2016 Trophée de France Ladies FS

[Lambari]

Look, I'm not even the biggest Evgenia stan but the amount of overanalyzing Evgenia that exists at every competition of hers is just annoying. I don't get it. She obviously looked like any other bummed skater after not being able to produce her best trying to show a slight disappointed smile at the K&C. Everytime a skater starts to dominate in any disciplines there is people who start to describe them as 'spoiled' or 'arrogant' almost as if they can read their minds, but for me this is much more a result of projecting their own feelings and fears into the skaters. I get being afraid of overscoring but I think people would be surprised how much these athletes are much more self reflecting than most posters in this forum even more those that can reach the top because the amount of mental strenght required to deliver consistenly in any sport especially at figure skating is astounding.

Actually, her being disappointed with a subpar performance compared to her standards gives me a positive perception of her character. She strikes me as a skater that is a perfectionist within her current abilities. Any quick look at her social media which is one of the only means in which it's possible to get a glimpe of her personality shows you that she comes of as any bright 16 years old teenager but much more strongwilled, regardless of your feelings about her skating.

So I suggest to cut the overanalyzing of every milisecond that Evgenia is in or even out of the ice.

 

[mary01]

Mao often suffers from her own reluctance to admit how serious her illnesses or injuries are because she doesn't want to be seen to be complaining. You seem to feel justified in taking advantage of her noble quality to attack her integrity and commitment to her performance. Even the announcers are not even mentioning her knee injury even though it was made public over a month ago, which kind of shows a bias against Mao which is consistent with her deflated scores this season. How do you know it wasn't primarily Mao's left knee? Were you out their skating with her injury? The idea that you are saying a three time world champion, four time Grand Prix champion and Olympic silver medalist "gave up" on her performance is insulting and inconsiderate especially since you don't know what she felt and since she had the guts to go out there in the first place, though I wish she would take the time to recover as I have said before. Is PCS merely a factor of how many jumps were landed? Where is that stated in the PCS guidelines?

Some skaters are getting very high PCS scores that are not fast and Mao does not look that fast even when she is skating quite fast because she doesn't make a lot of effort to gain speed through hunching over and doing a lot of overt pumping motions. Fluid efficient speed is more pleasing to many in figure skating because it emphasizes elegance, posture and edging over these over qualities. Mao covered the corners and sides of the rink quite well and the rink was wet and most others got much higher PCS, so yes I think she was underscored in PCS. Besides, speed is just one among many other factors in PCS but has been given a value far out of all proportion to its worth in FIGURE skating because the speed skaters have controlled figure skating for so long, like former ISU president "Speedy" Cinquanta who admitted he knew nothing about figure skating and pushed to get COP through.

I totally agree with everything, I also find it soo obviously biased that the announcers are not mentioning Mao's injury, despite knowing, as to cover her circumstances for those who watch and have no idea why she is struggling, even with all the mistakes I would rather Mao then all the other skaters, because even when in pain and making mistakes artistically and choreographywise her performance is and will always be in a league of it own, I hate Sato for not guiding her right, and stopping her from competing when she is injured, just goes to show he is unqualified to be her coach!

 

[TheCzar]

Look, I'm not even the biggest Evgenia stan but the amount of overanalyzing Evgenia that exists at every competition of hers is just annoying. I don't get it. She obviously looked like any other bummed skater after not being able to produce her best trying to show a slight disappointed smile at the K&C. Everytime a skater starts to dominate in any disciplines there is people who start to describe them as 'spoiled' or 'arrogant' almost as if they can read their minds, but for me this is much more a result of projecting their own feelings and fears into the skaters. I get being afraid of overscoring but I think people would be surprised how much these athletes are much more self reflecting than most posters in this forum even more those that can reach the top because the amount of mental strenght required to deliver consistenly in any sport especially at figure skating is astounding.

Actually, her being disappointed with a subpar performance compared to her standards gives me a positive perception of her character. She strikes me as a skater that is a perfectionist within her current abilities. Any quick look at her social media which is one of the only means in which it's possible to get a glimpe of her personality shows you that she comes of as any bright 16 years old teenager but much more strongwilled, regardless of your feelings about her skating.

So I suggest to cut the overanalyzing of every milisecond that Evgenia is in or even out of the ice.

Yes, but that would be coddling her. She's not a junior anymore, although she still skates like one, and since this is senior level skating- the critiques will only get harsher from here on out. There will always be alot of pressure on 16 year olds, just look at Julia. Which is why I agree with Arutunian when he said at TSL that the ages for senior eligibility should be raised to something like 18. However, since she is currently the darling of the judges and can do no wrong, she probably doesn't even give a flying f**k on the so-called 'over-analyzers'.

It's not just Med. Kim and Asada always had over analysers. Likewise with Patrick, Hanyu, Kostner, Wagner and most recently, Gold, etc. It's a mark of acceptance in the top crop of competitive skaters.

As for the original post- she did look slightly conceited. One fall = APOCALYPSE. BIG. DEAL. She's lucky puberty hasn't eaten her alive or fell five times. Otherwise, enough with the false modesty, at whatever age.

 

[andromache]

I have noticed that too. I hope she stays grounded.

When the marks come up without a personal best score she looks grumpy - though she is still ahead of anyone else. I did not like her reaction after the freeskate either. It was her first fall in 2016 (I think?) and she seemed like she pulled a Leonova or Gracie. I don't know if that is confidence or borderline arrogance already.

Why does it have to be confidence or arrogance?? What about experiencing self-disappointment because she did not perform up to her own standards and wants to do better next time? Why should she look very happy after a performance of she does not feel she skated her best? She doesn't owe it to anyone to look happy if she is not.

I am sure she does not expect a WR every time she skates, and I think people are just picking on her and trying to imply something negative about her character just because they're tired of seeing her win. She's a young woman with a ton of pressure on her to be perfect, and the number of people trying to find reasons that she could be a bad person says more about their character than about Evgenia's.

Say what you want about her skating; there's plenty to criticize because no skater is perfect. Commenting on her character when you do not know her personally and/or there is nothing obvious she has said or done wrong is just nitpicky and bitter.

 

[Lambari]

Yes, but that would be coddling her. She's not a junior anymore, although she still skates like one, and since this is senior level skating- the critiques will only get harsher from here on out. There will always be alot of pressure on 16 year olds, just look at Julia. Which is why I agree with Arutunian when he said at TSL that the ages for senior eligibility should be raised to something like 18. However, since she is currently the darling of the judges and can do no wrong, she probably doesn't even give a flying f**k on the so-called 'over-analyzers'.

It's not just Med. Kim and Asada always had over analysers. Likewise with Patrick, Hanyu, Kostner, Wagner and most recently, Gold, etc. It's a mark of acceptance in the top crop of competitive skaters.

As for the original post- she did look slightly conceited. One fall = APOCALYPSE. BIG. DEAL. She's lucky puberty hasn't eaten her alive or fell five times. Otherwise, enough with the false modesty, at whatever age.

I'm sorry if in my view giving a skater constructive criticism instead of formulating personal attacks to the personallity of someone you only know through a screen in a provocative writing isn't "coddling" this person. I give zero importance to whether the particular skater is 16 or 26 years old.

Yes, the second highlighted statement is true. And this kind of behaviour that Chan for example received for years can take a toll in some skaters mentality or else we wouldn't be seeing Gracie Gold giving the type of statements she gave for the media last season for example. Just watch this interview and you'll see, especially the last sentence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E45a_9_yGfA

It's up to the skater if he/she will let these comments affect them, but as I've said those that can reach the top usually have the capacity to don't give much credibility to it and keep doing their job, even if, giving that they're human, it indeed affects them in some way or another. I see this currently in Hanyu and Medvedeva; and through many years in Yuna and especially in Mao Asada who wouldn't be doing a return if she wasn't sure that she could endure the consequences of her comeback not going quite the way she expected. Their thick skin though doesn't make this behaviour any less uncalled for.

 

[Tolstoj]

It's interesting to see that both Evgenia, Maria and Wakaba were the top skaters in juniors few years ago.

At that time Serafima also was on par with these three ladies, and now...

 

[skatefan22]

I totally agree with everything, I also find it soo obviously biased that the announcers are not mentioning Mao's injury, despite knowing, as to cover her circumstances for those who watch and have no idea why she is struggling, even with all the mistakes I would rather Mao then all the other skaters, because even when in pain and making mistakes artistically and choreographywise her performance is and will always be in a league of it own, I hate Sato for not guiding her right, and stopping her from competing when she is injured, just goes to show he is unqualified to be her coach!

I think Sato is doing his best already. Mao said after COR she would do 3A, 3F3LO, 3LTZ in TEB. It was Sato who managed to persuade her to tone down her plan. Imagine what would happen if she went for that ambitious layout...

 

[mary01]

I think Sato is doing his best already. Mao said after COR she would do 3A, 3F3LO, 3LTZ in TEB. It was Sato who managed to persuade her to tone down her plan. Imagine what would happen if she went for that ambitious layout...

He should have seen during her practice, that she was in pain and not able to compete, this is not the first time he showed as a coach that he is unqualified, he also can't support her mentally either, he may be a good coach for some skaters but not for Mao, I dearly hope she finds another coach soon after she heals, and that the JSF will persuade her to do soo!

 

[solani]

I totally agree with everything, I also find it soo obviously biased that the announcers are not mentioning Mao's injury, despite knowing, as to cover her circumstances for those who watch and have no idea why she is struggling, even with all the mistakes I would rather Mao then all the other skaters, because even when in pain and making mistakes artistically and choreographywise her performance is and will always be in a league of it own, I hate Sato for not guiding her right, and stopping her from competing when she is injured, just goes to show he is unqualified to be her coach!

I think the commentators might not realize that the injury isn't fully healed yet, because who would compete in a not very important competition injured? What Mao does just doesn't make any sense. And I agree, her coach should have told her not to compete, she had no chance to go to the GPF in that physical condition. It's not good for her image and it's not good for her fans either, seeing her like that is devastating.

 

[acronycal0730]

Just find that Evgenia's lands her 2A ON water puddle :eekn: thumbs up to this, definitely no easy thing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8sAhd498wY&t=195s

Hope there will not be same ice problem in GPF, could be disastrous if something goes wrong.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Maybe instead of inflation we should have Goldflation.

And while I'm on this topic, we should also have inflation for Nathan's ridiculously high PCS as of late, regardless of his empty programs.

Nope sorry. I TOTALLY disagree with the Nathan Chen beeyutchery. For one thing, I doubt Patrick himself would approve of someone kvetching about his training mate. Just saying.

 

[Violet Bliss]

Gabby and Evgenia (and Takahito and Javier) fell roughly on the same spot but SoYoun fell on the other side of the rink

The rink was visibly watery with the huge puddle at one corner being the most noticeable. It was very poor ice condition affecting overall skating and the risky jumps in particular.

 

[moriel]

I would like to point out that her frustration is not necessarely arrogance.
It looks a lot like a normal reaction of a perfectionist to doing something 95% and not 100%. In a perfectionist's head, 100% is percieved as norm, as what he/she is supposed to do, and 95% is percieved as "i made mistakes and lost 5%".
It may be 95%, 99% or 99.9%, a gold medal, best score, WR, but its still percieved a a bad result.

 

[moriel]

That's pretty stupid because the only people that will see that punishment are the ones who are out there cleaning the ice for the next competitor. They should instead give them a milkshake or something

I'm alright with it on quads but just because the judges are incompetent and unable to score PCS fairly doesn't really make this sonething I support. It's clearly intended to prevent people from "quad fail" spamming us for points but I bet more often than not we will see it for skaters who are already in tears. :handw:

I wish they would do a fall deduction on jumps as a % of BV. Something like 25-30%. And leave the -1.0 for everything else (like randomly falling on steps or spin or whatever).

 

[silverfoxes]

So I suggest to cut the overanalyzing of every milisecond that Evgenia is in or even out of the ice.

It's clear that no matter what she does it's going to be turned into a negative by certain people here. How dare she wear gloves, how dare she be expressive, how boring is it that she can be so consistent! The expression "Look at that $@!&# eating crackers" comes to mind. I take solace in the fact that Evgenia's career is only just beginning, and barring injury she will be around to annoy and irritate people for many more years to come. And the criticism rolls off her like water off a duck's back - one reason why she will continue to thrive. Not everyone is so mentally strong.

 

[koheikun90]

Is it just me or are the Korean ladies always the best dressed as a unit?

I was just in Korea and I can honestly say that dressing nice is part of their culture. But yes the Korean skaters are always stunning, especially So Youn.

 

[chuckm]

So Youn may not have the most difficult jumps, but she is a classy and elegant skater, and I love what she does on the ice. And to top it all off, she has the most stunningly beautiful face.

 

[daphenaxa]

The rink was visibly watery with the huge puddle at one corner being the most noticeable. It was very poor ice condition affecting overall skating and the risky jumps in particular.

I dont necesarily disagree with you about the ice condition in general ( i dont think it was as bad as WC tho) but i was there and wanted to point out she didnt fall at the same spot where u say the puddle was

 

[Violet Bliss]

I dont necesarily disagree with you about the ice condition in general ( i dont think it was as bad as WC tho) but i was there and wanted to point out she didnt fall at the same spot where u say the puddle was

I'm not sure exactly whom you're referring to but as I already opined, the overall bad condition adversely affected overall skating. The ice could be seen to be watery with many little puddles even on video. When a skater can't skate freely and confidently, bad jumps don't have to happen at only the obviously worst spot.

 

[daphenaxa]

I'm not sure exactly whom you're referring to but as I already opined, the overall bad condition adversely affected overall skating. The ice could be seen to be watery with many little puddles even on video. When a skater can't skate freely and confidently, bad jumps don't have to happen at only the obviously worst spot.

my original reply was to a message by randomfan who said So Youn 3Lz fall happened at the same place Evgenia's 3lz fall and Gabby 3T fall happened. And I pointed out that Gabby and Evgenia's falls did happen roughly at the same spot but So Youn's fall was actually not at the same spot but on the other side of the rink.
I repeat that I don't disagree with you on the bad condition of the ice and that it impacted the skaters.