- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
Is that REALLY what you said?
Also, I can't tell if you're pleased or not. Just saying...and teasing a bit.
2026 Olympics: Women's Free Skate
- Thread starter dorispulaski
- Start date
- Status
Also, I can't tell if you're pleased or not. Just saying...and teasing a bit.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
According to Jackie Wong she’s going to go to Worlds.
I wonder if she’ll experiment there…. Do something wacky!
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
I personally could care less about ultra C. As far as I know arms over head are no longer considered a difficult variation, but someone will correct me if I’m wrong. I’m not a fan of Russian “style” of skating in general with few exceptions such as Med and The Empress. I typically prefer North American style such as Alysa and Amber and there are also European skaters I really enjoy.Hi everyone
I’ve been following figure skating for over 10 years (though I don’t usually post much), but after today’s event I felt like sharing my thoughts.
First of all, congratulations to Alisa — she skated well and delivered when it mattered. Huge respect to her.
That said… I can’t help feeling a bit sad about the overall level we’re seeing right now. I know this might be controversial, but to me the technical standard feels significantly lower than what we were used to a few years ago.
I think we can all agree that Adeliia didn’t have her best skate, and she probably wasn’t the strongest Russian option going into these Games, especially considering her recent injury. But beyond individual skaters, what strikes me most is the bigger picture. If I try to think of a comparable major event in terms of technical content, I almost have to go back to around 2014.
Between 2016 and 2022, the depth in Russian skating alone was incredible — multiple quads, consistent triple Axels, difficult jump variations, arms-overhead positions, speed, attack… Even programs that weren’t perfect still had huge technical ambition. Today, it feels like that intensity and complexity just aren’t there in the same way.
Even watching the recent Russian domestic competitions, you could see layouts with much higher base value than what we saw here. Plus, I truly belive that son Medeveva's programs had way more artistry and complexity that the ones that we show today.
It’s not about criticizing the current skaters, they’re talented, but from a technical standpoint, it feels like the bar has dropped.
Maybe this is just a transitional period for the sport, but as a long-time fan it does make me a bit nostalgic for that 2016–2022 peak.
Curious to hear how others feel about it!
I would not say speed and attack have dropped.
I would say speed is difficult to impossible to judge from television. I never realized how fast Amber and Bradie are until I saw them in person.
I’ve been following figure skating pretty much all my life. My mom had me watching it with her. But she’s definitely a “last flight” kind of person. She doesn’t want to see the earlier skaters. I didn’t start seriously following and attending comps until 2016.
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2008
Alysa's skating quality was more "juniorish" than Ami's.
Ami also had better extension in her spiral, more extension in general throughout the program, and a 3A.
This is such a bullshit statement in so many ways. She has a difficult turn leading into the loop.
There's nothing wrong with crossovers and smiles in the first place, when it's done with the music. Expression and musicality is important and Ami surprisingly excelled in that area. She clearly felt the music and was relaying it, and there was more to her choreo than just crossovers and smiles anyway. She had very nice open body positions, with a significant amount of detail in the arm and hand positions, and long curved edges. Skating is not supposed to be about doing random "difficult" turns in the choreography for no reason.
And what is Alysa's program if you're trying to say this about Ami's program? LOL. She absolutely does not have complex choreo, if you're trying to judge on the ridiculous metric of counting turns in a program. This is beyond hypocritical. Alysa does two rocker turns in the entire program in terms of "difficult turns" outside of the step sequence, and she does them with very little speed, noticeably slowing down and breaking performance before her second 3Flip in order to incorporate that turn. This is not a net positive for a program.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Don’t speak this into the Universe please.
Honestly I see her skating as long as she enjoys it and not a second more. May she enjoy it for a long, long time.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Maybe she’ll get a new stripe
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Who knows maybe she’ll start something. Simone Biles’ shows are pretty big.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2007
Oh I hope it does.oh the people that will aggravate
- Joined
- Jan 17, 2022
Skating skills, presentation and choreo are miles better than what we had to suffer through during the Russian hegemony.
Any second tier Japanese skater can whipe the floor with the Russians in terms of technique.
Cheated quads and dubious PCS was what inflated the scores so much before the ban, not quality.
Any second tier Japanese skater can whipe the floor with the Russians in terms of technique.
Cheated quads and dubious PCS was what inflated the scores so much before the ban, not quality.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
Is Ami normally this jolly or is it the programs? I swear I thought she was a more nervous junior but she’s been so joyful looking all season. Unless I’m just nuts and forgetting things!
- Joined
- May 15, 2024
The bar hasn't drop, it was set where it never should be for female skaters, not it's back where is should be. I dgaf about quads in women competition, I like when skaters have long careers and are able to explore and develop their skating. 2014-2022 was sad period for women skating - and I've been following the sport since around 1995.Hi everyone
I’ve been following figure skating for over 10 years (though I don’t usually post much), but after today’s event I felt like sharing my thoughts.
First of all, congratulations to Alisa — she skated well and delivered when it mattered. Huge respect to her.
That said… I can’t help feeling a bit sad about the overall level we’re seeing right now. I know this might be controversial, but to me the technical standard feels significantly lower than what we were used to a few years ago.
I think we can all agree that Adeliia didn’t have her best skate, and she probably wasn’t the strongest Russian option going into these Games, especially considering her recent injury. But beyond individual skaters, what strikes me most is the bigger picture. If I try to think of a comparable major event in terms of technical content, I almost have to go back to around 2014.
Between 2016 and 2022, the depth in Russian skating alone was incredible — multiple quads, consistent triple Axels, difficult jump variations, arms-overhead positions, speed, attack… Even programs that weren’t perfect still had huge technical ambition. Today, it feels like that intensity and complexity just aren’t there in the same way.
Even watching the recent Russian domestic competitions, you could see layouts with much higher base value than what we saw here. Plus, I truly belive that son Medeveva's programs had way more artistry and complexity that the ones that we show today.
It’s not about criticizing the current skaters, they’re talented, but from a technical standpoint, it feels like the bar has dropped.
Maybe this is just a transitional period for the sport, but as a long-time fan it does make me a bit nostalgic for that 2016–2022 peak.
Curious to hear how others feel about it!
Well, I love the way it is today. This is supposed to be Figure Skating not jump skating. I wish they would bring back figures. So many skaters today do not have good basic skating skills. Ilia is just one example of just doing jumps and not refining his basic skating skills. When his jumps were not there he had little left to rely on. I also feel the jumps are worth too many points. I don't like a competition where just one failed jump throws a skater out of the competition basically. Amber and Kaori as examples. Would love it if they would do figures and then 2 separate competitions for Jumping and artistry and skating skills.Hi everyone
I’ve been following figure skating for over 10 years (though I don’t usually post much), but after today’s event I felt like sharing my thoughts.
First of all, congratulations to Alisa — she skated well and delivered when it mattered. Huge respect to her.
That said… I can’t help feeling a bit sad about the overall level we’re seeing right now. I know this might be controversial, but to me the technical standard feels significantly lower than what we were used to a few years ago.
I think we can all agree that Adeliia didn’t have her best skate, and she probably wasn’t the strongest Russian option going into these Games, especially considering her recent injury. But beyond individual skaters, what strikes me most is the bigger picture. If I try to think of a comparable major event in terms of technical content, I almost have to go back to around 2014.
Between 2016 and 2022, the depth in Russian skating alone was incredible — multiple quads, consistent triple Axels, difficult jump variations, arms-overhead positions, speed, attack… Even programs that weren’t perfect still had huge technical ambition. Today, it feels like that intensity and complexity just aren’t there in the same way.
Even watching the recent Russian domestic competitions, you could see layouts with much higher base value than what we saw here. Plus, I truly belive that son Medeveva's programs had way more artistry and complexity that the ones that we show today.
It’s not about criticizing the current skaters, they’re talented, but from a technical standpoint, it feels like the bar has dropped.
Maybe this is just a transitional period for the sport, but as a long-time fan it does make me a bit nostalgic for that 2016–2022 peak.
Curious to hear how others feel about it!
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
- Joined
- Nov 9, 2009
AFAIK Their expenses at competitions are taken care of (Hotel, meals etc... )
But they're not paid professionals, mostly people who are tested and vetted by the ISU
and proposed by their federations who have the financial abilities to volunteer as judges
throughout the year
I disagree! Russia had two Options because of isu rules. An injured petrosian or injured someone else I have to look up her name. Petrosian was the best. There was no one else. I know for sure the someone else who could have done oqe is worse off now than Petrosian in injury.Hi everyone
I’ve been following figure skating for over 10 years (though I don’t usually post much), but after today’s event I felt like sharing my thoughts.
First of all, congratulations to Alisa — she skated well and delivered when it mattered. Huge respect to her.
That said… I can’t help feeling a bit sad about the overall level we’re seeing right now. I know this might be controversial, but to me the technical standard feels significantly lower than what we were used to a few years ago.
I think we can all agree that Adeliia didn’t have her best skate, and she probably wasn’t the strongest Russian option going into these Games, especially considering her recent injury. But beyond individual skaters, what strikes me most is the bigger picture. If I try to think of a comparable major event in terms of technical content, I almost have to go back to around 2014.
Between 2016 and 2022, the depth in Russian skating alone was incredible — multiple quads, consistent triple Axels, difficult jump variations, arms-overhead positions, speed, attack… Even programs that weren’t perfect still had huge technical ambition. Today, it feels like that intensity and complexity just aren’t there in the same way.
Even watching the recent Russian domestic competitions, you could see layouts with much higher base value than what we saw here. Plus, I truly belive that son Medeveva's programs had way more artistry and complexity that the ones that we show today.
It’s not about criticizing the current skaters, they’re talented, but from a technical standpoint, it feels like the bar has dropped.
Maybe this is just a transitional period for the sport, but as a long-time fan it does make me a bit nostalgic for that 2016–2022 peak.
Curious to hear how others feel about it!
Russia had to lock this in February 2025. It was always horribly unfair to Russia to make them pick and then ban their pick from Grand Prix
I partly agree. But I think a big change has been the 17 yo limit nowadays. This sport have had many 15-16 yo women winning for 30 years and raising the senior age limit to 17 has made a huge impact on the level of technical elements.Hi everyone
I’ve been following figure skating for over 10 years (though I don’t usually post much), but after today’s event I felt like sharing my thoughts.
First of all, congratulations to Alisa — she skated well and delivered when it mattered. Huge respect to her.
That said… I can’t help feeling a bit sad about the overall level we’re seeing right now. I know this might be controversial, but to me the technical standard feels significantly lower than what we were used to a few years ago.
I think we can all agree that Adeliia didn’t have her best skate, and she probably wasn’t the strongest Russian option going into these Games, especially considering her recent injury. But beyond individual skaters, what strikes me most is the bigger picture. If I try to think of a comparable major event in terms of technical content, I almost have to go back to around 2014.
Between 2016 and 2022, the depth in Russian skating alone was incredible — multiple quads, consistent triple Axels, difficult jump variations, arms-overhead positions, speed, attack… Even programs that weren’t perfect still had huge technical ambition. Today, it feels like that intensity and complexity just aren’t there in the same way.
Even watching the recent Russian domestic competitions, you could see layouts with much higher base value than what we saw here. Plus, I truly belive that son Medeveva's programs had way more artistry and complexity that the ones that we show today.
It’s not about criticizing the current skaters, they’re talented, but from a technical standpoint, it feels like the bar has dropped.
Maybe this is just a transitional period for the sport, but as a long-time fan it does make me a bit nostalgic for that 2016–2022 peak.
Curious to hear how others feel about it!
And I think in the long run it's a good thing.
It seems the women's body change a lot around the age of 16-18 so many "technical" skaters used to retire if they couldn't make the transition.
Looking back, Tuktamysheva winning Worlds with a 3A back in 2015 was when she was just 17. Then after that she had terrible years, lost her 3A, and didn't get it back until she was like 22-23.
Zagitova winning OG at 15 and then Worlds at 16, completely lost her jump abilities and essentially retires at 17.
Shcherbakova/Trusova, the quad queens won gold and silver at the last Olympics at 17, but they both quickly disappeared after that. (We will see now when Trusova intends to come back, I will be surprised if she can restore her quads).
And look at Liu, she retired at 16 when she used to have 3A and 4Lz in her arsenal, she doesn't have that anymore at 20.
Oksana Baiul, Tara Lipinski from the 90s also comes to mind. They quickly disappeared at 16.
Looking at juniors now, Shimada has a 3A and a 4T, and the Korean twins have 3A's. they are going senior next year (hopefully), but I am not so sure that they will bring those ultra-C elements with them. I guess we'll see about that.
I do think though it might be important to learn this difficult elements at a junior stage. If you then lose it when body changes occur, you can reclaim it later, Tuktamysheva was proof of that.
I don’t think it’s fair to frame this as “where it should be” for female skaters.
Saying that the technical bar between 2014–2022 “never should have been set” sounds, honestly, a bit paternalistic to me. Those skaters did set it. They trained for it, landed the elements, and expanded what was technically possible in women’s skating.
Sport has always evolved through athletes pushing boundaries.
If someone doesn’t enjoy quads in women’s skating, that’s totally valid, skating is subjective and we all value different things. But calling that entire era “sad” dismisses a generation of athletes who changed the technical landscape of the sport.
For me, it’s not about glorifying difficulty for the sake of it. It’s about acknowledging that the level of technical ambition during that period was historically high. Whether that model was sustainable is a legitimate debate. But pretending it didn’t represent a peak in technical content doesn’t really reflect what we objectively saw on the ice.
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
I honestly thought Kerrigan should have won, but my sympathy for her went out the window after the way she behaved when Baiul won.
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2019
I hear ya. I love her skating so much and I’m like a PCS numpty! Honestly unless they’re super atrocious I don’t really notice it half the time. But Mone is a marvel in my eyes
That said she did good!!!!!! Didn’t fall and skated beautifully at one of the most high pressure events in the world. I just love her as Juliet! She’s a glorious Juliet!
- Status
Similar threads
