2024 Worlds: Women's thoughts and comments

[Anna K.]

I don't know. Slalom skier Felix Neureuther was famous for always choking in the big competitions even though he had the genes and the training to be really good technically. And suddenly he became a winner. I think he did autogenic training. So there seem to be cases, where it is definitely some kind of mental blockade.

I have not heard about this case.

However, in biathlon, we had an athlete who had an extremely successful season. When he was asked about the reason of his success, he admitted that he was training with his psychotherapist. Which meant that the therapist traveled with him and before every race they booked a room for two hours in the nearest hotel and asked the staff not to disturb.
Journalists loved this story.

Conclusions? Whichever way you decide to go, you need to invest in it, like, really. Then it will pay off.

 

[Anna K.]

I agree, I think often the athletes (and their coaches) themselves cannot really say what the exact problem is or they might think it's A and in reality it's B. I also think it is a lot more difficult in reality than just A or B. There are so many factors which influence each other and it might often be difficult to tell what exactly is happening. Several psychological and physical issues like general insecurity, a certain technique, acute problems in personal life, muscle memory, over-excitement, difficulties in adjusting technique etc. might form a complicated mix and sometimes maybe you can just change on thing and it has a huge effect, sometimes you change one aspect but there's something else related without which it does not help, sometimes you try all kinds of things and nothing works...
There are definitely training mechanisms regarding automatisms to reduce the impact of psychological factors.

Absolutely. It is a journey.
For an athlete, it is always a journey from A to B or wherever it takes. This is when the sports stories start getting really interesting (I should probably add, interesting for me ): when it's not just about scores or medals but also about gaining knowledge and experience.

 

[noskates]

I think my issue with Amber is that we have heard and read this almost exact same thing from her for years. It's just so sad when someone can be perfect in practice and can't compete. I said once that she has an outstanding skate about every so often This year it was at Nationals. I don't know what the answer is because, as someone upthread said we only know what Amber tells us, but I truly wish she would get some help (if she isn't already!) When she's "on" she's a force to be reckoned with but when she isn't - I don't think Loena has the same problem. All year she's been dead on and at Worlds there was just something missing. I think maybe she just had a bad skate - it happens to the best of them. I expect she'll be back with a vengeance in the coming season. Isabeau was great! So proud of her. Does anybody else think she has a strange jumping style? She throws that back leg around and it almost looks like she's off balance but it works for her. I think her presentation has really matured. And I really, really like Young You. This wasn't the best competition for her but I will be interested to see her develop even more. All in all the ladies that are competing now are pretty interesting and the Olympics could end up being a blood bath.

 

[4everchan]

I think my issue with Amber is that we have heard and read this almost exact same thing from her for years. It's just so sad when someone can be perfect in practice and can't compete. I said once that she has an outstanding skate about every so often This year it was at Nationals. I don't know what the answer is because, as someone upthread said we only know what Amber tells us, but I truly wish she would get some help (if she isn't already!) When she's "on" she's a force to be reckoned with but when she isn't - I don't think Loena has the same problem. All year she's been dead on and at Worlds there was just something missing. I think maybe she just had a bad skate - it happens to the best of them. I expect she'll be back with a vengeance in the coming season. Isabeau was great! So proud of her. Does anybody else think she has a strange jumping style? She throws that back leg around and it almost looks like she's off balance but it works for her. I think her presentation has really matured. And I really, really like Young You. This wasn't the best competition for her but I will be interested to see her develop even more. All in all the ladies that are competing now are pretty interesting and the Olympics could end up being a blood bath.

Loena had an injury which prevented her to prepare properly. It held on in the SP but caught up to her in the LP. She said so herself. Isabeau's jumping style has been discussed for as long as Amber's difficulties. I believe Amber can fix her issues easier than Isabeau.

 

[lariko]

I dunno. Isabeau had ups and downs, but she keeps delivering while Amber, despite seemingly being in a good shape repeated SkAm disaster. I couldn't believe when she popped. It just didn't seem real. After that glorious 3A...maybe she needs to socialize with younger US skaters more. They have nerves of steel.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

This is true. Jumps are hardly "presented" at all these days. In the past (say the 1980s and 1990s) men would go all out to "present" and showcase their triple Axel. This produced a choreographic exclamation mark and and program highlight. This is missing from current programs, which tend to be of uniform intensity throughout with no big high points to cheer.

Everyone is suffering from TikTok brain so choreographers have adapted to create virtual “swipes” every few seconds.

Stalked jumps were perfect for the era of dial up internet when everyone could focus longer than 5 seconds.

 

[Rebecca Moose]

ladies used to be my favorite event but I found it by far the weakest discipline all year long.

no doubt eteri ruined the discipline, but I am disappointed the programs all seem so basic, banal, and emotionally devoid in the absence of the russians.

kaori is a marvelous athlete but her programs are so generic and weak and beneath her abilities. so disappointing. she has the ability to be a transcendent performer but this generic schlock ain't it imo.

 

[Anna K.]

All in all the ladies that are competing now are pretty interesting and the Olympics could end up being a blood bath.

There is a rather long list of interesting young ladies but it is a bit early to hype them as potential Olympic medal contenders. Most of them are now about 17-18 y.o.; which means that they may be either affected by growth spurt or adapting right after the growth spurt. Also, they graduate from high school and their life changes in many ways. However, we have two years till OG so some of these young ladies most likely will be ready to compete for OG podium by that time. But we don't know which of them.

All right, I confess. I simply don't want to jinx it

 

[Skater Boy]

I kind of that thigs was a ho hum competition. Kaori had to fight for her landings. Loean kind of crashed. Korea was good but not great and so many of them. Most happy Isabeau brought US the glory but I am not sure she would be second with the Russians. Japan, Korea, USA Belgium dominate without Russia.

 

[Mathman]

. Most happy Isabeau brought US the glory but [b I am not sure she would be second with the Russians[/b].

She was the second best at this competition. What might have happened had circumstances been different, that's not really too interesting or relevant, to me.

 

[TallyT]

However, we have two years till OG so some of these young ladies most likely will be ready to compete for OG podium by that time. But we don't know which of them.

And history shows that two years in an fs Olympic cycle can be an eternity...

 

[katymay]

ladies used to be my favorite event but I found it by far the weakest discipline all year long.

no doubt eteri ruined the discipline, but I am disappointed the programs all seem so basic, banal, and emotionally devoid in the absence of the russians.

kaori is a marvelous athlete but her programs are so generic and weak and beneath her abilities. so disappointing. she has the ability to be a transcendent performer but this generic schlock ain't it imo.

Usually I love Kaori programs-fun music, great choreo...but this year was a miss for me. N-ot as bad as Leona's musical choices though-the kind of music I only want to hear at 2 am when I've had a few cocktails. The only non-Russian with the WOW factor for me this year is Mao Shimada. I do love Amber's triple axels though, and since it seems to be her best jump, she really should go for it in the SP.

 

[Anna K.]

And history shows that two years in an fs Olympic cycle can be an eternity...

Especially in Women's skating

We will have fever newcomers in the upcoming years of the current cycle because of the gap caused by introduction of the new age limits. So this is rather a question about who of already debuted senior skaters will put their package together for greater things because there is a difference between being an "interesting skater" and a skater who medals regularly. It is all in the process and everything can change very fast. Who knew that the best Korean lady at the end of the season will be Chaeyeon Kim? Mone Chiba just started to look like the next big thing but in the next competition a few weeks later she's vulnerable. This fast changing situation is interesting to follow but it is also a nerve wrecker if you like someone in particular

 

[Ziotic]

My thoughts are that they need to remove a jump element, make it so that one of each jump has to be included and bring back long held field moves.

For the very few Ina Bauers, spirals, etc we saw that were held, they all got significant applause from the audience.

That should tell you right there what people are looking for.

 

[Rebecca Moose]

My thoughts are that they need to remove a jump element, make it so that one of each jump has to be included and bring back long held field moves.

For the very few Ina Bauers, spirals, etc we saw that were held, they all got significant applause from the audience.

That should tell you right there what people are looking for.

and for the love of god eliminate the leveled footwork in the LP! it's a fridge break for 90% of the skaters and takes up like 20 seconds

 

[gkelly]

Step sequences are my favorite part of almost all programs. Especially the skaters who are good at them. But in general, I'm more interested in interesting skating than in crossovers into jumps.

 

[Jontor]

The more I learn about sports, the more I disagree with statements like "all problems are between their ears."

One of my favorite sports that I watch a lot is biathlon and one can guess that the ability to focus and hit a target in a middle of a race has indeed a lot to do with nerves. However, the more I learn about how hard the athletes work on many little things that do impact good shooting - like, breathing, elbow position, shoulder positioning, rhythm of movements - and how hard work on just one of these little things can significantly improve the overall result, I am now persuaded that it is exactly the other way round. Under-achievement is not caused by nervousness. Nervousness is caused by under-achievement.

That's why I am very happy with the way Amber and Loena reflect on their WC experience. They definitely view it as an under-achievement. They analyze it. They search for the little things they can improve. They are ready to work hard. And I am convinced that they will come back stronger.

Kaori is the greatest role model in this and she is right in front of their eyes.

I think part of the problem for Amber is that she never has a Plan B. Which means she always misses some of the jumping passes. If she can fix that, she won't lose so many points if she messed up one or two jumps.

 

[lariko]

I think part of the problem for Amber is that she never has a Plan B. Which means she always misses some of the jumping passes. If she can fix that, she won't lose so many points if she messed up one or two jumps.

I think some skaters are just not great at recalculating their program on the fly. It's one of the skills, and like with how fast it goes it has to be non trivial. Plus, she starts making errors after she has that long resting sequence after the first few jumps, so her decision making time is even more compressed. Honestly, I'd rather she stops popping, if at all possible. Like, there was no discernible reason whatsoever this time. None. She landed great 3A in practice. She landed a wonderful one to start with. She had the speed, she had power, all the lights were on... why, why, why??????????????????

It had been the most frustrating moment of the whole competition, not just women. I was absolutely prepared to see her on the podium with that 3A and first combo.

 

[Azikin]

no doubt eteri ruined the discipline

LOL, this discipline returned to the state it was a decade ago without Eteri and Russian skaters.

 

[Anna K.]

For the very few Ina Bauers, spirals, etc we saw that were held, they all got significant applause from the audience.

That should tell you right there what people are looking for.

Well, yes
The spiral-like moves were so frustratingly short so often that they actually made me re-watch Kostner's Clair de Lune exhibition to compensate my inner spiral hunger.