Men Free Skating - 2013 Trophée Eric Bompard

[bigsisjiejie]

Sorry, he's officially become a Sotnikova. Great SP, that positions himself for a win, but blows it in the FS. Textbook headcase.

Um, Sotnikova just nailed down the silver medal with an excellent and clean performance and her head apparently no longer case-y. Might have to change your analogy there....

 

[Shayuki]

No Jason Brown in Finnish TV, only top 2. -.-

 

[Art&Sport]

The first time in a very long time that I truly enjoyed watching Patrick skate. The Four Seasons music really works for him and suits him to a T. I suppose that's why he went back to it after first appearing on the scene with it to recognition and success. It's cut very well and the choreo is wonderful -- it very much suits Patrick's style. I enjoyed Patrick's fp more than I did his sp at TEB. I don't think Patrick expressed the music any better in the fp for me than he did in the sp. I think he makes an effort to feel the music in both programs, but its just that the fp music is so wonderful for him. I can see Patrick now skating to much glory at the Olympics with this fp. Congratulations to Kathy Johnson. It looks like she's managed to help Patrick find a bit of calm in the storm and access the zen within himself. Forget about the judging numbers, which I still find ultimately meaningless. For everyone, there's over-scoring or underscoring, or ridiculous scoring, especially when you take a look at the PCS breakdowns for everyone. Watching Patrick's sp on Eurosport with BBC commentators, I got tired of the female commentator saying "Amazing, amazing," every few seconds. I really hate having it stuffed down my throat that Patrick has superhuman SS. His talent speaks for itself so its not really necessary to spoon-feed everyone or defend his skating with superlatives and over-scoring.

Hanyu got off to a slow start in the fp. For me, Hanyu's fp music just doesn't work that well for him. He skated okay after the opening errors and the fall. However, I find Hanyu's PCS marks overdone, as he hasn't yet really found himself fully or put it altogether, especially in his free programs. Funny how he usually lacks endurance at the end of his fps, whereas here he started out with flubs and looking tired. I enjoyed Hanyu's sp much more than his free skate. His tech scores are an e.g. of why I think the scoring system sucks. The breaking down and scoring of each element truthfully leads to the situation where a top few skaters can make numerous errors and still be on the podium because they are being looked at as possessing huge talent that they don't actually always live up to. But just as we saw by the nodding going on between Hanyu and Orser after Hanyu's fp numbers went up, its simply okay. Mistakes don't matter. Still a good job. Too bad for the numerous mistakes, but Hanyu's still in the game because he's seriously really very talented, even if he didn't put it altogether in his free program. Just to be clear, I'm being sarcastic with those last comments. I just don't think Hanyu deserved such high scores because he managed to put together good elements that apparently cancelled out his mistakes. His transition marks and choreography and performance execution are extremely high for what he actually did on the ice in the fp. He has talent and potential but he's too often not skated a clean fp, and his overscoring for a very good sp and his generous marks in the fp make it seem as if he actually had a good competition when he really didn't. However, with what the rest of the field managed to do, I don't argue with Hanyu winning silver. I just think he was way overmarked for his efforts here, especially in the fp. I did like Hanyu's sp performance more than I did Patrick's however.

Kudos to Jason for managing his nerves really well at TEB in the fp, versus at SA. Aside from popping one of his axels, Jason had a very good skate. The bronze is well deserved. I really enjoyed, Han Yan's sp. I don't think the fp works for him as well, and its too bad he was sick and couldn't put up the kind of challenge he's known for. Does this mean that Adam Rippon might have a chance at making the GPF, or is it still too early to tell?

 

[Mathman]

Chan has no rival.

 

[Art&Sport]

I'm pretty sure this TEB performance seals it that he is a skating icon. Like Kwan, he doesn't even need to win the Olympics to prove that. He has skated arguably the best SP and LP ever skated. Maybe not in the opinion of haters, but certainly on paper and in the minds of those who truly appreciate the sport aspect of figure skating. Under 6.0, these programs would have received 6.0's across the board.

I mean, come on, 295 points. These records will not be broken for a long time, unless he's the one to do it.

Might we see 300+ at the Olympics? Time will tell!

Ha ha, 295 points is meaningless against legendary and iconic 6.0! Just doesn't have the same flavor and mystique, no matter how high the ticker goes. But yeah, I'm pretty sure If Patrick skates like he did in the TEB fp at the Sochi Olympics and does as well in the sp there too as he did at TEB, I'm pretty sure the judges will sigh with relief and sing "I told you sos" galore and with much head-nodding will hand out the ultimate across-the-board 10s on PCS for superhuman Patrick Chan.

Give Patrick a break all you Chan aficionados. He's got to have some room to build to the ultimate glory. For god's sake, he's not a machine, is he? If you think at TEB, Patrick skated the best programs ever skated by him or any other skater, you've got another think coming. He was very good, but a bit careful and cautious in the sp, IMO. He fought a bit to land his 3-axel in the sp as he doesn't have the best technique on that jump. But he came through with flying colors especially in the eyes of most fans and all the judges obviously. In the fp it looked like he had thrown all his cares to the wind and was skating more fully in the moment (which is where Kathy Johnson comes in, all you KJ haters who love Patrick). A genuinely happy smile from Patrick during the medal ceremony. He finally truly earned the gold in Paris to audience cheers!

 

[Art&Sport]

Not that there was much chance of anyone taking Sochi gold from Patrick to begin with, especially in the minds of the judges and his fans. But definitely, his showing at TEB seals the deal. He's got a good sp and a great fp for the Olympics and hopefully he'll manage to leave some room for magic-making and not spend it all here or at GPF and Canadian Nats, eh?

 

[wordsworthgirl]

Chan has no rival.

Chan has utterly won me over. His only real rival is Takahashi.

 

[plushyfan]

Plushenko will not back down even though he knows he doesn't stand a chance.

Plushy will come back. BTW Patrick was amazing today.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

Hanyu got off to a slow start in the fp. For me, Hanyu's fp music just doesn't work that well for him. He skated okay after the opening errors and the fall. However, I find Hanyu's PCS marks overdone, as he hasn't yet really found himself fully or put it altogether, especially in his free programs. Funny how he usually lacks endurance at the end of his fps, whereas here he started out with flubs and looking tired. I enjoyed Hanyu's sp much more than his free skate. His tech scores are an e.g. of why I think the scoring system sucks. The breaking down and scoring of each element truthfully leads to the situation where a top few skaters can make numerous errors and still be on the podium because they are being looked at as possessing huge talent that they don't actually always live up to. But just as we saw by the nodding going on between Hanyu and Orser after Hanyu's fp numbers went up, its simply okay. Mistakes don't matter. Still a good job. Too bad for the numerous mistakes, but Hanyu's still in the game because he's seriously really very talented, even if he didn't put it altogether in his free program. Just to be clear, I'm being sarcastic with those last comments. I just don't think Hanyu deserved such high scores because he managed to put together good elements that apparently cancelled out his mistakes. His transition marks and choreography and performance execution are extremely high for what he actually did on the ice in the fp. He has talent and potential but he's too often not skated a clean fp, and his overscoring for a very good sp and his generous marks in the fp make it seem as if he actually had a good competition when he really didn't. However, with what the rest of the field managed to do, I don't argue with Hanyu winning silver. I just think he was way overmarked for his efforts here, especially in the fp. I did like Hanyu's sp performance more than I did Patrick's however.

I agree with everything you say about Hanyu. Very overmarked. He has the potential to be great, but he is not there yet. I actually think the hype and the overmarking are a disservice to him as he has not fully matured and isn't at the top top level yet. I think some of the flubbing of jumps we're seeing is due to feeling the weight of expectations and pressure. What I wish for him is a good season with more consistency and a slow, steady blossoming over the next four-eight years.

 

[wordsworthgirl]

Plushy will come back. BTW Patrick was amazing today.

Plushyfan I admire both your devotion to your guy and your ability to applaud another skater. you are a nice person and I enjoy having you on here!

 

[plushyfan]

Chan has no rival.

Agree. The good Chan is unbeatable, he does not have to be perfect , only good.

 

[DannyCurry]

Amodio: Hopefully, his now typical bombing will teach him some humility.

Han Yan: Very disappointing skate. I think he might have had some boot problems because he relaced his boots during the last minute of the warm-up and did not do any jump before the performance.

Brown: Another fantastic skate from Jason. Too bad about the 2nd 3 axel, because he nailed it perfectly in the warm-up. Great connection with the crowd.

Yuzuru: Meh program, but kudos to him for coming back in the second half, after such a rough opening.

Chan: Again, an A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. skate from Patrick. I was worried about the 3 axel, because he stepped out of it twice in the warm-up IIRC, but he nailed it beautifully in the program. That LP was breathtaking. Maybe the last spin lacked speed, but that's nitpicking.

 

[plushyfan]

Plushyfan I admire both your devotion to your guy and your ability to applaud another skater. you are a nice person and I enjoy having you on here!

Thank you.

 

[karne]

JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON

*falls off chair*

I am so happy! He was so delighted and I thought he was going to cry! And he got the biggest cheer at the medal ceremony!

Chan's jumps were incredible today. Like butter.

 

[ImaginaryPogue]

Rippon is currently sixth in line for the GPF. Unfortunately, only the top four in the GP standings are locked in (Yan, Hanyu, Takahashi, Chan).

 

[MaiKatze]

Chan has no rival.

Only himself.

Patrick was awesome and I grew to like his skating over the years. When he skates like this it is hard to critizes and I wish that he performs like today at Sochi. His LP is so beautiful, for Olympic season a lot of skaters have surprisingly uninspiring programs, but Four Seasons is great.

Yuzuru - what a disappointment. I don't like his programs for this and last season. He seems to be regressing and it is not reflected in his scores. It was a great comeback after the 2 failed quads but.....for me it feels like the spark, the specialness, the attack is missing. I wish him all the best, but I don't see that gold medal happening for him.

Jason Brown is great to watch. Add a quad and he will be the next big gun, I guess. Congrats on a bronze, not too shabby at all!

 

[demarinis5]

Work related business kept me from watching live and just watched Patrick's SP & FS.
OMG two breathtaking skated performances from the master. Amazing!!!

Congratulations to Patrick and also to Yuzu and Jason! Off to watch the rest of the videos.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Um, Sotnikova just nailed down the silver medal with an excellent and clean performance and her head apparently no longer case-y. Might have to change your analogy there....

Hah, as I mentioned, I don't actually consider Sotnikova a headcase, nor do I consider Yuzuru that. It's a rude term, and I'm merely poking fun at sky_fly's rudeness.

LOL, Yuzuru bombs a freeskate and Sotnikova skates a perfect FS and a personal best, who would've thought -- sky_fly must be fuming!

 

[Mrs. P]

Rippon is currently sixth in line for the GPF. Unfortunately, only the top four in the GP standings are locked in (Yan, Hanyu, Takahashi, Chan).

IP, welcome back on the boards, I've missed seeing your posts.

I think Adam's out. Machida will get in barring a major issue (he will be in with just a 4th place finish).

The biggest question is whether the last guy will be Kovtun or Oda.

Kovtum will need a silver or better to be locked in. A bronze will require him to score higher than 236.31 points.

Fernandez, though he is out of contention at this point, also holds the key, he could push Kovtun to bronze.

 

[pangtongfan]

If Kovtun makes the Grand Prix final he definitely deserves to go to the Olympics over an old and beat up Plushenko, and it would be disappointing if the Russian fed. did not send him.