- Joined
- Mar 5, 2014
It is a self-fulfilling prophecy that fits the needs of those favored by the tech crew and judges and leads to unjust scoring. The tech crew calls harsh and or bogus urs and edge calls one one skater like Mao and doesn't even look at other skaters even if they have huge pre-rotation with less rotation (only looking at the landing), and ignores obvious edge violations, significant hooks in the ice or large spray on landings which I have all seen overlooked, and then by singling out skaters like Mao, it is erroneously rationalized through the prejudice of reputational scoring to continue the discriminatory practice in perpetuity and give others a free pass or at least a big discount on their tech calls.
I think there are others unchosen by the tech crew, but Mao is historically a big threat to podium and win and has some of the biggest elements, so I think she often gets the harshest treatment in major championships as the following harsh and for me bogus urs calls showed: Worlds 2010 SP and the second LP triple axel / double toe urs , 4CC's 2012 LP triple axel ur (in the US), Grand Prix Final SP 2013 triple axel ur, the Sochi LP 2014 3F / 3L and 3T urs, Worlds 2014 LP 3A and 3F / 3L urs which originally had excellent GOE, the double ur call on the 3F / 3L in the Grand Prix Final SP 2015 (the 3F should be called good), Worlds 2016 LP (also in the US) the triple axel ur was bogus as many said with an early take off of less than 180 degrees and the take of point on the triple toe at less than 180 degrees of pre-rotation also indicates good rotation overall as others have said because with the landing it was actually a little more than 2 1/4 of rotations, more than some of those who had their triple toes counted good with excessive pre-rotation. Only looking at the landing of a jump without analyzing the take off point does not make sense because there is no way of knowing if the skater rotated 2 1/4 rotations. I honestly don't know about the 3F / 3L because her skate turned so quickly on landing. But her 2 lutz edge in the Worlds 2016 LP was also criticized on this forum, which I agree was unjust, especially considering the lenient calls given to others who should have received edge calls. Many of these calls were widely criticized by posters on videos, forums, by eurosprot commentators, while even contradicting the high GOE originally given by the judges.
The ur call on the backend 3F / 3L in the Cup of China LP was also very harsh in my opinion considering the nature of the jump and lack of excessive pre-rotation for such a challenging backend combo. It's as if this beautiful and unique and highly challenging jump combo has been extinguished from women's skating. I am so impressed that Mao continues to challenge this element to add unique beauty to her performances in spite of the fact that erroneously she almost never gets credit for it. Besides, draconian deductions of 30 and 40 percent overall for minute urs that very few can even see in real time (or that are argued over in slow motion replay) or that often don't even exist is ridiculous to me and seriously undermines the beauty and deceptive power of Mao's fluidity, erect posture, height, distance and symmetrical air position.
If even half of these jumps mentioned above had been counted clean Mao would not be considered to be a skater who urs that often in these competitions. That is an example of how unjust reputational scoring truly is, especially when others have reputations that allow them to receive reputational free passes and tech call "discounts." I think it probably works on Mao's and anyone else's nerves to be disfavored with unjust reputational ur calls and gives an advantage to the one treated leniently that goes beyond the draconian deductions themselves because it places extra pressure on those who have to endure the comparatively unjust calls repeatedly.
My eyes have seen many bogus and double standard calls by analyzing slow motion replay and I didn't believe it until I started looking closely. And this doesn't even consider PCS deflation. The fact that Mao has the most expansive rink coverage and jump placement, especially near the boards, shows that she has superior skating skills and that she must have good speed to cover that much of the rink so easily with little obtrusive hunching or pumping and such erect posture. And as for artistry, well, her huge view counts on youtube for the videos that haven't been removed (as her most viewed one in the Sochi LP was by the IOC) attest to her compelling artistry, with Madame Butterfly at Worlds being a prime example. 7th place for the most viewed freeskate does indicate a serious contradiction in valuation to me and many others. So in my opinion, the unjust PCS deflation is just an extension of the unjust tech deflation.
I have to admit I am amazed that Mao continues to skate with this degree of obvious unfavoritism, but then again this has been going on for a very long time. I can only assume that the deep satisfaction she gets when her performances measure up to the vision she has in her mind like the Madame Butterfly at Worlds LP along with the great praise she gets from the fans for such performances overshadow the scoring concerns. As Mao said after her Madame Butterfly 2016 LP, though I can't remember the exact words, I am very happy and I skated very well and I really don't care about the scores. I think it is also this idealistic, fighter spirit and commitment to fulfilling her own unique vision that inspires her to continue and endears her to so many fans.
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The possibility will depend on federation politics and on Marin herself. Why should she be on the 2018 Olympics team? Because she has "star quality"? (I'm getting so tired of this so-called quality that apparently brings all the PCS in the house; this is skating, not a beauty pageant). She will have to earn it, just like everyone else.
