Will Sochi's Olympic team skating return in 2018?

[GF2445]

Can we get back on track with the thread instead of arguing about Jeremy Abbott??
There is a reason why they calll it the TEAM Event. You win and lose as a team. Team sport is not merit based. If you apply the logic that only some on the team and others not on Football or Hockey, it will just be illogical. Yes, the team event is different to team sport but since the Figure Skating TEAM event is classified as a TEAM event, whether there were strong players or weak players in the TEAM, if the team is strong enough to make the podium, the WHOLE TEAM should get the medal

I think that the team event will return. It was alot of fun to watch as in this event, as your placement in a segment had more emphasis than the score you received. It made it easy to understand. Maybe they need to either decrease the team points you receive in the SP or increase the team points awarded in the free.

About Synchro, i really hope to see it at the Olympics soon. Its going to be tough to get it accepted in 4 years but it could definitely be a demonstration sport

 

[karne]

Thank you. That was pretty harsh regarding Abbott dmd. Even if Abbott placed 4th behind Hanyu and Plushenko and Chan (which was probably all he could have hoped for), the US would have still had bronze. He would have needed 90 points to surpass Chan... only Chan/Hanyu surpassed 90 points in the men's individual SP, no US man.

But then at least the whole Team USA could have happily said they all tried as hard as they could for that medal. At the moment, Jason, Gracie, Ashley, Simon and Marissa and Meryl and Charlie can all hand-on-their-heart say they gave everything they could for that medal. Abbott can't. He fell off the quad and then his shoulders dropped and he just gave up. In individual competition that's bad enough. In team competition that's unforgiveable. (Especially when your next comment is: "It's a positive step, it's just a warmup!")

 

[MalAssada]

Another good thing that would happen if Teams happened after Individuals is that the federations would be able to see which skater can perform better under the Olympic pressure. This would also cause skaters give the best of themselves (not that it doesn't happen at Olympics, but...) so they can qualify to the Team Event. In countries with many strong contenders, we would see skaters not only fighting for that gold medal, but also for the opportunity to get another gold medal :yay:

 

[concorde]

I hope the team event stays but I wish they would do different programs than they do in singles. That would make it more exciting.

I cannot imagine this happening because of the amount of time and money that goes into putting together an additional program.
Money for the cheographers (at least a couple thousand) and coaches (paid by the minute) ; time (HOURS!) for the skater to perfect the routine.

Some would say that many skaters already have a 3rd exhibition program. But that exhibition program is not being judged (which includes points for each spin and jump) at the same level as the competitive program. Exhibition programs are enjoyable to watch but they rarely have the same level of difficulty as a competitive program.

 

[Mathman]

I think we are looking at this the wrong way. The Olympics provide our one and only once-every-four-years chance to razzle-dazzle folks. The set-up at Sochi was fine. Start things out with a bang. Old codger Plushenko reaches into his bag or tricks one last time. New kid on the block Julia Lipnitskia wows the home crowd and wins television fans around the world. Jeremy -- oh, you idiot -- oh well, bring on Davis and White! Countries that can't field a full team, give 'em the old college try anyway. OK, let's switch over to bobsledding for a couple of days, and then on to the main the event. I can hardly wait!

 

[Procrastinator]

I think it was good to have the team event to help some get the rust out. Yes, it probably added pressure for Julia who didn't expect the hype but on the ice/dance side, it definitely gave D/W and V/M a chance to give more polished performances later. Imagine if V/M had had their individual medal round dances look like the team event ones?

 

[Amei]

I liked the team event (especially since I was stuck at home stuck on a couch with a broken foot) it was entertaining and it gave figure skating some more positive exposure on the biggest stage.

I'm a little torn on whether it should be before or after the individual event.
Before the Individual event:
Postivies: it gets everyone hyped for the 'main event' - it gives the skaters the ability to work out those Olympic gitters.
Negatives: It potentially exposes someone to some crazy media frenzy... but I wonder that was the perfect storm of: cute skater, well-designed programs and in her home country.

After the Individual event:
Postives: it protects someone from the media-frenzy that probably cost Lipnitskaia an Individual medal (barring a meltdown like she had in the individual event - she most likely would have medaled)
Negatives: The skaters that won medals (any color) would they really participate in the team event? Also, I think the audience focus would be less if it was after the individual event.

Maybe they could expand the # of skaters for countries participating in the team event?

On the Abbott thing - sure he skated poorly and realistically got the medal based on the performance of others - but you can probably say that about every team-Olympic medal at some point. The reason why Abbott is probably a bigger deal is that this the first team event for FS in the Olympics, so nobody is used to it.

 

[Sandpiper]

While I'm not a synchro fan, I'm definitely cool with its inclusion in the Olympics! (In fact, that might convince me to start following). Even if it comes at the expense of the Team Event, which I enjoyed.

That being said... why does it have to come at the expense of the Team Event? We can have both! And we can make synchro part of the Team Event, which may or may not give some countries more of a fighting chance! (Okay, ignore that last part, that was a joke. I think).

I like the Team Event because it's lots of fun, it gives skating more exposure, and it could convince some countries (*cough*Japan*cough*Italy) to develop certain disciplines more. Some casual viewers may not be so impressed with the repeated programs, but I don't see a way out of that. Didn't really work when they tried it at GPF...

That being said, I see Drivingmissdaisy's point. It does seem a little... sad... for past skaters. How I/K technically have Olympic gold, but Michelle Kwan doesn't. How Jeremy Abbott has an Olympic medal despite skating terribly, while Kurt Browning's mistakes made him come back empty-handed from three Olympics. In a way, the figure skating medals are valuable because they are so few. I do wonder if the Team Event cheapens them.

 

[cooper]

Frankly, I do not want the team event to return. It's so obvious that only 3 or 4 countries have a shot of medals and all other countries are just there for show.

i agree..IOC wanted to get rid of softball because they said that fewer teams are participating and the US is dominating but here goes the team event.. pretty much the race is between usa, russia, canada.. and japan.. they should just renamed it as 4 nation competition..

 

[LyraAngelica]

An Olympic medal is an Olympic medal regardless of the event i.e. team or otherwise. I'm sure all of the skaters from Russia that won team gold call themselves an Olympic champion because they are.

I like the idea of a team event but I think they need to ratify the placement scoring the 10, 9, 8 etc was silly to me.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

i agree..IOC wanted to get rid of softball because they said that fewer teams are participating and the US is dominating but here goes the team event.. pretty much the race is between usa, russia, canada.. and japan.. they should just renamed it as 4 nation competition..

Or maybe the other countries will show interest in becoming more well rounded and supporting ALL figure skating disciplines. Not everyone wants to throw in the towel in the face of adversity....I thought Great Britain was a highlight in Sochi. Mathew Parr really got some respect. It's not all about medals with the Olympics. You don't need the best in all catagories but maybe to be a member of the ISU it isn't so bad to expect more federations to support the entire sport. Especially ones who host large international events.

On a personal level I know a handful of people who were in the Olympics and of those only a few actually won medals. The thing is everyone I know who has competed said that just being there and participating was enough to fulfill their dream. It's funny how ice rinks in general are second homes to so many great atheletes. My rink is full of Olympian medalists and participants.

 

[StitchMonkey]

Or maybe the other countries will show interest in becoming more well rounded and supporting ALL figure skating disciplines. Not everyone wants to throw in the towel in the face of adversity....I thought Great Britain was a highlight in Sochi. Mathew Parr really got some respect. It's not all about medals with the Olympics. You don't need the best in all catagories but maybe to be a member of the ISU it isn't so bad to expect the federations to support the entire sport.

I agree completely. I actually thought that was part of the point, to encourage more skaters in more countries to take up the less expected disciplines. Now buth the skaters and the federations have more of an incentive.

I loved seeing the team event because the group of fellow countrymen supporting one another was great fun. It also did give the other skaters not of the big four, the rest were competing to see who could make it to finales with them. And it looked like that was a worthy goal the other other athletes.

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

I agree completely. I actually thought that was part of the point, to encourage more skaters in more countries to take up the less expected disciplines. Now buth the skaters and the federations have more of an incentive.

I loved seeing the team event because the group of fellow countrymen supporting one another was great fun. It also did give the other skaters not of the big four, the rest were competing to see who could make it to finales with them. And it looked like that was a worthy goal the other other athletes.

I'm a big proponent of growing the sport. To me...I think a lot of outsiders got a taste of figure skating that they enjoyed purely because of the team event. The Germans cowbell or whatever it was.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/BN-BK906_german_G_20140208122648.jpg

Team Japan's Cuteness!
http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/figure-20140208.jpg

BTW...I'm completely biased. I loved the team event and it was an event many of my non-skating friends really enjoyed. Most importantly I truely feel it showed the sport in a good light to the entire world.

 

[cooper]

Or maybe the other countries will show interest in becoming more well rounded and supporting ALL figure skating disciplines. Not everyone wants to throw in the towel in the face of adversity....I thought Great Britain was a highlight in Sochi. Mathew Parr really got some respect. It's not all about medals with the Olympics. You don't need the best in all catagories but maybe to be a member of the ISU it isn't so bad to expect more federations to support the entire sport. Especially ones who host large international events.

On a personal level I know a handful of people who were in the Olympics and of those only a few actually won medals. The thing is everyone I know who has competed said that just being there and participating was enough to fulfill their dream. It's funny how ice rinks in general are second homes to so many great atheletes. My rink is full of Olympian medalists and participants.

but you know it's not going to happen.. yeah more countries participating.. but they HAVE NO CHANCE TO MEDAL..

the purpose of team event is to give more medals to powerful feds.. that's all..

 

[Mathman]

^ No, I don't think so. I think the purpose is to showcase skating to the Olympic audience and the world.

 

[TontoK]

The team event was a personal highlight for me! I loved it.

I'm sure it's here to stay. Figure skating is a marquee event in the Olympics, and the team event gave us an additional three (if I remember correctly) nights of skating. Something we've never had before.

I hope it brings more fans to the sport. I hope more countries become more competitive. Most especially, I hope countries work harder to "fill out" their rosters with good skaters/teams in every discipline.

 

[Icey]

I hope the team event was a one time thing.

 

[fleeting]

but you know it's not going to happen.. yeah more countries participating.. but they HAVE NO CHANCE TO MEDAL..

the purpose of team event is to give more medals to powerful feds.. that's all..

It might benefit the larger federations, but it does push even them to focus on all the disciplines. Russia for men, Canada for ladies, USA for pairs, Japan for pairs and dance, Italy for men and pairs... In the long run, a team competition will help deepen the talent pool in every discipline.

And I didn't think team Germany or France had a chance of medaling, but they were my favorites to watch, and it is what pushed me into liking James/Cipres more, a team I haven't been keeping my eye on until now. That's just one example.

 

[Isabel_O'Reilly]

Frankly, I do not want the team event to return. It's so obvious that only 3 or 4 countries have a shot of medals and all other countries are just there for show.

But that's no different than the individual event. Unless people completely fell apart (no I'm not talking just about one or two falls) only four countries had any shot at the Gold Medal or any medal in Ladies. We may talk about others being contenders but when it comes right down it we almost always know which country will have medals.

Russia
South Korea
Italy
Japan

So none of the individual events have that much diversity in which country will win them either.


Why is it so had to accept a medal based on the sum of performances, why do people insist on tearing one individual down? Unless a person goes to the center on the ice, bows and then leaves without skating in a team event they did contribute to the medal. It's easy to say if they didn't perform up to your standards they were just riding coattails but that's not true when you look at what could happen.

 

[IcyEdges]

But then at least the whole Team USA could have happily said they all tried as hard as they could for that medal. At the moment, Jason, Gracie, Ashley, Simon and Marissa and Meryl and Charlie can all hand-on-their-heart say they gave everything they could for that medal. Abbott can't. He fell off the quad and then his shoulders dropped and he just gave up. In individual competition that's bad enough. In team competition that's unforgiveable. (Especially when your next comment is: "It's a positive step, it's just a warmup!")

What would you have liked them to do? The US only had 2 men to use at the Olympics period. You really need to let it go, and stop griping about Jeremy's mistakes at the Olympics (esp in the team event and his unfortunate comments afterward) every chance you get.