2022 Olympics Team Event Day1: Rhythm Dance

[readernick]

What an intriguing ice dance competition. The judges were not going off script only with the top couples, but arguably also with the lower ranked ones (Taschlers!).

The Taschlers are so good. Their skating quality is up with the top group. I'm happy they were rewarded.

 

[TontoK]

Piper and Paul need to clean things up pronto.

They cannot be pleased to finish 4th in an event that did not include Chock/Bates and the French. A really good team is not going to make the final flight of the free dance, and they don't want it to be them.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Good, they did give his Twobbles a 3, I was gonna SAY.

But the +4s ?! Some judges basically said the quality of those twizzles were better than skaters who did them pristinely like H/D and G/F.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Thank you for combo terms clarification. Please can you clarify/expand further on getting banana'd?

I don't like bananas except when they're green Or maybe it's because bananas change colour fast, like yellow boxes do once they get reviewed.

 

[Rikku]

Thank you for combo terms clarification. Please can you clarify/expand further on getting banana'd?

I'm only speculating, but I'd imagine that if the box is yellow, it could go either way, and if you slip on a banana peel, it could go either way too...

 

[gravy]

I thought Piper and Paul's short was so cringe all season so I'm glad to see them get marked appropriately and take a dip in the OBM fight.

The Russians are too close to the Americans though. Italians were a snooze as always.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Even though I wanted the Canadians to do better I can for sure say H/D we’re spot in tonight as we’re G/F. In a rightful world they would be much higher than the Russians and def deserved to be higher than the Canadians after that RD.

Yeah. It was not at first clear you were talking about P/P in your post that I responded to. But I figured out that you meant P/P didn't get levels on their twizzles. You didn't mention P/P's names. And you went on to discuss SinKats.

Sorry for the Canadians. All in all, it hurt them last year when they didn't have their Nationals competition. I think that affected everyone this season, aside from Keegan, the Danadians, and P/P. Although some fans complain about P/P's continued homage theme in the FD. I love The Long and Winding Road, and I love Piper/Paul. It's just not looking good for Canada, with Keegan having come down with COVID and missing the team event. Even had Keegan been able to make it, Canada's chances were not high, and fans have known that for awhile. After all the retirements post their 2018 Olympic team gold medal, Canada has been rebuilding in ladies, pairs, and men. That's a lot to overcome, coupled with losing Keegan in this year's team event.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I went back and watched the warm-up and, yes, it was H/D's fault but it was just an accident and not a serious crash. I can't imagine she suffered any injury.

Plus, he's the one who made the visible errors not her.

I love how Belinda was like “And these are the twizzles where one must always watch Katsalapov….”

 

[4everchan]

If other teams had the errors S/K had, they would have been buried.

as a matter of fact, Piper and Paul were buried for errors that were not visible to my not that trained eyes.. but i did spot flagrant mistakes from SK...

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Horrid dance event, everything that was done in men is lost... They are not only 2 points of difference given, but it is a huge increase unnecessary of pressure for couples and Valieva...

Why worry about dominant Russian pairs and the even more dominant Russian ladies though? Of course, ice is slippery, but I don't see Russia losing the gold in the team event, unless something drastic happens in pairs, which I doubt. ROC has it in the bag. What is it with the hand-wringing? Kondriatiuk did his job, which Kolyada might not have, despite Kolyada's superior talents. The judges did not dump on SinKats, and they are still judges' pets. Nothing happened to indicate they aren't gonna still be given overly high points in the FD. LOL!

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I thought Piper and Paul's short was so cringe all season so I'm glad to see them get marked appropriately and take a dip in the OBM fight.

The Russians are too close to the Americans though. Italians were a snooze as always.

It was a choice. And tbh not a good choice for them this season. They stand out in a good way when it’s going right but tonight they stood out for the wrong reasons and when they were slow and a somewhat scrappy tonight it comes across as amateurish and not indicative of reigning World bronze medalists.

Italians were fun and their technical elements were on point (highest BV). I’d def have them second.

The Russians’ RD is tacky and was sloppily done. Nikita is styled like someone’s drunk, sketchy uncle. And tonight he skated like one too.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

I think Piper/Paul were good, but not at their best in terms of relaxation and energy level. Somehow the judges decided to drop them, whether or not there were actual errors. The Italian ice dancers are always competitive, and Italian skaters always get lifted by the politics, courtesy of Cinquanta in power all those years. That's just a fact. Although I do agree with @CanadianSkaterGuy that Guignard/Fabbri are fun to watch, and they give it their all. I agree with Tanith's commentary on G/F.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

as a matter of fact, Piper and Paul were buried for errors that were not visible to my not that trained eyes.. but i did spot flagrant mistakes from SK...

Yeah I just felt G/P were slow but they were nailed technically - level 3 on both sets of twizzles is weird since that usually involves an error. And I thought they hit their edges so I’m not sure where the levels were lost.

This can destroy their confidence but let’s remember that when they won their WBM they were trailing in the RD.

I just think they picked the wrong vehicle for their RD but hoping they perform it better in the individual.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I love how Belinda was like “And these are the twizzles where one must always watch Katsalapov….”

I am also 10000% sure Belinda lurks on skating forums/YouTube with all her shade about Morisi’s quad toechow, Uno’s flip prerotation, Nikita’s twizzles and I’m sure other examples. And all with that amazing Aussie twang. She’s a gem!

 

[Hyena]

I don't think Madi/Zach are at all overly concerned with what the judges are going to do. They deserved a high score and they got that. They seem to mainly be focused on enjoying this final competitive experience. They don't seem to be allowing anything to penetrate their calm and focus. This was a very good, loose, controlled and in-the-zone RD for Madi/Zach.

Everyone still knows that SinKats are judges' pets.

Agree, but Hubbell/Donohue are also really competitive. To be clear - I don't mean that at all in a bad way, I love that quality of theirs. They want a medal and the higher, the better. The placements here show the door is open for them, albeit slightly, to beat Sinitsina/Katsalapov.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

Late but on the subject of the Germans, I want to clarify that I’m not offended by their program because of some kind of “moral” panic. I just feel like they’re relying too much on voice overs to tell the story of their characters (instead of their skating) to the point that it becomes a crutch and actually overwhelmed them at times. The choreography also felt clumsy at times (thinking of stuff like the shaking her head move) both too literal and too generic at different times. It’s just a really clumsily designed program for a concept that needed better execution. Still at least it’s… memorable?

 

[FlyingFeather]

Horrid dance event, everything that was done in men is lost... They are not only 2 points of difference given, but it is a huge increase unnecessary of pressure for couples and Valieva...

In my opinion, I think Russia still has the edge for gold. M/G and Valieva are out of this world amazing and us Americans struggle in both pairs and ladies with consistency.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

The Russians’ RD is tacky and was sloppily done. Nikita is styled like someone’s drunk, sketchy uncle. And tonight he skated like one too.

Tee hee! Thanks for your very deft and witty description of Nikita Kat! I thought SinKats Singing in the Rain program was very messy too, but the judges still gave them humongous points. Zhulin/ Rusfed/ etc., fix was in, all the way.

 

[LisaS]

Can anyone explain why Piper and Paul would have received level 3 on the twizxles? They looked good to me' no bobbles. In sync' very fast. I didn t see a loss of edge. I am not an expert I really would like someone to explain it to me

 

[skylark]

I'm thinking (cautiously optimistic) that the blatant wrong scoring done here might cause the scoring to at least be more fair in the individual events. I mean, there must be judges and feds that don't appreciate such favoritism and there could be a slight move away from it.

But overall, I'm just terrifically happy for Madison and Zach! So very well skated!