Weir had three weak skates in the competition -- that is weak for him as a very top-level international skater. His injured foot held him back in all three phases, particulary in the qualis and LP, where he was relatively slow and tentative. In the LP, not only did trip on a footwork sequence that had been going beautifully until then, and which was one of only two L2 elements he performed, but he also had two flawed jumps, albeit not falls. He was, in my opinion, overrated on most of his spins, which received positive GOE. (And it's not just my opinion, it's also Weir's and Paul Wylie's.) According to the written code, he shouldn't have received higher than base on them.
Weir's LP program was not CoP friendly; due to injury most of his spins were downgraded to L1's, and he had only one combination, and seven of eight jump elements. His base score was 58.7, to which he added 2 points in net GOE (60.72). He had the lowest base and lowest total technical score of any skater in the top 10 of the FS. Buttle's base, for example, was 65.00, and he made up nearly six points (for two falls) on all of his other elements, for total TCS of 63.42. Even deducting the -2.00 fall points, his technical score was higher than Weir's. And his speed, ice coverage, interpretation, and choreography in the LP performance were superior to Weir's.
I find it interesting that there's little complaint about Kevin van der Perren's scores. It amazed us that at the end of the day, he had the second highest base score (68.8, compared to TG's 72.2), and the highest actual technical score 68.71 -- higher than Lambiel's -- for a program with a 3A combo, a 3A, three 2A's, and only one L2 element. He really wracked it up with a flawed, but fully rotated, 3F+3T+3Lo combination: 13.5 points, .5 higher than a base 4T+3T.
Because of his injury, Weir was slower and more tentative in his movements -- the trunk of his body was protective and tight -- flow, and entrances to his spins. (Strangely, he didn't seem to be as tentative going into the jumps.) His arm movements weren't as full as usual, as they didn't initiate from the center of his back as they normally do, and his ice pattern was smaller than it was at Nationals, and in some spots, than in qualis. His SP, despite the fall on the 3A, had more energy than either of his two versions of Otonal.
Just as I was hoping to see a great performance of Naqoyqatsi from Buttle, I was hoping for the same from Weir with Otonal. It wasn't to be, despite every attempt on his part to excel. Despite the pain, he gave skates that many of his fellow competitors would have traded a limb for, because he is so exquisite on the ice. I think he gave championship skates because he fought through and continued knowing he couldn't be at his absolute best. There's nothing more to ask from anyone.
