Figure Skating 2018, Pt. XIV

Link to previous thread for reference.

Zabiiako/Enbert into third place with 74.38

now hashtags #mixedcouple

"let's move in the other thread to discover if the cute skater is a slutty or not"

They are all whores, DARLING.

I did say hi and didn't get a response, so maybe he isn't interested or maybe he is busy...oh well. I tried :)

Carolina - looks like an "unearned gold".

I Tessa needs to return....

R4 Don't worry. I think Shoma Uno is nursing a foot injury so he can't respond right now.

Phil Hersh hasn't recovered from Carolina leading. He hasn't tweeted about figure skating yet today

Phil shouldn't worry. Carolina is gonna flop the FS for sure and he'll be able to write about her junior content destroying women skating. I think she deserves to lead the SP anyways.

Judge number 1, tMs. Tiziana MORANDI, gave 10 to Tarasova/Morozov in Interpretation and Performance.

I think she is the only one putting T/M first in PCS

So the deal is Russia-Italy?

I love Morgan/Ciprès for their style, but how on earth are they in 3rd place after the SP? They have 2 botched jumps, it wasn’t a good skate.

If you want to see how the FS starting order draw is done, it starts at around 8minutes44seconds of the video linked

Will worlds be broadcast on tv in the US or should I just search for the programs piecemeal online?

Nevermind, i just checked and it'll be on the Olympic channel at 9 eastern.

Gabby got her #Redemption! Next stop: photoshop classes!

R14 there's always the long for her to fuck it up again.

r15 Good thing about the long is that you burn more calories and are naturally thinner after it/

[quote]Good thing about the long is that you burn more calories and are naturally thinner after you do some sloppy photoshop

lol I love you cunts

R12 Skating on Olympic Channel AND NBCSportsNetwork. Men's Short Thurs 5AM -11AM Olympic Channel then 2 hr programs (just the final 2 groups) repeat. Also, pairs free is Thursday. I sign up for NBC alerts but am overwhelmed with hockey, basketball, Premier League, Gymnastic alerts. The system worked well earlier in the season. Now so much content and there is no way to filter events individually to make sure I don't miss content. AND so far none of the content is available on demand for me. The cable provider won't pay to show Olympic Channel content on demand on the NBC Sports App. They do show NBCSN content on demand on the App. I watched most of the Olympic FS on the App because it was the only way to see entire competitions.

R12 I am tired! Sorry. There will be repeats on NBCSN of the Men's Short.

The ISU is going crazy taking down content, I figured there must be some plans to broadcast.

Nice turn by Bradie. She's a good skater from the waist down--there's a flow to her movement beneath the windmills of her arms . . Mariah Bell showed why, again, she didn't go to the Olympics. Girl has everything but the ability to actually skate clean.

Wouldn't count on redemption for Daleman yet--the FS is where she bombed so badly.

Shoma is planning to do only one Quad in the SP. The combo has been changed into a 3+3

he is also doing a 4T instead of a 4F as solo jump

Listen, Armenian skater, if you have black pants and because of the shirt you chose, you know your underwear band is showing at every jump and spin, put some black underwear rather than orange underpants.

Javi Raya, 3 big mistakes but at least the camera got a closeup of his greatest ASSet at the beginning of his program. I guess you need that much cushion for all those falls.

Javier Raya...the only openly gay single skater there?

well, please, Adam and Jorik come back...

50.0....he would have not made even the Ladies FS

Carolina for the Gold in 2022!

Raya who broke up with his boyfriend (who traveled from Canada to Helsinki) in the middle of 2017 Worlds

2 groups done

Ponsart 79.55. PB by a mile. Will qualify for FS easily

Kerry 74.99. Should be enough

Yes 72.43. He can hope

Rest below 70.

r21 Gabby shouted REDEMPTION as she left the ice after the short. It was picked up on microphone, and it was indeed cringeworthy. But the "redemption" jokes are making fun of her, not supporting her.

Tomino 82.61. I think it's a new PB

Japaneses (apart from Shoma) tend to be over-emotional. He was in tears at the end. I guess they are all tense for the 3 spots.

Very good outing for Fentz. 82.49 PB.

Julian Yee is in

Borderline score now is Philip Harris with 68.58

All those still to skate have SBs over 70

Keegan Messing 93

Pavlov out. Harris qualifies.

It's rather a shame the world won't get to see Dr. V's long program. La Strada dressed in red, white, and black stripes is bad enough in the novice/junior ranks, but on a 30-year old medical doctor (with novice content) it's quite the choice.

I hate the Dr.'s skating...he's always been a bathroom break for me.

Do people like Julian Yee? As a skater? As a competitor? As a person? He's always just been sort of... there. I have no strong feelings one way or the other.

Moris bombed and is out. Armenian guy who skated first qualifies

Rizzo's SP for the 1001th time this season

R35 I usually forget he exists, but his skating is pleasant enough. In the Olympics thread some people found him really hot, idk.

Most people like Yee because he has crowd pleasing exhs. Plus like all skaters from SEA he started skating in a mall and didn't have real coaches and stuff.

[quote]Do people like Julian Yee? As a skater? As a competitor? As a person? He's always just been sort of... there. I have no strong feelings one way or the other.

He's ok, he has some personality & decent skating skills. I like him better than the other SE Asia skater Michael Christian Martinez, who seems to think rather highly of himself.

Whom did menopause hit the hardest? Lori Nichol or Alexander Majorov?

Leave Lori alone! But wow, Alexander Majorov, eesh. And people think B.Joubert has aged poorly.

Joubert got chubby but he still looks hot. Majorov was never hot to begin with.

Nguyen bombed. 13th so far.

The Mexican guy qualifies for FS

Nguyen bombed at 2016 worlds in the short. Nerves? Family pressure? Is there a standard name for flopping in every other World's? Could we start referring to it as Jeremy Abbot Syndrome?

Is it me or Rizzo not only have skated literally dozens of time this season but he also always gets more or less the same score?

Nguyen is the first out so far

Mind you, we still have Samohin to come who is capable of everything

Rizzo has been consistently bland all season.

$peedy looks confused to be here.

LOL Samohin is indeed splatting as much as he can. He saved the opening combo and fell on 4S and 3A

the fact he did the Combo should put him above Nam if the rotations are there.

Zhou clean

96.78

He's podium contender if Shoma is not healthy

Sadly judging by some of his likes on twitter he is growing up into a little Republican.

R50 clean but ur and no call...

Vincent's PCS is three points higher than it was at the OIympics. Is he getting a bump because he placed in the top 6 there?

He's getting the bump because he's the heir apparent.

Max Aaron is hot

Deniss and his Swiss daddy now

R30 Watch his Boston free skate and come again.

Damn Zhou. If he gets bronze we have our next Olympic champion.

Zhou's landing is more like Uno's... Apparently they both know how to get the remaining half rotation done on the ice surface rather than in the air This is not good

So far, Keegan Messing is the biggest surprise discovery of this Championship for me. His SP was lovely. Very quirky retro style. And apparently his rise to Canada’s #2 was quite unexpected & recent.

He doesn’t have the standard willowy look of a solo male skater. Surprisingly stocky. Doesn’t bleach his teeth either - in our day & age!

It’s like he accidentally time-travelled to this World championship from the 1940s.

R56 Boston was when he splattered hard? I would say that that he was somehow in pain more than being overwhelmed unlike Tomono today or Oda at his best (was it NHK when he had the big breakdown in Kiss and Cry and they showed an unimpressed Lysacek in the backstage?)

Keegan's raise to Canadian number 2 is recent also because he was skating for USA untile some years ago.

When did he switch to Canada? 3 years ago? I recall him at US Nationals battling with Grant Hochstein.

Tanaka popped the 3A into a double

it can costly for the third spot.

If they all stay ahead of them Tomono will be 12th and Tanaka 14th

R60 Switching was definitely a good idea because the Canadian men's field is wide open. Nathan and Vincent have a lock on the top two American spots. Canada has ... Kevin Reynolds as competition.

Misha's melodramatic ass will be missed...if he is really retiring this time.

Drama Queen Misha has done well

Should be third

Watched Misha live finally...lovely

Meanwhile, the Short Dance starting order draw

Short Dance

Group 1

Bulgarians from Canada

Joti

Mansourova/Ceska

Branda Kerry's sister + one of the Dodds sibligns

GROUP 2

Belarus

Cessiville

Hungarians

Soucisse/baby Firus

GROUP 3

Lithuanian Reed

Csolley

Israeli crappy duo

Min/Gamelin

GROUP 4

Armenians from Canada

Donohue's girlfriend + Hubbell's boyfriend

Fear/Gibson

Nazarova/Nikitin

GROUP 5

Polish duo

Lauriault/Legac

Wang/Liu

Agagonova/Ucar

Tiffany/Jonthan

GROUP 6

22 Gilles/Poirier

23 Stepanova/Bukin

24 Hawayek/Baker

25 Guignard/Fabbri

26 Japanese Reed

GROUP 7

27 Chock/Bates

28 Hubbell/Donohue

29 Cappellini/Lanotte

30 Weaver/Poje

31 Papadakis/Cizeron

Kolyada takes the lead with 100.08

Chen 101.94

Kolyada did only one quad (4T in the combo). He went for 3Lz rather than 4Lz

PCS were in favour of Kolyada over Nathan by 1.2

Boyang 95.85

Behind Zhou

Uno only did a 3+2 combo

94.26

So

1) Nathan

2) Kolyada

3) Zhou

4) Boyang

5) Uno

6) Messing

7) Bychenko

8) Ge

9) Deniss

10) Majorov

11) Tomono

12) Fentz

Today's TP must have something wrong with their eyes when they give random calls of URs...

Tech Panel today

Technical ControllertMs. Yukiko OKABEt(Japan)

Technical SpecialisttMs. Olga MARKOVAt(Russia)

Assistant Technical SpecialisttMs. Myriam LORIOL-OBERWILER (Switzerland)

So, Nathan should win unless he bombs the free skate like he did at Skate America. If he skates clean (or close to it), Uno is injured, Kolyada can't match the tech content, and Vincent/Boyang can't match the PCS.

Part of me is hoping that Nathan bombs and Vincent wins, though. I know it happens with the ladies, but when was the last time the World Junior champion won Senior Worlds the next year?

Nathan's quad flip was under and two footed. obviously not called

Only 3 judges marked a negative GOE for Chen's 4F

Judge 6 gave a +1

Majorov's 4T

Judge 2 (China): -2

Judge 3 (Japan): +2

Worlds really sucks without Yuzuru and Javier. I don't give a shit about any of these top 3.

Judge 3 gave Keegan Messing 9.25 for transitions (8.75 for skating skills--it's so rare to see TR scored that much higher than SS)

R76 at first I thought it was a triple flip!

USFSA has spent all money left on the men tech panel

R19,R20, thanks so much. I have the NBC sports app so it works out the way I need it to.

R59 yeah you're probably right

lol at Muramoto's IG story with a skating fan recognizing Chris Reed in the tube and asking for an autograph.

I once met Torn/Partanen at Milan airport. I didn't ask for an autograph as I was with some co-workers and I didn't want to show I am an expert of Finnish ice dance. But I could have pretended that they were a top team

Watching men’s short (not live!), so far nothing special

Pairs FS first group

Duskova/Bidar 189.60 PB

Hocke/Blommaert 184.83 PB

Ziegler/Kiefer 184.30 PB

Alexandrovskaya/Windsor 177.46

Now second group with Knierims and Moore Towers/Marinaro trying to save 2 spots for USA and Canada; the North Koreans and Grandpa Zhang

Ryom/Kim 188.77t

I think her 2A may have been called UR

They drop below the Czech by 1 point (they were basically tied after SP)

Knierims ....big mistake on the death spiral. Fall on the second throw

she is crying

they drop below Czech, North Koreans, Germans#2 and Austrians

2 spots gone for sure now

Moore Towers/Marinaro are top 10 for sure.

But at the end they looked so tired. They are generally not strong in lifts but in the last one I feared he was about to fall.

They beat Yu/Zhang!

PCS increased by 4 points compared to PyeongChang........are they suddenly getting the top Canadian bonus?!

Alexa apologized on Twitter for losing a US pairs spot. No great loss, our pairs all suck anyway.

I've really liked that FS from KMT/Marinaro all season. He just can't lift though like my dude she is a small girl.

KMT has a minor injury. After SP she said they haven't done a full run through since Olympics before this week

Re-watching the men’s SP. Mexican kid (his debut after Juniors?) is a riot. Cheeky fella.

The cameraman zoomed in on Raya’s ass (as an opening shot for his program) - ha! Good to know the camera crew are focusing on the most important things.

China is losing the 3 spots given what Yu/Zhang have done and what Peng/Jin are doing

Everyone so close

Della Monica/Guarise 206.06

KTM/Marinaro 204.33

Yu/Zhang 203.36

Astakhova/Rogonov 202.16

Peng/Jin 202.07

Marchei/Hotarek 202.02

Warm up of last 4 pairs now

Zabiiako/Enbert 207.88

Current first place but that score shouldn't be threatening for Morgan/Cipres if they don't make a big disaster (like Euros!) Given how they were overscored yesterday, judges want to give them this bronze

R50, what comment by Zhou makes him a little Republican? Didn't see anything--he follows Wikileaks and Michelle Obama's old First Lady account, FWIW. Just not a lot of Asian-American Republicans from the Bay Area. though they can be conservative in other ways.

If Nathan had had that SP in the Olympics, he'd have medaled.

Shame about pairs, not a big shame, but a shame. There are some promising juniors coming up.

And I'm all for giving James/Cipres the bronze as a good-bye gift.

R98 In the last couple of months he liked quite a number of tweets by Ben Shapiro. Mainly those against arm control. It may be he's just pro-guns.

Aljona (and Bruno) have just swept everyone away

At least we are sure Candyman won't be a World Champion program.

tears, tears all around

I don't know if it's end for them.

Massot is thanking everybody

World Record in the FS. Word Record overall

That's Silver for Tarasova/Morozov

20 points behind Aljona

So

3 spots for Russia

2 spots for Germany

2 spots for France

2 spots for Italy

2 spots for China

2 spots for Canada

Poor little Shoma. He finally gets a shot at a world title without Yuzuru to block him and he sprains his ankle. Oh well, he seems to be awfully stoic but I wanted him to win.

All hail Nathan - maybe he's wonderful but I find him a bit stiff. Haven't seen today's short program yet. Maybe he'll win me over. But I also like Kolyada and Jin Boyang despite their flaws, especially Boyang's, so I think it something more with Nathan. He seems so cold and dispassionate.

Half flower girls at the medal ceremony are dressed in bridal dress and the other half as medieval ladies?

Ben Shapiro--ugh. Probably less straight Republican than libertarian nerd--they're a Silicon Valley type. He's young, let's hope he grows out of it.

Nathan's not as limber as other skaters, but I like the way he uses his angular quality in Nemesis. The jazziness suits him. He has a really nice leg stretch on that low spin with an outstretched leg. There's a precision to what he does that I enjoy.

[quote]Just not a lot of Asian-American Republicans from the Bay Area

Well.....

GRAND PRIX spots...I may have done some mistakes...I apologize in advance

2 GPs and seeded

Savchenko/Massot

Tarasova/Morozov

James/Cipres

Zabiiako/Enbert

Della Monica/Guarise

KMT/Marinaro

(if someone retire, they move up pairs according to World placements)

2 GPs:

Yu/Zhang

Astakhova/Rogonov

Peng/Jin

Marchei/Hotarek

(if someone retire, they move up pairs according to Worlds placement)

1 GP guaranteed based on World Standings

Sui/Han

Duhamel/Radford

Stolbova/Klimov

Seguin/Bilodeau

Ilyusheckina/Moscovitch

Kayne/O'Shea

Knierims

Alexandrovskaya/Windsor

Ziegler/Kiefer

Denney/Frazier

Castelli/Tran

Cain/LeDuc

Duskova/Bidar

Boikova/Kozlovskii

(if there are retirement I think they don't go down the World Standing list but organizers can fill with the ones they prefer in the top 75 of season bests)

1 GP guaranteed based on SB

Ryom/Kim

Hock/Blommaert

Very happy for James/Cipres

I actually think Nathan has regressed in presentation from the start of the season. His nemesis at rostelecom was electrifying, here it was kinda half-assed and sloppy and he got 1st on strange tech calls. Kolyada (with that awful mozartango) should have lead.

I just watched Nathan and for me, there's just something off. I think the main thing is I don't like his jump landings. Most skaters with a good landing bend their knees and gracefully exit the jump, which gives it a pretty punctuation -- with Nathan it's so abrupt and erect with not so much knee bend. It doesn't seem like it would be such a big thing, but it bothers me - it also seems like it would be easy to correct ???

And in general, he doesn't flow - but I may be over-accustomed to Hanyu who can even be noodly, so it's like going from one extreme to the other - and Hanyu's landings are gorgeous - though I guess he's not as consistent as Nathan, but when he's on, he's better imo. But otoh, Nathan is 18 and Yuzuru is 23. I would imagine the artistry would improve for Nathan. He's got a lovely posture (if he weren't so stiff) -- I read that Yuzuru said he has curvature of the spine and if he could get a new body part it would be a spine.

I actually think he would be better served with a new right ankle because I don't mind the looseness and the judges seem accustomed to it by now. Anyway, off to pout about Shoma...

Remember that in the SP Kolyada is interepreting an "angel that descends from the sky down to earth. He experiences some emotional stress and wants to return to the sky"

[Quote] Remember that in the SP Kolyada is interepreting an "angel that descends from the sky down to earth. He experiences some emotional stress and wants to return to the sky"

10 for interpretation and program composition for me. Equals the candy man visionary concept from our pairs platinum world medalists.

R110 yeah Nathan can't bend his knees and his landings are ugly.

I forgot the ending ..."but for some reason stays here (on earth)."

Kolyada is supposed to be an angel? I thought he was playing air traffic controller. Don't get the program at all.

Duhamel on fire on twitter

"I just need to know. When you two foot a throw, or crash on a twist, aren't you supposed to be deducted? Not given plus 3's? I was always told that if I two-footed a throw or crashed on a twist catch that I would get a deduction."

Nate Bartholomey tweeted her "There is an erratic “only slightly” clause that is also open to “I don’t recall seeing that from my angle”

Duhamel : Here is where I have a problem. In your short, Deanna brushed her foot to the ice, resulting in "two footing" the throw. You got minuses. Someone else makes the same mistake. But they get plus 2-3. How!? Why!?

Being a skating fan is really hard right now. I'm so happy for so many of you, but I want justice and it's hard to see GOE's and PCS being handed out like candy and not being accurate from skater to skater.

R109. I agree with that, I watched the event live today, Nathan's presentation was definitely not great... something was off

The +3 on the Tarasova's two footed landing was by the German judge who was probably overexcited at that point.

The +3 on the twist was by the Italian judge (German judge +2)

Ohter Duhamel's comments....I guess those she doesn't mention are the ones who are not her faves..which is basically the Russians and the Italians...

Ok. I love Hao Zhang. I love how he’s been competing as long as I remember watching skating on TV (internationally since 1999), I competed with him and all 3 of his partners and now he’ll continue competing all after I’ve stopped. All the power to him!

Always love @ziegler_kiefer !! Always beautiful music choices and choreography. What a great #WorldFigure they had!

I was thinking more like 143 but amazing effort by @Kirsten_MT and @_MarinaroSAUCE_ and they secure 🇨🇦 #1 pairs position! Congrats to all 🤩🙌

Congrats @VanessaJamessk8 and Morgan and coaching team! You did it! World bronze 🥉#congrats #WorldFigure #Milano2018

I love how Bruno Massot holds Aljona in the air in their ending position. He is a beast of a man!! Dead tired and he just ever so lightly keeps her up there for the ending pose. 💪 #strongestmanalive #WorldFigure #Milano2018

I have to say I always really enjoy watching @ALEX_ROGONOV and Kristina Astakhova skate. They are refreshing and engaging and I’m always drawn into their performances. 🤩🙌 #WorldFigure

Short hair Peng is adorable 💇

[r103] I have issues with Nathan, too. He just seems rough all around, but especially on the landings. If I'm going to favor one of the new young jumping beans, I think Vincent will be my pick over Nathan.

Vincent literally can't skate but then neither can Boyang Jin and he is getting 42 pcs lol so Vincent should be fine!

Australian judge PCS marks

1) Uno

2) Chen and Bychenko

4) Messing

5) Kolyada

6) Aliev

7) Tanaka

8) Fentz

9) Boyang

10) Zhou

11) Vasiljevs

12) Samohin

13) Aaron

14) Ge and Brezina

Canadian judge ranked Nguyen 30th in PCS. Worst placement by other judges is 23th

Her scores were thrown out...but because they were the lowest one

Chinese judge put Pavlon 11th in PCS. Other judges ranked him from 25th to 37th.

Knierim is fighting with Phil Hersh on twitter amazing. Jackie Wong was announcing that US pairs will only have one spot and Phil replied "one too many?" What a cunt. Love him sometimes.

Just you wait R122, that's only a teaser for my imminent meltdown when Carolina Kostner wins another medal with novice content.

I remember the press conference when Rippon announced he was withdrawing from Nationals 2017 because of the foot injury. They arrived at Hersh's turn and he asked out of blue something like "what changes have you noticed in Nathan Chen since last year?"

Dead silence

Rippon: "that's a totally inappropriate question"

Even more dead silence

Question for skating experts. A slightly bit off topic but anyway. I've recently started watching skating in the last two years and kind of enjoy it. Then I went on YouTube and found that I enjoy the older skating much more. It's much more elegant and I'm not on the edge of my seat waiting for them to dust the ice with their asses. So to my question. Do you think they should bring back figures? I love this program by Janet Lynn. It really looks like she's floating on the ice and her choreography so matches the music. It's not a skate, skate, skate, if I make the jumps I win thing. It really is beautiful to watch.

[quote]I actually think Nathan has regressed in presentation from the start of the season. His nemesis at rostelecom was electrifying, here it was kinda half-assed and sloppy and he got 1st on strange tech calls. Kolyada (with that awful mozartango) should have lead.

R109 I completely agree than Nathan has regressed in presentation this year. I really hate the new costume, too. The all black costume was simple and inoffensive. The white arm costume is just stupid and it actually detracts from the program.

[quote] Duhamel on fire on twitter

Duhamel should stop oversharing on Twitter. She sounded like an idiot with her “my Olympic (individual event) bronze feels just like Gold”. No, bitch, you got bronze / 3rd place, and got beat by 2 other pairs. No amount of self-congratulatory PR about “feeling like Gold” will change that.

Speaking of costumes, R126, what the hell was Zhou doing wearing a plain white t-shirt under his pretty ordinary gray shirt - from a distance, it looked like a shirt to do yardwork in. And I don't think he quite lives up to Daisuke Takahashi's Rule #1:

Dec 2013: "A must-have quality for figure skaters is, I think, gorgeousness." Daisuke Takahashi throws his head back and laughs, but he is serious.

I also thought Zhou looked slower across the ice than the top flight in the ladies comp. Those quads are really fucking up the artistic side of men's skating alas.

R125, i would love to see figures come back. I don't want to watch them but I want to know they're spending time on them because as you said, the change in quality is notable. All this time on jumps and for what?

Some of these men could make Surya Bonaly look like Janet Lynn.

Hey look it's your favorite Asian-American sweethearts doing a meet and greet with our adoring fans followed by 2 minutes of us running through the airport! Isn't this so much more interesting than the World Championships that's been going on?

R131 How does it feel when two Canadians were invited to Ellen show but not you two and now they may be pushing to do a DWTS instead of you??

The Knierims came in 15th and cost the U.S. a spot? I guess God wasn't good!

R125, I also miss the days of beauty and grace on the rink. Laurence Owen won the 1961 U.S. figure skating champonship, but less than 3 weeks later she and the rest of the U.S. World team died in a plane crash on their way to the World Championships. Today's figure skating is just about jumps and racking up points.

R128 re Zhou's costume. I watched his performance a 2nd time on my iPad (NBCSN app). He was definitely wearing a carefully made custom costume. The gray shirt had vertical bands of sequins from the shoulders down to the collarbone or first rib - not heavily sequined. The shirt was much shorter than streetwear and did flutter but was very movement/body conscious. For ex., no sliding around on the shoulders. The tshirt had a neckline a bit loose to appear like a tshirt but was very fitted in the body with no blousing over the waistband. It was probably sleeveless, too, to avoid bulk. I wondered about the tshirt too and obviously gave it a verrry close look. I liked the costume for his program. It sounds like it was too distracting/nuisance for your viewing the performance.

R125 this program held my attention for 1'45" and then I spaced out. Quite boring. She skates well, but her port de bras is ordinary and her flexibility bad. That spiral was dreadful. Everything looks way too easy. Even most ballet principal variations look harder than that.

A bonus/deducation (from -1 to +1) in Free Dance will be proposed to next ISU Congress:

To evaluate the overall Free Dance program with a specific focus for season 2018/2019 on “Entertainment” with the bonus/no action/deduction prior to inputting the Component marks. To receive the bonus: - Enjoyable/colorful/engaging overall DANCE program

____

how the hell will they determine "entertainment"?

Oh, they are proposing the Congress to cut the "men must not wear tights"

r138 They should. In the past 5 years, the fitting of men's pants, especially in the ass and in the ankles, are essentially tights. I don't think I've ever seen Matteo G wear what could be called pants. Not Complaining.

Zhulin's male overweight assistant coach (who looks more like a tough bodyguard than a model) showing up with his fashionable handbag is a must of Kiss & Cry.

R139 I agree, some of the men are already essentially in tights. So keeping that rule was useless unless they would start to award -1 to Guarise and Rippon.

First 2 groups

Soucisse/Firus 64.02

Lorenz/Polizoakis 62.08

Torn/Partanen 57.96

Ceska/Mansour 55.27

Yanocskaya/Lukacs 54.11

S/F are surely in for the FD. L/P should make the cut with 62 unless they start to over score everyone now. T/P are borderline. Last year the 20th SD was 57.10

Rest is likely to be eliminated.

Marchei (born 1986)/Hotarek 1984) say they will take an holiday and then decide if retire.

Della Monica (1989)/Guarise (1988) are continuing.

Lay off the contour a bit, Ronnie Zilberberg!

I guess Alexa is a fair weather Christian, since she is obviously not "turning the other cheek" by calling out Hershey. (Sorry, I knew way too many "Christians" who were awful pieces of hypocritical crap) She is a brainwashed Fundie who , for the longest time, pinned a tweet to her Twitter that celebrated last year's International Women's Day by talking all about....her husband. It's not Hersh's fault that you choked, honey.

Tankova/Zilberberg got their usual last place! They managed to score worse than Kerry/Dodds.

Chris Reed's sister/Lithuanian blonde cute boy 61.33 (PB)

Mysliveckova/Csolley 55.54

Min/Gamelin 58.82

Alison Reed has a good chance to qualify for the FS.......

She needs 2 to go below her. Armenians shouldn't score 61. The weakest of the others remaining is probably Fear/Gibson with a PB at 60.

last time she made the Worlds FD was 2011 and she was skating for Georgia

I see Olivia Dumb has scored 4 points less than us.

[quote]It's not Hersh's fault that you choked, honey.

But it is Hersh's fault that he's an insensitive jerk.

The Lithuanian Reed qualifies . Min/Gamelin are the one on the bubble with 58.8

Laurialt/LeGac, Agafonova/Ucar and Wang/Liu are the ones to watch. All others left shouldn't drop below 60 even on a bad day.

R125, actually, Janet Lynn was relatively weak in school figures. At the 1972 Olympics, Lynn got the bronze even though she was 1st in the free skate. Beatrix Schuba won the gold, even though she was 7th in the free skate.

French#2, China and Turkey all made it through. So Min/Gamelin look to finish 21th.

Agafonova/Ucar are retiring but they got their usual over scoring to push them into 20th. We will have to see their crappy Cleopatra/Marco Polo free dance again.

Zagorski/Guerreiro take the lead with 72.45

Jonathan has toned down the make up, I think. At least now his face doesn't directly match Tiffany's hair colour.

Gilles/Poirier 74.51. New PB, their highest TES ever. Technical Specialist is Canadian today

Stepanova/Bukin's TES looks a bit below Gilles/Poirier

Panel of judges is more European oriented. So I expect higher PCS for them

Italian TV commentator is saying they made a movement that can be considered as an extra rotational lift

They are taking so long....now they noticed the extra lift and gave them -1

74.50, behind G/P by 0.01

Hawayek just fell in the middle of step sequence.

They are going way behind Tiffany/Jonathan

TES looks terrible. PCS should save them because their TES is at Lorenz/Polizoakis, Wang/Liu and Alison Reed's level

TES dropped even more.

63.48

I wonder what it's like being coached by a couple who are going through (or already went through) a divorce. Seems like it would be kind of awkward.

Guignard/Fabbri not great.

They are finishing 9th behind also Z/G

71.15

Hawayek kept repeating her blade caught on something on the ice because it just stopped -- if that's the case, I feel really bad for them.

75.66 for Chock/Bates

Less TES than Gilles/Poirier. Less PCS than Stepanova/Bukin

but overall they are in the lead

Hubbell/Donohue go over 80!

What the fuck is this camerawork? Cutting to the audience in the middle of programs? Jesus.

Cappellini/Lanotte are in Chock/Bates territory in terms of score

the TES increased after review

PCS second to H/B. 1.5 above C/B

77.46

Weaver/Poje 78.31

They are keeping the France-USA-Canada podium.

Guillaume is back sleeveless

83.73

WR

P/C were fab.

1 Papadakis/Cizeron 83.73 Q

2 Hubbell/Donohue 80.42 Q

3 Weaver/Poje 78.31 Q

4 Cappellini/Lanotte 77.46 Q

5 Chock/Bates 75.66 Q

___

6 Gilles/Poirier 74.51 Q

7 Stepanova/Bukin 74.50 Q

8 Zagorski/Guerreiro 72.45 Q

9 Guignard/Fabbri 71.15 Q

10 Muramoto/Reed 65.65 Q

____

11 Soucisse/Firus 64.02 Q

12 Smart/Diaz 63.73 Q

13 Kaliszek/Spodyriev 63.70 Q

14 Lauriault/Le Gac 63.50 Q

15 Hawayek/Baker 63.48 Q

___

16 Nazarova/Nikitin 63.35 Q

17 Lorenz/Polizoakis 62.08 Q

18 Reed/Ambrulevicius 61.33 Q

19 Wang/Liu 61.18 Q

20 Agafonova/Ucar 60.38 Q

__

21 Min/Gamelin 58.82

22 Garabedian/Proulx Senecal 58.64

23 Torn/Partanen 57.99

24 Fear/Gibson 57.56

25 Mysliveckova/Csolley 55.54

26 Mansourova/Ceska 55.27

27 Yanovskaya/Lukacs 54.11

28 Kavaliova/Bieliaiev 50.40

29 Markova/Daze 47.57

30 Kerry/Dodds 46.05

31 Tankova/Zilberberg 43.50

Only judge 2 didn't score P/C 10 in Interpretation.

So next season ice dance will have a new rule for entertainment factor with +1 point if it's entertaining (majority of the judges), 0 if it's so so, -1 if it is "not entertaining". Amazing.

At the ISU technical seminar taking place right now they said that entertaining means engaging, colorful and another adjective I can't remember

Oh, that's going to be interesting. I'd kind of like to see that bonus in the other disciplines, especially the men. I can't wait to see the arguments that ensue over who gets deemed "entertaining" or not.

yes a dumbass rule as usual. If the judges don't like a program they can ding it already in the composition, interpretation marks. which they never do because of blanket judging. that's what isu should address.

Lmao I'm looking forward to turgid programs from big federations getting the plus one.

If “entertainment” becomes a separate metric, Hubbell/Donahue will need to find a more expressive SP. They were technically great, but their program was robotic and lacked unique style like C/P or the retired V/M.

Stanislava Konstantinova- Off to the gulag with you!

At this rate they will propose a +1 for the best ass (to help Raya in outscoring some women) and a bonus for best crotch adjusting before starting pose.

That Viveca Lindfors has none of that famous Finnish speed. Slow and skating to Cinderella-can you say immature? At least I would’ve brought an age appropriate instathot aesthetic.

R174, it’s Konstantinova’s debut at an adult championship. She made top 4 at World Juniors just a few weeks ago. Lovely skater, but her nerves got the better of her. This splat-fest was far below her PB.

I still dream of Guillame and Zach skating together like their gala practice a while back

I think P/C got judge love just because she kept her top on and he took more of his off. That said, GC's Eurotrash top suits him and the number.

Poor Hayawek/Baker--that said, the fall just made me notice through the rest of the program how good Baker is. Definitely the stronger dancer. Well, she has some time to improve.

C/L's not in podium position--I'm stunned. It's Italy, after all. Well, they may move up in the free.

Nicole Schott is the female version of Matteo Rizzo

I swear it's the 100th I've seen her this season

IIRC

Cup of Nice

3 CHallengers

2 Grand Prix

NAtionals

Euros

Olympic Team Event

Olympic individual event

Worlds

Jorik's not so little anymore sister takes the lead with a new PB outscoring Mariah by 18 points

Cizeron should expose his nipple too in the post-competition gala, as a sign of cheeky solidarity with Papadakis.

He-Shib says that all these sex talks in Olympic village are a myth. He didn't see many people hooking up and getting cozy there.

Kids these days so scared of creepy Asian boy with camera who put everything on internet. Of course they no let him see them play Two Banana.

They have called 2 UR to Tennell

She will go into the lead anyway

Tennell has higher PCS than Loena only because she skates for USA and not for Belgium.

Nagasu's final TES dropped more than 10 points compared to the one in the box

How many URs did they call?

Shin Amano must have had an orgasm with all these URs in front of him

How many Japanese spectators are there? The area is going wild for Higuchi

Higuchi in front of Tennell

145 points for FS

210.90 overall

Higuchi cries

Coach cries

Osmond strong

A step out but everything else done

150 FS

223.23

Let's see how many URs are called to Sotskova.....

many...

She drops below Tenell

Japanese Higuchi gave excellent performance with Bond theme.

Deleman will lose positions.

Let's see if Canada save 3 spots, not that they need them

She stays ahead of Sotskova by 0.1

At worst 7th

So Canada will have 3 spots again

They have been very very kind with Myahara's jumps...

Zagitova falls

2 falls!

3 falls

She is going behind Osmond

Can’t believe that zygote made us wait 2 minutes for 3 falls!!!!

She is behind Higuchi and Myhara

Kostner starts with a pop

another pop

and a fall

Osmond is the World Champion

and to think the olympics were just a month ago....

Kostner has an absolute disaster

54 as TES

Gold Osmond

Silver Higuchi

Bronze Myhara

“I just want to skate good”

“I just wanted to perform good”

Do they teach grammar in Canada?

Seems like both ladies leading after the SP couldn’t handle the stress of going in as leaders into the FS. Shame about Kostner. A WC Gold would have been a nice crowning finish to her long career.

Fair play to Osmond though. Fast, powerful skate-through.

Happy for Higuchi too. She was inconsolable about her accidental 4th place @ Japan’s Nationals and thus missing out on the Olympics.

Next year

Canada 3 spots

Japan 3 spots

Russia 3 spots (5+8=13...so they barely made it)

Italy 2 spots

USA 2 spots

Belgium 2 spots

Kostner is 31 yet she couldn’t handle the pressure. If not now then when?

Sad Zagitova didn't do that at the olympics

Belgium second girl doesn't have TES for Worlds if she doesn't improve

Bradie will be seeded at GP.

Nagasu and Bell are guaranteed of 2 GP spots. Karen and Ashley of 1. Other US girls are guaranteed of nothing as I don't think any of them is top 24 in Season Best or World Standing but some will surely get some of the remaining spots.

Raw calculations of GP spots

72 GP spots available

top 12 at Worlds get 2

So 24 spots gone

Top 24 Season Best are guaranteed of 1 spot

Medvedeva

Sakamoto

Mihara

Tsurskaya

Radionova

Konstantinova

Choi

Honda

Tuktamysheva

Matsuda

Yamashita

I think the 2 Russian Junior girls are still age ineligible.

That's 11 girls. 35 spots filled

Top 24 World Standing not top 12 at Worlds or top 24 season bests

Pogosplat

Karen Chen

Ashley

Hongo

Rajcova

Lecavelier

6 further girls

41 GP spots filled. The other 32 spots will be filled by organizers either adding a second GP to those with 1 guaranteed and/or choosing other skaters starting from those top 75 in Season Bests.

If Kostner retires, Schott gets 2 spots. If Ashley and Pogo retire, they increase the number of spots left to organizers' choice.

Yes, fair enough, R214. 15-y.o. Zags can succumb to nerves, but 31-y.o. Kostner probably shouldn’t at this stage. Perhaps she knew this might be her last chance at a Championship gold.

OTOH, her “Afternoon of a Faun” FS program seemed a bit bland & slow, even if she had skated it clean.

Oh god Osmond won. The Canadians are gonna be insufferable. Who the hell still believe in that 'nice' stereotype?

Who would have guessed this a month ago???

Can we talk about my dogs now?

Reading on a skating forum, Zags was injured (and was also somewhat injured during the Olympics) - then they made her attend many celebratory do's after the Olympics. The one with the quads (Trusova or something like that) is breathing down her neck, I imagine.

Trusova will lose her quad in no time and the rest of her skating is terrible. I think the one breathing down her neck is Kostornaia who now has a 3A

The Rhythm Dance (ex Short Dance) for 2019/2020 season is....

....

....

....

"Musical, Operetta, Broadway"

ahahahaha

If she did, R215, then Medvedeva would have won Olympic Gold. Which is fine, but then Tarasova (who keeps waxing lyrical about Med as the Second Coming at every PR opportunity) would never ever shut up about it. Not Medvedeva’s fault, but still.

It’s quite funny watching Tarasova’s interviews - her favoritism between those 2 girls is transparent. They ask her a question about Zag’s OG, but she mostly answers how much she adores Medvedeva instead. During Z’s SP skate this week, Tarasova basically implied how unfair it is that Zags is at Worlds, while her favorite M is out with an ankle injury.

Based on Z’s results today & her possible injury, Tarasova is probably popping a champagne bottle right now.

R224 I wanted both of them to bomb hard at the OG. Can't stand Medvedeva even more than Zags. Tarasova usually has pretty good tastes in skaters age must start to creep in lol. People are saying Alina's jumps were off because she grew several cm. Too bad miss "puberty is an invention".

The ISU Ice Dance Technical Meeting held earlier today is available at this link

who is the poor couple showed as example for a - 5 GOE?

The attendees didn't seem very convinced that the Bobrova/Soloviev's lift proposed met the bullets Alla was listening

At one point they basically said "please, no Piazzolla for everybody next year"

In 2019/20 in the Musical/Operetta/Broadway Short Dance, there won't be a pattern dance. The step sequence must be done on either Quickstep, Blues, Polka, Foxtrot or March. Juniors will have to do Tea Time Foxtrot

Z seemed to land her jumps in the group warm-up, so I don’t think height was the main factor, R225. My guess is it was pure nerves, plus perhaps injury.

As for the OG, if both Z and M had bombed, Olympic Gold would then have automatically passed to Osmond. No, thanks. She had a good skate, but it wasn’t OG hall-of-fame level.

Au contraire r227 Osmond was the real deal out of the top three at OG.

Galit Chait (Tankova/Zilberberg's coach) asks about a fall before the foot section...if it is no level...I guess she knows how crap their pupils are...

Petr Durnev asks "how should we entertain the judges to get this point?"

"so we should touch them?"

Rizzo's father asks "if I produce an entertaining program, I should get good components...why should I get a bonus? They already paid my job with the components"

They replied that some low level teams can produce a good program interesting to watch but they don't have the level of skating is not good enough to get good components.

Fabian Bourzat wonders if entertaining means different things depending on generations...old people can find entertain things that young people don't

they told him that in the panel you have different people with different tastes. It's a vote by majority.

Why don't they give up on trying to make ice dancing into a real sport and just show it as an exhibition? The judges don't seem to reward any kind of technical difficulty with lifts and the skaters aren't allowed to do jumps. So get rid of it then. They might as well put syncro team skating in its place.

"don't get stuck on the words. look at the whole picture. we are trying to get back the overall concept of the free dance"

"this is for the improvement of our discipline"

they can't enter marks for PCS if you have not pushed the -1/0/+1 for entertainment.

Polish coach: we as coaches understand it very well, this discussion should be more to the judges. to evaluate the entertainment program. we are trying very hard and sometimes we are tired of trying and we are not appreciate. "

big applause.

R228 agreed Kaetlyn has good jumps and at least she can skate, unlike the russians bots.

R227 well of course it was nerves, but nerves exacerbate de problems. If her center of gravity has changed because of a grow spurt, she might be able to adapt in practice with low stress level but in the competition and with the added stress of all your jumps coming back to back to back with no time to settle or regroup... disaster. Might be injury too, that camp is known for that after all. Maybe soon Eteri will announce that she has a congenital disease, like she does every time.

Whoa, Zagitova and Kostner off the podium. Well that was an entertaining splatfest.

I missed the ladies FS but love you cunts' recap on here. So glad that sassy Belgian is in the top 10. Wouldn't Kazakhstan get 2 spots next year too? BTW that entertainment score sounds ridiculous.

One of the ISU women is dressed like Deniss Vasiljevs in the SP...

big debate about rocker as key point in the tango romantica

Bourzat wants it included....ISU doesn't...

they are asking those present if they agree with Bourzat

Fusar Poli, Rizzo and Pelizzola agree

also Svetlana agrees...I think she's Zagorski/Guerriero coach...she says that it would definitely separate those who own the level and those who don't

Morozov don't raise his hands in favour......Ucar neither..

The camera don't show those sitting at the bottom....Shpilband, Caruso, Silvia Nowak, Chait, Durnev...if they are still there...

R234 Requirement for 2 spots is

top 10 if you have only 1 athlete

sum of top 2 athletes equals to 28 if you have 2/3 athletes (those not making the FS count as 18)

I think Tursy was 11th today.

I laughed...laughed, at each one of Zagitova's increasingly frantic falls. And everything else she did was shitty and desperate. Such a pleasure. Well deserved after her cunty ripostes to any criticism she got in Pyeongchang. Bye, Felicia.

Since Osmond desperately needed 2 better skaters to fail in order to get Olympic Gold, then she wasn’t “the real deal”, R228.

Also, her FS choice doesn’t quite suit her style. She’s stocky & gymnast-like compared to more ballet-like, long-limbed skaters, while her “Black Swan” FS program to Tchaikovsky’s exquisite music demands more balletic, lyrical presentation. She’s more black raven than swan. The result is unintentionally comical, like a parody of ballet, which probably isn’t what she had in mind.

The German judge in Ice Dance think Stepanova/Bukin have better Components than Hubbell/Donohue and that Zagorski/Guerreiro have better PCS than Chock/Bates

Ukraine judge placed Soucisse/Firus 22th

Usual East-West split on Smart/Diaz

[quote]Since Osmond desperately needed 2 better skaters to fail in order to get Olympic Gold, then she wasn’t “the real deal”, [R228].

She didn't "desperately need 2 better skaters to fail", what she needed is a judging panel not afraid to recognize skating ability over the Russian-Robots. Looks like there were bugs in the Russian software today....

R238 Osmond’s physique may be far from the balletic ideal, but her posture and carriage are the among the most classical of the ladies (after Satoko of course). In particular her shoulders and neck are divine.

[quote]In 2019/20 in the Musical/Operetta/Broadway Short Dance, there won't be a pattern dance. The step sequence must be done on either Quickstep, Blues, Polka, Foxtrot or March.

I would KILL for a team to do a program to Offenbach’s French comic opera La Belle Helene. It’s productions are full of anachronisms so some talented choreographer could get really creative imagining a “Trojan Polka” for example, although march would be a safe choice. It could be a perfect stretch for P/C out of their comfort zone (but soooooo French!) Please I must have Gabriella’s Greek nose playing Helen of Troy and Guillaume’s thighs barely contained in armour.

Fabian probably just wants to know if a costume change automatically triggers the entertainment point

So Alina's drugs wore off?

Anyone speak French? Apparently when MF told Gabriella to stand up and greet the crowd, Gabriella stands up and says “on s’en fout” which translates to "I don't care". Not that I'd be surprised at her attitude, but still.

R238 and Alina's programs are not parodies of ballet maybe? the Bolshoi dancers must be so fucking ashamed.

R245 I thought Gabi said "on s'en out" about the world record score, because clearly that's not when they needed it.

Elegant, balletic interpretation in ice skating is not merely about neck & shoulders, R241. It’s primarily about leg positions & extensions (e.g. nice high arabesques), arms (continuously exquisite ports de bras) and effortless, impressive flexibility. All of which Osmond doesn't naturally have and so can’t reflect in her “Black Swan” FS (apart from the first 5-second intro). Even Wagner had a far more graceful recent presentation of “Black Swan”. Osmond’s a good skater, but saying she’s “among the most classical of the ladies” is just not realistic.

R240, if she wanted to win OG based just on her “skating ability” (e.g. edgework & speed), then Osmond should have qualified instead into the Ice Dance category in the Olympics. Because the other assessed aspects of her programs were not Olympic Gold-level.

For both the short and the long programs, Gabby Daleman didn't have Brian Orser with her in the kiss and cry - or any other time that I could see, though he was with Elisabet Tursynbaeva for both (and today, they were in separate groups, so it's not like he had to be somewhere else.) There was another man with her, along with Tracy Wilson. Wonder if they've had a falling out?

Does anybody remember if Brian was with Gabby during the Olympics, before, during and after her skates?

Ok the Olympics are over, stop talking about figure skating.

Ice dancing really hasn't changed much, which is why it's so boring to watch. The Duchesnays were interesting to watch because they were so dramatic and Virtue/Moir had interesting lifts but apart from that, nothing ice dancers do is memorable. It doesn't help that you basically know at the start of the season who is going to be on the podium, because there's not much movement in the standings. Like, has any team ever gone from 4th place after the SD to win after the FD? At least in singles and pairs, there's some element of surprise.

Have you noticed how Osmond looks at the judges as much as possible while skating?

Zagitova wouldn’t even be hired into the corps of the Udmurtia State Theatre of her native Izhevsk.

R250 P/C were 4th in the short dance and won the free dance and overall in 2015.

I doubt Zagitova's grown several centimeters since the Olympics, she does look she's filling out a bit . I'm not surprised--she's not naturally a stick like Medvedeva--she's already got more of a bustline. She's built more like Lipnitskaya.

R249 - the FS World Championship is currently in full swing, hence the thread title.

R246, Zags is no Sasha Cohen either, but even she was closer presentation-wise to ballet style via her flexibility & extensions at least than Osmond.

Z’s “Black Swan” Mansell/Tchaikovsky music was also interspersed with some loud special effect sounds (similar to metallic thunder) and Nicholas Britell’s modern disharmonious violin music from “Moonlight”. So she was dancing to a more modernist take on a classical score (mixed from 2 different movies), and some of her modernist choreography elements matched that. Whereas, Osmond danced to a more classical “Black Swan” score (using just Tchaikovsky/Mansell, nothing too modernist). So these 2 programs were rather different in terms of music style & tone. The comparison between Osmond & Wagner is more apt as they both used only Tchaikovsky/Mansell as music source material.

*skated/performed, that is

I'm more curious as to how P/C went from 13th place to 1st place in the space of a year. They go from Elaine Benes to Fred and Ginger? Really?

Look at that rounded back! The lack of turnout in the free leg! The bent skating knee! Why isn't her neck aligned with the rest of her spine?

The idea of an "entertainment" mark is ridiculous and just makes it look like less of a sport, even more than it is already. Marking in ice dance is subjective enough as it is. They don't need an added mark to underscore that.

Might just as well install an applause meter and give out an extra mark based on how far the audience moves the needle.

R248 -- Lee Barkell is her main coach, Tracy and Brian are more or less her side-coaches and that's why there was no Brian with her in the K&C

[Quote] Zags is no Sasha Cohen either, but even she was closer presentation-wise to ballet style via her flexibility & extensions at least than Osmond.

Good to know there are still real comics out there.

Donovan Carillo - good to know the A-frame/butt spin has still not gone out of vogue in Mexico.

but what an unexpected new star! Hope this exposure helps him find some good technical coaching.

Is this the end of Max Aaron or do we need to suffer him again next season?

I believe he is retiring.

Brezina clean. He looks so happy. HE fistpumps a lot. Second to Aliev. Ahead of Aaron.

Tanaka says goodbye to 3 spots for Japan. Unless Tomono skates brillantly

"Prison guard" Matteo, I know I pay your salary but I can live without seeing your program every week

[quote] Osmond’s ... among the most classical of the ladies

Ahaha! The Kaetlyn stans on this thread are hilarious. Watch her free skate without music - one can't even tell she's skating a ballerina / bird role. She just bulldozes through like a robot, flapping her arms once in a while. No attempt at fine lines, just flashing her thunder thighs. And that's supposed to be classical artistry? Pffft. The only thing that saves her is she's a good technician. But she still depends on others to flop completely to have a chance at anything higher than Bronze.

Anyway, on to men's free skate.

Hope Brezina can finally retire on that high note. He is not cute anymore too heterosexually married for this sport.

Just watched the SD. Guillaime's arms are so much bigger now (I think it's the sheer panels on the side help), and Gabby is starting to show her inner sassy slut. Also, Zach's new haircut is so masc. When I watch H/D, I actually believe those two are fucking, as opposed to the barf-inducing V/M (and those who think those two are fucking are clearly fat fraus from the Midwest).

Rizzo tried random quad to end the season

Did Majorov’s coach pluck all the hairs off his head to make her fur vest?

Paul Fentz, a German whose profession is listed as “trained retail salesman” and hobbies include American football, is he more or less marginally forgettable than Peter Liebers?

Well Tomono may have saved the day for Japan

Daddy Lambiel is proud of his Latvian twink.

Melodrama time with Misha and his ego

Farewall Bychenko.

You ended it with a great season. Especially given you can't skate.

Galit Chait never age?

Shoma needs 5th place per 3 spots as Tomono is at worst 8th

[quote]Daddy Lambiel is proud of his Latvian twink.

Lambiel has such a Peter Pan complex it’s more likely he calls Deniss Daddy

[quote]Oh god Osmond won. The Canadians are gonna be insufferable. Who the hell still believe in that 'nice' stereotype?Who the hell still believe in that 'nice' stereotype?

Baby, as someone who lives mere miles from the Canadian border I can assure you I NEVER did.

[quote]Do they teach grammar in Canada?

Grammar?

Sweetheart--- don't you know that in Canada that's considered while supremacist patriarchal oppression?

From Messing to Uno, is this the World Hobbit Figure Skating Championships?

Messing should end in 10th. So 2 spots for Canada

Shoma

Fall

Fall

Fall

Boyang

Fall

Pop

And counting

Boyang collaosed. FS outscored by the armenian guy who skated 3 hours ago

5 falls for Boyang . 9 points deduction

LOL. Shoma gets a medal with 3 falls.

USA men can go 1-2 now

Ahah bye bye Zhou.

Kolyada on the podium

Zhou beaten by Aaron.

Chen wins with 100 Quads beating the rest of the field with 100 falls

Wow what a crazy FS

Was there live to watch this disaster

Shoma was very gutsy

Loved Ge's performance live, also Rizzo and Deniss

R292 how was Chen? his program had absolutely nothing besides the quads on tv. nothing. Was it better live, or like was it just better because he didn't fall 100 times like the others?

R293 to be honest no, it didn't come across that much better live, and I actually like Chen

How does Zach Donohue's ass look in person R292?

I almost have a good heart and I pretend I will miss Agafonova/Ucar

anyway, what's the end? he basically steps over her

if he cut her with his blade, would he get a +1 bonus for entertainment?

tears for Ucar

Anyway, good bye...

R295 haven't seen it yet, but Joti"s looks fine

All the eyeliner present in Milan beauty shops has been used for Nikitin's eyes

Joti's ass has been already tested by Jonny Weir's ex husband

have we established what job Dad Reed does to be able to finance 3 not great skating kids?

I wonder if Lithuanian Reed sister got butthurt when her brother didn't start skating with her when the Japanese Reed sister retired. I mean obviously Muramoto is so much better, so good for him, but yeah she would have been assured to go to olympics at least for the team event with her brother and representing Japan she would have had a lot more opportunities.

Addie"s looks nice as well

Adria's...stupid autocorrect

Lithuanian Reed actually did Olympics once...for Georgia....in 2010

but yes, when Japanese Reed sister retired, I think Alison finished her partnership with the Israel dancer. So she was available. I thought she retired as well as she was MIA for a couple of years before resurfacing last summer when Lithuanian blonde boy needed a new girl as the previous American girl retired

As Japan don't allow dual citizenship, Chris and the other sister had to give up American citizenship.

the music cut of the Polish duo is awful. they must save some money to pay a professional to do it

please, give us the Don Quixote's Hurtado/Khaliavin rather than this boring thing by Smart/Diaz (which will be surely overscored once again)

Yes R299 I wish I could test it

Btw a Vanessa James sighting in person..I didn't ask for a pic

R308 that's for you

govincentzhou:

It's been such an incredible season. As a first year international Senior, I competed at two Grand Prixs, made the US Olympic Team, and won a small medal for the Worlds SP. Today wasn't the skate I dreamed of, but given the very difficult week I had leading up to my performances, I'm proud of my refusal to give in. This performance doesn't define me as a skater. I am still young and ambitious, and I will be a champion in the future, because I'm not giving myself any other choice.

On the flip side, I can't even begin to describe how angry I am at myself for letting such an important FS get away from me. I've trained clean longs with 5 and 6 quads and I am so capable of being among the best.

While saying all this, one wonders at the difficulty of being completely truthful, especially in a turbulent sea of opinion. That being said--I injured my back just before leaving for Milan, and I've struggled through practices this whole week. I did an incredible job of pushing through and not giving myself any excuse to back down from the challenge.

I hope everyone reading this appreciates my honesty. I've never had it easy my whole life; things were never just handed to me on a silver platter. That's what has shaped me into the fighter and truth seeker I am, and nobody can tell me otherwise.

And who can forget, a massive congrats to my teammates Nathan on his incredible achievement and Max on his wonderful skate!

By the way, I find it difficult to hold back from articulating my emotion and perception, so I hope all of you don't mind reading this. I'm just 17 and have so much ahead of me. I know I can't let one bad skate consume me, and I know that my health is my #1 priority.

And with that, I bid all of you adieu. See you soon, somewhere from the top of a podium in a place known as my dreams.

We just witness the death of mens figure skating

Damn, I was rooting for 10th for Muramato/Reed. Missed by 0.9

Guignard/Fabbri 107 FS. 178 overall

Stepanova/Bukin. 109.5 FS. 184 overall.

Gilles/Poirier ...TES is very very high

111 FS

186.10

“My foot felt better than yesterday. It was hard to bring it in a good condition. I did mistakes in the beginning, but I am satisfied that I finished the free skate like this. In my recent practices, my quad loops and flips were rather rough but still I decided to go for them and I didn’t do so well but I came back in the end of the program really nicely, so I am satisfied with my result today,” Uno told the press.

Tiffany and Jonathan go over 180! PB by 7 points

Less than 4 points away from S/B

Addio, Anna and Luca

It has been a long ride

I remember when you were the kids from third Italian team.

114.62

Cries, lots of tears

Gabrielle and Guillame were perfect, they has to win. 22/23 years old, many years to compete.

^^ have to win, scored sb

This chick next to me was hating on chock and Bates, saying they have no understanding of imagine since they made it into a romantic program

they gave the bronze to Weaver/Poje by 0.2/0.3

Skate Canada power is stronger than homecooking judging

I don’t like Hubbell Donohue’s free dance and music, no story no climaxes, cold dance. Judges liked it, silver.

wow sad for Anna and Luca missing the medal for less than 0.3 points and at home. They skated well they can console themselves with that. P/C just miles above everyone else here.

I seriously wanted to tell that chick to shut up (she said p/C always understand what they are doing out there compared to c/b doing imagine)

Papadakis and Cizeron were stunning live but man that chick was annoying. And no, in their short dance I don't feel like they have an understanding of what they are doing...even though the judges disagree

I also don't think chock and Bates is necessarily a romantic program, surely they've listened to the song

Chock's stoned face when she saw they were barely ahead of these clowns from Canada was priceless

Figure skating needs to shut down for a year to regroup and decide what it wants to be when it grows up.

I missed this earlier this week:

“I wish the Shibutanis were [in Milan] because last year I gave them my medal,” Donohue said, “and I don’t plan on doing that this year.”

R322- At least H/D skate to a senior level program. P/C skate to a program that any competent junior level skater could do.

Georgia-Ukraine-Azerbajan-Germany voted for C/L. They marked their FS higher than H/D

Canada-Spain-Korea-Finland went for W/P

Ukraine judge gave P/C all 10s and all +3

German judge loves Zagorski/Guerreiro

Ukraine judge dislikes Smart/Diaz, Lauriault/Legac

A Japanese person who said she thought she could read their lips said that Shoma asked his coach when he sat down in the Kiss and Cry:

"At K&C, after score announcement he said like "3 spot is OK?" and Mihoko sensei answered "Probably yes." And they were relieved (I couldnt hear their voice, but their mouths move was definitely like that)."

So he was so concerned about keeping those three spots for Japan that he risked his foot -- he told the Japanese skating federation that he wanted to skate when they discussed having him withdraw.

Also, I was touched by the news conference afterward. Nathan Chen, when asked about the big difference between his and Shoma's score, made it clear that Shoma was injured and he knew that was the only reason for the big difference. They were all three bragging on each other (a reporter asked each to say something good about the other two - but they seemed sincere, especially Nathan who had already offered the comment about Shoma's falls being due to having a severe injury.

I got the idea Kolyada is really funny - but also a nice guy. So good to see. And I feel sorry for Zhou after reading his statement - he has had it hard - a single mom and all that. I hope he rebounds. I have newfound respect for the American guys (the hype had me beginning to dislike them - plus they're so reticent and quiet, it was hard to make any judgements.) Great kids though, all three of the podium guys - and I like Jin Boyang's behavior and apparent sweet attitude as well. Much better than that other Chinese Han or whatever who I think crashed into Hanyu on purpose and could have killed him.

Are you trolling? Yan Han didn't crash with Hanyu on purpose and severely injured himself as well in that crash.

Wow about Donohue's quote. It's not the shibsibs fault you keep fucking up and throwing world and olympic medals at them Zack. He missed an opportunity to shut the fuck up. But that's also telling about how everyone once again dislikes the Shibs lol

One of the ISU Instagram account's Stories today has the following caption

"get yourself a coach that takes care of you like Lambiel takes care of Vasiljevs"

There was a post of Yan Han out with his girlfriend partying the day after the crash - and why did Yan Han immediately disappear from the rink - he ran off to the side. Of course he was injured - he ran slap into Hanyu. But his behavior afterwards is the tell, imo. And those guys have spent their entire lives doing warmups and practicing with other skaters. Hanyu would certainly have no motive whatsoever to crash into a much worse skater - but Hanyu, in the Cup of China or whatever it was, would have such a motive. Jealousy if nothing else - and maybe hating the Japanese (some Chinese do as well as some Koreans - vice versa true to an extent.)

Here's a link to the press conference where Chen, Uno and Kolyada are singing each other's praises. Very sweet. Two interpreters involved (Japanese and Russian).

Hanyu fans truly have issues

*I said Hanyu in the Cup of China would have a motive - I mean that YAN HAN would have such a motive...

R334, I hope you're right and it was an accident but I believe there are clues that point to it not being one.

Crash during warm ups sometimes happen

Rippon once crashed into a Chinese skater...can't remember his name...Nam Song?

Rippon also crashed into Patrick Chan at Skate Canada

well, actually, Rippon may be a serial killer at this point

Kozuka once literally jumped over Takahashi during a group practice at GPF 2010

One of the best press conferences ever! Zach asking Guillaume for another kiss, who tells him to come over, and he says I will and goes for another hug and kiss! The whole thing was great!

That makes me feel better. I just didn't understand him running off the ice. If I crashed into someone, I'd be dazed. But when I recovered from the shock, I'd ask if the person I'd collided with was alright. I'd ask for medical help for him and myself. I certainly wouldn't run off and hide - and someone who did such a thing would make me suspicious.

Also the happy pix the next day when Hanyu was still in bad shape - he ended up in hospital for 3 weeks, had abdominal surgery, sprained his ankle (maybe in the falls after he skated afterwards), and the stitches in his head and chin. A doctor told him if one of his cuts had been an inch away, he could have been killed as an artery would have been cut.

But anyway, though I followed it closely through reports online, I wasn't there, so I'll drop it. But I think it's understandable to be suspicious.

r338 at which minute?

About minute 9 to 10, R340.

R341 thanks, Donohue is teasing the poor Guillaume. ___

Has Jorik got a boyfriend?

You're welcome, R342. And yes, he is, haha, so good for Guillaume for making him come to him!

Maybe that was why Jorik came out officially?

Cappellini/Lanotte's coach didn't take it well

"To lose for 27/100 is an insult, but this happens because there are federations that have a lot of power and others less"

"For years we have not had the Italian judge in ice dance at international level and this I think is enough to understand what happens in ice dance".............it's only 2 years without Italian judge, not a decade. And anyway it is the result of the draw unless he is suggesting the draw is piloted.

"there are programs that make no sense but they are rewarded".......I wonder who she had in mind

"in this moments Canadians are rewarded more than others"

"We have many good athletes who should be backed by the Italian federation but this does not happen. We train at 6 in the morning, without heating and with the serious risk of getting hurt"

I understand why people respond before reading replies. I have now totally forgotten R? above who supplied Donohue's trash talk rebuke to the Shibutanis. What is wrong with Donohue? It was Alex's bobble in National's that handed D 'a medal'. It already happened bittermuch! Hubbell's got a mouth and nasty attitude, too, dissing V/M or was it just V before the Olympics. STFU. Overweening sense of entitlement.

Has Massimo Scali's fugly boyfriend finished school yet?

R344-"in this moments Canadians are rewarded more than others". Is she for real? Judges were handing out gift marks to P/C over V/M all season long. They couldn't do it at the Olympics because everyone was watching - but they sure tried by not downgrading P/C for their SD.

If this coach wants to complain about a federation, maybe Bruno could talk to her about Didier.

I think Donohue wasn't going after the Shibs as much as himself for screwing up--H/D were ahead of the Shibs and then Zach stumbled. Happened both at the Grand Prix and the Olympics.

That ice dance podium was one of the happiest I can remember--no grousing over placement. C/L and C/B on the other hand are probably not having a good time.

Oh, for whoever was asking about C/B's free skate--no, not a romantic number--message about peace, pleading for it. Pretty sure it was chosen because "Imagine" is a well-loved song in South Korea (was even featured during the opening ceremonies.).

I'm sad that I can no longer watch Lanotte's luscious ass on TV anymore (I think he also didn't dye his hair for this event, which, daddy!) I guess Zach Donohue's ass can tide me over. In contrast, Evan Bates and Andrew Poje do nothing for me (though Poje sure is pretty). And Guillaime looks hotter and hotter every event.

You still have Paul Poirier, though since someone called G/P the drama kids, I can't stop thinking of them that way.

R348 I was the one commenting on imagine... I don't think Imagine is a romantic number at all ...it's the chick I was sitting next to who was saying she couldn't believe imagine had been turned into a love story and that chock and Bates have no understanding of the song or what they are doing on the ice... She then proceeded to say that Papadakis and Cizeron on the other hand always have a clear understanding of the music and what they are doing. She was so fucking full of it...

R351, Ugh, I like P/C, but their fans who think they're the Second Coming leave a lot to be desired. I think C/B actually have pretty interesting tastes in music--doesn't always work, but they don't phone it in.

Their fans can definitely be insufferable, R352. And P/C don't always have an understanding of what they are doing musically. I still think that Ed Sheeran SD is quite forced. And I'm saying this having watched them live yesterday... They were 👷

Ok wtf with the random emoticon? I meant to say P/C were stunning

Damn this thread is dead. Zero post for the gala. Nada.

People are probably burned out on skating by now. I half-watched the gala but I didn't see any new programs and the camerawork was completely shit...not much to say.

Yes, I didn't have any more left to sit through a live stream of the gala....

Anything interesting happened?

I've just seen a pic of Tomono with his "small" (it's not even small...) medal for his third place in the Free yesterday. I've never realized that they give the "small medals" to top three in FS. Well, it makes sense given they hand them out to the top 3 in SP. Obviously as the focus is on the main medals I've never paid attention to them

Back to ice dance, among top coaches, is Shpilband the one who had the worst year? I wonder if there will be some coaches changes during the summer as retirments can open some room in main camps.

wait, what the fuck was Grandpa wearing at the Gala?

Eteri looks and acts like the villain in a 1980s animated Disney musical - like a sequel to the rescuers where they have to go Russia and save a poor orphaned ice skater.

tbh she kinda reminds me of Cruella De Vil and her skaters are the dogs

Raya queening his way during the banquet (after a couple of drinks)

So anyone think Zagitova will last another year? Props to Medvedeva for managing two Worlds and an Olympic silver. Zags should probably take her gold medal and invent an injury to cover for daring to go through puberty. The ISU probably needs to raise the minimum age for seniors again. The Eteri factory makes Ladies kind of grim to watch. Much as the Canadians are completely full of themselves right now, I'm glad Osmond and the Japanese Ladies won.

Bates has grown on me, which is just as well with Javi retiring, because he's been my favorite eye candy for eight years now and I need to move on, lol. Was there anything interesting for the gala? I'll look up what you recommend on YouTube. I think Alina is personally competitive enough to want to do another year but then she'll eat a French fry, puberty will hit, and she'll be sent off to whatever glue factory eteri runs. I agree with whoever said that the age limit needs to go up again because this cycle is not sustainable for the ladies event.

And did the poster who went to Milan ever get that hookup?

yes, we want to know about the grind hookup

2019 Grand Prix Final will be held in Marseilles. France also want 2022 Euros. More plastic medals for everyone?

Next season's Short Dance is Tango Romantica (Juniors have Argentinian Tango). Who could you see more convincingly in it? Last time it was used was as Compulsory Dance in 2010 Olympic season.

And yes, that year we got 4 siblings doing the Tango Romantica: Kerr/Kerr, Zaretsky/ Zaretsky, Reed/Reed and the Germans (Beier/Beier at Olympics and Hermann/Hermann at Worlds). So we can survive the Shibs (if they continue) doing it. Probably it's best for them not to over-think a way to circumnavigate the sibling factor and do it just like the others. In 2010 the siblings weren't so sophisticated.

Shibs should do a real tango. Forget the siblings things and go for it. That way they might go viral like they've been thirsting and failing over. I really like the tango romantic pattern so i'm excited for next year. In my opinion, P/C will have the best pattern because they have the best flow. Chock/Bates might have the best chemistry? Because they are fucking and it actually looks like they are. Their skating skills will always hold them back though i think. Hubbell/Donohue i don't know. I find them a bit "heavy" when they dance in general.

R362 I'm not sure that increasing the age limit would help. These girls are already burning out their bodies in the junior ranks. If they increase the age limit to 16, are the girls going to stop training quads and triple/triples? The Russians have so many girls in the pipeline; I doubt they will change any training at all.

R366 well yes i think so, increasing the age level will help change the training. Because if all the Russian girls dominate like crazy in juniors and then burn out before being able to reach the senior level, leaving the Japanese, North Americans and Koreans (probably) dominating in seniors when they were behind the Russians in juniors, the fed will have to do something. I don't even think the problem is they are trying quads or 3A. The problem is that they are taught jumping technic that relies a lot on their arms and that only work for children bodies. And because the competition is so fierce to even get to go outside of Russia, they have to pile up the content technically with that unreliable technic. That's why you have 30 11 year old Russian girls all doing triple-triple and then you have to prey even one of them will last after they are 18.

*to pray

This was the most surprising worlds ever. Zagitova crashed and burned. She might as well be like Adelina Sotnikova (I'll bet no one in the US remembers her name other than the die hard fans), and take her Olympic gold and quit competing. Her worlds performance showed how lacking her skills are when she can't land jumps, and puberty is finally happening for her. Mirai should have placed above her, and Bradie too. There's just something so geeky and unappealing about Bradie. She can do the jumps but looks anemic and anorexic. Mirai should stay in the game because there's no one else to challenge Bradie, it seems. Starr Andrews doesn't have a consistent lutz, her shoulders are always hunched and has cheated landings, although she's fun to watch. Karen Chen seems to not be improving and who knows if she'll ever find the right boots.

R369 I liked the other Russian girl who skated to Schindler's List better. I'm sure she's grown up into a healthy, well-adjusted adult.

Also, you forgot about Mariah Bell! And Caroline Zhang! The US has so many talented skaters. Bradie's Cinderella program was amazing, though! She blazed a new path for 20 year old women to skate to Disney musicals. I hope she skates to Frozen next year and dresses up like Elsa!

R370 and me!

It would help if Polina Edmonds was well. She's the only other one besides Bradie with good performance nerves.

Bradie, I think, will improve. She needs a major dose of sophistication and a choreographer who can work with her upper body and get those arms under control. Her actual skating has a nice flow to it.

Mariah Bell can be wonderful, but that girl is never clean. Karen Chen is her own kind of head case. Wouldn't be surprised if she wandered off for a season and then came back or some other loopy thing.

R365, I know what you mean about Hubbell/Donohue, didn't care much for them on television--then I saw them live and they were spectacular. They are stunning to watch in person--just a gorgeous couple--the Tango Romantica will work well for them if Zach stays on his feet. Hope it will help Chock/Bates as well--it will play well to her fierceness; the issue will be Evan who just projects nice guy. I thought their FS season was good for him, but not as good for her.

If the Shibs were going to take off a season, this would be the season to do it. I think they're gone, myself. They're not going to beat P/C, they're not even beating a clean Hubbell/Donohue.

Hawayek/Baker have done brilliantly with that one FD, but they need to be able to score with something else. Wonder if they'll change coaches at some point--I think Zueva could work well them since she's good at creating versatile couples--the Shibs owe her a lot--the rumba short was inspired since they couldn't go the sexy route.

Ashley, you're out--we all know you're out, since you showed zip interest in saving three spots for the Ladies at Worlds.

[quote] -we all know you're out, since you showed zip interest in saving three spots for the Ladies at Worlds.

I saw Shin Amano's name and I thought it was better to leave to Mirai the spotlight of having everything called UR.

B-but your PCS! And your costumes! What's a UR when you're all that.

R372

I agree that Even looks like a nice guy and that doesn't work well for some programs. Especially given she's sometimes just too much

H/B's FD is good. But now it's time to move on. I don't think they used well this chance to go to Worlds and make an impact. 10th is a respectable position and I had them down as 9th in my pre-event prediction. However, regardless the big mistake in the SD, their FD didn't come close to Zagorski/Guerreiro and Guignard/Fabbri either.

Yuzuru is so good looking and charming.

I am still in Milan - sightseeing after attending Worlds. I know a few of the competitors pretty well and some of the comments here are pretty funny. If you don’t realize that Hubbell and Donohue easily have the most speed and best edging among the US teams, you must only watch skating from your couch. Polina Edmunds is at least 5 foot 9 now and can’t do triples anymore even when her foot isn’t bothering her. Thank you to R369 for your humorous post. And to the person who referenced Shin Amano: you are my hero. Shin gets a hardon every time he calls an under-rotation. -Gerry Fairy. (One of two male American spectators at Worlds. The other one wears a Pooh on his head).

R377 So, are you finally going to tell us which skater was on Grindr? Unless it's Ju Sik Kim - he would probably be killed for being gay in North Korea.

How fast does Mirai skate IRL? Everyone says she has amazing speed but when watching her on the Broadcasts she doesn't look all that fast.

It wont be long before Guillamue bends Donohue to his will...

I agree R376. There's something about Yuzuru that makes it easy to be obsessed with him - maybe it's the androgyny?

Anyway wonder if he'll be back. Found a couple obscure interviews - Yuzuru can land a triple axel without any leadup - he can do it from a complete standstill. And his coach Brian Orser said he had landed a 3A in a harness but the guy handling the harness said there was 0 weight on it, so basically, he landed a 4A (in practice.)

However, if his ankle is shot, I don't think there's a fix. What I don't understand is if it wasn't healed for the Olympics in February if his injury happened on November 9, then how much more healing could there even be? And then he did 3 weeks practice and the Olympics on that ankle - I'd assume setting him back on the rehab. Most anybody else would just retire - but Plushenko's been quoted saying a champion wins again and again... and maybe he'll try to keep going at 23 with 2 gold medals, but it doesn't really make sense to me.

Raya to Polizoakis today on IG: "Bitch I’m missing u already". Perfect quote to close the season.

Top moment of Worlds: the queeny guy in tears who run to give the bouquet of flowers to the North Koreans girl after the FS

The North Koreans stayed until Sunday for the banquet. Compared to the NK behaviour in other sports, they are allowed to stay abroad quite a lot.

R377 Did you see Men? I am told by someone who watched Men live in Milan that Bychenko live isn't that bad as he looks on video. And that Yee and Ponsart are even worse live than on video.

LOL at Amano's reaction to an UR. I love when he is on the panel, because at least he guarantees dramas and bitch faces in the K&S when they see the TES. I think he would call UR even to himself.

that's him at NHK 1994. One one of the few videos availabe of when she skated singles.

I meant Yuzuru landed a 4A in practice...

R381, he's been spotted on ice at the Cricket Club recently (post Olympics), so it does seem like he's on the mend...

[Quote] I know a few of the competitors pretty well

What does that mean? ... Who and how well?

I doubt we'll see Yuzuru ever again. He won the Olympics because his biggest competitor was too inexperience and screwed the SP. Knowing Chenbot, that little mistake will never be repeated ever again.

Nathan was cracking me up with his indifference towards worlds. You could read it in his face "why am I not in California?" lol

come on, confess, who of you is the one who replied on FSU to the Canadian frau complaining about the "the horrendous overscoring of certain team" (presumably referring to P/C) with "Leave Agafonova/Ucar alone"

R370 The skater who performed the "red girl" in Schindler's List was 4'11" max at the time. She grew. She has anorexia and probably had it in Sochi. She has had treatment and is in recovery, I hope. She also had knee surgery. It's a shame and I hope she will recover from all the trauma she experienced as a "product" whose youth and talent was cruelly exploited.

Haha, yes, Olivia ( R380 ), that wouldn't surprise me!

Maybe R386 but Hanyu was planning to put the quad loop back in his FS if Chen did great in the short (or somebody else.) I think he felt he could hold off Shoma, Boyang and even Javi (who had lower base value planned than Yuzu even without the loop), so he didn't risk it. So who knows what would have happened -

but anyway, it seems inevitable that Chen will win a lot if not take over, because so many skaters' quads are consistent - though Shoma, if he can recover, might top him on PCS every time and also land as many quads (he can land anything when he's 'on' though the landings are pretty scratchy - but Chen has some rough ones too, and I wonder how his skeleton will hold up landing his quads so erect without much knee bend - I don't think that's the best technique for longevity but maybe he'll sort it out.

R380 Olivia, Me And My Cat Are Looking Forward To It Confident All Footage Will Be Released One Weak Before Nationals

I meant inconsistent when I said consistent (re quads) sheesh...

Anyway, Kolyada has beautiful landings, just needs to up his averages of hitting them. I really like that guy - great sense of humor, personable, smooth elegant skating - he 'may' be the Hanyu replacement, if not Shoma. I can't imagine Chen or Zhou or Boyang Jin ever being as smooth as Yuzu's jumps - and Shoma, even with odd quads, has the artistry. If Kolyada would give up that stupid Elvis Presley, which does NOT suit him, he could break out. He needs music that isn't cheesy. That was my only problem with Javi - why do they want to skate like it's 1975? Maybe the judges are mostly octogenarians? And that Chaplin shit?? Good lord.

I didn't watch the Gala because with the exception of parts of the Olympic Gala, NBCSN doesn't show Galas. It's been years since the exhibitions have been regularly shown on tv in the US. I'll check out YouTube.

R381 good points. Yuzuru has an X factor which is very hard to quantify. He's not classically handsome and certainly not "hot" (Chen is the hot one) but he is adorable and seems sincere and kind. And his skating is ethereal. It's beautiful to watch. So while he doesn't have the strong jaw of the classic western ideal of a matinee idol, he undoubtedly has more of a star presence than anyone on the ice. It may be an inapt comparison but Judy Garland was never great looking but, damn, she was the STAR on stage and screen. Like you can't take your eyes off of her -- and Yuzu.

As for his future, I don't know. I just hope he is happy. Being that famous can be tough. I hope he gets to be himself whether he prefers men or women.

I worry about that too (Yuzu being able to be himself.) He's said his life goal is to never bring "shame" on his gold medals. WTF does that mean? I hope it doesn't mean what I suspect -- that he's gay but he CAN'T be gay in Japan and despises having to speak English plus he's wildly devoted to Japan since that earthquake/tsunami -- it's like he's part Gandhi and part Justin Bieber lol.

I still wonder why that huge KPop star killed himself. Wonder if he's the one who had to "apologize" to his fans for being seen with his girlfriend. Yuzu had an old friend from high school (female) and when he was spotted out with her, she was hounded by press and fans and he apologized to her and her family and asked for people to please leave her alone. So weird...

Yuzuru combines fierce competitiveness with fragility. He fights and beats the best of them but is also very physically slight (5" 7 and only 125 pounds) and tends to get emotional and vulnerable. That is the X factor which draws his legions of female fans. He is already the most famous male in skating history and likely the most famous person -- only Dorothy Hamill or Sonja Henne could match him.

Ok R370 missed the sarcasm reading to quickly on my phone. Sorry! Good one! Mea culpa!

R395 i get the gay angle. It is hard to be gay in Japan. And perhaps I am wrong but its pretty clear he is gay. His incredible style on the ice would be pretty hard to come from a straight guy. Look at Nathan Chen. He is 100% straight. His jumps are great but he has no artistry, no interpretation of the music. Yuzu gets it. Maybe he is straight and tapping his feminine side in these routines but I doubt it. And that's why he is the best.

But why do you think he doesn't like speaking English.

Enough! Ferretboy talk is prohibited by the good gays of Datalounge.

Instead, let's talk about the ways in which Guillaume is going to seduce [bold]our[/bold] beloved Zack Donohue. I detect some ghay under the surface and Guillaume seems like the perfect man to help him explore his fragile insecurities...

Remember the scene in "Philadelphia" where Tom Hanks is explaining the aria in Madame Butterfly to Denzel Washington. He is explaining the emotion and power and sheer force or the aria. Washington doesn't get it. Hanks is Yuzuru. He gets it and skates to it.

R399 why you call him that ? Is rude.!

I know!! And have you ever seen a ferret with jet black fur?

Anyway, I think I'd be the same way when it comes to being fluent in another language. I've tried!! Studied French for several years (in uni) - tried living there and I simply could NOT understand what they were saying. I could speak, read and write ok -- but I couldn't get over that hurdle. Seems like that's true for Hanyu -- it's why he starts a lot of answers with "I don't know..." - when he starts like that, you can tell he hasn't understand the question.

Poor thing - some woman speaking English in Helsinki, Finland, asked him if he wanted to thank his fans - and he didn't even understand that. He paused a long time and said "I can't." He had already said if the fans were happy then he was happy -- I know he wouldn't have refused to thank them - he just didn't understand her heavily Finnish-accented English -- but he has trouble with it, no matter. He keeps to himself (and his mother) in Toronto, apparently - Javi said he'd never been to his apartment (or gone out with him.)

R402 for whatever reason Japanese have a harder time speaking English than many others. For example the Dutch can speak English with almost no accent. But Japanese cannot for the most part.

It's only troll on here that keeps referring to him as ferret boy. It is unconscionable and inexplicable. He must be jealous of Yuzuru's physical and emotional beauty.

I thought Polina could do her edge triples--those are the ones she's delivered in the short, but not the toe jumps--missing two jumps though makes her non-competitive.. And she is tall.

Agree about H/D's speed and edges, they outpower the other teams. Weirdly enough, I think it's part of their sex appeal--nothing fussy about the way they skate. The B.ESP guy was drooling over them.

Hanyu's charismatic--he's like an anime brought to life--weirdly feminine and tough at the same time to Western eyes. Yes, I think he's probably gay, but the cultural gap is so huge that who knows what the hell is going on. My sense is that you can be gay in Japan, but it's a don't-ask, don't-tell situation. He has to be "straight" as long as he's a national hero, but once he's been retired a few years, he can probably quietly live the life he wants. Though who knows how his mom feels.

And, eh, I like Nathan--there's something nice and straightforward to him. He didn't whine and blame people for his awful Olympics short, but got out there and did that methodical long. I do think his better performances were earlier in the season, but he's learning to hold it together--unlike all the other guys this Worlds. Plus, he doesn't skate to anything from Turandot, Swan Lake, Carmen or Moulin Rouge. (Seriously, what the fuck is it with Moulin Rouge? )

R378, I'm the one who posted about a skater being on Grindr... (I'm not R377 ). And no, nothing happened there. He was probably not interested :(

As for who it was, a certain ice dancer who skated with someone who had a dress malfunction at the Olympics. No, not Guillaume...

R405 Alex Gamelin is cute! I would have messaged him, too! He needed someone to comfort him after they failed to make it to the long program in Milan.

Yuzuru is definitely back in Toronto and on the ice. Two photos have surfaced from the rink today. The one linked: the boy on the right is Brian Orser's "wunderkind" who's already jumping many quads and Brian thinks he's going to be amazing (Scott Hamilton said Brian was sending him videos of this kid jumping and he was astounded.)

The kid has on a harness -- I assume the kind they use when they're working on jumps to prevent so many falls. I wonder if Yuzu is helping to coach this kid, because Brian said he'd be on vacation for a week after Worlds. I know he's not a coach - but I think Yuzu knows a lot about jumping and 'could be' - certainly as a standin when Brian's away.

Anyway, the kid is Stephen Gogolev. I'd love to see one of those videos Scotty was talking about.

[quote]Anyway, Kolyada has beautiful landings, just needs to up his averages of hitting them. I really like that guy - great sense of humor, personable, smooth elegant skating - he 'may' be the Hanyu replacement, if not Shoma.

No way...he's already 23 and can't skate clean to save his life. He doesn't have the charisma of Javier either. I hate Shoma too though, lol. There is no Hanyu replacement. Hanyu is Hanyu for a reason - a once in a lifetime skater.

I did like Kazuki, the Japanese kid who came in 5th at Worlds. He's a lot cuter than disgusting Shoma - he really has that young Daisuke thing going on.

Aww I think Shoma is adorable. And stoic. Not to mention an engaging if not even enthralling skater, at times. As Johnny Weir said, he uses every inch of his little 5'3" body to express the music and he reaches the rafters with his musical expression and emotion. Daisuke is like his muse or mentor or something (Daisuke adores him - while I think he has mixed feelings about Yuzuru - maybe because of him being a rival for a while, or who knows... maybe their personalities clash. Daisuke said he himself was a herbivore while Yuzuru was a "carnivore.")

There's this weird thing in Japan where they categorize men - and oddly enough, Daisuke is saying Yuzuru is the butch type while he himself is the femme. He does admit that they look the opposite but with Yuzuru, looks are deceiving. I guess if he says so... he knows him better than I do. Back to that mysterious Hanyu again - who the hell knows.

But Shoma is a little sweetheart. He said about Hanyu: “Yuzuru will be the eternal idol, the eternal goal for me. I wish to chase him forever.”

Just in general, I'm so impresssed with this crop of male skaters. Most of them are so philosophical and deep (and poetic.) Even Chen. When asked about his near-50 point advantage over Shoma at Worlds, he went out of his way to say that was only because Shoma was injured and it didn't mean anything. He's sweet too!!

The dance/pairs teams want to kill each other - and it seems most of these men's skaters are angelic.

Thinking about what Daisuke Takahashi said about Yuzuru, it reminds me of something Yuzuru said about Javier Fernandez: that he was too kind for the sport. Maybe another insight into Hanyu - one would assume that he doesn't see himself that way.

Oh, and this is easily taken out of the context of weird Japanese typologies, but another Japanese skater and admirer of Hanyu, Oda Nobunanga said of him and Yuzu that he (Oda) was the masochist in the relationship and Hanyu was the sadist! I did notice in interviews that Hanyu teases Oda a LOT. They were eating some cake and Hanyu teased Oda about his "girly" way of eating it - on camera, on a tv show! (Oda got caught by the media at a gay bathhouse and very soon after, he got married and had two children)

Another possible insight into how gay skaters have to live in Japan - Daisuke moved to New York City before he came out in his autobiography - however, now he's a commentator on Japanese tv (I think), so maybe they're evolving or Oda's bi -- so much subterfuge, in any case. The inscrutible East...

H/D are incredibly sexy when they are "on", but it comes off as very... HBO Real Sex when they are not on. There's something forced, cheesy, and kind of gross about it. And I can't put my finger on exactly why. But at Nationals and at Worlds? That Free Skate was pure gold - maybe the best American program since Scheherezade or close to it. Other times, same program, butI'm embarrassed for them.

That's the first I've heard about Oda being caught in a gay bathhouse. Where did you hear such gossip? I thought he quickly married his girlfriend because she got pregnant. They have 3 kids now.

Yuzuru's gotta be gay. Look at that Johnny Weir outfit he wore for the Sochi Olympics, his reverence for Weir, the infantile expressions and obsession with Winnie the pooh. And there was a pic of him sitting on Jeremy Abort or somebody at the rink, reaching back to touch hands with Javier, and so on. He seems like a well educated, kind person and a fierce competitor. I hope he can enjoy his life being himself without being mobbed by crazy fans all the time. Maybe it'll die down in 10 years and people won't recognize him anymore.

Polina and Caroline are so over. I doubt they will compete again. Both have changed so much physically from their best competitive days. There was a pic last year of Polina and Karen Chen, and Polina looked like an NBA player compared to Karen. Best of luck to her in college, and hopefully Caroline will get an education too. Not everyone can become a coach and it seems like a glutted career.

I can't remember where I read that about Oda - but he quickly got married after the incident. On a message board somewhere. He is pretty girly - I think Hanyu was right, but it was so weird seeing him say that, especially if that rumor's right because Hanyu would have surely known about it and 'still' he would say that on their very innocent little talk show where they play silly childish games all the time.

On the same tv show, there was a segment on Yuzuru watching Johnny Weir do his swan number, and he said, "I'm a man but when I watch Johnny Weir skate, I think he's beautiful." Again, it was said very earnestly - like duh? Don't you get how this will be taken? (assuming he's closeted). Maybe he's just, like he's said, given up his life for skating, literally, all other parts of his life, except university training in sports psychology or something like that - at the same university lots of elite athletes attend in Japan (that has an online degree program).

Actually, I think the Oda gossip came from a comment to an interview or video. Having observed him a while, it sounded about right to me though. If he's straight, well, Lord, he's the girliest straight guy I ever did see.

Hanyu had a bit of a samurai quality to him at the Olympics--that short and the look on his face afterwards was something else--he's definitely got a killer instinct. And I think he knew it would mess with Nathan Chen who is, after all, very young.

So I get both the manly and sadist comments--Hanyu likes winning and he's not kind about it. Doesn't make him straight, but Japan's so culturally different that it's hard to say what it all means--precision, elegance, artistry are all very valued and aren't viewed as innately feminine from what I can see. That he appears to have no social life isn't an issue in a country that's known for having a million kids that won't leave their rooms. One of the Hikkomori even managed to become rich playing the markets without leaving his room.

Carolina Kostner's definitely over. Polina, though, is only 19 and told her school paper that she plans to continue. We'll see. If all her triples are gone, then, yeah, it's over.

Re: H/D--yeah, Nationals is where I saw them perform and it was kind of a blow-out performance. Even during warm-up, there was a sense of their being in the groove, so I can see if it wasn't all working, the number could feel very forced--it needs real chemistry to work--i.e. Madison needs to not be exasperated with Zach.

I think if H/D can stay on their feet, they could do quite well with Tango Romantica. Naturally the judges will score P/C high no matter how they skate, but their lyrical style is totally opposite of what TR should be.

I hadn't even thought about the fact that Nathan was waiting behind the boards to get on the ice when Yuzuru did his death glare after the short at the Olympics, R415. That's eerie to think about.

Wouldn't it be practically Shakespearean if Chen's "Nemesis" Yuzu is helping to train Gogolev, who might end up gunning for Nathan, with Brian Orser guiding him to the Seniors the minute he can become eligible.

While Shoma just looks oblivious and keeps saying "I love everybody..."

Isn't there a big jumbotron over the ice where Nathan could have seen Yuzu's expression?

And God, Gogolev is already competing in Seniors - he WON Skate Canada: "Born 22 December 2004, Stephen is the 2015 Canadian pre-novice champion, 2016 Canadian novice champion, 2017 Canadian junior champion, and the 2018 Skate Ontario senior men's champion. He is the domestic record holder for the pre-novice and novice men total scores."

Look at all the first places on his record!! :

Sorry - he won Skate Ontario - but still... No wonder he's in the harness getting ready.

Gogolev couldn't even do Junior internationally this season as he was too little (you must be 13 in July and he was born in December 2004). Next season he can do Junior GP

He did Senior Nationals in Canada but he finished 10th beaten by Chan, Messing, Nguyen, Blade, Reynolds, Phan, Sadovsky, Firus and Nadeau

From the Small Medal ceremony (which is held outside)

Guillaume surely loves the sleeveless look

R412 Caroline Zhang has a great future ahead of her - she's engaged to Grant Hochstein, the most heterosexual skater around! As soon as they get married, Grant will finally have sex with her (he is saving himself for marriage after all), and then her life will be complete.

[quote] [R412] Caroline Zhang has a great future ahead of her - she's engaged to Grant Hochstein, the most heterosexual skater around! As soon as they get married, Grant will finally have sex with her (he is saving himself for marriage after all), and then her life will be complete.

Hasn't the sex already happened? They've been living together for quite a while.

On FSU there is the translation of a Russian interview with Nina Mozer. As it's Mozer, it is kinda bizarre.

Anyway, some main points:

She wanted Tarasova/Morozov to skip Euros but the Russian Fed didn't allow it

The plan was always for T/M to skate only one segment of Team Event as they didn't allow them to skip Euros and needed some rest. They stick with it even after Stolbova/Klimov were banned. She think Canada would have won anyway even if Kolyada hadn't be such a mess in SP as the points from Ice Dance were missing. She can't remember Daleman's surname and calls her "the girl who won Nationals" and she described Osmond as "so supported".

T/M will continue and aim at 2022 Olympics. Zabiiako wants to go until 2022. Enbert wanted to retire this year, he has been convinced to carry but reading between the lines, he doesn't seem committed for sure to stay until 2022

As it's Mozer, we get full details about Enbert's eye problem in Milan..."an eye problem and right before the SP he had a cut, the pus was taken out, he was skating with the antibiotics injections"...now that I know all about his pus, I will die in peace...

Vladimir Morozov has weight problems. If he doesn't keep himself under control, he gains weight and the jumps are gone

He also has some health problems, it seems heart. She implies that in some occasions he has failed the medical test to get clearance to compete in professional sport and he had to re-take it to get the ok.

Mozer herself has health problems. She will take at least 6 months away from coaching to rest. All details on who will coach T/M, S/K and Z/E are not defined yet

She wants Szolkowy to continue to work with T/M because "they need him mentally, politically"

Athletes reads forum ("Too many journalists, points of views, forums. The athletes, idiots, are reading all that. ")

Do you think, at 23, that Hanyu is a virgin ?

Undoubtedly, R425....

I am a virgin too

I don't see Gogolev challenging Nathan Chen at all. From what little I've seen of him online, he has poor skating skills and doesn't even land his jumps consistently. The Canadians are all just excited because somebody young shows a little potential, like Sara Tamura. In fact the vast majority of the Canadian male and female skaters are terrible jumpers and terrible skaters, slow, with poor spins, bad posture. Only a couple at the top are good and everybody else is like ... Larkyn Austman or worse.

R427 hahahahahahahaha

Not disagreeing with you, R428, I have no skills at gauging skaters, but here's his coach Brian Orser talking about Gogolev:

“I’m coaching a young but skilled skater. he’s debuting as a junior this year and i’m planning to prep him for Beijing 2022. He’s Canadian Stephen Gogolev. He turned 13 two months ago, but he can land all the quads. He landed a triple lutz at the age of 10. Although we did coach him, God himself gifted him with the skills. He is a beautiful skater, and was born to rotate and jump. but since he is still growing, there are obstacles that we’ve yet to overcome.

"I’m also watching Junhwan [Cha - who Orser also coaches]. I’m not sure whether Gogolev, who’s 3 years younger than him, would jump better quads, but in terms of flow and maturity, Junhwan is much better. Beijing would be a battle between the two [Junhwan and Gogolev]. They may become rivals, but it would be interesting to watch.”

[Maybe Orser is getting a bit cocky after coaching Yuna Kim, Yuzuru, and Javier to all those medals. Hard to blame him though.]

I'm so tired of quads. That's all there is any more. Give me real skating, please.

Hanyu is a cartoon character, no?

They have to change the rules. Nathan jumps. He doesn't really "skate." Patrick skated. Yuzuru skates. The combine physical strengths on the jumps with artistic interpretation.

It's sometimes difficult to predict so in advance how these youngsters will develop

Nam Nguyen was supposed to be the next big thing for Canada after he won Junior Worlds at 16 beating Uno (who was already 18), Boyang (18), Tanaka (who was 20), Vasiljevs (who was 15), etc.

Now he struggles to beat Rizzo (who has the same age and finished 30th in that edition of Junior Worlds)

Can someone please list the medalists of this Worlds?

There's a summary on this page - I think they get medals for both the short program and the long - and maybe a combined medal as well?? Anyway this page at the link has all the winners:

If you are that famous at 23 like Yuzu is and could have any girl or Gay guy he wanted and doesn't. Something is wrong then.

Yeah, I don't count any kid as a future star until they get through adolescence. This is particularly the case with women, but also, to a lesser extent, with the men.

Nathan Chen needs to stay uninjured, but he's going to be all of 22 in four years.

Worlds medalists Chen Uno One of the Russian guys

Osmond, Wakaba Miyahara

Aliona/Bruno Some other people James/Cipres

Papadakis/Cizeron Hubbell/Donohue Weaver/Poje (Canadian Feds in action--don't think they deserved this)

I don't think there's anything wrong with being asexual (not saying Yuzuru is, but if he is, so what?) It's also ok to be celibate by choice. I don't think people should be judgmental about other people's sexuality, no matter what it is - well, other than pedophilia - and as long as you're not hurting anyone else.

R434 Actually both Boyang and Shoma were 16 when Nam won (and he is a year younger than them). Shoma turned senior at 17 after winning junior worlds the year after Nam.

R440 yeah, I miscounted the year for them. They are late 1997 while Nam is spring 98. They'are a year apart, actually half a year apart

[quote] Can someone please list the medalists of this Worlds?

Men: 1) Chen 2) UNo 3) Kolyada

Ladies: 1) Osmond 2) Higuchi 3) Miyahara

Pairs: 1) Savchenko/Massot 2) Tarasova/Morozov 3) James/Cipres

Ice Dance: 1) Papadakis/Cizeron 2) Hubbell/Donohue 3) Weaver/Poje

The Datalounge Dream Podiums were

Men: 1) Javier#2 2) Majorov's receding hairline 3) Valter Virtanen's La Strada costume

Ladies: 1) Daleman's photoshopped redemption 2) Nagasu's UR. All of them 3) Viveca Lindford

Pairs: 1) Knierim/Knierim 2) Zhang 3) Zabiiako/Enbert

Ice Dance: 1) Zagorski/Guerreiro 2) Min/Gamelin 3) Allison Reed/some random man

Spots for 2019 Worlds

Men: 3 USA, 3 Japan, 3 Russia, 2 Israel, 2 Canada, 2 Czech Republic, 2 Latvia, 2 Uzbekistan

Ladies: 3 Canada, 3 Japan, 3 Russia, 2 Italy, 2 USA, 2 Belgium

Pairs: 3 Russia, 2 Germany, 2 France, 2 Italy, 2 Canada, 2 China

Dance: 3 USA, 3 Canada, 3 Italy, 2 France, 2 Russia

Some of them won't be used because of lack of athletes with minimum TES (the only chance Uzbekistan find 2 men for next season is if some Russians switch country).

Also, Yuzuru lives with his mom in Canada. Sounds like he doesn't get out much. He could well be gay but unable to do anything while under the watchful eyes of his mother and the Japanese media and fangurls. Can you imagine the uproar if he were on grinder as opposed to Gamelin, whom very few people know?

Our favorite Grind skating user Gamelin is currently busy in a trashy touristic trip in Rome with Min, Hawayek, Baker, Smart and Raya.

Isn't Smart supposed to be dating Donohue? Why aren't they together? Or do she and Zach only date when Maddie is mad at him for screwing up? Virtue/Moir never convinced me as a couple, but H/D still come off as the occasional frenemies with benefits--mostly because of the way Zach was kissing Madison all her neck and shoulder at Nationals in the kiss and cry.

Hope Guillaume and Morgan have fun on french tour

Retirement message by one of our fav Ice Dance teams...I think they produced it with google translate:

This was an emotional 8 years of our career.We say good bye to all our fans with our performance of free dance yesterday in Milano World Championship .Thank you so much for all your support ,you give to us power and strength to achieve our dreams.We love you .❤️

We want to say thank you to all our coaches ,from first one who put us together as a couple - Natalia Dubova ,To Александр Жулин and all his team ( milestone of our career, special place in our heart & we learn a lot )

: it’s Сергей Петухов , Petr Durnev , Dmitry Ionov With this team we make our history in Olympic Games and so much memory’s .We love you so much . Thank you to Angelika Krylova and Pasquale Camerlengo , Natalia Annenko Deller , Britta Ottoboni For hard work and heart what you put to work with us. Alisa : Want to say thank you to my first coach Vladimir Baraz and first ice dance coach Svitlana Chernikova who always believe in me and grow me like her daughter. Alper : want to thank you for my first coach Leonid Khatchatrov and all my career mentor & coach TCenk Ertaul ♥️ after all what we been through finishing my career with you is priceless!!

Our country and our Federation make our skating without a struggle and problems.Thank you so much to all people who help us. Thank you to special person for us is Umit Alpat Ucar , who was there from beginning till the end.And of course to our parents who put all life to grow us and spend they time on ice rink ,wake up at 5 in morning to drive us there...

It was not easy 8 years,we proud what we achieve,proud to make a history for our country.Its start from Universiade Winter Games where we take our first medal,Two Olympic Games ,Grand Prix and many international competition .We are finishing with a big smile and big plans for the future .

With love

Alisa Agafonova & Alper Ucar

Don't forget our one spot for pairs, R444!

Thank you R436 and R442.

R447 Hubbell posted a pic of her kissing Diaz in front of Milan Cathedral. And Donohue and Smart were there with them.

Maybe it's a big 4some

Heart problems, eh R424? Am I mean for thinking like slutskaya or does that seem reasonable?

R453, had the same thought.

R452, I think we need to encourage this. I'll just point out that H/D's FD was about adultery.

Yuzuru can act childish and girly off the ice, but he is surprisingly masculine and mature when he speaks in Japanese. Frighteningly intelligent and calculated, not sensitive or innocent at all. It's interesting to see how different he's perceived outside Japan.

Zach Donohue is really cute!

So sat through the latest TSL--rumor has it that Karen Chen took her skates back to the skate maker and he destroyed her skates, which is why she withdrew from Worlds. Mariah Bell was, as a result, seriously unprepared.

Baker/Hawayek are arranging to relocate to Montreal. I kind of think Zueva might be better for them, but Marie-France will certainly be able to work with their lyrical style. And they can finally get a new free dance. TSL boys say that Marie-France is good at working with improving the weaker partner and making a partnership work (hi Gabby). So, maybe this is the right thing, since Baker's definitely the stronger partner.

TSL wonder if C/B are on their way out if the Shibs come back. I tend to think C/B need the right program. I think the Shibs will be wary about coming back if H/D gets more consistent. They also had W/P possibly moving on.

That Karen Chen thing looks so OTT to be true

At this rate Marie France will have all 30 teams. Camerlengo 0. Marina will be left with Alison Reed and Igor with Michal Ceska.

Yes, it does seem OTT, but an explanation as to why she dropped from Worlds would be nice.

lol do you think that boot company was like "Karen come discuss we'll sort things out, oh btw bring your boots" and then set fire to them?? I mean, from their instagram posts on the subject, i think the people at Avanta would totally destroy Karen's boots

lol like that bitch is gonna skate well with her boots

R457- The part I found interesting was how coaches take on a skater or team from a certain country to get that country's judge in their corner. How would that help if you've got skaters from all different countries? But I agree with them that P/C need to find a new style. I doubt they have it in them, but if they don't want H/D nipping at their heels, they'd better try.

R462

Following this theory

South Korea judge should vote for Chock/Bates because Igor trains Min/Gamelin

Ukraine judge should vote for Chock/Bates because Igor trains Nazarova/Nikitin

Czech judge should vote for Chock/Bates because Igor trains Mansour/Ceska

Japanese judge should vote Shibs because of Muramato/Reed are with Marina

German judge should vote Shibs because Lorenz/Polizoakis are with Marina

Spanish judge should vote for Hubbell/Donohue because of Smart/Diaz (no-one would believe Spanish Fed would vote for Bobrova/Soloviev because of Hurtado/Khaliavin are with Zhulin)

If I look at Olympics score...

Japanese should indeed went for Shibs over C/B and H/D. She actually placed them above P/C in the SD. In FS PCS she put H/D 5th behind B/S.

Ukraine judge (only present in SD) scored Chock/Bates third in SD.

Spanish judge (only present in FD) had H/D third in PCS.

Slovak judge (Slovak couple trains in Milan) put Guignard/Fabbri higher than Weaver/Poje and Gilles/Poirier in FD

No Shibs and few judges from countries with athletes training with Shpilband make it difficult to test it with Worlds

But there was the Ukrainian judge....PCS in FD:

Chock/Bates 58.50 (including a 10 for Interpretation)

Hubbell/Donohue 57.30

R459 It doesn't really matter why she withdrew, because she is a non-factor. Karen would have been murdered with UR calls even if she skated clean (which would be a miracle).

R465 I got so sad when I saw she withdrew.

Daleman's current outburst

R467 Did she photoshop that picture? Her waist and leg look off.

R467: Is it the Canadian education system or is she straight up mental?

Daleman can look so fierce on ice, but girl sounds like a mess and emotionally about 15. I'm sorry quoting Hannah Montana?

More TSL notes--not a fan of Megan Duhamel the skater, but she's a pretty good guest since she says what she thinks--and had that tidbit about the sweet-looking Japanese coach yanking her skaters' hair and yelling at them when she's displeased.

And, oh yeah, Wakaba's going to Orser--or, at least that's what he says on GS--though I thought TSL said Marin Honda, but that could easily be my crappy memory. Either would benefit.

Honda is allegedly going to Arutunian

Ah, that was it. Thanks R471. I knew there was Marin Honda coaching change. Hope it works out for her--she has a ton of talent, but she did not deliver this season. Too bad Orser doesn't take Americans (he's said it's the paperwork, but part of me's convinced that it's long-term vengeance for the Battle of the Brians.) he seems to know how to teach skaters to perform under pressure. Karen Chen would have a different career if he was her coach.

Sigh, I hope the skate maker did destroy her skates in front of her. Just because of the drah-ma.

Fedor Klimov was in Milan doing some reports for a Russian newspaper...

translated with google translate..

- James/Cipres were overscored in the SP

-Ryom/Kim have nothing that distinguish them from other middle level pairs. They got attention only because they are from North Korea

- he's sad for Cappellini/Lanotte. But he's happy for Weaver/Poje

but last but not least....

- he says that the rumour in Milan was that Shoma Uno's problems weren't related to boot problems but that he slipped in the bathroom in his room and hit hit ankle

The thing with Karen and her boots is so odd... and yet, I'm not sure why anyone would be surprised if the boot company did in fact make her come in so that they could destroy the boots in front of her. Whoever is running that company already showed they were unhinged and unprofessional after posting all those messages.

And remember, this is the same person who apparently let other shit Karen did slide as long as she would come in and bring them cake when they asked for it.

Yeah, I think the boot maker is cray-cray, but Karen's also prone to blaming everything but she and (probably) her mother's awful judgment. I live in a city with a lot of Tiger Moms and the technique works, but only up to a point. I think most people think that Karen Chen has more natural ability than Bradie Tennell, but Tennell has the drive and focus that makes her a better bet. Yes, Tennell stumbled a bit at the Olympics, but she didn't implode. She then aced her performances at Worlds. You can do something with a skater who can hold it together.

It's the same reason I'd put my bets on Medvedeva over Zagitova long-term--*if* Medvedeva is uninjured.

Yeah, no doubt Karen has issues but it doesn't take away from the fact that the boot maker is seriously nuts. I can't imagine how any of it helps him. Sure, I can see him wanting to defend himself against attacks he feels Karen made... however, it actually only makes him look worse.

We discussed it previously but nothing Karen ever said about her boots was that bad and her comments (which set the boot maker off) didn't even really say anything negative about the boots nor did she outright blame them (the boot maker) for her issues.

Can we all agree that Yuzuru is kinda feminine on the ice and masculine off the ice. He is an enigma. And one way or the other he is a great actor.

I don't think Yuzuru is that "masculine" off the ice. Maybe compared to Oda, yes. But in general, no.

I found an account of what I consider a very odd tv interview of Yuzuru in Japan (but I'm not Japanese, maybe this is normal??)

Anyway, the host asks him, “Is it hard to portray a sexy character on ice when you’re abstinent due to your intense training regimen?” Yuzuru: “Not at all! It makes it easier because performing on ice is the only outlet I have!” Everyone: *laughs*

I wish I knew when this was, but within the last five years, I'm pretty sure. He's only 23 now - surely they wouldn't ask someone under 18 such a question?!?! Reminds me of something Howard Stern might ask.

Why did the host presume to know whether he was abstinent? Yuzuru does not advertise that.

Beats me. In another interview, he was talking his long program to Romeo and Juliet, and since he'd never been in love, he went to see the film with Leonardo di Caprio and while skating, he pretended to be Leo at first - and then it grew on him, and he could be himself in the role. Maybe the host took it from that? Or maybe there was yet another interview where it was brought up (yikes!)

I used to think of the Japanese as modest or prudish - not so sure now, if they just casually address someone sex habits on a talk show. Other cultures are hard to figure out sometimes.

In yet another interview, Oda, Yuzuru and Shoma were talking about being nervous before skating and having diarrhea (I think Oda brought this up, as he excused himself to go to the bathroom) - it was the cake eating show where Yuzuru teased Oda about the girly way he ate the cake.

I think they're actually more open than we are about bodily functions - nothing to do with Yuzuru, but I saw a Japanese commercial once and a little kid farted in the bathtub and you could see bubbles coming up (you wouldn't see that on US tv!)

Well the Japanese do get naked with one another all the time at onesen so they are definitely more uninhibited about their bodies than Americans. They are like Germans who strip naked at every chance they get, including in the middle of city parks.

The Japanese are way more open about bodily functions--"Everybody poops" was a Japanese book. Their commercials have included cute talking turds. There's also, of course, a long history of socially acceptable prostitution. There are various standards of modesty and decorum that seem over-the-top to Americans, but it's really just very different.

Oh, and then there are things like tentacle porn.

Japanese culture intrigues me, but I don't pretend for a moment to actually get it.

Meanwhile, it's being reported that a female Japanese skater is going to Toronto to be coached by Brian Orser. She just finished second in Worlds (Wakaba something).

Yuzuru is on record saying he wants to marry a figure skater - and that he wants to be married by age 26. Now, he was 'asked' if and when he wanted to get married so maybe he was just fobbing off the question, but he's a hell of a planner (he's been talking about winning two Olympic gold medals since he was a pre-teen).

If Oda can get married and have kids, I mean, really... I think it may be a familal duty type thing in Japan or a reputational thing (this is the guy who wants to live his life in a way never to bring any shame on his medals, not that he thinks that way - but maybe??)

* should have typed "familial" instead of what I said... why do I always fuck up....

Oda knocked up his girlfriend and then had two more kids. Where is there any evidence he is gay except speculation ?

My god, just how many Japanese school girls do we have posting in here?

All those Japanese skaters are BIG fat homosexuals, every one of them. Who is retarded enough to think Yuzuru has an ounce of masculinity? Like how?

You are so wrong R487. Yuzuru is NOT FAT !!

Yeah, Wakaba won silver at Worlds after not even making it to the Olympics. She's not elegant, but she's a real powerhouse.

R484, that's my impression--if you can get it up for the wife and spawn a couple of kids, it's all good. A big love match isn't required. Anything else--well, the agreement seems to be to look the other way.

Midori Ito wants Wakaba to perfect her 3A - she thinks she can do it. (thus, Brian?) I think a femme Japanese boi and a butch Japanese girl = a match made in heaven :) What's not to love? She probably wouldn't qualify if she doesn't get that 3A though. You gotta have standards...

And Oscar Wilde had a wife and two kids - it's doable for one with an indomitable will!

Oh and Yuzuru has the best 3A in the business. Nathan Chen even said so. Maybe he can help Wakaba more than Brian can.

Given that Nathan's 3A sucks, not that big an admission from him. Seriously, Nathan has an easier time with a quat lutz than that triple axel.

And Oscar managed the kids without Viagra--between will power and little blue pills, Hanyu should be fine--he can just thrust up and think of Javier.

There's always the handy old turkey baster - that's where Queen Elizabeth and her sister came from, so I've heard. But he could close his eyes and think of Japan ;)

Well, Japan and Javi...

Now we've got Yuzu sorted, Nathan has been liking tweets and such related to the incoming class at Yale. Hmmm.

Tatiana Tarasova just did a scathing interview, saying that Mikhael Kolyada skated like a girl !! and Dmitry Aliev is getting fat !!!

WTF? Though you've got to love the Russians sometimes...

Geez show a little artistry on ice like Yuzuru and you make assumptions. He seems straight. His interviews in Japanese are like a samurai.

Artistry ??? Gurl no! Rudy Galindo was an artist, Yuzuru skates like a wet noodle. All limbs point to every direction, especially when he splats which is often for him.

R497 how ridic. No one has won back to back golds since the 1950s. He's a beautiful Skater. And movie Star Good looking.

Hmmm, Yale . . . well, college acceptances have been coming out, so . . . where does Raf coach again?

R495 Tarasova, for some reasons, hates Kolyada

What is up with the Kolyada hate? I remember someone else from Russia dissing him when he flopped in the team event. It's all murky, but was it really fair to blame him for losing Team Gold for Russia? Patrick Chan sucked as usual but the rest of Team Canada brought it.

As for the TSL video, there was some interesting stuff. Never cared for Meghan D one way or the other, but she's fun on these videos. Of course over at GS forums many are clutching their pearls at this respected Olympic athlete lowering herself by associating with gossip mongers like TSL.

Chen's boot drama is the most interesting thing about her. The boot company guy who melted down on IG seems like he's attempting to put a curse on her. I like Dave's optimism, but no amount of makeup and packaging is going to make Bradie appealing. The best we can hope for her is to fix her arms.

Two takeways from the TSL Worlds recap: They seem pretty convinced that Chock/Bates competitive future depends on whether the Shibs return or not. I'm pretty confident Incest Dum and Incest Dee will take the upcoming season off, but the season after that has Broadway as the theme, and that's more in their wheelhouse. The Shibs are still prancing around acting like they won gold, attending movie premieres, joining social media gender equality panels and getting hailed at SNL backstage, but that's not really sustainable for two kids as desperate to be famous and influential as the Shibs.

TSL seem pretty sure Rippon AND Shibs will be on the short Athletes Only season of Dancing with the Stars. The Shibs are all smiles with Team USA who aren't in Ice Dance and seem content to be the Family Friendly Famewhore alternative to Adam in the 15 minutes of fame press tour, but it's a different game when they're actually competing for America's love, affection, and $$$ on a competitive reality show.

Doesn't Chock require potentially a surgery for her ankle?

I want the Shibs in the Tango Romantica!

I think part of the Kolyada hate by Tarasova is due to internal clubs politics. But yes it seems they are all having a field season with him in Russia. Given he is a headcase I am not sure it will help him.

Karen is getting choreo by Rohene Ward for SP.

But being Karen, it can mean that by September she has auto-choreographed her won SP

I hope Rohene does for Karen a program as striking as the one he did for Laurine Lecavelier who loves her daddy.

Suggestion of the Shibs if they stay next year....

the peak moment of the Tango Romantica by the Reeds in 2010

Actually I think at the beginning Reed Sister was trying to be sexy passing her hands over legs and hips raising her skirt.....

Reed Brother said their coach told him to imagine she was someone else and his sister...

In a Michal Brezina intervew (of all things), in the last part of the article he told interviwer about Nathan Chen already being accepted at Yale. He said, “He wants to study biological engineering or medicine. They have already accepted him for the prestigious YALE. Let's see how he can get together."

The person posting this on a message board didn't have the best English, so I don't understand what they mean by the last sentence above, and the article is in Czech I think (link, if anybody reads that language)

I assume they'd let a celebrity like him delay starting school - but I had a friend who tried to take a gap year after being accepted into Northwestern, and though someone in admissions told him 'sure' - he lost his scholarship due to delaying and couldn't go after all, despite being told otherwise.

More on Nathan: Seems like he has been really dreaming of attending a top university and he hasn’t been attending regular school since like age 14. He has expressed having some regret that he didn’t get to do normal high school stuff like attend prom, I’m sure he is craving some more regular life experiences in addition to all the extraordinary stuff he has gotten to do... he did say post OG (?) he’ll try out college to find balance but will consider delaying it if it doesn’t work out.

I don't like Kolyada because he's boring, a headcase, and horribly overscored. His programs are not good and he isn't consistent at all. And he looks like a child with no sex appeal.

R508 Harsh, but I agree. Maybe he needs some training from Yagudin on developing sex appeal: some alcohol and rough sex with Nicole Bobek would loosen him up.

R509 Saunas. The answer to all problems is sauna according to Kolyada:

[quote] The sauna really distracts you, seriously. For me, when I have a lot of thoughts, I just have to go to the sauna, you heat up and you come out like a new person. What helps me best to tune out completely is the sauna, I don’t know how, but it works for me.

[quote]...rough sex with Nicole Bobek

An egregious violation of the Geneva Convention.

Should we deepen the "Shoma slipped in the bathroom" rumours?

Klimov informed us it's what the conversations in Milan were about. I guess he frequents people without an exciting life if that's the topic of discussion. Actually he said he doesn't know if we should believe them but anyway he felt the need to share them in the middle of his roundup about Worlds.

And anyway if it's how he got injured, why would his team need to change version?

Ok, which of you bitches is zschultz1986 on Goldenskate? the reference to pearl-clutching gave you away.

R510 Kolyada needs to visit some new saunas to really come out as a new man. I can help with him that.

[R513] everyone on GS clutches pearls

[Quote] Should we deepen the "Shoma slipped in the bathroom" rumours?

Shoma really changed his boots after the olympics because they broke down and doubled his amount of practice to try to break them in in time for worlds, which is probably what injured him/aggravated his ongoing injury that he has alledgedly had all season. Maybe he slipped in the bathroom on top of that, which would explain the sudden trip to the hospital? But honestly one or the other, i don't see the benefit for his team to cover up him slipping.

Mozer on "polka dots" FS

Q: Not everyone liked their LP

Mozer: They were the ones to pick the music, though I offered a slightly different context.

Q: Seriously? They picked the boogie-woogie?

Mozer: We sometimes have adventures with the LP. I went to the USA for a vacation and they picked the rock-n-roll together with Peter Tchernyshev, even though I was dreaming to see them doing an evening boogie-woogie. Guess it's the destiny.

______-

I think it was God who wanted that FS!

R516 yeah. If it happened, I can't see any problem in admitting it.

[quote] Incest Dum and Incest Dee will take the upcoming season off, but the season after that has Broadway as the theme, and that's more in their wheelhouse.

Perfect. We can finally debut our, "House of Yes," routine!!!

Wow, the GS thread on the TSL is hilarious. Probably a good thing most of them don't come here. Of course, the pearl-clutching at GS is precisely why I am here. Figure skating, I love you, but I don't take you seriously, which is precisely why I love you.

Some Japanese news outlet just confirmed that Marin Honda is moving to the US to train with Raf.

This seems like an odd fit but ... all the best to her.

Honda has a reputation of being lazy. So she would be the perfect substitute for Ashley in his team

Maybe she just needs someone to be very strict with her and push her to work. I'm interested to see how this will work out.

Isn't Honda's now former coach the one described as a bitch in recent TSL?

Her brother (who finished 15th at Japanese Nationals) is also apparently moving to Raf

Do we think this nice sweet Yuzuru mystique may all be an act? Maybe he is a self absorbed petulant brat. He sure screamed at Denis Ten that when Ten mistakenly blocked his path at a practice. Still he's hot.

Marin Honda to train under Rafael Arutyunyan, officially confirmed by Nikkan Sports.

[quote]The sauna really distracts you, seriously. For me, when I have a lot of thoughts, I just have to go to the sauna, [bold]you heat up[/bold] and you come out like a new person.

Kolyada must be the pass around bottom at the baths.

Cain/LeDuc's new programs are done by Camerlengo

Stellato/Bartholomey's new SP is choreographed by Krylova

Alexander Johnson's FS has been choreographed by Shae Lynn Bourne

Paul Fentz is keeping the Game of Thrones FS because he is under the impression that it is so popular and he has many American fans who like it.

Not sure why Johnson and Fentz would continue. It's not like there's anyone that would miss them. Just watched the latest TSL, and that queen Dave Lease *really* hates it when other gays are more successful than him, like Adam Rippon and that guy Jackie Wong. He must be a DL'er!

In the age of Trump, can we get Madison Chock to skate with Ivan Bukin? His partner (can't even recall her name right now) looks like a rag doll when she skates, and Evan Bates is the ultimate AWG. They are wasting their potentials with their current partners.

The Shibs will no longer compete. They will become coaches, settle down and raise a brood of creepy children, cousin-siblings. My prediction.

Yuzuru could be a petulant brat but he only yelled at Denis Ten after Denis blocked him three times in two days during his run-through, the third time occurring after he asked Denis to be more mindful. The videos are all over the internet. Denis had blocked him at other practices as well. Yuzuru later approached Denis and apologized for losing his temper. Meanwhile, Denis never acknowledged what he did and instead claimed he was a victim of racism. Denis was the brat in that instance. (sorry if this doubleposts)

[quote] Not sure why Johnson and Fentz would continue. It's not like there's anyone that would miss them

because I don't want to become a retail salesman

To be in Nathan's little head and find out what he's planning.

He won worlds but you could sense he thought it was a poor consolation prize for having chocked at the Olympics. He seems to be psyched about going to college, and he already looks bored with skating.

I wouldn't be surprised if he takes a break of a year or two in order to experience college life and then comes back in the 2020-2021 season just in time for the Olympics. He is super competitive, but he doesn't strike me as a skater that wants to be competing the whole four years. He already won worlds, the is no immediate incentive for him to skate next year or the year after.

Maybe I'm wrong - but I bet skaters, like football players and other athletes, end up with a LOT of aches and pains that have added up over their careers and cause a lot of problems as they get older. Maybe he thinks being the quad king and punishing his joints for four years to win gold at Beijing, which may in the end, elude him anyway...

Well, I hope he does what makes him happy but I think the Yale/med-school choice (or whatever career path he has in mind, following in his parents' footsteps, both of whom work in healthcare), it just makes more sense. You're right, he doesn't seem as stoked about being a professional athlete/winner as most others who stick with this, through thick and thin.

I can't understand why he would want to go to this thing called Yale instead of skating for 4 more full years.

I am in my mid 25 and I still have to finish high school but I always enjoy doing my 3T+2T combo at the Cup of Tyrol and doing brillantly at that Senior B in an obscore East European country where the panel gives away GOEs like candies in order to allow all of us to get the minimum TES for Worlds.

I am also proud of the costume my mother designed for me because a professional designer would have costed too much and it's still better than Vera Wong's creations anyway.

I would not miss Nathan's messy quads one bit if he retired.

Some find them sad, but in a way I respect all these weakish skaters for their persistence in the sport they obviously love

Saulius Ambrulevicius on his 20th finish in Ice Dance at Worlds: "Dreams do come true!✨"

Lukas Csolley on his 20th finish in Ice Dance at Olympics: "Two challenging seasons full of obstacles that have become a reality thanks to our strong desire and confidence or the fulfillment of one great dream. One big THANK YOU goes to all those who have been involved in our success in any way, they have supported us and believed in us until the end. We have done a little miracle that I will take for my whole life in my heart!♡"

Yeah, these small fed skaters really have the odds stacked against them. They may only have one or two crappy ice rinks in their country, lack of access to top coaches, etc. It's easy to make fun of them but at least you know they skate because they really love it, despite the hardships and lack of accolades, unlike a lot of spoiled American brats I can think of.

That's true. I also think winning medals is not the all end of everything. I think showing your programs the best you can with your level, representing your country, hopefully developing the sport a bit... are all nice challenges.

[quote] representing your country... are all nice challenges.

We especially like this point

Alison Reed (USA-Georgia-Israel-Lithuania) and Isabella Tobias (USA-Georgia-Lithuania-Israel)

(I just it's the same list of countries in different order. And the Georgian guy is the same one)

Isu is proposing not to allow repeating the same quad during a program. But they are unsure it will pass as in Europe few skaters have many quads and therefore Euro federations are likely to vote it down.

At 1 minute 15 in this video, Oda starts eating a piece of cake and Yuzuru makes fun of him for his "girly" way of acting. (It's in Japanese but you don't really need to understand it to see how they're acting.)

How's your gaydar? Which of the three is the gay one - Oda, Yuzuru, Shoma, all 3?

I'll marry you, Yuzuru!

All three of course.

Oda has some serious closet issues, but he is Bi at the very least. After watching that video, it's so obvious Yuzuru detects the pillow queen Oda is... also, did Morozov bed Rippon, Amodio and Oda? It almost seems like that's what everyone thinks .

In his recent interview with Russia media, the ISU Russian Vice President defines Nagasu as "Japanese"

"Figure skating moves forward. And now even those for whom they once seemed impossible are taught quadruple jumps. German Paul Fenz can jump 3A and a Quad. And he's tall!".

He mentioned Zabiiako falling and hitting her head in a 3 and half Axel throw attempt. When it happened? In practice?

Oda could be gay but it's unlikely. Could a femme gay guy be caught riding a motorbike drunk late at night? The thing is, if you are familiar with Japanese culture and fandom a bit, you know what's it all about. Oda is a media figure now and he has this role to play to keep his popularity. He only cried a lot when he competed and crying may not be that feminine itself in Japan. Then he retired and started promoting his femme /soft man image on Jp TV. Makes sense as it's kinda popular one. Yuzuru also acts out a little with sadistic antics towards Oda. He's originally active and energetic person, likes to gain people's attention by teasing them a little. So when Oda casually joked that Yuzu acts a little Do-S while he's rather Do-M, fandom kicked up a fuss and this hysteria spread all around and reached media as well. After that Yuzuru and Oda picked the thing up and played up this S&M dynamic whenever they had a chance and attention. It's fanservice for fangurls. They love it.

Does anybody know what happened with Daisuke Takahashi? He's quitting Japanese tv?? From twitter:

After graduating from #SPOTLIGHT yesterday it seems this marks the end of his TV adventure. Takahashi confesses "I am not good at TV work and I wouldn't feel motivated to continue".

Reporter question: It's 6 months since the show started. Did you get used to TV?

Daisuke: "This is not good direction for me, because I think I did not know and I am not suited for TV work. It is a tough world!"

So what is Dai going to do with the rest of life? He's said before doesn't want to coach or choreograph either.

R550 Find a sugar daddy?

Isn't Dai already going out with that guy manager/skater from Prince hotel tour?

Rippon's interview in Rolling Stone

"For the record, he rates himself a 4.5 on the Kinsey scale"....Adam, maybe -4.5

"he dated girls who assumed he was just too good a person to try to sleep with them.".....he must have picked the dumbest girls

Actually, the range of Kinsey's scale is the opposite of what I remembered (6 is totally homosexual).

[quote]"he dated girls who assumed he was just too good a person to try to sleep with them.".....he must have picked the dumbest girls

So what's the deal with Ashley and Adam? They used to be inseparable, but once Adam took off he never looked back.

Chen is probably going to Yale and will skate occasionally until the next Olympics come around. I'm assuming his primary coach will be change too. This kid is such a little machine. I am sure he'll use his time off to improved his in betweens.

Where is Vincent Zhou going after he finishes high school? I wonder if we are also losing him from being a full time skater.

Vincent's a junior, age-wise, so we've got another year with him. Given that his parents moved to Palo Alto and he originally attended Palo Alto's must gung-ho public school, I'm guessing that he's being programmed for Stanford.

I am supposed to go to university but I've decided to take a year off to do skating. Are you happy?

Vincent graduated high school at 16.

I would've dumped Ashley as soon as I could, lol. But I could never stand her whiny ass. He probably just needs a break since they aren't forced to train together now. I hope she doesn't feature much in his TV show, if at all.

In the press bulletins at Worlds, ISU informed us about the future of Agafonova/Ucar as we were dying to know

Agafonova will move to France to live with Chafik Besseghier, which means the poor woman will end up in Grenoble, in the middle of nowhere.

Ucar will stay in Detroit and do some coaching.

Meanwhile, in the first Japanese Gala show that took place on Thursday, they organized a farewell ceremony for Takahito Mura who is retiring. There are Oda and Akiko Suzuki. And a video message by Daisuke.

I forgot that last season was Vincent's year off from college. I guess he'll keep a light skating schedule like Chen, at least until the next Olympics come around.

Aren't Yuzuru and Shoma pursuing a higher education? It just seems odd we don't see them take a year off to go to college or something.

Shoma goes to Chukyo University. It is in Nagoya where his coach is based.

Asada, Ando, Hongo, Takahiko Kozuka, Kanako Murakami all went there.

I think he studies Sport Science. From the University website it's this:

Department of Sport Science

In order for athletes to perform successfully in international competition, scientific instruction and advice, such as effective and efficient physical and mental training or health maintenance coaching for mind and body that leads to the best performance are essential. Therefore, the Department of Sport Science offers wide ranging and comprehensive foundation in sport science, including medicine, health science and anatomical physiology, developing into a systematic curriculum with combined theory and practice according to individual objectives. Experience and knowledge accumulated through highly competitive sports coaching situations are reviewed from a scientific perspective that enables students to acquire a higher level of expertise. The Department aims to foster human resources that are successful not only in the sports industry, but also in a wide range of other fields with expertise fusing acquired scientific vision and a broad-based knowledge, and high levels of self-management and communication skills obtained during the practice of competitive sports. The department offers two programs: competitive sport science with a heavier weight placed on the practice of competitive sports and coaching techniques, and sports management with a heavier weight placed on management theory and the skills required in the management of sports-related organizations and facilities.

What happened between Adam and Ashley? Simple answer... Mirai.

Well, Mirai, her triple axel and her comeback, making the team.

Adam's a fame whore and he knows who to hitch his wagon to. Things may have been different if Ashley made the team... but as it turned out Mirai was going to be the bigger story so Adam dropped Ashley for her.

Adam's also probably fucking Mirai's boyfriend.

at 0:35 witness Shoma's hysterical laugh

Yuzuru is in Waseda University's e-School program, studying "human informatics and cognitive sciences." Some other famous athletes in Japan have studied there as well, but I can't remember their names, but it's a highly regarded school. Or maybe he's finished by now - but he was a sophomore in 2014.

In other words, they are just doing the equivalent of a Liberal Arts major. Like so many Russians before them.

Chukyo University (Shoma's university) is not exactly Ivy League

In the Times Higher Education World University Ranking, Chukyo is 131th among Japanese Universities. For ex Waseda University mentioned at R567 is 11th in that ranking

All the skater that go to Chukyo don't go there for their academics but because it is one of the only universities in Japan (along with Kansai university where Daisuke Takahashi went and where Miyahara is now) with a rink, skating facilities and a university figure skating team. Shoma Uno was skating at that rink long before he actually attended the university.

Stars on Ice will be televised by NBCSN next Saturday 14th (12:30-1:30pm Eastern)

I know Vincent graduated early, but I don't think that necessarily means he'll be hitting college early. He could end up as U.S. Champ next year if Nathan takes serious time off to go to Yale.

If yuzu is teasing oda for eating like a girl, it figures Yuzu is straight and not particularly nice.

R571- Gone are the days when they televised tons of skating shows at the drop of a hat.

Waseda is Japanese Ivy League. It is generally considered to be the top private university (along with Keio) in the country, and the third or fourth best school after University of Tokyo and Kyoto University in domestic rankings every year. There are few academic and athletic scholarship programs in Japan and Waseda is the best school you could attend if you're an academically-inclined athlete. (Arakawa who is also from Sendai and an Olympic champion skater went there.) Yuzuru maintained perfect grades throughout middle school and high school and his father is a school principal, so he could have gone anywhere. Nathan, Vincent and Yuzuru are very similar in that regard. I think Yuzuru is graduating next year because he's working on his senior thesis.

From his interviews Shoma doesn't seem to be very intellectual and is kind of out there, but that's part of his charm and his bizarre comments have gained him a lot of fans in Japan. I think his younger brother who is two or three years younger might be the smart one in the family. He's fluent in English (he attends an international school) and acts at Shoma's interpreter sometimes. He also speaks in that soft babyish tone that Shoma has.

so who is the dumbest skater out there?

Mirai has got to be in the running. She comes off as a total ding-a-ling. Though she is, somehow, getting through college. Courtney Hicks is right-wing holy-roller type--that's generally not a sign of intelligence.

Papadakis/Cizeron's interview in L'Equipe:

She believes that partecipating to Sochi could have been good for them as they would have gained some Olympic experience before PyeongChang. But she admits that French Fed could have not predicted that they would raise to the top so soon. (Pernelle Carron/Lloyd Jones were chosen over them for second French spot. At 2014 Euros C/J were 13th and P/C 15th. P/J basically ended their career at those Games)

2016/17 was hard for them. They were not ready mentally to the big battle with V/M. They didn't cope well with stress. They have started to work with a mental coach. Cizeron thinks the choice of 2016/17 FD was a mistake, it wasn't the season to take risks, judges didn't completely get the FD.

Their 2016/2017 FD was my favourite of their programs. I don't think it was a mistake. They lost on the short, just like always.

From Stars on Ice Japan

Tonya inadvertently stepping over the skater sliding in between her legs: if we had done this EX in my days, it would have been much easier to get rid of Nancy

[quote]so who is the dumbest skater out there?

Ashley gets my vote. She has a big mouth, but the things that come out of it are cringeworthy. Maxim Kovtun is probably not a MENSA member either.

I'm gonna double down on Eric Radford being borderline ugly (if my link works and IF he's the one in the middle.) The only hot one in this group, imo, is Javier Fernandez but I personally think Shoma is cute, in a boy-band kind of way. This is recent - they're in Japan doing ice shows together (Nathan Chen is with them but didn't get in this colorful picture - reminds me of catalog clothes for preschoolers but ok I guess... at times like this, you need Johnny Weir to spiff things up)

Apart from Javi, that's a whole lot of fug in one pic. But I think Eric is the second best looking, for whatever it's worth. Shoma will always gross me out and Scott is absolutely hideous.

Patrick is the ugliest imo. Who is Scott - the one next to Javi? I think he's average looking.

Be ready!!

Choice of pic of the day

a) Courtney Hicks's Happy Easter

or

b) Norwegian skater Sondre Boe pretending to wonder what to eat but actually promoting discount prices on underwears brand called "confyballs"...

Do we need a Pt. XV?

Absolutely, r588.

I was hoping that for April Fools Day some skater would announce on social media that they were quitting ice skating for roller skating because they were tired of being cold all the time, With some clips taken in a roller rink in a recent costume doing some jumps or something. I know if I were a skater I'd do it.

R578- Well, if they can't cope with stress, good thing that they won't have to deal with that now that the judges basically throw marks at them for doing programs that a junior level team can do.

R582- That confirms there is no money to be made in figure skating. Not if that's the best they can do for costumes.

R591 = I, Scott

Link to new thread.

R586

emmi.peltonen's comment "Good one. Proud"

does she mean she's proud he's as slutty as her on IG?

I let R176 says what Viveca Lindford would say

R592, I wonder if Yuzuru, Johnny Weir or Plushenko would have been caught dead in those 'color block' outfits. Javier's is the worst (I think?) with the bright pink shirt and the yellow trousers. Not even one damned sequen!

Maybe Nathan Chen looked at that and said forgettuabout! Though he's so shy and reticent maybe not - wonder if they decked him out in that mess. They need to fire the stylist or whoever came up with that.

When Yuzuru saw the neon orange jackets with the little white booties on the mannequin that the Japanese had to wear at the Olympics he said NOBODY could possibly look good in that. But he dutifully wore the silly mess.

They're the 9th photo if you scroll down at the link. The little bootees are the worst part, but why the fuck did they pick bright orange? with little wool caps and very thick white tassled scarves with JAPAN written on them. The stuff of nightmares! Poor Yuzu. No wonder he didn't want to carry the flag (though I don't know if they asked him but I assume that they might have and he didn't want to live in infamy in that ridiculous getup)

R596 Chen didn't have to wear these colorful clothes as he isn't in the men group number with the other boys.

Some pretty bad shirts were used for The Legends show too.

Oh lord R597 - the girls look like they're in Dukes of Hazzard and the boys like a Happy Days episode of high school boys. Everything so dated. Why don't they just wear their costumes from competitions? Or all black and white or something?

R598 yes, the girls' outfits were awful too. And what is the first part of the opening number about? A Lolita on ice starring Chris Reed?

Link to new thread.

Please go over there to continue talking about what insufferable cunts Virtue and Moir are.