Figure Skating 2018, Pt. XI

Link to previous thread for reference.

US Ladies' Group about to start.

Keep in mind if it's slow in here it might be Primetime.

What do we think of Daddy Zagitov?

Let's hope not.

Is it just me, or is Johnny Weir channeling Lily Tomlin’s “Ernestine the operator” (or maybe Flo from “Alice”) with tonight’s hairdo?

Mirai actually has a good draw in this group. If she skates everything clean she'd only need 4 splats in the final group.

I'm underwhelmed. Expected Johnny to go full Marie Antoinette on the last medal event.

Mirai got really skinny

This is the last medal event.

Yeah, I'm underwhelmed as well.

R8 it was the only way she could get rid of those UR.

The Russian skaters seem a little nutty.

They should limit how many jumps you can do Tano'd. It's really fucking ugly half the time.

Blue troll is in luck tonight.

Long time no Claire de Lune

[quote]Expected Johnny to go full Marie Antoinette on the last medal event.

Johnny's ladiy-in-waiting has packed up the steamer trunks; the Queen's ship sails back to America in the morning.

Medvedeva looks super pissed. I gues she knows she's gonna lose gold.

What is the story on Andrew Poje? Is he heterosexual?

I am LOVING this gun metal costume.

GOR GEOS!

Christ, for a "green" performance, this Sotskova is just a Tano-machine with absolutely no charisma.

Why is "arms over the head" jumps such a big deal this year? This girl should mix it up a bit, she does them all with arms over the head. Agree on the costume. Nice routine, though she spins slow.

I call her the JLaw of figure skaters.

R15 not to worry.. I'm on my way to help her out!!!

R19 extra points.

What's this Jones' woman's superpower??

Ooh catty shit going on in the warm-up area.

Im gonna guess that Karen and Bradie skate clean. Mirai... not so sure about.

I like Karen Chen's outfit.

Just remember Blue Troll...

I started it.

Funny, I liked Midori's program to this music better than Chen's.

Chen has a mini-pause as she snaps into the rotations on her jumps.

Nope, R27.

Totally the wrong shade of blue. It's the Admiral Blue that rocks!

Well there goes that prediction. Bye Karen!

Thar she blows!

The music is just sort of there; she's not really skating to it. -- even though she's an "artist" who choreographs her own routines.

Get a fork.

"She's the best in the US when it comes to skating skills."

Sad.

Ah, the crowd-pleasing and not-worth-much spiral sequence.

I'm dying laughing at the I, Tessa snip snip posts, but what makes you so sure it wasn't Scott? Even with that cute face, he looks like he could cut a bitch.

KAren Chen imploded, and she skates a tango like she's never been touched by a man (or woman, I don't judge). This is what we dumped Ashley for?!

The Ice Dancing thread was way more active than tonight's...

karen needs to lose weight she needs mirai's diet plan and she still might not be good enough. Why are asians from asia skinny as fuck and asians in the usa have thighs?

An almost 20 year old skating to fucking Cinderella.

Yeah, surprised not most posters since it's not primetime.

I wore blue too!

The brown sheer is really ugly.

I never paid attention to Bradie's program... Jesus the choreography is awful.

There is no excitement. It's all bland.

I'm surprised people don't all on spins more, or at least all out of them. They look hard as fuck

But Bradie never falls....

Falls twice.

Doesn't anyone else see the touch of Chelsea Clinton in her face?

Really R36? Have you not noticed Tessa's constant bitch face?

Yes, R49. She's part Chelsea part Nancy Kerrigan.

But, we won women's hockey gold! So, US women did something good on the ice.

Just had hands down, she didn't fall on her butt.

Her chignon does not match the rest of her hair.

Wait, what? How the hell did that outscore the Russian chick in the gray dress?

"Just a hands down..."

SPLAT

Wow, she cut her hands on the ice!

😳

Tara keeps on jinxing bradie

"Provincial"

Her bro was sired by Secretariat.

They count an overrotated fall (or hand down) higher than a double.

R58, loved that: the shade!

R36 is correct. Scott Moir is the diva bitch

R54 Not gray....GUNMETAL!

Bradie makes Gracie Gold looks like a ballerina. She's the next Rachael Flatt; good luck America!

I'm on my way, Evgenia!!!!

Oh that eyeshadow

Why are the Americans not smart enough to realize they need Sandra to help them medal?

"She's the Queen of Triple toe Triple Toe..."

Jinx!

Splat.

Daleman outcunts Madison Chock with the face.

Ass on the ice!

SPLaT goes the Canadian, ha!

Isn't this the American Airlines music??

3T/3T is the easiest combo

R49, the ones who hide their evil beneath a veneer of cute are always more dangerous.

Wow... she almost just straight up gave up.

I thought she was gonna walk off like Tonya.

This is worse than pogo's splats in that one competition is it?

Wow nightmare for Daleman

Not only is she skating to the United Airlines music, she’s also wearing their colors!

Now I feel bad for her

This Canadian bitch is imploding completely.

I LOVE that someone recognized this as the American Airlines music. It might be United, but I too first thought of an airline commercial when heard the music.

How provincial.

I'd feel bad for her but... something about her tells me she deserves it.

She has been watching Kim K's makeup tutorials on the 'Gram

Bad manicure choice. Why? Why?!

Those claws do not look aerodynamic

At this point, I would've cut my losses and just entertained you bitches with back flips - landed on one skate no less.

Carmen...check.

Cinderella...check.

Rhapsody in Blue...check

I was hoping she'd go full Bonaly or full cunt on us. Daleman could remove her face and show us the lizard underneath.

Orser: biiiiig siiiiiigh

You forgot Winner Takes It All.. check, check

Tara needs to stop trying to sell the 3T-3T as impressive. That combo stopped being impressive about 20 years ago.

There that beautiful blue color again!!

Damn, it's fabulous.

Wow that was the roughest skate I’ve seen since Hubert in the 92 Olympics.

I forgot how Yuna Kim got robbed in Sochi. At least she has her gold.

[quote]Tara needs to stop trying to sell the 3T-3T as impressive. That combo stopped being impressive about 20 years ago.

And IM the Queen of them!

R94, I'm always looking for an excuse to link that hot mess!

She's boring already. I was clunky, not graceful, and a bit crazy. But I was NEVER boring.

Rhapsody in Blue never works when it is cut up like that.

That Daleman performance was positively Weir-like. Except more manly.

It's so impressive when they almost come to a dead stop on combinations. She has no energy.

Her dress is pretty

"It's not impressive."

R95, don't get me started. Some youtube poster has made a series of hilarious videos showing how Kim's jumps match the ISO standard for good quality jumps and Medvedeva's all matched the poor quality examples.

We just need some Swan Lake and we're done!

Doctor Zhavago ... Check

Did I miss a Phantom of the Opera or Celine Dion?

Has Allison Janney made an appearance to discuss her Olympic figure skating dreams?

The swiss girl did phantom i think

Really?? Well, home town girl so I guess.

R106 yes we had the pleasure of both.

Mirai, just land your 3A and the rest will be fine.

awful

Jinxed

Fucking Johnny... there's never adjusting?

Tell that to Midori fucking Ito.

Jesus. Do skaters always plan B - where to insert something if you flub it the first time?

But, it was a beautiful one-half axel.

Nothing looks any better than a beautiful Asian girl in red.

ugh. Fuck it.

Good catch R105

Seriously R108?? Ugh. As inspired as the skating.

Points on the table

I love a good Charlotte

Arriving late to the party. Has Alina skated?

Yes, we had Phantom and Celine singing The Prayer

R115, the best ones do. They have to--with these rules it's too dangerous to calculate on your feet.

Tara's a fucking jinx.

I think the first Korean girl used The Prayer by Celine

Yes, beautiful in red.

R96, on the rare occasion when you landed one, sure.

Just throw the 3A in now. Who cares if it fuck up your routine. Get it done and get some confidence or the future.

American women have BOMBED again at their THIRD STRAIGHT Olympics

That dress may win the night for me anyway.

So far it's the gunmetal on the Russian but now I think this has surpassed that one.

R128 you're ignorant. I was the first woman to land it. Eat my ass!

Great job USFSA for dumping Ashley by giving Bradie, Mirai and Karen inflated PCS while keeping Ashley's flat to ensure that she doesn't make it. Bravo!!!

Serious bling on her skates.

US women deserve better coaches

Tell me again how the girls that aren't good enough for team usa go to other countries and all the best stay here to compete for the country??

Bullshit, R133. Ashley got the PCS she finally deserved. I'd rather see them all splat than see Ashley's sad ass on the ice.

This is the WORSE result by the American women since 1964, and they had an excuse because a plane crash wiped out the entire USA team 2 years before that Olympics

As if Ashley is any better, she sucked this year

So American ladies will likely be 8th, 9th, and 10th at the end. Good job USFS!

Brazil and Switzerland feature American skaters competing for them. Brazil is in last and Switzerland is 14th now, so those who leave aren't all that great either.

R135 why do you need to be told again? Look at where the rest of those skaters placed.

They suck too much to skate for Team USA... so that's saying a lot!!!

What is "PCS"?

Also, I've been meaning to ask this... is Mirai balding up front?

Coming in late, so sorry if this has been mentioned--when the announcers keep talking about women landing the 3A in skating/Olympic competition, is anyone else noticing they seem to be going out of their way to NOT mention Tonya?

R144 was Midori Ito name mentioned?

The us figure skating program needs to employ a sports psychologist and just feed them lexapro

R94 and R97 I thought of the Letitia Hubert skate from 92. And she'd had a decent SP. Wow, I was 11...but there are some things you just never forget. Poor Letitia!

It's like in professional sports where bad teams don't make adjustments and stay in the basement year after year.

Ashley is like Katarina Witt in a way as a skater. She’s all about eye-fucking the judges and audience and acting the hussy on the ice

R132, yeah, and? I can count on one hand how many times you landed it after that.

You dropped me for this?

Evgenia hang in there... I got you, girl!!!

R151

Ashley... in order to have been "dropped," you would have had to actually place.

R105 for the win!!

What is it about canadian figure skaters and horrendous smoky eye shadow

Carolina Kostner is 31 years old and she is in the final flight.

How come Karen, Bradie and Mirai received such low program component scores? The judges at Nationals told me they were so much better than Ashley Wagner in terms of their artistry!!!!! Why don't the international judges agree?

[quote] Poor Letitia!

I'm glad you can't spell her name right. And she got what she deserved.

Ashley's mom is in the house!

Osmond doing Swan Lake for the figure skating music perfecta.

9, 10, 11 for the American women.

The worst thing is that Daleman knows that program will be online forever. No one will remember the bronze from last year.

Look at that shade of blue!

Who's getting Bronze?

I'll guess Japan.

R159 lol My aunt's name is actually Letitia, that's how she spells it. Hey, we didn't have google when I was 11!

Nah, I'm not feeling it.

Too pedestrian.

I'm thinking Osmond is getting the bronze but I have been wrong about every single thing this week, so she probably most definitely won't.

Madama Butterfly for the podium!

They love this girl though.. don't they always overlook her URs.

Should I save my splat-wishes for the Russians?

It'd be fine with this Japanese getting bronze.

She looked beautiful.

Maybe they're gonna go full Nagano... upset for the Gold... and repeat winner for Bronze.

The russians wont splat, they are robots. Except pogo.

Kostner is wearing a 1960s upholstery design

Anyone but Kostner for bronze

Nobody told me what Jessica Jones' powers are.

If these Russian ladies are so good why aren't they doing a TRIPLE AXEL?

R140 Slovakia as well.

At least: it's not BLUE

Lol, Bradie knew it was time to leave the top 3 booth

Yeah, or a QUAD?

None of these chicks coming up better have even ONE fall, okay, cuz the girl that just skated was fucking PERFECT.

R167 Laëtitia is a whore.

Behold my artistry, cunts!

Kostner's outfit is a tragedy

younjinxed it

No bronze for Kostner.

WOW Kostner is 31 and can still do a triple lutz

Yes, behold my aristry!!!

Kostner looks like she is in a different competition they should throw a competition for her and ashley wagner for senior citizens

She's wearing Versace!

Just barely, r190

Kostner's outfit is light years better than the green thing she wore at Europeans though.

Her costume is a darker shade of the rink's color. Wonder if that was intentional.

Will be Kostner be back for 2022? She would be 35.

BTW Kostner is the most decorated figure skater in history. Even winning more medals than Michelle Kwan

R191 Didn't see you posted it! Hideous.

They should have put Linda Fratianne in the broadcast booth.

My god couldn't she have come up with something better than this monstrosity of a costume?

"Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun" by Debussy was Kostner's music.

"Her artistry is umatched"?

No, R197. She's competing at Worlds because it's in Italy and then that's that.

These Russian girls will cut you

Look at this bitch! Medgevyeda is toast

Oh those gloves!

Love the way way Kostner always smiles going into jumps. Pure delight.

And for the record, I LOVED the green monstrosity.

Carolina is not back for a medal, but for personal redemption

[quote]These Russian girls will cut you

They aren't the only ones!

Zagitova was giving off rays of death.

R205 puffy vest/tutu combo is skating's version of dressed to kill!

Kostner has the horsey- look. Is there a theme here?

So is Alina's signature the tutu?

Wow I had not recognized Lori Nichol during the Short. She got so fat!!!

and here's the Amelie

R214 Menopause is hell.

I'm going to miss Carolina. She reminds me about gracefulness in skating.

I do think Kostner has nice artistry, her extensions and the way she holds her arms, that I wish some of the other girls who are better jumpers and better skaters had. But by all means she's not the Second Coming.

tara and johnny are the best part

I try not to miss them.

What is this Amelie shit? I’m DONE with the pantomime shenanigans.

I liked the first Japanese skater better.

Japanese women are on tonight. I'm afraid the Canadian in the mix is going to fall short.

These bird sounds are terrible.

I'm want more of the Russian cyborgs. If skating wants to gain in popularity, it needs more jumps, andspins. And they need to be more frequent, bigger, and faster. Think gymnastics on ice.

I know they get points for changing positions during spins, but some of them are fucking ugly

Haven't seen Johnny on camera yet. Is he in full geisha-on-acid drag?

[quote] but some of them are fucking ugly

It is not about appearance, but racking up points. The more difficult the position, more points they get

I hope Zagitova took her meldonium today!

No R218, but she's basically a relic from before figure skating became a points contest.

I rewatched Kurt Browning's old Casablanca routine recently and realized we're not going to see anything like this anymore. There's no "room" for the kind of pacing a performance like this requires.

If one of these Russians wins, does Russia get credit for a gold medal or not?

The current Russian skater seems nervous

How could we forget Don Quixote!!!!

Check!

Tights on the boots - yuk.

Putting all the jumps in the second half of the program (like this Russian skater is doing) not a good strategy, but we will see.

No one can flail arms like me for 2 minutes, Western whores!

If you're going to do Swan Effin' Lake, study ballet seriously biatch. Your turn-out is pretty bad from the beginning. Your passe leg is barely diagonal. Straighten your new, God's gift.

Oops she just made a mistake, didn't do the second jump off the flip

She should be deducted for not doing some jumps in the first half.

I like the tights on the boots.

The door has cracked a bit for the angry one to get thru.

Added it back in.

[quote] She should be deducted for not doing some jumps in the first half.

It is within the rules that she can do all the jumps in the second half.

Theyll start penalizing for back loaded programs once anyone aside from the Russians do it.

I didn't care for her music.

She is looking to BUST Tara Lipiniski record as the youngest Olympic Champion

R228 No. He has a 1950s pompadour going on. Think "Grease' meets Anastasia and the Czars.

Straighten your KNEE bitch

Excellent, as much as I hate to admit

I think the Canadian is going t o BOMB, might finish fourth,

And I say that as a Canadian.

Loudest back crossovers in the entire competition

Is she using her edges properly?

Johnny is orgasming

Thanks R246.

This last one is still in the awkward stage.

I don't like no jumps for minutes.

So do the Russian athlete's get a medal and the country gets no recognition?

I recognize how technically amazing she is but for some reason it didn't look good.

R245 she can't. She's older than Tara was.

I'm so tired of hearing how amazing the top 2 Russians are. Their choreography sucks and they are stilted and awkward skaters. It's just a jumping contest with them.

That Russian coach looks like a fug version of Elizabeth Mitchell

Canadian is going to BOMB!!!!!!

Technical schmecknical. I want to see SOME grace and artistry. Medvedeva may get it yet.

FALL FALL FALL Canadian!

That’s what skating is now, r258. Jumps

Joannie Rochette only won a broze in 2010 because of her mom dropped dead a few days before.

I do like her dress

R264 so you are saying Mira Nigasui was better (who finished behind Rochette)

R261, between the 2, Zagiteva is the better skater overall.

Mirai shoulda won then, wasnt she 4th?

I like her and I would like to see her get the bronze at this point.

Wel, she's not better than the Japanese girl. She messed up.

Such original music!

I didn't think I would be but now I'm hoping Medvedeva wins. Something about the other one I don't like.

Swan Lake!

Canadian Miley’s port de bras after Zagitova is like night and day. Gorgeous!

R266 the consensus was that Mirai should have been the bronze medalist. But Joanie had lost her mom and she was skating in her home country.

Canadian skating well.

Did the Canadian even jump the last minute of her program?

Caitlin keep her eyes on the judges

R275 Mirai was in 6th after the short and was too far back to win the bronze

Medvedeva looks like Lorde.

Canadian did what she had to do, but was it enough?

Very impressive.

Well, to a know nothing like me.

R270, overall she's a stronger skater though.

I like Alina, and I do think she is a beautiful skater, but there is something about the very young ones that they seem like they are going thought the motions instead of fully expressing the program. I really think it's an experience/maturity thing.

I always thought Medvedeva looked like a little Marion Cotillard.

She was great , and I dislike the Canadian skaters

Compared to the 2 Russians she is Peggy Fleming.

At least I have a running edge out of my jumps unlike those Russian girls

Canadian did it! She will win the bronze at least!

I hope she checked her costume!

These Russian bitches look like they'd kill you, cut you up, and eat you with a shot of Vodka.

who is the hot Russian ryan gosling lite guy with eteri in the k&c all the time?

Anyone mad that the Canadian beat the two Japanese skaters?

^only cause it's Canada!

Some frontloaded jumps at least

I hate hate hate hate hate this sloppy fling my gangly limbs around choreography.

Is it a Russian requirement to don gloves?

I preferred Miyahara over Osmond

No R293, I think she deserved it. The Japanese and the second Canadian were all very good. Plus, wasn't the Canadian actually in third after the short?

Just realized with the exception of the team event, this is the WORST showing for the USA team in figure skating. Not a single medal in any of the 4 events.

At Europeans, I thought Zagitova skated the better program, but tonight, I think Medvedeva is skating better.

R296 That was Dick Button's criticism of Tara. He called her "chicken wings."

It's nice, but it's not as gorgeous as Johnny makes it out to be. But, his a Russia-phile, so he loves the Russians.

She’s gold

She looks like rachel weisz

FWIW, she is getting more stuffed animals thrown at her than Alina.

She even mimed being hit by the train at the end! She has this.

'he is".

Mededev is so slow though

Weird ending, but overall I felt Medvedeva's skate more than Zagitova's.

Bad leg positions and the overhead arm position is not stretched for any actual aesthetic effect

Alina seems like a piece of work.

Alina aint human

She really does look like Weisz. Especially 10 years ago.

I would not want to run into Zagitova in a dark alley

You felt more with the Medvedeva program. She's beautiful.

WOW!

Told you Medvedeva was getting Kwan'd!

She wuz robbed.

Hahahaha Russian loser.

See backloading all t he jumps in the second half of the program gives you the 10% bonus points, this the gold medal

No! Unbelievable!

She is certainly behaving with great grace.

The child bot wins.

Don't know why some of you guys don't like Alina. I like the cold, calculated athletes that get it done. Ain't nobody got time to make it look pretty.

Alina wins the only Olympic Gold medal for the Russian team so far

This has just ruined the Olympics for me.

Wow. 1.2 points.

They said that this may be the only opportunity for these two Russian skaters to win gold even though they're so young because there's a ton of really good young Russians.

How much will they drink tonight? One for winning, one or losing.

Shutup Johnny, you've sucked to many Russian cocks

R324 BLOCKED!!

Don’t worry Evgengina, Alina will be on crutches in two years

This is just too much pressure for these kids. Alina is only 15, I doubt she even grasps all of this. She is probably a sweet young girl. There really wasn't anything else Medvedeva could do. Second Olympics in a row where it feels like silver got robbed though.

She'd better enjoy it while she can.. Russia's gonna throw her in the trash by next year.

Both got exactly 156.65 for the free skate

they are both gone in 4 years

haha the deplorable Canadian almost knocked over Alina to get to Osmond.

Will Zagitova also fall off the face of the earth like Snotnikova?

I think Medvedeva is stronger than she looks. I think she can hold it together another 4 years.

Personally I prefer Snotnikova skating compared to these two.

Where is snotnikova? Is she on house arrest?

If Zagitova didn't backload her program, the other Russian would have won.

Ugh, it was all crap.

I'm assuming Zagnikova is probably gone because she'll be old and will look ridiculous in that tutu.

I’m good with Osmond as third, but it’s too bad figure skating is focusing on the jumps and minimizing artistry. Jumps are boring after a while.

Supposedly Sotnikova is injured, Pluschenko is her coach. I am sure we will never hear from her again.

In four years, the Russian females will be doing quads, or at least one in their program. I'm calling it.

As a Canadian I'm thrilled a Canadian won a medal. Unlike the USA who BOMBED again for the 3rd Olympics in a row

R296 completely agree. On the smaller skaters it's distracting; on the bigger ones like Kostner it reminds me of those huge blow-up column figures (usually yellow) that they have outside used car places that flop all over the place.

r346 Still butthurt losing that hockey gold yesterday are we? It is your national sport after all.

For me the emotion and expression is important in figure skating so I think Medvedeva deserved the gold.

R345 they already are. That's why these two are gone by next year.

Zagnikova beat the other Russian at the Europeans so this shouldn't be a shock

They were both magnificent.

Canada should be pissed! If the Russians weren't allowed to compete she would have won Gold!!!

I hate Osmond. But she deserved the bronze.

I love my country. But I am glad to see the international judges show the American ladies the cost of not playing by the new rules.

I hate the new scoring system, and it desperately needs changing. Perhaps any mild backlash to Zagitova's gold (won with all the backloading) will help bring some fucking artistry back to this sport.

Eteri looks pissed off, Gonna cut a bitch.

Canada shouldn't be gloating about getting bronze, dearie. You bitches couldn't win a medal in the Ladies for over 20 years... and you've never won above a bronze.

Kindly take a seat.

[quote] Still butthurt losing that hockey gold yesterday are we? It is your national sport after all.

The womens team won Olympic Gold three Olympics in a row, While the USA women failed to even medal three Olympics in a row. And women's figure skating has been America's sport like FOREVER

r356 I agree and let's be honest they gifted Jonie Mitchell in 2010. Canada didn't even deserve that bronze.

R358 Mirai Nagusa had a nose bleed during her performance, which is why she lost points

Yeah, tell us about it. Those Russians are shady motherfuckers.

[quote]Medvedeva looks like Lorde.

I think she looks like Katie Holmes.

The 2 Russian ladies got exactly the same score in the free skate, so Alina won it in the short program - somethig they always say you can't do.

In a few years that substance in their pee will be identified

Uh you're thinking of football, r357. Football is America's sport. Ladies skating is about 3rd on the USA's b-team of sports.

Hockey is a close 4th.

Hopefully, Alina's future turns out brighter than mine.

If I'm Osmond I'm super excited, there's always a chance the Russian skanks test positive for something.

R364 we are talking about WINTER sports. The glamour sport for women is Figure Skating and USA dominated this sport for over 30 years.

Not anymore.

Ladies skating is down in popularity in the us since kwan and cohen retired. The girls who do it are the headcases who develop fibromyalgia later on. The badass girls do gymnastics.

[quote]Canada shouldn't be gloating about getting bronze, dearie. You bitches couldn't win a medal in the Ladies for over 20 years... and you've never won above a bronze.

Huh?

So basically the 10% bonus or backloading jumps won it for the younger Russian.

We only care about winter sports every four years. While they are all Canadians have. You can enjoy your bronze medal.

It's called throwing you a bone, r367.

You're welcome.

The Chinese were robbed!

Fuck the Canadians.

Sore losing bitches.

.

I hate Osmond, and I hate her smug entitled (Canadian) attitude.

But I'd be pressed to name someone below her who was better (I like Miyahara, but she is a little roller-skater-type jumper).

miyahara is japanese

Miyahara skated more smoothly. Osmond skated like an office frau on ice who can jump.

I'm okay with this placement: there's no way Med can catch up with Zagitova if she doesn't backload (and she didn't). Congrats to Osmond for the bronze. I actually like her skating and she seems like a nice person, I just hate phony Canadian cunts like V/M.

Honest question: do Canadians play the faux-nice act when you meet them in person? I don't live in the Americas so I don't really know, but from what I've seen that is really grating.

Seriously, it's time for individual ice dance. The athleticism and focus on jumping in figure skating will only become more pronounced, and the opportunity for artistry to really matter will decrease.

Does Rudy post here?

You can’t lose with Swan Lake!

Zag is great but I feel nothing when she skates. She's a typical 15 year old--going through each move, each gesture, because that's what she was told to do.

Med is more of an artist. I feel her emotions. It's more than just jumps. She tells a story.

I do think it's kind of a shame that Miyahara basically skated a perfect program and yet got nothing. Osmond, as great as she was, had a small bauble on one of her landings (or maybe she stepped out of it, I can't remember) and yet took home bronze.

I realize it's probably petty to point something like that out, but that is what will always be so fucked up about figure skating.

Yes, sorry, the Japanese, not the Chinese.

R371 I've read snappier comebacks from a bowl of rice crispies

Canadian Figure Skating results:

Ice Dancing - Gold

Pairs - Bronze

Individual Women - Bronze

Team - Gold

The announcers said this was the last night of skating.

I completely missed the pairs skating!!!

That explains why Cross-eyed were not seen in the audience today R384.

lol R385 where've you been?

Miyahara may have skated a perfect program but technically she wasn't in the highest tier.

Plus she looks so severe on the ice

R377, ice dance depends on a pair. There must be synchronicity in the moves and emotion between the partners. Can’t achieve that with one person

We did our part for team USA.

Damn, r383 even rice crispies don't like you.

There's nothing really special about what the Russian women are doing. They're doing the same triple jumps women have been doing for 25 years. Why exactly is American skating so shitty then, is there no one who can do this?

Dick Button: Zagitova is a Ballerina on the ice. Same quality as Ludmillia Protopopov

Although she's only 18, I'm assuming Med will retire. No way she will ever compete with the Russians coming down the pike. Rumor has it the young Russian women are doing quads left and right.

There should be 10% bonus for skating clean, its a performance after all

R392 apparently there is no American who can do what the Russians did. There are many Russians coming up in the ranks who do even more. No American can match them

R392 they are doing triple-triple, plus putting most of the jumps at the back end to sore higher points.

USA women are not doing that

Med and zag are done, the new eteri baby bots are coming, they are doing triples while still in the womb

It's odd that Med and Zag have the same coach but Zag had the harder program. That already puts Med at a disadvantage

It’s so cute how skating is the meaning of Life in Canada.

R397 it doesn't matter where the jumps are if you keep falling on them...

In recent years, the Russians just don't fall, except Lipnitskaya (remember her?).

Zag still seems immature to me. Great tech ability but too lanky for my taste.

[quote]Canada shouldn't be gloating about getting bronze, dearie. You bitches couldn't win a medal in the Ladies for over 20 years... and you've never won above a bronze.

Yeah, huh?

Those Russian babybots may have more triple triples, but have they written a book?

r403 Her immaturity should have hurt her but it doesn't. Her arm placement is what you'd expect from a 15 y/o

I did like that Zag put in the triple combination she missed earlier. That kind of spontenaity which won Oksana Baiul and Michelle Kwan such fame is gone

R402 I beg to differ

I think the problem with usa skating is that there is no dominant skater in the USA right. There are no USA rivalries

In the past there is one USA skater who dominates for four years, which forces the other women to work harder to match or even catch up.

Love her or hate her, Michelle Kwan dominating the international scenes for 8 years, is responsible for Tara Lipinski and Sarah Hughes winning their Olympic Gold Medals. Because it forced them to work harder to beat Michelle.

All I'm seeing right now is all the USA women being ho-hum about things, and not having that killer instinct that other women had in the past.

R406 the problem is her arm placement seems so calculated. Judges love the best jumpers in the end

Liz at R369... can you not do math?

Funny to see that Tara Lapinski won with her triple triple and now women are doing numerous triple triples in each program

R404.. .apparently none of you can do math there.

Sarah Hughes won her Olympic Gold with a triple-triple and double axel- triple toe

R412 women have been winning with triple triples since 92. Tara won it with her triple loop - triple loop which she was the first to do.

What happened to the US women?? Is it the coaching? It's hard to believe that they did so poorly. Bradie was supposed to be the bright, new hope because she never screwed up her jumps.

Well, they've got 4 years now to find someone else.

I was about to say even Kerrigan had a triple triple, why y'all acting like this is a new phenomenon.

R416 you are pretty much the only one who expected anything out of these ladies. Theyve been pretty meh internationally for years.

The USA just don't have the killer instinct anymore. Medal used to mean fame. But now you can be famous just finishing fourth at Nationals. There doesn't seem to be that hunger to win with the USA women.

With the exception of Ashley Wagner medal, the USA women have not medaled at worlds since 2006 - a 12 year drought. This is after medaling 35 out of 40 years at worlds (1965 - 20060

I have an idea: in gymnastics there are 2 disciplines. One is true athletic prowess and one is pure foo foo artistry. How about an artistic balletic ladies' skate and the more traditional athletic jumping technical skate?

Yeah, I know there isn't a chance this will ever happen, but it would be fun to watch.

R411 - The poster claimed that Canadian ladies had never won above a bronze.

[quote]Canada shouldn't be gloating about getting bronze, dearie. You bitches couldn't win a medal in the Ladies for over 20 years... and you've never won above a bronze.

Yeah, what do you mean?

They need to require a couple jumps in the first two minutes. I'm sure the 10% bonus is meant to create balance in jumps through out the program but it just makes it stupid looking when you have zagnofica waiting and then doing her jumps back to back in the last two minutes.

R422 apparently reading comprehension is the issue.

Never won ABOVE a bronze.

R423 it means Canadians shouldn't be trying to say shit to Americans because it took Canadians over 20 years to medal again at the Olympics... and they haven't gotten above a Bronze.

r425 We know Canadians are slow, probably because of the freezing tempatures, but don't embarrass them this much

Backloading of jumps (10% bonus) has been in rules since 2006. Some skaters have tried to backload, only to fall & pop jumps.

Zag is the only skater to pull this off.

R426 Canada won a medal in 2010

r428 Nothing you said challenges my point.

[quote][R426] Canada won a medal in 2010

Oh dear God. You still can't do math.

Figure skating is just losing popularity in the usa. And it will be even more unpopular after this. Looking at the pipeline, most of the girls who are doing it are mostly asian descent because they have role models in korea and japan. For young kids, Youd want to be aly raisman or simone biles, they are winners.

Canada is known for having part of Niagara Falls, not for mathematics, or literacy.

Plus skating is an expensive sport, maybe that is why it is declining in popularity

Well you could argue the rise of Americans in Gymnastics somewhat correlates with the fall of America in figure skating. Young girls have gold medal winning gymnasts to look up to and nothing from figure skating.

To be fair, after the year USA gymnastics has had in the news, I don't know if a lot of parents are going to want their kids involved.

Sort of R435 however, they coincided from 91-96.

The last USA woman to win an Olympic medal was Sasha Cohen in 2006

the last USA woman to win a World Title was Kimmie Meisner in 2006

So what has happened the last 12 years in women's figure skating for USA to take a nosedive?

The karolyis are gone though, say what you will about them, they got results

If we can find a doctor to molest a bunch of young skaters during "examinations," the USA might do as well in figure skating as it has in gymnastics.

The only program that felt like a complete package was Osmond's short. She should have done something similar for the long because she can't pull off the swan routine.

The women had either robotic programs with perfect jumps or a half-hearted attempt at artistry with crappy jumps.

Maybe Peggy Fleming should reinstate? She couldn't do worse.

Debi Thomas could probably use the exposure. He comeback could be part of a reality series and she could get some much-needed cash.

Fuck that bring back Tonya! Now that bitch had personality unlike this current crop of wall flowers.

R425 - the poster claimed that Canadians had never won above a bronze in ladies' figure skating at the Olympics.

[quote]Canada shouldn't be gloating about getting bronze, dearie. You bitches couldn't win a medal in the Ladies for over 20 years... and you've never won above a bronze.

The first statement is incorrect. Joannie Rochette won the bronze at the 2010 Olympics, which was 8 years ago.

The second statement is also incorrect. "Above a bronze" would mean gold or silver.

Barbara Ann Scott - 1948 Olympic gold medalist

Karen Magnussen - 1972 Olympic silver medalist

Elizabeth Manley - 1988 Olympic silver medalist

Oh, I adored that Barbara Ann Scott!

R445 no and no you really are dense.

You COULDN'T Win a medal in OVER 20 years. DO THE MATH. I know it's hard but use your fingers.

1988 - Liz Manley 2010 - Joanie Rochette

Couldn't win a medal in over 20 years and couldn't win ABOVE A BRONZE.

I really don't like the photo of Tara in the OP.

The baby ballerina era pitted American girls against each other until all their hips wore out or they had to go into rehab for eating disorders. Perhaps American coaches have been afraid of pushing hard on jumps ever since.

It doesn't seem hard to understand? The poster was saying that the Canadian shouldn't be saying anything about America's decline in the sport since it took Canada 22 years to medal again (since Manley) and they haven't won more than a bronze since?

Tonya can still do the double jumps at the age of 47. She did them at the end of her recent interview on ABC.

r449 Maybe you're right, I doubt such concerns happen in Russia where people are worthless until proven worthy.

R448 Yeah Tara, it's tough to look at pictures of your face prior to all the work you had done to it.

When did they stop having ice shows in the US?

So what, R451? I'm still competing.

Apparently Kristi still throws triples.

R449 Just look at the internet reaction when gracie gold said she fucked up because she gained weight. Everybody was like, oh no, what will little girls think theres too much emphasis on weight! Coaches cant even tell the girls they are too fat to fully rotate. Its SJW culture.

R453 Michelle maybe if you would have had some work on yours your ex wouldn't have served you with divorce papers!

[quote]When did they stop having ice shows in the US?

When there stopped being enough heterosexual or "heterosexual" skaters to fill up a cast.

The poster typed:

[quote]and you've never won above a bronze.

The word "never" means not once in the whole history of figure skating, not just in the last 20 years. And this is false.

She's a cow on ice now but look at those spins :)

Canadians have only won 5 medals in the Ladies event?

And they probably won't win another in any discipline any time soon.

I realize this is an unpopular opinion here, but I did not like Tonya back then, and I don't have any desire to see her on the ice again.

Yeah, scandal aside, Harding was not a beautiful skater--she was athletic, but not fluid.

Osmond's bronze doesn't annoy me. I really like the Japanese skaters, but Miyahara's jumps are tiny. If Osmond hadn't done a clean skate, I'd have been with her getting bronze.

The Russians are overscored--both of them--lots of tricks, but the actual quality of the skating isn't of the same caliber as Kostner-of-old, or 2010 Yuna Kim or even Gracie Gold when healthy.

Incest Twins fans seem to take it for granted that the next stop is Dancing with the Stars, especially since they fancy themselves the new Meryl and Charlie. Did they fail to notice that Adam is the media darling of these Olympics? And it's not like the Shibs need the money after all the sponsorship they get for being family friendly robots. Their stans were bragging that Maia has 300k followers on IG. Probably mostly creeps with yellow fever. Even Mirai might get asked to do Dancing with the Stars. She never lived up to that moment in the team event, but she's likable and has a personality. She was talking about skating on her period. Maia Shibutani would never. Since the Shibs had no problem moving fast to screw over their fellow U.S. dancers I expect after all the Adam hype they reached out to Derek Hough and his sister to put in a good word and make sure they get on the show.

I don't like Ashley but that's harsh her coach basically said she eats too much and is lazy. I mean, it's true, but what a thing to tell the world.

I foresee Yuzuru falling into deep depression if he continues to the next quad. It seems like Javier really kept him grounded.

Any B-rate TV producer can see that the Shibs have no personality to be on TV.

Do we know which of the top dancers are going to Worlds? P/C and the Italians, definitely. I'd assume Hubbell/Donohue. Probably not Chock/Bates if she has that injury...unless they want/need the points. Have the Shibs said anything? R466 is right...their fans seem to think that Maia and Alex are going to take time off...and may even decide not to continue skating. (If that's the case, those Bronze medals were a small price to pay.)

The Shibs are gunning to host SNL, with all that talk about how inspired they were to see Leslie Jones in the audience for the free dance........HA HA HA

After that hockey game, surely a DWTS offer must be out to at least one of the USA women hockey players. Elizabeth Swaney and shirtless Tongan guy are reality tv producers' dreams. Even Shaun White on a redemption tour would probably be ahead of the Shibs on DWTS priority list.

LOL at them hosting SNL. They're so boring. Why would anyone want the Shibs for anything when you can get Chloe Kim?

Watching the replays - how come you can hear the grinding on the ice of the skates? And that ticking clock is more annoying than a fire alarm.

Bradie is supposed to be the one who never falls? Guess not.

Can Kristi Yamagushi come back?

Chloe Kim is 15/16 I believe. No SNL hosting gig for her. She also doeant seem like the type that'd dwts. Lindsey Vonn, perhaps since she is retiring.

Vonn is the only winter Olympian I'd heard of before these games began. Rippon seems to be the one that somewhat gained traction for some type of tv gig. However, not being mean, but his sassiness may be too much for the flyover folk.

[quote]Can Kristi Yamagushi come back?

I would endorse that.

Wow, Gabby Daleman is totally imploding.

Can Dick Button come back?

Hey. I thought I was Javi's skating wife.

GALA - Staking order

Min/Gamelin

Cha

Bobrova/Soloviev

Shoma

Incest Twins

Dabin Choi

North Koreans

Cappellini/Lanotte

Tarasova/Morozov

Osmond

Sui/Han

Javier

Intermission

Kim/Kam

Hubbell/Donohue

Miyahara

Duhamel/Radford

Boyang

Guillaume and Gabriela's nipples

Medvedeva

Marchei/Hotarek

Ge

Virtue/Moir

Zagitova

Aljona (and Massot)

Hanyu

Nothing wrong with multiple skating wives...and mistresses...

I hope Duhamel and Radford do that move where he swings her upside down and throws her through the air so she lands on her skates. Jazz up the show a little.

So Bradie doesn't get to skate her Cinderella in the gala? Aw.

Boy, Ashley Wagner must be laughing her ass off right now.

With the gala starting at 9:30am, even earlier than the competitions, that guarantees that the only people in the audience awake for the Incest Twins will be their parents.

They really should've put Misha earlier because he always brings the energy.

Very disappointed that Evgenia didn't fall. That bitch Tessa had one more snip snip job. Osmond could have gotten silver and Miyahara bronze, that would have been a decent podium.

I'm now lighting my candles for her and the tutu girl to retire asap so we don't have to endure their ugly skating and the commentators jeezing about it anymore

LA TImes headline- "Americans fail to medal in free skate, but Mirai Nagasu could earn one for excuses"

Ouch.

R486- Mirai needs a better PR person---

"I'd like to point out that Gabrielle Daleman, who is an Olympic gold medalist (for Canada in the team event), also didn't have a strong outing here in the individual," Nagasu said.

By the way, if ABC is looking for a contestant for the next season of "Dancing With the Stars," Nagasu is available.

"I would like to be on 'Dancing With the Stars' because I want to be a star," she said.

Mirai also called the Olympics a "shitshow." and why no Nathan Chen or Adam Rippon in the gala?

Don't they just ask the medalists for the gala?

I hope Mischa Ge does his sexy Fifty Shades of Grey number with Madison Chock.

R488 Chen was invited but he withdrew. In his bitching interview about Chen's family, Artatunian said he has some kind of virus

Adam wasn't invited. Koreans couldn't care less of him.

Pairs at the Gala practice

I have no doubt Misha Ge will do his fifty shades exhibition, that guy is so thirsty for attention. But Chock is not invited to the gala. I'm sure he would want to do it with Hanyu for maximum impact. He would even drop pretending he is straight for it

Karen Chen: IT ALL A BLUR. Seriously. I have so much to say, but I guess at this moment it really doesn't matter. I have no excuses, boot problems or not, I should have been able to skate to my potential. I have nothing to say except that I feel like I let myself and everyone down. I'm sorry. However, in a way, I realized that I need to feel grateful and thankful more than anything else. At the end of the day, what really matters is the amount of endless loving support I receive from all you guys. It really means the world to me. 🤧❤️😭 #TheFightContinues

Enough with the Instagram essays!!!! This girl is the new Bobrova.

The sport dealt with Elaine Zayak doing seven triples in her program - they'll have to deal with back loading all the jumps.

Misha is now importuning also Shoma

Did Sasha curse Mirai?

Anyway, he's a nice profile of cutie Alexander Gamelin and his partner Yura Min of South Korea.

lol that LA Times writer is so cunty I love it. I bet ol gurl is a DL'er.

So what cunty thing did Mirai say? I bet Ashley is loving this.

Sending Mirai Nagasu was a huge mistake. Ashley Wagner would have brought home a medal.

Check the article R500:

Nagasu piled up excuses the way Russian gold medalist Alina Zagitova did combination jumps. Nagasu was emotionally drained after winning a bronze medal in the team competition. She traveled four hours last week to attend a lunar new year party. She couldn't take hot showers. But, hey, she wasn't the only one who choked Friday at the Gangneung Ice Arena.

"I'd like to point out that Gabrielle Daleman, who is an Olympic gold medalist (for Canada in the team event), also didn't have a strong outing here in the individual," Nagasu said. By the way, if ABC is looking for a contestant for the next season of "Dancing With the Stars," Nagasu is available. "I would like to be on 'Dancing With the Stars' because I want to be a star," she said. Of course, she could have become a star if she didn't mentally check out of this competition.

Mirai sounds exactly like a typical home-schooled low-EQ skater (I have no idea if she was actually home-schooled or not). She has the same retarded cadence of Michelle Kwan and Caroline Zhang. Or perhaps Asian girls talk that way.

And Karen Chen sweetie, nobody expects you to be in the top 10 or land the 3-3, so just pack it up and go to some nice college, k hon?

I'd like to point out that Mikhail Kolyada, who is an Olympic silver medalist (for Doped Athlete from Russia in the team event), also didn't have a strong outing here in the individual,"

I can see why Nagasu and Rippon are friends.

All you Ashley haters owe her an apology, it turns out she was the normal level headed one.

so happy that bitch Ashley didn't go. I'd take the mormon horse skating to Cinderella over her any day.

So USA will almost certainly lose the third spot at worlds, huh?

Not if I compete in it R509!

Ashley is currently busy fucking with the alternate on bobsled in PyeongChang

So why is the president of skate Canada a judge of a figure skating competition involving Canadians? Why allow any judges that are connected to national skating associations?

The funny thing is that you would think that when drawing the Olympic judges, they would start considering judges from countries not in the competition and then move to those who have contenders. In reality, they do the opposite. They draw on the pool of federations with a competitor in that category. Only if they are not enough (it was the case of pairs) that they add judges from federations without an athlete qualified. They added judges from Finland, Hungary to Pair panel as North Korea don't have an ISU qualified judge

Anyone who thinks Ashley Wagner would have medalled knows zip about skating.

Of course she wouldn't medal with this field, but I'd rather watch La La Land than a sexless tango, a Cinderella program and that fugly tape on Mirai's thunder thighs.

Adding to what I said in the previous thread, Soloviev liked quite a few shirtless pics of Adam. So Guillaume and Adam...hmmm

Remember when at GPF 2016 Johnny Weir said that if he had to decide on a clear favourite for OGM between Hanyu and Medvedeva, that would be her as she was so consistent all the time. Yeah, me neither.

As much as I hate the smug cheating Canadians in skating, i think Osmond really should have won. She had the big jumps, very good skating skills and an actual program vs the backloaded mess and the miming being hit by a train from the 2 olympic athletes from Russia

Sorry but I'm getting tired of all the whining over backloading. It's a strategy that all other girls could do, not like it's some cheating move, but it requires some much stamina that most simply can't. Maybe they should train as hard as Alina and Evgenia. The issue with scoring here and in general lies with how PCS are attributed not backloading.

Yuzuru Hanyu: "I could, right now, probably not lift my head to meet my past self. He was very strict (his standards were very high). He would have thought me winning a second [Olympic] gold was a given." He is coming for a third title, isn't he?

Mirai Nagasu signed off her Winter Olympics campaign with a disappointing routine and an extraordinary interview – in which she claimed credit for “saving” the United States’ team bronze and revealed her main focus for her final performance was that she was “auditioning for Dancing With the Stars.”

Nagasu failed to take off on her famed triple axel and ended the women’s event in 10th place, yet guaranteed she would receive heavy attention with her explosive post-skate comments.

“I would like to be on Dancing With the Stars because I am a star,” Nagasu, who stuck her triple axel in the team event, said. “I made history here by landing the first triple axel for a U.S. lady at the Olympics so I think that is a big deal. I hope I get more opportunities to let my personality just shine.

“I smiled in the middle of my program. It is really rare for me but I enjoyed myself and I thought of this as my audition (for DWTS).”

Several figure skaters, including gold medalist ice dancers Charlie White and Meryl Davis, as well as Vancouver champion Evan Lysacek, have appeared on the hit dancing show.

The U.S. was always considered likely to clinch bronze in the team competition that began the figure skating program. Nagasu’s outstanding effort in the women’s free skate section helped push the Americans over the line, but pairs skaters Alexa and Chris Knierim were rock solid; Bradie Tennell was strong in the women’s short program, Nathan Chen placed fourth despite falling in his routine, leaving Adam Rippon, Maia and Alex Shibutani and Nagasu to simply hold their nerve.

“It’s been a long three weeks, and we got here and got to walk in the opening ceremonies and then I saved the team event, with Adam (Rippon) and the Shibutanis,” Nagasu said. “We were about to lose our medals so today I put my medal in my pocket and said ‘Mirai you have done your job already and this is all just icing.’

“We did (save bronze). We were behind Italy for a good little bit.”

In truth, the U.S. beat eventual fourth-placed Italy by six points and was never behind them at the end of any of the eight rounds.

Nagasu’s chance of individual hardware realistically disappeared the moment she fell on her triple axel during Wednesday’s short program. Her mother Ikuko told her in advance of Friday’s routine, “who cares if you get last place, making (the Olympics) is the hard part,” she said.

Of not trying her triple axel, Nagaus said, “I didn’t back down and though I got zero points for my triple axel, in my mind I went for it.”

The 24-year-old finished fourth in Vancouver in 2010 and was controversially left off the 2014 team. It is highly unlikely she attempts to complete another Olympic cycle and was already the oldest member of the American women’s contingent here.

Nagasu was not holding back and also detailed some of the difficulties she had experienced in the Athletes’ Village.

“I have watched my roommates go out and compete and I have still had to go to bed at 8 p.m., which is hard for me,” she said. “I am not used to that and to wake up at 4 a.m. is not easy. It is hard – people don’t see what goes on in the background.

“We’ve had so many other commitments. I also haven’t taken a warm shower because there are a lot of people on Team USA – somehow I keep trying to take a shower and all the hot water is gone.”

both the ridic PCS and backloading are problems. Yeah it's within the rules but it's using the 10% bonus in the complete opposite way from why it was introduced.

It was introduced to encourage well balanced programs and choreographies with jumps done throughout the whole program and not just front loaded in the 1st two minutes with nothing left to do after that. Backloading all your jumps is the same you still have one part of your program that's completely empty and in Zagitova's case where she awkwardly does some poor quality turns while gesticulating off tune.

Medvedeva, Zagitova, and Osmond will skate at workds. Kostner of course will go, and the 2 Japanese will likely be there as well (is it Satoko and Wakaba?)

And the U.S.’s Mirai Nagasu, who arrived here with high hopes but finished 12th in the free skate and 10th overall, said, “I smiled in the middle of my program, which is really rare for me. So I enjoyed myself, and I thought of this as my audition for Dancing With the Stars.”

Um, what?

“I would like to be on Dancing With the Stars because I want to be a star,” Nagasu said.

She was still smiling. There was no hint of disappointment in her voice. She seemed to think she’d been chosen out of the audience on a cruise ship to go on stage for a magic trick. There was no indication that she knew this was the Olympic Games.

Nagasu is the only woman here who had a triple axel in her program. But when it came time to try the triple in her free skate, she aborted the jump. Well, again: This is an extremely tense event. Failure is part of it. If Nagasu caved to the pressure of the moment, she only gets empathy from this corner. We have all been there.

But then she said, “Although I got zero points for my attempt at the triple axel, in my mind I went for it.” And I wanted to put my hand on her forehead to see if she was running a fever. Maybe she went for it in her mind. On the ice, she bailed. There was a reason she got zero points. Bailing is understandable; the explanation was not.

Nagasu has had an amazing and difficult career. She skated in the 2010 Games, then was devastated after being left off the 2014 team. She worked her way onto this year's team. Maybe the pressure got to her here—not just on the ice, but afterward.

She fluttered through the interview like a butterfly at a funeral, oblivious to everything happening around her. Bizarre only begins to describe it. She even took shots at other skaters, though it was unclear if she even realized she was doing it.

“I saved the team event, with Adam [Rippon] and the Shibutanis,” she said. “We were about to lose our medals. So today I put my [bronze] medal in my pocket. Here she is! And I said, ‘Mirai, you’ve done your job already. This is all just icing.’”

There is a lot to unpack there, starting with referring to the medal as “she.” Why not name it? I’d go with Bobbie Mae, as a nod to Bronze Medal. But let’s focus on what she said about the team event.

Nagasu won her bronze with seven other skaters: Rippon, Alexa and Maia Shibutani, Bradie Tennell, Nathan Chen, Alexa Scimeca Knierim and Chris Knierim. By saying she “saved” the event with Rippon and the Shibutanis— because they were about to “lose our medals” —Nagasu took credit while implicitly criticizing her teammates. If an athlete in any other sport did that, we’d go nuts. Tom Brady played one of the great games of his life in last month’s Super Bowl, but his Patriots lost because the defense got shredded by a backup quarterback. I never heard Brady blame the defense.

And by the way: What Nagasu said about the team event is not even really true. When she did her free skate, the U.S. was in third place, two points ahead of Italy. That does not fit any definition of “about to lose our medals.” Nagasu nailed her free skate, finishing second and pushing the U.S. to a four-point lead. But even if she had finished dead last, the U.S. would have ended up beating the Italians for the bronze.

She wasn’t done. Somebody (not me, just so we are clear) asked her why the U.S. skaters seemed to struggle with the pressure here. Nagasu responded, “That’s a very aggressive question. I’d like to point out that Gabrielle Daleman, who is an Olympic gold medalist, didn’t have a strong outing here in the individual.”

I’m sure Daleman will enjoy reading that, once she is finished crying and blaming herself for letting down her family. Anybody with a soul had to feel for Daleman, and for Chen, and for all the skaters who worked for years to get here, only to skate less than their best. As Daleman said, “Crap happens.” It sucks for all of them, including Nagasu. It’s sad that Nagasu is the only one who couldn’t see that.

Forgot to link to the article

I've always said I like Mirai but listening to her talk is painful... I've always thought she was a bit aspbergery.

R523 yes, Higuchi goes to World for Japan instead of Sakamato

Ladies: Satoko Miyahara, Wakaba Higuchi

Men: Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, Keiji Tanaka (Mura as alternate if Hanyu drops out)

Pairs: Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara

Ice Dance: Kana Muramoto and Chris Reed

Oh lord... it isn't perfectly clear but it sounds like Plushenko might become Yuzuru's coach - and they're already working on a new short program in Japan. Also crazy Evgeni talks about taking shots of vodka while beginning to practice himself again, to prepare a program, maybe to tour with in Japan. Good English as far as making out the words but the sentences are a bit odd and hard to really decipher.

I think Yuzuru needs a coach like Orser with a good level head on his shoulders who won't wreck Yuzu's body with trying, as Plushenko said, NEW quads -- oyyyy. (youtube posted Feb 18). Yuzu, get off those painkillers and start thinking more clearly !!!

???? i think he has lost it

Sorry it's not in English -- it's the subtitles that are fairly clear at first and then get weird imo with all the talk about shots (of vodka I guess) and, well, he's likely really weird I think, though maybe the translation is wonky. But clearly he's talking about Yuzu and pushing the boundaries into new jumps, like the quad axel I'm sure - and maybe quints?

Does anybody else think Plushenko is drunk? He singing his comments while he laces up his skates?

R521 Hmm. On the one hand, she sounds more interesting than Bradie or Karen Chen. On the other hand, she sounds like an asshole. Honestly, I think she's been hanging out with Adam too much. She is trying to be provocative like Adam, so she gets attention.

R513 Logistically, how would it work if they banned judges from judging competitions with their country's skaters? I'm assuming that most judges come from the same traditional skating countries. They added Finland and Poland for pairs, but do they even have enough judges from other countries?

I've noticed that Mirai might be.... slow. Maybe she's had one too many falls on her head trying to land that triple axel. Honestly, from what I've seen she's genuinely seemed nice and well liked by her competitors but if you listen to her interviews she often doesn't seem to understand the question (and/or tone) and gives bizarre answers. I definitely think she's spectrum-y.

Banning judges with athletes in the competition wouldn't work. You have judges who don't have athletes in the competition. They still cheat. It's called vote swapping.

In my ongoing monologue about Soloviev: The more I look into his Instagram likes, the more gay friendly he seems - at least.

Anyone who would actually verbalize the statement "I want to be a star" in an interview is not all there. Especially after a so so showing.

I loved her red dress though. She looked fantastic.

I don't know what Plushenko is on about. Yuzuru confirmed yesterday that he will keep training in Toronto. Why would he leave a winning team and familiar place to go to Plushenko that hasn't shown much promise as a coach so far.

[quote]In my ongoing monologue about Soloviev: The more I look into his Instagram likes, the more gay friendly he seems - at least.

He is best friends with Sergei Voronov who is also quite fond of Adam.

I actually hated both of Mirai's costume. The color was good last night but I think the overall design wasn't great.

I'd also like to hear how the audio of Mirai's statements to see what her tone was and if her comments were taken out of context. She's got a really weird sense of humor where it seems like only she gets that her own jokes.

This is the same girl who talked about how her "vajay vajay" was out on display for everyone during the Team event.

This is why I supported the Europeans this year for Figure Skating.

Our "American" team did not even remotely seem American.

Nagasu, Chen, Zhou, and Chen? They're all a bunch of chokers. Just like Kwan.

The two Russians and Osmond from Canada were the absolute best in the competition.

I find it hard to believe that these people are the "best" that the U.S. can send to the Olympics. If that's the case, then we are a huge failure.

And judging from the final results, this can't be disputed.

R539, that's great! Thanks.

R540 Agreed. I didn't like her dress either. Does anyone do fashion critiques of the skating outfits?

That interview reads like something from The Onion. Is Tagasu for real? And please don’t make excuses for excuses like she’s slow or on the spectrum for Christ’s sake

[quote]And please don’t make excuses for excuses like she’s slow or on the spectrum for Christ’s sake

Have you ever listened to her talk? It's totally viable.

She didn't even try the damn 3-A and she can't face the humiliation so she's deflecting, a la Trump or something. Stupid narcissistic bitch - we'll see how big a "star" she is when she comes home lol. The red-state audience for DWTS will eat up those "wholesome" Shibs.

[quote] Have you ever listened to her talk?

Unfortunately, yes.

And the truth is that she's an arrogant bitch who can't back up all of her big talk, with any action.

Much the same as Rippon, her best friend.

Oh, Ashley's here and pissed she's been replaced. Don't worry, Adam will always have love for you!!!

[quote]She didn't even try the damn 3-A

[quote]And the truth is that she's an arrogant bitch who can't back up all of her big talk, with any action.

Well, except she did.

Granted, it wasn't in the Ladies competition, but she actually did it where she had a shot to medal. She was never going to medal in the actual competition. None of them were.

Well, good point. But I bet she had dreams of landing that 3A in the ladies' singles and getting the bronze because of it. But she bailed on her attempt and that caused shame. Narcissists can't accept shame and they start tap-dancing to deflect and blame and do anything on earth other than saying "I choked."

Now maybe she would have been just as obnoxious if she did land the thing -- but I think the desperation in her deflecting to Baleman ALSO choking etc. is due to not being able to just own up to her failure/humiliation.

Definitely narcissistic-I saved the team medal, I want to go on DWTS and be a star, in my mind I did the 3a so it’s ok...

I don't know about that, R551. I've heard her say plenty of times that she choked because she wasn't prepared or (specifically on the 3A) that she backed off because she was too tense or backed off at the last minute instead of attacking it. I don't think she's a narcissist. I want to hear the audio because I want to know how she was asked the question because her comment that the question was "aggressive," is weird. I think her response was more likely that she didn't understand the tone of the question or we're not getting the full picture of what she meant.

I'm open to the possibility that she's just a bitch, but the fact that she seems to have good relationships with all the other skaters doesn't reflect that to me. Like I said, I've seen too many interviews of her where she's not there and gives random answers that don't make sense or she thinks people understand her tone.

Mirai is awkward and poorly media trained, but I don't think she is as narcissistic as Adam or Ashley. I think she is trying to channel Adam a bit and project confidence...she's just not very good at it. I feel like every skater is damned when they open their mouth. They're too slick (Shibs), too full of themselves (Ash, Adam, etc.), too awkward (Mirai, Shoma), or a combo of those things (Patrick, V/M). Is there anyone who isn't a little insufferable in interviews? Javier, I suppose...

[Quote] too awkward (Mirai, Shoma)

Well actually Shoma's popularity in Japan has been skyrocketing from his olympic performance and post interviews. He has been killing it, falling asleep in interviews, flirting with Hanyu and giving some ridiculous quotes. People are very endeared with his combination of blunt and unassuming.

Mirai, i don't think she is a bitch. I just think she is not the brightest bulb and yeah she is not well media trained. None of the American skaters are well media trained. Do you remember the queen Jeremy talking about home design about the anti-gay laws?

I'm loving Shoma, how he bows down to Hanyu (metaphorically) and lets Hanyu play with him, even calling him a puppy.

His jumping coach in Chicago (from Ukraine) said of Shoma: "Even if we don't speak English, his personality is such that even if you are in a bad mood, he puts you in a better mood. He is bright, like good weather."

I wish Hanyu would skip worlds (but mainly due to his ankle - but also so Shoma can shine, at least occasionally, without Hanyu looming so large).

All this DWTS campaigning is nauseating.

Mirai would be a very poor choice for DWTS. She doesn't have the personality to last. That sparkly smile would only last for the first week, then the stress would get to her and the negative sound bytes that are sure to be shown in her packages would destroy her.

It's a sad state that anyone's goal would be to make it on DWTS.

[quote]None of the American skaters are well media trained.

Does the USFSA offer media training? They really should. Mirai has been a top skater in the US for 10 years! How can she be so bad at media interviews?

To be fair, R559... look how long Kwan is around and it's still painful to listen to her be interviewed.

*has been around

Most of the choreography was bland and boring; sometimes it even looked identical it was so generic. The two Russians excelled, but the Japanese skaters had more variety and appeal in their programs. I can't believe we don't even have one outstanding USA skater like we always did in the past. Having Weir and Lipinski making excuses for all the falls was annoying.

OK...I went looking for some hot pictures and info on Soloviev. He was married from 2006-10 and has a son. But then I came across this page which has a nice picture of him with Sergei Voronov on the beach.

But lots of other hot guys here. LOL at Katsalapov giving totally douchebro in the bathroom mirror realness. But I think I will take Morgan Cipres. Guillaume really needs to jump on that.

Thanks for your efforts, R563! What got me curious was that he seemed to be a Guillaume fanboy....but it seems to not be just about him! So he was married at 16/17? That's pretty young even for Russians.

Even without Hanyu around it's not guaranteed Shoma will win at Worlds. He lost against Nathan at gpf and against Boyang Jin at 4CC. He actually tends to do better when Yuzuru is competing because then he is the one getting all media/fan pressure while Shoma can cruise hidden.

Gracie please come back!

I thought they actually got it just right last night! As much as I was surprised that the Canadian didn't screw up her program for once, I'd say she really did deserve the bronze. Alina was better than the other one (who's name I can never pronounce or even spell!). So I'm glad she got the gold. She deserved it. But want to know my theory on Mirai? She was drunk or high on something. You heard me right! Look at her behavior when she finished that program... She was giggling like an ass, babbling... did Adam Rippon give her something to "calm her nerves"? Something was off.

But for all those saying Ashley would have been better CLEARLY aren't facing reality. Ashley has been so bad over the past year or two, she would have finished lower than ALL THREE of our American losers! The problem is, these girls don't face the same tough coaches as the Russian girls do. Have you SEEN the coach of the now Russian Gold & Silver medalists?! She is as tough as nails. Our spoiled brats couldn't last a DAY under a coach like that.

[quote]Gracie please come back!

Gracie doesn't live here anymore.

[quote]The problem is, these girls don't take the same performance enhancers the Russians do.

Fixed that for you.

Interestingly enough, I just watched an interview with Sasha Cohen from 2016. She talks about how in 2006, when training with Yagudin, he told her that the Russians were taking pills to increase their performances and knew exactly when to stop and what to drink to get it out of their systems before testing.

I thought Mirai looked a little “off” when she finished her skate too

R570 Interesting. But I'm not sure doping would help that much, though. The long program is only 4 minutes long! Do elite athletes really need doping to last 4 minutes?

I thought Mirai just looked like she was trying too hard to not act like she fucked it up.

It's such a cop out to accuse Russian skaters of doping when they obviously train their asses off. Do you think the Japanese girls are doping too? They have that 13 year old doing triple axels, Kaori backloads, all of them are quite consistent. They must be on something! Oh, but they aren't Evil Russians, so what's the explanation?

R569, sounds like sour grapes to me! Those Russian girls don't look like they're on anything-- like steroids, etc. They are skinny as rails. If anyone was "on" something, it was that stupid cow, Mirai!! The only secret to the Russian girl's success is being TERRIFIED of their coach and working night and day to ensure they wouldn't embarrass themselves like the 3 jackasses the US sent!!!

Yes, R572. "Only 4 minutes," to jump 7 times, skate across the ice 60 times, spin, etc. Do you have any understanding how much endurance that takes?

Yeah, R575, you clearly don't understand that performance enhancers aren't just about steroids.

R575, I understand perfectly well! Mirai was the only one who looked drugged up on something. Not the Russians. Just because the Russian girls were better trained and didn't fall all over the ice like the girls we sent, doesn't mean they were "on" anything. Again, it's just sounds like sour grapes to me!!

Oops, meant to put that last post to R577. The one who keeps blaming the Russians for not being failures.

R574, you're right. It really is a cop-out. It was so obvious to me how well trained those 2 girls were compared to the rest of the field. They could do triple triples in their sleep. Ours can barely heave themselves off the ice enough to do a double. It's embarrassing. I think if the US is to blame for anything, it's the fact that we keep telling our girls they are doing well when they AREN'T! Again, they wouldn't last a DAY under those Russian coaches!!

Try harder. R579.

Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Meldonium. Look it up.

LOL if Mirai was doping one would hope she wouldn't keep skating abysmally from competition to competition. and obviously the Russians are loaded. That curler lost his bronze medal already and another Russian, in bobsled was tested positive. So much for the "clean olympic athletes from russia".

As for well trained obviously the Russian girls were well trained. It's also easier to train like crazy when you have products that enhance recuperation and cardio abilities.

Yeah. In a rational world, Mirai, who failed, is the one on performance enhancers but the Russians who skate perfectly aren't.

One would hope that if Mirai were doping she'd be a lot better than she is. Sorry, that logic is stupid.

[quote]Elizaveta Tuktamysheva and Meldonium. Look it up.

She could never have skated the way Eteri's girls skate. She had one decent season thanks to the 3A and general consistency - not backloading. And she stopped taking meldonium when it was banned. Now why the fuck would you assume Eteri is feeding it to her skaters after it's been banned and when the Russian skaters are getting scrutinized like never before? How stupid do you think she is? Alina missed a practice session because of the doping control, they would be absolutely nuts to try anything now.

You idiots need to stop listening to Dave Lease and Christine Brennan. They will grasp at any straw to find excuses for the US skaters sucking so badly.

Didn't know about Elizaveta and Meldonium. That's pretty interesting. So she rose pretty quickly on it and won a WC and then has to stop taking it and is nowhere to be seen again.

Dumbest post yet, at R585. Yes, how dumb would they be to feed their athletes substances when they've been caught multiple times (that alone should NOT make them suspect) and how dumb is it that athletes from Russia have been caught in these Games using the same banned substance they were banned for.

Yeah, it's everyone else that's stupid.

Wow the troll farms also work on non politics stuff as well. Who knew?

Ladies, let's stop arguing about doping and let's start talking about Med and Zag's dreamy coach, Daniil G.

Yes, please, R589!

I preferred Pogo's coach. His photos on the beach were nice.

For the blue troll.

Wait, is the blue troll named Joey???

Link to new thread for when this one maxes out.

The age of the US lady skaters is DEAD TO ME!! The age of Kwan, Slute and Cohen was unmatched in its nail-biting splendor. I'm watching it all via on demand and YouTube...so boring. Even the men were boring. The team event is not a good idea. Rippon and Chen went to the games with so much hype. What a slap in the face they've been to the Games. The US skaters simply haven't caught up with the Code of Points like skaters from other countries. Christine Brennan had an absolute hissy fit over the Russian girl's freeskate because it was so back loaded. Maybe so, but you have to give props to her for saving the jumps until the end when a skater's stamina starts to weaken. Team USA didn't even try. Losers.

Off topic but I miss the old pairs ice dancing. Watching a couple come out in traditional polka outfits, doing the tango, etc.

Jesus, can we stop putting the "Team Competition" front and center like it's anything but a ratings grab. Yes, medals from the event are a nice accomplishment, but it's not the same as the other, traditional events. But everyone cross references the team event to make their point - "Mirai didn't really choke or have a bad Olympics because she made the 3A in the team event," or Mirai herself excusing her ladies' performance by stating that one of the "gold medal winning" Canadians - in the team event -- also had a poor individual event.

"Our "American" team did not even remotely seem American.

Nagasu, Chen, Zhou, and Chen? They're all a bunch of chokers. Just like Kwan."

Seriously, we have to have white skaters to "seem American"?

^Apparently. That comment was just best ignored. I assume that's why everyone else left it alone.

Link to new thread: