[jenaj]

There isn't bigger proof of that than the fact it was last (the main event), with a day in between the two skates.
Yes, this Olympics cycle the men have been big news and ice dancing has been pretty compelling in the last decade but it's ladies skating that got an entire generation of people to even follow this sport. Cheating scandals don't count - it's the rivalries and the other drama that added to the popularity of the ladies event.

It was to accommodate women's hockey and other events, I thought.

 

[Tigerlily87]

It was to accommodate women's hockey and other events, I thought.

Ding ding ding... they knew that if the two went up against each other in general, hockey would likely win out.

 

[largeman]

The day in between was likely to accommodate other sports as well. I don’t believe it’s been like this in the past.

The ladies' single skating competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The short program was held on February 23, 2010 and the free skating was held on February 25, 2010.

 

[Tigerlily87]

The ladies' single skating competition of the 2010 Winter Olympics was held at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The short program was held on February 23, 2010 and the free skating was held on February 25, 2010.

And more than likely, there was hockey in between. When they’re scheduling the Olympics they know who is going to be watching watch and they’re very careful of how they schedule. Sochi had no break iirc.

 

[largeman]

Her Salchow certainly is her strongest jump. It's really the only one that can be called truly exceptional out of hers.

And while the rest of her jumps are middle of the pack or bottom of the pile(Lutz) when it comes to jump height, the triple Salchow's right at the top as seen here.


So considering that she has absolutely no 3A prospects, it will have to be 4S if anything.

Zhenya's triple salchow stands out in how prerotated it is... It is regularly prerotated by 270 degrees. If she trains the 4S she can give Shoma Uno a run for his money and have a face-off to see who can prerotate their quads more.

 

[temadd]

The best moment of this event was Tursy's mom taking a bow before leaving the K&C.

SO FUNNY! Elisabet looked mortified!

 

[1111bm]

Do any of you mac owners frequently get the message here that this page was reloaded because it was using significant memory? Last night I had to leave the forum to get my live stream to behave.

Just when I'm using Safari, not with Firefox, which is currently my main browser (and it happens at all times in all threads, not just during high-traffic times i.e. competition). Also, for me, that message doesn't affect any livestream that is open in a different browser.

 

[DiamondDust]

Of the top ladies, Sotoko stood out with endearing musicality but the judges are never going to give her the PCS she deserves becoz of her lack of jumping prowess.

Awww... this is soooo sad...:sad21: It's also sad that the direction FS seemingly is going, jumper=10.00 artistry.

 

[Metis]

You know, if you took out the jabs at other skaters, I'd actually agree with you.

Yes, Med improved a little. Her personal style isn't artistic, IMO.

I’m not exactly a Medvedeva fan, but I’ll say this in defense of her style, at least insofar as her Karenina program is concerned: she’s a polarizing performer, but I think, on the whole, she is expanding the boundaries of what it means to be a “feminine” skater, and while her PCS marks are a debate for another day, she’s undeniably artistic, just in a modernist, even futurist sense. There’s nothing “Ice Princess” about her, and she’s not trying to emulate that style (which is, I think, part of why her Chopin short and the modifications to the music are even more flamewar bait than usual). I’ve said my piece on the Karenina side — from a textual standpoint, she nails it, and preserves the ending as Tolstoy wrote it — but she still interprets the piece and lives the character in ways that aren’t the norm (see: all the iterations of Carmen earlier in the night).

To say her style isn’t artistic is probably too far. Medvedeva actually reminds me of Nathan Chen in some ways — I love Chen’s short: when he nails it, it suits him, it’s unique, it’s not graceless but it isn’t loaded up on movements that frankly don’t suit him, and he makes even the “artless” ones work. When he tries to go conventional and follow the idea of “what a figure skater looks like,” that’s when it all falls apart, which is where his free skate loses me. I don’t think he and Medvedeva would be half as compelling if they didn’t say “eff it” and do their own thing, in part because some of the collective notions of artistry are frankly outdated, and neither of them are going to be as effective playing to archetypes as they are doing what looks natural to them. They aren’t the old guard, and they can’t pretend to be.

That being said, I don’t think Medvedeva’s jumps are “pretty,” nor her strongest element. “Pretty” is not really a word that I would use for Medvedeva, ever; at her best, she’s beautiful, striking, but not quintessentially “pretty.” The Karenina program and Anna herself as a character are good fits for her, however — and I would take Anna over Carmen any day. (I love Ivett Toth, but being out of medal contention and not the most loved/hated skater in ladies means we don’t need to discuss her “artistry” as she finished her free.) But I also see artistry in Zagitova — I did ballet and it was immediately obvious to me that she spent time en pointe, so maybe I’m crazy. [emoji23]

My main issue with ladies figure skating and what I’ve taken to calling the “human Ambien” group (flight two in the free) is the rote quality of the artistry, the recycled music, the absolute lack of any forward momentum at all. Whether or not Medvedeva’s style hits or misses for me, she’s at least expanding the parameters of what’s possible — sometimes in ways that frankly don’t work, sometimes in ways that actually come together as greater than the sum of their parts — and I think that can’t be dismissed as not “artistic,” with all due respect. (I generally agree with you and enjoy your posts, but I think you’re being a little severe on Medvedeva here.) Whether or not she should have placed higher is an entirely different issue, but in terms of choreo and performance in the free, I thought Medvedeva’s program was beautiful without forcing her to play too heavily against type. She’s not Yuna, but she isn’t trying to be, and I would rather a flawed experiment than a miserable knockoff every time.

I may differ from the rest here, but I suppose I’m less of a “purist” in some sense? Very few skaters can drape themselves in classical music and carry it off. Very few are capable of hitting our standards for “artistry.” Biases on the table: quelle surprise, my favorite composer is Satie; I love modern art, and unless we’re talking Greek and Roman history, my interest plummets (Vienna’s modern art museum and Berlin’s Greek and Roman tie for “place I would be most happy to die at”); Dostoevsky >>>> Tolstoy, Tsvetaeva >xN Akhmatova, etc. There are very few Chopin pieces I actually like, and more often than not I think the music swallows the skater; Hanyu is the only current skater I see who has the mastery to do so, and it’s not necessary to belabor why. And that may be part of why I have no emotions toward the current US team; a perfectly skated Cinderella with updated choreography is still Cinderella, whereas Bradie, if she wanted to, could use her proportions and flexibility to create some amazing, incredibly sharp positions without giving up the extension on her spins.

There are a number of skaters rightfully in the pantheon of greats who made me question how on earth the judges considered that art. I’ve never come around on Plushenko, but I at least “get it” now (whereas my younger self hid under furniture during his “Sex Bomb” exhibition routine). Medvedeva is no Plushenko, and given the scoring wars, I don’t expect much sympathy for her from those unwilling to consider an alternate point of view. But her Anna Karenina program was absolutely artistic, in her own way — Medvedeva is polarizing, and I’m hardly her biggest fan (or even a fan? I’m still impressed by Zagitova’s composure), nor am I claiming she deserved to win gold, but I think she’s at least working at the edges of what it means to be a feminine and artistic skater and deserves acknowledgement for that.

 

[chopinskate]

post

Well, I disagree. I find her programs to be overwrought, boring, crafted without care for the musical phrasing, overly emotive, and over-reaching. To me she isn't artistic, and I find her personal style to be quite unpalatable.

For an example of an artistic skater who is "modernist" or "futurist", please have a look at Giada Russo's SP again.

 

[Interspectator]

I’m not exactly a Medvedeva fan, but I’ll say this in defense of her style, at least insofar as her Karenina program is concerned: she’s a polarizing performer, but I think, on the whole, she is expanding the boundaries of what it means to be a “feminine” skater, and while her PCS marks are a debate for another day, she’s undeniably artistic, just in a modernist, even futurist sense. There’s nothing “Ice Princess” about her, and she’s not trying to emulate that style (which is, I think, part of why her Chopin short and the modifications to the music are even more flamewar bait than usual). I’ve said my piece on the Karenina side — from a textual standpoint, she nails it, and preserves the ending as Tolstoy wrote it — but she still interprets the piece and lives the character in ways that aren’t the norm (see: to all the iterations of Carmen earlier in the night).

To say her style isn’t artistic is probably too far. Medvedeva actually reminds me of Nathan Chen in some ways — I love Chen’s short: when he nails it, it suits him, it’s unique, it’s not graceless but it isn’t loaded up on movements that frankly don’t suit him, and he makes even the “artless” ones work. When he tries to go conventional and follow the idea of “what a figure skater looks like,” that’s when it all falls apart, which is where his free skate loses me. I don’t think he and Medvedeva would be half as compelling if they didn’t say “eff it” and do their own thing, in part because some of the collective notions of artistry are frankly outdated, and neither of them are going to be as effective playing to archetypes as they are doing their own thing.

That being said, I don’t think Medvedeva’s jumps are “pretty,” nor her strongest element. “Pretty” is not really a word that I would use for Medvedeva, ever; at her best, she’s beautiful, striking, but not quintessentially “pretty.” The Karenina program and Anna herself as a character are good fits for her, however — and I would take Anna over Carmen any day. (I love Ivett Toth, but being out of medal contention and not the most loved/hated skater in ladies means we don’t need to discuss her “artistry” as she finished her free.) But I also see artistry in Zagitova — I did ballet and it was immediately obvious to me that she spent time en pointe, so maybe I’m crazy. [emoji23]

My main issue with ladies figure skating and what I’ve taken to calling the “human Ambien” group (flight two in the free) is the rote quality of the artistry, the recycled music, the absolute lack of any forward momentum at all. Whether or not Medvedeva’s style hits or misses for me, she’s at least expanding the parameters of what’s possible — sometimes in ways that frankly don’t work, sometimes in ways that actually come together as greater than the sum of their parts — and I think that can’t be dismissed as not “artistic,” with all due respect. (I generally agree with you and enjoy your posts, but I think you’re being a little severe on Medvedeva here.) Whether or not she should have placed higher is an entirely different issue, but in terms of choreo and performance in the free, I thought Medvedeva’s program was beautiful without forcing her to play too heavily against type. She’s not Yuna, but she isn’t trying to be, and I would rather a flawed experiment than a miserable knockoff every time.

I may differ from the rest here, but I suppose I’m less of a “purist” in some sense? Very few skaters can drape themselves in classical music and carry it off. Very few are capable of hitting our standards for “artistry.” Biases on the table: quelle surprise, my favorite composer is Satie; I love modern art, and unless we’re talking Greek and Roman history, my interest plummets (Vienna’s modern art museum and Berlin’s Greek and Roman tie for “place I would be most happy to die at”); Dostoevsky >>>> Tolstoy, Tsvetaeva >xN Akhmatova, etc. There are very few Chopin pieces I actually like, and more often than not I think the music swallows the skater; Hanyu is the only current skater I see who has the mastery to do so, and it’s not necessary to belabor why. And that may be part of why I have no emotions toward the current US team; a perfectly skated Cinderella with updated choreography is still Cinderella, whereas Bradie, if she wanted to, could use her proportions and flexibility to create some amazing, incredibly sharp positions without giving up the extension on her spins.

There are a number of skaters rightfully in the pantheon of greats who made me question how on earth the judges considered that art. I’ve never come around on Plushenko, but I at least “get it” now (whereas my younger self hid under furniture during his “Sex Bomb” exhibition routine). Medvedeva is no Plushenko, and given the scoring wars, I don’t expect much sympathy for her from those unwilling to consider an alternate point of view. But her Anna Karenina program was absolutely artistic, in her own way — Medvedeva is polarizing, and I’m hardly her biggest fan (or even a fan? I’m still impressed by Zagitova’s composure), nor am I claiming she deserved to win gold, but I think she’s at least working at the edges of what it means to be a feminine and artistic skater and deserves acknowledgement for that.

Oooh, I agree with all of this. I have had mixed feelings about Evgenia's programs past and present, but the way she pulled off her LP at the Olympics was absolutely striking and unforgettable. Like Yuzu commented last night while reviewing the ladies performances, I'd have given both Alina and Evgenia gold.

 

[Ophelia]

It amazes me how Med has suddenly gone from “tano jumping queen” to “amazing, boundary pushing artist” just because she lost OGM.

When Zagitova gets supplanted by the next Eteri junior, everyone will be calling her an artistic phenom.

 

[Interspectator]

It amazes me how Med has suddenly gone from “tano jumping queen” to “amazing, boundary pushing artist” just because she lost OGM.

I don't really think about it as 'artistic' cause the word is too loaded. But it was an Olympic moment for me. I could at last look past all the things that bugged me about her skating and programs, and simply enjoy what she had to offer.
Satoko is the same. Her jumps drive people crazy, but it doesn't phase me when I'm too busy enjoying the whole of the program.
A Judge would obviously need to pay attention to things like this, and often I get caught up in it too. But this time, it was pure enjoyment.

I still am not able to fully enjoy Zagitova's SP. And her LP was more rushed than usual, but with time, I believe she will also improve.

 

[Jedi]

I’m trying to recall, but I believe in Vancouver two of the top-selling events were men’s hockey and the ice dance competition.

Well that is not to say there aren't other popular winter olympic events and of course it depends on the year and location and interest but traditionally and safely men's hockey and ladies skating is big. Yes, something may rise ie ice dancing if in home nation of a contender or biathalon say in Norway but men's hockey and ladies skating is always big.

 

[Blondie12]

EM's interview on NBCSN is heartbreaking - she says she left everyone on ice, her whole soul and it will take some time to be full again. She's so mature. Really a champion. I wonder how she knows english so well. I hope they include her on Stars on Ice but I assume she will do the russian version of it and maybe they wouldn't even let her tour in the US given US-Russian relations. She got alot more toys on the ice than many other skaters - I think the Japanese fans love her.

To speak so eloquently in what is probably the most pain she felt in her young life is really remarkable. I hope she continues.

 

[Jedi]

Why is Evgenia the winner of FS when they both scored the same 156.65?

pcs break the tie. Like the freeskate of yester year. Skater A has 5.8 for tech and 5.9 for artistry and Skate B has 5.9 tech and 5.8 for artistry - tie goes to artistry winner.

 

[Kiarararara]

Anna Karenina is the first program from Med that I like. Most of her programs suit her style and she has developed artistically over the years. Have to agree that she is a polarizing performers, she might not be really my cup of tea nor the best artist but she does have great moment.

Why aren’t we just thankful that the ladies field nowaday is both deep and diversified. We have the ones who can pull off classical pieces like Miyahara, Sotskova, Zagitova, the one who are more modern but still feminine like Kostner, Osmond, and the like of Medvedeva, Sakamoto who are very modern and somewhat futuristic. And even among one style of music their interpretations are different. They all do warhorses but it is musical and lyrical in Miyahara’s case, ballet-esque (okay I don’t know much about ballet but she does imitate ballet dancers) with Zagitova, dramatic and sharp with Osmond and Medvedeva. I feel its hard to get bored because they all bring something different to the table and make the competition exciting.

Especially when they don’t need to (yet) take about 10 seconds to set up for quads and forgoing any transitions possible. Top 6 all have good transitions content (Kostner lacks quantity but she has quality, and I will give Sakamoto the benefit of the doubts since it is her first senior season)