Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Women

[Anna K.]

I did the math and I did 105 play-by-plays for 16 and a half hours' worth of events...

This needs a new forum title.

Just suggesting.

 

[yfan1]

Despite three flawed jumping passes?

Alysa's own flawed jumping technique has been discussed before on this thread by other posters.

As much as we might love a skater, we have to look at what they skated.

Right. And this applies both ways. As an example, I believe you were saying Alysa wasn't a 'slouch' on speed, even though commentators on CBC were noting how specifically slow she was at this event.

And for the record, I didn't care for Nakai's skating before this. Something that I've said before. OTOH, I've had nothing but praise for Alysa's SP.

Y

Post in thread '2025-26 Grand Prix Final Women's Free Skate'

Dec 7, 2025

This a worrying result for Alysa, even though she won. Losing the LP by 3 points when Kaori singled an axel...the judges are only going to give Alysa the Bronze at the Olympics with this program, if Kaori and Mone both skate cleanly. Or no medal at all, depending on a certain Russian skater delivering or not.

I do think Mone is likely to skate clean, if she gets her head screwed on tightly by then - and I'd love for her to win. And think she'd deserve to, from this field. She has some great spins herself, her basic skating is much better, she has somewhat better jumping technique...

• yfan1

• 

I did not at all feel that Nakai deserved 9th in the LP, just as one example of the VERY flawed judging at this event.

 

[ChiGal]

Alysa's program was not intricate. It was also slower and had shallower edges and less extension than Ami's program. It was somewhat more seasoned on a performance level, but hardly a masterful display of moving to disco music. And she had 2 years of skating the same programs, but there was no further refinement.

What's also disappointing is that while Alysa has more personality than Eteri skaters, her jump technique is similarly flawed. Of course she's consistent, with those heavy pre-rotations. She likely wouldn't be so consistent if she had to jump with cleaner technique. I'm not even talking about totally textbook technique. I'm talking about how her Lutz turns MORE than 1/2 on the entrance (and of course her Toeloop).

The judges disagree with your take....

 

[ChiGal]

Open LLMs are exactly as fake as russian home scoring
But some custom AI developed for figure skating analysis - specifically rotations and edges could be helpful and bring some objectivity to judging.

Well, how about more than ONE camera pointed at the ice? The judges only get one view of a jump, and skaters are savvy enough to place a jump far away from the ice camera angles. With all the pre-rotation, under-rotated, "Q" argument, you would think the ISU would spring for a more efficient and accurate ice camera system. Johnny and Tara get multiple views of a jump and are able to put them up quickly during live broadcasts, so it cannot be that difficult!

 

[Janice4th]

Alysa's own flawed jumping technique has been discussed before on this thread by other posters.

Right. And this applies both ways. As an example, I believe you were saying Alysa wasn't a 'slouch' on speed, even though commentators on CBC were noting how specifically slow she was at this event.

And for the record, I didn't care for Nakai's skating before this. Something that I've said before. OTOH, I've had nothing but praise for Alysa's SP.

Y

Post in thread '2025-26 Grand Prix Final Women's Free Skate'

Dec 7, 2025

This a worrying result for Alysa, even though she won. Losing the LP by 3 points when Kaori singled an axel...the judges are only going to give Alysa the Bronze at the Olympics with this program, if Kaori and Mone both skate cleanly. Or no medal at all, depending on a certain Russian skater delivering or not.

I do think Mone is likely to skate clean, if she gets her head screwed on tightly by then - and I'd love for her to win. And think she'd deserve to, from this field. She has some great spins herself, her basic skating is much better, she has somewhat better jumping technique...

• yfan1

• 

I did not at all feel that Nakai deserved 9th in the LP, just as one example of the VERY flawed judging at this event.

Alyssa rotated the jumps and that’s what counted. She got two edge calls.

The separation between 4th and 9th was very small. I would have had Ami higher, but that isn’t how the numbers panned out. Because the numbers were close her lead enabled her to win bronze. How awesome is that? And she will be a force to reckon with in the future.

I think Ami’s PCS was 6th, behind Kaori who was 1st 74.84) Alysa - 2nd (72.46), Mone - 3rd 69.42), Amber 4th (68.65), Ami - 67.92) 6th (Isabeau received a 68.46 so was 5th, but she was so far back on the technical, it didn’t matter). Other than the top two, the pcs scores had only a 1.5 spread.
The difference between scores for 5th and 9th is 1.19. That basically a tie.

 

[yfan1]

Alyssa rotated the jumps and that’s what counted. She got two edge calls.

The separation between 4th and 9th was very small. I would have had Ami higher, but that isn’t how the numbers panned out. Because the numbers were close her lead enabled her to win bronze. How awesome is that? And she will be a force to reckon with in the future.

I think Ami’s PCS was 6th, behind Kaori who was 1st 74.84) Alysa - 2nd (72.46), Mone - 3rd 69.42), Amber 4th (68.65), Ami - 67.92) 6th (Isabeau received a 68.46 so was 5th, but she was so far back on the technical, it didn’t matter). Other than the top two, the pcs scores had only a 1.5 spread.
The difference between scores for 5th and 9th is 1.19. That basically a tie.

Alysa didn't rotate her jumps, is the point being made. And clearly, if you believe Alysa got two edge calls, then those are two flawed jumping passes for her too - and on both of those she got positive GOE despite the TP thinking they were flawed.

She also ended up getting the second highest skating skill score, which is obviously wrong. Many posters and as I said at least one commentary team noted the low speed there, which absolutely should have meant a lower score than she got - and that's before we specifically look at how she did end up gaining the speed she had and her quality of edge and glide.

And about Nakai - no, there's just no way she should have been placed behind Haein Lee, Jia Shin, Petrokina, or Petrosyan. The point being made there is that there seems to have been some deliberate effort to be holding her down. She has better quality glide than all of them, and had a landed big jump with the 3A unlike all of them as well.

 

[CoyoteChris]

As an aside...poor Amber....Her ex coach who coached her for most of her first 10 years....Till Feb 2016
Benjamin Shroats, 47, was hit with one count of sexual assault and one count of indecency with a child, sexual contact, on Wednesday in Collins County, Texas, according to jail records viewed by The Post.

The victims, only identified as two athletes, reported Shroats’ alleged actions to the Allen Police Department, which started an investigation on Feb. 15, NBC News reported.

 

[Mathman]

Many posters and as I said at least one commentary team noted the low speed there, which absolutely should have meant a lower score ...

Well... not exactly. What a lot of internet posters and at least one commentary team thought has no influence over the judges' marks, nor should it.

 

[yfan1]

Well... not exactly. What a lot of internet posters and at least one commentary team thought has no influence over the judges' marks, nor should it.

The low speed on the other hand, should have done.

 

[jenaj]

Alysa didn't rotate her jumps, is the point being made. And clearly, if you believe Alysa got two edge calls, then those are two flawed jumping passes for her too - and on both of those she got positive GOE despite the TP thinking they were flawed.

She also ended up getting the second highest skating skill score, which is obviously wrong. Many posters and as I said at least one commentary team noted the low speed there, which absolutely should have meant a lower score than she got - and that's before we specifically look at how she did end up gaining the speed she had and her quality of edge and glide.

And about Nakai - no, there's just no way she should have been placed behind Haein Lee, Jia Shin, Petrokina, or Petrosyan. The point being made there is that there seems to have been some deliberate effort to be holding her down. She has better quality glide than all of them, and had a landed big jump with the 3A unlike all of them as well.

She did rotate her jumps under the system (within a quarter is rotated). She received ! on both of her flips. The judges can do with that what they want (no reduction in base value -1 to -2 deduction). Her PCS overall was lower than Kaori's. Skating skills are not the only component. She was rightly rewarded on performance. I still don't understand how Ami's score was so (relatively) low. I had her at 142-43. But I think her placement (bronze) was correct.

 

[SmileHappy34]

This is like thec2025 world figure skating championships held in Boston where they showed the past OGM medalist that showed up.

Something most past OGm showed up in Italy.

 

[Arigato]

What's with the edge call comments in this thread? For those reading my post, Alysa Liu did not receive any edge calls (e) in either of her programs. She received two edge warnings ( ! ) in her FS. They are defined differently and scored differently.

• Edge Warning ("!"): Indicates an unclear edge. The technical panel is unsure if the edge was correct, but it was not obviously wrong. The base value of the jump is not reduced, but judges must reduce the Grade of Execution (GOE).
• Edge Called ("e"): Indicates a clearly wrong edge. The technical panel has determined the edge was incorrect (e.g., taking off a Lutz on an inside edge, known as a "flutz"). The base value of the jump is significantly reduced, and the GOE is heavily penalized.

 

[Mathman]

The low speed on the other hand, should have done.

OK, I couldn't help myself. I had to know the definitive answer.

I Googled, "Does Alysa Liu skate slow" to see what Google AI had to say. Unfortunately I made a keystroke error and wrote "slpe' for for "slow"-- just one letter off on the keyboard, after all. This was corrected by autocorrect to "slope." AI's answer: "Yes, Alysa Liu returned to skating after skiing on the slopes.... in 2024."

OK, my bad, garbage in, garbage out. I tried again and got it right on my second try.

"... Alysa Liu does not skate slow.... On the contrary her performance [at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games] was described as having great flow 'like water on a frozen surface.'"

I discounted this report because I think AI got confused with Fourner-Beaudry/Cizeron's Whale dance.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

Well, how about more than ONE camera pointed at the ice? The judges only get one view of a jump, and skaters are savvy enough to place a jump far away from the ice camera angles. With all the pre-rotation, under-rotated, "Q" argument, you would think the ISU would spring for a more efficient and accurate ice camera system. Johnny and Tara get multiple views of a jump and are able to put them up quickly during live broadcasts, so it cannot be that difficult!

ISU is testing a system with 6 cameras by Omega but they had already tested it in Beijing and what has happened in between? Do they hope to have an intermediate talk in 80 years to see if maybe that sort of idea might perhaps be — glps — exploitable?

 

[SmileHappy34]

OK, I couldn't help myself. I had to know the definitive answer.

I Googled, "Does Alysa Liu skate slow" to see what Google AI had to say. Unfortunately I made a keystroke error and wrote "slpe' for for "slow"-- just one letter off on the keyboard, after all. This was corrected by autocorrect to "slope." AI's answer: "Yes, Alysa Liu returned to skating after skiing on the slopes.... in 2024."

OK, my bad, garbage in, garbage out. I tried again and got it right on my second try.

"... Alysa Liu does not skate slow.... On the contrary her performance [at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games] was described as having great flow 'like water on a frozen surface.'"

I discounted this report because I think AI got confused with Fourner-Beaudry/Cizeron's Whale dance.

In reference to does Alysa Liu skate slow. I did Google, Does Alysa Liu skate slow. I received several videos of Alysa Liu carefree , joyous performances.
So apparently to Google. Alysa Liu does not skate slow

 

[skatedreamer]

In reference to does Alysa Liu skate slow. I did Google, Does Alysa Liu skate slow. I received several videos of Alysa Liu carefree , joyous performances.
So apparently to Google. Alysa Liu does not skate slow

And who could possibly argue with Google?

Also, Isabeau skates slower than Alyssa. IMO she needs to take off the brakes a bit.

 

[CoyoteChris]

In reference to does Alysa Liu skate slow. I did Google, Does Alysa Liu skate slow. I received several videos of Alysa Liu carefree , joyous performances.
So apparently to Google. Alysa Liu does not skate slow

While J and T/NBC / ? provide technology that gives speed into jumps and height and distance, quite a few Japanese events I have watched provide a birds eye view of the entire course of the skate, the jumps, and the average speed. I dont know if average speed should be a thing but if Tara can stop a jump and the point of landing and draw lines indicating line of travel and position of skate, I am pretty sure the technology exists to determine edge or rotation using multiple cameras. The sticky wicket in all of this is how do you tell with 100 percent certainty when a blade leaves or hits the ice unless a small (easy to make) G meter with bluetooth is installed in the boot? Whose cell phone doesnt have an accelerometer ? They are the size of a quarter.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

While J and T/NBC / ? provide technology that gives speed into jumps and height and distance, quite a few Japanese events I have watched provide a birds eye view of the entire course of the skate, the jumps, and the average speed. I dont know if average speed should be a thing but if Tara can stop a jump and the point of landing and draw lines indicating line of travel and position of skate, I am pretty sure the technology exists to determine edge or rotation using multiple cameras. The sticky wicket in all of this is how do you tell with 100 percent certainty when a blade leaves or hits the ice unless a small (easy to make) G meter with bluetooth is installed in the boot? Whose cell phone doesnt have an accelerometer ? They are the size of a quarter.

Normally the average speed is only part of the sub-criteria; there's also the maximum speed, the speed variations and variations in acceleration/deceleration and how theyre obtained. Here's a little extract of an ISU tutorial by Jenny Mast:
https://x.com/Henni147/status/1515986544804380673

 

[ilovebudgies]

I also wish they could have some sort of technology to automatically review every jump for underrotation. Maybe they can use AI somehow to analyze video footage, sort of like the AI that analyzes video in Tesla cars. Like, train the AI on tons of videos of jumps that are rotated vs. UR, and then have it analyze everyone's jumps.

Without quads, the women are so close in tech content (7 triple programs with a 3-3), that q calls can decide a result. There is a lot of room for arbitrariness in deciding which jumps are called q and which are not.

Tara said Ami's jump landing error cost her 6 points. So even if she went totally clean, adding 6 points to her final TES would have given her a 78, which is basically the same TES that Alysa got. That means you can do a program with a clean 3A and still get the same TES as someone with no 3A, due to questionable, non-obvious q calls. I just don't agree with that.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Alysa's own flawed jumping technique has been discussed before on this thread by other posters.

Right. And this applies both ways. As an example, I believe you were saying Alysa wasn't a 'slouch' on speed, even though commentators on CBC were noting how specifically slow she was at this event.

And for the record, I didn't care for Nakai's skating before this. Something that I've said before. OTOH, I've had nothing but praise for Alysa's SP.

Y

Post in thread '2025-26 Grand Prix Final Women's Free Skate'

Dec 7, 2025

This a worrying result for Alysa, even though she won. Losing the LP by 3 points when Kaori singled an axel...the judges are only going to give Alysa the Bronze at the Olympics with this program, if Kaori and Mone both skate cleanly. Or no medal at all, depending on a certain Russian skater delivering or not.

I do think Mone is likely to skate clean, if she gets her head screwed on tightly by then - and I'd love for her to win. And think she'd deserve to, from this field. She has some great spins herself, her basic skating is much better, she has somewhat better jumping technique...

• yfan1

• 

I did not at all feel that Nakai deserved 9th in the LP, just as one example of the VERY flawed judging at this event.

To clarify, Ami was basically tied for 5th in the LP (less than 1.2 points between 5th and 9th).