Random Figure Skating Questions | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Random Figure Skating Questions

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avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Are Gracie Gold and Max Aaron still dating? (disclaimer: I am not asking for or trying to encourage rumors/speculation, I just am wondering if anyone knows... if not that is okay too).

Don't know the answer. But since the spring or summer of last year, they have not made any public references to being a couple, AFAIK.
 

CaroLiza_fan

EZETTIE LATUASV IVAKMHA
Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Country
Northern-Ireland
Thanks CaroLiza_fan!
Is there a thread / folder where all the links are listed, and where I'd know to search for any spreadsheet link in the future?
You guys posted info like "pairs results have now been added to the spreadsheet", without the links having been cited in the specific prediction thread or the prediction game rules thread - at least I wasn't able to find any link. :p I got the link to the Nationals spreadsheet via PM.

Nope. My post above is the only location where all the the spreadsheet links are located in one place.

The spreadsheet links for each Game are in the first post of main thread for that Game.

It used to be easy to find things, as I made a point of creating all the threads for each Game in the same place.

Unfortunately, during the re-organisation of the forum a few weeks ago, the threads for the Nationals game got dispersed. The Predictions threads for those Championships with their own sub-forum got moved to the relevant sub-forum. The Predictions threads for those Championships without their own sub-forum, got moved to the "Other Nationals" sub-forum.

Meanwhile, the main thread for the Nationals Game was split in two, with my first post (which was the Rules) being moved to "The Edge" (???!!!), and the rest of the thread remaining in the Nationals forum.

I posted a complaint in the feedback sub-forum, but nobody ever replied or did anything about it.

It is really hard to find everything to do with the Nationals Game now. And I am really worried that the same will happen to the ISU Game threads...

CaroLiza_fan
 

loopy

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Is this thread for any stupid questions? Or just Olympic based ones? I am new and still trying to feel it out. I was wondering how most people transported their ice skates to the rink, which I feel is such a dumb question :p I before just used a bag, but was wondering if that was the best way to transport them since they get squished together and rub against each other. If this is the wrong thread to ask, by all means, let me know ^_^

Most high level skaters use a strong backpack. They skates might rub or they put them individually in a bag in the backpack. Some also use a transpack backpack. Zuca's tend to work well for kids but not adult sized feet and most zuca's are not able to be considered carry on luggage. A backpack allows them to carry their skates on a plane and not have them checked in luggage.
 

KwanIsALegend

Fly On
Medalist
Joined
Feb 2, 2011
I am watching old Worlds vids from 2003 and earlier and one thing I never understood is ...the qualifying round?? What was the point of it? I would think if a skater was sent to worlds by their country that that would automatically qualify them for the competition.
Just curious, you did say this thread was for stupid questions. :)
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Yes.

The idea was to get no more than 24 skaters in the freeskate, and no more than 30 in the short program.

That was especially important under 6.0 when judges were directly comparing each skater to every other skater in the competition and had to use two numbers per skater to keep track of what order they'd put them in.

With IJS judges can handle more skaters in the same event because they're scoring according to standards, not direct comparisons.

But time is still an issue. After 5 hours of judging the same event even with bathroom and snack breaks during the resurfaces, judges will get mentally fatigued and it will be harder to stay consistent in the use of scores.
 

shah

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Ok, a stupid question that bothered me for a while: does anyone know who performs that particular arrangement of Schubert's "Ave Maria" Carolina Kostner skates to this season? I remember the same version was used by Totmianina/Marinin and Caroline Zhang. It sounds very Disney-like :).
 

malif

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 22, 2014
3. Also on the ABC coverage, they spelled Elena's name Yelena. Does someone who is fluent in Russian know which is correct??

I am from Russia. It does not matter how they spell this name, both possibilities are allowed. The point is how to pronounce it.
It should be the same first sound as in "yesterday".

The same thing with Lipnitskaya's first name. When pronounced, the first sound should be as in "universe".

In the documents used by ISU they probably take spelling from ID's (passports for Russians). And the spelling in IDs changed at list
tree times during last 20 years...
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
dumb question but what thread or where can I find the team rosters which I believe have been announced by now. 1:12 EST
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
dumb question but what thread or where can I find the team rosters which I believe have been announced by now. 1:12 EST

In the Official results page thread, AlexRus posted the links to the official rosters for team Men's SP and team Pairs SP.

Question 2:
Why do most pairs and ice dance couples not perform their lifts during practices at skating competitions?

I'm no expert, but my (two-part) answer would be:

- I think the premise of your question is false. Some pairs and dancers do perform some of their lifts during practices at competitions, AFAIK.

- I would add that some singles skaters do not perform all of their jumps in practices at competitions. No different, IMO, than pairs and dancers not practicing every single element.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
Alrighty, I've got the ultimate stupid question. Do the skaters (or other athletes) choose their own room mates for their time in the village, or is this an assigned thing?
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Alrighty, I've got the ultimate stupid question. Do the skaters (or other athletes) choose their own room mates for their time in the village, or is this an assigned thing?

Good question, about which I too have wondered.
I imagine that the answer varies from country to country and from athlete to athlete, but a few anecdotal memories from Vancouver indicate that at least some do choose their own roommates:

- At the time of the Vancouver Games, Charlie White and Evan Bates were roommates at home in Michigan (along with Alex Shibutani and another skater).
White and Bates were roommates also in Vancouver. Doubt that was a coincidence of assignment by USFS ... assume that they chose each other.
[BTW, very cool that the three former roommates in Michigan -- White, Bates, Shib -- are the three male ice dancers for Team USA in Sochi.]

- Tanith Belbin and Johnny Weir were (platonic, presumably ;)) roommates in Vancouver. Based on comments that they made at the time, I'm sure that they chose each other.

- In Vancouver, Patrick Chan shared a bedroom with Bryce Davison, and they shared a suite with Scott Moir and V. Chipeur (sp?).
In Patrick's YouTube video tour of their suite, he made an offhand remark to the effect that he always roomed with Bryce. Again, I assume that was no coincidence.​
 

lilshorty

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 20, 2010
I'm no expert, but my (two-part) answer would be:

- I think the premise of your question is false. Some pairs and dancers do perform some of their lifts during practices at competitions, AFAIK.

- I would add that some singles skaters do not perform all of their jumps in practices at competitions. No different, IMO, than pairs and dancers not practicing every single element.

I appreciate your response. It just seems to me that in most practice vids I've seen of pairs or dance teams, they don't perform their lifts. I've always thought that it was to either avoid injury (which I know is silly, because skaters get injured on other elements all the time) or, to avoid other teams from stealing and using their lifts in their programs, or a combination of both. I seem to recall a story someone posted on a skating forum a long time ago where one ladies skater (I don't recall the name) "copied" another skater's hand movements I believe, and during the competition, the skater being copied skated right after the copier. To the judges, it seemed as though the skater being copied was the copier, but really, it was the other way around if that makes any sense. :laugh:
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
I appreciate your response. It just seems to me that in most practice vids I've seen of pairs or dance teams, they don't perform their lifts. I've always thought that it was to either avoid injury (which I know is silly, because skaters get injured on other elements all the time) or, to avoid other teams from stealing and using their lifts in their programs, or a combination of both. I seem to recall a story someone posted on a skating forum a long time ago where one ladies skater (I don't recall the name) "copied" another skater's hand movements I believe, and during the competition, the skater being copied skated right after the copier. To the judges, it seemed as though the skater being copied was the copier, but really, it was the other way around if that makes any sense. :laugh:

I hope that others who have more knowledge than me (wouldn't take much, LOL) will respond to your question too.

For what they are worth, two more cents from me:
I should have left out pairs (about whom I know little), but I could swear that I have seen dancers practice lifts. :confused2: :think:
And the sequence of events in your example of a copycat issue is clear to me ... but doesn't the same issue (re a certain gesture, for example) exist for all elements and transitions, not just lifts? Plus in this day and age of online video, once a program has been performed at a previous competition, a rival doesn't have to wait until a practice session to "steal" something ... unless a skater is adding new gestures every single time a program is competed.

Am interested to know what others think.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
Good question, about which I too have wondered.
I imagine that the answer varies from country to country and from athlete to athlete, but a few anecdotal memories from Vancouver indicate that at least some do choose their own roommates:

- At the time of the Vancouver Games, Charlie White and Evan Bates were roommates at home in Michigan (along with Alex Shibutani and another skater).
White and Bates also were roommates in Vancouver. Doubt that was a coincidence of assignment by USFS ... assume that they chose each other.
[BTW, very cool that the three former roommates in Michigan -- White, Bates, Shib -- are the three male ice dancers for Team USA in Sochi.]

- Tanith Belbin and Johnny Weir were (platonic, presumably ;)) roommates in Vancouver. Based on comments that they made at the time, I'm sure that they chose each other.

- In Vancouver, Patrick Chan shared a bedroom with Bryce Davison, and a suite with Scott Moir and V. Chipeur (sp?).
In Patrick's YouTube video tour of their suite, he made an offhand remark to the effect that he always roomed with Bryce. Again, I assume that was no coincidence.​

Thanks for the info! I would imagine it's probably best to keep roomies close in age, yet not in direct competition with each other. For example a Meryl/Marissa combo or Gracie/Felecia combo would work out well. Same thing goes for the gents, of course.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Thanks for the info! I would imagine it's probably best to keep roomies close in age, yet not in direct competition with each other. For example a Meryl/Marissa combo or Gracie/Felecia combo would work out well. Same thing goes for the gents, of course.

Again, I hope that others who have insight/information will contribute what they know.

Sheer speculation:
I seem to recall that Ashley and Marissa have roomed together on at least one occasion -- whether by assignment or by choice, I do not know. But they seemed to be a happy duo, according to their chummy tweets and photos at the time referring to themselves as "roomies." So who knows, maybe they are repeating.
Maia and Gracie have called each other "besties" in the past, so maybe they have chosen each other. They have had plenty of previous "buddy" time together touring in Japan and training in Canton, for example -- not to mention whatever competitions they have had in common, plus Champs Camp, etc.

I do think the roommate question is interesting, esp. for someone who has not had a chance for previous bonding with anyone at the same event -- and thus is simply assigned to a roommate. One hopes that all the athletes are basically pleasant human beings and would be reasonably considerate and compatible roommates, but the reality is that some random pairs of people are going to be more harmonious than others.
Would hate for any roommate issues to crop up that could distract an athlete from her/his focus on competing at her/his best -- and from enjoying the entire Olympic experience.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
I just added a few skaters to my twitter (which is normally used to track food trucks, haha!). Seems that Ashley and Marissa are chummy, and Maia posted a pic of her, Felicia and Gracie, all smiles to be reunited.
But I agree, Golden411, a bad roomie situation could really throw someone off, so I hope they are all comfortable!
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
At Vancouver Johnny and tanith picked each other. Johnny got there early and put up some posters, flowers and made the place smell sweet and pretty according to Tanith. I know there were some concerns if Johnny roomed with Evan L as they were snipping at each other.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Hmm I wonder about the pro hockey players do they stay in the "dorms" too or do they spend some of their millions on a luxury hotel - mind you there are security issues.
 
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