2018 Olympic Figure Skating Team Event Day 1

[loop9497]

Wow, I’ve never heard of this Tara before. Olympic gold, you say? She must be really quiet and humble about it.

When Shizuka is commentating, they NEVER refer to her gold medal, because everyone knows. Maybe they think folks have forgotten?
Edit: Except at the beginning, when they introduce the announcers, they say "Arakawa Shizuka, Torino Gold Medalist"

Terry is almost always the one to bring it up, though (I get it, it can get annoying but I don't see it as her being a bragger but instead co-workers doting on her). They make more of a deal of speaking on Tara's win, but for gymnastics they always introduced Tim as an Olympic gold medalist and they would call Elfi Schlegal Canadian's best ever. They mention Nastia's gold as well. I think for figure skating since it's been a while since there was a ladies Olympic champion so they like to play up Tara's accomplishment, to remind people that we have had ladies champions even if we aren't currently winning. Yes of course Sarah Hughes was the more recent winner but Tara's the one in the booth. And the ladies event is always used as the centerpiece here in the U.S. so they want that ladies champion I feel.

I'm happy to see Ben Agosto involved with Olympic Ice. I hope he is actually in Pyeongchang and he will get to do the ice dancing commentary. They can sit T&J for that one (or at least make sure to have an expert in the booth with them).

 

[Roo87]

That "as long as" is doing a lot of work for Kaetlyn and Gabby

I mean, I know Osmond messes up her FS all the time, but her SP has been deeeeeece all season (besides for nationals).

 

[Sam-Skwantch]

And *all* of the individual events are held this early. This is garbage and stupid to the skaters - particularly those from countries like USA, Russia (well, Moscow at least), Canada who are adjusting to time zones anyway.

Lol...I think the least we could do is adapt to the local time of the host

 

[Sjs5572]

I think that Satoko is doing SP for Japan

Oops, thanks for correcting my error. Anyhow, based on Satoko's practices, I think Bradie can potentially beat her as well.

 

[kevinVchicago]

Can anybody explain T/M's PCS mark? Sure the elements create a gorgeous and breathtaking impression and their skating skill must be bangin', but otherwise it's like watching Stonehenge do the YMCA dance underscored by Rachmaninoff.

 

[readernick]

Can anybody explain T/M's PCS mark? Sure the elements create a gorgeous and breathtaking impression and their skating skill must be bangin', but otherwise it's like watching Stonehenge do the YMCA dance underscored by Rachmaninoff.

They are a pairs team from Russia. Being from Russia or China, helps a lot in pairs. They do deserve high SS marks. Honestly, this program is so much better than their long. I am fine with all the PCS marks in the SP. (the long is another story)

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Can anybody explain T/M's PCS mark? Sure the elements create a gorgeous and breathtaking impression and their skating skill must be bangin', but otherwise it's like watching Stonehenge do the YMCA dance underscored by Rachmaninoff.

They're from Russia. :agree:

 

[frida80]

I respectfully disagree. I am not a Bradie Fan (horrible programs) but other than her very first practice. She has not fallen on jumps. She has been perfect. (as usual) But, we can see in the short program how she holds up under pressure. Mirai has been conistently under-rotating her triple axels and her triple-triples. Not falling does not equal doing well. UR are often worse than falls. In her runthroughs she has been doing 2T at the ends of her combinations. Not a great sign because Mirai usually does much better in practice than in competition.

Karen has looked terrible. Falling a lot but she is always like that in practice. Sometimes, she manages to do a lot better in competition.

It’s largely irrelevant, which lady competes. USA is looking at a safe bronze, but ladies cannot lose points for them in the final. The dance teams can. For the final, the USA is in a fixed position behind Canada, Russia, and Japan and just before Italy. They can’t really get higher than fourth and no lower than fourth. Dance however is tight. USA is in a safe second, but Russia and Italy are close behind. The Shibutani are consistent. They’re less likely to lose points in the finals.

 

[WeakAnkles]

Depending how Bradie and Shibs do, the U.S. has some interesting decisions to make....

Yes I was thinking the same thing. Interesting is a Holy Understatement of the Year Batman moment. To put it mildly.

 

[tjb]

Can anybody explain T/M's PCS mark? Sure the elements create a gorgeous and breathtaking impression and their skating skill must be bangin', but otherwise it's like watching Stonehenge do the YMCA dance underscored by Rachmaninoff.

i'm curious, what do you think about canadian pair PCS?

 

[VIETgrlTerifa]

Ok, so I rethought my earlier post. It seems like Bradie and Mirai will have similar probabilities of placing 3rd or 4th in the LP (it depends on how Daleman and Sakamoto skate as well) so it's a wash there. So it depends on whether the USFS wants Mirai to get a medal or another ice dance team (and which one?).

 

[mirai4life]

If the U.S. somehow manages to be close to silver medal contention because both Bradie and the Shibs do well, I can see them rethinking using Mirai in the LP and go with Bradie in the LP and thus opening the opportunity to switch ice dance teams and thinking that any one of C/B and H/D have potential place as well as a clean Shibs over B/S and C/L.

i really don't see them doing that...
they would be happy with the Bronze

 

[Bcash]

Nathan's haircut and costume are complete downgrades from earlier in the season. Cannot believe how bad those Vera Wang designs look.

The silky shirts looked chic and light, and with the curls made him look like a young artist. This current look is so heavy and without any statement.

 

[Krunchii]

My impression was that crowd was generally into programs, performances which was great for the atmosphere

I loved listening to their wonder and amazement at the big tricks, most of them are probably new fans but I'm glad they could enjoy figure skating so much, it's heartwarming.

 

[schizoanalyst]

Lol...I think the least we could do is adapt to the local time of the host

Russia, Canada, and Italy appropriately held them in the afternoon and evening. Performance sports much more affected by tiredness, this is even more true for trick-based sports like figure skating or halfpipe or slopestyle. Figure skating is the most affected mostly because you cannot really rely on the same type of adrenaline and rapidity as you can in other trick-based sports.

 

[madison]

Russians should have gone with Aliev in the short. He usually has stamina problems but this is more reflected in the free program.

 

[sweetice]

Let's say that for begin: the pair competition was good to see. Some mistakes for a lot of pairs, but after the men's madness it was refreshing

Then there is my thoughts about Italy:

On this day i was expecting to see Rizzo around sixth-seventh place, and Della Monica-Guarise fight for the fifth, so around 5+6 at max. The 11 i was talking at thread's beginning.
For USA i was thinking about a 9/10 +4, so 13/14.

Chen's mistakes come out very unexpected, open a clear chance of fight for a medal... but pairs results goes really wrong for Italy, the absolutely worst can happen :gaah:

The splendid program of the Knierims, and DM/G mistakes console, even if not that huge, place a lot of pairs in between. The +1, +2 at best, i was hoping over USA become an awful -3.

My hopes for this day were 10/11 for Italy and 13 for USA, at least a -2 for leave the fight open. Thinking that USA can also gain on dance, this 10 vs 14 leave very few chance to make it to the FS with only 1-2 points of difference.
I don't think there some problems for goes to the FS, but without strange results on Day 2 Caro may easily chose to leave the FS to Giada.

Thinking about other nations, Canadians mostly but also Japanese can be happy. Even Israel for Bychenko's performance arty:

 

[Sjs5572]

It’s largely irrelevant, which lady competes. USA is looking at a safe bronze, but ladies cannot lose points for them in the final. The dance teams can. For the final, the USA is in a fixed position behind Canada, Russia, and Japan and just before Italy. They can’t really get higher than fourth and no lower than fourth. Dance however is tight. USA is in a safe second, but Russia and Italy are close behind. The Shibutani are consistent. They’re less likely to lose points in the finals.

I've seen too many competitions with surprising results to think any position is fixed. Gabby can easily miss a few elements in long program, and Kaori no longer has a big PCS advantage over Bradie now that Bradie is US #1. I think Bradie could be as high as #2 in team long. It's much less of a stretch than Bychenko being #2!

 

[readernick]

It’s largely irrelevant, which lady competes. USA is looking at a safe bronze, but ladies cannot lose points for them in the final. The dance teams can. For the final, the USA is in a fixed position behind Canada, Russia, and Japan and just before Italy. They can’t really get higher than fourth and no lower than fourth. Dance however is tight. USA is in a safe second, but Russia and Italy are close behind. The Shibutani are consistent. They’re less likely to lose points in the finals.

They have made major mistakes and been beaten by the other two American teams in the last two competitions in the long. I don't think they are as safe of a bet as you think. In terms of ladies, I would say the field is much more likely to move around because other than Medvedeva none of the other ladies are consistent. I think Katelyn is likely to do well in the short program but Bradie could (due to much high BV) place ahead of Daleman in the long. Carolina Kostner is a beautiful skater (my favorite) but she could falter too. Sakamoto is likely to do well in the long but it is never guarenteed. Having a steady US lady could make a real difference. I think all the US dance teams are likely to be in 2nd place. They all qualified for the Grand Prix Final ahead of the Russian team. They all beat the Italian team in the Grand Prix final. The technical panel is very neutral for the dance event this time and so the Russians and Italians will likely have level programs, as they did at Europeans. The American teams are , generally, much more precise technically. Plus, really the dance teams deserve a medal much more than Karen Chen or Mirai Nagasu. They all top 5 in the world.

 

[Mayumi1990]

T/M needs to skate the free for Russia to secure that 10 points because if they use Z/E they can still be beaten by Canada’s no 2. Pair and the Knierems. Even the italian pairs.