2025 Grand Prix de France Pairs Free Skate

[snowball]

I am perplexed with Deanna and Max. Every team has a bad skate but it bothers me that there doesn't seem to be a lot of camraderie,"I'm here for you" vibes. I'd like to see them a bit more supportive of each other.

Perplexed is a good word. Honestly i think their peak was worlds in Montreal. As much as respect and appreciate Deanna and the magnificent shape she is in she is 42 and max is up there too. I don’t feel they will make podium at olympics but they achieved their goal of going to the Olympics which is huge for anyone. I hope I am wrong of course! This was a strange outing in the long program. The twist is money for them. What happened?

 

[4everchan]

Perplexed is a good word. Honestly i think their peak was worlds in Montreal. As much as respect and appreciate Deanna and the magnificent shape she is in she is 42 and max is up there too. I don’t feel they will make podium at olympics but they achieved their goal of going to the Olympics which is huge for anyone. I hope I am wrong of course! This was a strange outing in the long program. The twist is money for them. What happened?

I somehow also think they peaked when it mattered the most " home worlds" .

What happened ?

Twist : a silly mistake that has never happened before to them, not even in practice. As you said, their twist is money to them, one of the best scoring twists in the world. So, who knows ? The grip didn't feel good ? The timing was off? Deanna's hair was in Max's face ??? LOL

ETA : from GS interview : Deanna hit Max's foot going in and she couldn't do the split part of the twist lift and then there was no speed for the revolutions to happen. No big deal.

Let's not worry about something that will mostly never happen again.

The jumps : it's a new sequence for them. I am glad that they went for it and got 3t-2a-2aQ and over 8 points on it. Very few teams got their sequence right today, as a matter of fact, R+R got 3tQ-1a-1a for only about 4 points if I recall correctly

The second lift : Deanna said she lost count of rotation and that's why the exit went wrong. They lost about 1.5 points in GOE on it.

I think Max doubled the salchow. Not sure there..

But if you look at the rest, the pairs spin, the death spiral got level 4s. The 3 lifts too.

The throws were not bad at all considering that it's something they have to work on.

I am not too worried about the "camaraderie" deal. They hugged at the end. They looked disappointed but they weren't upset. People need to let that one go. I remember a couple years ago when they had a rough skate and people were saying that Deanna was too intense and they would split etc ... it's not that kind of relationship. They don't need the constant comforting that some other pairs do need. They have a combined age near 80 years old... they are fine the way they are and I don't think fans should start reading into the KnC reaction to create narrative about them not being supportive. They are very much engaged into this season, are working hard, are doing their best. It may not be enough in the end and they may or may not win an Olympic medal. At this point there are 3 teams if not 4 ahead of them and they know that.

What have they done to address that? Learn a new sequence as all the other teams were doing the +2a+2a ... They also learned two new programs while R+R kept their short. I think they will manage to do their best skating later in the season.
Deanna explained that they cannot train the same as younger skaters do... Ryu is 20 years younger than her... So it may just take a little bit more time for them to get used to the new programs, which are brilliant by the way.

 

[jorge2912]

I hope Deanna and Maxime improve their FS ,is comprehensive that first championship of the season can happen that ,but considering that since a year is having some errors makes me think their full potential they reached was in 2021 to 2023 seasons and later begun to decrease it ,maybe can improve more and keep their potential but the according the interview they lost the focus on the ice in their FS , well i hope can refocus ASAP and see them shining on this season

 

[NanaPat]

I just got back from a weekend in Pennsylvania & there is an old fashion candy store where I load up on chocolate candy balls filled with alcohol like rum,creme de menthe,amaretto,Jack Daniel's etc. Watching pairs while munching on them.

Now you're making me want brandy beans. I always prefer my alcohol encased in chocolate.

 

[AquaSeas]

I absolutely loathe ‘wuz robbed posts’. That being said, I think P/S wuz robbed! I’m Canadian so it pains me to say that Deanna and Max were gifted that silver medal. IMO it should have been bronze and their PCS and GOEs did not reflect the many mistakes in their free skate. I could have accepted a third place in the FS with 2nd overall but their FS marks did not reflect what I saw on the ice.

 

[DemTuppesSeine]

I don't think we have to worry about Deanna and Max. From what I saw in practices and off ice, their relationship is a good one. They talked a lot during practice but nothing of that looked tense or stressed, they seemed pretty relaxed actually, I saw them laughing a few times. Also no catastrophes happening in practice. Everything looked good and nothing indicates injuries. Riku and Ryuichi looked more nervous in the FS practice than Deanna and Max did. And when I met Deanna before the gala and Max came over, she wanted to steal his coffee and he would have let her do that so I think they get along just fine.
For the program, Deanna told me that she said OH MY GOD on the ice when she came down from the twist. So absolutely unexpected and definitely not planned. It made them tense for the rest of the program, which might also explain why the jump sequence was off. She was sad about the mistakes immediately afterwards of course but on Sunday she said it's better to get all those weird mistakes out of their system now (remember the jump in the SP at John Nicks that didn't happen?) and she is optimistic that SCI will be better.

 

[lariko]

I am relieved to hear that twist was due to a small error not to a serious injury, even though I think P/S should have been awarded silver based on what was shown across two programs

 

[skylark]

I absolutely loathe ‘wuz robbed posts’. That being said, I think P/S wuz robbed! I’m Canadian so it pains me to say that Deanna and Max were gifted that silver medal. IMO it should have been bronze and their PCS and GOEs did not reflect the many mistakes in their free skate.I could have accepted a third place in the FS with 2nd overall but their FS marks did not reflect what I saw on the ice.

Agree, except I'm not Canadian. What bothers me the most is that the judges took so much extra time in their adjusting of the scores, which is a good thing usually and reflects that the judges give the skaters the benefit of the doubt.

But I have this obvious observation that all the skaters don't get that extra push of time, and so I feel that the scores were being manipulated for the results the judges want. I hate that. For instance, just to look at one element's score: during the program, Deanna/Max's death spiral earned 4.70 base value plus 1.14 GOE. End scoring gave them 5.10 base value plus 1.24 GOE. That's half a point. Another couple of "fixes" and you have all SD/D needed to be put ahead of the Hungarians.

I just want to say the Hungarians really won me over with their SP in this competition. Such intensity and, I felt at the time, such joy. I haven't re-watched it to check for the "joy" bit, but I felt that strongly at the time.

After Deanna/Max's error on the twist, I felt uneasy on many of the elements afterward. Maybe because they did too? if so, perhaps their PC also should have reflected that.

They still have some of the most beautiful lifts in the world, and like many of my favorites that I'm not expecting to medal at the Olympics, I'm so happy to watch them skate and give me feelings of joy, passion, and connection.

 

[skylark]

Sorry about the duplicate post. the site wouldn't let me delete it.

I absolutely loathe ‘wuz robbed posts’. That being said, I think P/S wuz robbed! I’m Canadian so it pains me to say that Deanna and Max were gifted that silver medal. IMO it should have been bronze and their PCS and GOEs did not reflect the many mistakes in their free skate.I could have accepted a third place in the FS with 2nd overall but their FS marks did not reflect what I saw on the ice.

Agree, except I'm not Canadian. What bothers me the most is that the judges took so much extra time in their adjusting of the scores, which is a good thing usually and reflects that the judges give the skaters the benefit of the doubt.

But I have this obvious observation that all the skaters don't get that extra push of time, and so I feel that the scores were being manipulated for the results the judges want. I hate that. For instance, just to look at one element's score: during the program, Deanna/Max's death spiral earned 4.70 base value plus 1.14 GOE. End scoring gave them 5.10 base value plus 1.24 GOE. That's half a point. Another couple of "fixes" and you have all SD/D needed to be put ahead of the Hungarians.

I just want to say the Hungarians really won me over with their SP in this competition. Such intensity and, I felt at the time, such joy. I haven't re-watched it to check for the "joy" bit, but I felt that strongly at the time.

After Deanna/Max's error on the twist, I felt uneasy on many of the elements afterward. Maybe because they did too? if so, perhaps their PC also should have reflected that.

They still have some of the most beautiful lifts in the world, and like many of my favorites that I'm not expecting to medal at the Olympics, I'm so happy to watch them skate and give me feelings of joy, passion, and connection.

 

[skylark]

sorry about the duplication. The site wouldn't let me delete it.

 

[Ziotic]

Sorry about the duplicate post. the site wouldn't let me delete it.

Agree, except I'm not Canadian. What bothers me the most is that the judges took so much extra time in their adjusting of the scores, which is a good thing usually and reflects that the judges give the skaters the benefit of the doubt.

But I have this obvious observation that all the skaters don't get that extra push of time, and so I feel that the scores were being manipulated for the results the judges want. I hate that. For instance, just to look at one element's score: during the program, Deanna/Max's death spiral earned 4.70 base value plus 1.14 GOE. End scoring gave them 5.10 base value plus 1.24 GOE. That's half a point. Another couple of "fixes" and you have all SD/D needed to be put ahead of the Hungarians.

I just want to say the Hungarians really won me over with their SP in this competition. Such intensity and, I felt at the time, such joy. I haven't re-watched it to check for the "joy" bit, but I felt that strongly at the time.

After Deanna/Max's error on the twist, I felt uneasy on many of the elements afterward. Maybe because they did too? if so, perhaps their PC also should have reflected that.

They still have some of the most beautiful lifts in the world, and like many of my favorites that I'm not expecting to medal at the Olympics, I'm so happy to watch them skate and give me feelings of joy, passion, and connection.

The long wait was because the TP was arguing over how to credit the 3T-2A-2A. I guess they had to review it several times to confirm Max or Deanna hadn’t put their foot down and that both did all the required rotations.

 

[skylark]

The long wait was because the TP was arguing over how to credit the 3T-2A-2A. I guess they had to review it several times to confirm Max or Deanna hadn’t put their foot down and that both did all the required rotations.

yes, I heard that explanation. I'm just sayin'.

 

[skylark]

Loved, loved, loved Katie McBeath and Daniil's skates here. They are progressing very well very quickly. I really like their connection too.

Also wanted to say how glad I am to see Riku and Ryuichi having changed their group 3 lift. I'm glad they're not doing it the way they were, with him lifting her and putting her down from a knee position. I worried about him.

Somehow on this last re-watch a few minutes ago I noticed that I can see how fast they skate, even via tv camera. Beautiful skating, with such smooth quality in all the elements.

 

[NanaPat]

For instance, just to look at one element's score: during the program, Deanna/Max's death spiral earned 4.70 base value plus 1.14 GOE. End scoring gave them 5.10 base value plus 1.24 GOE. That's half a point.

The change in base value was probably a one-level boost. Because the GOE is based on the base value (GOE = base value * raw goe * .5), a boost in the base value gives an automatic boost in the GOE. The math is correct here. Note 1.24 is about 1.14 * (5.1 / 4.7); it's not exact because both the 1.14 and the 1.24 were rounded to 2 decimal places.

This type of change is quite common, though for singles skaters the tech mark tend to go down rather than up, as URs and edge calls are almost never reflected in the tech box.

I thought the extreme delay was caused by doubt about how to call the axels in the sequence of jumps.

 

[skylark]

I thought the extreme delay was caused by doubt about how to call the axels in the sequence of jumps.

Yes, and I heard that it was an argument between two of the technical people. So that makes it more understandable ... like in an argument between spouses, a compromise, or one person giving way, can take time ....