2026 Olympics: Women's Free Skate

[back2black]

It's not more egregious. There is no deduction for landing on a different foot and she displayed decent control of the landing and didn't heavily slam her other foot into the ice, which is what happens on the most egregious double-footed landings.


Her 3F had no edge issue, there was a very clear 3-turn in and no lean to the outside. An "inside edge" shouldn't be the strict requirement for a Flip in the first place; doing that jump from a straight edge has historically been considered correct and should continue to be the way the jump is assessed.

The 3Loop was totally fine. You're clearly not measuring the actual rotation. This is her landing:

She takes off with her skate facing the board behind her, or slightly past it. The angle of this landing is unquestionably far enough around compared to that takeoff angle.

Alysa is the one who has actual rotation issues and should be getting lower GOE for her huge pre-rotations on the Lutz and Toeloop. Nakai's Flip and Loop were totally normal jumps. Any system or judge that tries to hammer those jumps is a bad system/judge. Bullshit like this that operates contrary to reality has been negatively impacting the sport for far too long.


This is a dumb thing in the scoring system. Doing a 1T is a bad and doesn't impress anyone. It's visually always a mistake within a program. Whereas a solo jump does not interrupt the flow.

It's another reason why the system should give bonuses for jump combos, and not have the REP deduction. If you leave out a required combo, you're already losing a significant amount of points.

nah, she landed before this frame or the angle is still q. her 3f and 3lo got rightfully marked. i'm surprisingly glad technical judges been this strict. i didn't notice when watched live. if only every comp from now on would be like this.

 

[TallyT]

NBC totally ignored sakamoto but they focused almost 99% on trusova!

That's not surprising, if there is absolutely any way that NBC can do the ungracious and crappy thing, they will.

 

[Blades of Passion]

nah, she landed before this frame

No she didn't. Her skate isn't even fully in the ice yet in that pic. Even if she had landed slightly earlier, that STILL wouldn't be a 1/4 turn short jump in relation to taking off in the direction of the back board.

 

[yfan1]

nah, she landed before this frame or the angle is still q. her 3f and 3lo got rightfully marked. i'm surprisingly glad technical judges been this strict. i didn't notice when watched live. if only every comp from now on would be like this.

Landings are about weight. Good technique is starting to point your toe in preparation for the landing so you can roll out over it. The way you're suggesting would encourage flat footed landings and therefore injury.

 

[kimganos]

Isabeau always looks like a girls whimsy fairy dream come to life

Isabeau has such beautiful carriage. All her positions are just lovely!!

 

[skylark]

Peacock cut out on me, dogdammit. I'll have to catch the ceremony on replay.

Actually, it was NBC that cut to local news. But Peacock showed also the Venue feed, which continued to show the whole ceremony.

 

[SmileHappy34]

I check isu statistics. It showed kaori has a short program score of 78.88 for the olympic. Her fp is 147.67 that new total is 226.55 vs alysa still gold medal of 226.79

 

[yume]

I wake up and see that Liu won?
Damn, i think i would have even preferred Sakamoto to win.
Poor Adeliia, she must be blaming herself. You still did well in those circumstances baby. I wonder if twitter is happy now or if she is still keeping them pressed.
Congrats to Nakai for medalling in her first olys and senior season. She didn't waste her chance.
Would have like Mone on the podium but that result isn't that bad. Hope she will thrive in the next seasons. I don't know what the next generation of Japanese ladies look like, but i hope the battle for spots won't extremely tough.

 

[SmileHappy34]

A night of excellent skates by women.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Kaori is so gracious on the podium even after this massive disappointment, she is pure class.I will really miss her.

Love my Japanese skaters. And yes, they are pure class.

 

[rollerblade]

I'm not entirely sure she could have gotten a clean 2T on that flip. She was already facing the opposite direction by the time she regained control.

I haven't (more like couldn't) rewatched the FS, but if she was facing forward, can she tack on a 1A then? It's worth 1.1 points. Anything but +REP, even zero GOE.

 

[brens78]

Had a call from my mother before and she watched bits and pieces this morning and she absolutely loved Alysa, the joy she radiated mum said. That and she loved a disco number over the usual classical music pieces.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Had a call from my mother before and she watched bits and pieces this morning and she absolutely loved Alysa, the joy she radiated mum said. That and she loved a disco number over the usual classical music pieces.

I really think if she had used her original program she had planned for this season, she wouldnt have won. She was able to bring the music alive. So many classical pieces just put you to sleep as people cant relate the skating to them. Alysa's super power is in her presentation, from her toes to every facial muscle.

 

[CoyoteChris]

I wake up and see that Liu won?
Damn, i think i would have even preferred Sakamoto to win.
Poor Adeliia, she must be blaming herself. You still did well in those circumstances baby. I wonder if twitter is happy now or if she is still keeping them pressed.
Congrats to Nakai for medalling in her first olys and senior season. She didn't waste her chance.
Would have like Mone on the podium but that result isn't that bad. Hope she will thrive in the next seasons. I don't know what the next generation of Japanese ladies look like, but i hope the battle for spots won't extremely tough.

It was a near thing. Watch Kaori carefully...Kaori came within a wisker of disaster...and within a wisker of greatness. Same can be said for a number of women.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Actually, it was NBC that cut to local news. But Peacock showed also the Venue feed, which continued to show the whole ceremony.

Also, there were commericial cuts by ? that actually cut out the scores of some skaters....very poorly done by local affiliates or national feeds.

 

[CoyoteChris]

Alysa's joy before, during, and after her skate was so palpable and.... even across the board.

I honestly do think she would have been just as joyful if she skated well and landed in any position. Very refreshing to see + the Japanese girls seemed to have a great attitude as well. Just a feel good finale all around.

Nailed it. But I have an honorable mention. Ruiyang Zhang. IIRC, she jumped .48 meters up...as high as Ami's 3A. Her face has more artistry than some ladies have in their whole body. And her team was smart enough to pick a piece of music that is not slow, boring, classical music. Plus, her coach is a hottie.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Yeah but it’s nice when you see skaters reach new levels! This year was back to 2018

Were many triple axels were attempted let alone landed back in 2018?

Answer: Mirai

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Nailed it. But I have an honorable mention. Ruiyang Zhang. IIRC, she jumped .48 meters up...as high as Ami's 3A. Her face has more artistry than some ladies have in their whole body. And her team was smart enough to pick a piece of music that is not slow, boring, classical music. Plus, her coach is a hottie.

Riuyang was so underrated- I liked her in both programs! China is horrendous at promoting non pairs skaters but hope she gets better and better!

 

[Mirunna]

I find it shocking to see comments that the quality of this event was bad and so poor compared to Beijing and even prior ones. I mean, have people watched the last 4-5 Olympics Women final?

2006: Shizuka wins with 5 triple jumps, no 3-3. Sasha comes in second after missing first two jumping passes. Irina was a hot mess for the bronze. Fumie in fourth was cleaner. Overall an event riddled with mistakes. No ultra C, Miki Ando fell on her Ur quad attempt.

2010: Yuna wins with 6 clean triples including a 3-3. No 3loop. Mao threw two clean 3A’s but messed up some jumps at the end. Joanie was emotional but not clean. Mirai in fourth was clean with all triples landed. Rest of the field was mediocre at best. Mao only one with landed 3A’s. No quads landed.

2014: Adelina wins with 7 triples generously scored (some were borderline Ur), including a 3-3 combo ending with a 3loop. Controversial winner, but the content was there. Yuna clean in second with 6 triples. Caro in third with 7 triples but only one 2A (not as hard content as Adelina). Mao had the skate of the night and one of the performance to remember. Gracie was strong but with 1 mistake. Mao the only one with a 3A landed, no quad attempted or landed.

2018: Zagitova and Medvedeva won with 7 triples each, Zagitova all in the second half. Osmond was also very good in third. Rest of the ladies were pretty good with ups and downs, but mostly a well skated event. No Ultra C attempted.

2022: Top 2 as we all know with landed quads. Sakamoto clean in third with 7 triples. Vasilieva a hot mess in fourth. Walaba in 5th - I think she tried a 3A. I don’t remember any other ladies trying it. Technical panel was lenient with edges and rotation. Sasha’s program as impresive as it was technically was sub-par in terms of PCS - it was empty and clumsy. Outside of the drama with the Russian girls, the level was not impressive.

2026: two clean 3A. Clean performances with strong content since the second group. Majority of skaters posted SB or PB. The quality of the programs: composition, attention to details and expression improved in my book and I did very little watching in the last 4 years. Sofia’s SP is stuck in my head and planned on repeat. Loena’s LP was so fun and memorable despite the errors. Niina’s LP had a lot of “on the beat” moments with the music. Mone’s SP is a gem. Kaori’s speed and carriage are absolutely breathtaking. Nina’s LP was serene and beautifully choreographed. So many programs I am forthetting about now but I found myself being in awe skater after skater. If this is the direction skating is going, I am all in.

My point is take 2022 stands out as very different in terms of content, the level being somehow constant since last 20 years. And we all know the associated scandal.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Haha it’s like Ami won gold!!!! That reaction with Alysa was adorable!!! Alysa giving Ami her medal moment is hilarious

I loved that!!! Really shows her character - celebrating her competitors before her own. She’s so ****ing cool.