Ladies SP

[chuckm]

Sorry, maybe my comments seemed a bit random! I was traveling all week and so missed all the action in real time. Reading over the posts, I saw a lot of people were puzzled about Ashley's score, so I was just commenting on that (quite late in the thread, sorry).

I don't think international judges would mark Ashley higher than they normally would, just because she got a medal at U.S. National's, unless she actually skated significantly better. Aside from the jump problems, her movements also seemed rather unpolished and rushed in this 4cc SP. I sometimes felt like she was throwing up her arms just because the choreography called for it, but it carried no "real" meaning in the context of the muic/program.

Carolina Kostner throws up her arms in much the same way and yet gets very high PCS scores.

 

[mizu_iro]

Carolina Kostner throws up her arms in much the same way and yet gets very high PCS scores.

But is there any other female skater today who can compare to Kostner's speed and edges?

Personally, I like Carolina's presentation and think her programs this year are well-choreographed. I think her PCS is well-deserved. I do think that Ashley was undermarked and don't see why she got the flip downgraded, but as the program was skated here it didn't have the energy of her other performances.

 

[museksk8r]

Joannie can certainly compete with Carolina's edges, but I agree with the speed - that certainly belongs to Carolina alone.

 

[netnuts]

Carolina Kostner throws up her arms in much the same way and yet gets very high PCS scores.

Carolina Kostner deserves every point of those high PCS scores... She has superbe speed, ice coverage, edges AND yes, artistry.

 

[Skye]

Thanks for posting the video, Carolinefan.

To me it looked like the flip was pre-rotated, but that might just be the mechanics of the jump (all jumps seem pre-rotated to me). The landing of the flip was perfect, as far as I could see.

But then it looked like she took a full 270 degrees of pre-rotation on her loop. I think this is the answer to your question, "I don't see how anyone does it" (make three complete revolutions on the second jump of that combo). They can do it because they really only do two revolutions in the air.

To me, it looked like Mao's landing edge was about 100 degrees short -- just enough for the tech specialist to call it underrotated.

So in all, with pre-rtation and underrotation, I think she did about two actual revolutions in the air on the loop.

Please correct me, skating experts, if I saw it wrong.

Thank god I'm not the only one understanding why the judges downgraded Asada's 3loop. From the vids it looked as if Rochette's 3toe was most harshly penalised but then again there was a "hook" to her landing so I bet it's just the camera angle misleading. Miki's downgrade was spot on. I still haven't seen Wagner's SP yet. Can anybody provide a link?

 

[passion]

Carolina Kostner deserves every point of those high PCS scores... She has superbe speed, ice coverage, edges AND yes, artistry.

Do you have a video link to her performance?

 

[Skye]

I have finally seen Ashley Wagner's SP thanks to CCTV, and once again I think the techs have made the right call. There was a close-up slow-motion of the 3flip downgraded, and you could see she touches the ice with her toe at 100 degrees short of revolution. It was also somewhat pre-rotated more than what I would expect (when done properly flips and lutzes are supposed to have minimum pre-rotation) but she's not the only one who does that anyway. What really hurt Wagner was low levels on steps and spirals. Apparently her bubble gum style is not appealing to the judges as well. It will be tough to keep those 3 spots for LA Worlds.