2015-16 Grand Prix Final Ladies Free Skate | Page 38 | Golden Skate

2015-16 Grand Prix Final Ladies Free Skate

NaVi

Medalist
Joined
Oct 30, 2014
I like what I'm seeing in these programs from an entertainment standpoint. A few months ago(and my memory may be completely faulty) I binged watched the top 8 ladies from the 1984-2014 world championships and it just seems that starting in the mid 90'sand gradually up to Sochi the style and temperament between the skaters increasingly narrowed.
 

RABID

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 17, 2013
Sorry but i've to disagree with you.

You don't have to skate a western style program to get those PCS. Medvedeva's programs suits the russian style, and people should appreciate the way it is (there is a story behind the program, elegant movements and lot of drama). The long program is better artistically than Adelina and Carolina's long programs from the Sochi Olympics.

And honestly i'm very happy that finally Figure Skating are rewarding programs not so mainstream: i've seen so many skaters in the past wrongly underscored in the components. (even Mao so many times)

To me Miyahara is more overscored: as BEsp commentators said, her lp music is basically a background for many technical elements and nothing else.

Agreed. In fact I think a lot of people were concerned for the fate of figure skating when the "powers that be" made Sotnikova the "face" of figure skating. So glad Medvedeva won if for no other reason then her style of skating (cohesive and seamless choreography performed with art and athleticism) was rewarded. That is the face of figure skating I want to see more of.
 

Ophelia

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
Huh! What's going on? Better artistically than Carolina? Come on! I strongly and vehemently disagree. And I don't care about how high those PCS is, they change the rules all the times, you can't compare those scores, you cannot even compare them from competition to competition - how should it be possible to compare them over the years?
But there are very few skaters who can compete with Carolina artistically, present and past and the 16 year old Medvedeva isn't one of them (yet? We'll see.).

Did you read the original comment? PROGRAM is artistically better. Not skater is artistically better.

I really do not think it is right for Evegnia to be breaking the WR this season.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Skaters that take time off and than come back rarely come back as good as they were before. Sasha, Chan to name two. I think it is hard to get their bodies back in the training mode.

I think Chan and Mao will definitely and finally retire after this season.


Boitano, Witt, Zayak, Cohen and I guess you could say, Plush never got back to their former glory. Kim is the only exception.
 
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Ophelia

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 6, 2013
I don't think Chan will retire. Asada, idk about Asada. She looked sooooooo good at JO and people were proclaiming she would dominate (per usual ppl here jump the gun). She's been sick so maybe she'll get back in the game at World? She should not be losing to people with half her competitive experience.

Idk how Yuna Kim came back, barely competed, and won Worlds by 20 points. Comparing it to Chan and Asada really puts things in perspective. Is it training? Strategy? Nerves? Technique?
 

Jombi

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 28, 2014
Idk how Yuna Kim came back, barely competed, and won Worlds by 20 points. Comparing it to Chan and Asada really puts things in perspective. Is it training? Strategy? Nerves? Technique?

deleted: wrong quote
 
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VIETgrlTerifa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
To be fair, the level of ladies and mens skating has risen since the previous Olympic cycle. Compare what the 2012 World champion in ladies did to what Tuk has done (and I love Kostner and love her win) and compare the fact that Chan used to be able to fall multiple times and still beat cleaner skates from his competitors. Now the men closed the gap on the skating skills and have extremely high TES coupled with actual programs with musicality and choreography. Also, Kim rocked it at Worlds 2013 and deserves the credit doing the work and having a real and RARE competitive drive to win (something I took for granted back in the Kwan days as I didn't realize how rare that killer instinct was), but she may have messed up a bit had she done the Grand Prix series. Even Yuzuru lost Skate Canada and didn't perform cleanly there.
 

Franklin99

Medalist
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
I think Chan and Mao will definitely and finally retire after this season.


Boitano, Witt, Zayak, Cohen and I guess you could say, Plush never got back to their former glory. Kim is the only exception.


I don't think Chan will retire. Asada, idk about Asada. She looked sooooooo good at JO and people were proclaiming she would dominate (per usual ppl here jump the gun). She's been sick so maybe she'll get back in the game at World? She should not be losing to people with half her competitive experience.

Idk how Yuna Kim came back, barely competed, and won Worlds by 20 points. Comparing it to Chan and Asada really puts things in perspective. Is it training? Strategy? Nerves? Technique?


Mao has the stomach flu, which explains her lack of competitive strength during NHK/GPF. I hope she get some good rest and/or opt out of Nationals if she hasn't fully recovered by then.
 
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gmyers

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Cop pcs has five categories and medvedeva nails them all!! The world can't revolve around what's considered proper skating choreo in US and Canada.
 

VIETgrlTerifa

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Cop pcs has five categories and medvedeva nails them all!! The world can't revolve around what's considered proper skating choreo in US and Canada.

Or the classic standards Russia used to employ...well, considering what Russian ladies used to be like, Medvedeva is a Renaissance.

BTW, I don't think Medvedeva is bad at all, but there are things she can work on (as do all skaters) and I think she has the potential to really be one of the best artistic ladies singles skaters to come out of Russia. She has a real natural way of expressing her music. I think just a bit more maturity is needed to warrant those PCS...but EVERY skater's PCS was overmarked (except Satoko in PE and INT and even Choreography) so that's not too bad.
 
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Amei

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
Mao has the stomach flu, which explains her lack of competitive strength during NHK/GPF. I hope she get some good rest and/or opt out of Nationals if she hasn't fully recovered by then.

If Mao is still dealing with the stomach flu and that is the reason for the GPF performance than she needs to focus on getting healthy(and probably a new doctor) - there is 2 weeks between NHK and GPF
 

Franklin99

Medalist
Joined
Nov 11, 2013
If Mao is still dealing with the stomach flu and that is the reason for the GPF performance than she needs to focus on getting healthy(and probably a new doctor) - there is 2 weeks between NHK and GPF

While it was confirmed she was ill during NHK, there were no words on exactly what illness she had, and if her continuing practices and not enough rest that led to her stomach flu at GPF. But we all know that a common cold without proper care and rest can and will lead to worse like the flu/pneumonia.
 

MaiKatze

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 4, 2012
Yeah, I agree she should have withdrawn. She looked sick. I mean this is a top level sporting event. Focus on getting healthy first. With japanese nationals coming up there is no breathing point. But I still think she can become World Champion this season. She has it in her.

Anyway, on the matter of PCS and artistry and the like, the german eurosport commenters have actually spoken about something that I ask myself,too. Why are the lady skaters scored so differently to the men. I mean, I totally get that Patrick Chan is a fantastic skater and it should reflect in the scores. Shoma Uno lost the FS to Patrick Chan. Like it should be. But for the ladies this gap between tech and PCS is almost non-existant. I don't get that. Call me cynical but I believe that if Patricia Chan had skated against Shomako Uno, Shomako would've won the free. And that's not okay.
 

solani

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 8, 2014
Country
Austria
Did you read the original comment? PROGRAM is artistically better. Not skater is artistically better.
Yes, I read it and I disagree no matter what. It's true that the "Bolero" FS was artistically better when the 3S was right at the end of the program, but the version of the program she used in 2014 was still very very good artistically. And how do you divide between the skater and the program artistically anyway? Good programs reflect what the skater can do artistically, but we are still talking about competitive programs. I really like Medvedeva's FS and she's doing a great job, but she's (still) limited in what she can do artistically. She's improving, her coach and choreographers are giving her challenging programs that she's still able to handle very well, because with those programs she can win competitions. I think that a couple of skaters could handle Medvedeva's FS this season, but there are very very few that could handle Kostner's Bolero.

I don't think Chan will retire. Asada, idk about Asada. She looked sooooooo good at JO and people were proclaiming she would dominate (per usual ppl here jump the gun). She's been sick so maybe she'll get back in the game at World? She should not be losing to people with half her competitive experience.

Idk how Yuna Kim came back, barely competed, and won Worlds by 20 points. Comparing it to Chan and Asada really puts things in perspective. Is it training? Strategy? Nerves? Technique?
Age? And you have to remember that neither Patrick nor Mao are the most reliable competitors. Yuna was able to pull of great performances after bad training sessions and even after bad warm-ups.
I think that Mao and probably Patrick also will do very well at 4CC and at Worlds. This was still "only" GPF. :)
 
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matcha

Medalist
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
Did somebody just use Meryl Streep as a reference? What a pile of crock!!!! One may prefer a good piece of over-rated hammy acting served by Meryl. Yet it does not stop others to be recognised when the recognition is due. Also for every Meryl's Sophie's Choice, there is Stuck on You.

The world is round, people!!!!

Stuck On You is a low key comedy classic! And FYI Streep was playing herself in a cameo role, so at least pick a bad film she was in for more than one scene.
 

artsciboy

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
While it was confirmed she was ill during NHK, there were no words on exactly what illness she had, and if her continuing practices and not enough rest that led to her stomach flu at GPF. But we all know that a common cold without proper care and rest can and will lead to worse like the flu/pneumonia.

Ill or not, Mao (as much as I enjoy and admire her skating) has been a notoriously inconsistent competitor for the majority of her career. Her performances here didn't surprise me, whether she was sick or not. It just comes with the territory of being a Mao fan - one minute she's hitting the 3axel and the 3flip-3loop (albeit underrotated) and then next she's popping jumps or losing in the FS to Rika Hongo! Sigh!
 

rollerblade

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Yeah, like I said of her SP, too much jumping back to back takes away from a beautiful program.
Yuzu's FS is backloaded too. No one complained. :biggrin:

I think Evgenia's FS layout is fine, apart from the lame 'tanos later in the program. Her SP is definitely lopsided-ly backloaded though.
 

gotoschool

Medalist
Joined
Mar 5, 2014
Ill or not, Mao (as much as I enjoy and admire her skating) has been a notoriously inconsistent competitor for the majority of her career. Her performances here didn't surprise me, whether she was sick or not. It just comes with the territory of being a Mao fan - one minute she's hitting the 3axel and the 3flip-3loop (albeit underrotated) and then next she's popping jumps or losing in the FS to Rika Hongo! Sigh!

While admitting that Mao has had consistency issues like most skaters do, though very, very few have ever won Worlds 3 times like Mao, I think the "notoriously inconsistent" comment is a little insensitive and irrelevant to the post you quoted since it primarily addresses her prolonged illness. The flip side: whether a skater is inconsistent or not, I don't think they should be expected to perform great when they are ill.
 
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