Worlds: Men's FS | Golden Skate

Worlds: Men's FS

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Nathan Chen.jpg

USA’s Nathan Chen defended his title in the Men’s event at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships on in Saitama, Japan on Saturday night. Two-time Olympic champion Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan moved up from fourth place to take the silver—his sixth world medal, while USA’s Vincent Zhou earned the bronze in his second appearance at this event.

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What were your observations? Favorite routines?
 
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machaco17

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 26, 2018
So happy for Yuzu, however I'm so amazed how Nathan can pull off that kind of performance while balancing his studies.
 

rollerblade

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
I pray for their collective ankles. :pray:

Yuzu couldn't have won even if he didn't bork the 4S in the short. Nathan's BV+GOE is simply too high.
 

esteticlove

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Yuzu had the skate of his life and the crowd exploded. Kudos to Nathan that he managed to keep his nerves after that crowd chanting.
 

Warwick360

Medalist
Joined
Dec 3, 2014
One prime question I have for everyone as I am still awaiting for vids to be uploaded on youtube....have the PCS gap between Yuzuru and Nathan, and then Uno and Zhou diminished so significantly in people's mind (discounting judges' scores). I was truly expecting a bigger gap, especially in the latter's comparison. :unsure:
 

esteticlove

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
One prime question I have for everyone as I am still awaiting for vids to be uploaded on youtube....have the PCS gap between Yuzuru and Nathan, and then Uno and Zhou diminished so significantly in people's mind (discounting judges' scores). I was truly expecting a bigger gap, especially in the latter's comparison. :unsure:

Well, I won't say that Nathan has no artistry. His face expressions are bland but he does show good extensions and skating skills. I also think that at the StepSeq thowards the end of the program he was very dedicated to the choreography. However, Yuzu has also textbook skating skills, difficult transitions AND acting/artistry skill from the beginning until the very end of his free skate, so it is questionable if only 1-2 point differences on PCS is justified.
 

icybear

Medalist
Joined
Mar 18, 2017
Cant tell if this is US nationals or Worlds what with the 94 pcs for Chen and 87 for Zhou. Also the quad sal from Zhou definitely was underrotated
 

1111bm

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
The most touching thing was seeing how incredibly happy Nathan looked in the KnC, both after his SP and today after the FS. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him showing his emotions so openly.

People like to talk so much about overscoring, no?
Even though Yuzu’s jumps understandably didn’t get the best GOE, I felt they were still somewhat overscored. Except for the 4T, there weren’t any good landings, all I saw were buckling legs and no landing positions were held.
And even though I generally love his skating and performance qualities and the fact that he has rich and intricate programs, I feel that he sometimes suffers from eteri’s skaters syndrome. Too much going on in his programs, so he sometimes looks somewhat sloppy and tired, and doesn’t keep up tension in his upper body and limbs throughout his performance. So no, I wasn’t awed by his performance today, although it certainly looked like he was willing himself to be in fighting mode and for his jumps to work.

I also haven’t seen a decent landing on any of Boyang’s jumps today. I thought he was a ‚quadster‘ and his jumps are supposed to be the best in the field, second only to (a healthy in-shape) Yuzu?
Because his overall skating and choreo delivery are certainly done in a sloppy and half-hearted way and are really subpar compared to other skaters, so imo he’s always overscored in PCS.

Shoma just looked so unhappy and defeated during his skate :(.
 

readernick

Medalist
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
Yuzu had the skate of his life and the crowd exploded. Kudos to Nathan that he managed to keep his nerves after that crowd chanting.

It was a wonderful skate for Yuzuru considering his health condition. But, skating well while injured is nothing surprising for Yuzuru. And, he has skated much better before.... to better programs World’s 2017 for instance..2015 GPF ( those were the best men’s skates ever imho) The one who gave the skate of his life was Nathan. He has never had a lp like that before in international competition. He is not my favorite skater but he really deserved this win and he was committed to the choreo.

I am really not a fan of Vincent but he did so well. He is improving his UR problems. He is also trying to improve his SS and performance. I admire his hardworking attitude even if I don’t like his skating.


I was saddened by Shoma and Jason. They are the two skaters whose skating touches my heart. Shoma has had such a bad year but I believe he will come back strong! He is so cute that his sadness hurts me. Jason sp was my favorite performance of this worlds but the lp was a bit flat even outside the pop and less than perfect landing.
I am not a fan of David Wilson. Jason is a choreographer’s dream he can do any choreo .. give him a better program next year, please!

Kolyada’s come back skate made me happy! He is another of my favorites.
 

theharleyquinn

Medalist
Joined
Feb 25, 2014
One prime question I have for everyone as I am still awaiting for vids to be uploaded on youtube....have the PCS gap between Yuzuru and Nathan, and then Uno and Zhou diminished so significantly in people's mind (discounting judges' scores). I was truly expecting a bigger gap, especially in the latter's comparison. :unsure:

I honestly think Yuzu had an underwhelming program this year, and based on the skating on the day, I can see a justification for why his and Nathan's PCS were so close. I know Nathan's PCS incenses many, but that scoring made sense to me.

Shoma's errors cost him the edge unfortunately.
 

Noxchild

Medalist
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Country
Canada
Nathan was simply BRILLIANT. Yuzuru was splendid, gorgeous, radiant, everything you can think of :laugh: He wanted this SO MUCH, and you could tell after from every expression he was silently kicking himself inside. Reactivate kuyashii power next year, ok?!

Sad for so many others who have had wonderful or even mixed seasons but it just didn't work out today. Boyang and Mikhail fought well, but Junhwan :sad21: To go from GPF bronze medallist to 19th!!!!!! place. I blame KSU.

And poor Shoma too. He worked so hard, but despite his successes this season, he's had a lot of uncharacteristic falls and messy errors in competition. Hopefully it's not injury or stress... he looks like he needs a vacation more than anyone.

If Jason had performed a quadless program clean I'm dead sure he could have medalled... but he wanted that 4S, and I'm sure he thought it was a longshot to begin with, which is why his program got so messy when he realized he was actually in reach of the podium, alas. And Nam and Keegan, idk. It's lovely you guys are friends, but stop copying each other's failures!! Argh. Oh well. Git gud, I guess.
 

1111bm

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 31, 2016
German commentator Weiss certainly felt that Nathan deserved his scores, both PCS and TES... pretty sure he doesn't have any interest in 'pushing the US' and he's also known to be very straightforward and candid with his opinion (he is german, after all :laugh:)
 

SNAKSuyun

did it spark joy?
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 23, 2018
Country
China
A great competition! I'm glad Yuzuru got the home crowd one medal, at least. It does feel right that Yuzu would be the one to save them in the end, even if he didn't win, and even if I'm still crying over Kaori and Rika. :dbana:

Nathan definitely deserved the win here - those jumps were awe-inspiring and even more so considering the amount of work and discipline that he must have put in to get himself here in the first place. I did pre-med for a while at an Ivy League school a few years ago and I can say that it wasn't easy. :laugh: The program was well-constructed for him too, in mood if not in transitions and such - it gives him personality, and a grand one at that.

My favorite Yuzu program will always be Hope and Legacy, but I understood the glory of Origin today - it's one of those programs that I really think only Yuzuru can try to skate in the current field. It requires a level of musicality and SS, combined with pure technical prowess, that the other men simply do not have - some of the other more talented SS skaters could probably get through the steps, but then their jumps wouldn't have a similar degree of dramatic impact. I do agree with a lot of posters here and in the Chinese forums that Yuzu should have had a much higher PCS than Nathan, though - there's an overwhelming feeling of "what's the point" RE: all the super intricate and nuanced stuff he does when he's not really getting rewarded for it. I know even kuyashii won't let Yuzuru give up on those things - he's a stubborn artist like that, much like Sui/Han - and I'm glad as an observer of his art, but man I wish the judges would recognize him for all the labor he put into all of that.

Shoma has been growing on me - I'm often critical of his jumps but you can't deny that he really wants to perform and does everything that he can. There's a kind of stubborn energy in him that's not quite the same as Yuzu's but still very endearing. He's still a formidable skater, and I enjoy his skating more than I do Vincent's, probably because I don't get the vibe from Shoma that he takes his artistry for granted. It's a pity that he made his mistakes - I can understand that it's probably difficult to let him medal considering the skate he had. Still, though, I'm fine with giving him 89 PCS (maybe up to 91 or so if he was clean?)

Vincent... ugh... I still can't shake off the feeling that he's that model Asian kid who's just, always that, a model Asian kid. :palmf: I feel like it's an unfair assessment of him but he's just so safe, orthodox and inoffensive that I struggle to really relate to him. Perhaps I just personally love sparks, sincerity, originality, and grace, and he isn't exceptional in any of those. Still, though, fantastic skate for him, and good for him to do well here and get a medal.

I'm glad that Boyang and Misha both came back and did well, although I do think Boyang's SP >> Boyang's FS this year in terms of fit and Misha's PCS is a little bit generous even though I like him as a performer. The Chinese forums have been quick to point out how Boyang's PCS is nearly always scored objectively (no one really thinks he deserves Jason-level PCS) when he skates clean and then plunges when he bombs, so... yeah. He doesn't really get the benefit of the doubt when he bombs like some other inconsistent skaters and that's pretty unfortunate.

I picked up Aymoz and Rizzo as new boys to watch during the SP and I definitely prefer Rizzo's SP over his FS. Aymoz's a gem and I want to see more of him!
 

oatmella

陈巍
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 23, 2014
Yuzu fought and gave everything he had in that skate. A gift for his many, many fans and even more special that he did it in his home country.

Nathan - he did it!!:luv17: Seems that the added challenges this season have made him an even better competitor. His mental strength is incredible!

Congrats to Vincent too - many thought he was crazy when earlier in the season he said he could podium at Worlds - and here we are!
 

Erin9

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
I haven’t had a chance to watch yet, but I’m so happy for Nathan. And impressed. What an incredible job he’s done balancing his education and skating.

Happy for Vincent that he made it!

I’m especially glad for the Japanese crowd that Yuzuru medaled.
 

Fluture

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 26, 2018
https://www.instagram.com/p/BvWe90FnLri/?utm_source=ig_share_sheet&igshid=h0wuj9iap2sx

Well, the reaction from Raf is very telling. What Nathan did was outstanding. I‘ll admit it: I was rooting for Yuzu. I badly wanted him to win. For himself and for the Japanese audience who‘s been so amazing the whole competition and would deserve to hear their National anthem at least once. But there‘s no question that Nathan was the winner today. Gold and silver were the highlight of the day.

Bronze.. not so much. I‘m sorry, I went into this field relatively unbiased but Vincent does nothing for me. Yes, his jumps were pretty good even though some looked short on rotation but otherwise there‘s just nothing there. No program, nothing. It sounds harsh but compared to Nathan and Yuzuru, there was a Worlds difference. Sure, the two were out of everybody‘s league today but let‘s compare him to Shoma who unfortunately didn‘t have a good day. Despite all of this, despite him struggling, I enjoyed the latter much more. His jumps aren‘t that great from a technical standpoint but he‘s an artist. He actually seems to care about the other part of figure skating. I know he probably made too many mistakes to take the bronze and I‘m sure Vincent is a nice guy but... yeah...

Me rooting for Jason to medal was probably a bad idea because it might have jinxed him. Poor guy, skating last must have been so hard. Glad the audience supported him and that he still enjoyed the experience and was smiling. He‘s a beautiful skater, lots of emotions and wonderful skating skills... just, those jumps. I hope he‘ll get the quad one day but even besides that fall, there were just too many mistakes in there. But lol at Jason waiting VERY LONG for his scores and Tracy being like: “Shall we make something up then?“ :laugh:

I‘m also disappointed for Jun. This season was hard for him. What on earth is his federation doing. Like, seriously, nobody can tell me that there’s anybody who really thinks those endless domestic competitions do any good. Especially when he‘s injured and having boot problems. He was amazing in the early season but they really ruined his chances at preparing for Worlds and 4CC properly. I can‘t deny that I‘m angry. I hope he gets some good rest and his fed realizes that they‘re potentially harming their skaters by doing this! But I doubt they will...

Also very happy for Misha Kolyada, who I couldn‘t watch but heard he had a good skate.

Wanted to say something else about Yuzu because it really stood out for me: When he skates I get goosebumps right from the first notes of the program. He was the only skater that did this today. He portrays such an intensity with every move, I could not take my eyes off him even for one second. With other skaters I often find myself glancing at the technical box, observing GOE and such but I never did that with him. And today wasn‘t even his best skate ever! He might not have won today but I think no one can deny that he’s truly legendary. The landing on the 4S was beyond ridiculous and I worried his knee and ankle might snap any second. Still, he gave it his everything and the reaction of the audience was spot on. Yes, I‘ll admit, as much as I admire Nathan, I am very sad it wasn‘t enough for the win today.

But Nathan IS a worthy winner. How he managed to do THAT while simultaneously studying at elite university is unbelievable.

Conclusion of the event: Yuzuru and Nathan made me question whether they were even human, Jun broke my heart and the fact that Jason got lower PCS than Vincent made me want to throw something at the judges‘ heads and buy them some glasses. All of them.
 
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