2014 Olympics Ladies Free Skate

[bmelanie]

She deserved this. After the season she's had, after the heartbreak she's endured. She deserves this skate.

 

[Rikku]

Mao Asada (JPN)....FS = 142.71
Total = 198.22 (into 1st)

 

[roxella]

mao 142,71

 

[ARipp42014]

142.71 in the FS! The 3A was ratified!

 

[jkun]

142.71! Yay! Please make it on the podium..

 

[sky_fly20]

198 ? no medal there :disapp:

 

[Blades of Passion]

Her 3Flip+3Loop was underscored, ugh. But great for her!

 

[WeakAnkles]

That is the definition of a Personal Triumph. Good for her. Oh she will be dearly missed.

 

[SaraM]

Mao got lowballed on PCS i swear if they give adelina more for he free skate i will explode

 

[riceplate]

Yay for Mao!

 

[hoopoe]

I love Mao's loops in combinations. She takes no time at all on the ice, jumps right away. With other skaters, they often look awkward and break the flow.

 

[lovetmzaki]

Oh Mao! that was glorious.

 

[Becki]

I think it is destiny....I am starting to wonder what would've happened if she skated in the last flight, would she have had a similar performance ?

 

[ARipp42014]

Halftime
1. Mao
2. Murakami
3. Osmond
4. Kexin
5. HJ Kim

Your halftime entertainment... the original queen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZn8uU-FNSw

 

[CarneAsada]

142, only 69 for components but Julia's season record has just been beaten. Imagine what she would've gotten for a clean 3F-3Lo.

 

[Panini]

3A was good! Got UR for 3Lo but still an 8 triple program! :yay:

 

[blue_idealist]

Wouldn't it be hilarious if she did end up on the podium? She's got a healthy lead now.

 

[vegarin]

Wait, what? She landed all 8 and she got marginally better scores than Julia in team skate? What?

 

[Blades of Passion]

Mao got lowballed on PCS i swear if they give adelina more for he free skate i will explode

Both of the Russians are getting higher PCS if they deliver. Get ready.

 

[Dutchie]

Why don't they always re-surface between groups? To me it just seems like common sense, but I'm not a skater.

Also, could someone explain how much difference it makes to skate on freshly re-surfaced ice as opposed to after it's been "used" many times? At the end of a group I assume there are lots of ruts in the ice that could easily catch a blade and cause a catastrophe.

Sorry if this is a dumb question -- any and all insights would be appreciated because I've wondered about this for years.

Just saw another post re: Mao's 3A. So very happy for her after yesterday's disappointment!

As a skater, skating on ice that has been skated on for awhile tends to make the ice "choppy" which can slow a skater down, or make them work harder to keep up speed. So it's an advantage to skate closer to when the ice has been resurfaced. The reason they don't resurface after every group is for time sake, but also because at that point, the ice doesn't need it quite yet. Too much resurfacing isn't good either because if it is done two closely together, the ice will freeze then freeze again to form an extra layer of ice which isn't ideal either. That's why the ice needs some skating on it before it's a good idea to resurface again. I hope that helps!

Btw, some skaters prefer to skate on ice once it's been skated on because the slipperyness goes away and some skaters prefer fresh ice so there is less chance of getting stuck in a rut.