2026 Olympics: Women's Free Skate

[Allikat]

Speaking of which...

PROTOCOLS

Looks like the q-squad was out in force. Kaori even got the ! call on both her (f)lutzes--I was surprised. I feel the podium finishes were fair; just wish certain skating errors hadn't happened.

 

[Jontor]

I do enjoy quads, I don't enjoy what they do to women's body. If I like a skater, I want them to have long career and be able to move without pain after they retire and this is not the case for at least some of female skaters who performed multiple quads. This is my boundry I'm not ok to push. I'm very happy with how figure skating is now, but if skating takes the the same route it took after 2014, I will do the same thing I did back then and will stop following. Simple.

Yes, I agree.

But I think we have to remember that the quad craze in women's skating was with Trusova/Shcherbakova, two exceptionally talented skaters that we might not ever see again. Just look at this years Russian Nationals. Dvoeglazova lands a 4Lz(q) (and she is technically still a junior), Petrosian fell on her 4T, Zakharova was the only one who landed two clean 4Ts. And that's it.

Samodelkina, who competed here, used to do all kinds of quads in her junior Russian days, none of that now.

I'm beginning to think that with this 17 yo senior age limit, quads is something we will see mainly in juniors.

 

[Allikat]

How does Alyssa Liu do that? She was having FUN with that skate!

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Alyssa doesn't much mind where she winds up, so long as she presents a good performance.

 

[el henry]

I could not be happier about this podium.

Alyssa is, now, everything I want in a skater: she cares about the performance, she cares about making the audience happy, she cares about fellow skaters and if she gets a medal, fine.

Kaori and Ami, well done as well. I think now is the golden age of women's skating. Others, stay salty.

 

[nguyhm]

I think the last time it was bronze.

I meant the team silver and individual silver at this Olympics.

 

[el henry]

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that Alyssa doesn't much mind where she winds up, so long as she presents a good performance.

She doesn't care, in her own words, and I believe her.

I saw her in SOI in 2018 ETA: 2022 and she was checked out. Done. Over. To come back from that, and skate like this, that's beyond impressive. Her drive is beyond medals.

 

[Jontor]

Well, this didn't turn out like I thought it would, or like I might have wished, but it is a deserving podium, and they are correctly placed.

I can't be mad at that.

I will say this for Alysa Liu, a year and a bit ago, I rolled my eyes at the prospect of her comeback. Since then, she's won World's, the GPF, and now the Olympics. I'll remember that the next time I hear of a comeback.

I have to agree. Alysa was never a favourite of mine back in the day and I also rolled my eyes with her comeback But I must say, she has matured, she looks rock solid out there, she's having fun, it's been a delight to see!

 

[Mista Ekko]

How does Alyssa Liu do that? She was having FUN with that skate!

It looks like she's really comfortable with her technique and the layout in this program.
It's a "less is more" approach, which on paper should be less rewarding opposite women
who are stacking in more difficulty everywhere, but if it lets her perform,
the judges are going for it and the audience loves it, why change it?

Plus, you know, she's an alien

 

[Allikat]

Kazakhstan's judge had Petrosian in first in the free.

That judge had to be kidding. She unfortunately fell on her quad. And she had no other real fire power after that so...

I've watched Adelia for a long time; gradually she has been 'losing' both her quads and 3A. Makes me feel very sorry for her--I hope the Russian federation will be kind to her, regardless.

 

[Allikat]

Petrosyan even with a fall on 4T has the 3rd TES score, was sunk by PCS, just like Gumennik.

If I recall correctly, Petr's PCs were lowballed even more than Adelia's were. IOC sending a message, perhaps?

 

[Remilia]

She doesn't care, in her own words, and I believe her.

I saw her in SOI in 2018 and she was checked out. Done. Over. To come back from that, and skate like this, that's beyond impressive. Her drive is beyond medals.

2018? Is this a typo, cause if she was already over it at 12, that's sad, though, unsurprising with what we know about her past training environment

 

[Remilia]

Well, this isn't the result I wanted...my delusion was Isabeau/Mone podium, but ik that was a long shot, so I at least really wanted Mone on the podium. 2 points off bronze stings
Sad for Kaori, but at least Alysa winning sends a good message about skating for yourself and not having to starve yourself or torture your body to succeed. I hope some of her idgaf attitude will rub off on Ilia he needs to take notes from her about just skating for yourself. And speaking of Ilia, I suspect they both will be getting lots of deals and from this Olympics. Hopefully it helps boosts the popularity of fs in the US. And hope Isabeau can get in on it too

 

[el henry]

2018? Is this a typo, cause if she was already over it at 12, that's sad, though, unsurprising with what we know about her past training environment

Sorry, yes it is a typo Thank you for catching it.

 

[TontoK]

And Cizeron. But then also remember Keegan and the Shibs.

Sure, but I don't despise Alysa as I do Cizeron and Alex Shibutani. It's like comparing the sweetest dessert to raw sewage.

 

[gmyers]

Well, this isn't the result I wanted...my delusion was Isabeau/Mone podium, but ik that was a long shot, so I at least really wanted Mone on the podium. 2 points off bronze stings
Sad for Kaori, but at least Alysa winning sends a good message about skating for yourself and not having to starve yourself or torture your body to succeed. I hope some of her idgaf attitude will rub off on Ilia he needs to take notes from her about just skating for yourself. And speaking of Ilia, I suspect they both will be getting lots of deals and from this Olympics. Hopefully it helps boosts the popularity of fs in the US. And hope Isabeau can get in on it too

Now I am thinking about her total abolition of ultra c for her skates! Is there message never do triple axels and never do quads?!? She abandoned both

 

[Remilia]

Now I am thinking about her total abolition of ultra c for her skates! Is there message never do triple axels and never do quads?!? She abandoned both

the message is to not do content you have little to no success with, as Adeliia's coaches will be thinking about, seeing as she would have been on the podium with a clean skate with triples (since the judges clearly wanted it with the way her tech somehow increased by 3 points after review)

 

[Mariott]

Yes, I agree.

But I think we have to remember that the quad craze in women's skating was with Trusova/Shcherbakova, two exceptionally talented skaters that we might not ever see again. Just look at this years Russian Nationals. Dvoeglazova lands a 4Lz(q) (and she is technically still a junior), Petrosian fell on her 4T, Zakharova was the only one who landed two clean 4Ts. And that's it.

Samodelkina, who competed here, used to do all kinds of quads in her junior Russian days, none of that now.

I'm beginning to think that with this 17 yo senior age limit, quads is something we will see mainly in juniors.

Didn't you watch the jumping event at the end of January? Kamila Valieva recovered a quad tulup at the age of 19. Trusova (age 21, gave birth by cesarean section six months ago) has already had successful 4Lz attempts.
I'm not saying that this limit has been overcome, but it's clearly something that can be done in the near future.

 

[Jontor]

Didn't you watch the jumping event at the end of January? Kamila Valieva recovered a quad tulup at the age of 19. Trusova (age 21, gave birth by cesarean section six months ago) has already had successful 4Lz attempts.
I'm not saying that this limit has been overcome, but it's clearly something that can be done in the near future.

No I didn't watch it. Both Valieva and Trusova are exceptional, but I don't expect them to deliver on the level they used to.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

She does. She is the only one who landed more than once 4T at Olympic practice. No one else did. She took a risk to try to medal, knowing very well that she will be sunk by PCS.
Zakharova landed 4T at RN, as well as some others. Yes, it's exact the absence of Russians is the reason of this Olympic embarrassing result.

Doesn't matter if you can't land it in practice. It's about what you deliver in competition. She didn't even fully rotate the quad.

Also she hardly got "sunk" by PCS. She couldn't hide her disappointment at missing the quad and it showed in the rest of her program. She's fortunate to have gotten 65.71 PCS and 5th in the FS when she should have been 10th behind Samodelkina.

Again, they're lucky an exception was made to even allow AIN entries here. Even with a clean quad she would have lost to Liu.

She - like Gummenik - ended up 6th, with respectable skates.

Hah and there were plenty of Russian-borns there: Samodelkina, Gubanova, Seniuuk, Kurakova, Safonova, Petrosian...

 

[gmyers]

the message is to not do content you have little to no success with, as Adeliia's coaches will be thinking about, seeing as she would have been on the podium with a clean skate with triples (since the judges clearly wanted it with the way her tech somehow increased by 3 points after review)

The judges didn’t want Adelia anywhere near near the podium. She was 11th in pcs in the short program and also had horrible pcs in the free. She needed the tech

Petrosian tes went up because a double axel was wrongly zayaked by panel