2025 Skate to Milano Men's Free Skate

[4everchan]

ok... my son is skating in 4 hours or so but i will be sleeping... that was excruciating but relatively fun take care you all

 

[lariko]

We are too be treated to another play of fa-la-la-lah

 

[elektra blue]

time for me to go, see you in a couple of days love you all

 

[cheerknithanson]

Why are the medals here better than Skate America’s medals from the past 11-12 years?

 

[lileychristie]

I really like Petr's long hair, he should let it down like that when he skates

 

[lariko]

Okay, I am gonna start my apple cake, then watch ice dance drama

 

[YuBluByMe]

OK the Jigsaw people are still going - they're interviewing a Mexico team right now! Not sure where they finished up, but they finished two 1000 piece puzzles in less than 2.5 hours. Man, it takes me that long to get all the edge pieces out

See you need to stop that! It’s because of you I ended up watching a mullet competition a few years ago! I had to stop watching because I found myself getting way too much into it. “Wait, that guy’s mullet was more on point than that other guy’s!”

 

[labgoat]

Bed for me once I finish the rewatch...last group videos still to be posted
Still not posted so I am off to sleep and finish later

 

[FlossieH]

So, it's Petr, KOR (2nd spot), Donovan, UKR (probably Kyrylo) & Yu-Hsiang to round out the Olympic men's field.

I can't think of any country that might give up its spot (Maybe the 2nd Latvian spot? But they'll probably get him citizenship in time), but if one did, it would go to Davide, then FRA (3rd spot), then CZE (is there anyone else but Georgii?).

CZE - Scerba also has the minimums. Vaclavik has the score too, but I am not sure whether that counts because it is from junior competitions. I wouldn't be surprised if he is sent out as a senior as well this season.

 

[yuumagical]

I really like Petr's long hair, he should let it down like that when he skates

But then it would obscure his view... I don't mind ponytails or man buns.

 

[AlexBreeze]

I liked Peter's program much better last year, this program...left me 'meh'. No way this beats Yuma. (No one is beating Ilya, even with a great program)

This is last season's program actually.

 

[elbkup]

But then it would obscure his view... I don't mind ponytails or man buns.

“We” had this l-o-n-g discussion in Jason Brown’s FF when he had his hair cut. I too like the long hair

 

[lileychristie]

I just watched Yu-Hsiang~ what a joyful, confident skate

Love his happy smile throughout! Do we have a footage of when he realized that he got the Oly spot? I would love to see his expression then

 

[elbkup]

Over the moon for Donovan !!

 

[paulusfr]

Sucks for , but interestingly at French Masters his last spin was botched too

 

[Jeanie19]

Sucks for , but interestingly at French Masters his last spin was botched too

And I don't understand why. Davide is a good spinner.

 

[Budapest2006]

There are rumours that the Uzbek pair who qualified at Worlds have split. If they have, the spot would go to the Kovalevs. Uzbekistan don't have a second pairs team to send.

Indeed, but the way it is, it feels painful.. Waiting for another pair to walk out, it's stressful and not a nice way to get an olympic slot.

Nevertheless, I'm happy (for the men) because it allows Taipei to be part of the Olympic adventure as they didn't have anyone qualified until today

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Did anyone else see what I saw in the men's event with the judging, and also with the commentary by Ted and Mark on the last flight? Scores were tight from the previous group. It was quite clear even b/f the fp that Davide Lewton Brain would likely have a difficult time staying in the top five without a quad and without a 3-axel. Probably, he should have went for the 3-axel. He will likely regret not going for it. And the noticeable wobble on his final spin was also a killer. However, Davide deserved higher pcs than 73.34, especially with Gummenik given a huge 80 for pcs (sigh, consistent quads boost pcs). Still, why so low on the pcs for Davide? Oh, because Chinese Taipei skater, Yu-Hsiang Li had a good skate and the crowd was definitely behind him, and so were the ISU judges. The scoring difference between Li and Davide was percentage points. Had they scored Davide fairly on his superior skating quality and artistry, his score would have deservedly topped Li's.

I say this also because of how the ISU judges were squeezing Hyungeom Kim so hard in the scoring. No GOE given to Kim for his first jump, a well-landed quad!!! And throughout Kim's program, the judges kept his GOE down. It was so obvious. Once it became clear that Kim was not going to miss on anything, it was beyond the judges' ability to keep his scores down. But boy were they ever trying. The commentary by Ted and Mark underscores the fact that Kim was seen as a possible odd-man out. Ted and Mark were fan-boying for Li, who was understandably popular with the Beijing crowd. After Kim's great performance, the crowd was very lukewarm.

Kyrylo Marsak is well-liked, too. Understandably, there's a lot of sympathy for his plight as a Ukrainian skater. I say this because it was very noticeable that Ted & Mark made excuses for Marsak's messy jump technique, while they were overly critical of Kim's jump technique! To me, Kim looks a lot neater and more precise than Marsak in jump technique, even if neither have textbook technique. I am more familiar with Kim from following him in juniors, than I am with Li. I know Li's coach, Derrick Delmore, moreso than Li. Kudos to Li, but I didn't think he was that special. He has talent and he held it together. Figure skating politics was in his favor, too.

And then, the top guys began crumbling. Francois Pitot had looked so solid and confident in the sp, as did Donovan Carrillo. I had thought they would be shoo-ins, and that Kim and Davide would be vulnerable to strong fp skates by some of the quadsters. I really like Donovan, but his fp was too messy to be kept on the podium, despite being enough to remain in the top five. There was some heavy mathing being done by the judges. If Donovan wasn't so popular with fans and with the ISU, he would have been dropped further in the fp standings. Yeah, I know Donovan had an 11-pt advantage over Davide from the sp. Ted & Mark made sure to emphasize that.

Frankly, I would prefer seeing Davide Lewton Brain perform at the Olympics over Marsak and Li. I hope the extremely close margin of losing out on the 5th spot for the Olympics will not haunt or depress Davide. He should have been rewarded with a spot for his two clean, beautiful performances. Being younger, both Li and Marsak would have good future opportunities to make the Olympics, while this was likely a last longshot for Davide.

While Georgii Reshtenko could not keep it together mentally, I love both of his programs, so I hope to see more of Georgii this season. Genrikh Gartung, too, succumbed to the pressure, but also to relative inexperience. Everyone in the last group (aside from steadier Davide and Kim) were showing the pressure, even Petr Gummenik. At the Olympics, there will be even more pressure for Petr to overcome, especially with him not having had international competitive experience for so long. We'll see how he fares overall at the top in the extra heated Milano environment. The judges, as I said previously, were generously fair to Petr, in Beijing. Of course, Petr only faltered slightly in the fp, while Pitot and Carrillo experienced major meltdowns. Petr obviously had his superior quad arsenal and his comfortable sp lead to rely on.

Bottom line: for the men, it takes calm mental focus above all, along with at least a quad or two; at least a 3-axel or two; basic talent and training resources; luck; self-belief; judges' favor; rep and popularity; and the politics of home-field advantage. If you lack the last three factors, like Hyungeom Kim did in Beijing, you can overcome with generous helpings of the first six ingredients.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

There are rumours that the Uzbek pair who qualified at Worlds have split. If they have, the spot would go to the Kovalevs. Uzbekistan don't have a second pairs team to send.

You mean Geynish/Chigirev have split? Hmm, while they were technically talented, they were slow and labored over the ice. Yet, they're young, and they seemed fairly determined, having left Russia to compete for Uzbekistan. If they've split, I wonder what happened. Did their financial support run dry?

 

[lariko]

Did anyone else see what I saw in the men's event with the judging, and also with the commentary by Ted and Mark on the last flight? Scores were tight from the previous group. It was quite clear even b/f the fp that Davide Lewton Brain would likely have a difficult time staying in the top five without a quad and without a 3-axel. Probably, he should have went for the 3-axel. He will likely regret not going for it. And the noticeable wobble on his final spin was also a killer. However, Davide deserved higher pcs than 73.34, especially with Gummenik given a huge 80 for pcs (sigh, consistent quads boost pcs). Still, why so low on the pcs for Davide? Oh, because Chinese Taipei skater, Yu-Hsiang Li had a good skate and the crowd was definitely behind him, and so were the ISU judges. The scoring difference between Li and Davide was percentage points. Had they scored Davide fairly on his superior skating quality and artistry, his score would have deservedly topped Li's.

I say this also because of how the ISU judges were squeezing Hyungeom Kim so hard in the scoring. No GOE given to Kim for his first jump, a well-landed quad!!! And throughout Kim's program, the judges kept his GOE down. It was so obvious. Once it became clear that Kim was not going to miss on anything, it was beyond the judges' ability to keep his scores down. But boy were they ever trying. The commentary by Ted and Mark underscores the fact that Kim was seen as a possible odd-man out. Ted and Mark were fan-boying for Li, who was understandably popular with the Beijing crowd. After Kim's great performance, the crowd was very lukewarm.

Kyrylo Marsak is well-liked, too. Understandably, there's a lot of sympathy for his plight as a Ukrainian skater. I say this because it was very noticeable that Ted & Mark made excuses for Marsak's messy jump technique, while they were overly critical of Kim's jump technique! To me, Kim looks a lot neater and more precise than Marsak in jump technique, even if neither have textbook technique. I am more familiar with Kim from following him in juniors, than I am with Li. I know Li's coach, Derrick Delmore, moreso than Li. Kudos to Li, but I didn't think he was that special. He has talent and he held it together. Figure skating politics was in his favor, too.

And then, the top guys began crumbling. Francois Pitot had looked so solid and confident in the sp, as did Donovan Carrillo. I had thought they would be shoo-ins, and that Kim and Davide would be vulnerable to strong fp skates by some of the quadsters. I really like Donovan, but his fp was too messy to be kept on the podium, despite being enough to remain in the top five. There was some heavy mathing being done by the judges. If Donovan wasn't so popular with fans and with the ISU, he would have been dropped further in the fp standings. Yeah, I know Donovan had an 11-pt advantage over Davide from the sp. Ted & Mark made sure to emphasize that.

Frankly, I would prefer seeing Davide Lewton Brain perform at the Olympics over Marsak and Li. I hope the extremely close margin of losing out on the 5th spot for the Olympics will not haunt or depress Davide. He should have been rewarded with a spot for his two clean, beautiful performances. Being younger, both Li and Marsak would have good future opportunities to make the Olympics, while this was likely a last longshot for Davide.

While Georgii Reshtenko could not keep it together mentally, I love both of his programs, so I hope to see more of Georgii this season. Genrikh Gartung, too, succumbed to the pressure, but also to relative inexperience. Everyone in the last group (aside from steadier Davide and Kim) were showing the pressure, even Petr Gummenik. At the Olympics, there will be even more pressure for Petr to overcome, especially with him not having had international competitive experience for so long. We'll see how he fares overall at the top in the extra heated Milano environment. The judges, as I said previously, were generously fair to Petr, in Beijing. Of course, Petr only faltered slightly in the fp, while Pitot and Carrillo experienced major meltdowns. Petr obviously had his superior quad arsenal and his comfortable sp lead to rely on.

Bottom line: for the men, it takes calm mental focus above all, along with at least a quad or two; at least a 3-axel or two; basic talent and training resources; luck; self-belief; judges' favor; rep and popularity; and the politics of home-field advantage. If you lack the last three factors, like Hyungeom Kim did in Beijing, you can overcome with generous helpings of the first six ingredients.

I think you are seeing things through your own lense. Marsak might have had sentiment on the crowd on his side, but he also skated decently with better tech than most. Kim was scored fairly. Gumennik often falls and underrotates even when he doesn't go for Malinin-Chen style load in some Saransk. And, if the judges put a skater from Taipei ahead, it was justified by his cleaner skate and potentially longer career ahead of him.