2026 Olympics: Gala Exhibition | Page 16 | Golden Skate

2026 Olympics: Gala Exhibition

It was a fun gala, Junhwan's was probably my favorite. Petrokina's cell block tango was better than expected and also Metelkina/Berulava, but they should have cut down on how much stuffed animal throwing he did, it made the last part of the performance disjointed.
 
Oh man, Carolina Kostner was wonderful to start it off! I wonder if she worked with Luca Lanotte because he was in the Instagram posts with her when she was practicing some days ago. Loved Shun Sato's exhibition skate to Lindsey Stirling's music. All the others were great too!
 
was expecting something really fantastic from LIU ..noticed she is using so many things now from program to program .. stroking the face and body...pointing to the audience Hope she does not get stuck in that. This program felt juniorish .. and I am a fan
I didn't care much for her exhibition skate today.
 
Please let FBCiz be one and done i can't take four more years of the same boring sleep inducing programs that the judges will salivate over which will end with of course their coronation in 2030 in their home country. The other teams might as well not even show up at the next Olympics.
Who knows? As has been stated ad nauseam in several threads on all skating fan forums, if the Olympics has taught us anything over the years in history, it’s that the favorite going in is not guaranteed the gold. At 31 here, Cizeron delivered the most mistake riddled FD in Olympic ice dance history to narrowly win gold. He’ll be 35 in 4 years and, like Evan Bates this season at the age of 36, his body is just going to further deteriorate from all the rigorous training and intense, pressure filled competitions.
 
Who knows? As has been stated ad nauseam in several threads on all skating fan forums, if the Olympics has taught us anything over the years in history, it’s that the favorite going in is not guaranteed the gold. At 31 here, Cizeron delivered the most mistake riddled FD in Olympic ice dance history to narrowly win gold.

The top two ID couples both had 4 level 3's in their FD. Neither of them skated well enough to get 4 level 4's. Now, you can call Tracy Wilson a liar if you want, but her use of the word "slight" in reference to a mistake Cizeron made which equated to nothing more than "coming in early" as she put it, does not equate to a claim of "the most mistake riddled FD in Olympic ID history" by any stretch of the imagination.
 
The top two ID couples both had 4 level 3's in their FD. Neither of them skated well enough to get 4 level 4's. Now, you can call Tracy Wilson a liar if you want, but her use of the word "slight" in reference to a mistake Cizeron made which equated to nothing more than "coming in early" as she put it, does not equate to a claim of "the most mistake riddled FD in Olympic ID history" by any stretch of the imagination.
Well, I’ve been watching figure skating for 34 years and I’ve never known an Olympic winning FD to have 5 glaring mistakes before. I’m not as bothered with skaters receiving a level 3 versus a 4 as long as the quality or GOE still yields a positive result and there’s not a glaring mistake, such as a stumble or fall. I did have a big problem with Virtue and Moir winning 2017 Worlds and Chock and Bates winning 2023 Worlds with a fall, for example. All I see when rewatching FB/C’s FD are the 5 mistakes. Tracy Wilson should know more than anyone being a former ice dancer herself that any “slight” mistake in the ice dance disciple is usually considered a major mistake. If we’re going to nitpick Berulava’s footwork in the pairs lifts, then we also need to acknowledge Cizeron’s sloppy footwork in that rotational lift as well. Same with Chock and Bates’s twizzles, which fans including myself pick apart to death; both Laurence and Guillaume also had stumbles on their twizzles in the serpentine step sequence. There’s also a moment in that step sequence when their skates kick each other. 5 mistakes in one program in ice dance is about as “riddled with mistakes” as a team can get. Any other team in the world would have been dropped off the podium with 5 noticeable mistakes. I’m glad for you that you’re not bothered by their mistakes being ignored, but I am bothered that this team is held to such a standard that their mistakes don’t matter to the judges. Had this been Chock and Bates or Gilles and Poirier, then no way would the panels at this Olympics have allowed them to medal with 5 glaring mistakes. FB/C certainly did well to conceal their mistakes as best as they could, but these panels should be watching every step with the most critical eye. It is absolutely unreal to me that so many judges gave these elements +3, +4, or +5 when those elements should have received GOE from -2 to +1 max. They also should have had a PCS drop for those mistakes in skating skills and presentation, but they received an incomprehensible 4 perfect 10s in presentation. I would have given them only a max of 9.0 in both presentation and skating skills for the mistakes. The general consensus among skating fans is that FB/C were overscored and even they appeared surprised when they realized they were the winners. I would love for someone to make sense to me how FB/C skated this dance with no noticeable errors (I realize they didn’t have all level 4 elements) at the European Championships 1 month ago and scored 135.50, yet made 5 mistakes at the Olympics and scored 135.64.
 
Well, I’ve been watching figure skating for 34 years and I’ve never known an Olympic winning FD to have 5 glaring mistakes before.

And at how many events have you been a judge? Not many, I'm sure.

I’m not as bothered with skaters receiving a level 3 versus a 4 as long as the quality or GOE still yields a positive result

I had to scroll down to 12th place in the FD before finding negative GOE on anyone. And that was on one element. As a matter of fact, only 12th and 20 place couples received negative GOE. One element each. So by your own personal guidelines, I don't know what you're going on about. It seems to me you want to insult everyone's intelligence by suggesting what - a panel of judges should have given the gold medal couple negative GOE on 5 elements versus the 20th place couple who got negative GOE on one element? Come on, now.

In skating, one can be docked a point and still receive positive GOE.

The general consensus among skating fans is that FB/C were overscored and even they appeared surprised when they realized they were the winners.

In an interview with a French radio station, FB/C thought they could have been given an even higher score, based on their belief they performed a more difficult program than C/B. That doesn't sound like shock to me.

Edit: I just realized you posted your comments in the gala thread and I responded in the same thread. To avoid posting anything further in the wrong thread, I'll just end here. Further conversation can always take place in a more relevant thread in the forum.
 
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And at how many events have you been a judge? Not many, I'm sure.

In an interview with a French radio station, FB/C thought they could have been given an even higher score, based on their belief they performed a more difficult program than C/B. That doesn't sound like shock to me.
Well, if you really want to believe that the judges are infallible after all the evidence of tomfoolery we’ve seen, especially in the history of the Olympic Games, then good on you I guess. I’m not so willing to choose the ignorance is bliss path with you.

And of course Laurence and Guillaume are not going to openly admit all the flaws in their FD and how very lucky they were that the panels turned a blind eye to their errors, especially since it appears they are planning to continue at least through the World Championships this season.
 
Late to the party, just watched some of the performances. I can't believe in how just a matter of days I've come from being relatively indifferent to the men's event (not really invested in this last Olympic cycle) to liking and supporting Ilia. It started from the moment he took the Olympic ice in the team's event short program and watched him skating a nervy program. Then rooting hard for him to win the LP so that he can win the gold for the entire team and not go into the individual event with such a big disappointment. There was just something very likeable about him, quads aside, that makes him very interesting to watch (maybe it is because I am nostalgic, I started to watch figure skating due to Plushenko, so maybe it is the blonde hair, LOL) and that came alive in the team's event LP. He was been so hyped by everybody and he put up the confident aura for so many times that he probably started to actually believe it, until it came crashing down in the worst moment. I know people criticize him for being overly confident, for declaring himself quad king and so on. Like for being young, having a personality and acting like his age. But the type of man he is really showed in the way he reacted after losing, with going straight to Shaidorov. In my book, that would make me (as a parent) prouder than any gold medal winning performances. Being gracious in defeat in his circumstances, and how he conducted himself through the rest of the event is absolutely inspiring and an amazing role model for young athletes. And he is only 21.
Coming back to the gala, I was in awe. So raw, so emotional, so him. Prophetic choice of music, strong message sent to the entire community for who has eyes and ears to see and hear. I will root for him in the rest of his career and hope he has the adequate support for facing the pressure, scrutiny and terrible social media attacks.
 
I must say, this was the most enjoyable gala I have ever watched. I normally only watch a couple. This time, I only skipped 3 or 4 performances. G/P Falling Leaves needed a rewatch! Too bad there was no venue feed and NBC's stream cut out early, but I saw Adam and Ilia's double backflip online! I think the On Ice Perspective camera angles made the performances more engaging.
 
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