THE TEAM COMPETITION
Well, here's how it is. A lot of people aren't huge Evgeni Plushenko fans. I can't say that I am a huge one either if we want to get real here. Many questioned his selection to the Olympic team before it was even announced. Maxim Kovtun beat him 'fair and square' at the Russian Nationals and Sergei Voronov and Konstantin Menshov both medalled at Europeans (ahead of Kovtun), certainly faring well in Plushenko's absence. For whatever reason, a lot of skating fans seem to have this quiet 'hate on' for skaters that they feel should have retired long ago for whatever reason, as if it's their decision to decide who should and shouldn't compete anymore. PRETTY sure that's up to the skaters themselves. I'm a firm believer in doing something as long as you love it, and if that's competing in skating that's fine by me. It's not like there's a long line-up of professional competitions these days to give the skaters that love competing an outlet as they grow older or become 'done' with the ISU way. I don't think anyone complained when Torvill and Dean, Brian Boitano, Katarina Witt, Gordeeva and Grinkov's came back to compete at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics for the thrill and experience of it and any Olympic Gold Medallist who wants to give it another go gets my respect for their perseverance and dedication to a sport they obviously have a great love for. The fact of the matter is, those words were really eaten with a fork, knife and a big old lobster bib when Plushenko went out in the men's short program of the team event and went clean in front of a Russian audience, nailing a quad toe/triple toe, triple axel and triple lutz. The Olympic Gold Medallist's score of 91.39 beat reigning World Champion Patrick Chan. Let's think about that for a moment and put it in a little context. Did anyone see THAT coming? That's how figure skating competition works. You don't see it coming. You can't. It's about who delivers when it counts, and Plushenko did. Now... that said, were his scores generous? Yeah, they sure were. But you know what? A lot of people's scores are - fan and judge favourites included. Plushenko was not the only one to post a big score in the team event's men's short program. Yuzuru Hanyu stood atop the leaderboard for Team Japan with a HUGE score of 97.98 and a program that included a quad toe, triple axel and triple lutz/triple toe combo. Hanyu's PCS score was slightly less than Patrick Chan's, who even with less than secure landings showed his always superb skating skills and the quality of in his skating in his 3rd place short program that featured a quad combination as well. The men skating in the short program had some great performances ALL AROUND - Florent Amodio, Peter Liebers and Matthew Parr all went clean in their efforts. Sadly, it wasn't Jeremy's night. And you know what? That's OK. His program was still the most exciting, interesting and enchanting and the problems on his quad combination and the singled axel really mean nothing. This is a team competition and this was his first effort of three in Sochi. The men's competition is what matters and one off skate means nothing. He's a fighter and I have every confidence he'll come back swinging like he did in Boston and tear the roof off the rink.
After the dust settled, after the men and pairs had their turn duking it out on Olympic ice in the team event's debut in Olympic competition, Russia narrowly led the way in the team standings with 19 points to Canada's 17. China, Japan, Germany and France followed with the U.S. team sitting in 7th after Abbott and Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir's efforts, leaving the pressure on Ashley Wagner and Meryl Davis and Charlie White to qualify the U.S. a spot in the free skate and a chance at a medal.
None of the pairs were perfect in the free skate, but there was a lot of impressive skating going on. Russians Ksenia Stoblova and Fedor Klimov gave a rather uninspired skate to "The Addams Family" but aside from one problem on the side by side jump combination when Ksenia singled the second jump in the combination, they were technically outstanding. I've seen a lot of skaters perform to "The Addams Family" over the years, and this was by far one of the most choreographically weak in my opinion. They had such fun music to work with and really didn't use it all! Fedor looked more like Beetlejuice in his striped tux than Gomez Addams and I'm not sure who Ksenia was going for but it certainly wasn't Morticia... more along the lines of Juno The Case Worker from Beetlejuice. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch were also technically oustanding, their only mistake being a step out of the side by side triple salchows from Kirsten. Their program had speed galore, energy and choreography but ended up with a PCS score of 64.85 to Ksenia and Fedor's 68.06. Again, I don't get it. I thought that Berton and Hotarek AND Castelli and Shnapir both showed guts and determination in their programs. Despite mistakes, they fought all the way throw, the Italians rebounding from a rough start that included a painful fall from Stefania on the side by side triple salchows and the Americans giving the throw quad salchow a very valiant attempt and coming back to nail their final throw, the triple salchow, after Marissa fell on her second side by side triple pass. The Japanese pair, God love them, unfortunately weren't even in the same league as the other teams, looking tentative and slow throughout their program and cautious on even a double twist. That said, they were up against really experienced teams and despite several errors, really gave it a good effort. And that what it's about. I was concerned for Stefania Berton, who left the ice holding her hip after her awful fall on that side-by-side jump. Someone get her some Ben-Straight! They certainly don't have Ben-Gay in Sochi... All kidding aside, I hope she's okay for the pairs competition and comes back full force. They are a team to watch.
After the pairs event, it was clear that this was probably going to be a fight for the gold between Russia and Canada, but then the media seemed to latch onto a new element of the allegations that a fix was in for Russia to win the team in event in conjunction with Davis and White claiming the gold in Ice Dance. The Canadian skaters were getting drug tested out of the blue like crazy - at all hours of the night and even inexplicably hours before competing. Michael Slipchuk from Skate Canada attested that this was certainly unusual but hey... the show went on. First to take the ice to skate their free skates in the Team Event were the men. Evgeni Plushenko delivered classic Zhenya fare with his "The Best Of Plushenko" free skate, a self-indulgent 'greatest hits' compilation of music he's skated to over the years. He skated as well as he could have, laying down triple/triples and a gorgeous quad toe, but as always... it was jump, jump, jump with nothing but a lot of showboating and gesturing in between. His PCS score of 86.72 to Jason Brown's 79.22 made absolutely NO sense whatsoever and as far as I'm concerned can't be explained away with any sort of creative bookkeeping. The whole concept of "PCS" as opposed to Presentation is founded on transitions, choreography and skating skills, and although you have to respect Plushenko's dedication and technical excellence, that score was more inflated than Ottavio Cinquanta's ego. Kevin Reynolds but his boot problems behind him and delivered a technically outstanding program, laying down THREE quads (a la Tim Goebel) and finishing a strong second and showing he's back and ready to compete. He looked very focused and his program itself had a lot of great nuances that really help him in this judging context. Tatsuki Machida (whose "Firebird" program I love - costume and all!) had a great skate as well, making his triple axel look like a walk in the park but also played victim to Plushenko's generous scoring. The real crime was the Jason Brown's 4th place finish. No, it wasn't the same skate as Boston but it still had me on the edge of my seat ENTRALLED and was the only performance of ANY of the free skates that moved me emotionally. He had a couple little hiccups including a miss on his triple salchow but still delivered the best PERFORMANCE of the men's event and his PCS score in relation to Plushenko's was like a big fat joke. Whether you dismiss the hullabaloo over a judging 'scandal' as hoopla or not, the reward that Evgeni reaped here was questionable at best. On a side note, watching Meagan Duhamel in the 'kiss and cry' needs to be a TV show of its own - she is priceless!
The attention turned to the ladies and the skating they put out on the Iceberg Palace ice was just as exciting. Julia Lipnitskaia again reeled off every triple jump in the book coupled with amazing flexibility, awe inspiring spins and a maturity beyond her years but the maturity was again not there in my opinion... or certainly not to the extent that the hype surrounding her skating suggests. She did lay down a serious gauntlet for Yuna Kim, Mao Asada and all to go against in the ladies event and her consistency suggests that she simply can't put a foot wrong. Like Plushenko in the men's event, her PCS scores were again generous: 69.82 put her well ahead of the rest of the competition. Gracie Gold had a golden moment, silencing her critics and skating a flawless program that was highlighted by two triple lutzes (one in combination with a triple toe) and a double axel/triple toe combination. She couldn't have done anything more in the jumping... or "transitions" department. Akiko Suzuki, the veteran of the field and Canada's Kaetlyn Osmond both fought hard through their free skates, showing that they weren't going down without a fight either... I think we can expect big things from both in the ladies event if they are on their 'A Game'. Kudos also go out to Italy's Valentina Marchei, who in her Olympic debut looked strong, confident and on top of HER game in a program that featured two gorgeous triple lutzes.
Congratulations to all of the NEW Olympic Medallists from Russia, Canada and the U.S. including some of my own favourite skaters - Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Jeremy Abbott, Ashley Wagner, Kaetlyn Osmond and Jason Brown among them. I couldn't even imagine that feeling. They've worked so hard for so many years and what an amazing sense of team spirit this event inspired and what a GOOD idea it was to bring it to the Olympic Games. It certainly got things started with a bang and we couldn't have asked for better skating. Better judging on the other hand? I think that's a very reasonable request. I hate to say it, but I think we're in for more of the same. I wouldn't be surprised to see Evgeni Plushenko on the podium in the men's event or Julia Lipnitskaia with a gold medal around her neck in the ladies, that's for sure.
THE PAIRS COMPETITION
Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov Jr. - 'the Russian team' - have been together just less than four years, but their individual experience as pairs skaters shined in the ease in which they executed their elements. It is no surprise they are the current world record holders for any Pairs Short Program with the 83.98 score they earned at the 2014 European Championships. They skated the same program that won the the team event Pairs Short Program set to former Soviet composer Aram Khachaturian's "Waltz" from the play "Masquerade". Considering that "Masquerade" is a dark story of a woman who is killed by her husband after being falsely accused of cheating, Tatiana and Max certainly gave a lighter (through dramatic) interpretation of the music's story and the name of the game for them was their solid execution of every element that reflected in their TES score with high levels and GOE's. I can't even FEIGN interest writing out the words 'levels' and 'GOE'. How depressing is that? They honestly DO deserve great scores for the quality of the elements they do, but their program is NOT the most difficult nor in my opinion the most soul stirring.
If you look at the difficulty of the jumping passes alone, Savchenko and Szolkowy, Duhamel and Radford AND Stoblova and Klimov had them beat. They follow in the footsteps of the so many great Russian/former Soviet pairs legends, but I don't find myself moved in the same way by their skating I was by other Russian teams like Gordeeva and Grinkov or Berezhnaya and Sikharulidze for instance. They remind me more of Natalia Mishkutenok and Artur Dmitriev in the styling and choreography they portrayed in this program. Skating clean, they earned a score of 84.17.
Germans Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, students of World Champion and Olympic Medallist Ingo Steuer, returned to the familiar, ditching their "When Winter Comes" short program and opting to dance to a familiar tune, recycling "The Pink Panther" music they had previously used in their free skate during the 2010/2011 season. It's always a risky move to show up at the Olympics with a brand new program, but they are not the only skaters to do it. If you're skating to something that you're just not feeling, sometimes going back to something that fits like an old shoe can be the best thing for you... been there myself! I can't say I'm crazy about "The Pink Panther" as an elite level program, unless you're going in a really funny direction like Laurent Tobel did, but it's not really up to me. I just think that as skaters they are a bit better than a vehicle like that. Technically, they were brilliant, landing side-by-side triple toe-loops, their triple twist and a difficult triple flip, but they were ranked under 'the Russians' by almost five points with a score of 79.64.
The second Russian pair, Stoblova and Klimov, were rock solid in their short program, finishing third with another clean program (featuring a huge and clean throw triple lutz) and earning a score of 75.21. Like their teammates, I didn't feel a huge emotional connection with their program but that said, I like their short program much more than their 'Addams Family' free skate which left me feeling completely flat in the Team Event. A ton of respect has to be given to former Olympic Medallists Qing Pang and Jian Tong of China, the veterans of the field, who turned in a very strong performance of their own to find themselves in very real striking distance of another Olympic podium with a score of 73.30. In fact, the scores of the teams ranked third through seventh all fall in a five point range, meaning that that fight for medals in the free skate really and honestly is anyone's game. As RuPaul would say... "and DON'T fuck it up!"
Olympic Silver Medallists Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford (feels so good to say that!), who were absolutely radiant in the team event's Pairs Short Program once again took to the ice to perform "Tribute", a moving tribute to late coach Paul Wirtz set to music specially composed by Eric himself. Not only is this program beautifully crafted, it's the most technically difficult. Their side-by-side triple lutz alone has a base value of 6.00 points, which is 4.1 points more than the side-by-side triples attempted by favourites Volosozhar and Trankov and Savchenko and Szolkowy. Again, the throw triple lutz in Meagan and Eric's program has a base value of 5.5, which is 0.5 more than the throw triple loop in the Russian's program. They nailed that throw triple lutz and landed their side-by-side triple lutzes this time too! It's not just about the big ticket elements for these two though. The quality and difficulty of little details like the CRAZY transition into their death spiral is something, for instance, that really makes their skating stand out. I really felt that they were swindled for points in the team event, especially in the PCS marks and based on their program's difficulty and quality, again here too. At any rate, a second medal at these Winter Olympics is in reach from fifth place and if anyone can do it, it's them.
Kristen Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch (ALSO now Olympic Silver Medallists) are every bit as talented as the rest and showed off not only their daring lifts and sound pairs skills in their short program set to the same music that led them to a 4th place finish at the 2013 World Championships, "Motley Crew" from the "Micmacs" soundtrack. Choreographed by Mark Pillay, this program was filled with energy, personality and detail and that reflected in their PCS marks. Coached by Canadian Champions Kristy (Sargeant) and Kris Wirtz, it's easy to see Kristy and Kris in this pair. They were solid as a rock, with controlled fireworks on their twists and throws. Sixth place and a score of 70.92 place them in the running for a medal as well!
Team U.S.A. was well represented by The Skating Club Of Boston's Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, who delivered a clean program under immense pressure to find themselves in the top ten. Marissa and Simon certainly benefited from the experience of competing in the Team Event and handily earned themselves an Olympic Bronze medal in the process and if they skate like they did today, they will surely find themselves in the top ten. Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay, the team who stole the stole in the free skate at the 2014 U.S. Championships in Boston (a city's name you always have to say with the accent just cause) were positively brilliant as well, crusing through their side-by-side triples and throw triple lutz like they were nothing. Being both of these teams first Olympic Games, it's really so incredible to see them have such grace under pressure. Felicia and Nathan find themselves disappointly in 14th under Italians Berton and Hotarek, who certainly didn't have the skate the Americans did.
Canada's third team, Saskatchewan's Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers, who skated in the third group are are so talented in their own right. They weren't perfect technically today, but they put on one of the best shows going. If they were nervous, you couldn't have guessed! As a side note, he is CUTE! Just sayin. Another great performance that really stood out was that of France's Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres, who looked confident and on their A game in a flawless program that was surely vindication for their skate in the Team Event's short program. All in all, for team after team this was how they WANTED to skate on the world's biggest stage, and it's wonderful to see so many teams go clean or close to it.
After the short program, the pack was close but the win almost seemed phoned in back in October for the Russian team of Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov Jr. Though it seems in the eyes of the international judges that they can do no wrong, the fact of the matter remains that on the ice they aren't either. The quality of their elements really IS outstanding. It's not like the judges are dishing out some grave miscarriage of skating justice as they seem to be with Plushenko's PCS marks but they aren't being skimpy either. Tatiana and Maxim's marks are a little theatrically high every time I find, but that said, they are great. That's simply fact. After four years of hard work, sweat and tears, they join legendary Olympic Gold Medallists of the past like Ekaterina Gordeeva and the late Sergei Grinkov, Ludmila and Oleg Protopopov and Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev as the latest in the line of great champion Russian pairs skaters. The new Olympic Champions performed a program set to "Jesus Christ Superstar" and dazzled with their difficult lifts and a triple twist that defied gravity but they weren't absolutely perfect. They showed their humanity, they fought through the entire skate and I have to admit it was touching to see them crack that steely focus and show so much raw emotion after skating the biggest performance of their lives in front of their home country. Despite skating clean in both of the short programs they had skated so far in Sochi, there had been a certain buzz about this particular program when they fumbled at the European Championships and were outscored by Stolbova and Klimov in that segment of the competition. However, disaster was what it really would have taken to pry that gold medal from their hands based on their short program lead alone and they didn't only fend of the competition, they threw down a quite a resplendent performance and earned a score of 152.69, even if it wasn't their very best. They join a long list of Olympic Gold Medallists in pairs skating that have most recently included Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao, Tatiana Totmianina and Maxim Marinin, Jamie Sale and David Pelletier and Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze.
China's Qing Pang and Jian Tong deserve a standing ovation from all skating fans for their long term
dedication to the sport and last hurrah. Making their debut at the World Championships in 1999,
Sochi was incredibly this team's fourth Winter Olympics, moving up steadily from ninth to fourth to win the silver medal at the 2010 Games in Vancouver right behind teammates Shen and Zhao. Skating to "I Dreamed A Dream" from "Les Miserables" (like U.S. team Zhang and Bartholomay and so many other skaters at these Games opting to interpret Schonberg's iconic score), their program was a beautiful backdrop for their skating which has stayed at such a competitive level for so many years. Their swan song wasn't to be enough for a medal again after a problem right off the bat on their opening double axel/double axel jump sequence set the mood for a program that seemed to have an emotional disconnect to me, although their twist was so nice and big and their throws not only had great height and security but distance as well. It wasn't their Susan Boyle moment, but it was a really good skate they can and should be proud of.
Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford, Kristen Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch and Paige Lawrence and Rudi Swiegers are all champions in my eyes, and that's not just because I'm from Canada. They are plucky teams with personality, solid skating skills and great attack in their programs. They are modern and not just doing the same heavy, overused, copycat programs that their competition are. They all went in different directions with their programs - Meagan and Eric interestingly choosing "Alice In Wonderland" after skating in the opening number of last year's "Stars On Ice" with the same theme and Two Steps From Hell's "Everlasting", Kristen and Dylan going with a Fellini Medley (a traditional choice yet big, brassy music to complement their style) and Paige and Rudi (like Meagan and Eric) going with a Danny Elfman score, "Oz The Great And Powerful", a sharp contrast from their more playful short program.
Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch, on the other hand, had one of their very best skates, nailing everything in their Nino Rota free skate with confidence and verve with the exception of one doubled side-by-side jump but their score of 202.10 still wasn't enough to catch up to the flawed pairs who placed ahead of them. From a casual viewers point of view, that's clearly something that's wrong with the current judging system but at any rate, they should be damn proud of how they skated. Fifth at the Olympics - and seventh for Meagan and Eric - are results to be proud of. Paige and Rudi weren't able to come from behind and ended the competition in 14th, but what's not to love about them? They really have a huge future in Canadian and international skating.
So many other exciting moments happened outside of that top medal race of teams - China's Peng Cheng and Zhang Hao skated a very strong performance and executed a QUAD twist whereas Americans Castelli and Shnapir also turned in a gutsy performance, going for a throw quad salchow and landing it on two feet. So brave, so fearless and so talented they are. Americans Felicia Zhang and Nathan Bartholomay had a great Olympic debut too that they really need to be incredibly proud of - their love of skating and talent shines.
THE MEN'S COMPETITION
When you have that many talented men all fighting for spots in the top ten, it becomes a game of who can stay on their feet and check off each element in the list. Naturally, some did and some didn't and their placements in this part of the competition will really set the stage for who will realistically have a shot at a medal. That said, "it ain't over till the fat lady sings". Who's got a viking helmet? Oh, wait, we aren't in Lillehammer anymore, Toto. I couldn't help but having this sinking feeling in my stomach that Plushenko would be rewarded again uber generously for his efforts regardless of his skate. Call it part hunch, part analysis of the Team Event. It turned out that none of that would even matter, when Plushenko did the not so shocking and withdrew from the men's event after reportedly injuring himself in the warm up. Having not attended his practice the night before, part of me wasn't surprised at all to see him withdraw (injury or not). Part of you has to wonder somewhere deep down if this wasn't written on the wall after Plushenko had stated previously that his real interest in competing at these Sochi Olympics was participating in the Team Event. I suppose in anchoring the Russian team's victory in the Team Event, his goal of winning an another Olympic gold medal was completed. I'm not downplaying or trivializing any injury Plushenko sustained, I just knew in my heart of hearts after not attending last night's practice that something was up.
European Champion Javier Fernandez, the prodigal student of 2 time Olympic Silver Medallist and World Champion Brian Orser, is such a star. Skating to "Satan Takes A Holiday", quirky, fun music made famous to skating fans when Robin Cousins skated to it professionally, Fernandez' skating and program had Brian Orser written ALL over them and that is most certainly not a bad thing... just sayin. This particular performance was by no means what he wanted with mistakes on all three jumping passes - a problematic landing on his quad salchow, a foot down on his triple axel and a step out on his triple lutz/triple toe combination, however he posted a more than generous score of 86.98 to keep him in the running. I don't really get it. Sorry guys.
Daisuke Takahashi, who like Ashley Wagner faced criticism through no real fault of his own by being selected to represent his country at these Olympics after finishing off the podium at his National Championships, made it in the news again recently after it was revealed that the composer of his short program music "Sonatina For Violin In C-Sharp Minor" had fraudulently attributed the music to himself. In drag queen speak, he stole someone else's number. That NEVER goes over well! None of these things really speak to Takahashi's character, beautiful mature, adult, majestic skating or his determination all season to make this Olympic dream happen again for him. Defending his Olympic bronze medal from the Vancouver Games would be a HUGE task for Takahashi, but his skating was magnificent here. His program, choreographed by Kenji Miyamoto, is a beautiful program in and of itself even if you completely remove the jumps (much like Abbott and Brown's programs). Although deserving of high class PCS marks, his opening quad wasn't to be and a 4th place finish, considering the showmanship and finesse of both American skaters, seemed a bit forgiving. If two skaters miss their quads and land the rest and both deliver gutsy performances, there shouldn't be an over 10 place gap in the standings nor an over 5 point gap in the PCS marks. I just don't agree.
Skating to an orchestral arrangement of Coldplay, one of the best skates of the competition came from Germany's Peter Liebers, who went clean with a beautiful quad/triple combination, triple axel and triple lutz and finished 5th behind Chan, Fernandez and Takahashi, who all made mistakes. Was he robbed? He was robbed blind. Liebers, with a classy and well choreographed program designed by Lori Nichol, finished behind Spain's Fernandez, who had errors on all three of his jumping passes. Riddle me this... do you need to have a bigger 'name' to get a bigger result? In this case, I guess you do. Joubert too, was clean, and was certainly farther back than the Spanish skating star who's full of talent but just didn't deliver on this occasion up to his true potential.
Jeremy took a TERRIFYING tumble on his opening quad toe and had me terrified to death that he was seriously injured. I can't even imagine what was going through his Mom Allison's head. It was seriously reminiscent of the fall Candice Didier took in her free skate at Worlds years ago - like call an ambulance scary. He got up to a thunderous applause from the Russian audience and came back like a scrapper to land a great triple lutz/triple toe and gutsy triple axel and sold the rest of his program like a total star. If anyone deserves an Olympic gold medal for grit and determination it's Jeremy. I won't lie, he had me all teary eyed. Moments like that program are what skating and life are all about: getting back up and fighting with every fiber of your being! Strangely, the fact that he got up and fought is what Jeremy's career has always been about to me... not giving up. In a post skate interview, Jeremy reflected on his performance with the beautiful words: "I think my personal story has always been about perseverance and always getting up when you fall, so maybe I'm not Olympic champion, but if nothing else I can teach the world that you can get up". Beautifully, beautifully said.
Jason Brown two footed his opening triple axel but like Jeremy, came back strong to land a great triple flip/triple toe and Tano triple lutz and gave a performance full of confidence, personality and that uncompromising artistry that's made him such a popular and revered skater. Brown sits in sixth, his "Riverdance" free skate set to be performed in the final flight of men tomorrow and will it make me cry again? It so will! Jeremy Abbott inexplicably sits in 15th place, more than 10 places behind Javier Fernandez, who was unsuccessful in all three of his jumping passes. You figure that one out. I sure can't.
Skating to "Mutation" from Cirque Du Soleil's "Amaluna", 2007 World Champion Brian Joubert showed us why he's continued to compete in the ISU ranks. It's funny, despite a drop in the standings the last couple years, the quality of his skating has drastically improved in time and he still has so much to offer. Brian's got this great of mix of raw athleticism and magnetism that draw you into his performances regardless of whether or not he lands his jumps or not. There's just something about that man that I really like. Brian skated as well as he could have, landing a great quad toe/triple toe combination to open as well as a triple lutz and squeaking out his triple axel to go clean. His PCS scores, as always, were the factor that kept him lower in the standings than he would have liked, but you have to appreciate Brian for delivering a great program when it counted. "Washed up" he is absolutely not.
I found Han Yan's scoring to be generous as his program had about as much personality as pizzazz as a watered down drink and I don't quite get his eighth place finish ahead of skaters like Denis Ten in 9th, Machida in 11th, Brezina in 12th, Verner in 13th or Abbott in 15th. Though technically a strong contender when he's on, his skating does nothing for me. Kevin Reynolds, who landed three quads in his free skate in the Team Event to win an Olympic silver medal, kind of imploded in the short program here, finishing 17th behind a clean as a whistle Jorik Hendrickx to put himself out of the running. With his technical skills, he can certainly put this AC/DC disaster behind him and rebound with a skate for the ages if he skates up to his potential. Sadly, Liam Firus, the rookie and surprise third man on the Canadian team, found himself in the second to last position after skating first and having a rough go of it.
In the free skate, battle for gold was clearly between Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, the leader and new short program world record holder, and Patrick Chan, the favourite. Both skaters, with a loyal following of fans (judges seemingly among them) skated strong short programs, albeit the three time World Champion Chan's not technically perfect. With the very high scores Patrick gets from judges even when he's not clean, the task of claiming Olympic gold for Japan's Hanyu would be even harder. Yuzuru really had to be as sensational as he was in the short program. His free skate, performed to Nina Rota's interpretation of "Romeo And Juliet" was choreographed by Canadian choreographer David Wilson. Did he create any sort of a moment with his performance? In my opinion, not particularly. The gold and silver medals were phoned in after the short program scores and it didn't really seem to matter how either Hanyu or Chan skated. Hanyu wasn't disastrous, managing a quad toe, two triple axels and two triple lutzes, but a bad fall on a quad salchow and a step out and hand down on his triple flip rendered him cautious and really detracted from any sense of momentum in his program. It was enough though, and his Olympic gold medal was well earned based on his spectacular short program performance. That said, if this performance as well as Chan's were enough to win Olympic gold and silver medals ahead of skaters with clean, inspiring performances, the IJS judging system officially has had its moment of completely ruining skaters for Olympic viewers. It's a shame that these two skaters performances on the Olympic stage were the catalyst for complete confusion, but sadly, that's "how things are".
With his parents Karen and Louis Chan in the audience, Patrick Chan took to the ice to skate his tour de force of a free skate set to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and "Concerto Grosso" by Arcangelo Corelli, a program that like Hanyu's was choreographed by David Wilson. I couldn't even imagine seeing two programs you'd created and nursed to perfection with these skaters being compared on such a grand scale. That certainly has to be a testament to Wilson's brilliance. After stepping out of a big triple axel in his short program, you had to know that in addition to the quad, Patrick wanted to nail that triple axel in style in his free skate. A tour de force today was not. After opening strong with a gorgeous quad toe/triple toe program, both Patrick's jumps and musical interpretation pretty much fell apart. He stepped out of three jumps and doubled others and in my opinion, his choreography and interpretation was nowhere like it normally is with this program. As with Hanyu, the judging was phoned in. Both skaters scored WELL above skaters like Jeremy Abbott and Brian Joubert, who stayed on their feet and delivered fine performances and I'm left scratching my head. A ten point lead over Jeremy Abbott in PCS alone? Judges, get over yourselves. You may be keeping in line with the status quo, but you are not judging the programs that I'm watching apparently. Although a marvellous skater and now an Olympic Gold and Silver Medallist, this was not the Olympics Chan almost certainly envisioned.
Denis Ten, who missed the first part of his season due to illness and skated an imperfect but impassioned short program, skated his free skate to Lori Nichols' choreography. His music was the always dramatic "The Young Lady And The Hooligan" by prominent Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Ten's short program placement of 9th was a blessing in itself - he outranked Sweden's Alexander Majorov who handily landed a quad in his short program. His free skate would be enough to vault him from 9th to win the bronze medal and although he flubbed his last two jumps in an otherwise exceptional skate, I actually thought as compared to Hanyu and Chan, his program had a lot more meat. His medal win over Spain's Fernandez, in the judge's eyes, was moreso about his TES score, and his quad toe, triple axel/triple toe and triple axel had a lot to with that. I just find it ironic that he again finished behind Chan at a major event after skating a program that was arguably more put together. It doesn't matter though. He's a great skater and good on him for winning the Olympic bronze medal that didn't even seem possible earlier this season.
Spain's Javier Fernandez elicited what were in my opinion EXTREMELY charitable scores to say the least for his marred short program, clearly had the respect of the judges. To say Javier isn't a phenomenal skater is completely untrue and unfair, but to say he wasn't helped out a little wouldn't be true either. In the free skate, he redeemed himself by leaps and bounds (literally) with a program that featured two quadruple jumps right at the beginning: a quad toe and a quad salchow/double toe combination. A couple doubles here and there were just the difference between third and fourth and his PCS score of 89.14 wasn't enough to catch up with Ten's almost ten point lead in the TES scores.
As the reigning Olympic Bronze Medallist, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan had proven that he was still in the running for the medal when the judges awarded him a score of 86.40 in the short program and a fourth place finish despite an underrotated quad toe that he stepped out of at the beginning of his program. I think Daisuke wanted this Olympic moment to happen as badly as ANYONE, and his free skate just wasn't enough to even come close, even in a night of sub par skating. A triple lutz/triple toe and triple axel highlighted the better moments in his program, but errors on his opening quad toe and second triple axel really ended any hopes of moving up in the standings. Disappointingly, his sixth place finish is no indication of how great Takahashi is when he's on his A game.
Tatsuki Machida, who also represented Japan in the free skate of the Team Event, is an accomplished
free skater in his own right. He's won international competitions left, right and center and finished just off the podium at this December's Grand Prix Final. His free skate this season was set to Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird", music made famous among figure skating fans when it was performed by Toller Cranston, who is just - let's face it - pretty much the best thing ever. Machida is pretty outstanding in his own right. The 23 year old from Hiroshima, Japan shows in his skating an understanding of the music he's interpreting and has a solid jumping technique that he demonstrated that like Jeremy Abbott in a short program, if you miss your first jump, you CAN get up and fight. The fall on his opening quad didn't set the tone for the rest of his program, which was actually excellent. He got a quad toe combination in there, two triple axels and many triples LATE in the program, giving him that bonus. A 5th place finish at the Olympics is nothing to sneeze at. Good for him!
Germany's Peter Liebers really was the surprise of the men's short program, skating a fantastic and clean program to an arrangement of Coldplay's "Clocks" that included a gorgeous quad toe/triple toe combination. In the free skate, the 25 year old son of former East German international competitor Mario Liebers showed his modern, European style and grace under pressure with his program performed to an arrangement of Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever?" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" choreographed by former Japanese competitor turned choreographer Shin Amano. Not only is Liebers a really good jumper, but I appreciate his dedication to skating and music choices. We see enough Carmen's, am I not right? Although he got a nice triple axel/triple toe in there, problems on a few of his jumping passes including his opening quad dropped him in the standings to 8th but that said, I don't think that his prominence at this event was anything a lot of people necessarily expected. It's proof and parcel not to count out strong and consistent jumpers who don't have the names or judge popularity of the rest of the field.
Jason Brown's "Riverdance" program is one of the most moving, memorable programs I've seen skated in ISU competition in the last ten years. Completely musical, exquisitely choreographed and full of exuberance, from his opening stance to the program's climax with it's perfectly timed triple flip and extended back leg lift into a triple lutz with the arm variation, it's really an exciting ride from start to finish that has you tapping his toes, cheering along and getting emotional. I've always felt an emotional connection to this music, as I explained earlier in my blog about the U.S. Championships in Boston that I'd skated to the same music myself at my first Provincials, the program being one of the most special I ever skated. When the draw had Jason skating last, you just knew that no matter what happened, there was going to be magic and if he skated well, confusion among viewers who wanted that gold medal around his neck if he skated like he did in Boston. That's how people who don't give a damn about TES and PCS scores view skating. They want the 'best skater' to win, and with the way Brown skates, he is a hell of a lot more exciting to watch than anyone in that final group. He wasn't perfect, struggling on both of his triple axel attempts and popping open his second double axel before throwing it back in there in a moment of true grit. The program didn't lose any bit of its excitement despite a few jumping bobbles yet these PRIZES of judges still gave him a lower PCS score than a bumbling Patrick Chan and Yuzuru Hanyu, and placed him an incredible 11th place in the free skate, dropping him to 9th overall. You really can only laugh at this point. Your system's busted, Cinquanta. You might want to get on that, honey.
Both Czech men competing in this event were devilishly handsome and full of natural talent. 23 year old Michal Brezina is a former champion at Skate America in 2011 and 27 year old Tomáš Verner is a veteran in the men's field, having won 10 Czech titles, 6 senior Grand Prix medals and the 2008 European title. Brezina actually started off CRAZY strong in his free skate, landing 2 quad salchows and a triple axel back to back and looking poised to make a move, but he unravelled a little bit later on to end the competition in 10th to his teammate Verner's 11th.
After his courageous and inspiring short program, it was hard to even think that we'd see Jeremy Abbott skate his much loved "Exogenesis" free skate. The fall he took looked to be excruciating; the fact he got up didn't even seem possible. With his parents Allen and Allison in the stands to witness his final Olympic moment, Jeremy Abbott had what I think was the best skate of the ENTIRE men's free skate, wisely leaving the quad out of his program and opting for a triple toe instead. He landed two triple axels (one in combination with a triple toe) for a grand total of seven clean triple jumps in his free skate and two double axels and was kindly rewarded by moving up to 12th overall in an otherwise hot mess of a men's free skate. How big of them. At any rate, judges scores be damned, these Olympics were a testament to Jeremy's "get up and fight" attitude and I don't think he could have asked for a better performance in the free skate. His program was ethereal and exciting, his determination fierce and his story only the more remarkable by doing the impossible on the Olympic stage. We can't rely on a leaderboard to determine who the real champions are, and Jeremy is the real Olympic Gold Medallist in my heart.
Like Evgeni Plushenko, the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games marked Brian Joubert of Poitiers, France's fourth appearance at the Olympics and none of them, sadly, resulted in a medal for the three time European Champion and 2007 World Champion. Despite consistent success over the years, a steady improvement in all areas of his skating and a clean short program, the French star found himself in a position to make a move but behind skaters who had fared far worse with their jumping passes. Considering jumping is Joubert's forte, the judging didn't make all of the sense in the world. The quad was what Joubert was counting on in his free skate to Jaoquin Rodrigo's "Concierto de Aranjuez" as he'd counted on it for years - Joubert was the first skater to land 100 quadruple jumps in competition. Joubert delivered a really solid skate here actually, landing two quads and a triple axel to finish a ridiculous 13th overall behind skater after skater who quite frankly, in many cases, blew it. I don't even know what you say to this shit. And shit it is. Good for Brian for skating what's almost likely his last Olympic free skate SO well and shame on the judges for relying on the current popularity of these skaters to dictate their final placings. They had no problem rewarding Plushenko with GENEROUS scores for his stop and pose programs, so I don't see why Brian Joubert's suddenly being dinged for his '6.0' style of men's skating. Oh wait, 'we're in Russia'.
British Columbia's Olympic Silver Medallist Kevin Reynolds was one skater that could have easily played the 'spoiler' role and really turned in an upset but his results in the short program, 17th, would mean he was really skating for redemption and not a medal. After missing much of the season due to boot problems, the Olympics were Kevin's first international appearance of the season. Today's answer to Tim Goebel with quad attempts galore, he skated to the sweeping "Excelcius" by Larry Groupe and was all about going big or going home. He did it a bit of both, making mistakes on a good number of his jumping passes including his first two quad attempts, but did land a beauty of a quad toe, which helped him move up two places to 15th. After a disappointing debut at the Olympics, Canada's third men's entry Liam Firus failed to qualify for the free skate.
The lesson to be learned by all of this is not that these skaters aren't talented. They sure as hell are and to think otherwise is just foolish. The quad race inspired by this gymnastics style scoring system that compares apples with apples has left no room for special moments and if the International Skating Union chooses not to come up with a system that rewards success and not just difficulty, we'll be in for more Olympic medallists with less than memorable performances. In turn, casual viewers will shake their hands and change the channel, skaters will become even more streamlined and I'll develop an ulcer to go along with that well-used liver o'mine.
In the free skate, battle for gold was clearly between Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan, the leader and new short program world record holder, and Patrick Chan, the favourite. Both skaters, with a loyal following of fans (judges seemingly among them) skated strong short programs, albeit the three time World Champion Chan's not technically perfect. With the very high scores Patrick gets from judges even when he's not clean, the task of claiming Olympic gold for Japan's Hanyu would be even harder. Yuzuru really had to be as sensational as he was in the short program. His free skate, performed to Nina Rota's interpretation of "Romeo And Juliet" was choreographed by Canadian choreographer David Wilson. Did he create any sort of a moment with his performance? In my opinion, not particularly. The gold and silver medals were phoned in after the short program scores and it didn't really seem to matter how either Hanyu or Chan skated. Hanyu wasn't disastrous, managing a quad toe, two triple axels and two triple lutzes, but a bad fall on a quad salchow and a step out and hand down on his triple flip rendered him cautious and really detracted from any sense of momentum in his program. It was enough though, and his Olympic gold medal was well earned based on his spectacular short program performance. That said, if this performance as well as Chan's were enough to win Olympic gold and silver medals ahead of skaters with clean, inspiring performances, the IJS judging system officially has had its moment of completely ruining skaters for Olympic viewers. It's a shame that these two skaters performances on the Olympic stage were the catalyst for complete confusion, but sadly, that's "how things are".
With his parents Karen and Louis Chan in the audience, Patrick Chan took to the ice to skate his tour de force of a free skate set to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons" and "Concerto Grosso" by Arcangelo Corelli, a program that like Hanyu's was choreographed by David Wilson. I couldn't even imagine seeing two programs you'd created and nursed to perfection with these skaters being compared on such a grand scale. That certainly has to be a testament to Wilson's brilliance. After stepping out of a big triple axel in his short program, you had to know that in addition to the quad, Patrick wanted to nail that triple axel in style in his free skate. A tour de force today was not. After opening strong with a gorgeous quad toe/triple toe program, both Patrick's jumps and musical interpretation pretty much fell apart. He stepped out of three jumps and doubled others and in my opinion, his choreography and interpretation was nowhere like it normally is with this program. As with Hanyu, the judging was phoned in. Both skaters scored WELL above skaters like Jeremy Abbott and Brian Joubert, who stayed on their feet and delivered fine performances and I'm left scratching my head. A ten point lead over Jeremy Abbott in PCS alone? Judges, get over yourselves. You may be keeping in line with the status quo, but you are not judging the programs that I'm watching apparently. Although a marvellous skater and now an Olympic Gold and Silver Medallist, this was not the Olympics Chan almost certainly envisioned.
Denis Ten, who missed the first part of his season due to illness and skated an imperfect but impassioned short program, skated his free skate to Lori Nichols' choreography. His music was the always dramatic "The Young Lady And The Hooligan" by prominent Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich. Ten's short program placement of 9th was a blessing in itself - he outranked Sweden's Alexander Majorov who handily landed a quad in his short program. His free skate would be enough to vault him from 9th to win the bronze medal and although he flubbed his last two jumps in an otherwise exceptional skate, I actually thought as compared to Hanyu and Chan, his program had a lot more meat. His medal win over Spain's Fernandez, in the judge's eyes, was moreso about his TES score, and his quad toe, triple axel/triple toe and triple axel had a lot to with that. I just find it ironic that he again finished behind Chan at a major event after skating a program that was arguably more put together. It doesn't matter though. He's a great skater and good on him for winning the Olympic bronze medal that didn't even seem possible earlier this season.
Spain's Javier Fernandez elicited what were in my opinion EXTREMELY charitable scores to say the least for his marred short program, clearly had the respect of the judges. To say Javier isn't a phenomenal skater is completely untrue and unfair, but to say he wasn't helped out a little wouldn't be true either. In the free skate, he redeemed himself by leaps and bounds (literally) with a program that featured two quadruple jumps right at the beginning: a quad toe and a quad salchow/double toe combination. A couple doubles here and there were just the difference between third and fourth and his PCS score of 89.14 wasn't enough to catch up with Ten's almost ten point lead in the TES scores.
As the reigning Olympic Bronze Medallist, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan had proven that he was still in the running for the medal when the judges awarded him a score of 86.40 in the short program and a fourth place finish despite an underrotated quad toe that he stepped out of at the beginning of his program. I think Daisuke wanted this Olympic moment to happen as badly as ANYONE, and his free skate just wasn't enough to even come close, even in a night of sub par skating. A triple lutz/triple toe and triple axel highlighted the better moments in his program, but errors on his opening quad toe and second triple axel really ended any hopes of moving up in the standings. Disappointingly, his sixth place finish is no indication of how great Takahashi is when he's on his A game.
Tatsuki Machida, who also represented Japan in the free skate of the Team Event, is an accomplished
free skater in his own right. He's won international competitions left, right and center and finished just off the podium at this December's Grand Prix Final. His free skate this season was set to Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird", music made famous among figure skating fans when it was performed by Toller Cranston, who is just - let's face it - pretty much the best thing ever. Machida is pretty outstanding in his own right. The 23 year old from Hiroshima, Japan shows in his skating an understanding of the music he's interpreting and has a solid jumping technique that he demonstrated that like Jeremy Abbott in a short program, if you miss your first jump, you CAN get up and fight. The fall on his opening quad didn't set the tone for the rest of his program, which was actually excellent. He got a quad toe combination in there, two triple axels and many triples LATE in the program, giving him that bonus. A 5th place finish at the Olympics is nothing to sneeze at. Good for him!
Germany's Peter Liebers really was the surprise of the men's short program, skating a fantastic and clean program to an arrangement of Coldplay's "Clocks" that included a gorgeous quad toe/triple toe combination. In the free skate, the 25 year old son of former East German international competitor Mario Liebers showed his modern, European style and grace under pressure with his program performed to an arrangement of Queen's "Who Wants To Live Forever?" and Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" choreographed by former Japanese competitor turned choreographer Shin Amano. Not only is Liebers a really good jumper, but I appreciate his dedication to skating and music choices. We see enough Carmen's, am I not right? Although he got a nice triple axel/triple toe in there, problems on a few of his jumping passes including his opening quad dropped him in the standings to 8th but that said, I don't think that his prominence at this event was anything a lot of people necessarily expected. It's proof and parcel not to count out strong and consistent jumpers who don't have the names or judge popularity of the rest of the field.
Jason Brown's "Riverdance" program is one of the most moving, memorable programs I've seen skated in ISU competition in the last ten years. Completely musical, exquisitely choreographed and full of exuberance, from his opening stance to the program's climax with it's perfectly timed triple flip and extended back leg lift into a triple lutz with the arm variation, it's really an exciting ride from start to finish that has you tapping his toes, cheering along and getting emotional. I've always felt an emotional connection to this music, as I explained earlier in my blog about the U.S. Championships in Boston that I'd skated to the same music myself at my first Provincials, the program being one of the most special I ever skated. When the draw had Jason skating last, you just knew that no matter what happened, there was going to be magic and if he skated well, confusion among viewers who wanted that gold medal around his neck if he skated like he did in Boston. That's how people who don't give a damn about TES and PCS scores view skating. They want the 'best skater' to win, and with the way Brown skates, he is a hell of a lot more exciting to watch than anyone in that final group. He wasn't perfect, struggling on both of his triple axel attempts and popping open his second double axel before throwing it back in there in a moment of true grit. The program didn't lose any bit of its excitement despite a few jumping bobbles yet these PRIZES of judges still gave him a lower PCS score than a bumbling Patrick Chan and Yuzuru Hanyu, and placed him an incredible 11th place in the free skate, dropping him to 9th overall. You really can only laugh at this point. Your system's busted, Cinquanta. You might want to get on that, honey.
Both Czech men competing in this event were devilishly handsome and full of natural talent. 23 year old Michal Brezina is a former champion at Skate America in 2011 and 27 year old Tomáš Verner is a veteran in the men's field, having won 10 Czech titles, 6 senior Grand Prix medals and the 2008 European title. Brezina actually started off CRAZY strong in his free skate, landing 2 quad salchows and a triple axel back to back and looking poised to make a move, but he unravelled a little bit later on to end the competition in 10th to his teammate Verner's 11th.
British Columbia's Olympic Silver Medallist Kevin Reynolds was one skater that could have easily played the 'spoiler' role and really turned in an upset but his results in the short program, 17th, would mean he was really skating for redemption and not a medal. After missing much of the season due to boot problems, the Olympics were Kevin's first international appearance of the season. Today's answer to Tim Goebel with quad attempts galore, he skated to the sweeping "Excelcius" by Larry Groupe and was all about going big or going home. He did it a bit of both, making mistakes on a good number of his jumping passes including his first two quad attempts, but did land a beauty of a quad toe, which helped him move up two places to 15th. After a disappointing debut at the Olympics, Canada's third men's entry Liam Firus failed to qualify for the free skate.
The lesson to be learned by all of this is not that these skaters aren't talented. They sure as hell are and to think otherwise is just foolish. The quad race inspired by this gymnastics style scoring system that compares apples with apples has left no room for special moments and if the International Skating Union chooses not to come up with a system that rewards success and not just difficulty, we'll be in for more Olympic medallists with less than memorable performances. In turn, casual viewers will shake their hands and change the channel, skaters will become even more streamlined and I'll develop an ulcer to go along with that well-used liver o'mine.
THE ICE DANCE COMPETITION
The story of the ice dance competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics would - as we all expected - be about the fierce rivalry between Americans Meryl Davis and Charlie White and Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, two teams who have won Olympic medals, World Championships and legions of fans around the world. Are they both immensely talented teams? You bet! Was beating Davis and White possible for Virtue and Moir? Yes, but not easily. The American team had set the bar so freaking high score wise all season that it would come down to the minute details and deconstruction of both team's short dances to determine who would be ultimately victorious... and what the judges judiciously decided were appropriate scores.
Olympic Gold Medallists and recent reality TV stars Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, who train alongside Davis and White with shared coach Marina Zoueva were the picture of emotion and artistry on ice. You can't overlook the difficulty and edge quality of their dreamy program set to a Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald medley of "Dream A Little Dream Of Me", "Muskrat Ramble" and "Cheek To Cheek". Perhaps more than the Americans, their skating blooms with emotion and heart. I'm not saying Davis and White don't have it because they clearly do, but the Disney facade of Meryl and Charlie's short dance seems plastic in comparison to Tessa and Scott's musical interpretation. Technically, the strong points were the edge work, holds and back positions however from a judging standpoint, the judges made it clear they weren't going to take the plunge and give them the lead, placing the Canadian duo second with a score of 76.33. Getting real with you all, I personally don't agree with this decision. There was nothing to nitpick about Tessa and Scott's skating today - the twizzles were gorgeous as was their step sequence and their closing rotational lift was right on the money. Their performance, most importantly, made me feel something. Davis and White's lead isn't insurmountable, but the writing almost seems on the wall. That's not pessimism, that's realism.
Rounding out the top five were Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov, Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat and Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev. Each demonstrated a command of the ice, strong musical interpretation and excellent skating skills, however personally when it came to the program itself, France's Pechalat and Bourzat had the competition beat hands down in my humble opinion, and like Are You Being Served?'s Mrs. Slocombe, "I am UNANIMOUS in that!" The Russians Bobrova and Soloviev, for instance, improved their musical interpretation and sold their Marilyn Monroe program with much more conviction that they did in the Team Event Short Dance, but their skating appeared frantic and I thought that posture wise there were plenty of issues with the UPPER body and free legs. It just looked a little out of sorts in places. There just seems to be a lot more obvious effort being put into the footwork in places (particularly the opening)... definitely not the program the French team had an in my opinion, in terms of actual skating skills. In outpacing their teammates, Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov (that's Katsalapov, not Catsupalov) really shined in a lot of ways - particularly in carriage, attention to detail and SPEED. The program BUILT to the end and all I could think of with their closing "Sing Sing Sing" section was Rose Nylund cartwheeling in the Golden Girls' dance competition: "I better do this alone!" That finish was spectacular, but I thought personally in terms of the start to finish, Pechalat and Bourzat's presentation gave them the edge. I am becoming fast fans of Ilinykh and Katsalapov though, and have no issue with the third place finish WHATSOEVER.
Canadian teams Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje and Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam were both such stars here. I do feel, however, that underscoring went on with Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje's "42nd Street" short dance, which is right up there. With medal quality skating, great ice coverage and a hearty interpretation of the music, their masterful translation of tap dancing to ice came from their work with Toronto choreographer Geoffrey Tyler. Other than the unison on the twizzle section, the carriage and edge quality was very reminiscent of Bourne and Kraatz and if you're talking TES, they should be right up there with the best. As a good friend pointed out, they scored 70+ at Skate Canada. Why this went down is questionable. I don't know if there's this unspoken rule that two Canadian ice dance teams can't both have medals around their necks, but the Russians seemed to have no problem winning two medals in the pairs competition. Just putting that out there. I'm not saying that I would have had Kaitlyn and Andrew in the top four, but fifth or sixth would have been more appropriate.
"I want to talk about... Madeline Ashton". No, not really, although I love that movie to death and pieces. I do want to talk about Maia and Alex Shibutani, Sara Hurtado Martin and Adrian Diaz Bronchud and Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland though. Their performances may not have them in the running for medals, but they were extraordinary and full of personality, difficulty and heart. There's that 'it factor' that all three of these teams have and their love of skating just shines when they take to the ice to twizzle and maverick through their programs. They're special skaters you just can't help but cheering on and smiling along with. And those are the skaters whose performances you remember at the end of the day!
The free dance... Meryl and Charlie's "The Hunchback Of Notre Dame" free dance from last year was absolutely to die for. It was like a big old chocolate cake with a dollop of extra chocolate on it and some chocolate on the side... you know, for dippin. There was musicality, drama and such solid skating technique. This year, they chose to go in a completely different direction and tell the story of "Sheherazade", the legendary Persian queen whose charm, storytelling ability and intelligence saved her life from Shahryar and made her Queen. This wasn't Oksana Baiul rolling around on the ice to "The Feeling Begins" (which I loved by the way), but it's still a very theatrical and detailed program with excellent speed, footwork, edges and fantastic lifts. I'm really quite in awe of this team's music choice because they really are a team that has always excelled not only technically but in their ability to tell stories in these epic style programs. It's really a lot like Anissina and Peizerat, if you think about it. That's the comparison that I make. They came into the free dance with a hefty advantage as the leaders and a two and a half point lead on Tessa and Scott, but they didn't cake walk through their free dance either. This program is clearly SO well rehearsed that they have the ability to go out and just do it, and do it they did. In winning the Olympic gold medal, they made history - no other U.S. ice dance team has ever won Olympic gold - and showed not only their technical prowess but their supercharged guns blazing energy. Whichever dance you ultimately prefer, you have to give it to Davis and White. Their skating is of an Olympic gold medal calibre, and if it was to happen in their careers, now was the time. Congratulations to them both!
As for the "fix" that was supposed to be in before the competition even started, we'll never know. Scores are anonymous and if you're Canadian and give credence to the idea or even show unabashed support for Tessa and Scott, you're 'ridiculous'. I've even had Americans who prefer Tessa and Scott's skating tell me that they'd never dare say so publicly. Personally, I think both teams are both out of this world but can honestly say that I prefer Tessa and Scott's programs because I feel an emotional connection to their skating. Technically, you can't say a bad word about either team unless you're just trying to extrapolate riddles from edges. I'm just thankful they both skated so well and can both proudly call themselves 3 time Olympic medallists... and Olympic Gold Medallists.
Canadians Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje's tango free dance which was masterfully choreographed AND conveyed, didn't get the kind of marks from the judges that I actually think it should have as compared to Bobrova and Soloviev or Cappellini and Lanotte. They skated their program with conviction, finesse and a quality to their edges and footwork that was actually more refined that Bobrova and Soloviev in my opinion. They finished seventh overall. Canada's third entry, Alexandra Paul and Mitchell Islam ended the competition in eighteenth despite a really nice Olympic debut. I predict brighter things in their future as a team, as with Virtue and Moir's probable retirement from the "amateur" ranks, there will be room for movement in the very deep field of Canadian senior ice dancers.
As I stated when discussing the short dance, three standout teams from the pack were the "ShibSibs" Maia and Alex Shibutani (whose Michael Jackson free dance was BEYOND fun), the British team of Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland who also interpreted Michael Jackson's music with flair and fun and rising stars from Spain, Sara Hurtado and Adrian Diaz Bronchud. Their placement of 13th doesn't do their skating justice by any means. German team Nella Zhiganshina and Alexander Gaszi, who dazzled with their innovative zombie program last season, fell a little flat with their character piece this season in terms of interpretation, but I think if they stick in next season and go back in the truly avant garde direction, they'll have really taken advantage of a niche.
All in all, the ice dancing competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics played host to some of the most exciting ice dancing we've ever seen at the Olympics from an incredibly deep field. Regardless of any of the skaters participating's results, they should be insanely proud of their role in a competition of epic proportions that was skated so very well.
THE WOMEN'S COMPETITION
I think it's safe to suffice that the ladies short program at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games was NOT what any of us were predicting to happen. ANY time you have Yuna Kim and Mao Asada competing for a title against each other, they are clearly the epicentre of conversation. Both skaters are Olympic medallists, World Champions and have ridiculously huge fan followings. Here, at these Games, there's been SO much hype about the fifteen year old Russian ladies skater Julia Lipnitskaia that for a good week there, many thought that SHE'D be the skater that Yuna and Mao would both be trying to play catch up to. Throw Akiko Suzuki, Kanako Murakami, Carolina Kostner, Adelina Sotnikova, Kaetlyn Osmond and three crazy talented American ladies skaters in the mix and you've got high stakes skating on your hand... and high stakes skating it was.
With pre-season and early season rumblings of planned comebacks of skaters like Evan Lysacek, Johnny Weir and even Marina Anissina and Gwendal Peizerat, I have to admit I was slightly skeptical as to whether or not we'd see at Yuna Kim at these Olympic Games making a run to defend her title. I had no reason to be skeptical. She'd won last year's World Championships in a very convincing fashion. I guess I'm just surprised a little when anyone has the determination to try to defend or reclaim an Olympic title. Look at some of the skaters who have had that confidence: Katarina Witt, Christopher Dean, Irina Rodnina, Sonja Henie. These are/were incredibly confident skaters who just commanded the ice. I'm in no way, shape or form saying Yuna hasn't and doesn't, but hers is much more of a quiet, knowing confidence. As they say, still waters run deep. Yuna is a LEGEND in Korea...and Asia period for that matter - we're talking Hollywood blockbuster superstar. Her rivalry with Mao Asada and other Asian skaters has made skating on that continent MORE popular that was in North America from 1994 to 1998, if you can even imagine something like that possible. With an understated, powerful program to "Send In The Clowns", 'Queen Yuna' showed us once again why she's skating royalty. Once again, she flew through her triple lutz/triple toe combination, triple flip and double axel with such ease that she made it look easy and with a score of 74.92, took a lead that she maintained all the way through the final flight to make her the leader after the short program.
I don't know why I'm so surprised that Adelina Sotnikova is sitting in second place because I have no good reason to be, really. The seventeen year old from Moscow was the delight of the Russian crowd, nailing all three jumping passes in her short program to garner a score of 74.64 and second place. As dazzling as she was, I personally would have second and third place reversed in the standings based on the difficulty and choreography of Kostner's program but the fact that Carolina Kostner's PCS score even bested Yuna Kim's is enough to make me pleased as punch. The planned difficulty of Sotnikova's free skate coupled with her score here really give her a convincing chance at a medal, and that would certainly be something, now wouldn't it?
Just like in the Team Event, Carolina Kostner produced such a heartfelt, refined "Ave Maria" program that she even drew a huge response from the very pro-Russian audience. Yes, her triple flip/triple toe and triple loop WERE easier when compared to Kim's triple lutz/triple toe and triple flip, but the fact that she was given the PCS scores and top three placement she deserved here were enough for me. Like with Abbott in the men's event, this is skating that reaches out and touches you. The kind of skating that SKATING needs. Carolina's program was ethereal, BEAUTIFUL and difficult and I feel her skating was a service to the millions watching that just wanted to feel something from a skater's performance in the ladies event. She sits in third with a score of 74.12, a good buffer of points over 4th place Gracie Gold and a very real chance at a medal if she skates her gorgeous "Bolero" free skate to its greatest potential.
Eighteen year old Gracie Gold has that "it" girl factor and the jumps to back it her. She was brilliant in the Team Event and I personally think her decisions to make changes to her programs and coaching team paid off in dividends. Gracie is the kind of skater who really benefits from the judging system she's competing under and I think we can say that she's made great strides in the second mark as well. She certainly proved her critics wrong with an OUTSTANDING performance here that featured an excellent triple lutz/triple toe combination. Sitting in 4th place at the Olympics, her shot at a second medal at these Games is very much within grasp.
When Julia Lipnitskaia skated brilliantly in the Team Event, the whole world suddenly seemed to find their new star. She's got the flexibility of a Cirque du Soleil acrobat, maturity beyond her years and some of the most consistent triple/triple combinations in the business. What's not to love, right? As much as I was crushed that Alena Leonova narrowly missed a spot on the Russian Olympic team after very strong performances at Russian Nationals and Europeans, I have to hand it to Julia. As much as there are nitpicky things like the aesthetic of her jump technique that bother me, she's so young, so vibrant and SO strong. I KNEW after that Team Event that it was clear she was the ladies skater that we'd see playing spoiler at these Olympics and I was almost right. The fifteen year old Muscovite was prodigal in her short program set to "You Don't Give Up On Love" by Mark Minkov, doing great service to Ilya Averbukh's choreography and wrapping up the short program in 5th place. The program on the triple flip only showed her humanity and I still think that her shot at a medal is entirely possible. I do feel that her PCS scores have risen suddenly in a dramatic fashion that I don't really consider plausible, especially as compared to skaters like Akiko Suzuki and I don't agree with that. I do, however, think that she's clearly ridiculously talented and even if given a little help in the PCS department, she may not have needed it based on her difficulty and "levels" in the TES scoring.
I'm a huge fan of Ashley Wagner. Her skating is adult, mature, sophisticated, fresh and exciting. I saw her skate in Stars On Ice last year. Our seats were in the front row right on the ice and what impressed me even more than the gorgeous triple loop she landed literally right in front of me was the twinkle in her eye. There's something so human and so exciting about the way Ashley skates that makes you take notice. She has that 'actress' quality like Katarina Witt has that just commands you to watch her and like her. I think "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" is a great vehicle for her. Her program went really well here, despite a -1.70 GOE score on her triple flip/triple toe combination. She again looked radiant on the ice and gave a PERFORMANCE and made people take notice. In 6th place with a score of 65.21, she's still in the medal hunt.
When I said in my review of U.S. Nationals that I saw a lot of hope for the future in Polina Edmunds, I underestimated this young skater. Anyone who can reel of a triple lutz/triple toe combination like it's nothing at age 15 is a skater we want to be paying close attention to. She delivered a wonderful performance here and really surprised me by finishing in 7th. She more than justified her position on the U.S. Olympic team and proved that she's a skater as much in contention as the rest. If I had a hat on, I'd take it off. Instead, I'll just raise this cup of coffee in her honor!
I don't care what you say, Kaetlyn Osmond is where it's at. Her Fosse short program, choreographed by the fabulous Lance Vipond, is exuberant, entertaining and exciting: the three E's. The fourth 'E' should be elements, because she's got them going on to. She may be attempting an easier triple/triple combination than some of her biggest competitors, but there is quality and strong technique in everything she does and her PCS scores definitely need to be higher. She's putting on a show, not putting on a pot of hot milk to help us fall asleep. Her skate here wasn't as dazzling as that of the Team Event, but it was great nonetheless. In 13th place, a top ten finish at these Olympics is entirely possible for her and I predict it will happen.
I thought Mao Asada's placement in the short program of the Team Event was a gift on a silver platter and unfortunately, Iher disappointing 16th place finish here was again not an indication of her incredible talent. I think back to 1997, when Lu Chen (the defending World Silver Medallist) went to the World Championships in Lausanne and had that disastrous short program and didn't even qualify for the free skate. Sometimes shit just happens, and that's what happened today for Mao unfortunately but hey, look at Lu Chen. The next year, she was back on top form and on the Olympic podium for the second time. Mao's skating, like Yuna's, has that understated elegance that makes us forget how just how difficult her programs are. I've always admired Mao's resilience and determination and despite sitting being almost 20 points behind Yuna Kim right now, I have every faith she'll have her own 'Nagano moment' like Lu Chen and fight back. It's not about a medal at this point and I hope she just goes out and skates for the love of it.
The free skate... When Elena Berezhnaya and Anton Sikharulidze finished first in the pairs competition at the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake ahead of Canadians Jamie Sale and David Pelletier, it was apparent that something was gravely wrong. It wasn't Jamie or David's fault or Elena and Anton's fault. They just went out there and gave great performances - you know, like every skater hopes to at the Olympics. I think Adelina Sotnikova gave a great performance today. She landed a triple/triple combination and backed it up with a host of other triple jumps in front of her home country and no one can take that from her.
Adelina Sotnikova absolutely deserved a medal, although I do feel it should have been a bronze behind Yuna Kim and Carolina Kostner based on the performances, not the math. 224.59 seemed outrageous for a program that didn't have a deep emotional impact, had jump issues and a spiral that looked more like a leg fling. The PCS scores seemed to come out of nowhere and I am concerned that this win will put a lot of undue pressure on Adelina if she decides to continue her competitive career (which would hardly surprise me given her age). Being the first Olympic ladies champion in HISTORY from Russia will assuredly place a lot of weight on her shoulders at home. Wow... I need to stop myself. Enough negativity. God knows there's enough of that out there. Let's talk about the good stuff! We saw some amazing skating.
All three of the American ladies - Ashley Wagner, Gracie Gold and Polina Edmunds - represented their country and themselves with gusto, guts and class. Kaetlyn Osmond, though not perfect, fought through her performance and showed us 'what she got and what she workin' with'. Maé-Bérénice Méité gave a magnificient performance to make the top ten. Perhaps most memorably of all, Mao Asada showed the same determination that Jeremy Abbott did in the men's event by fighting back with one of her best skates (triple axel and all) and managing to rise in the standings from 16th freakin' place to 6th, finishing third in the free skate behind Sotnikova and Kim. One of the most amazing things I've seen in Olympic competition. I for one am just so impressed by her... and absolutely not shocked at all. If anyone had it in them to fight back like that, it was definitely her! Akiko Suzuki, a skater I just love, concluded her competitive career today with class, elegance and an 8th place finish. She's one skater that has certainly left figure skating better than she found it .
I think that if we have to look at the positive here, we have to look beyond the judging competition and look at how far the sport has come technically that we have ladies skaters landing triple/triple combinations not only on the medal podium, but outside of the top ten. That really is incredible. My biggest concern, however, is that I'm becoming a psychic. In December, I wrote "Say It Ain't Sochi: The Elephant In The Room". Give it a read. I think some of what we saw today really rings true. Call me Miss Cleo but don't call me late for happy hour... Hey Girl Hey!
I'll leave you with one last thought. Remember the great skating that we saw today at all through these Olympics. We SAW those Olympic moments and performances, and they were our gifts from the skaters that performed them. Like anything, figure skating is not perfect, but one competition result or one judging system I disagree with will NEVER deter me from my lifelong love for the best sport and art in the world. Anyone who's ever skated knows that magic of carving out an edge or throwing yourself into the air and landing a jump perfectly and there's something so desperately special about it all that no judge, technical specialist or calculus equation can properly qualitate. Skating is beyond that and skating is better than that.
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