2023 World Figure Skating Championships Men's Free Skate

[pohatta]

Though I consider the resultz correct, I feel sorry for Kevin Aymoz.
Two times on fourth place at Europeans and this time again.
Without any doubt he delivered the competition of his life, but it was not enough.

He was the best European by a 25+ point margin. Maybe that makes him feel like a European champion.

 

[Ruthypegs]

Jason's 5th placement is even more impressive, given that Worlds was his only international competition of the season, and he'd only skated in one other competition (Nationals).

 

[yesterday]

Give Ilia a break, he's only 28 and won a medal. This is a huge achievement.

It's a typo but somehow a fun one. Poor old Ilia

 

[lariko]

Wow, Grassl, Shaidorov and Litvintzev all got brutalized with their scores. I am never going to argue that Shoma Uno is the best, but Cha over Malinin? Not my panel of judges, that’s for sure. Other than that, Tomono was joy and it sucked to see him scored less than Brown... and I was so glad to see Rizzo happy after his FS. This Aymoz' programm feels too juvenile, tbh, I hope he does something else next year.

 

[Placebo11]

LOL. I didn't notice my typo.

 

[MarkinBerkeley]

And that's criminal.
I don't know how those other quads looked like but no quad even with maximum GOE should beat a 4A with positive GOE. Lowering the BV was really a bad thing. Sometimes i feel like quality is over-rewarded compared to difficulty.

The base value for the 4A should be about 16.

 

[MarkinBerkeley]

He was the best European by a 25+ point margin. Maybe that makes him feel like a European champion.

He got a tremendous score for having just a one-quad program.

 

[MarkinBerkeley]

If that was a swan song, and it felt so, it was a superb one. Thank you, Jason!!!!!

It was wonderful. Too bad they can't give him some sort of a medal Still, a well-deserved personal best.

 

[Holy Headband]

I said I didn't care about edge work, which falls under skating skills. That doesn't mean I don't care about performance at all, just that I'll always think a program that is technically impressive is better than one that is artistically impressive. I've watched figure skating that way since I was a kid being more impressed by Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes than Michelle Kwan. Maybe age should have changed that, but it didn't, possibly because I was born at the end of the 80s. Figures were gone the first time I saw figure skating and I think that has a huge influence on how I watch the sport.

Sorry to be so blunt, but the fact you’ve been watching figure skating since the days of Tara Lipinski and by your own admission can’t spot a deep edge means you’ve wasted a lot of precious time on an interest that may not be for you.

Re. the competition, my only complaint is that Uno’s inflated GOEs propelled him to the title over Cha, who should have won the FS at least. Don’t know what people who think Malinin was robbed are smoking. His jumps were messy, his program content was non-existent and his skating and performance skills were mediocre. Maybe he’ll improve in time, as many Americans seem to be trying to convince themselves, but comparing him to Jason Brown, Keegan Messing, Yuna Kim, Mao Asada, etc. is pure copium. These skaters all had their struggles early on, it’s true, but their skating fundamentals and performance quality were outstanding from the start. If you don’t have those things by 18, they’re not going to appear by 24; we’re talking about skills that are acquired in childhood.

That said, Malinin could make some improvement in those areas for sure, like Nathan Chen, Boyang Jin, etc. did. I just wouldn’t set my expectations too high. But what he really needs to focus on is optimising his jump layouts, cleaning up tech and consistency issues & preventing injuries. Big jumps will always be his calling card, and if he wants to rely on them so heavily, they need to be flawless, which they haven’t been this season.

 

[icybear]

Wow, Grassl, Shaidorov and Litvintzev all got brutalized with their scores. I am never going to argue that Shoma Uno is the best, but Cha over Malinin? Not my panel of judges, that’s for sure. Other than that, Tomono was joy and it sucked to see him scored less than Brown... and I was so glad to see Rizzo happy after his FS. This Aymoz' programm feels too juvenile, tbh, I hope he does something else next year.

How Cha got over 100 TES with only 2 quads and the most basic ones is absurd. It almost felt like the judges were intentionally trying to push down Grassl and Malinin. I dont care for either skaters particularly but I think they were judged harshly today.

 

[lariko]

Sorry to be so blunt, but the fact you’ve been watching figure skating since the days of Tara Lipinski and by your own admission can’t spot a deep edge means you’ve wasted a lot of your life on an interest that’s not for you.

Re. the competition, my only complaint is that Uno’s inflated GOEs propelled him to the title over Cha, who should have won the FS at least. Don’t know what people who think Malinin was robbed are smoking. His jumps were messy, his program content was non-existent and his skating and performance skills were mediocre. Maybe he’ll improve in time, as many Americans seem to be trying to convince themselves, but comparing him to Jason Brown, Keegan Messing, Yuna Kim, Mao Asada, etc. is pure copium. These skaters all had their struggles early on, it’s true, but their skating fundamentals and performance quality were outstanding from the start. If you don’t have those things by 18, they’re not going to appear by 24; we’re talking about skills that are acquired in childhood.

That said, Malinin could make some improvement in those areas for sure, like Nathan Chen, Boyang Jin, etc. did. I just wouldn’t set my expectations too high. But what he really needs to focus on is optimising his jump layouts, cleaning up tech and consistency issues & preventing injuries. Big jumps will always be his calling card, and if he wants to rely on them so heavily, they need to be flawless, which they haven’t been this season.

Now Cha is better than Uno too? Lol. Not sure what you are smoking but it must be a strong herb.

 

[JimR]

I've watched it now (I'm sure no-one cares lol). I can't argue against Shoma winning, but Ilia kind of robbed and denied a chance of winning. I'm not saying he would but the opportunity was taken. Pulled up on his jumps where others weren't and absurdly low PCS cost him a minimum 10 points across the two programs. It's subjective of course.

Brown was great, but it's getting out of hand the 10s. Of course it's never going to influence final medal results since he has no quads.

I probably enjoyed Kevin's performance the most, Ilia the most memorable with such complexity.

 

[gourry]

How Cha got over 100 TES with only 2 quads and the most basic ones is absurd.

You still haven't heard of GoE yet?? Besides, Cha and Aymoz are the only two skaters who got level 4 for EVERY elements both in SP and FP. Not only difficulty of jumps, but quality, spins and steps matter too.
Besides, his combination jumps use 3L, 3S, and 2A, nothing like 2T. Every little thing adds up.

 

[el henry]

Ilia wasn't robbed of anything. The sport is not ice jumping, it is figure skating. Ilia has the basics, I have seen him skate live, he is fast, he is energetic, (the All American boy ) his spins are now actually good.

But he has ignored his performance and skating aspects at his peril. He was not equal to the other skaters in PCS today because his skills were not up to the task at hand. He admits in his post skate interview he has ignored his performance in favor of jumps. I hope he, and more importantly his team, learn from this.

Uno and Cha were the better skaters today. No questions asked.

 

[kimganos]

That was super Yuzu-esque!!!! Wonderful!

Absolutely Channeling Yuzu! I love EVERYTHING about Jun! The skate of his life!!

 

[JimR]

Wow, Grassl, Shaidorov and Litvintzev all got brutalized with their scores. I am never going to argue that Shoma Uno is the best, but Cha over Malinin?

Maybe it as an incredible coincidence, but it didn't seem like a good tournament to represent an ex-Soviet nation or be coached by a Russian (even more so if coach by Eteri).

 

[yume]

I agree that Ilia need better material to work with. His Short programt this year fit Ilia like a glove. Loud and a bit in your face and daring you to look away. That's Ilia for you. I think that he work with different types of music. I would like them to pick something that next year that a little less dreary. I mean this long program was depressing and somber. I hope next year they give him happier music. He still very young for a skater so let him act like it.
I think though there is a bais against skaters from North America though. I hard to misd at times. This year's Four Continents is clear that example of that going on. If we use a complete skater model then Keegan should have won the gold medal in a runaway because he has the complete package and had the best skate of his life. Kao Mura should have never been close but he won and with how people jump on Ilia's PCS and basic skating skills all the time on this site look at Kao performance during his long which was basically jumping and spinning every 20-30 seconds and fluttering his arms around in attempt to be artistic with no connection with the music he was skating to yet he won over a beautiful complete skating package with jumps, spins, and chorography on perfect harmony that was just glorious to watch. That what I am talking about. The ISU has bais towards Asia right because frankly they are basically paying the ISU bills right now and the fact the United States has so far off the skating map as a market is not helping matters any.
Also the ISU wants a certain personality as well. When bring up Nathan Chen he basically was what the ISU in how his personality was which is quiet, humble, docile and hopefully obedient. Ilia basic personality is the complete opposite of this and it making the ISU uncomfortable because they do not know to handle him. Basically most skaters do as their national federation tell them. Nathan did this perfectly along with going along with whatever NBC wanted meant that ISU did not have any worries about him. Now here comes Ilia who I think could basically care less what the USFS and the ISU thinks about the way he comes off. I mean how many kids go off at 15-6 years old create a social media account which he calls himself "QuadgOd" and then post pictures of all of his outrageous jumping elements for the world to see. He is telling the world about him and most likely it driving the USFS nuts because they are afraid he going to do something that the ISU will not like. Ilia is going to be the rebel of the figure skating world . I really hope that if moves out to California alone that Raf keeps him on fairly short leash to protect him from himself because the parallels between him and Christopher Bowman are scarry. Both of them are young, attractive, outrageous talented, charming, and rebels with devil may care personalities. The things that are different is that Ilia has a crazy work ethic , no mental problems, loving parents, and no problems with illegal drugs. But they have a lot in common and look what happened to Christopher and I never want Ilia to turn out like him because it was a great tragedy. A skater who could have been a legend brought down by own demons. That what could happen to him USFS please let him have some freedom so he can breathe so that will not be self destructive. Don't try to force him into the standard box because he not going to fit and will try to break out of it and will not be pretty. The next two to three years are going to be a roller coaster remember Ilia is going barely 21 years old at the 2026 Olympics if it goes right he could have to two more Olympic Quads after that. So he could be one of the greatest skaters of all time but we also be careful very careful on how we handle him and his antics.

True that my eyebrows were surprised when i saw that Miura was less than 3pts from 90PCS at 4CC. Then i laughed. He sure would have gotten 90+ if he had skated at worlds and did the same program. I don't know if judges remember what kind of skating used to get that and after how many seasons.
The only similar skater who got that kind of treatment is Chen imo.
That's why i'm surprised by Malinin's PCS. He's from the same fed. I thought they would prop him to sky. But instead, he's getting the Boyang Jin treatment of that era.

 

[el henry]

Maybe it as an incredible coincidence, but it didn't seem like a good tournament to represent an ex-Soviet nation or be coached by a Russian (even more so if coach by Eteri).

Incredible coincidence? Nah...

Morisi was, to put it bluntly, difficult to watch. Uninspired, dull, just no "there" there. Of course, he suffered in my eyes by skating after my beloved Andrew Torgashev, whose artistry and passion shine through even in a bad skate.

Daniel is not putting it together at all this year. He did not put it together in this comp. Daniel is best when his passion matches his admittedly odd jumping technique. I didn't see that today. Many other skaters outshone him.

I haven't watched Livintsiev, so I can't speak to him.

 

[JimR]

Incredible coincidence? Nah...

Morisi was, to put it bluntly, difficult to watch. Uninspired, dull, just no "there" there. Of course, he suffered in my eyes by skating after my beloved Andrew Torgashev, whose artistry and passion shine through even in a bad skate.

Daniel is not putting it together at all this year. He did not put it together in this comp. Daniel is best when his passion matches his admittedly odd jumping technique. I didn't see that today. Many other skaters outshone him.

I haven't watched Livintsiev, so I can't speak to him.

The judges completely overlooked Luna with her q's on doubles yesterday, Kaori with the clear wrong edge on her lutz. In the SP overlooked the clear blade assistance on Shoma's 4F. Shoma and Kaori's problems with the 4F and 3Lz are issues that judges should be aware of and actively looking for. It's not something that could slip past them.

Then they ripped Grassl apart in my opinion. Grassl or Eteri didn't look upset they seem to understand what is going on now. Hopefully it is just a once off flexing of muscle.

It's so ridiculous because Grassl wasn't contending for a medal anyway. It devalues the sport when we see such inconsistency is all (it is my subjective opinion of course).

 

[el henry]

The judges completely overlooked Luna with her q's on doubles yesterday, Kaori with the clear wrong edge on her lutz. In the SP overlooked the clear blade assistance on Shoma's 4F. Shoma and Kaori's problems with the 4F and 3Lz are issues that judges should be aware of and actively looking for. It's not something that could slip past them.

Then they ripped Grassl apart in my opinion. Grassl or Eteri didn't look upset they seem to understand what is going on now. Hopefully it is just a once off flexing of muscle.

It's so ridiculous because Grassl wasn't contending for a medal anyway. It devalues the sport when we see such inconsistency is all (it is my subjective opinion of course).

This is the thread for the men's LP, so I will concentrate on that.

Grassl and Eteri should understand what is going on now. Daniel's skating has deteriorated. Eteri, so far, has no clue how to fix it.

His scores were deserved and if he stays with this new coaching team, hopefully they will concentrate on what they need to fix to increase his scores.