What I am looking forward to at the 2007 Worlds!

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euterpe

Medalist

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Sep 4, 2003

• Jun 18, 2006

• #21

Under CoP, ice dancing judges are fickle. As noted by George Rossano, the scores at Torino provided plenty of evidence of judges playing the politics card, and now they can do it without direct scrutiny.

I tend to believe that what helped D/L to win a World medal this year was (in no particular order) their romantic FD, sympathy for their horrible fall in Torino, their previous announcement that 2005-2006 was their last season, and the fact that Worlds 2006 was held in Canada. Anyone who thinks that D/L are assured of a podium placement in 2007 should remember that ice dance judges are capable of raising and dropping teams without notice.

 

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slutskayafan21

Match Penalty

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Mar 28, 2005

• Jun 18, 2006

• #22

I never said Dubreuil/Lauzon were ensured of a podium placement in 2007 if they competed.

I do disagree on sympathy or sentimental factors, or being in Canada, being reasons for their medal at the 2006 Worlds. Their results all year would indicate that in a field missing both Navka/Kostamarov and Delobel/Schoenfelder they were serious medal threats, and quite a good bet to win a medal of some color at Worlds vs the field present. At the GP final, they were 3rd overall, and close to 2nd overall, and 2nd in the free dance, in a field missing Belbin/Agosto and Denkova/Stayvinski, so really a comparable quality field to the Worlds field missing both the top Russians and Ukranians. They had regularly beaten Delobel/ Schoenfelder all year. Drobiazko/Vanagas did not even finish in the top 6 in Turin, whether or not Dubreuil/Lauzon would have medaled in Turin, they certainly appeared to be on route to a higher finish then that there. So them placing in the top 3 at Worlds is no surprise when one looks at their season, and the field present.

 

Last edited: Jun 18, 2006

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euterpe

Medalist

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• Jun 18, 2006

• #23

GP/GPF success in no way guarantees World level success, and not making the GPF may have no influence on World placement . Some years back, G/G romped all through the GP and didn't make the World podium. Winkler/Lohse didn't make the GPF in 2004 and yet medaled at Worlds (in Germany). IIRC, D/L placed above DelShoes at the 2004/2005 GPF, but DelShoes outplaced D/L at 2005 Worlds.

Sorry, but I tend to think that D/L placing above B/A at Worlds was helped to some degree by the factors I mentioned in my previous post. As lovely and romantic as D/L's FD was, it was S-L-O-W in comparison to the FDs of all the top 6 teams.

 

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slutskayafan21

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• Jun 18, 2006

• #24

Alot of people were shocked at Belbin/Agosto winning only bronze at Worlds. I was not because while they won silver at the Olympics, there was a razor thin margin between 2nd and 4th, they could have easily ended up 3rd or 4th, as well as 2nd as they did. That was with only those 4 contending teams skating well, the others(Dubreuil/Lauzon, Drobiazko/Vanagas, Denkova/Stayvinski)had a major error at some point in the competition. I thought Belbin/Agosto would be the favorites at Worlds with the Russians out(the Ukranians also pulled out of course) but only very slight favorites, so while I picked them to win, I was not very surprised at all they could be as low as 3rd.

Where as many thought going into the Olympics Belbin/Agosto would be on par with Navka/Kostamarov fighting for gold, and a level above the other contending teams, I strongly believed after missing so much of the year they would instead not be a threat to Navka/Kostamarvov at all, and be challenged by some of the other top teams to hold their position in a fierce battle. As both the Olympics and Worlds showed that was an accurate forecast.

They will probably have less to deal with next year, the citizenship thing is behind them, hopefully they will be healthier, and they will be stronger and that much harder to beat next year. This year they were somewhat vurnerable, and did well to do as well as they did.

 

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euterpe

Medalist

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• Jun 18, 2006

• #25

slutskayafan21: "Where as many thought going into the Olympics Belbin/Agosto would be on par with Navka/Kostamarov fighting for gold, and a level above the other contending teams, I strongly believed after missing so much of the year they would instead not be a threat to Navka/Kostamarvov at all, and be challenged by some of the other top teams to hold their position in a fierce battle. As both the Olympics and Worlds showed that was an accurate forecast."

What did B/A miss, one GP event and the GP final? They skated at Nebelhorn and Skate America, and also did 4CC before the Olympics. They actually had one more competition than D/L and skated the full Olympic program.

 

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slutskayafan21

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• Jun 18, 2006

• #26

What did B/A miss, one GP event and the GP final?

That is significant, if you consider 2 GP events and 1 GP final for the top skaters, that is two-thirds of their GP season. They also looked rustier to me this year then last year. Either from what I did see of them prior to Turin, I expected them not to challenge Navka/Kostomarov in anyway as many did, and to be the favorite for the next highest placing(which was silver in Turin, gold at Worlds)but to have alot of competition from the other top teams, moreso then last year, where their skating looked more polished and dynamic then it did this year. So their bronze at Worlds did not shock me, especialy after winning silver at the Olympics with a 4th place in the free dance, and so many teams having mistakes there.

 

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euterpe

Medalist

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• Jun 18, 2006

• #27

Many teams had mistakes in the OD at Torino, not in the FD. It was B/A who had a mistake in the FD, or they would have scored higher.

As it was, the marks for the FD were very close. Due to their mistake, B/A were 4th in the FD, but were behind DelShoes by just 1.33 points and G/G by just 1.0 point. B/A had placed very, very close to N/K in the OD, just 0.54 points behind them. That's why B/A won the silver medal. So much for their "rusty" performance.

101.37 NAVKA / KOSTOMAROV
99.50 DELOBEL / SCHOENFELDER
99.17 GRUSHINA / GONCHAROV
98.17 BELBIN / AGOSTO
96.03 DENKOVA / STAVIISKI
95.19 DROBIAZKO / VANAGAS


The marking at 2006 Worlds, particularly in the OD, was very, very peculiar, as noted by George Rossano. There was definite evidence of federation alliances and some very skewed placements. The differences between the placements in OD and FD for certain teams is very striking.

5 2 DROBIAZKO / VANAGAS
2 5 DELOBEL / SCHOENFELDER
10 8 FAIELLA / SCALI
8 11 WING / LOWE
11 9 KERR / KERR
16 12 KHOKHLOVA / NOVITSKI
13 15 FRASER / LUKANIN
12 17 PECHALAT / BOURZAT

 

Joesitz (RIP)

Joined

Jul 11, 2003

• Jun 19, 2006

• #28

Nothing wrong with talking about 2006 Olys and Worlds but the topic is about 2007 Worlds in Tokyo.

Joe

 

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slutskayafan21

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Mar 28, 2005

• Jun 21, 2006

• #29

The changes in placings per dance to dance at the Worlds was a reflection of all the top teams this year, except for Navka/Kostomarov who are far and away the best, are very evenly matched, the point differences in each dance were very small at Worlds remember. So that is not a bad thing, in fact it is exactly what people had been wanting to see more of for years in dance, more changes in order from dance to dance, more unpredictability, more sense of "competition". Now that it happens though, people find it strange, go figure.

 

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chuckm

Record Breaker

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Aug 31, 2003

Country

• Jun 23, 2006

• #30

N/K made sloppy mistakes at Europeans and still won, to the outrage of the audience. No, they are not always head and shoulders above the rest. Often this season (and last, as well) they had some good competitions and some abysmal ones, yet they were consistently scored high. I guess that's the standard bonus for SWR (skating while Russian).

 

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slutskayafan21

Match Penalty

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Mar 28, 2005

• Jun 25, 2006

• #31

At the last two Europeans Navka/Kostomarov have not been head and shoulders the best, but at the most important events, their last 2 Worlds, the last Olympics, and the last 3 GP finals, they were clearly the best and the clear winners. Enough to say they are head and shoulders above the rest in their prime.

 

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AlissaCzisnyFan

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• Aug 18, 2006

• #32

slutskayafan21 said:

I look forward to Lambiel defending his World title, Meissner losing her World title, Pang/Tong defeating the Zhangs for a second straight Worlds, and Belbin/Agosto winning their first World title.

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Kimmie will always have her World Title!
Even if she doesn't defend it, she'll always be World Champion!

 

Mathman

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Jun 21, 2003

• Aug 18, 2006

• #33

AlissaCzisnyFan said:

Kimmie will always have her World Title!
Even if she doesn't defend it, she'll always be World Champion!

Click to expand...

 

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1795

Final Flight

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Joined

Sep 6, 2006

• Sep 6, 2006

• #34

looking forward to Delobel and Schoenfelder ruling ice dancing!

 

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moi

Rinkside

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Joined

Sep 24, 2006

• Oct 13, 2006

• #35

ice dance...missing the canadians already. we've had amazing ice dancers with so much drive and emotion come from canada for so long...i think it's time for the next set of dancers to step up into the spotlight. perhaps there being a new opportunity will inspire more teams to shine. maybe it's time for another country, (other than the ever dominating russians) to take a step up and show us their talent. what makes ice dance interesting to watch is the emotion, footwork, story-telling- and unpredictability. looking foreward to seeing canada's new champions and the world's as well in ice dancing, (maybe they're one and the same? )............love to watch the bulgarians as well...

~missing dubreil and lazon~

 

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mkdream

Rinkside

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Joined

Nov 2, 2006

• Nov 4, 2006

• #36

Hi everyone I'm new to the forum. Just wanted to introduce myself. I've been watching skating since 2001 and I am a huge fan of Michelle Kwan, my Kween, lol. I think she's done but I hope we get to see her at another Nationals, maybe just an exibition, Fields of Gold maybe? Enough of Michelle, here's what I wanna see at Worlds.....

Belbin and Agosto get their first Gold Medal.

Sasha Cohen get the elusive Gold Medal, if not her than Mao Asada.

Miki Ando make the podium, she debuted with such hype and she hasn't lived up to it yet. She's off to a good start for the season.

Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir both medal.

 

Mathman

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Jun 21, 2003

• Nov 4, 2006

• #37

Hi, MKdream, glad to meet ya. Welcome to Golden Skate. Hope you like it here!

Mathman

 

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1795

Final Flight

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Joined

Sep 6, 2006

• Nov 24, 2006

• #38

dance: denkova/staviski injured and delobel/schoenfelder taking the gold
mens:...brian joubert
ladies: yu-na kim
pairs: the young russian team that can do a split quad twist...i forgot their name
(did they die or retire or soemthing...where are they)

 

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lanadd

On the Ice

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Joined

Oct 23, 2006

• Nov 24, 2006

• #39

slutskayafan21 said:

At the last two Europeans Navka/Kostomarov have not been head and shoulders the best, but at the most important events, their last 2 Worlds, the last Olympics, and the last 3 GP finals, they were clearly the best and the clear winners. Enough to say they are head and shoulders above the rest in their prime.

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I do not agree about N/K.As many thinks that they are probably the weakest couple wining gold medals the last years!Their only advantage to the other couples was the outlook and that they were pushed from the judges. Thats the reason they have never been the crowd's favourites, and thats why they were very angry- they win the medal but not the attention!
Even at the last european you could hardly hear an applause from the audience

 

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Gericho2004

Rinkside

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Oct 29, 2006

• Nov 28, 2006

• #40

I agree. Sadly, many Russian teams have struggled professionally following the Olympics. They may have won over the judges, but they often lacked charisma to captivate the audience. Nevertheless, they make excellent coaches!