2014 Olympics Ladies Free Skate
- Thread starter gsk8
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- Joined
- Sep 12, 2013
I just finished watching and I have to say, I was so anti-Adelina all season, but she DESERVED to win tonight. She skated with the highest technical difficulty and with freedom, abandon, and speed. She should not have been as far ahead as she was, but she was the clear best tonight.
Yu-Na was tight and stiff and just didn't perform with the flair and dynamism that she can. She also did one fewer triple than Adelina and one of her triples looked under-rotated,plus her triples were not as high as they usually are. The program just didn't sing. and it isn't a great program in and of itself.
Carolina was beautiful but skated with watered-down technical content- it was almost like she took herself out of the running for gold by foregoing a triple triple.
The only PLACEMENTs I thought were wrong were:
1) placing Akiko over Polina Edmunds. Akiko is one of my favorite skaters but she was off tonight- several errors, a little slower and less sparkly than usual. I thought Polina performed with more lyricism and intensity than at US Nationals and apart from the one fall, she hit all the jumps in gorgeous fashion.
2) Mao should have WON the free skate. I would have given her the highest score. How Adelina beat Mao is what I don't understand. I thought Mao was spectacular.
Let me also say that going into the Olympics my dream podium was Mao, Yu-Na, Carolina. So I am really not at all biased for the Russians; in fact, if anything, I was biased against them. and I'm American.
Yu-Na was tight and stiff and just didn't perform with the flair and dynamism that she can. She also did one fewer triple than Adelina and one of her triples looked under-rotated,plus her triples were not as high as they usually are. The program just didn't sing. and it isn't a great program in and of itself.
Carolina was beautiful but skated with watered-down technical content- it was almost like she took herself out of the running for gold by foregoing a triple triple.
The only PLACEMENTs I thought were wrong were:
1) placing Akiko over Polina Edmunds. Akiko is one of my favorite skaters but she was off tonight- several errors, a little slower and less sparkly than usual. I thought Polina performed with more lyricism and intensity than at US Nationals and apart from the one fall, she hit all the jumps in gorgeous fashion.
2) Mao should have WON the free skate. I would have given her the highest score. How Adelina beat Mao is what I don't understand. I thought Mao was spectacular.
Let me also say that going into the Olympics my dream podium was Mao, Yu-Na, Carolina. So I am really not at all biased for the Russians; in fact, if anything, I was biased against them. and I'm American.
No, it doesn't help, cause it makes no sense. How do you qualify Kostner as a better jumper than Sotnikova. It literally makes no sense - at all. I don't think anyone else on this board has said anything as dumb as that...
Jumps: Height, Distance, Air Position, Speed in/out of them, Landing Position/Extension, Transitions In/Out of them
That's about all there is to jumping.
Kostner is fast, but she telegraphs.
Some of her jumps have very nice landing positions and extension.
But Sotnikova craps all over her when it comes to jumping. It really isn't that much of a contest. That is an open and shut case as far as pretty much anyone is concerned. Again, I think this is the first time I've ever seen Kostner positioned as a superior technician to Sotnikova, especially given she's about as inconsistent as Sotnikova has ever been...
Yuna Kim is a good Toe Jumper. Her Edge jumps are clearly not on Sotnikova's level, and she doesn't have a Triple Loop. And people using the back injury as an excuse... Even before the injuries Yuna could barely land a Loop in competition. She stopped doing them because she could barely muster one in addition to the injury, not simply because of the injury. I have, however, seen her land them in practices...
Gracie Gold and Miete is the closest thing in the field to Sotnikova in terms of jumping ability in this field, and both of them had major errors and in the case of Gold she has her own built-in deductions on the flip. Both Gold and Miete tend to telegraph and do not do many transitions into their jumps.
Doing transitions into and out of jumps is a GOE bullet, BTW. Chroreographing the landing of a jump counts as a transition, which is a GOE bullet. Exceptional height in a jump is also a GOE bullet. A lot of Sotnikova's jumps, just by virtue of their qualities, have 2-3 GOE bullets built into them.
The only difference between Sotnikova before and here is that before the judges were holding them down Polina Edmunds style (look at Edmunds' protocol, the GOEs are almost criminally low) and here the judges did not push that penalty onto her. That is common with newer skaters, which is why it was almost impossible for Nagasu to medal in Vancouver despite outskating some top contenders in the FS.
The reason people were so taken back by Lipnitskaya is because typically it takes years for a skater to start getting the scores they deserve, but the judges seem to have fast tracked her. Remember Sasha Cohen's marks when she debut as a Senior? She was getting high 4s/Low 5s for no reason other than the fact that she was perceived as a "Young/Junior" skater.
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2013
It's not funny. Adelina was seriously gifted a Gold medal, and if you can't recognize that, then I feel bad for you.
I believe one wasn't a triple. Not according to the technical panel.
Ashley is disgruntled with these Olympics due to the fact that she didn't medal. Do you think that she would give a dam about the scoring if she had reached the podium. For once I give Gracie credit when she said that she is pleased with the Olympics and didn't have any problems with it.
Mao also got two underrotations and an edge call.
Mao scored almost 4 points higher than Yuna in TES. She was well-rewarded for the jumps she did in that FS.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2014
Ummm. She did medal. She has a Bronze from the team event.
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2009
The stupid tech panel got it wrong. Plain wrong. Mao did eight triples. One was a minimal flutz.
- Joined
- Sep 12, 2013
Agreed- THAT is where the scoring was wrong. Mao should have won the free skate, with Adelina 2nd and Yu-Na 3rd
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2011
I don't think Adelina should have won but I do not think it is her fault. That is ridiculous, if you are going to get mad get mad at the right people.
It is the same as being mad at Ashley because of the decision the USFSA made.
It's just dumb.
It is the same as being mad at Ashley because of the decision the USFSA made.
It's just dumb.
I thought it was wonderfully performed and refreshingly exciting compared to the men's bellyflop, but the judging is such a shame. Here's the thing. If Adelina got 144 it'd STILL be a joke and travesty. Her free skate was not as artistically strong as Kim, Carolina and Mao and she bobbled. That means 4th best free skate, period! She deserved the bronze considering her strong short and Mao's performance there. So for Adelina to not only get as high a score as them but 5-7 points ahead of them, is beyond the point of believability. It's a big fat joke.
Kim and Carolina were at least 5 points better than anyone else this competition, when taken as a whole. Adelina's short was as good and Mao's long. But the difference is Kim and Carolina were aces both programs. That this competition ended in any other way than Kim and Carolina 1 and 2 in some order is a travesty that's a black mark on the entire sport
Kim and Carolina were at least 5 points better than anyone else this competition, when taken as a whole. Adelina's short was as good and Mao's long. But the difference is Kim and Carolina were aces both programs. That this competition ended in any other way than Kim and Carolina 1 and 2 in some order is a travesty that's a black mark on the entire sport
All I can say is Yuna must have nerves of steel. Damn. All that pressure and she turns in 4 perfect performances in two consecutive olympics. Talk about mental toughness. How many gold medal female figure skaters have returned to 2nd olympics? (I exclude the time when all the professionals returned when they were allowed to) Katarina I know but other than that, I do not know of any others, but I only remember recent times. I loved her reaction when she saw her scores, she knew, but she was ok, and she simply looked lovely. She is a true champion. Congrats to Yuna and to the female skaters who showed the men how it is done!
If Gracie didn't have those tight landings in the SP and gotten all her levels, she would have scored in the 72-73 range and without the 3F fall in the FS she was on track for a 140+ score. The judges would likely have given her a medal with 2 clean skates, considering how scratchy Kostner's FS was... There was lots of room in the TES/GOEs for Gracie to sneak in there to get that bronze.
No one is complaining about the fact that Gracie scored 7 points higher for a program with a fall than she did with a scratchy but clean performance in the Team Competition. No one is complaining that Kostner was virtually tied with Asada for a scratchy performance with lackluster spins and some scary jump landings. They're only crying about Adelina for beating their favorites.
I told you guys that Adelina was a Gold medal threat. You all were too busy calling Julia names ("the Gumby" etc.) to watch the training videos where she was getting it done.
I always pictures Sotnikova as one of those skaters who trains terribly, but she seemed really prepared for these Olympics.
I imagine that if he was still Yuna's coach, he'd be..er...reacting very strongly to the results.
Um, does this sound like someone who is disgruntled to you?
AshWagner2010 12:03pm via Twitter for Android
I am so proud to have had the opportunity to represent #TeamUSA tonight. Thank you. I can go home with my head held high!
She is not saying anything different than what her peers are thinking (just look on the twitter.com/icenetwork/skaters for a taste). She has always been outspoken. I'm not surprised she said something.
No I am saying the judges gutted Yuna's GOE score, and gave Adelina a free pass on components, which is where half the points come from. Yuna's jumps had a higher base values than Adelina's and were executed flawlessly. The entire point of the ISU system is to consider exactly that kind of situation. If a skater does 7 toe loops in a competition, and has clunky form---the skater who performs a triple axel a flip and a lutz with text book execution is supposed to be able to make up the points. The TES is fine---but it isn't supposed to be the basis of the final score. And again, considering the components, and Costner's elegance---it isn't even HALF the score. Again, Adelina was handed the gold medal by sleazy anonymous---formerly suspended---judges.
You misunderstood me, I agree with you, the judging was a joke, Adelina was given a gift. This is why ice dancing needs to go, you know next olympics, it will be russians winning again. At least in figure skating, the judges cannot totally overlook a fall, but in ice dancing, what can you penalize?? Not much.
