Yu/Jin & Peng/Zhang switch partners

[SarahSynchro]

Yikes. I had no idea. Thank you for answering my question, CaroLiza fan. I guess I still don't quite understand how they can get away with it. But I am suitably horrified. I guess the Chinese fed hasn't heard the adage that Cheaters Never Win, or maybe don't believe it.

It makes me furious when countries engage in age falsification.:ddevil: it's just the most ridiculous thing, even more so than state-run doping, which is a travesty in itself. When medals earned "today" are more important than the scandal that results "tomorrow", if and when they actually get caught. Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao, anyone? She slipped up and gave her real birthdate when registering to become a judge at the 2008 Olympics, and as a result, the entire 2000 Olympic Chinese gymnastics team (that she was a member of) lost their all-around bronze medal.

Seriously, outside of China, does anyone actually think China is such a phenomenal sports powerhouse for "winning" all these medals through unethical means? Come on, they aren't fooling anyone. If anything, it makes "the rest of us" assume they're always doing it, and they have the reputation as bring a bunch of cheats and liars, and it cheapens the success of Chinese athletes who don't lie about their age.

Edited to add: I know it's not a case of the athletes personally deciding to lie about their age, it's the federation who forces them to do it. I'm sure it's a case of: "you will lie about this or else you're done in this sport", thus putting the athletes in a bind: years and years of state funded training and personal dedication can be gone in seconds if they don't do as theyre told. What a terrible position to be in.

 

[solani]

@SarahSynchro
I agree and I don't even want to think about artistic gymnastics. Don't get me wrong, I think it's a beautiful sport, but I just cannot watch in anymore. A couple of years ago I saw a documentary that showed how those little Chinese kids are being treated and stretched by their coaches. They're crying, but very determined, their parents are having high expectations and I think it's heartbreaking. And I think that I can handle quite a lot in that regard, I think it's understandable that parents in 2nd or 3rd World countries want something better for their children, but those kids have no childhood whatsoever. And it's worse for the girls, because they peak earlier and all kinds of growth inhibiting substances (including steroids) can be used and its's a nasty business.
I believe that figure skating is better in that regard, also because the sport is so much more expensive. Good skaters are not so easily replaceable and therefore they are more valuable. And female skaters peak later than female gymnasts, also because of the artistic aspect of the sport.

 

[SarahSynchro]

Zhang Hao has another new partner!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Zhang Hao has another new partner!

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!!!!!!!

And I have to admit, although I'm not the biggest fan of the partner, I am impressed with what I saw in the clip.

I think this could work. :agree:

So, does this mean that we can get Yu and Jin back together without me having to marry her...?

CaroLiza_fan

P.S. If you don't know what that last quip is about, see the Crazy Future Predictions thread! (The first of my series of posts is here, but the bit directly relevant to this thread is in this post)

 

[SarahSynchro]

Oh. My. Goodness!!!!!!!!!!

And I have to admit, although I'm not the biggest fan of the partner, I am impressed with what I saw in the clip.

I think this could work. :agree:

So, does this mean that we can get Yu and Jin back together without me having to marry her...?

CaroLiza_fan

P.S. If you don't know what that last quip is about, see the Crazy Future Predictions thread! (The first of my series of posts is here, but the bit directly relevant to this thread is in this post)

Well, that would be amazing. Johnny can compete with Zhang, Yu and Jin can get back together, and everyone wins!

 

[solani]

Well, that would be amazing. Johnny can compete with Zhang, Yu and Jin can get back together, and everyone wins!

Haha, no, I'm team Peng. :curse:
throw plus lift
And great that Johnny is able to do it, this must be one of his big wishes.

 

[LRK]

Just to note that they already skated together in 2014 in Artistry on Ice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmYmLg0wJ3A

 

[solani]

At least someone actually wants to skate with Zhang.

 

[Crossover]

Just to note that they already skated together in 2014 in Artistry on Ice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmYmLg0wJ3A

Yes, I saw that and giggled about the extraordinary same-sex pairing, but the newest one was not as much funny as it used to be anymore because of the pair switching scandal.

I think Zhang Dan has been still by far the best matched partner for Zhang Hao despite her tall height. They had good lines and unison as well as technical difficulties. Hao was also younger than now.

 

[Skater Boy]

You're right, it could totally happen. Trust me, I'm usually the first person on the forum to cry afoul when people start making guaranteed predictions solely based on past results.

That's the problem though, these new teams don't have any past results, other than the results with their previous partners, which essentially mean nothing. I guess we can never really know what will happen. Compiling statistics on the odds of certain scenarios actually happening seems impossible. However, the fact that they'll both only have been skating as two pairs for six months when November rolls around makes the odds stacked heavily against them, no? But if the three Chinese pairs happen to sweep the podium, cool, I was proved wrong. its a guarantee that I'll get over it and move on with my life.

When people bring up Aliona and Bruno in relation to this topic, it doesn't really make sense to me, as they'd been training together for two years before winning World and European bronze medals. Two years is a lifetime in comparison to half a year.

True and they had a lot of hype and Aliona's reputation whereas the Chinese team do not have that street cred so to speak whether we like it or not. I am not a huge fan of these "cut and paste" teams - maybe I just didn't notice in the past but it seems like we have a new attitude - cut and paste and hope for OGM. No longer is it so obvious you stay with your partner from your nation. Now is how do I get the gold. People seem far more disposable lol.

 

[Alchamei]

It makes me furious when countries engage in age falsification.:ddevil: it's just the most ridiculous thing, even more so than state-run doping, which is a travesty in itself. When medals earned "today" are more important than the scandal that results "tomorrow", if and when they actually get caught. Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao, anyone? She slipped up and gave her real birthdate when registering to become a judge at the 2008 Olympics, and as a result, the entire 2000 Olympic Chinese gymnastics team (that she was a member of) lost their all-around bronze medal.

Seriously, outside of China, does anyone actually think China is such a phenomenal sports powerhouse for "winning" all these medals through unethical means? Come on, they aren't fooling anyone. If anything, it makes "the rest of us" assume they're always doing it, and they have the reputation as bring a bunch of cheats and liars, and it cheapens the success of Chinese athletes who don't lie about their age.

Edited to add: I know it's not a case of the athletes personally deciding to lie about their age, it's the federation who forces them to do it. I'm sure it's a case of: "you will lie about this or else you're done in this sport", thus putting the athletes in a bind: years and years of state funded training and personal dedication can be gone in seconds if they don't do as theyre told. What a terrible position to be in.

Thank you, exactly my thoughts. You know, I'm glad we can discuss that, as I started a thread once and wanted to talk about this topic without blaming anyone and I was told that everyone knows that and we don't want any negative reactions. Stupid, as I just wanted to discuss the problem. But that is long ago.

 

[4everchan]

the hao+weir stint just shows how strong hao is as a partner. kudos to him also for taking such risks as I bet same sex anything is not super common in china

 

[SarahSynchro]

Haha, no, I'm team Peng. :curse:
throw plus lift
And great that Johnny is able to do it, this must be one of his big wishes.

Whoops, I totally forgot about Peng. I want her to find success with a nice partner as well.

 

[Ares]

Thank you, exactly my thoughts. You know, I'm glad we can discuss that, as I started a thread once and wanted to talk about this topic without blaming anyone and I was told that everyone knows that and we don't want any negative reactions. Stupid, as I just wanted to discuss the problem. But that is long ago.

This is question that deserves to be brought up and needs some in-depth discussion. Possibly in seperate thread. How it is possible to trick
ISU and other sports federations so easily? Is it so difficult to double check and look for various data / records to make sure everything is correct? Or are they all so naive even after all those frauds that resurfaced? Is one substituted Chinese passport or inscribing enough to confirm else's date of birth? No way Sui Wenjing was 18 in 2014 if you look at her in Sochi.

 

[noidont]

Age falsification happens on all levels in China. It's not just top athletes who are in ISU level competitions. I personally know people who changed their birthdays for a primary school track and field competition, or for getting into school earlier, or various other trivial reasons. The issue is that these athletes listed, assuming they did change their birthdays, didn't change them when they turned to the junior/senior international circuit, but likely a lot earlier at a young age for domestic competitions. It's not necessarily for tricking the ISU, but just a regular maneuver for getting ahead that happens all too often in everyday Chinese life. It's really just as possible that those second sets of birthdays are fake (as well?). In any case, as long as their official passports/id cards are issued, there is no real way to prove they falsified their age.

Chinese are diehard pragmatists and do not adhere well to the idea of absolute truth. You can easily bribe your way to a new birth year when needed. It's becoming less prevalent in recent years with documents largely digitized, but no doubt still doable. This is unfortunately the reality. It doesn't matter the rest of world thinks it's "unethical", as it isn't really considered "unethical" by the majority of Chinese people (and I don't say this lightly.)

 

[Sorrento]

I just watched the EX number from both ex duets performing to Say Something (I'm Giving Up On You) and I just totally hated the entire idea. They skated parts of their LP's from the last season and then they switched partners and performed some new routine, basically elements in parallel. And... I could feel the tension, the broken hearts and humility there on ice. Did they have to do this? It was a torture to watch. :dev2:

 

[Princessroja]

I just watched the EX number from both ex duets performing to Say Something (I'm Giving Up On You) and I just totally hated the entire idea. They skated parts of their LP's from the last season and then they switched partners and performed some new routine, basically elements in parallel. And... I could feel the tension, the broken hearts and humility there on ice. Did they have to do this? It was a torture to watch. :dev2:

No kidding. Honestly, that's the most tasteless duet I have ever seen and probably will ever see. Not the piece itself--if it had been skated by two other pairs I probably would have really liked it. But considering the circumstances, talk about tacky and adding insult to injury. I just... I'm kind of in shock that someone would actually think that was a good idea. I'm giving up on you, I mean, really?

 

[4everchan]

honestly, if I agree perhaps it may not have been necessary, I saw it with a bit more nuance in the sense that perhaps they tried to convey that it was a move based on potential results not on human consideration. I have watched both SPs and they are showing more promise than the former partnerships. Yes, a lot of people are upset and perhaps that's why this number was presented, to show that perhaps, even if it seems like they are giving up on each other, the new partnerships will allow all of them to shine brighter. We fans, perhaps see things a bit too romantically here... This is sports and business. Like how some tennis players will be better at doubles with another partner than the one they have played with for several years.

 

[Crossover]

I quote my own post left at one of the new pairs, Xiaoyu Yu & Hao Zhang's fan fest regarding the recent performance in China.

1. Xiaoyu Yu / Yang Jin & Cheng Peng / Hao Zhang - "Say Something" by A Great Big World (farewell and debut performance as the new pairs)
http://v.qq.com/cover/c/cty90oitjactd26.html?vid=h0020m5wx7j

2. Xiaoyu Yu / Hao Zhang - "Eternal Flame" (their new SP for the season 2016-17)
http://v.qq.com/cover/c/cty90oitjactd26.html?vid=d0020p3lsxc

3. Xiaoyu Yu and children - "Duck" (young synchronized skating team?)
http://v.qq.com/cover/c/cty90oitjactd26.html?vid=s0020otfvzr

EDIT: As for the "farewell and introducing our new teams" performance, I was utterly shocked by the concept of the performance. :disapp: The packaging looks specious with the beautiful and touching music and corresponding choreography as if this partner switching had been done amicably. However what bothers me the most with the performance is that despite outwardly the beautiful packaging, it gives a message that the girls can be replaceable at any time by the federation. Moreover I sense that with the farewell, the federation seems to urge the viewers to follow their new will no matter how you feel about the swapping controversies. ......Xiaoyu looks icy cold with Hao....unlike seemingly happy Cheng Peng with her new partner, Yang Jin.

This is a debut performance of the new SP "My Drags" by another new pair, Cheng PENG / Yang JIN
http://v.qq.com/cover/c/cty90oitjactd26.html?vid=o0020evd2ej

A lot of promise seen as a new team though. Cheng's movements look much lighter than before with Hao and carefree out of immense pressure which she had carried on. She looks lively and happy. She and Yang will be a handsome pair, but what about Xiaoyu and Hao..

 

[4everchan]

^^ I think you got the SP name wrong as Eternal Flame is skater by Xiaoyu and Hao... I think they called it "my drags" but yeah the video links to Peng and Jin's new SP.

Honestly, I think both team are better now. Peng and Jin are showing a new playful side that seems to suit Peng so much better, allowing her to be more relaxed and confident.

I personally think that Xiaoyu has a regal and lyrical quality with Hao that she didn't have as much with Yang Jin. So I am quite impressed by both new pairings, of course, I am only talking about sports here.