Okay, well. That wasn't a good competition at all. In the early going I noticed a lot of guys having uncharacteristic problems. Some guys seemed okay or squeaked by but a lot of them didn't. I suspected that the two days in between is probably part of the issue. At most events, they would have a day in between the short and long or they would have to compete the long the very next day with no rest in between.
Of course, there were also guys skating very well and going over 100. The top guys saw that early racking up of points over 100 and it must not have been easy waiting backstage in addition to the two days off and the intensity of the Olympics. I wasn't too surprised seeing Adam mess up. I knew after his first jump that he was off axis and he didn't seem comfortable. But then Yuma falls apart. And the judges had the nerve to keep Yuma on the podium!!!
Above all, I noticed when the marks came up for Sato that he had been way overscored. Then, when Jun's marks came up, the judges had made sure to keep Jun right behind Sato. Totally unfair. They took some tech points away from Jun and kept him a point behind Sato on pcs. Jun is a much better skater aesthetically that Sato, hands down! Petition for an investigation, please.
Especially, Yuma does not deserve to be held up so much. He had a mistake in the sp and he was a mess in the fp.
I have to rewatch Shaidorov's program because I had been half-watching, and noticing how his points were racking up. Such a boring program, too. But I respect his talent. Like coach, like student. Shaidorov's coach, Urmanov, was the unexpected Olympic champ in 1994 when Kurt Browning and Brian Boitano didn't skate well. After that Olympics, Urmanov was not treated well. There was a lot of chatter that Elvis Stojko, who was second, should have won gold (due to his jumping prowess). This season, ironically, Shaidorov hasn't been treated well by the judges and he had lost some confidence. This should be a huge confidence booster. I hope he gets better music and works with better choreographers.
While watching Adam, I did have a thought in my head that the top medals could be up for grabs due to the number of high scores over 100. But I still was surprised to see Yuma make so many errors, and even more shocked when his scores were manipulated to keep him on the podium. Of course, Ilia made too many mistakes. He did have the boot issues, and simply too much media pressure and hype. It has little to do with him going twice in the team comp, IMO. It's just an unusual event, and the pressure was high. If he hadn't gone in the team event, the U.S. would have lost the gold to Japan. At least, Ilia takes home gold in the team event.
Ilia didn't die, haters. It's not the end of the world. At least, not yet.
This should fuel Ilia to excel even more over the next four years, as long as he remains healthy. And, Junhwan CHA deserved that bronze medal, you cheatin' judges! Plus, Yuma is babied too much.
Just like Miura/Kihara, mistake-ridden programs don't keep them off the podium.
U.S. media, would you friggin' please calm down. ISU, you SUCK! Stop deciding which skaters are competing for which medals beforehand! Competition is open to all. Piper & Paul had the best two programs in ice dance, btw. And they should have at least captured silver or gold!
what happened was a young man put much preassure on himself and his dream, and the public put a whole lot more, and something had to give, unfortunatelly
. Congatulations for winning silver, I hope you don't loose the joy in it, as you showed on the podium
Having the highest hope for THE best FS in Prague
)
But a skating fan can dream. 🌬
'Accurate and true' to you, I suppose. Neither Japanese guy actually belongs on the podium. Sato was overscored, as was Yuma for both programs with mistakes. Gogolev, Gumennik, and Cha had better overall performances than both Yuma and Sato. It's just that Yuma and Sato are political favorites and always given overly high GOEs. Cha has better pcs abilities than Sato. Of course, Yuma and Sato have better aesthetics than Gogolev and Gumennik, but Yuma especially did not perform well and Sato is not as good as the pcs he's given.
