2022 Europeans - Men: Thoughts?

[cake]

Lots of happy moments this evening for me:
Veteran Michal Brezina being in the top 10 again. He seemed so lackluster in the GP, but today he delivered a great performance.
Kevin Aymoz getting back on track after injury.
Daniel Grassl getting silver. Can´t wait to see how he will develop. And i`m very happy for Italy getting three spots.
Mark Kondratiuk radiates some special energy.
And my highlight: Deniss Vasiljevs getting rewarded for his great performance this evening and medalling! Although I´m always a bit distracted by the happily wagging ponytail. It doesn´t match the dramatic music, but it makes some interesting spin silhouettes
So right now I´m feeling

 

[apgold]

Does anyone know when Russia plans to announce their teams? I'd give it to Mozalev, since he was a replacement here and was first after the SP. Yes, he popped a 4S and zayaked but otherwise was clean - his first quad toe/triple toe was textbook. Semenenko, OTOH, was just fighting for most landings.

Anyhoo, Deniss really dazzled today - what a great moment for him as well as Stephane. Mark is a chaotic skater but whatever he is doing, is working. He's capitalizing on the promise he showed at last year's Russian team thingy. I'm not a fan of Grassl's Aerosmith program but he did a great job today and looked thrilled at his score. Hard not to smile at the podium today. We don't need a Russian sweep in almost every discipline.

Happy for Kevin doing well as well as Mick Brezina, probably at his last Euros. He didn't do a quad but was good enough to place 5th in the FS. And did Shae-Lynn choreograph that Bryan Adams program? It has all of her 80s artist medley hallmarks.

As for Morisi- he is always amusing to watch and try to figure out what the heck he's jumping and then have Manny, Moe and Jack (my new nickname for Team Tut) greet him in the KnC. It seems like Dudakov is the only one who seems to offer him something.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

I am looking forward to watching Andrei and Zhenya S., just haven't had time yet

Do check out Andrei's short, I think you may like it - especially the final spreadeagle-spin

 

[el henry]

Do check out Andrei's short, I think you may like it - especially the final spreadeagle-spin

Sounds like the way to my heart thanks for the head's up.

 

[icybear]

PCS scoring here is like watching your teacher blatantly give out extra candies to their favourite students. And its so much more obvious here than in the ladies because in the ladies you could at least say they have higher tech, consistency and a big reputation. Here none of the 3 Russians have any international reputation. The guy who finished first got 90pcs for god knows why. The program definetely doesnt look like a 90pcs program and what reputation are they based on. The guy went from 76 pcs in his first ever ISU competition to 90. That is some Adelina s**t right there.

 

[elektra blue]

Did Grassl really do a quad Lutz AND a quad filp AND a quad loop in the LP?

it's not the first time, he's been doing it the whole season.

 

[lariko]

it's not the first time, he's being doing it the whole season.

But he did it so beautifully here! Hope he does the same in the Olympics!

 

[Jontor]

I loooooved this competition. Loved the podium - they were all fantastic!
Feel gutted for Mozalev, but hey that 4S mistake cost him the silver, so what to do.

Europeans is always such a great adrenaline kick of what's to come. I know some people on other sides of the globe don't understand the greatness of Europeans...but I'll tell you. It is the next best thing to Worlds/Olympics!!! And it's huge here!

 

[lariko]

Oh, with all that band-aiding my bleeding heart, I forgot to add how happy I was for Litvintzev! He did super-well, though nobody cares

 

[readernick]

Yes, as others have mentioned, the PCS here made no sense. Scores were too high, but Euros always does this pre-Olympics so that's no surprise. I think the placements would have been pretty similar ( except maybe 5/6) even with more rational judging so it's no big deal. However, outside of that, this was such an improvement in the overall quality of Euros skating. Men's skating at Euros has been a pretty rough watch in recent years and this competition was actually enjoyable. Deniss and Kevin have long been favorites of mine. They did well here, particularly Dennis. That was a wonderful skate. Mozalev is growing on me because his basic skating is very good and he is trying to improve his weaknesses. I love seeing growth. Grassl, Mark, and Sememenko's skating isn't to my taste but I felt that they gave it their all. So, good for them! And, of course, Arlet Levandi is just an absolute gem. I do wish he would use another choreographer though. He could benefit from better posture but Benoit's choreo doesn't require that....

 

[TontoK]

The judging of PCS was... I don't know... I will be banned

I dont know what your opinions might be, so I say this is complete honesty.

You almost certainly will not be banned from this platform for stating an opinion - so long as it's free from profanity and personally offensive attacks.

But you are likely to face dissenting opinion and be called upon to defend your statements.

 

[chuckm]

Not only no Russian sweep, but 3 different flags on the men's podium.

 

[ladyjane]

What a night! Regrettably I couldn't join the 'Men's Free Programme Thread' here on GS (I enjoy taking part in these competition threads) because I just was home too late. But I could watch everything later (just finished watching the medal ceremony) and I'm so glad I did. There was some great sportmanship among the competitors (yes, Kevin especially but he wasn't the only one).

Deniss!!!! That was the skate of the night for me. I think it was the best skate of his life (until now - who knows for the future) and I am so pleased for him it was rewarded with a medal. I was so impressed by all his moves, his skating skills, the wonderful landings of his jumps, and the joy! Truly wonderful. I love it too how Stephane reacted.

Daniel did a 4loop-eu-3Salchow. I have never, ever seen that before. I may have missed it during an earlier competition but I was watching with an open mouth. Wow! Is he the first to do that combination? I also think it's quite funny that he does the three most difficult quads (but I have seen him doing those before) but doesn't go for the 'easier' (haha, as if any quad is easy) ones. And his flexibility in the spins always impresses me. He may not be the best PCS skater, but he still is a joy to watch and that medal was well deserved. Good for team Italy!

I've become a big fan of Mark's since I saw him for the first time last season and this one at Nebelhorn. He just gets better and better. I know he was a bit overscored in the PCS department and his landings weren't as good as those of some others. But he deserved to win. He delivered after putting down a great SP yesterday. I like his style, it's different. He also seems to be a very emotional and sensitive guy in a really good way. And I liked his coach who wanted to share the joy (right after the medal ceremony).

I felt sorry for Andrei Mozalev... he's been doing great this season, not so much in his SP's but especially in his FS, and in this competition he executes the best Short ever, and misses out on the Free. Not that he skated badly, not at all. But others just were better tonight. And of course the music makes me think of Elvis Stojko (yes, I'm old) skating to it. Which isn't a bad thing.

Morisi wasn't 'bad Morisi' tonight - he didn't bomb or anything - but he wasn't at the top of his game. It wasn't a bad skate by any means but still.

Poor Evgeni...when the jumps are lacking there's not much left. He isn't a Deniss Vasiljevs in his other skills. Another guy who didn't bomb, but it wasn't good enough either.

Kevin!!!! I got a bit emotional myself when I saw Kevin. He had the 4th best FS tonight and rightly so. Not perfect, but his style of performing is so unique, and it was back today. Yay!

I was so happy for Michal. He's been having some stamina problems this season, but this FS was superb. He's always attractive to watch with his rather cool style (no classical music for him) and turning out the 5th best FS of the night is just the way to close down your (probably) last appearance at Europeans.

A little shout out to some other skaters: Gabriele kept it together, and next year there will again be three spots for the Italian men, the joy expressed by Nikita Starostin was something to behold (and he skated well if at a lower level perhaps), Valtter (you know, the Finnish Doctor) had a good skate - and he is a skater I really respect, while I must take note of Arlet's fantastic musicality. He's perhaps too young to be sophisticated in his skating but that natural musicality will be a great help to improve in the future. I'm sure he'll get stronger jumps too. He reminds me a little of a younger Donovan Carillo in his skating to the music, although the style is totally different.

Finally, a shout out to the audience. So great for them to be there, as well as their supportive clapping and cheering for all skaters.

 

[Jontor]

Not only no Russian sweep, but 3 different flags on the men's podium.

Eh? If the three Russian men were the best and they were on the podium it would have been just as enjoyable.

 

[chuckm]

Eh? If the three Russian men were the best and they were on the podium it would have been just as enjoyable.

Not for Grassl and Vasiljevs. They outskated Mozalev and Semenenko and deserved their medals.

 

[Flying Feijoa]

Not for Grassl and Vasiljevs. They outskated Mozalev and Semenenko and deserved their medals.

That's why the poster said 'IF the three Russian men were the best'. If Grassl and Vasiljevs were skating for Russia and skated the exact same way they did today, would you wish them off the podium?

 

[ladyjane]

Eh? If the three Russian men were the best and they were on the podium it would have been just as enjoyable.

Yes, of course it would have been. The best skaters should win, but if they're from one country only, it raises questions. Sweeps just are not good for the sport in the long term. I should know. My country has experienced them in another sport (Speed Skating where the Dutch dominate) where it was actually the Russian Federation who questioned it: can this even be an Olympic sport when one country grabs all the medals in quite a few of the disciplines? They were definitely the best at those events (it's not judged, so no discussions there). That wasn't the issue.

I realise this is European's, not the Olympic's. But the same kind of questions could be raised. The issue of corrupt judging will come up as well. Even when that's not the case at all but the skaters in question are just the best. In that sense it's good to see medallists from other countries.

 

[bluemonday]

Too much PCS, Overscoring Russians. Period.

 

[readernick]

Yes, of course it would have been. The best skaters should win, but if they're from one country only, it raises questions. Sweeps just are not good for the sport in the long term. I should know. My country has experienced them in another sport (Speed Skating where the Dutch dominate) where it was actually the Russian Federation who questioned it: can this even be an Olympic sport when one country grabs all the medals in quite a few of the disciplines? They were definitely the best at those events (it's not judged, so no discussions there). That wasn't the issue.

I realise this is European's, not the Olympic's. But the same kind of questions could be raised. The issue of corrupt judging will come up as well. Even when that's not the case at all but the skaters in question are just the best. In that sense it's good to see medallists from other countries.

This Percent. If you want a sport to grow, you need multiple countries to be competitive. How are other countries doing at speed skating these days? All those orange clad Dutch do seem to win a lot of medals

 

[ladyjane]

This Percent. If you want a sport to grow, you need multiple countries to be competitive. How are other countries doing at speed skating these days? All those orange clad Dutch do seem to win a lot of medals

They still do, but after the really extreme success at Sochi (where there were a few sweeps) they thankfully did slightly less well in South Korea,. Still a lot of them (it's where we get medals in Winter Sports after all as ski-ing is not easy to practice over here) and if I recall correctly a sweep in one of the women's disciplines. But there's some great skaters from other countries on a roll (Japan and South Korea on the short distances, Canada on the long in men, and some good Japanese and Americans in the women). There's also a Belgian star in the men.