I’m counting on Kaori winning gold in the Women’s competition.
2026 Olympics Team Event: Men's Free Skate
- Thread starter dorispulaski
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I hope your interpretation is correct. Shun should be proud of himself. He had a stunning skate.
Also so so happy for Team Italy. That team is full of skaters who are often underappreciated by the judges. So, happy they all get a medal!
Although I am against the rule changes that might be coming, I do see a problem with the outcome of this competition.
Ilia has the big tech arsenal, we all know that. But there were mistakes here and the overall impression of his skate was not great.
Sato is no fave of mine, but he looked flawless, and had the skate of his life. But somehow Ilia beat him in PCS?? Is this just another example of that PCS is based on the tech and is not really a separate entity??
Malinin gives me Trusova vibes, too much PCS because of the tech...
Ilia has the big tech arsenal, we all know that. But there were mistakes here and the overall impression of his skate was not great.
Sato is no fave of mine, but he looked flawless, and had the skate of his life. But somehow Ilia beat him in PCS?? Is this just another example of that PCS is based on the tech and is not really a separate entity??
Malinin gives me Trusova vibes, too much PCS because of the tech...
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This is a bit revisionist. Sato has his own problems with lack of speed, weak in between elements, and honestly dreadful spins.Although I am against the rule changes that might be coming, I do see a problem with the outcome of this competition.
Ilia has the big tech arsenal, we all know that. But there were mistakes here and the overall impression of his skate was not great.
Sato is no fave of mine, but he looked flawless, and had the skate of his life. But somehow Ilia beat him in PCS?? Is this just another example of that PCS is based on the tech and is not really a separate entity??
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- Sep 14, 2008
Even though Shun Sato has been skating better than Kagiyama in the LP for the past year, it was probably a tactical mistake by Japan to put him in here. He was never going to beat Malinin, and Kagiyama was never going to place below 2nd in this LP anyway, but Kagiyama with a perfect LP could have actually beaten Malinin.
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I just saw she got sewn into her dress before the freeskate
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maybe i'm just inexperienced with scoring, but can someone please explain why Ilia's 4Lz wasn't marked as a fall when he clearly used his hands to support his weight on the ice, which prevented him from falling? I'm sure im missing something here because there is no way the judges ignored such a huge mistake
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HArEetZbAAAIwjH?format=jpg&name=medium
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/HArEetZbAAAIwjH?format=jpg&name=medium
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Actually, that's right. You just need a strong partner you trust to be able to judge how far to lean back, to keep your head off the ice, and you yourself need the core strength to keep from folding in your middle. I still do headbangers even at my advanced age, but I admit I've always done a version that's a bit more cautious -- if I'm looking up at the ceiling, I put my hands behind my head so if I'm a bit low, I'll brush the backs of my hands on the ice. (But that's never happened.) If I'm face down, I do a swimming movement with my arms stretched out and my neck arched to look straight ahead, so that again my hands and forearms will sweep the ice rather than my face. Somewhere on a practice session videotape that has disappeared in my storage locker but is constantly hunted for to transfer to a DVD, we do a headbanger for fun and the friend wielding the camera yelps "What is she DOING? I can't watch!." We kept it going so long he had to let me down on the ice and I just lie there laughing until the ceiling stops spinning.
The flying version is fun too, where he holds one foot and one hand and you zoom round and round like a little plane on a fairground ride. Core strength again, keeping your free arm and leg up and your back arched.
Core strength for both of you, and trust. I'm sure there have been accidents, but I've never had any or seen anyone else have one.
Am not much into team competitions, but this last competition in the end was more thrilling than I had expected. Given my feeling after Sato's skate I thought he could have a chance to win. And honestly I would have wished Japan to win this time. So it was sad to see for me that it was not enough. I have not checked the protocols yet, but I read the discussion on here. I think it was no scandal or anything that Malinin won in the end, not at all, but I think the big expectations one has of him leads one to judge a non-record skate by him lower than it actually was. Seeing him making a mistake on a jump or not doing the quadruple axel already kinda bores one. So then one kinda wishes someone who does a for him very good skate under big pressure to beat him. And Sato seemed surprisingly good to me under the circumstances, under this pressure. I mean without having seen the skates of Malinin at the Olympics I would not have dared to think he could not win them all easily. But so far, he seems vulnerable for the first time in his career. Nevertheless he still got enough tools to win it. But the Japanese guys have been admirably strong in their fights against the impossible. Of course, someone dominating figure skating has always received too high PC in this system, that is nothing new. Sato would have to skate much, much better than Malinin, especially technially, but that is almost impossible. However, what he and the Japanese team achieved, was remarkable. In the end, it is the ice dancing that made it too hard for Japan to win, but they almost would have done it nevertheless. So congratulations on that. Also kudos to the Italian team, especially Matteo, he truly has the Olympic spirit, but also very good nerves when it matters. All in all a good podium where every nation clearly deserved to be on and could be predicted to be on.
I am no expert, but I think that the rules say something about where the weight of the body is. Hands on the ice are not automatically falls, there might be something about where the booty is in relation to the skates...?
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At first I couldn’t tell if he was crying because he was disappointed or if they were happy tears, but it looked as if his teammates were trying to console him which makes me think it was the former. Beating Ilia in a free skate was always going to be a hard ask and it was just unfortunate that he was the very last skater of the entire event. If the ladies were last, it probably wouldn’t hit as hard.
But I like what you said better so I’m going with happy tears.
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The majority of the body weight needs to be unsupported by the legs for it to count as a fall. This was one of those close cases that could be called either way.
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Exactly this. Occasionally, a caller is extremely strict but 9 times out of 10 this doesn't get called because there wasn't enough weight transfer to the hands.
Huge tactical mistake. But I guess the Japanese were always only looking for a silver, and wanted as many skaters in the team possible to be a part of it. (Sakamoto is a diffferent story...she is on her farewell tour, so she was always going to do both segments).
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AFAIK it is about weight of the body. And clearly here it is on hands.
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But there was....
Hmmm...I'm not sure. I remember thinking as it happened, "Bad executed jump, no fall though". It was just a brief hands down...we see this all the time.
Although I am against the rule changes that might be coming, I do see a problem with the outcome of this competition.
Ilia has the big tech arsenal, we all know that. But there were mistakes here and the overall impression of his skate was not great.
Sato is no fave of mine, but he looked flawless, and had the skate of his life. But somehow Ilia beat him in PCS?? Is this just another example of that PCS is based on the tech and is not really a separate entity??
Agree. I haven't followed figure skating for awhile and just tuned in because it's the Olympics, but Sato clearly had the skate of his life, landed flawless jumps and seemed to have better overall skating skills and artistry (not Kagiyama's level but I would place him above Malinin). OK maybe Sato's spins were not great (I didn't notice this but have to go back and check) but I would have expected much closer scores. Ilia, even though he has the quad axel which is an amazing feat in and of itself, reminds me of Trusova with all her quads. And even Trusova with all her quads landed at the Olympics could not beat Anna who had fewer quads BUT the superior overall package. And even though I am not even close to a skating expert, in watching Team Japan and US's reaction to Sato's skate, it seemed like it would be nail bitingly close- clearly Team Japan thought they might have won it. I would think the skaters themselves would understand the scoring and technical content better than most of us viewers, but the scores that came out weren't even that close. I can only hope the individual program is judged more fairly.
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- Sep 23, 2020
I thought "well, that's a fall!". So here you go.
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