2014 Olympics Ladies Free Skate

[yuki]

Sotnikova has gottan clean Lutzes ratified in the past, so this isn't an Ashley Wagner getting a clean Lutz call at Nationals sort of situation. Go back and look through the protocols, and see for yourself.

She got edge calls this season at both her GP events, GPF and Europeans. Not to mention that her change of edge here was quite obvious on the replay.
What was that you were saying about bias?

 

[tetana]

1) Adelina deserved to win. Two amazing skates
2) I am happy Yuna did not win. Well, she is amazing, don't get me wrong. But other girls were competing all these years in 5-7 competitions per year and Yuna was coming only to Worlds(but missed 2011-2012) and Olympics(well and Korean Nationals).As for me, it is not fair.
3) Adelina won by technical content by far. 7 triples, hardest spins. Btw, Yuna's spins seemed slow...
4) I don't get everyones love for Bolero, but we all have our own preferences.
5)My poor Julia was too nervous today and peaked early. She has a bright future ahead of her. But she is not a robot, she is a human. Hope she goes to Worlds!
6) CONGRATS TO ALL MEDALISTS!

What is your point? Did Yuna have to compete in Grandprix even with foot injury? She did her best. Eventhough she was the last one, she nailed it with rude audience. That is sportmanship.

 

[Spinerette]

everyone got inflated scores, with exception of Yuna

This reminds me of the time when Oksana Baiul was given the Gold over Nancy Kerrigan. This is the same thing. I thought this would happen that when Adelina and Yuna both have good skates they would let Adelina win. Adelina skated like a boy in a dress. This is why the Russians favored Julia over Adelina. Wait a couple of more years and watch what Ms. Sonitkova will be up to. She might have to come to the U.S. Putin won't be too happy with her in a couple of years.

 

[karlowens2]

Can people stop slagging on Osmond?? Please??? I am super baffled by all the online bullying over a second-tier skater who seems sweet and bubbly. Maybe one or two posters have ever called her a podium threat so mocking her over one or two crazies seems so out there to me. It seems everything she does (including breathe) seems to be open for derision. First, she apparently dresses like a hooker when other costumes are even more revealing. People laugh that she falls or won't make top 10 when lots of skaters fell and didn't make top 10 (but had the potential to). I don't get it! :scratch: You'd think she is part of dog-fighting ring or something the way people jump on her.

Sorry. I didn´t single her out on purpose. She actually skated pretty well today.

 

[roxella]

Why is that not fair? If she skates a program that's deserving of the points, then she deserves the correctly colored medal. Not her fault she can stand back for so long, come back, and still dominate.

:agree::agree: I was just about to say the same thing...this shows how strong she is

 

[Manitou]

As always, I say again: as always, all those predictions shmedictions were plain garbage. Complete rubbish! Including mine! lol
Go Adelina! It was fantastic. First I was completely heartbroken by Yulia's disappointment, but then what a wonderful surprise!!!

Yuna's choreography - terrible! How were her component marks higher than Adelina's?? Yuna practically DID NOT have a choreography. Was it really a tango? To me it was a random shmango, but absolutely not a tango choreo. Just random passages from a clean jump to another clean jump. And not even to the music.

Carolina was impressive assuming it was Carolina, but if Gracie had been clean in her ALL technical elements then she should have got the bronze. But even with Gracie's one fall I preferred Gracie's performance over Carolina's. But still good - it was nice to see Carolina happy at the Olympics. Good for her!

As to Yulia, no wonder! When the entire Russia all of a sudden was all over her and expecting a miracle, and that was including 150 million people, all crazy media, all the politicians including Putin himself, all historical Czars, the entire orthodox Church with its 1000 years tradition, all Russian history with Pushkin, Tolstoy and Chaikovsky, all great historical generals and heroes of the Great Patriotic War and Napoleonic Wars, all national pride of all its people multiplied by 1000 years, so when all of that was put on this little girls's tiny shoulders, no wonder she couldn't do it!!!

 

[Nater]

What kind of benefit for her in Vancouver except she was in the same time zone like American skaters? Remember she competed with Joannie, the darling of Canada? Yuna herself said there were not many fans in Vancouver just like in Sochi.

She benefitted from Olympic Score Inflation, which happens at almost every Olympics since the sport and this scoring system is not obsessed with numbers.

If you put too much emphasis on the numbers you get lost and miss the greater picture.

The placements matter more than the numbers.

Wasting time asking questions like "Can someone tell me how Adelina is better than Kostner in PCS" misses the point that Adelina totally outskated Kostner in the FS and rightfully beat her by 5+ points like she should have given Kostner's jumps and spins in that program, as well as the coffee breaks in the choreography.

Same goes for Yuna. Sotnikova was on fire. Yuna did crossovers around the rink predominately in one direction and did less technical content and more spins. In order to not penalize Yuna's PCS (like it actually should have been) for those mediocre programs, the judges decided to just boost Sotnikova's because she gave a better performance.

Again, Numbers are only a means to an end. The placements are what matters.

 

[Spinerette]

) I am happy Yuna did not win. Well, she is amazing, don't get me wrong. But other girls were competing all these years in 5-7 competitions per year and Yuna was coming only to Worlds(but missed 2011-2012) and Olympics(well and Korean Nationals). As for me, it is not fair.
3) A

That was the dumbest comment. I guess with that logic Carolina shouldn't have medaled either cause Carolina's been out too with an injury. Yuna did compete in this year's Korean nationals and she won. She is also the reigning world champion from only last year. Bolero was excellent, Carolina was amazing in the fs and the sp.

 

[leafygreens]

In the interest of Cognitive Dissonance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/s...n-womens-figure-skating.html?smid=tw-sochinyt


Some skaters are not as outraged.

As usual, there's Elvis Stojko to stir the pot.

 

[MsLiinaLii]

What is your point? Did Yuna have to compete in Grandprix even with foot injury? She did her best. Eventhough she was the last one, she nailed it with rude audience. That is sportmanship.

Did she have her foor injury for 3 years?
Btw, i don't where you saw it, but audience was more than welcoming to Yuna and lots of applause after her skate.

 

[MsLiinaLii]

That was the dumbest comment. I guess with that logic Carolina shouldn't have medaled either cause Carolina's been out too with an injury. Yuna did compete in this year's Korean nationals and she won. She is also the reigning world champion from only last year. Bolero was excellent, Carolina was amazing in the fs and the sp.

Omg, guys, that is just how I feel. And was saying that even before Olympics. I don't intend to make anyone have the same opinion.

 

[zschultz1986]

Yulia gaines like 2 points in spins over most skaters, which helps keep her score up. Her PCS was back down to Pre-Sochi levels in the SP.

Everyone was scored high in this Olympics, across all disciplines. Even no-name skaters were getting PB scores for mediocre skates compared to what they did in the past. I don't see the scoring as being that much of an issue, except for the judges picking and choosing who they wanted to ding for URs (Reputation clearly played a role there).

I'm sorry, but that is how they get away with it. EVERYONE is getting inflated marks, so no one will notice where the MOST inflated marks are.

I agree that subjective URs and wrong-edge calls also play into it. It's using an "all of the above" strategy to fudge scores.

The Russian's did have the most inflated scores, and if you can't see that, just wait till Worlds. Everyone scores will deflate, but Russian scores will collapse harder than them all.

(Again, Adelina deserved a medal. V/T deserved Gold.)

 

[semosk8tfan]

In the interest of Cognitive Dissonance:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/s...n-womens-figure-skating.html?smid=tw-sochinyt


Some skaters are not as outraged.

When Elvis is the "expert" being quoted they have already hit the bottom of the barrell.

 

[Silvia451]

Well, I’m sad that the skating competition is over, I got used to watch figure skating almost everyday and I’ll miss it until the worlds. Happily we have the gala.
The ladies event was the most intense. For me, tonight there were the same two ladies to shine: Mao and Yuna. It is probably the last season for both of them (I heard Mao said she’s going to the WC, I don’t know anything about Yuna) and it was great to see tonight these ladies with fantastic careers. They dominated this sport for many years and they both brought something new on the ice.
Tonight it was Mao’s moment. I wonder how many people from all around the world burst into tears during her performance. Figure skating sometimes isn’t only about the scores or the medals, but about the feelings experienced during a program. Mao wrote a beautiful story today. Those tears of relief and that adorable smile were the ones of a truly champion. Without the pressure from the SP, she skated uninhibited and reminded us that she is one of the greatest skaters. And I believe this is more important than a bronze medal. This program was her victory, her 3A was her revenge. As I hoped, she shined tonight.
On the other side, Yuna. She is the ice queen, no matter the final result. She brought on ice the same cold perfection which fascinated me from the first time I saw her. Maybe it wasn’t her best FS, but I have the feeling that I can watch her performance over and over again. Everything she does looks effortless, she can make every move and jump seem easy. Watching her tonight, I realized how much I’ll miss her.
Yuna and Mao. As I said before, I could never choose between them. They are both beautiful. In different ways. And yes, I'm proud to be a Yuna and Mao uber.

Also, congratulations to Adelina. She was overscored, but I am somehow (SOMEHOW) ok with the fact that she won. She had two great programs, she stayed away from all the craziness which was around Julia before the event and she managed to deal with the pressure after the SP. I blame the judges for her score, but I don’t blame her. She did her best.
Finally, congratulations to the American ladies. Gracie’s lovely jumps will surely bring her a world medal soon. Ashley’s performance was a nice surprise for me. Polina has great potential.

Sorry for the long post, I wanted to put my thoughts together, more for me than for the love of discussion.

 

[Nater]

Yuna 74.50
Adelina 74.41
Carolina 73.77
Yulia 70.06
Mao 69.68

Ha, this is just ...... I really don't know how to express this.

Adelina beated Yuna by 5.48 points. Adelina's PCS should've been 33+70, so 7 points are already gone at least. If Adelina gets lv4 on both of her step sequences, Carolina and Yuna should, too. Carolina and Yuna's SP scores should've been something like 75+(mid-high) while Adelina 72+. I'm fine with Yuna's TES for LP, bcz I'd give her lv4 on her step (meaning +1 with GOE factor) but only 0 GOE for her 2nd Lz (meaning -1). Let alone some of Adelina's GOEs.. That'll be too long to write. I have to go to edit my ignore list. Will be very busy.

I was rather surprised that Russians were not enough brave to give Adelina more than 150+ to break Yuna's WR. That would have been very interesting :sarcasm:

Do you even know the criteria for level 4 step sequence? This isn't based on Opinion. There is criteria you have to meet with how many turns, how much you do on one foot, going in both directions, etc. When you see a very short (comparatively speaking) step sequence it should already raise a red flag to you as a spectator that they are at risk of losing a level if they hit flats on the turns, hop turns (which you will likely not see without Dartfish and the right video angles) etc.

This is why a lot of up and coming skaters have these really LONG and overloaded step sequences. To make sure they can hit Level 4 even if there is a hiccup or two in it. They may lose some GOE for Quality, but they'll still get their levels and that affects the GOE Factor. Losing levels is a big deal. It's like getting '<' on a jump, somewhat.

There is criteria for this. You cannot say "Since X got Level 4, Y should too!" It makes literally no sense and shows the general naivety of the mass viewing public when it comes to this sport. People aren't educated enough to understand how the numbers actually work.

Same with PCS. People here treat PCS like it's on "Maturity/Beauty" mark when there is a ton of criteria in all of those PCS categories. Just cause someone was an 8.5 last month doesn't necessarily mean they can't be a 9 today...

 

[Spinerette]

This goes to show everyone that if Plushenko skated he would have won no matter what. Adelina Sonitkova the real bronze medalist of the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games.

 

[AnastasiaO]

Sotnikova's pcs were both to high in the short and in the long, with 5-6 points less pcs for Adelina, Yu-na would have won like she deserved it.
Shame on the judges!!!!!

 

[NineTails]

Do you realize that with 3-4 points less PCS she would have still won? PCS isn't why she beat Kim. Kim won PCS. Kim Lost to Sotnikova because the latter gave a clinic on brilliant jumping and spinning and hit all her levels.

When will you people stop bitching about PCS and realize that Kim LOST to Sotnikova because she couldn't manage to get her Triple Loop consistent and was down a triple, and had Worse Spins and lower level footwork?

You forgot PCS increase from the Short. Those add up to make a huge difference (without those increases in PCS she would have been in 3rd where she should have been).

Adelina did not improve her PCS skating by this much in basically a month. Judges played the biggest factor in the order of the podium tonight, not the skaters. The fact that Adelina suddenly became equals to Yuna and Carolina's PCS in a month span is well...cough* cough*.

 

[adamlondon]

adelina's pcs are on a par perhaps with gracie or ashey wagner so maybe early 8s, definitely not 9s. makes me laff.
if this was judged fairly she would get perhaps 65-66 on PCS and not 74 which is way overinflation. completely no finesse, looks like a little girl on the ice and just does not move me to watch,

 

[starrynight]

I don't necessarily agree with Adelina winning but I can't deny she brought it in both programs. She wasn't a blip on anyone's radar b/c of her reputation of being a nervous skater BUT she's been steadily gaining confidence and consistency all year long. Honestly, I didn't think she'd hold up under the pressure. Hell, iron-nerved Julia was rattled...I did not expect her to rise to the occasion but she did. She threw it down in the FS and made it easy for the judges to boost her through the roof. To perform like that under that kind of pressure and in front of a home crowd...give her some credit where credit is due. She could have imploded but she stood up on everything.

Of course she was overscored in PCS but that shouldn't comes as a shock to anyone. We all saw the trend of scoring from COR to Euros to the team event. The problem was everyone was paying attention to Julia b/c of her consistency but people forget that Adelina always beats Julia in a head-to-head match when they're both clean. So I knew if they were putting Julia on even footing with the top names that meant Adelina would be right there if not higher...

No one expected Adelina to deliver but she did...and I'm happy for her. The judging was off but it's not fair to attack Adelina for doing what she's been training her entire life to do. She went out there, she attacked, she nailed her jumps, she skated with energy and life...that's the kind of Olympic performance people dream of having and I'm happy she was able to achieve it. She has nothing to do with the marks she received...

Yu-Na was very good in both programs. If the scoring were fair, she would have won again. But I must confess something, even though I may get torn apart for it: I was underwhelmed by both of Yu-Na's performances. She was clean and precise, easy and calm...but that fire, sparkle, dazzling quality she had in Vancouver was missing. She hit everything but there was no excitement, no swell of energy like there was for both Carolina and Adelina. They electrified the crowd with their performances...Yu-Na's performances, while clean and well executed, were very lackluster for me...something was missing. That said, she delivered again and proved she is one of the greatest skaters of all time. If what she said was true and the result doesn't matter to her, she should be thrilled that she delivered two great programs (again) at the Olympics regardless of the results. She is a legend in this sport and she proved it again today.

I thought Carolina was absolutely breathtaking and amazing in both programs. That SP was perfection. The music, the choreography...she cast a spell over that audience. I was so worried about her in the FS I was about to have a heart attack! I'm SO thrilled she was able to have that moment at the Olympics. That Bolero program is a masterpiece and to have her final performance of her career be her best ever is such a dream come true. I do think she deserved silver here but that bronze is as good as gold IMO...especially considering as how people were barely including her in the medal contender conversation. She is a treasure.

Mao was phenomenal...I've got a ton to write but I'll save if for my ladies review on my blog.

It was a very wacky kind of Olympics but I knew it would be...that's why I'm not surprised by the results in the least. I know people are going to be fuming about it for months but honestly, I am not bothered. I resigned myself to crappy scoring at this event waaaaaay back in November at Cup of Russia.

I just don't care enough to be upset/outraged/pissed off, etc. We all know how the judges manipulate the scores...it happens in every single competition. This is nothing new. All top 3 ladies skated amazingly and I think all three deserve to be on the podium...their order on the podium, OTOH, is up for debate.

I totally agree with you. And... may I get your blog info?