- Joined
- Oct 1, 2020
I argue that she should’ve had bronze at worlds, not gold. Alina won that fair and square. Her losses this past season were correct as well. The fact is 2019 Worlds had an absurdly lenient technical panel and those missed calls changed the podium. Figure skating judging is notoriously political and it’s normal to talk about how it benefits some skaters and not others. Tech panels that overlook obvious wrong edges or ignore underrotations exist (and Saitama’s was clearly one of those) as do extra points at nationals for federation favorites.So has Rika ever lost because someone else skated better, or is there always some excuse for her? She sure seems to win alot though. Maybe its just that she isnt perfect and there are other very good skaters out there too?
Commenting on her boot problems isn’t excusing her performance at Worlds; it’s explaining one of the factors that contributed to her struggle. She still put out what she put out and lost the gold fair and sqare. It’s like with Alina’s struggle at Euros: there’s things that contributed to her poor performance but it doesn’t change how she did and that Sofia earned that title.
No one’s claiming Rika is perfect but questioning her Worlds and 2018 Nationals placement is fair game and isn’t meant as a sleight against other skaters.