They may but here's the kicker with what you are saying and I will respectfully disagree for the following reasons: Again, none of these teams would have faired the same overall 15 years ago. Some weren't even paired up then either. The point you make about Gilles/Poirier I'm going to strongly disagree with b/c if they were made to do compulsaries even next season--they'd do them with style and speed/flow/edge quality. They have (esp Paul) some of the best edges in dance now. Also, Lewis' edges are almost equal to Poirier at this point...I said almost, he is good at what he does. Yes, Lilah is still improving but has been at a great rate, she reminds me so much of Gilles early on, who has now almost completely matched her partners edge quality.
I will agree with you that Charlene and Marco wouldn't fare good at all in the Compulsaries and I'll add on that her more than him. I have no issue with his edges (they're gorgeous), hers needs a bit of help.
Then again (and I know I'm going to get hell from alot of posters on this one--Chock Bates based on edge quality are not top of the game. They skate too much on flats (esp her) and their twizzle game is up and down for years now (esp his). Put them next to G/F, P2, P/C and especially V/M in their heyday and IN PERSON you would see the blaring differences.
I'll see myself out now.
I agree R.e chock/bates, I don't rate their edges or SS. I personally wouldn't have had them in contention for worlds these past two years. But back then they were doing well (not necessarily deserved, but it happens).
With Piper and Paul, I 100% agree they'd fair better than the other top couples right now. They'd win worlds if they bought back PD tomorrow. Their kneebend is very good and edges are too, and also very importantly for the PD they have good control. I just don't think they do well with the pushing compared to top couples in the past (not sure why, but they don't gain much speed, especially over last two seasons). It could be physical instead of technical, and I think next to V/M etc they wouldn't make the same impression.
With Lewis, my issue isn't the edges - I think his edge control is fab. For me it's more that he doesn't get as down in the knees, and when he does his forward stroking he doesn't stay down in the knees as well as Marco or Paul (I feel he always has a little rise as he lifts the free leg, which is fine if he is trying to lilt, but he never goes back down to maximum kneebend). But that also could be the fact that he isn't much taller than Lilah so is limited there as too much kneebend could cause other issues. I do think in backwards crossovers, his kneebend is quite good which leads me to think for him it's technical not physical (unsure if it's deliberate technical decision, or technique).
For me, Charlenes edge control is much better than it used to be, but the more complex pattern dances might result in a lot of struggle. One issue I find is the Marco's kneebend is slightly better than hers - and this often makes him smaller when they are skating together which compounds height difference. Their speed and power (and for me flow, but this is debatable) feels the best of the one I've mentioned, and the basic pushing/stroking technique, but the control is just as important for successful execution so I agree that they would struggle and Piper and Paul would be ahead, and theyd have struggled a lot against other couples you mentioned.
Maybe their rhythym dance is kinda letting them down a bit i think. It is very quirky. Maybe that puts off some judges?
All three couples are very tight in scores, I would say outside chance based on Europeans location being lithuania. I also think if Finns and Lithuanians improve levels, then the technical blanket of the French will gradually dissapear.
I agree with this- all those different numbers, it being an average where the lowest and highest numbers get excluded (and also having to judge GOEs and PCS)- i don't think think it's possible rigging things that precisely.
(Looking at the protocols on skating scores where you can make it show you which scores got discounted is very interesting, expecially comparing the Italian judge to the British one).
The only way I see it possible to rig scores for the certainty of one team winning (and for judges to knowingly calculate this) is for judges to score every individual element higher. and this would result in a much larger gap (think giving an additional 10% to every single element) . Modern ice dance scoring bias occurs at the element level (ignoring mistakes, or marking elements generously), rather than in an overall scoring sense.
wow.
skate all. A tough one to judges tech callers and judges.
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