Replay Lounge 2026 Olympics | Women

[RatedPG]

I just finished watching the free skate.

Despite me wanting others who take more risk (Ami, Amber, Adeliya) and others who skate faster with better programs (Kaori, Mone, Niina) to win, I think Alyssa deserved the win. She won due to the 3Lz 3Lo in the SP. This combo has been the deciding critical factor for Alina winning over Evgenia and Anna winning over Alexandra. Now, Alysa win over Kaori due to this higher level combo.

Kaori usually is quick to think on her feet. I have seen her practice 3Lo 3Lo combos to warm up her loop jumps. I really did think she would go for a 3Lo 3Loq attempt or at least a 3Lo 2Lo attempt. That is why it is important to always have a plan B.

Ami - Two 3A’s!! What is with the q calls on her last jumping passes ….
(A worthy Olympic medalist)

Mone was also worthy…. She redeemed herself here. She was so close to making the podium

Amber was overscored on PCS with her skate. I would have placed Adeliya in 5th instead. Adeliya to me, has better skating skills and program compared to Amber.

I was also disappointed in the scores related to Niina, Haein.

Also, what more can Sofia do to place higher besides learning ultra c. Out of all the women, she has the best jumps in my opinion.

So many ladies scoring over 200 now…

I don’t think Alysa or Kaori will do Worlds. So, I’m excited to see Bradie and Rinka at Worlds as subs.

I’m a bit sad for Kaori though…. That 3F 3T let her down. If she nailed that combo, she would have been the clear winner. This event is a reminder to always have a back up plan and to possibly practice different combos in case you have to revert to plan B.

 

[TallyT]

I don’t think Alysa or Kaori will do Worlds.

I believe that Alysa has said she will, and I am sure that USFS will be working very hard to persuade her if she is wavering. Fans have been saying for years that what the US needed to get any traction with the public was a champion in the women's discipline, and given she is pretty, peppy, wellspoken and has an interesting backstory she is pretty much perfect for the part, We'll have to wait and see of course...

 

[RatedPG]

I believe that Alysa has said she will, and I am sure that USFS will be working very hard to persuade her if she is wavering. Fans have been saying for years that what the US needed to get any traction with the public was a champion in the women's discipline, and given she is pretty, peppy, wellspoken and has an interesting backstory she is pretty much perfect for the part, We'll have to wait and see of course...

Wow!! Alysa has no fear!!
Do you think she will continue to the next Olympic cycyle?

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Kaori usually is quick to think on her feet. I have seen her practice 3Lo 3Lo combos to warm up her loop jumps. I really did think she would go for a 3Lo 3Loq attempt or at least a 3Lo 2Lo attempt. That is why it is important to always have a plan B.

Kaori had the same problem Ilya did. When you plan your combos after you have done the solo jump, there is no place else to make up the second jump. The second flip had to use one of her combination jump slots because she already did a solo flip. The only change she could have made was to do a 2A-3T-3T combo, but it's unlikely that would have been successful.

 

[4everchan]

Kaori had the same problem Ilya did. When you plan your combos after you have done the solo jump, there is no place else to make up the second jump. The second flip had to use one of her combination jump slots because she already did a solo flip. The only change she could have made was to do a 2A-3T-3T combo, but it's unlikely that would have been successful.

If you get a REP, you get a penalty as the base value is lowered. I believe that it's possible to add a combo on another jumping pass and that will still count as a good combo.

In this scenario, Kaori who had already done 3lz-2t and 2a-3t-2t would have needed to add the combo on the 3loop. It could have been a 3loop-3toe or a 3loop-2loop as she wouldn't have been allowed to repeat the 2t.

Of course, there are some other possibilities which are all hypothetical so there is no need discussing them.

The point I am making is that when a skaters doesn't manage a combo and gets a +REP, they already received their penalty and will not be penalized if they rejig things and add a combo later, as long as they don't zayak again

The best thing Kaori could have done, which would have been simpler was to do the UNO toe. that 3f had very little chance of getting anything but a single toe on the end of it but that would have prevented the +REP and lowered base value. It would have been enough for the win... just a single toe was needed after that flip. Nothing more.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Despite three flawed jumping passes? That’s where she lost the points.

Ami did NOT have 3 flawed jumping passes. She had one mistake, which was more than made up for by doing a 3Axel. Her 3Flip and 3Loop were completely fine and the tech panel fabricated some calls to push her down (also on a spin), which the judges were happy to oblige with, as they deducted far more for those calls than Alysa's called jumps, even though Ami has better technique.

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.

Yes and also arbitrariness on how judges score things that are called 'q'. The high reputation favored skaters aren't getting many points taken away when they get ! and 'q' calls, whereas with other people the GOE is suddenly dropping by like 3 marks.

At the end of Ami's program her tech score was higher than Alysa's. The judges in real-time liked her Flip and Loop. Then suddenly after the tech panel throws up these calls, the judges use it excessively to hold her down. Her tech score dropped by 5.5 points.

In the first place, judges shouldn't need to be told that a jump has a rotation issue. They should be perfectly capable of seeing and reviewing it on their own. This is another reason why instead of "Judges" and "Tech Panel" we should have "Tech Judges" and "PCS Judges". If someone isn't qualified to call tech elements and doesn't understand nuances of executing jumps, then they are not someone who should judge the GOE of a jump.

Having 'q' in the scoring system would've been fine if the tech panels were actually measuring the rotation of jumps and if judges were just docking 1 GOE if they agree with the tech panel call, after reviewing a jump themself. But that's not what's happening. Panels are calling jumps based on landings that show any little bit of skid and then judges are marking down a lot, going against their actual impression of what they saw. Jumps where skaters have to fight a little bit on the landing are already predisposed to receive lower GOE from judges, so now these jumps are receiving double penalty, which is particularly aggravating in the cases where they were in fact sufficiently rotated.

 

[lariko]

There were cases this year when q-jump didn't recieve negative GoE. There is a lack of consistency on how to grade visually clean but q jump.

 

[Mathman]

The point I am making is that when a skaters doesn't manage a combo and gets a +REP, they already received their penalty and will not be penalized if they rejig things and add a combo later, as long as they don't zayak again

However, all this calculating and adjusting is hard to do while the program is speeding along its course. Most of the time, you are more likely either to Zayak again or to flub an element that was changed on the fly.

Scott Hamilton always preached, "Plan your skate, skate your plan."

 

[Sjs5572]

They can’t. I don’t trust AI for anything.

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.

And Alysa's edge calls were really unwarranted. She only had one edge alert call in the last year, prior to the Olympics team event; however the flip edge seemed to be a pet peeve of the Oly tech panel. Both her flips were on a slight inside edge and that's been the standard for decades. The classic lutz edge is expected to be extreme outside since it's counter-rotation, but the flip edge follows natural rotation and is subtle.

 

[4everchan]

However, all this calculating and adjusting is hard to do while the program is speeding along its course. Most of the time, you are more likely either to Zayak again or to flub an element that was changed on the fly.

Scott Hamilton always preached, "Plan your skate, skate your plan."

Yeah well he didn't have to skate under IJS.

And Midori Ito disagrees

Skaters nowadays know how to deal with this and train for it. Also, skaters are much more consistent with their triple jumps than a couple decades ago.

Schizas, for instance, at the team event, fell on her opening lutz in the LP. She reorganized her entire skate and landed everything cleanly after that, without losing a triple jump.

Schizas, again, just because I remember a couple of her rejigging... Again, once this season, she missed her opening lutz-toe combo. She tagged the toe on the next jump, the flip. I had never seen her do a triple flip followed by any combo let alone a gorgeous triple toe.

I have the feeling that Scott Hamilton himself would change his tune with today's skaters ability to tag triple toes on pretty much just every jump.

 

[Blades of Passion]

Skaters nowadays know how to deal with this and train for it.

Thinking through programs like that is one of the many reasons that performances are now more disconnected than they used to be. It's not something people should have to be doing.

Nobody should win a competition because they added a 1T onto a jump as opposed to not, unless the result was within a couple tenths of a point and the miniscule value of the 1T is what makes the difference.

And Alysa's edge calls were really unwarranted.

She shifts very, very slightly towards the outside before picking in, but yes that is totally normal for a Flip and shouldn't be called. Her GOE's for those elements ended up being quite accurate anyway though. She got +2 on average for the solo Flip and +1 for the combo. That's already what she should be getting, considering the unexceptional height and speed and the amount of pre-rotation.

Alysa won due to the 3Lz+3Lo in the SP.

That combo only hurt her score, compared to the 3Lz+3T she did in the LP. She lost 1.6 points on GOE in return for .77 points in base value. I'm happy she did it, and maybe it helped her PCS a tiny bit, but it didn't change anything whatsoever about her competition results.

 

[yfan1]

If we say "Alysa's calls were unwarranted" then we need to comb through the other calls too...

I don't disagree they were, I just think she missed other calls, and others got unfair calls.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

I just finished watching the free skate.

Despite me wanting others who take more risk (Ami, Amber, Adeliya) and others who skate faster with better programs (Kaori, Mone, Niina) to win, I think Alyssa deserved the win. She won due to the 3Lz 3Lo in the SP. This combo has been the deciding critical factor for Alina winning over Evgenia and Anna winning over Alexandra. Now, Alysa win over Kaori due to this higher level combo.

Kaori usually is quick to think on her feet. I have seen her practice 3Lo 3Lo combos to warm up her loop jumps. I really did think she would go for a 3Lo 3Loq attempt or at least a 3Lo 2Lo attempt. That is why it is important to always have a plan B.

Ami - Two 3A’s!! What is with the q calls on her last jumping passes ….
(A worthy Olympic medalist)

Mone was also worthy…. She redeemed herself here. She was so close to making the podium

Amber was overscored on PCS with her skate. I would have placed Adeliya in 5th instead. Adeliya to me, has better skating skills and program compared to Amber.

I was also disappointed in the scores related to Niina, Haein.

Also, what more can Sofia do to place higher besides learning ultra c. Out of all the women, she has the best jumps in my opinion.

So many ladies scoring over 200 now…

I don’t think Alysa or Kaori will do Worlds. So, I’m excited to see Bradie and Rinka at Worlds as subs.

I’m a bit sad for Kaori though…. That 3F 3T let her down. If she nailed that combo, she would have been the clear winner. This event is a reminder to always have a back up plan and to possibly practice different combos in case you have to revert to plan B.

Not to rub salt, but I can’t understand why Kaori hadn’t planned a backup scenario in case the first jump of her 3F+3T didn’t allow a combo.

I know we talk about how much she debit and I agree and wanted her to win gold, but that was a mind bogglingly juniorish mistake to make.

 

[4everchan]

Thinking through programs like that is one of the many reasons that performances are now more disconnected than they used to be. It's not something people should have to be doing.

Nobody should win a competition because they added a 1T onto a jump as opposed to not, unless the result was within a couple tenths of a point and the miniscule value of the 1T is what makes the difference.

I don't disagree that the rule is somewhat stupid but it is what it is and the rules are the same for everyone.
The skater here knows she needs to combo on the second flip. That's usually where she does the combo. The flip is not good. the +1t is a saviour. That minuscule jump barely worth any points on its own would have saved the full value of the triple flip. That +1t is no longer puny or minuscule but the difference between silver and gold. This is something some skaters do very well. It doesn't change their program nor the interpretation of the program. And while we are at it... skaters don't need to think "through" a program. They just know... It doesn't take more than 3 seconds to figure it out. Oops... I missed my combo. gotta put it on this or that jump. Done. Again, this is something they practice all the time.

 

[4everchan]

Not to rub salt, but I can’t understand why Kaori hadn’t planned a backup scenario in case the first jump of her 3F+3T didn’t allow a combo.

I know we talk about how much she debit and I agree and wanted her to win gold, but that was a mind bogglingly juniorish mistake to make.

I may be wrong but doesn't she backload her combos usually ?

I mean Kaori is already not taking advantage of the Axel sequence. Her repeated jumps are not the heaviest in BV. She's always made it because her GOEs and PCS are rightfully very high... but I remember young Kaori milking the system with backloading until the Zagitova rule. So it's not like she couldn't have a plan B. But I adore Kaori and I would understand if at the moment, she blanked. But I persist to believe that skaters train all sorts of possibilities and I am sad she couldn't just figure out how to save her flip from REP or how to add her third combo on the loop

 

[Sjs5572]

If we say "Alysa's calls were unwarranted" then we need to comb through the other calls too...

I don't disagree they were, I just think she missed other calls, and others got unfair calls.

Others may have gotten unfair calls, but the tech panel didn't miss any calls on Alysa. Which of her other jumps were q, > or !?

 

[yfan1]

Others may have gotten unfair calls, but the tech panel didn't miss any calls on Alysa. Which of her other jumps were q, > or !?

Her +3T off her 3Lz was UR.

 

[Sjs5572]

Her +3T off her 3Lz was UR.

No, not even close to a q, much less an ur. It was clean.

 

[RatedPG]

I don't disagree that the rule is somewhat stupid but it is what it is and the rules are the same for everyone.
The skater here knows she needs to combo on the second flip. That's usually where she does the combo. The flip is not good. the +1t is a saviour. That minuscule jump barely worth any points on its own would have saved the full value of the triple flip. That +1t is no longer puny or minuscule but the difference between silver and gold. This is something some skaters do very well. It doesn't change their program nor the interpretation of the program. And while we are at it... skaters don't need to think "through" a program. They just know... It doesn't take more than 3 seconds to figure it out. Oops... I missed my combo. gotta put it on this or that jump. Done. Again, this is something they practice all the time.

Also, why does Kaori all of a suddenly do a 3Lz 2T in the first half?
Isn’t it better to do the 3F 2T she used to do when she actually won worlds three seasons in a row?

If you are going to backload the harder combo in the second half, and you simply need to add a 2T in the first half, isn’t it better to add the 2T to the flip since the flip is the only triple you are repeating from first half?

 

[4everchan]

Also, why does Kaori all of a suddenly do a 3Lz 2T in the first half?
Isn’t it better to do the 3F 2T she used to do when she actually won worlds three seasons in a row?

worth more points. GOE is added on the BV. Higher BV first jump means higher GOE factoring. That's why Patrick was never happy when he couldn't combo on the 4t in the SP and had to do it on the lutz... even with the backloaded lutz combo, it wasn't necessarily going to mean more points for him. But yeah, she used to do 3f-2t and 3f-3t which would have been a life saver here.

If you are going to backload the harder combo in the second half, and you simply need to add a 2T in the first half, isn’t it better to add the 2T to the flip since the flip is the only triple you are repeating from first half?

yup