2026 Olympics Team Event: Men's Free Skate

[Allikat]

Alysa wasn't on the Team Event for Beijing. Karen Chen competed both segments of it. It is only one Olympic medal for Alysa because of that.

Oh! Yes you are correct! My memory failed me--so sorry.

 

[Seruleane]

For many reasons; one, a single Russian lady has never been as dominant in this sport as Ilia Malinin. There was always a very quickly revolving door the next year to replace the one who was triumphant for one season, so she never became a household name on the world stage. The exceptions I would say are Tuktamysheva for her longevity and Kostornaia for the beauty and purity of her basic skating. Fans I see online also remember Medvedeva, as she was another exception, who not only won a world title, but also defended it the following season.

Two, the US does not support state sponsored doping, as Russia does, so there’s always going to be a sentiment toward Russian athletes that they are blatantly cheating and thumbing their noses with disrespect to the establishment and all the rules, ethics, and integrity that come with it.

Three, the technique taught and displayed by those young ladies is not proper technique, so it abandons them all once they turn 18; again, the exceptions are Tuktamysheva and Kostornaia because they were fundamentally taught proper technique. Ilia was taught proper technique and his jumps are sublime when he performs them at his best.

Four, Daniil Gleikhengauz is an untalented choreographer who makes all of his tasteless programs look the same with accompanying arm flailing and bizarre leg kicks that do nothing to interpret the music or tell a story. Malinin has very evidently made great strides in his artistic development since his senior debut in 2022 and though his tastes may not be everyone’s cup of tea; it is clear he works hard and doesn’t rest on his laurels. He wants to constantly improve as a skater and I applaud his efforts.

Five, these young ladies come forward after their competitive careers and vocalize the constant abuse to their psyches that we all see and know is happening in the Eteri camp, so to show support for them is to show complete disregard for the mental health of these young humans. No, thank you! They deserve so much better and shame on that camp for exploiting those young ladies at the detriment of their physical and mental health for their own financial gain and fame. It’s truly despicable!

Despite your lengthy post (and I totally agree with your points re:doping and coaching though don't agree with the others) my point about Malinin getting elevated PCS compared to Sato even when he's skated less than ideal programs still stands. Team Japan is just a really good sport.

 

[Moon322]

Shun's upset because he holds himself to an impossibly high standard. Unlike you, Shun understands the scoring system and I very much doubt he thinks he was robbed. I just hope he comes to realize how incredible his skate was. It was a PB! He would have gotten close to 200 with better spins. I expect that this summer Shun spends a lot of time practicing spins.

How do you know who I am behind the keyboard and what qualifications do I have? I'm asking a serious question. Besides, Shun said after the event he was incredibly frustrated not to get the gold medal. Of course he knows he was robbed of it.

 

[ladyjane]

I believe only Madison and Evan have two golden team medals, and not yet an individual medal which they are trying to get this Olympics too.

 

[readernick]

I believe only Madison and Evan have two golden team medals, and not yet an invidual medal which they are trying to get this Olympics too.

Yes, they were the only ones with experience. It showed everyone else looked nervous at least in the SPs. ( Kam/ O'Shea pulled it together in the free)

 

[ladyjane]

Yes, they were the only ones with experience. It showed everyone else looked nervous at least in the SPs. ( Kam/ O'Shea pulled it together in the free)

Kam and O'Shea had the best FS ever! I had never seen them do so well. It definitely also is thanks to them the US got gold, not just Chock and Bates and the others.

 

[readernick]

Kam and O'Shea had the best FS ever! I had never seen them do so well. It definitely also is thanks to them the US got gold, not just Chock and Bates and the others.

No doubt everyone on the team contributed to the win and K/O over performed expectations in the free. They were amazing. I'm not taking away from what they did. But the point still stands, all of them looked nervous and didn't have their best skates in the SP ( but they also didn't do badly ) except Maddy/ Evan. Experience showed.

 

[ladyjane]

Oh, I agree @readernick! It's just that Ellie and Danny impressed me the most of all the pairs (and obviously some did better, as expected).

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Japan had five wins and the US had three. Although I may disagree 'slightly' on certain judging, according to the 'team rules', it seems US did win fair and square. However, if instead of assigning points according to finish ranking, actual scores had been added up and used to determine medalists, then Japan would have come out ahead of the US and won gold. I guess it just 'is what it is'.

i don’t like points being a determinant. It allows a skater/team to considerably skew. If Malinin had pulled a 238 again

Despite your lengthy post (and I totally agree with your points re:doping and coaching though don't agree with the others) my point about Malinin getting elevated PCS compared to Sato even when he's skated less than ideal programs still stands. Team Japan is just a really good sport.

They both skated less than ideal programs.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

How do you know who I am behind the keyboard and what qualifications do I have? I'm asking a serious question. Besides, Shun said after the event he was incredibly frustrated not to get the gold medal. Of course he knows he was robbed of it.

Serious question: how do you know what’s going on in Shun Sato’s head?

 

[tsuyoboogie]

Shun

 

[Skating91]

For many reasons; one, a single Russian lady has never been as dominant in this sport as Ilia Malinin. There was always a very quickly revolving door the next year to replace the one who was triumphant for one season, so she never became a household name on the world stage.

Malinin has no competition in his own country, so could drop 50 points from his programs and still be selected for World's every year. And there is no competition coming through in American men's skating.

Whereas this "revolving door" in Russian women's skating is due to the intense competition. Every season new skaters graduate into seniors with similar or an evolved technical arsenal.

If you don't like this revolving door then ask the ISU to increase the number of quotas to Russian women when they return to international skating.

Two, the US does not support state sponsored doping, as Russia does, so there’s always going to be a sentiment toward Russian athletes that they are blatantly cheating and thumbing their noses with disrespect to the establishment and all the rules, ethics, and integrity that come with it.

A 15 year old having a small amount of TMZ in her system (likely from one of the supplements she was taking but didn't have resources to track down the exact batch) four years ago doesn't not constitute state sponsored doping. What's more Russians found it in her system at a Russian domestic competition. Now Valieva is back at almost age 20 jumping a 4-3 combo proving she never needed doping to perform at a high level. She's just more talented.

Three, the technique taught and displayed by those young ladies is not proper technique, so it abandons them all once they turn 18; again, the exceptions are Tuktamysheva and Kostornaia because they were fundamentally taught proper technique. Ilia was taught proper technique and his jumps are sublime when he performs them at his best.

Men have more strength. Ilia's technique isn't everything, 5 years ago he was scoring less than 200 across two programs.

I would compare men to men, women to women. I watched Europeans and 2-3 of them had a clean 3-3 combo and always early in the program. Even then very muscled, very little height. Expecting perfect technique for quads, when many top skaters can barely jump clean triples is a little unfair.

Five, these young ladies come forward after their competitive careers and vocalize the constant abuse to their psyches that we all see and know is happening in the Eteri camp, so to show support for them is to show complete disregard for the mental health of these young humans. No, thank you! They deserve so much better and shame on that camp for exploiting those young ladies at the detriment of their physical and mental health for their own financial gain and fame. It’s truly despicable!

What does she do to them?

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

A 15 year old having a small amount of TMZ in her system (likely from one of the supplements she was taking but didn't have resources to track down the exact batch) four years ago doesn't not constitute state sponsored doping. What's more Russians found it in her system at a Russian domestic competition. Now Valieva is back at almost age 20 jumping a 4-3 combo proving she never needed doping to perform at a high level. She's just more talented.

Not sure if you’re aware, but Russian/Soviet Union has an ongoing history of Olympic scandals due to systemic state sponsored doping. They have been stripped of 49 of the 162 (30%) stripped Olympic medals.

List of stripped Olympic medals - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Up until 2022, five Winter Olympic sports have had Olympic stripped medals - but because of you know who, from you know where, the sport of figure skating is now forever part of that illustrious list.

 

[museksk8r]

If you don't like this revolving door then ask the ISU to increase the number of quotas to Russian women when they return to international skating.

Okay, as long as Japan and the USA can increase the number of their quotas as well as both nations have women who are not here who potentially could still place in the top 10 at this Olympics.

I would compare men to men, women to women. I watched Europeans and 2-3 of them had a clean 3-3 combo and always early in the program. Even then very muscled, very little height. Expecting perfect technique for quads, when many top skaters can barely jump clean triples is a little unfair.

I would compare men to men and women to women as well. I was responding to another poster who was comparing the PCS scoring of Ilia to the Russian women and why fans don’t get upset over his high scoring, so I responded to said question. Of course, Malinin has more core strength and it’s not a fair comparison or question. However, I would also compare nations that follow the rules to other nations that follow the rules, such as Japan and USA. If Russia wants to continue to break the rules and use performance enhancing drugs, then their skaters should all continue to compete against one another separately from clean nations since that’s not a fair fight/comparison either.

Skating91: What does she do to them?

You cannot possibly be the caliber of skating fan who regularly posts online in a skating fan forum and proclaim this level of ignorance; there’s absolutely no way you can profess you don’t know what that camp has done to young ladies for over a decade now. I don’t believe you. I don’t.

 

[Skating91]

Okay, as long as Japan and the USA can increase the number of their quotas as well as both nations have women who are not here who potentially could still place in the top 10 at this Olympics.

The Russian women's comp is a level higher Zakharova is 18 with two quads in a free skate, Dvoeglazava 17 next season with 3 quads in her free skate, Valieva is back with 4-3 at nearly age 20, Khusnutdinova 17 next year she does triple axels at will.

This is Russian women's skating in a relatively weak era compared to 4 years ago!

I would compare men to men and women to women as well. I was responding to another poster who was comparing the PCS scoring of Ilia to the Russian women and why fans don’t get upset over his high scoring, so I responded to said question. Of course, Malinin has more core strength and it’s not a fair comparison or question. However, I would also compare nations that follow the rules to other nations that follow the rules, such as Japan and USA. If Russia wants to continue to break the rules and use performance enhancing drugs, then their skaters should all continue to compete against one another separately from clean nations since that’s not a fair fight/comparison either.

Russian anti-doping rule violations are not worse than anywhere else in the world, and they're quite competent they are the ones who caught Valieva.

You cannot possibly be the caliber of skating fan who regularly posts online in a skating fan forum and proclaim this level of ignorance; there’s absolutely no way you can profess you don’t know what that camp has done to young ladies for over a decade now. I don’t believe you. I don’t.

What have they done made some skaters wealthy and helped them gain opportunities they would never have?

 

[Skating91]

Not sure if you’re aware, but Russian/Soviet Union has an ongoing history of Olympic scandals due to systemic state sponsored doping. They have been stripped of 49 of the 162 (30%) stripped Olympic medals.

List of stripped Olympic medals - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Up until 2022, five Winter Olympic sports have had Olympic stripped medals - but because of you know who, from you know where, the sport of figure skating is now forever part of that illustrious list.

Did Carl Lewis ever lose his medals?

According to those documents, U.S. athletes tested positive for drugs more than 100 times from 1988 to 2000, but only a handful were barred from competing and 19 went on to win medals. The tests covered substances from stimulants to steroids, but few were passed on through the proper channels and even fewer resulted in sanctions.

http://www.espn.com/oly/columns/misc/1543629.html

Of course not. It was never about sport.

 

[Paulipau]

Carolina and Yumas dad in same outfits are just the best.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

It’s the only term that exists for jumps over triple lutz in women’s skating! There is no other!

What's wrong with quad or triple axel?

 

[NewLook]

Not sure if you’re aware, but Russian/Soviet Union has an ongoing history of Olympic scandals due to systemic state sponsored doping. They have been stripped of 49 of the 162 (30%) stripped Olympic medals.

Where can I read the number of TE by country? Any link?

 

[NewLook]

What's wrong with quad or triple axel?

Nothing. When they become routine jumps like in Men, they will be called just quads and triple axels. In Women they are still rare, especially quads. A few teens performed them, mostly Russians and a couple Japanese. Over 18 years old only two did them in competition: Zakharova in RN and Valieva at RJC. Because of their uniqueness they are called ultra C in Women.