2026 Olympics: Free Dance

[Janice4th]

I guess I’m just a casual Olympics-every-four-years fan now. I don’t have a trained eye, and honestly, without the passion, I don’t really care about the off-ice drama.

So with zero emotional investment, here’s my take:

Chock/Bates looked slow, and it didn’t feel very paso doble/tango (not sure what they were trying to sell).
Laurence/Cizeron looked more impressive. I’m not really into lyrical programs (not anymore, not after Papadakis), but they looked fast.

Just an FYI, Chock and Bates are faster in person. Their speed doesn’t come across on TV.

 

[elbkup]

You have to look at this collectively. If you include the six points he preferred in the RD to the eight points in the FD.... well, you do the math.

It's why I was hoping so hard the French judge would be one of those replaced for the Free Dance. When he wasn't, the writing was on the wall.

Could the French have won a fairly judged event? We'll never know. And THAT is what is so unsatisfying about this.

Here's Asher Hill's (Canadian) amusing take on things:

https://x.com/AsherHill/status/2021712283202949408

Wow … from another ice dancer no less. I respect Asher’s opinion. Messing up on twizzles May work in other comps but inexcusable for Olympic Gold..

 

[el henry]

….

Here's Asher Hill's (Canadian) amusing take on things:

https://x.com/AsherHill/status/2021712283202949408

Loved Asher as a skater and I love this observation.

And more cultural learnings thanks to GS, as I always thought this saying was just the Northeast US. I need to get out more. and the judges need to stop relieving themselves on our legs, and telling us otherwise.

 

[elbkup]

Just an FYI, Chock and Bates are faster in person. Their speed doesn’t come across on TV.

Also, for f’s sake, how fast do they need to be?! They weren’t exactly crawling ; Intricacy and precision counts

 

[shan22044]

None could jump as effortlessly as Ilia though! Yuzu hoped to be the first to land a Quad Axel but sadly didn't manage it. Ilia has and its changed the game quite a bit.

I like Ilia fine but you can't put him in the same sentence as Yuzuru. Sorry.
Yuzuru was the full package - like Jason Brown level artistry almost and non-axel Ilia-type quads.
Maybe I'll eat my words later but Ilia is not the full package yet, and he never will be unless he stops focusing so much on the jumps and other stunts at serious risk of hurting himself. I mean Yuzuru accomplished what he did in spite of injuries, God forbid.

We are seeing now that Ilia has made history and for a moment he was blowing everyone away but the Japanese are now nipping at his heels and they bring a lot of other things to the table than jumps. People were looking at the Russian jumping machines on the women's side the same way too. And quads in the women's event have not become the game-changer that people envisioned.

With that said, Ilia is a special talent when it comes to jumps. I can't believe the way he just does a triple axel basically standing still, and there is a part of me that would like to see how many rotations he can get at full breakneck speed. But...figure skating as it is now is about more than jumps. Surya Bonaly (who created the one-foot backflip that Ilia recently landed) and Midori Ito (who hit the first triple axel by a woman) and even Tonya Harding are good examples of skaters who were primarily known for being great jumpers and as such did not have the greatest success in the sport.

 

[MargueriteGaultier]

Loved Asher as a skater and I love this observation.

And more cultural learnings thanks to GS, as I always thought this saying was just the Northeast US. I need to get out more. and the judges need to stop relieving themselves on our legs, and telling us otherwise.

Were Piper and Paul the best technically tonight? Despite the relief of their Bronze, they were still tanked on GOEs compared to C/B and F-B/C.

 

[fenway3]

You have to look at this collectively. If you include the six points he preferred in the RD to the eight points in the FD.... well, you do the math.

I also think the fact that five judges preferred Chock and Bates in the free says a lot. No judging system is perfect, of course, but I think back when ordinals were used it was a much better buffer against corruption.

 

[fenway3]

What Gabriella Papadakis posted a couple hours ago on Instagram:

https://imginn.com/p/DUooZFZCORu/

Logging off xxx.

 

[moonvine]

Emilea and Vadym in 5th? Let's start the next quad.....ducks...

Dear Goddess. It’s bad enough people start talking about the next Olympics immediately after the last one but before this one is even over?!?!

 

[moonvine]

My spies say that is upper level short.

Upper level short?

 

[labgoat]

Can someone tell me who is the woman with zingnik and igor schpilband please?

Adriennne Lenda is Igor’s wife and coaching partner

 

[Tulips]

Carol Lane said it best, It was a starry, starry night in Milan. I’m over the moon for Piper and Paul and to hear Carol’s reaction when the scores came up was everything. Never underestimate the underdogs.

 

[labgoat]

not a medal, THE medal

I was trying not to jinx them, but did anyway

 

[Allikat]

What an event! Immediately after the FD, I had to take a break for dinner, then my PC's battery backup totally konked out (been expecting that for awhile so had a new one waiting), and after finally getting all re-wired here (so much for custom PCs and all those dad-gum wires!) I am back.

There were SO many great free dances today! I am perplexed as to why Laurence and Guillaume won over Madi and Evan though...even I caught Guillaume stepping out of a twizzle early, or at least not in sync. Will have to look over the protocols in due time. We all knew the judges were going to go one-two with those two teams, didn't we? I hope Madi and Evan aren't too disappointed. They each take home TWO medals--both Gold and Silver! And, Laurence and Guillaume's program is incredibly lovely. I like it almost as much as I do Piper and Paul's. I'd say Madi and Evan did a wonderful job with a difficult program, too. It grew on me the more I saw it throughout the season.

Hooray for Piper and Paul finally getting on the medal stand--at this point, the medal color doesn't matter as much as the fact the judges at long last rewarded them!

f it had been up to me, I'd have had Madi and Evan in first, then Piper and Paul (who got placed too far behind the top two to come first), and then Laurence and Guillaume. I'm afraid the judges had Charlene and Marco too far behind in points to catch up for another bronze medal--at least they did get the Team bronze, and that makes me happy. I really like their FD--had to go find the music they were using and give it a good listen!

Pity there were only three medals to be given out. I sure see a lot of potential medalists in the near future among the next 8-10 dance couples, maybe more!

I'm so grateful my fool battery backup system lasted throughout the FD, though. If it had gone down mid-stream I'd have had a stroke.

 

[skatedreamer]

Slightly off topic...

When I was little, I thought skating winners were decided according to the girl who had the prettiest dress. By that standard, C/B went double platinum!

Honestly, Madison's dress was SO gorgeous: sexy but not trashy, the clear rich red of the skirt...and the way the fabric moved was just spectacular. For me, it's right up there with Yuna Kim's elegant "Adios Nonino" dress from Sochi in 2014. Brava!

 

[moonvine]

So happy for Piper and Paul. I unexpectedly started to cry half way through. They weren’t just skating, they were in flight - so free! So deserved. Thank you thank you for this. I think I will rewatch this many times, and likely cry each time.
F/G could have skated lights out and not caught them.

Very happy for Laurence FB - she was mesmerizing. I am so glad she got this season and was able to share her performance with the world. GC complemented her skating well - much better than Sorensen ever could.

C/B. They are very good but I think some of their chronic issues (small twizzles, too much posing and perhaps insufficient ice coverage) were challenged by a team that didn’t have those problems. I think C/B won on occasion when they shouldn’t have (Montreal worlds) but I understand the disappointment of their fans. Winning 3 world championships and then losing the Olympics must be incredibly painful. Think of Patrick Chan. It might take awhile to recover from this but - despite how it is marketed, the Olympics is not more important than a world championship.

It’s typically more important to the athletes.

 

[chepe]

Dear Goddess. It’s bad enough people start talking about the next Olympics immediately after the last one but before this one is even over?!?!

If you don't start the intrigue shenanigans now, you might be too late...

 

[Charlotte 71]

I think there would be less controversy if the French had lost the free, but won overall.

Silly judges, why make it harder on yourselves than it needs to be.

At the very least, the judges didn't need to lavish positive GOE on a blighted set of twizzles. Judges 8 and 9 gave them GOE of 4 on those downgraded twizzles. Why beg for a twizzlegate, judges? You could have done your dirty business much less obviously and still gotten it done.

 

[Charlotte 71]

I rather think the scheduling of figure skating, with the team event and then the dance the very next day was not very nice of the IOC.
The women will have had a 9 day break. That's just not right.

And the men got a three day break between the short and the free, with no skating events scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday. Nothing on Saturday either. Seems like they could have waited at least one more day to start dance on Tuesday.

 

[bramweld]

At the very least, the judges didn't need to lavish positive GOE on a blighted set of twizzles. Judges 8 and 9 gave them GOE of 4 on those downgraded twizzles. Why beg for a twizzlegate, judges? You could have done your dirty business much less obviously and still gotten it done.

The man covered it like a pro; it didn't even look like he finished earlier; they just looked out of sync. They looked really powerful and impressive, I must say. C/B chose the wrong material for that FD. If they could have matched or even come closer with respect to skating skills, the gold would have been theirs. You don't take a Latin piece and then give it no Latin flair. It came across, honestly, as flat and pretentious. It's like comparing the artistry of Nancy Kerrigan with Oksana Baiul. When we look back objectively, we'll see FB/C won fair and square.