2021-22 U.S. Pairs Figure Skating

[skylark]

That's wonderful @skylark. It has been my hope to be able to ignore the judging, but I have a hard time doing that. .....

For the skaters, quite clearly they learn from an early age to buck-up and grin and bear it. Of course, they know they don't have any agency whatsoever, except over themselves, their own training and their own performances. They are so young and innocent when they enter the sport, and often just live in a bubble of training and traveling and performing. .....

For anyone to feel like there isn't political bias, there absolutely is.

It isn't easy for me to ignore the judging, either, but I accept that judges are human. I simply prefer to keep some faith, keep some hope, and try to give the people who give their time and effort to the system the benefit of the doubt. Just because I'm not railing against political bias doesn't mean that I don't know it exists. But how could it not? I'm here for the skating, the athleticism and the artistry, not to get caught up in arguments about scoring, urs, etc. I like to think keeping the joy is worth making some effort for. I'm sorry that you have such a hard time.

And thanks @Weathergal, for this very concise and accurate sentence.

Just because other posters do find the joy in skating doesn't mean that they don't see its problems.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

So are you saying that they should not ding them as much when they make a mistake because they're better than that?

No, I didn't say that. These are your words. You can own your own words and your own misinterpretations.

saying the same thing over and over again to a message board filled with diehard skating fans isn't going to effect change.

I'm going to continue responding to posts by others that I feel moved to respond to. No one has to agree with me. There's always a lot of debate in figure skating, and I doubt that will ever change.

Just because other posters do find the joy in skating

I'm glad for posters who find joy where they find it, and I said as much. Please do not insinuate that I don't find joy in skating, especially in pairs skating. I already mentioned where I find joy and where I do not find joy in figure skating.

that might not be the most sensitive way to say this.

Regarding my questioning, "Am I speaking a foreign language?" -- I agree with you that is not the 'most sensitive way' to express my confusion at being misunderstood and misinterpreted. I apologize to any speakers of languages other than English who may be offended.

 

[mrrice]

I tell you what, our Pair Teams make me feel like this... It was the same with Alexa and Brandon last week. Hoping they can have the same comeback in the free like Alexa and Brandon

 

[readernick]

I tell you what, our Pair Teams make me feel like this... It was the same with Alexa and Brandon last week. Hoping they can have the same comeback in the free like Alexa and Brandon

I hope so, too. I feel like Ashley and Tim have even less space for errors because while I enjoy them from a performance standpoint, their pairs elements aren't as strong as Alexa/ Brandon. They really need to be clean in both programs to stand a chance. That being said, both Canadian teams and the German team tend to do much better in the SP than the LP, so Ashley/ Tim have a chance to move up...

 

[mrrice]

As they say in the south....."Shut My Mouth!" It happened for the second time in as many weeks. The US Pair of Cain and Leduc jumps 3 spots with a great free skate and capture the Bronze Medal!

 

[skylark]

As they say in the south....."Shut My Mouth!" It happened for the second time in as many weeks. The US Pair of Cain and Leduc jumps 3 spots with a great free skate and capture the Bronze Medal!

Yes, it was a great skate and an exciting result for Ashley and Timothy. As much as anything, because they performed their program the way it deserves to be performed, and they didn't let their frustration from yesterday infect today's performance. They seemed to use it as fuel for their determination and for their skating. So well done!

 

[moonvine]

Yes, it was a great skate and an exciting result for Ashley and Timothy. As much as anything, because they performed their program the way it deserves to be performed, and they didn't let their frustration from yesterday infect today's performance. They seemed to use it as fuel for their determination and for their skating. So well done!

I was very happy for them!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

the top Russians who do make it to Worlds will always be viewed with more respect than U.S. skaters).

Ha ha, two cases in point:

Skate America: Boikova/Kozlovskii should have been off the podium in 4th. Alexa/Brandon should have won bronze.
Skate Canada: Pavliuchenko/Khodykin (with so many mistakes in their fp) should have been dropped to third overall, and Ash/Timothy should have won silver--

It's not good enough to say Ash/Timothy won the fp over P/K, when A&T should have won silver overall with their clean free skate vs other teams who backed up in the fp. Had Ash/Timothy been given fair scores for their quality elements in the sp (take off for the fall, but give better credit for their quality elements, which didn't happen). Instead of 61+ for how well A&T skated, they should have received at least 63+ in the sp, and also better PCS for their lovely free skate.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I tell you what, our Pair Teams make me feel like this... It was the same with Alexa and Brandon last week. Hoping they can have the same comeback in the free like Alexa and Brandon

Maybe we should give U.S. pairs skaters a break, and express our dissatisfaction chiefly with the judging. With or without mistakes, U.S. skaters are not as highly valued and rated as they should be for their huge talents!

Kudos to Ash/Timothy for their grittiness in coming back from the over-punishing lowball 61+ score in the sp to skate clean and to put pressure on the teams in front of them, all of whom blinked, or something. Aside from Sui/Han who really didn't have tough competition at SC, in addition to having received a very high sp score. Of course, S/H deserved to win, but their programs aren't all that exciting this season.

As they say in the south....."Shut My Mouth!" It happened for the second time in as many weeks. The US Pair of Cain and Leduc jumps 3 spots with a great free skate and capture the Bronze Medal!

Ash/Timothy have won three bronze medals so far this season: Autumn Classic; Finlandia Trophy; and Skate America Int'l. All accomplished in spite of being given a tough time by the judges, especially at Finlandia Trophy and at Skate Canada in their short programs. Ash/Timothy's next GP is NHK. I wish them well. By the time A&T get to U.S. Nationals, their 'body of work,' even to this point, will come in handy.

 

[iluvtodd]

Jumping for joy for Ashley & Tim - what a free skate!

 

[skylark]

https://www.instagram.com/p/CVsj2M9J2gW/

"I could live in these moments forever."

 

[ladyjane]

Ashley and Tim were just fabulous. They could have been given more points for the SP - after all it was a beautiful programme with great interpretation and there was just one mistake - but their FS was great. I can only think of words like fabulous, wonderful, great in describing it. Well, they were second in that FS, and rightly so!

 

[mrrice]

This is truly the most excited I've been for US Pairs in a long time. We have 2 pair teams that could make the Final Flight at the Olympics and that is just amazing.

 

[skylark]

Ashley and Tim were just fabulous. They could have been given more points for the SP - after all it was a beautiful programme with great interpretation and there was just one mistake - but their FS was great. I can only think of words like fabulous, wonderful, great in describing it. Well, they were second in that FS, and rightly so!

This bears repeating.

I hope these wonderful skates, and winning a GP medal, give them confidence going forward. It should, especially combined with their bronze medals at AC and Finlandia. Given that even in the difficult past 2 years, they could do the elements smoothly in practice that they struggled with in competition, I feel that confidence was a big part of their fight. And they kept fighting!

Ashley said afterwards, "we are going to focus on consistency" going forward. So glad.

 

[skatefan17]

I adore Ashley and Timothy! Let’s start the vigil now to will them into the Olympic team. They are so deserving!

 

[skylark]

I adore Ashley and Timothy! Let’s start the vigil now to will them into the Olympic team. They are so deserving!

We could take shifts .. and burn a symbolic candle LOL

 

[ice coverage]

Ashley/Timothy's Skate Canada FS video from NBC Sports was posted yesterday on its YouTube channel:

Ashley Cain-Gribble, Timothy DeLuc win second career Grand Prix medal at Skate Canada | NBC Sports

Reigning U.S. pairs bronze medalists Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy DeLuc won their second career Grand Prix medal after scoring 128.22 in the free skate at...

youtu.be

The commentary from Tanith White, Johnny Weir, and Tara Lipinski was full of appreciation for Cain-Gribble/LeDuc's skating and program on this day as well as for their partnership in general.

 

[Seven Sisters]

I adore Ashley and Timothy! Let’s start the vigil now to will them into the Olympic team. They are so deserving!

I think Calalang/Johnson should go also, and there’s the rub—I’m guessing that Knierim/Frazier are going regardless, and if I’m right about that, either CG/LD or C/J has to be left off the team. What do the rest of you think?

 

[Moxiejan]

I think Calalang/Johnson should go also, and there’s the rub—I’m guessing that Knierim/Frazier are going regardless, and if I’m right about that, either CG/LD or C/J has to be left off the team. What do the rest of you think?

If you’d asked me this last spring, i’d have said that K/F were the clear top pair. But i just watched them live at Skate America (practices & competition) and wasn’t as impressed as i thought i’d be. They looked tentative.

Despite the jump errors by C/J in the LP, I found them stronger overall — and then of course on lifts & power.

The standing of C-G/L has been helped by their strong LP & comeback medal last week. Another medal at NHK next week could put them in the GPF—very important this year.

But at this point i’d put all 3 about equal. Nationals is going to be fierce.

 

[readernick]

If you’d asked me this last spring, i’d have said that K/F were the clear top pair. But i just watched them live at Skate America (practices & competition) and wasn’t as impressed as i thought i’d be. They looked tentative.

Despite the jump errors by C/J in the LP, I found them stronger on lifts & power.

The standing of C-G/L has been helped by their strong LP & comeback medal last week. Another medal at NHK next week could put them in the GPF—very important this year.

But at this point i’d put all 3 about equal. Nationals is going to be fierce.

Fair points. In terms of SS and lifts, I think C/J are the best US team. C/G-L have really nice programs and lines.

However, K/F have never been beaten by C/J or C-G/L. They have always come out on top. I just don't know if C/J or C-G/ L are capable of a LP of similar cleanliness as K/F. I thought K/F looked very very nervous at SA and their SP had the worst twist and death spiral I have ever seen them do but they still ended up 5 points ahead of C/J. They performed much closer to potential in the LP and have the third highest LP score of any team to perform on the GP up to this point. They were over 5 points ahead of C/ J score and and about 14 points ahead of C-G/L score at SC and they were definitely not overscored. Both technical panels were equally strict. They may not be extraordinary in anything but they are all-around better in terms of scoring potential.

I still think K/F are almost a lock for the team. I thought C/J were almost locks too because their pairs elements are much stronger than C-G/L but I think C-G/L showed improvement at SC and I think are in the conversation.