2024 GP France: Men's Thoughts?

[gsk8]

Adam Siao Him Fa rebounds in France for third consecutive title

2024 Grand Prix de France | Men Adam Siao Him Fa of France rebounded after the short program to win the Men's title at 2024 Grand Prix de France on

www.goldenskate.com

I didn't think Siao Him Fa would be able to climb back, but he did it with nearly 13 points to spare! It was really nice to Torgashev looking good. His rotations are really fast.

And Shaidorov makes history with the first ratified triple Axel-quad toe (base value of 17.50)!

What are your thoughts on the Men's event?

 

[ramurphy2005]

It was an event that happened.

Joking aside, I'm really happy for Andrew Torgashev because I know he's had some bad luck with injuries that have held him back.

 

[4everchan]

I thought the SP was one of the worse ones I had witnessed in many years.
I actually believed Adam could win it because, unfortunately, I didn't think Boyang would remain on top and the 14 points is just one good quad-combo and Adam has those as he had shown in the SP.

Shaidorov : I am surprised he did that combo. With the Seq now, it's not needed... so it's quite risky. I also didn't think he would land it after he did the axel because the axel's landing had very little flow. I am curious about 4t-4t or 4s-4t possibilities.

I am duned out for the year already.

 

[rabidline]

The men menned so hard I'm pretty sure it got too convoluted even for that certain block of judges to place people where they want to place (especially during the Shaidorov - Shimada - Torgashev sequence).

Koshiro snatching a silver GP medal before the end of his competitive career is really up there with his silver National medal. Good for him.

 

[Arigato]

Secretariat starts out in the back, breaks to the outside, and where does he end up?



Coming from behind to win is what makes sports great - in horse racing and figure skating.

 

[skatingfan4ever]

Thrilled for Andrew Torgashev. That's all I want to say about this event. We are celebrating in his Fan Fest, so come on over! He really is a glorious skater.

Adam with another crazy comeback.

 

[TallyT]

The senior season started poor and is heading downhill. Hopefully it can't get worse than this one... can it?

 

[cailuj365]

Yeah, this event was dire. JGP-level scores, to be honest.

Skate America and Skate Canada had a number of good performances, and I count on Yuma to shine brightly at NHK next week.

 

[TT_Fin]

Men menned and Adam adamed. My personal favorite was Aleksandr Selevko's stsq.

 

[Mathman]

What is alarming is the decline in performance scores, Adam, a potentially charismatic sketer, managed low 8s in components, everyone else was in the sevens.

We haven't seen Yuma yet, but so far no one has shown anything this year to hold a fan's interest. Maybe they will get better as the season progresses.

 

[DancingCactus]

Well, to be fair, there were many injuries.
What surprised me were the many avoidable mistakes on the spins. Was there something wrong with the ice? Some of them looked like very slowly rotating pretzels.

But really, I hope Adam gets better and I really need Yuma to be good this year.

I guess I liked some things Torgashev and Selevko did, but it was a bit drowned out by the falls. Poor Lukas.

Also, as horrible as Adam's short is, I think the backflip is placed in a good spot where it makes sense.

 

[skylark]

I've had family events this week-end, but I finally got to watch, in the middle of the night, some of the men's programs.

Adam ... SO well done. I couldn't make it through either of the Dune movies (or the book sequels), but I loved the original book by Frank Herbert devotedly. And for me, Adam beautifully captured the spirit, the feelings, even the drama of the book with this FS to the Dune music. His skating, his movement, the way he expresses what he feels are just so divine. I adore Ilia Malinin too, and it's wonderful to have their extreme styles on display.

Second to Adam's, I enjoyed Aleksandr Selevko's FS the most. Obviously I wasn't greatly affected by the errors. I just love the way he skates with such dynamic movements and drama inherent in his skating. I just love watching him skate!

I didn't get to watch all of the programs yet, but I found it interesting that Boyang's FS score was so very close to Camden's. Have to go back and see if people's comments were as severe to Boyang's FS as they were to Camden's.

 

[elbkup]

Adam Siao Him Fa rebounds in France for third consecutive title

2024 Grand Prix de France | Men Adam Siao Him Fa of France rebounded after the short program to win the Men's title at 2024 Grand Prix de France on

www.goldenskate.com

I didn't think Siao Him Fa would be able to climb back, but he did it with nearly 13 points to spare! It was really nice to Torgashev looking good. His rotations are really fast.

And Shaidorov makes history with the first ratified triple Axel-quad toe (base value of 17.50)!

What are your thoughts on the Men's event?

Not the first time Adam has recovered from behind in the short to win .. Congratulations!

 

[DancingCactus]

Smart/Dieck still win the Dune contest for me. Not sure I like Adam dying on the Ice halfway through.

 

[ladyjane]

I already mentioned that I enjoyed the men's event in the Free Skate thread. I know scores were higher in earlier events, but that is a bit unfair. Judges score differently all the time, as does the Technical Panel. I wasn't rooting for anyone in particular (well maybe a bit for Torgashev who is such a beautiful skater), but just the unpredictability made it so exciting. I expected Adam to medal, although not the gold, I hoped Boyang would medal too, but that was not to be. I like the skating of both Japanese guys, so it seems fitting that one did a good SP, the other a relatively good FS. Alexandr is still the Cactus he always was (and his SP was great), I always like watching French skaters - mistakes or no, To be honest, I was more impressed by Mark's apology for not seeing the 3A-4T correctly than the combo itself but it was a fast moment. I can't help but be impressed by tall Nicolaj and his great landings, I had hoped for a little more from Lukas, and Camden is Camden (sometimes brilliant, sometime the complete opposite, but I still always like his posture).

 

[flaky]

While Ilia Malinin spent the summer working seriously on his artistry, Adam Sia Him Fa decided to put this issue to rest and went with the concept: When you have no artistry, come up with ugly choreography, make some moves to conceal there is not going on much between elements. For sure some will say that is "out of the box", "brave", "cool" and so on. I can't even decide which of the two concepts is worse. Last year Ilia at least looked elegant between jumps and his team did a good job covering his weaknesses in that area with reasonable moves. These seconds with Adam lying on the ice - no, just no.

 

[lariko]

I appreciated Malinin even more after this event. It was, frankly, bad. The worst was the wrong podium.

 

[readernick]

I am glad Torgashev medalled. He's just such a great skater. When he wins, having a solid skating foundation wins. I like Koshiro's SS though not his programs. I like Selevko a lot. But, his programs were just too messy to truly appreciate them. Like Boyang's SP and think his LP could work for him well, too if cleaner. Adam's Dune may be the most faithful to the source material, but I don't like it. Olivia wins that one for me, Wakabas is okay, Adam's mehhh

The spin calls were harsh but I like how strict the technical panels have been on spins and stepseqs this year. Andrew would have won the silver without the invalidated spin. He will learn from that. Anyway, it was terrible, but it wasn't boring.

 

[Idiote]

Well, I can say that this event made me truly appreciate how lucky I am to have been in Angers last year for the Adam-Ilia-Yuma showdown. I guess Grand Prix de France was the men's Skate Canada this year. It's only up from here !

I enjoyed Adam's free immensely, it's the best Dune-themed program I've seen so far at the least in terms of truthfulness to the source material. Also, he only popped one jump, everything else looked great. Many people online saying it's a disgrace he won as if he had a similarly bad skate as the short, when it was very decent especially for coming off an injury. My only worry is that the pattern of bombing the short to have Olympic-level sport-climbing to do in the free becomes a habit for Adam. It's amazing what he managed to do at Worlds, but I really hope he works on his nerve and consistency.

I've really become a fan of Luc Economides, I love his movement quality and expressivity, and his Interstellar program is super cool. His performance ability should be more rewarded.

I wish Shaidorov medaled, I really like his energy, but some of his jumps didn't work and when they do the judges bury him. Very impressed by the 3A+4T combo ! I'm glad I knew beforehand he planned to attempt it, otherwise I wouldn't have guessed it was a quad combo. It was so smooth and fast.

I don't have much else to comment, overall I did enjoy the short programs more overall. I'm very happy for Koshiro and Andrew, gutted for Boyang though I expected him to falter in the free. Not as fond of Selevko's free as I was of his short, but he's a very strong performer.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

I, for one, am glad Adam bounced back again. I love that it's most likely gonna be : Ilia, Adam, YUMA (amended, i was high and wrote Shoma )goin back and forth, pushing each other, with either one of them with a chance to be champion. This is my first time being introduced to Dune... so i have nothing to compare it to or know the story behind it. But I did enjoy Adam's choreography. Someone here didnt like the laying on the ice, heartbeating or sumthin, but I really liked it.

Koshiro- Someone here stated this silver medal it's good cause its at the end of his competitive career? Is that true? I feel like he never even got started. And he's only 23 right?

Lukas- I'm quite surprised by his FS. He never really has imploded. He's usually pretty stable. Or maybe is it that he's at this best towards the end of the season with the bigger competitions? This could have been a GOLDen opportunity for him. Such a shame. Hope he goes up from here.

Luc- I really enjoy his programs....I'll have to rewatch again today cause i was pretty lit but I do recall liking both his programs, especially his SP

Boyang- Being 1st after the SP, I thought this could re-ignite the Boyang we all got introduced to when he first burst out on the scene. But sadly didnt happen. I feel with him its one of those that once he started trying to focus on the artistry, he lost his consistency. Which is sad.

Mikhail- I always enjoy him, and love that he goes for the quads.....but he did a 3A/4T!!! Man! I just love how the men are PUSHING more and more. That's true sport!!

Sasha- I loved his SP. It's bluesy, jazzy and flowed. Cant wait to see it develop down the season

Francois- First year as a senior, onwards and upwards