Yuzuru Hanyu and other figure skating talk part 20

Death threats over fucking figure skating? Jesus H Christ.

Ladies breakdown by judge

Bulgarian and Hungarian judges went for Samodurova first. Bulgarian also put her first in PCS

The Dutch judge with Natasha McKey 4th in PCS?

R2 LOL the judge from the Netherlands.

Netherlands judge also put Peltonen first in PCS tied with Zag

Look at PCS ranking for Brezinova. She ranged from 9th to 29th

She only had a few lines, but Kanako Murakami did an OK job on The Good Wife. She was in the last three minutes of the second episode. She’s expressed interested in doing more acting.

Takahashi will be appearing on the new Fuji TV variety show “Aoharu” on the 27th. (@aohalutv)

Gallagher interviewed Soichiro Tsuzuki, Hanyu’s old coach who currently coaches Tomoe Kawabata. twitter. com /sportsjapan/status/1087563027203780608

The No. 2136 issue of “Anan” that features a 16-page article on Hanyu and interviews with Tomono and Shimada, also had a 4-page contribution from Kozuka on the top figure skaters of this season. Supposedly he said Hanyu’s many transitions remind him of Takahashi’s skating? At least it was a compliment. A kindle version of the magazine is available: magazineworld. jp /anan/ (or look for the magazine on Amazon Japan by searching “anan(アンアン) 2019/01/30号 No.2136”)

And Yamato Tamura fan: Tamura has updated his column on J Sports and it has some interesting photos. Be sure to check out all four pages. He called Hosoda the MVP of Nationals, complimented Sakamoto and Kihira, and said that Miyahara is still young at 20 and can continue to improve.

Judge #4 in Pairs today was Ms Natalia KRUGLOVA from Ukraine

She was once suspended for 2 years for one of the most LOL attempt of rigging in favour of anonymous skaters...

it was Cup of Nice 2012

The British judge was sitting at the rink cafe when Kruglova arrived and tried to convince her to be generous with the GOEs for Julia Lavrentieva / Yuri Rudik as this pair needed the minimum TES for Worlds....

“On that day I knew I was judging the pairs skating section. I arrived at the ice rink at a quarter past one and the competition was due to start at two o clock. We had a meeting with the referee at 1:30. I went into the cafe at the ice rink, which was on the top floor next to the judges’ room. When I was getting my soup suddenly Natalia Kruglova asked me: ‘…, come and sit with me!’ Behind me all the tables were full but in front of me they were all empty. If she hadn’t said that to me I would have gone to one of the other tables. As I was having my soup Natalia bent over tome and touched my arm and just said: ‘O … I have got something to ask you. Please, when you are judging my couple this afternoon, you know they need every mark they can get. So please will you, when you think of giving them a Zero, please give them a Plus, because that will help them’. At this point I was shocked and I was angry. I put my spoon down and said ‘I am going to the meeting’ and left the table and moved away.”

Kruglova was in the panel for Junior Ladies in Nice....and the referee reported noted ".based on her total score for components, she would have placed the Ukrainian skater 5th. The skater finished 12th on components in this segment. …to me this judging looks like a national bias. Also in the round table discussion she was really fighting and pushing for this skater ( Alina Milevskaya)."

R5 Ahem, JDC, I think you mean Yamato Tamura fanS. If Alexia Paganini gets a fans club on DL, I don't see why hot coach shouldn't. Anyway, thank you for summarizing the column. Love the pictures - "I took a picture with a post." I adore this guy, wish we saw more of him.

R6 LOL at the banality of just waving another judge over in a crowded cafe and asking them to cheat. The soup detail was top notch as well.

So who's sad tomorrow's gonna be Javier Fernadez's last short program

I am sad that it is his last SP tomorrow and his last FS on Saturday and I am even sadder that I am at work on both days during his performance

I wish I felt more sadness about Javi retiring, but he's just recycling 2 played out programs for the final hurrah, so it's not really that exciting. Of course when I see him out there and the crowd cheering him on, I'll probably get emotional too. At least he isn't skating to Charlie fucking Chaplin again.

Charlie Chaplin is MY thing now!

Stream of Men's short programs at Europeans. Approximate times for some of the guys (Eastern time in the US)

6.45am Fentz; 6.48am Kovtun; 7.43am Fa;

7.50am warmup for Group 6; Aymoz, Grassl, Samohin, Majorov, Rizzo

9am Group7 Samarin, Bychenko, Kvitelashvili, Kolyada, Vasiljevs, Fernandez.

I don't think it lets you do full-screen - just watch the smaller size.

Now FSU has shut down the Coughlin threads. Why? Because they don't want to "tarnish" Nationals? I will be reading this thread, but I won't be watching this year.

R13 I think the moderators were sick of having to moderate those threads. They were getting very repetitious.

Paul Fentz fell during his SP and hit his head on the ice. I hope he's okay.

Paul Fentz really likes his literal costumes. Couple seasons ago he was a brick wall for Pink Floyd's "The Wall," today he was a blue sky skating to "Blue Skies"...

Not a good skate for Brezina. He's in second after Kovtun.

Kevin Aymoz moves into first! He is growing on me a bit.

Kevin certainly made his coaches happy. lol

Samohin managed not to fall on his ass today. He's one of my favorites to watch when he isn't splatting everywhere.

Other streams for Europeans - all the Match TV Russian ones work best for me

Brian Orser is smiling a lot more than Javi is.

My stream kept messing up - the one on Jackie Wong's rockerskating site is working well for me - finally.

Kolyada on fire!! I thought Javi was underscored - two quads and 10 points behind Misha who had 1 quad :(

Well not 10 points - about 8.5. I guess at 4/2 instead of a 4/3 at the start hurt him, plus stepping out of his 3A. Kolyada perfect. Can he bring it in the free skate? I'm torn - want Javi to go out on a high, but poor Misha has been through hell and will hopefully podium at Worlds, if he's allowed to go. Javi doesn't have that on the line.

1. Mikhail Kolyada RUS - 100.49 (54.05, 46.44) 2. Alexander Samarin RUS - 91.97 (49.95, 42.02) 3. Javier Fernandez ESP - 91.84 (45.20, 46.64)

Behind Samarin? They called Javier's 4S. I honestly didn't see it. Javi looked pissed.

Fix that, he was pissed. I didn't see the presser but apparently, he said he can make a come back tomorrow in the FS "if they [judges] let me."

I heard Brian tell Javi in the K&C that he would get a score in the mid to high 90s so Javi was probably shocked to see that didn't happen. I don't think he skated particularly well. Maybe he should have gone with Black Betty.

Very happy for Misha. He looked so serious when he finished; I wonder if he was already thinking ahead to his FS.

Javi's remarks at the press conference. Might have been better if he went for the judges after the FS, but I guess he was very unhappy.

Technical controller is Russian. Quelle surprise.

Aside from the questionable UR call and the usual overscoring for Kolyada (though I'm glad he had a good skate), I don't know that this is the "I wuz robbed" hill Javi wants to die on. He wasn't exactly spectacular.

Panel today was

Norway

Poland

Belarus

Turkey

Spain

Finland

Great Britain

Azerbajan

Estonia

The 4 judges not drawn today for Men and that therefore will be in the FS are

Bulgaria

Czech Republic

Italy

Russia

4 of today's judges will take a rest.

Fernandez should have reached Patrick Chan's level in term of throwing shade. Not the first time anyway. He has said some shady shit about Hanyu, Uno, Chen... especially in interviews with Spanish media. I'd like to hear his comment after FS if judges somehow refuse to give him Gold.

And Javi, you should have worked your ass off and done better to stop judges from "robbing" you instead of looking for a fair judging and being pissed off when it didn't happen. So you should be mad at you before you complain about judges.

R33: I thought you did enough.

I mean, I'm glad somebody called out the ridiculous judging that's been going on for a while now, OTOH he just seems petty, blaming only the judges and not admitting his own mistakes.

Philip Hersh @olyphil

@USFigureSkating CEO DaVid Raith just said “USFS believes it is imperative the Center (for SafeSport) complete its investigation into the allegations against John Coughlin.”

The Spanish judge who put Kolyada behind Samarin in PCS was equally laughable.

R37 and it wasn't even me!!

How tall is Paul Fentz?

R39 1.79cm

So Javi thinks the judges should give him inflated scores because he's... Him? I love diva Fernandez.

20 men today were over 34 TES points (minimum for Worlds). Basically everyone up to Sondre

Only 12 women were over the World minimum yesterday. Top 9 + Brezinova+Romanian girl+Gennaro

Lol, of course, a Russian tech controller. Who just started doing his job seriously when Javier stepped onto the ice.

That said, Javier's "3 weeks of trainings" are biting him in the ass. Aside from tech mistakes, that rendition of Malaguena was a bit lukewarm. Kolyada was actually more enjoyable to watch.

I quite like Samarin but shit, Aymoz should have been above him. Another travesty was Samohin behind Kovtun. Fuck, if Samarin can get 42 PCS, so should the hammiest ham Samohin. Than hamminess alone is worth at least a couple of 10s, not to mention that cool transition between the jumps.

Hate to pile on because I actually like Javi quite a bit, but this is what he said to the Spanish press [through google translate]: "I did a very good program, almost perfect until I saw the result and what the judges evaluated...If I skated poorly and don't get in a good position, I don't get angry, but if I skate well and don't get what they owe me, yes I do."

I can see why he'd be pissed by a highly questionable call on his signature jump in the last competition of his career. But his other scores were fine. His PCS were too high but everyone's were.

Attendance was surprisingly good. Either folks in Belarus live figure skating or cheap prices encouraged people to come. I remember Euros in Stockholm and, eh, Prague? that were pretty empty during Men's sp.

WhAt ThEY owE ME

The Russian Technical Controller could have decided only if the two technical specialists (Jan Cejvan and Jyrina Lorenz) were split on the call

today's Technical Specialist 20 years ago

New Orser interview with NBC

R44 I hope that "almost perfect" was just a weird google translation...

Skating Scores:

What does Norway have against Samarin? Poland, too.

And the Spanish judge really doesn't like Aymoz.

Javi lost about 3.5 to 4 points for the downgraded quad sal. The 3A stepout and doubled 4T-2T still puts him 2nd, but not 1st.

Still, he's never cheated his 4S. It is major bullshit with 3 eastern European technical controllers tilting the game.

R54 He definitely shouldn't be first and he probably doesn't think so, but he should probably be second by a healthy margin.

r52 They're the ones who are wtf at Samarin's PCS, like us.

r55 Yup.

R55 I don't know about that. If he thinks the skate was "casi perfecto" with 2 quads v. Kokyada's 1 quad, he might have thought he was due 1st. Would he have been that pissed if he were expecting 2nd and missed it only by a small margin?

I agree, he should have been second, but I don't think it was the huge miscarriage of justice he's making it out to be. His jumps didn't look great, even though he didn't fall. He was also noticeably slower. Performance was just okay for me (love Malaguena so maybe I'm unfairly judging against past performances). Anyone take a careful look at the 4s? It didn't look ur in real time to me, but I haven't seen it in slow mo.

I think he’s just shocked by the new scoring system. This is his FIRST competition under this system. Similar to when Hanyu thought he was going to get over 200 for his Helsinki FS because he didn’t fall. If this was the old system, it’s likely that Javi’s 2 quad sp may have scored higher than everyone else.

I thought his 4s was underrotated but again in the old system he would have gotten full credit for it

R58 Totally agree. He's not used to the new scoring system. I think it is a bit of a shock to the skaters because they've likely developed a feel for how certain skates will be scored, and that's been upended with the new system.

r58 I don't think it's the same. Hanyu was guessing his score in real time without seeing the protocols - he probably didn't realize that his 4t and 4lo would get called <. Between GOE and BV, he lost around 10 points. His FS score was 190.43. 200 was actually a really accurate guess without knowing the < calls and considering he almost never gets <

Javi made that statement after seeing his protocols. Also, Javi skated JPN Open under this system. Though he seemed equally dismayed with that score.

Alina Zagitova's free skate scored higher than Javi's (and Nathan Chen's) at the Japan Open. I thought that was really funny. (But I don't think Javi thought it was funny)

Zags 159.18 - Javi 157.86 - Nathan 144.96

Just finished watching Euros. It was under but it may have been just short of the quarter mark. However, it's been getting called under at that mark all season, except when Nathan does it. I don't think the etching will necessarily show the < either because he landed it the way Vincent does - toe makes contact, quickly finish rotation while on ice, then run out with the blade so the etching will look straight unless you're looking specifically at the point of first contact.

Mikhail definitely deserved to win the short. I don't like this short program but, going by the guidelines and looking at the protocols, i don't see how you can argue that Mikhail was over scored. the only very minor quibble is that I don't think his camel should have gotten any 5's (only 2 counted). But overall, his elements were exceptional, he performed well, and he was by far the most polished skater. In contrast, Javi looked sloppy - all the 3's and the 5 on his combo was pretty generous and he looked sluggish overall yet he got slightly higher PCS scores.

R61 japan open was a comical disaster for most. I think the realization was the same, Hanyu would never openly criticize like that but obviously Javi did

Nobody cares about US Nats, huh? Yeah, me neither.

I care about Alysa Liu ripockin it

*rockin

What is the attraction of Bradie Tennell?

When Bradie Tennell skates, she reminds me so much of Kimmee Meisner, but without the charisma.

I think Bradie has beautiful legs. I'm mesmerized by them.

Oh - and apparently, going by Jackie Wong, Alysa Liu performed a clean triple axel and got a monster 73.89 SP (second place) - "Emmy Ma gives me all the goosebumps" (SP 65.13, sixth place) - Mariah Bell "some of the best spins of the event" (third with SP 70.30) - and Bradie Tennell 3Lz3T, 2A, 3F TES 41.68, PCS 34.92, SP 76.60 into 1st.

Philip Hersh @olyphil2h2 hours ago In her senior national debut, Alysa Liu, 13, became third woman to land a triple axel at U.S. Championships and first to land one in a short program. “Were you confident you could land it?” Liu was asked. “Yeah,” she answered, matter-of-factly.

What's this about?

Uno withdrew from challenge cup.

R72 those rumors abound, frankly. Some have been very specific. I think people knew and ironically, it's why they're mad at the victims (ie "I saw you with him, you seemed perfectly happy then, why are you complaining now?"). I hope all of the uproar from fans changes that fucked up culture.

[44] Javi, that wasn't almost perfect. What I would call "almost perfect", is Yuzu's Otoñal with the disguised step out.

r73 How far back do these rumors go?

R75 sorry, I haven't kept track of the dates. I just see stories popping up on my tl. The one linked at r72 says at least 2012.

Call me a pleb, but I like Kevin Aymoz, so fun and joyful to watch. I hope he incorporates the baton twirling in his ex at some point.

The 4S call for Javi was questionable, but Koylada deserves to lead regardless.

Bradie's main appeal is that she's consistent, dedicated, and seems like a genuine and low key person. Her skating isn't exciting, but the USFSA needs someone like her to anchor the ladies while they rebuild. She and I are both from Skokie Valley Skating Club, so I'll always be rooting for her. (Jason Brown too.)

"Eteri left practice very angry. Alina cried, Danny G was consoling her. (c)Rus FS forums. Oh where r u guys, who told me that I was wrong abt Eteri's camp and what she is doing to Alina?"

Javi's 4S wasnt UR

r79 Oh to be the fly on the wall. Maybe they're playing good cop bad cop. I'm starting to feel for Alina.

FSU? You’d figure that they would be happy with dish on an obviously heterosexual skater like Coughlin. I recall endless threads on the dating habits of the girl skaters and the straight boys, but talk about the gays would always end with “it’s no one’s business” or someone complaining to the mods and the threads getting shut down. FSU is also run by faux American liberals and Europeans who think to the right. But GoldenSkate is just as bad. And a lot more elitist.

Someone should investigate the reports to safesport and the “culture” of “dating” underaged kids. Ideally should be USFS but look at how US Gymnastics handled Nassar.

From V/M fan , but tweet is about delilah’s Students wearing red hats in Coughlin’s honor. I wonder if they have MAGA on the front.

You're right, R78, Bradie does seems like a nice person. But yes, her skating is not exciting. The over the top praises of the commentators last night ("She skated like a QUEEN!") were eye rolling inducing, as were her scores. She's got very good competitive nerves, but she looks really really skinny. She's thinner than last year, and it doesn't look healthy, as if her body is beginning to use her muscles for fuel.

I guess they have to try to make these championships seem exciting. The men will be a little more interesting. I'm rooting for Jason and I was never a big fan of him - too cheesy. But he seems like a more authentic version of himself since going to Orser and I really like his SP. Alysa is likeable, but extremely lacking in polish compared to her Japanese and Russian peers. That choreo was all kinds of cringey.

Watching the RD at Euros now and Nikita fucked up and fell on twizzles...again.

R50 Brian Orser seems to know where he stands in Hanyu's team. Rather, he better do.

r87. After 7 years he probably does. He's always been doing a pretty good job as Hanyu's spin doctor, especially at the Olympics, much of it is probably thanks to knowing where he stands.

r86 And did he drag Sinitsina down with him or did she fuck up all on her own?

r85 Before Gracie Gold went downhill I used to think she was too thin and would have encouraged her to eat. And what happened. That shit's so fucked up.

4CCs is likely going to be a Japanese sweep. Men's a bit much better, should be Uno and Jin at the lead provided that both recovered from whatever ails them, with bronze for Cha or Brown.

I looked at the ticket sales for 4CCs and it seems pretty good given there are no American women or Men fighting for gold, or any major stars in the cast. Only top seats in less attractive sections left. I wonder what it'll look like for real. As I mentioned before, the attendance at Euros surprised me.

[Quote] Bradie's main appeal is that she's consistent, dedicated, and seems like a genuine and low key person. Her skating isn't exciting, but the USFSA needs someone like her to anchor the ladies while they rebuild.

So like basically the Satoko of JPN, except both are total opposites in jumps vs. refinement. I find both boring, but Satoko when she was the only medal contender for JPN was more fun to watch.

Bradie always looks so happy after finishing a program as if just did the best skate in the world, that's the only thing I like about her.

R81 Here, go live out your fly fantasies. The reports of Daniil comforting Zags look like wishful thinking to me. Both Eteri and Daniil seem pissed off at her.

Zagitova just had another tough skate at Europeans, although she held it better together than at Russian Nationals. It's tough to see her so stressed and miserable looking out there. I guess Tara Lipinski really was smart to retire after winning the Olympics at 15. It's hard to stay on top when you win everything before your body full changes.

Bradie kind of reminds me of Rachael Flatt. Technically solid and consistent, but uninspiring and unexciting. Someone who consistently finishes in the bottom half of the Top 10 at Worlds.

I would LOVE to see Mariah Bell get it all together. She's got plenty of charisma... just missing the consistency.

Man, I miss Nicole Bobek. While Kwan was the queen of the ice of that era, when Bobek was on (which wasn't all that often), she was magical.

R83 in the Nassar case many coaches across the country were complicit to varying degrees. There is a huge, very significant difference in the US Gymnastics scandal and this (or any) USFS scandal. The involvement of US universities in Gymnastics and other sports including Olympic sports. Nassar was a U of Michigan faculty member and was protected, enabled and supported by a large and powerful institution with nationwide links and connections reaching to national government and corporations. I am not minimizing or negating the impact of abuse on any one who is or has been a victim in the skating world including those involved in USFS.

Poor Zags, this is truly painful to watch. Besides Adelina, have there been any other ladies Olympic champs with no WC medals? I think Zags is on her way to continuing that proud Russian tradition.

Med's probably on her 5th tub of Blue Bunny chocolate brownie ice cream right now. Go live, girl. Your season is over.

R96 Nah, that's gonna be Zags in a few moments, a long with lots of crying.

Ladies protocols. Bunny heaven for Zags.

Alina didn't cry after a bad skate ? Wow character development.

Meh. Zags still has the silver and 70+ PCS. Results-wise, she is fine. In GPF her uncalled jumps and PCS gave her a silver. Here, they took away the TES but still gave her the PCS and she also landed silver. Worlds will be interesting.

Honestly, the petty countries worried for nothing about the backloading bonus. With her poor jumps this season, Zags and backloading this year would not have worked out anyway.

Zags should move to Toronto.

r94 Not saying it is similar YET but won't know til they look deeper. Where there is smoke...

"many coaches across the country were complicit to varying degrees."- this could easily be the case in FS- look at how the coaches are reacting now.

I agree many institutions involved in Nassar case but US Gymnastics was also directly involved. wiki- " On October 17, 2018, former USA Gymnastics CEO Steve Penny was arrested on charge of evidence tampering in Larry Nassar case. He was accused of removing documents linked to the Larry Nassar sexual abuse case from the Karolyi Ranch gymnastics training facility in Texas.[65][66] On October 29 Penny entered a plea of not guilty"

The way that USFS has responded so far is pro- coaches and institutions versus potential victims (many of whom may be minors)

R101 then Med should move back to Eteri

R103 Gogolev should move to Eteri. I hear she's really good with young quadsters.

R104 Well he is a Russian citizen. The Canadians better be nice to Gogo team of he'll drop them like a bad habit too

R104 If that happens, Brian Orser will move to Eteri with Gogolev.

Brian, Help Me!

R96, Med might still compete at Universiade. Tuk plans to withdraw if she's named to the world team (which there's a likely possibility of), and Med is first alternate.

So Sofia, Tuk, and Zag for the Russian ladies world team? Or will they send Konstantinova?

r180 How do we know Tuk plans to withdraw? Pity if that's true.

R109 Worlds is a week or so after Universiade. If she were named to the worlds team, I highly doubt Tuk would go to both.

R108 Would be ridiculous if they sent Konstantinova, but given their inexplicable love for her in the past, who knows.

Just how hard did Orser have to work to butch up Javi and turn him into the paragon of male skating that we see today?

R109 someone on either GS or FSU said Tuk stated in a Russian interview that she'd withdraw if she was selected for the world team. We'll see how it all pans out of course.

It's interesting that Mishin has the 2 most consistent Russian ladies this season. I think working with mature women became an interesting new challenge for him with Caro - he had the best men's skaters back in the 6.0 era, and his current ones are totally mediocre, so I can't blame him for focusing his attention on the ladies. Maybe Eteri should just handle juniors from now on and the ones that are ready to be put out to pasture can go to Mishin. I don't see Alina lasting w/Eteri for another season.

R111 is that a mullet

LOL someone posted the controversial TSL episode with "Jen" on youtube. TSL promptly informed them that TSL would be filing a copyright claim over it. Oh the irony.

Thanks, R115! Grabbed it....

NY Times article on Gracie Gold.

I have lived to see Viveca Lindfors as a European Championships medalist

Alexia was robbed!!

Is the best behind him?

Yes it is

R120 yes

DL fave Courtney Hicks finishes with 145.95. Kori Ade's career doesn't seem to be going so well these days, lol.

Why aren't the figure skating announcers on the air anymore? Too cheap to spring for accommodations?

R102 we are on the same side. I referenced you not to criticize your assessment but to “converse” about the topic. I thought it was important to note Nassar’s esteemed role as a faculty member and an MD employed by a top university.

R125 thank you for that. My view is that the perpetrator can be a janitor or the president. When people in “power” over others take advantage it is not all that different. There are victims in the wake and if there are similarities to past crimes and vulnerable victims such as in skating, it should be investigated. I get your point clearly that in the Nassar case his status played a clear role. His case, hopefully is the only extreme to come

Why was Kori Ade fired from her old rink again?

R88 Uno may end up pulling out of 4CC. He said his sprain was taking longer to heal and he had a choice between 4CC and Challenge Cup, so he chose 4CC. However, 4CC takes place before Challenge Cup, so he may not recover in time although I’m sure he doesn’t want to miss it.

I think he aggravated the injury. He went to hatsumode (a week after nationals) and that usually entails hours of standing or walking. Then a couple of days later, he was seen gaming at the mall, which also usually means a lot of standing or walking. And when he said he just needed two weeks of rest during his interviews at nationals, he was stating his personal opinion, not advice from his doctor.

Don’t worry about Zagitova, her dog will still be making her money after she’s replaced by the quadsters.

That Alyssa Liu is adorable. I thought Mariah was better than Bradie.

Liu is adorable but she skates like a kid--because she is a kid. I was hoping Mariah could finally win herself a national championship. Still, she'll be going to Worlds with Bradie and she looked very happy with her scores.

R127 I wonder if Zag is in pain when she skates. She should say fuck it and do modeling instead--she's very popular and drop dead gorgeous. Gorgeous dog too.

Bradie was overscored, in my opinion. I think Mariah should have beaten her on PCS. Oh well...other than that, nothing too controversial here. I was pleasantly surprised by Ting and Hanna Harrell. It's really time for some new blood in US ladies.

I do like Alysa and I hope USFS doesn't make me start to dislike her by trying to force her into some mold and overhyping her.

R128 I think most people agree with that.

Alysa is gonna be hyped as the next US gold medalist. Let’s hope the press doesn’t lay it on so thick like they do with Nathan. Give the kid a chance, she’ll be barely 16 in 2022

Alysa total is third highest score this season. If and when she adds a quad, she’s gonna be the one to watch

I love the story with her dad.

Why does everyone like Alexia Paganini? Her uber-rich dad basically bought her a skating career. That's annoying. She wasn't going anywhere with Frank Carroll as a very weak junior skater in a competitive country (the US) so she pulls up her dad's Swiss citizenship (and his large bank account) to become the best skater in a very weak skating country. Not impressed.

And if none of this were true, she is still not a great skater. Very boring to watch.

R134 it's a long-running thread joke. I can't even tell you how it started.

Alysa Liu has landed quad lutz in practice - the commentator (Bradley?) said.

Europeans Men's starting now - this Match stream is working for me at the moment.

The male panel is even more Eastern oriented than in the SP

Czech Republic, Italy and Russia

replaced Belarus, Norway and Great Britain

So 2 Eastern judges in and only 1 bout.

Bulgaria was supposed to have a judge but they are not in the panel in either segments. They changed only 3 judges out of 9

7 women (Poland, Estonia, Spain, Finland, Czech Rep, Ukraine, Italy) and 2 men (Turkey and Russia)

r138 That's kind of terrible.

Orser on yesterday: [quote]"I want him to finish his performance and be satisfied and be happy and if it happens to win that’s awesome, but I want him to move on his life just with a good taste on his mouth, a good taste about the skating and about the system. The system has been good to him for all this years, so that’s where the focus needs to be and we’ll have a good chat with him about that."

Raf:

Sondre fails to get the minimum for Worlds

He even did well for his standards. He just doesn't have the content

Brezina has his white t-shirt and plain black vest. Oh well. Majorov's crazy-stripes shirt on the other hand makes him look like a chunky little red-headed zebra.

R141 Look at my tie too!!

Litvintsev adjusting his hair after the splat is epic

God what an awkward fall Rizzo had. Hope he doesn't storm out of the K&C again.

That Azerbaijani boy is a cutie. Matteo is happy today...could be close to the podium, we'll see.

I will storm in Grassl's K&C if he beats me

Why did Raf send the Grim Reaper to be in Brezina's K&C? Oh wait - something about Nathan...

Rizzo will beat Grassl

So many falls

Italian boys looking so dorky backstage on that couch.

Damn, Kovtun bombed even worse than I expected. All that hype for nothing.

LOL at the Italian boys sitting together in the green room. I wonder how awkward that is...

So many trainwrecks

Well, it's easy to understand why Javi was so cocky about his comeback. Kolyada might actually hold it together for once, though...we'll see

Kolyada fall!

So much drama but Javi wins! It was best skate of the night

I knew Javi won before Kolyada even went out on the ice. How people still have faith in him baffles me.

My stream messed up - 3 falls and a pop? Ugh. Happy for Javi though.

Whelp, Javi wins Euros on 3 weeks of training. How embarrassing for the rest of the guys.

Kolyada's fans were so sure that his sinusitis was the cause of all his bad performances (except that he was just as bad the past 2 seasons). What will be their excuse now?

Glad for Javi, but the bitching after the SP seems dumb now.

Samarin 88PCS and Javier 94.2 PCS !!!?? Javier might feel the love he got from judges and rethink about retirement.

R160 What are you thinking ? It isn't dumb at all. That's what they OWN me.

Javi should be grateful he never had to compete at 4CC instead.

Javier has well deserved PCS. Samarin +GOEs on some of those jumps ( like 1st quad lutz) is scandalous

Kolyada 1st in short, 11th in free. Kovtun 5th in short, 16th in free. They should form a lonely hearts club.

I agree with R164. It's not like the 2nd place guy was the king of PCS, this is Samarin we're talking about. The final result was correct.

Ofc Javi's lazy bum needed only 2 weeks of training when he could count on Kolyada choking. Seriously I love the guy and he has beautiful ss and jumps when he lands them but what a headcase. Any way congrats Javi for winning at life in easy mode. No wonder he never works hard. With his luck he just doesn't need to.

I am sure that Javi doesn't have the work ethic of a Hanyu, but he certainly isn't just coasting on "luck" - nobody gets to the level he has without a lot of mental and physical effort over the years. No need to belittle his achievements. Look at the rest of the field...if he is lazy, what is wrong with all of them???

He apparently allowed himself to neglect training quite a bit and to think he only needs weeks of training to be able to win over those inconsistent skaters. Otherwise he wouldn't have spent months doing shows, events, CMs... and only went back to Toronto to prepare for EC last few weeks. Not like he was pressed for time because of injury like Hanyu, nor he was busy doing college like Nathan. He has reason to think that way anyway. It was a weak field where there were no incredibly competitive skaters and he has reputation, plus 3 weeks of training, it's enough to win, I think.

Apparently people were chanting "Samarin" as Kolyada left the ice. He hurt his wrist (on the fall on the 3A)? He immediately went to the doctor after K&C. TAT may have said his wrist is broken (from Golden Skate).

TAT was just speculating like everyone else. I don't think she could diagnose him from the commentary booth.

R170 They were chanting "molodets" (kind of translates as good job).

Javi should regret being so lazy.

What is there to regret? He had a great career and he ended it with a medal.

Two time World champ, a bronze Oly medal (that should have been silver if the judging was correct), 7 time champion of Europe. What the fuck is he supposed to regret?

Javi should regret getting by with a system that was kind to him

His only regret is that he has to leave me

R168- totally agree. he has been skating for 21 years and I think 9 in senior comps. That in itself is admirable for FS. He knew what he needed to get the job done and the job is done,

A system that was kind to him??? What is this BS? He never had the advantages of a strong federation to politick for him, or a rich family to support his skating. He was robbed of his deserved Oly silver by that spoiled little shit Shoma Uno, if you want to talk about people who get away with everything. If he is "lazy," it can only be relative to the likes of Hanyu. If he was lazy by any normal standard, or untalented, there is no way he would have succeeded in skating. I'm not even a Javi stan but these comments are absurd.

R170 I think the original tweet was deleted after s/he was corrected. Geez, that’s the last thing Misha needs

If you have the word “lazy” connected to you, you should have regret. Javi has his medals by default. It’s admirable that he stayed on his skates while others fell, but he relied on other’s mistakes and injuries to win. How the hell can adults defend a man who skated as Charlie Chaplin?!

R179 Hey, I was practicing 18 hours a week. In comparison to Hanyu who practices only 10 hours a week, I wouldn't say I'm lazier than him.

Javier,

Paul Wylie put more time and effort farting across the ice, then you did practicing for competition.

You are the Shemp of skating.

R182 But Habi, you forget my 20 hour a week image training

Ok, R181, you're obviously just trolling. I hate Charlie Chaplin programs as much as anyone but I'd like to know who you consider a better skater overall than Javi over the last couple quads, apart from Hanyu. Chan, the primadonna who was consistent only at fucking up and had an excuse for everything? Shoma Uno, one of the most overscored and overrated little gnomes of all time? Plushenko, who was phoning it in since 2005? Javier didn't have the most quads, or the very best skating skills, but he was far above average all around and pretty damn consistent. And he never pulled out of a single competition in his very lengthy career.

R181 you say “lazy” , I say “smart” and “ enjoy life”-you kinda sound jelly

R186: I’d say lucky others fell and got injured.

Well, staying upright is a skill in skating.

R181 [quote]but he relied on other’s mistakes and injuries to win.

What is Javi a fortune teller? Such a stupid statement

R188: It does get you an Olympic bronze.

But my crystal ball told me Shoma would fall more and Yuzu injury would hold him back. damn ball!

R189: he won because another skater fell. His coach calls him lazy and says the system has been good to him.

R192: You made my point. He wins because Shomo falls and Hanyu’s gets injured.

Chan may not have been the most consistent skater but his Oly silver, 3 World golds, and 2 GPF golds puts him ahead of Fernandez's Oly bronze and 2 World golds.

Ladies USA selection

World: Mariah Bell, Bradie Tennell (alt 1 Cui, alt 2 Wessenberg, alt 3 Andrews)

4 Continents: Mariah Bell, Ting Cui, Bradie Tennell (alt 1 Wessenberg, alt 2 Andrews, alt 3 Glenn)

R194 why does the world keep forgetting my Oly GOLD???

r164 When I saw that positive GOE on the 4Lz I was like "Fuck they really want to prop that guy up and screw Fernandez over". Glad Javier's PCS saved him. I actually like Samarin, enjoy his music choices, but when a skater gets overscored, love sours. If that performance of Fernandez was beaten by that performance of Samarin's, it would have been a travesty. As sorry as I feel for Kolyada, I'm really happy for Javier, it's great that he was able to leave on a high note.

And what the hell, haven't I blocked all stupid trolls?

And I'd never admit it in the other FS thread, but I enjoyed the clunky Polish dancers with modern music choice more than Papadakis/Cizeron doing their shtick for the upteenth time.

R198 post a link!

Polish ice dancers have score with big variations depending on who is on the panel.

R197: You consider ppl with different opinions to be trolls?

I think Javi has missed out by being lazy. With his medals, he should be considered one of the best. An athlete needs to think about how ppl will remember him/her. This guy won’t be remembered like other skaters who had similar placements in their careers who are remembered.

Achievements aside, Patrick Chan's skating skills are legendary.

R194 meh. Chan benefited from a weak field and a judging era that gave him more cushion in the PCS. For better or worse, the current trend to judge all the top contenders' PCS within a couple points of each other seems to be an over reaction to the uproar around Chan choking his way to 2 world titles. Javi would have a lot more hardware if he peaked back then too

R201 I think it’s a bit too early to say how he’ll be remembered, he’s been retired for one day. Also, if you haven’t noticed yet your”lazy” comment is in the minority-why you so mad at Javi

R204: Why would I be angry at someone I don’t know, someone with no impact on my life? I’m just sharing my opinion.

So my remark is in the minority, fine.

Ahhh ok, thanks R135. Missed all that.

Anyone found a good stream for US Nats. I want to be bored to death.

What's with this weird part 1 & part 2 of men's short and pairs free for US Nats? Are the sessions actually split like this for the competition or is NBC Gold airing it that way - if so, what's the point when we can replay at any time?

This stream is working for me. Tara's annoying voice is already not worth it for me.

R208 SPlit

Pairs 8th to 13th in SP skated FS this morning. Top pairs will skate after Men SP

Canada Nationals do the same (well, only for Men and Ladies..they don't split Pairs as they aren't many anyway)

Try Batman stream. Often it has live feeds with no announcers.

R210 is this to try to get people to watch pairs? Has to be frustrating for both competitors and ticket holders.

Nathan is in a plain black and white costume now. For a second there I thought he was going back to Nemesis. First costume suited the music more

R212 or to save the audience from too crap pairs. They could have had all Pairs in the evening after Men SP.....

lol, 113 and change for Nathan. 48 something PCS. Clean with 2 quads though.

It's the first time all season that I've liked Nathan's short. Still 48 is a joke, especially considering that Camden was 10 points lower. No room for Jason now, I guess.

Nathan Chen 113.42

Alex Krasnozhon 82.53

Sean Rabbitt 79.66

Last group: Dolensky, Brown, Zhou, Hiwatashi, Torgashew

Men Victory Cerimony

OMG Jason!!! I loved it.

r215 If Jason skates really well, they might prop him up over Zhou - Zhou's reputation with international judges is terrible, so what if they overmark Zhou here when he ends up 14th at Worlds and fail to get the 3 spots.

I hate that people see Nathan's 48 PCS and laugh it off because they think it won't never happen at internationals comps. I fucking know it is Nationals but US/RUS/JPN Nats inflation is dangerous because these Nationals get huge attention from FS community. Alina Zagitova's PCS never came back to 68-70 PCS for a clean FS after Rus Nats 2018, same with Yuzuru after JP Nats 2013, never get less than 90 PCS for a clean FS again in his life. Not that international judges choose who to cuddle based on Nationals preference but it does affect how they score skaters internationally. That 48 PCS for Nathan better remain in the US only.

Jason Brown 100.53

Lower PCS than Chen

Wow, Brown was great. One of the very best SPs this season.

Tracy is pretty fun at the boards.

But those PCS compared to Chen are a crime.

Have I mentioned that I dislike Krasnozhon today? At least Zhou rotates his donut spin on a straight leg.

Zhou's ego 100.25

I UR

LOL @ Vincent's score

I like Torgashev's tight pants.

Well, barring major disaster, the men's podium is set. Only thing to decide is who gets silver and who gets bronze.

I wish Brown has a quad. So much more enjoyable to watch than any of the others.

R226 My tight pants are notorious

(second pic and comments)

Brown is my favorite story this season.

r228 I approve.

I loved Tomoki's skating. He has beautiful edgework in the footwork sequence. Too bad he'll need a meltdown from Vincent or Jason to make the world team.

Andrew is so handsome, but I have a feeling he will have an Alex Johnson-like career.

Knierems are bombing these Nationals. It's God's will, guys.

Wow, that was one of the worst pairs programs I've ever seen. Ouch.

Did Knierims have any coach at all after splitting with Aljona?

Video of the Knierems

An all LGB ice dancing team is competing at US nationals tonight.

R235 Meno & Sand are new coaches I believe.

R227 I think Jason may try for a 4S in the free. He was practicing it, according to Jackie Wong.

Javi always looks like he needs a bath 🛁

Cain & LeDuc come through big time. Of all the U.S. pairs, they are the only ones who are truly world class, in my opinion.

What happened to Kanye & O'Shea? That aborted lift was bizarre at the end. What a strange pairs event.

R239 I hope Jason doesn’t attempt here. If he skates clean, he’s a shoe in for Worlds. If he wants to test it out, he should do it at worlds. He’s not likely to podium and can try at internat comp.

R233 God is not watching Nationals this year!

I am, Courtney. And you've let me down.

So I'm kind of new on the scores. Does this mean Nathan has the WR or it has to be international competition? I believe he was overscored as usual.

R246 National competitions don't count. Otherwise we would probably have a WR by Vladimir Vladichenko from Belarus National Championships with Alexander Gorojdanov acting as TC, Referee, TS and Judge#1 and Judge#3 at the same time.

Not even all international count for ISU statistics. Only ISU Championships, Grand Prix and Challenger Series

Can Hanyu keep up with this?

Here is the lineup for the Euros gala tomorrow.

Thank you R247. I am getting nervous for worlds now. I bet we'll see another overscored performance.

R248. I don't know if he can keep up with this sort of bs from the judges.

R249 Alexia rightfully in the second half

Why do they often need to invite Majorov to gala? We can survive without him

Anyway, it is his last season. After Saitama, we won't see him again to be replaced by his teen brother

r248 Not if international judges are as keen on a new champion as American ones.

Just rubbed one out thinking about an all night session with Samarin’s choreographer Vitali. I’m talking a Thom Bierdz-like load.

It doesn't take much for judges to all of a sudden see much more in a program, as well as somehow remarkable improvements, when they want a winner.

I guess Chen will set a record as an American skater who goes to an elite school and we still see him "remarkably improving" to legendary scores.

Anyway, I do think Chen seems to be juggling school and skating well so far.

The landing of the 3A was bad and the 4F was on a flat edge and underrrotated. How the judges saw 10s in his skate also confuses me. This shouldn't even have been 100 points.

R253, pic? Of his choreographer, not your load ;)

I didn’t undersrand Nathan’s costume in sp, nothing to do with program

R255 I would say, shave about 4 points of the TES and 4Points off PCS - for nats inflation,, this would have gotten around 105-106

r258 International judges are hot on Nathan too. I'd say 2 points off PCS and 3 points off TES so 108 at least. Has he ever done both 4Lz and 4F in the SP? Because then all bets are off.

the backstage of men fs

r260 Are we sure Javi developed a taste for hunky Canadians? Because he looks as much into Aymoz here as he ever looked into Hanyu.

On another note how is it that an Italian and a Lithuanian speak such good English whereas Hanyu after 7 years in Canada can barely go through an interview.

I wonder what's up with Vasiljevs. He said he'd been landing those jumps in practice, I understood he'd been landing them consistently. Not enough run throughs? Mental block? Vasiljevs looks like the last person to have a mental block, he's not under the pressure of expectations nor does he seem high-strung.

Kevin Aymoz is French, and a long way from "hunky" in my eyes.

I think Deniss might be a bit of a perfectionist and once things to go wrong then he gets frustrated, which only makes things worse. Unlike some other headcases, though, he never gives up on the performance, which I like about him.

When I watch Zag 's exhibition and see how good she is at modern programs, I kinda hate Daniil and Eteri for making her skate to Carmen and Phantom. That girl could be enjoyable to watch in competition too.

Yea, that's my point, r262. Aymoz is no hunk and yet Javi was all over him. I really like the fantasy of an indiscriminate Fernandez though.

R261 That's because Hanyu is Japanese. They belive they have everything they need in Japan and therefore don't need to know any other language. Only recently I've heard him saying things like that he need to learn better english so he can communicate with people from other countries better.

And for those worried about US Nats inflated scores affecting international marks it's highly impropable. Most judges might check out who won the bigger feds nats but unless it's something really suprising or amazing they most likely won't bother to go looking for details. They do have normal jobs as well and life outside of skating and the Europeans were on the same weekend, Fernandez retiring so most Euro judges have been crying about that instead of Chen getting better PC's than Brown.

Great comments! I agree it's an overscored PCS for Nathan at US Nationals which will be less in Japan. If the technical content of the two programs stays the same (bear with me, I am new to figure skating), both will do a 4T 3T and a triple axel (I think you have to do axel jump in a program), it comes down to Nathan's quad flip. Yuzu would have to change his single quad jump to a quad loop; I think a quad flip or lutz is out of the question for him. I agree; has Nathan ever done a quad lutz and flip in the short program? If so, it's over. However, Nathan's triple axel isn't as reliable and how often has Nathan cleanly performed his current SP? Sorry for the long winded thoughts...

R266 I don’t think Yuzu has to change his quads, the point difference in quads even if Nathan does quad lutz+3T is 3-4 points depending on where he puts in in the program. If the judges are fair Yuzu can make this up in his GOEs and PCS. I’m talking about perfect programs though.

So, them Europeans? Finished on a major WTF note.

After all the skaters took a bow together after the gala, they were all introduced again one by one while they did their trick. Except Javier. Then the president of Belarus came out, bored everybody to tears with a speech in which he told the audience to remember the real heroes of that competition... the judges. And he lobbied for Worlds in Belarus while trying to ensure himself some votes. Javi still not there. Then the skaters got presents, flowers and a group photo with the president. No Javi. Apparently he had already for the airport.

So the question is, was Javi a persona non grata for some reason - failing to fall a couple more times to let a Russian win and calling out the real heroes the judges? - or did Javi troll the president and couldn't be bothered to stay until the end of the gala and take the photo with him?

If the judges are fair...

R268 "while trying to ensure himself some votes"

He usually just needs to mass arrest the opposition candidates.

and he usually does just that. For 25 years already.

This travesty should disqualify Belarus from hosting any future ISU competitions.

R268, maybe Javi just had a plane to catch? I wouldn't waste my final competition listening to a windbag like that either.

Isn't there a banquet after the gala? Maybe Javi needs to prepare as I'm sure they will honor him in some way. I remember when Florent retired, Javi gave a nice speech for him at the banquet.

r273 Theoretically it could be, but what member of the gala cast plans on such tight schedule? What the fans seem to find most disappointing is that there was no send off for the 7-time European champion whatsoever. Or "had a plane to catch" was an excuse for getting the hell out of there.

r274 No banquet for Javi if his excuse was a plane.

At least we know he’s alive and safe and not in a Belarus prison in the middle of nowhere...but then again I don’t know the guy leading him out.

Don’t have a pic, R256, but here he is in the last 30 seconds of this YouTube link. I am so hot for him and his huge forehead!

Where the hell is he going that he needs to skip the gala? Fernandez made a big deal about this championship.

r276 Ok, it does look like Javi snubbed his own send off and was in a hurry to leave.

R279 or he got wind of the crazy president giving a ridiculous talk and dint want to be a political pawn on his special day

R259 R266 Nathan had done SP layout with both 4Lz and 4F ( 4Lz3T, 4F, 3A) since he turned senior (2016-2017 season). Last season, his success rate on that layout got better and better. If I'm not wrong except Olympics, he managed to skate cleanish SP with both 4lz and 4F. Both SP and FS layouts this season are watered down ones. I suppose he changed to 4T3T in SP partly because of rules change but he can go back to his old layout ( 4Lz3T, 4F, 3A) anytime.

Vera should spend more time pegging Evan and decline costuming for Nathan. Nathan finally looks good with the hair under control, he doesn't need these black/white terrible outfits.

The another area where Nathan is a threat to Yuzuru is his mental strength imo. He doesn't appear to be someone who usually overthinks like Yuzuru. When he has a bad skate, he gets over it quickly and moves on.

R280 45 had better not get any ideas and show up at the 4CC gala.

Javi has a presser tomorrow in Madrid about this year’s ROI and other projects, and I think Spanish fed is throwing him a party. But would waiting one day mean that Spain forgets about him - again?

I don't understand everyone trying to say Hanyu's mental strength is weak. That guy won his second Olympic gold on a botched ankle with 3 weeks of training and only landing the 4Sal on the day before he left for Korea. It's pretty obvious he seems more free now.

R283 This is a dumb take. First, Hanyu has come back from quite a few bad skates and bad falls early in a skate. Second, what's your evidence? How do you even know when a bad skate should be attributed to mental strength vs. physical condition, unless it happens repeatedly while the athlete is fine physically (ie Kolyada). Nathan has come back from bad skates and he has fallen apart at crucial moments. Same with Hanyu and many other elite athletes.

Mark my words

Hanyu will retire after 2020 Japanese Nationals

At the end of the Gala, Hashimoto will come out to give a long speech and praise the hero of the week, Daisuke. Shoma falls asleep mid way the speech. Tanaka will be named in advance to Worlds team 2020-2021-2022.

With this current pool the only person to really challenge Yuzu is Nathan, Silver boy Shoma is not a consistent variable. But Yuzu being in 8-9th year of senior competition is expectedly more injury prone and a superstar like no other in FS. It’s an easy way to try and prop up Nathan by comparing him to Hanyu. Let’s talk again after 2 Olympic gold medals.

Nathan Stan’s- above statement makes no criticism of Nathan ( who is hugely talented and has a bright future if not injured)only his stans .

I honestly hate U.S. media and I live here. They think Nathan Chen is comparable to Hanyu. He will never ever get two Olympic gold medals. He is so overscored I want to throw up.

I would like to see Hanyu go to next Olympics but then again why should he have to put up with this bs? Plus his injuries worry me. I'm worried about worlds and I would like to see him win. He is always having to work so much harder than a Nathan Chen or a shoma uno and it makes me want to scream.

R280 apparently though Javi had no qualms using the president’s motorcade to get to the airport in time

Hanyu's first gold medal was a splatfest on his part, so let's put an asterisk besides it.

Javi sounds like an insolent bitch and I love him for it.

Don’t mark my words but I thought Worlds 2020 is in Canada?

R287 you forget the part where Hashimoto will shove her tongue down Uno's throat because he is Takahashi's heir apparent, and, recognizing the perfect shot for his next book cover, Itsuki runs onto the ice to throw up bunny ears behind his shocked but still blank-faced brother.

R293 Worlds 2020 is in Montreal.

A win is a win. If we're putting asterisks, all the men need it. Chan and his splatfests and his wins. Uno and his ugly jumps and his wins. Chen and his black and white lysacek-wannabe ass and his wins. Javi too.

I just find it funny how Chen and Uno fans still thinks Hanyu needs to win Worlds and another OGM to prove himself superior to the two. The irony when Chen and Uno haven't actually caught up yet.

R286 What you are saying is ability to perform well under pressure ( like comeback after a bad skate, after a fall,...) which also one of the aspects of mental strength, yet has nothing to do with what I meant. What I meant is the mindset. It was Hanyu who admitted that he can't sleep after placing 5th in SP at Worlds 2017, Nathan won't be like that after a bad skate ( OK, I knows nothing about how he feels, what he thinks but from what I can see, that's it). Kolyada in a interview said that what he admires Nathan is that even when his training doesn't go well, he won't get upset and dig himself into a psychological hole like Kolyada did, he just gets over it and moves on like nothing. This mindset can benefit him a lot in training and competing. And I'm not sure Yuzuru holds a attitude like that. The way he think of competing and winning is different from Nathan, more serious, more complicated. He might deal with the feelings of guilt because he feels he disappoint his supporters, his coaches, his idol Plushenko, TAT,... He has more concerns than Nathan, he usually overthinks, which might end up putting him at a disadvantage against Nathan in this area. Note: I'm not saying he's mentally weak ( he did admit he isn't that strong mentally )

Any updates on Kolyada's hand?

R297 "Please don't worry - there's no fracture, I will survive", he wrote on IG

Another masterpiece.

R296 did you strain your back stretching to make that argument?

R298 thank you. Glad it's not serious.

R299 is Vera super bitter about her failed career as a figure skater? It's all I can come up with to explain this.

I would probably have enjoyed Chen's SP - like I did when the last few times he performed it when he actually dressed the part - if it wasn't for this wtf costume.

any streams for men's lp?

He looks like a crossing guard.

R302, there are some streaming choices here. You might have to click "Read More" and scroll down - or it might come up when you click - not sure.

r299 Are we sure these costumes aren't Evan, America's last (non Dance) Olympic gold medalist attempting to sabotage Nathan? Perhaps thats why he took the job as Vera's live-in ass-istant

Our Chinese friend to the rescue. Starting at 3:30PM EST the rest of the guys should be on regular NBC with more streaming options.

Thank god for our Chinese BFF. I was worried at first because his stream didn't start right away, but now we're rolling.

Hanyu is one of the greatest, if not THE greatest, of all time. Nathan has a long way to go to show that he's on that level, so yes, it's silly that the commentators talk about Nathan that way, but it's also not really that unusual. Listen to coverage in other countries and you'll see that almost everybody talks up their own skaters to one degree or another. One exception might be the brits. Of course, they don't usually have a horse with podium potential in the race, so maybe it's easier for them to be less partisan.

How many times did Tony Lu just fall? It has to have been at least 4 or 5. Rough day, poor guy.

I think at this point we can just blame Nathan for those costumes. It's his choice to wear those Vera Wang uninspiring training shirts. Say what you will about Lysacek but at least he showed up with a fucking bedazzled snake over his shoulder.

True R310. Vera Wang's designs worked for Lysacek (and Nancy Kerrigan), but the ones she does for Nathan are a disaster. He's a rare skater who needs a very simple costume, just a shirt and pants are fine. He could get inspiration from Todd Eldredge.

I like the simple suits Chen wears. I was never a fan of the men wearing the billowy, shiny outfits.

But I'm also apart of the contingency that wants to see less "artistic" skating, and instead see even faster skating, higher jumps, and more spins.

R312 Hi Nathan!

R308 Hi Yuzuru!

R312 let’s get rid of the music and just make an obstacle course

Nathan was 17th after the SP at the last Olympics; to me, his mental fortitude is always in question.

R299 I wonder if the orange glows in the dark, you know, so he doesn’t get hit by cars at night

FOUR commentators? They're not going to shut up for even 1 second, are they.

R296 he may not get upset and emotionally move on but doesn’t mean it produces results. He screwed up 2 SPs at the Olympics. If we’re talking asterisks it should be for team medals for individuals with a crappy skate. Charlie white commented that whenever he heard Nathan say he wasn’t nervous he cringed.

R312 I agree with you they nathan’s Skating doesn’t have much “artistry”

Perhaps another division of figure skating, r315. I'm a fan of the athletic aspect of the sport, not so much the artistic stuff.

An obstacle course where they had to speed skate, jump, and do multiple spins is something I'd watch lol. They could make the obstacle course a downhill skate!

It's part of why I'm a fan of Chen, r320. He's making everyone else up their technical game, which is what people want to see. It'll benefit the sport imo.

I would credit Yuzuru and Boyang for pushing the tech well before Nathan. And they both are a lot more well rounded, imo. Nathan is so damn sloppy looking live that the PCS he's getting here is downright offensive (yes, I know it doesn't count internationally, but his international PCS is also too high).

European Championships 2007

Short Program

15th year old Javier Fernandez from Spain makes his debut. 28th place

R322 even before Hanyu and boyang, when it comes to quad then starting with Kurt Browning first quad in competition. But even before then with dick buttons and first double axel. Let’s respect your elders

Oops that was for r321

Japan Inter-High School competition (by ISU junior rules):

Ladies: 1 Kaori Sakamoto 213.37(73.75+139.62) 2 Yuhana Yokoi 190.82(67.98+122.84) 3 Yuna Shiraiwa 185.19(56.72+128.47)

Men: 1 Taichiro Yamakuma 210.63(75.11+135.52) 2 Tatsuya Tsuboi 207.88(80.92+129.96) 3 Mitsuki Sumoto 207.31(77.41+129.90)

Shingo Nishiyama said it was the ice dance coach at TCC who suggested that he try his hand at dance. His partner is Utana Yoshida. Yoshida used to be partnered with Takumi Sugiyama. Yoshida and Sugiyama (“Utakumi”) were Japan’s only international junior ice dance couple, but they broke up right after they were added to the 2017-18 JGP. A reason wasn’t given, although it was assumed Sugiyama wanted to focus more on his singles career, until he showed up with a new partner (Ayaka Saito) this season.

Is Fernandez’s girlfriend pregnant? He was talking about how he couldn’t be a good dad if he still competed and how he’s prepared to be a father now in a Russian article. I thought it was weird how his hand was on his girlfriend’s stomach in his last photo with her on IG. Anyway, he’s also interested in choreography.

Ge is campaigning for ISU Athletes Commission on IG now and is mishage_coach_fan his other account?

Utana YOSHIDA Takumi SUGIYAMA JPN FD NOVICE MTC2017:

R316 And first in FS.

Oh... choreography. He can carry forward the Chaplin/Elvis/Sinatra Canadian school of choreo. Oh joy.

Thanks for the scoops. I wonder if the ISU has checked out Misha's Weibo account? (probably scrubbed...)

Sean Rabbit needs to own his gayness.

R326 Is Nishiyama still training at TCC ?

R327 wait for it...wait for it....—-if Nathan didn’t screw up the sp he would have won—-waiting...

R326 Lol I thought the same thing when I saw Javi belly cupping the gf. The thought of having a kid at 27 right after you get a break from hard training for 20 years sounds beyond stupid, but then again the breeders have always been a mystery to me.

It's bizarre how a huge pop gets a green dot in the score box. Aand Johnny talks how Pulkinen is the future of American skating just as Pulkinen pops his third jump. If anyone needed a proof that Johnny's as full of shit as others.

how many spots have USA for men at Junior WOrlds? 2 or 3? If it is three, I guess Pulkinen will go even after this debacle.

I know this is nationals but the artificial gushing and overstatements are making me eyes hurt from all the rolling.

R331 no need to wait for it, I'm pretty sure this person has made that argument on a previous thread.

R331 Well, I'm not dumb like you. So don't worry.

OMG. How many boring black costumes does Nathan own? Why even bother changing them?

Nate heard your complaints guys and is now in a different costume.

R337 LMAO take a joke

That "costume" of Nathan's would be acceptable if it was tighter, a'la Hanyu's training gear. If you can't get yourself a costume that fits a program, at least give us a black catsuit and something to ogle.

R321 I don't think Chen would perform well in that kind of competition. He has amazing jumping ability, but he's not a clean or precise skater, nor a particularly strong spinner.

R330 Quadruple Axel magazine interviewed him at the Inter-High and didn't say anything about a move. He's also still competong in singles. He's been practicing ice dance since October after his injury put him out for a month and a half. I don't know if this means Yoshida will be moving to Toronto. I think she's in Okayama right now.

I thought I saw that pattern somewhere

Krasnozhon has possibly the ugliest spins I've seen.

R342 I'm confused because in the post where he announced the move, he posted a pic of TCC and it seems like a goodbye message to me. Also he hasn't showed up in any TCC photos/ videos since then. His IG photos were taken in other places.

Hiwatashi a nice antidote after Krasnozhon, I wish he'd get ahead of Zhou.

Brown just popped his ticket to Worlds.

R347 Nah, they will put him ahead of Hiwatashi. There are 3 spots for Worlds

I'm a fan of Jason Brown, but I'm embarrassed that that lackluster program will probably go ahead of Tomoki's excellent effort.

Jason is “melted butter” and “cotton balls”

He should beat Tomoki on PCS by a huge margin. Tomoki is still very juniorish. He deserves to be ahead especially with the SP lead.

r348 My bad, I thought there were only 2 spots.

Brown kinda looks like a thinner Ben Platt.

I also call shenanigans that he's 24.

R353 how old do you think he is?

At least he seems to have fun with Tracy in the K&C.

Does Nathan have spider webs on his costume?

F*ck

Why does the shirt look like a faded black? It also looks like a crop top when he spins. Great skate, but most casuals will only know Nathan as the guy that flopped at the Olympics.

DEARRRR LORDD. 80TES and 92 PCS for a disaster. Keep your seatbelt on and be prepared Chen's score.

It'll be 228 for Chen.

Damn, that was impressive.

The headlines from Nationals will all be for Alysa Liu. Nathan's performance was great, but that's not what the media will talk about.

98.50 PCS. Good fucking lord. There is absolutely no need for that kind of stupid inflation. He was going to win no matter what.

No, they will talk about Nathan Chen's performance - it was great; in the 330's even internationally.

Jesus, stop whining like cunts. This is only nationals. H/D got 131 in dance. Thats a joke

The technical score was 130.30!

It'll be 1 Chen 2 Zhou 3 Brown. From the aesthetic pov I liked Zhou's best. Nathan didn't give anything but jumps and Brown was kinda boring in the first half.

Zhou takes Silver. 2-3 URs behind Chen

How much has Aliev drunk tonight?

A gay won bronze, that's nice.

Johnny doesn't think Yuzuru could have beat Nathan today. Well, at US Nationals, probably not.

R371 Internationally probably not either. I don't like it but that's it.

Props to Nathan, Worlds will be nerve wracking.

Guess they're setting up a throw-down at Worlds.

At Pyeongchang, Johnny said nobody could beat a perfect Hanyu. Oh well... Yuzu will be tearing up the ice practicing his quad loop. God I hope he doesn't bring back the quad lutz. You've done it Yuzu! It's just icing on the cake now. Chill...

Actually, in the past Yuzu has said there's no point in going to a comp if he's not going to win. Soooo...

Hey , did you guys know Nathan goes to Yale?

Dick Button said the reason Plush withdrew at Sochi was because he saw he couldn't beat Yuzuru.

He always had back trouble anyway - so just pull that excuse out of the hat after the team short program where Yuzu did beat him.

R374 you are thinking what I'm thinking. Sooooo....

Hey, did you guys know Nathan goes to Yale?

R378 That's not very impressive then. I thought he went to Harvard.

Nathan skates and goes to Yale!

Sorry, but Yuzuru finished high school at last ?

r381 Urban myth.

STFU, he's well into his 10th year of undergrad.

[quote]Dick Button said the reason Plush withdrew at Sochi was because he saw he couldn't beat Yuzuru. He always had back trouble anyway - so just pull that excuse out of the hat after the team short program where Yuzu did beat him.

How would he know? And does he think Plushenko underwent a fake surgery too? I can't stand Plushenko, but that's such a stupid conspiracy theory.

r384 I agree. They showed the X-ray of the broken pin for fuck's sake!

quote Sorry, but Yuzuru finished high school at last ?

How many time do I have to tell you, Valtter - Yuzuru attended Waseda University, highly ranked in Japan!!

And R384, Dick has his spidey senses - and his delicious barbed tongue. God I miss him. Remember when he said one skater was a good excuse for a refrigerator break?

r384 Not to mention Patrick Chan was the one to beat back then.

Button said that during an interview at Pyeongchang! He probably just enjoyed being bitchy - one for the road.

I am a doctor!

Why you gotta bring Yuzu edumacation into it, he smart

r386 I have no memory of this barbed comment you speak of.

R345 He's been injured twice? since the summer and has been in Japan periodically for competition. His post didn't have any kind of farewell message in it and he hasn't said anything about moving yet. But he singled most of his jumps in his FS yesterday, so maybe he'll rethink his singles career again.

I have a feeling Zhou will be making a coaching change next season.

Hanyu is dumb as duck but he is a genius, so he dosnt need any education. He will end up listening music and watching anime. He cannot even learn english properly

Quad Axel at Worlds.

Reason I can't be a Nathan fan? What happened today. Totally ridiculous score.

R394 And fuck up the rest of performance. I totally can imagine that scenario.

Dick Button once described a skater as "looking for a place to fall down" during her skate.

R395 Get over it, hanyu stan. Skaters dont take it seriously, so you shouldnt as well. Chill out

[quote] Not to mention Patrick Chan was the one to beat back then.

Not saying Dick was correct, but Plushenko beat Patrick Chan in the team event in the short program - it was Yuzuru he lost to.

Hanyu does NOT attend Yale. He attends school in Japan. He commutes from Toronto.

U.S. media at Nats: OMG Nathan gets 342 points! He is our god!! Scores 342 while going to Yale!! Your faves could never!!

U.S. media at Worlds: Utter Disappointment Nathan Chen only scored 310 points today, well off his personal best of 342. Clearly Chen is on the decline and is cracking under the pressure of skating and school combined. Read more about how he is a flop on nbcsports.com:

Did the psych ward reinstate Daitroll's internet access?

R393 what are you ! A 400 lb troller and trump supporter. Who says everyone has to learn English, besides he lives in Toronto and speaks Canadian

R326 R332 OMG! I know this sport can age people, so I guess I can understand why Javi is ready to procreate, but Javi’s girl never was involved in the sport and apparently only graduated from uni last year.

I won’t say it on Javi’s Insta (because I am old enough to understand boundaries), so i’ll say it here: I hope Yuzu is ok. 😶

I am going to get my popcorn. Ubers on fire tonight!

R402. I'm wondering the same thing.

[quote] And fuck up the rest of performance. I totally can imagine that scenario.

If Yuzuru is going for the quad axel, he won't care if he wins or not. That's it! The excuse to end all excuses!! (except Plush's broken spine bolt - he set the bar pretty high with that)

I think Yuzuru lost the competition where he first landed that cursed quad Lutz. But he was happy (temporarily)

R404: Was babymamcita on the 10-year Japanese undergrad track?

399 Ah, thanks, I forgot. But looking at the scores, Plushenko's team FS score was 10 pts behind even the fuck ups of Hanyu and Chan later on and way behind what Chan and Hanyu earned earlier that season. If Plushenko had withdrawn because of pride, it would have been on account of both Chan and Hanyu.

r402 Looks like. My block button has been getting quite a workout recently between the daitroll and the lazy Javi troll.

r404 I'd wager that if Hanyu loses sleep, it's over Nathan Chen, not Javi.

Yuu have two trolls here? Can I be the third? Please...

Tracy Wilson must be laughing her ass off.

So USFSA did a good job pushing Coughlin from the headlines.

R409 LMAO If Hanyu loses sleep, it's because he's bitching and ogling the score sheet and stupid judges. Nothing to do with other skaters like Chen or Uno. He knows numbers best. Skaters, Javi and TCC particularly an example, knows its a judges' game.

I have that NBC Gold Pass for figure skating and didn't even bother watching the US men's event. Skating sucks without Yuzu and his adorable ass.

Hanyu fans so pissed at Weir for his comments. I get he had to, but can’t he temper a bit?

And we just watched Javi have a go at the judges after the short. Wonder if he regrets it? Or WTF why not? And why stay for the whole stupid gala, for that matter. Vamos Javi!

I wondered, a few days (the day of the ladies' final?):

"Johnny's praising Yuzu on NBC, saying we might not see another skates like Yuzu's Olympic programs again, they were kingly royal sort of performances – He said it was once-in-a-lifetime experience to watch him skate"

So maybe it presaged his Chen comment? Oh who knows - if Chen lands 5+ quads, then yeah, Yuzuru's got problems. But he triumphed when it really mattered, so whatevs.

So are Chen stans still spreading this fallacy that if you prefer athleticismsm>artistry, thus it's Chen>everyone else? He has more quads than everyone else, but in the top bracket between Uno and Hanyu, he's still not the fastest on ice, his clean footwork is nowhere near the two, his spins aren't as nice as the JPN guys also, and Hanyu's has better quads and transitions. Setting aside this subjective "artistry" argument, in fact Brown without quads is still the better athlete in these other categories.

The American media play about how Chen brought athleticism to figure skating is a joke, but the stans must be swallowing it up because "look, the scores says it is so"!

Follow the money, I guess. Men's figure skating needs a future, and how long is Yuzu gonna stick around? Plus the US is a huge market and skating's been on a steep downhill slide, so, well, follow the $$$

r419 The stands looked pretty full, so maybe it's working?

R415. I like Johnny but jc wtf? He needs to shut his mouth. So disrespectful imo.

r421 Johnny says what he's paid to say. I seriously doubt he actually prefers Nathan over Yuzu - with Nathan wearing Vera Wang and Hanyu doing Johnny tributes.

As far as sponsors, , I don’t see smuckers and geico wanting to sponsor worlds lol.

In the US, figure skating still values women, which is why Nathan is better off in all black and no sequins. It will be hard for us sponsors to replace the Japanese.

I guess... but the US doesn't have an Ashley or a Gracie anymore. I'm not sure Bradie and Mariah "pop" like they need to (commercially.) Maybe the little girl will do it.

Didn't they try to hype the hell out of Chen before the Olys? I can see them going that route, especially since Alysa can't do senior comps (other than nats) for a couple years.

Or... could Adam Rippon give Bradie/Mariah some attention-ho lessons?

R422 I also doubt if he genuinely prefers Hanyu over others. The posts where he gushes over Hanyu are for PR. You know, he can't go to his ice show and say: " I love you but your dominance is over. Take that" nor " I appreciate your tribute program but I prefer Nathan's programs"

r462 You think that personal acquitance and having been idolized by Hanyu for years doesn't color Johnny's preferences at all? Possible, of course, but I can actually see some similarities between Johnny's and Hanyu's skating and I find it difficult to believe that Johnny would remain unaffected.

R426. I am agreeing. I wanted to believe Hanyu was special to him. I don't think he is. He tweets about Hanyu for likes and retweets imo. And to think Hanyu dedicated a program for him, Invited him to his show. :(

R428 how weir affected Hanyu skating is different than how weir views Hanyu. Being a Fanyu does not make you a weir fan. I think those who admire Hanyu knows he acts and does how he feels. He doesn’t worry about what others do.

You don't need a weatherman to see which way the wind blows. Johnny needs that NBC gig and had to throw a tantrum in Korea to stop Adam Rippon from honing in on his territory. He's not going to jeopardize his position by being mealy-mouthed about Chen - it's all aboard the bandwagon! or wagon train.

R430 sadly agree

Team USA for #WorldFigure MEN Jason Brown, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou (alt 1 Hiwatashi, alt 2 Krasnozhon, alt 3 Dolensky)

Team USA for #4ContsFigure MEN Jason Brown, Tomoki Hiwatashi, Vincent Zhou (alt 1 Krasnozhon, alt 2 Dolensky, alt 3 Torgashev)

Looks like Johnny had to do some damage control on Twitter.

Hopefully, for Worlds, Nate will wear this masterpiece from my vintage collection.

OMG that's hideous!

Makes Nathan's "I went in the shed and you wouldn't believe the spiderwebs!!" thing look, well, adequate. After a spin, you could see Nathan pulling his shirt down (it was showing his abs). Poor boy is bashful. (Vera, make him a onesie - stat!) What does Evan do these days, btw? Measure and cut fabric?

I don't know but I think Vera is powering him up with those costumes. He feels so manly he could conquer the world. Btw, I'm y'all are free on this fine Sunday.

Or measure and cut coke? AmIrite Ev?

R404 Fernandez's previous fiancee was only 19 and he does have childcare experience from dating Ando. But he also has a wandering eye...

There was a lengthy interview with Orser in a Russian paper about his top skaters. I've only seen a Japanese summary and can't access it right now. Also an interview with Brown somewhere about how Hanyu helps him with his jumps and gives advice.

R438 is this the Russian interview you're talking about? Here's an English translation.

Were Javi and Cortney engaged?

Javi is from Spain, he is naturally touchy feely and more affectionate. Unless he has his hands on private parts I don’t make too much of it.

R439: Interesting. The question is does Russia’s assembly line squash any chance of an “adult” skater winning consistently? It’s presented as a fluke when a non-Eteri bot loses.

Yuna Kim won gold and major titles eight, nine years ago.

I’m still interested to see if the Eteri can be taken out of a skater.

Here is the segment of the interview where Jason talks about Hanyu giving him suggestions and pep talks.

Here is what Johnny said regarding Hanyu during Chen’s skate "…I can't imagine anyone in the world, Yuzuru Hanyu included, this season, that could beat that free skate."

R443: Americans like a rivalry.

I honestly don't care what Weir thinks of Hanyu or Chen. He's a paid shill and he's doing his job. His comments about Coughlin were more problematic for me. The fact that he hasn't felt the need to walk those back tells me he's only sorry when he thinks he's offended someone with influence over his purse (I mean literally; those Hermes handbags don't grow on trees).

No offense but I hope Nathan's scores won't freak out Yuzuru and that if his body allows and he's physically ready, he also can be mentally ready for Worlds.

R444 yeah but who’s Tanya-Yuzu or Nathan

r443 That's it? That's what people are freaking about? Seriously?

R439 Yes, that’s the article! Thank you. I’ve linked to the original below since the translator left out the beginning.

Fernandez and Courtney were engaged. Kozuka even threw a party for them, although the couple mysteriously broke up after Fernandez returned to Canada that summer after touring in Japan. At the same time, Ando broke up with her live-in boyfriend. But Fernandez and Courtney were only together when she was 17-19. Come to think of it, Fernandez has only been with his current girlfriend for a little over a year.

Bychenko is not retiring.

USA Men selections

2019 World Championships

Jason Brown

Nathan Chen,

Vincent Zhou

Alternate 1 – Tomoki Hiwatashi

Alternate 2 – Alex Krasnozhon

Alternate 3 – Timothy Dolensky

2019 Four Continents Championships

Jason Brown

Tomoki Hiwatashi

Vincent Zhou

Alternate 1 – Alex Krasnozhon

Alternate 2 – Timothy Dolensky

Alternate 3 –Andrew Torgashev

2019 U.S. World Junior Team Camp (3 to be selected)

Ryan Dunk

Tomoki Hiwatashi

Alex Krasnozhon

Camden Pulkinen

Andrew Torgashev

Dinh Tran

R449 Tsk tsk are you saying that 1) Javi was dating a minor; and 2) he then cheated on her (when she became too old) on slutty slut Miki Ando?? Tsk tsk.

R451 Well, he wasn't much older than Courtney and left her for an older woman, so it wasn't quite a Morozov situation. Speaking of Morozov, he got Ando pregnant and they were supposed to get married, but Ando had an abortion and didn't show up at the wedding (according to Morozov.) I think this was before Fernandez left Morozov. During the off season, Fernandez revealed Morozov was terrible to him at the end of their coaching relationship because Ando wanted to be with him instead.

r452 WHAT. I knew about the rumors that Fernandez and Ando had a thing while he was still Morozov's student and that Javi leaving him was partially because of the Ando situation but I've never heard about the abortion and planned wedding! Wtf, it seems fishy that Ando would abort a baby with Morozov who wanted to marry her but then decide to bear a baby out of wedlock by an unknown father just a short time later.

1/27 – Kolyada instagram: Dear Fans, I want to say thank you for your support at the Europeans! It is very pleasant and important for me. We will make conclusions, do the necessary work and keep fighting! Please don't worry - there's no fracture, I will survive.

R453 She was in love with Fernandez by the time she was pregnant (the first time) and her mom completely hated Morozov. The father of her daughter is most likely married and probably connected, so the baby gives her leverage, unless she just suddenly wanted to become a mom.

By the way, Takahashi cut his hair and went back to his natural color. He looks much younger now. I haven't finished watching Aoharu, but he was showing off his wine glasses and cooking. Akiko Suzuki appeared and said he's obsessed with his hair and skincare, and more like a girl than an actual girl. He gets drunk very easily (always the first to get drunk) and she often used to take care of him. (Takahashi admitted he can't remember the banquets.) Then she showed a video she took of him when he was drunk, attempting to breakdance.

r455 Lol, looks like Daisuke is one more model for the Yuuri on Ice character, with getting so drunk as to forget the banquets and breakdancing.

Were these posted already? Javier and Deniss? Yeah, he's just a little touchy-feely. Stephane is the same way.

r457 Between Vasiljevs and Aymoz Javier sure looks like he's missing some booty to play around with.

As the TSL troll in withdrawal, I watched the press conference after Europeans - found it a slog to understand, so of course, I tried to do a partial transcript. Javi is asked about his claim of cheating after the short lol - so anyway, if anybody's interested, here's a lot of the conference (Javi's part anyway - the other two didn't get to say much). Oh, and Javi was about 10 minutes late! Don't know if that was planned or not.

Before Javi got there, I think Samarin said he had watched Javi since he was very small (lol) and was honored to be runner-up and to score so close and he thinks he may have made Javi a little nervous.

Javi: Today I was a bit sad because it’s been 21 years training for competitions and it was the time to retire. But at the same time I was happy I’ve had a great career and I was able to accomplish much more than I thought I would... Before my program, there was good energy on the ice, this guy skated great (pointed at Samarin) But you know what? I’ve skated forever – I’ve done so many competitions and I’ve been in so many atmospheres that at some point, you cannot know what you have to do. When you skate with/against Yuzuru Hanyu, that teach you a lot! Then you can use it in other places. So I think I was confident about myself. I trained great in a short period of time but it was sufficient, and I was sure that I was going to do well.

[question about his legacy?] I think it’s good for the world to know that not only skaters from strong countries can appear. You know, I’m from Spain, I’ve got a friend by my side from Italy, and another friend from Russia.. each has his own story to tell. It’s good that not everyone comes from a strong country, a skating country, so more stories to tell from everyone. I hope that I can develop more skaters from my own country and try to make it bigger. [I’m proud of?] what I’ve accomplished and what I was able to do, and I hope I made [a bit] of history in the sport, and in 20 years maybe some people will remember my name, maybe not, we’ll see, but you know, I’m proud. I’m proud of what I’ve done, and I still have a lot to do to make it better in my home, for figure skating, of course.

[question: now you’ve won you can say what you want. In the short program, do you think there was cheating and at the victory ceremony did “she” apologize or what did she say to you (I missed the name of “she”] Javi: No she didn’t say anything – said “I’m with you – I’m with you guys” [can’t understand very well] … I don’t know. I wasn’t mad. Yesterday I was mad [with the lies?] Not for any reason but I want everything to be right. I know my mistakes and when there are no mistakes then I don’t like it for there to be [called?] mistakes… not mad because I was first or last, position wise, but little details I like to be right. But you know, even if I did the program today and I was fifth, ok, it is what it is. But everything has to be right! And has to be correct. But here I am today and it doesn’t matter what happened in the short program…

[what do you need to be consistent and win time after time after time, like you] I think you need to understand what kind of person you are, and what kind of athlete you are… at the end of the day, an athlete needs to be complete… What has changed from 20 years ago when skaters used to last 20 years and now they last 3 or 4? That’s a question to ask someone who is smart enough to answer it, not me. I can’t.

[greatest moment/issues this year?] It was complicated for me to be ready for Europeans because I was doing a lot of things [show in Spain]. No injuries, not a mental thing, just a lot of work.Then first question – it’s so hard to say. When you achieve so many things, when you come from really down, I won two times world championships, then seven time European championships, bronze [at Olympics], every one of them is special in a way. I think this one is special because it’s the last one, but is it more special than the Olympic one? I don’t know [laughter]

Brief part 2 follows...

Part 2

[Japanese reporter: will you return? I ask because Takahashi, retired four years, made a comeback…] Javi: Ummmm No! [laughter] I am not coming back! Maybe like a pro competition or Japan Open, or something like that, maybe I’ll think about it, but the rest, no. Because I’ve achieved everything…[Everything that was a goal ??] I’ve got it. I had a goal for this competition to be the last one, and I’ve got it. I’ll be skating in shows, doing teaching and doing many other things, but not official competition.

[Q for Matteo about his achievement for Italy after a drought for men since 2009?] Matteo: Well, of course it’s good for the figure skating movement in Italy and you know it’s been many years without a competitive man – so this competition, me and Daniel, we did a great job and I think this is one small step for us and we need to see, in a few years, because everything can change. At least it’s a start, a good start, and I hope [for good results in future] and for ladies, ice dance too.

R5453, I wouldn't want to have Morozov's baby either. Eww.

I like Hanyu and Javi, but I like them separately (meaning I still don't get the hype about their ~friendship~, it's overrated and annoying). I would like Javi to continue to nurture his inner bitch and maybe one day take over ISU if Hanyu isn't, or spill LOTS of tea at least.

As long as Weir is not getting death threats, I don't care if Hanyu stans are calling him out for being so floppy and a pussy. Weir also gets annually invited to Japanese ice shows and has to skate with Hanyu at one of them, thats a gig he has to keep as well as NBC.

Yeah, I see your point. I think part of it is how affectionate, physically, they are with each other. It does catch one's eye. And seems a bit unusual? Maybe especially on Yuzu's part - the hugging, the crying - but I think it actually started with Javi being a touchy-feely guy, when Yuzu first got there as basically a kid. I noticed at the Olys, even with Shoma, Javi was grabbing him and doing the horse-play thing - after Shoma was over-scored! Like Yuzuru said, he expected a Plushy-Yags vibe, but he never expected such a "kind Spaniard" to be what he found when he got to Toronto. Maybe there are parallels but I can't think of any - not at the level both of those guys reached. And they both keep kinda making a deal of it - Yuzu especially - reaching out to hold hands at ice shows and all that.

As for Johnny - I wonder if he just felt neglected a bit and wanted to say something provocative. I seem to recollect he's kinda like that - remember that divorce from the Russian and the charge of domestic abuse egads. Lately he doesn't have much to stir things up with - he seems to be living alone on a farm in Pennsylvania with a very close female best friend who have get-togethers he Instagrams - but his life seems sort of dull. The outfits stay outre but he's aging out I guess. He even said in the past year that he realized he didn't have many more years that he'd be able to skate, so I'm not sure he foresees much longer on the ice show front.

Weir apparently has a prominent role in a forthcoming scripted series about competitive skating.

Didn’t Tara Lipinski make pretty much the same comments as Weir re Chen/Hanyu? Why is Weir getting all the heat here and elsewhere?

R464. It's probably because weir is Hanyus idol. He dedicated a program to weir. Weir can tweet all he wants about how much he loves Hanyu. He should not have brought Hanyu's name into it. Weir could have said something like wow! I'm not sure if anyone can beat that score. Leave it at that.

R463 Personally I perceive Hanyu as a sensitive guy that can cry easily, so I do think him crying over Javi at Olympics wasn't that big a deal as fans make it out to be since he did just win his life goal OGM as well. As for being touchy and hands-on - I've been into many asian boybands and they, like Javi and Yuzu, trained together and spent a lot of growing years together and are as touchy as Javi, maybe even more. Maybe I'm just desensitized to it. All the bl shipping and bff fanarts still led nowhere, ending with wives and babies.

About Weir aging and JPN ice shows - true. Also he's been doing JPN ice shows for years but seems to haven't really bothered to become fluent in the language so I guess once his time is up he'll just bundle back to exclusively the US. He needs another outlet, and while I hate many of his costumes, I would love to see him try to channel all the outrageous outfits into skaters' costumes and try to out-silly Vera and Lysacek. The costuming world for men would be at a brighter place.

R464 For many reasons. Weir even without an OGM is more relevant than Tara to many folks. He also has potential for good commentary, unlike Tara. He is still skating unlike Tara and does ice shows with Hanyu. Finally, he's Hanyu's idol and Hanyu put out a tribute for him, even said he listens to Weir's commentary, so stans hold him to higher standards.

R465 Him bringing Hanyu into it was definitely not classy.

R452 So would you know when exactly Javi and Miki broke up, and what caused it? Javi started posting his current GF on Insta in fall 2017, and she traveled to the Olympics with his family (and yet some articles at the time mentioned he was dating Miki).

Javi and Miki were both in a show in Japan last summer, but they were on opposite ends of the group photos. And he said on Spanish TV last year that they don’t talk anymore. So I am assuming the breakup was messy and dramatic. I hope Miki’s daughter is ok, since she seemed to adore Javi.

And how did Javi and his GF meet? Through his sister? (I believe Laura is a nurse, and Javi’s GF was a nursing student.) Through his friends in Madrid? Dating app? (There’s a lucky catch.)

I suppose being with Miki made him swear off dating other skaters.

Also, Elle Japan honored Javi with a Yuzuvier retrospective. It’s unfortunate that Javi had to miss the Euros gala finale and banquet, but I wish he can show up at the Worlds gala so his skating friends from around the world can honor him. Including Yuzuru.

TSL Troll here again - they've got a paywall. No new video yet (to recap Europeans and US Nats). It's $5 a month if you want the new content (and all the old). There's a $3/month choice but it seems that's just to donate out of the goodness of your heart or something lol.

Even I am torn. I'm not sure I'd even feel ethical about taking notes and posting, if they've got a paywall because that's taking their content and sharing to people who haven't paid -- and hell, I'm not even sure I want to pay. I kinda got over my crush on Dave (yeah I know - I'm a nut), but I'll miss Jonathan. I was just starting to like him and his pretty curls.

I don't think Dave was wrong on the Coughlin subject - but recently, I found his old Aunt Joyce blog and omg it was pretty vicious - Perez Hilton level. Not that I minded too much - I was a Joan Rivers fan - but his quick rage/revenge characteristics that I was beginning to see - I don't know... And he always gave short shrift to Yuzuru which was annoying. Anyway, sorry to do this stream of consciousness shit. I'm just on the bubble of deciding to let it go.

R452 Why must you rain on my parade with FACTS. Also, I think the age of consent in Canada is younger too, like 16/17. I'm sure Javi researched all of that before they got together.

R455 I think Miki said she didn't realize she was pregnant until she was already 5 months along, so maybe too late for an abortion.

R467 The Elle captions are funny, but the whole yuzuvier thing is so overplayed. Neither Hanyu nor Fernandez can say anything nice about each other without people thinking they're lovers.

R468 Glad you're over your Dave Lease obsession. You can do better! We'll set you up with a nice ice dancer.

R467 I'm not R452, but there is some discussion about the whole Fernandez/Ando situation back in thread #3, around reply 179.

TSL Troll, By putting up a paywall TSL is basically just going to die even more, much like GS, but dying while behind closed doors outside the public eye. Not unlike ISU that is okay with the broadcasters taking down skating vids from Youtube which helped spread the popularity of figure skating more than anything they've ever done. Free publicity is so easy yet underutilized.

The future of figure skating is sad.

LOL R469 - I've never watched ice dance (though Charlie White's a cutie, as an interviewer anyway). I may be the world's only Hanyu/Uno/Chen fan, actually. Not Dai though - that would really be the cherry on the mismatched sundae. Now I would be a Dai fan if I hadn't found him sorta mean, at least at times. I got no time for that...

Good points R471. I can make up my own scathing opinions lol. And I'm sick about them taking down youtubes. Somewhere I read that I could blame the Koreans, taking down Yuzu content because of Junhwan - now I can't even like him anymore. Not that I did all that much - there's twink - and there's too too twink.

Anyhow, I think I'll just ditch TSL. I think it was only gonna be audio content for the new stuff, so bye bye curls anyhow. Maybe I can develop a liking for opera (fat chance though Nessun Dorma is tolerable - Shoma talked me into it)

r468 don't pay and give up TSL. You took one for the team, but the team doesn't need it if it cost money. Someone posted one of his videos on youtube and he immediately posted he was going to copyright.

R472 For your consideration.

Oh lord who is that? He's a bit rough trade for me. I like the awkward sweetie could-be celibate (or femme twinks for variety) - I did get into figure skating in the first place because of Johnny Weir. Back when he was really really cute, with the longer hair. He's still nice looking but no where near what he was, with the babyface. Well, anyway, spoilt for choice w/the skaterbois. Even have a B list with Orzel and... well, I forget but USA actually has some nice looking boys. Too bad they can't skate for shit. (No I don't mean Vincent Shakespeare)

when is Vincent posting his thoughts about the experience at Nats?

R475 Okay, one more try. I present to you: the most demure, femme twink in all of figure skating. As per your requirements, she may be celibate.

Isn't Duhamel married? I doubt she's celibate.

R476 Yes, Vincent posted something for DL:

[quote]To my esteemed fans on DL: As I continue my mission to revolutionize and redefine what constitutes a rotated jump in figure skating, I am so grateful that you are there every step of the way to cheer me on. You quote my poetry and insta messages with apparent admiration and fondness. Some here are so inspired by my words that they channel me through their posts. I am deeply honored. I should also let you know that I am 18 so it is now safe for you to admire my sensual buttocks if you so desire. For those of you saying, "EWW" and "Barf," I will take that as a challenge to redefine your notions of beauty or, at the very least, your standards of "not as gross as he was a year ago." Stay dear, DL.

Linked is the message he posted to the rest of the world.

LOL ah dear Meagan. I'm afraid she's too Type A for me. I did think through the ladies though, trying to find my muse. In the past, it was Oksana Baiul (just for that Olympics though - which is about the only time I followed skating back in the pre-online days). Her post-skating life was really somethin' too if I remember correctly...

Of the current crop, only one came to mind - Tuktamysheva. When she hashtagged herself #GrandmaOnSkates after some coach or somebody called her old, well, I was all hers (until I read she had hooked up with some Japanese anti-Hanyu character who offered to translate for her, though I think she delinked herself from this person - god I hope so.

R479 Vincent, we are really proud of you and your impact in achieving a new definition of rotation.

R467 I wouldn't trust everything that Fernandez says, just as I wouldn't trust Ando. Supposedly they did hang out a little during FaOI because Ando's daughter was there.

R466 Most westerners who live in Japan don’t speak much Japanese, including the ones who’ve lived and worked in the country for decades. Weir doesn’t live in Japan, but he does speak a few more words of the language than Plushenko or Lambiel. Japanese Hanyu fans are baffled by the extreme reaction to the Chen-Hanyu comment (it's Weir's job and not new) and found Lorrie Parker’s presence more offensive.

Hanyu is familiar with Weir’s commentary and not that sensitive. He cries at some of the big competitions, but so do many athletes across all sports disciplines. Have you seen Nadal? Even Federer bursts into tears. He admires Weir and Plushenko’s skating, but notice how he doesn’t emulate their behavior off the ice.

R479 “Sensual buttocks.” Thanks for the nightmares!

Takahashi shared an old photo of his long hair in an instastory and said he's thinking about growing it long like that again. So much for the short hair.

R482

[quote]I wouldn't trust everything that Fernandez says, just as I wouldn't trust Ando.

I'm curious now! Do you mean we shouldn't trust everything Fernandez says about Ando, because they can't quit each other and always seem to be hooking up on and off? Or do you mean Fernandez is not straightforward generally? Why do you think this?

lol, that's some marvellous attempt to put words in somebody's mouth. Fernandez's damned either way; that's some manipulative brain you have, r483

Ohh, speaking of Miki Ando: our doyenne empress of Slutsopotamia retweeted some Nathan stan's in-your-face tweet taunting fanyus with Nathan's protocols. The drama!! Where are you JDC??? Tell us a juicy story about Miki's twisted hate for Hanyu resulting from that incident at the Toronto Sheraton with Fernandez, Patty Sanchez and two hamsters.

R485. What a bitch! I want to know why she hates Hanyu. How petty she is.

I'm like rabbit munching on a juicy drama leaf. Thanks for the meal.

R484 Haha, fair enough. I swear I didn't pull that out of my ass - it's stuff Dirt Czar has said before about them.

R487 I'm hoping the story will also involve rabbits. Spare no detail, JDC!

Why is Miki Ando such a slut? Baby daddy. Multiple affairs with men and boy toys.

At least we have the upstanding Japanese girls: Mao and Midori.

R482 I don't like the hair length either, but the color looks great on him. It's the best he's looked all season. He actually looks his age and not 10 years older. The new skincare products must be working!

R489 hey no slut shaming for what everyone on this lounge does

R491 I don't know about you, but I don't know how many of us can claim to have a secret married baby daddy, an aborted baby daddy, an affair with a teacher, with one of the teacher's other students, while carrying the teacher's child, followed by an affair with an influential, married ice show promoter resulting in a meal-ticket baby, a follow-up affair with the teacher's student, while the student's engaged and while we have a live-in boyfriend. And goodness knows what she's been up to since then. Please, Miki Ando is the patron saint of enchanted vaginas. We're not shaming her; we're bowing down to her.

Video of Rika Kihira's quad toe, in Colorado at altitude, recent:

And her even better quad salchow:

recent TSL is showing up again. I imagine the recent pay wall was more to prevent people who aren't necessarily fans from watching so it is less likely that those nutjobs sending death threats will watch. Probably changed their mind when nobody was willing to pay.

Visited Goldenskate for the first time in a month. People are f'n delusional. Several people actually believe that Nathan deserved those scores and that those scores will hold up internationally.

Was Vincent running to save the carpet?

First, I have a new story related to Ando and Fernandez. The most recent episode of a Fuji TV drama about lawyers who specialize in public scandals followed a Japanese figure skater based in the USA named “Noriko,” who was suspected of murdering her fiancé for cheating on her with her rival, “Rina.” During the investigation, it’s revealed that Noriko was with a judge the night of the murder and it was her coach who killed the fiancé, because the fiancé had discovered the coach had been coercing Noriko to sleep with judges in exchange for high scores. Anyway, there was a scene where the youngest lawyer in the firm seduced a gay figure skater named “Fernando” (which most sites mistakenly or not so mistakenly recapped as “Fernandez”) for information on Noriko.

Trailer for “Queen” episode 3 (“Fernando” at 00:34): twitter. com /queen_scandal/status/1085901105752502272

Interesting scene with Fernando (“Are you and Noriko close?” “Noriko is MY BITCH!”):

R495 I saw those delusional Nathan fans over at GS. Some serious Hanyu hatred there as well.

Not surprised Dave is back to publicly posting videos. I knew someone that narcissistic could never stay away for long.

[quote]Visited Goldenskate for the first time in a month. People are f'n delusional. Several people actually believe that Nathan deserved those scores and that those scores will hold up internationally.

I was going to post the same thing. If he was from any other country you know the tone would be completely different. I don't actually dislike Nathan but his embarrassing fans are pushing me that way, like they have for a few others. I should just stay off of GS...it really sucks nowadays.

Funny thing about GS, everyone can conplain about overscoring and awful technique but as soon as you're a Hanyu fan your opinions and criticisms are invalid.

At this point, we should be making bets about who would land a 4S in international competition first, Kihira or Brown.

Did I read this correctly; Vera Wang has made 30 costumes for Nathan Chen?

r492, oh, OK then

Openly LGBT duo makes history at US Figure Skating Championships

I'm reading all the Javier Fernandez stuff on Twitter. It seems that Fernandez and Hanyu meant a lot to each other. Fernandez aware of the bullying Hanyu went through. From my reading I see they have a special friendship.

R497 Didn't understand a word, but the trailer was hilarious, especially the suit they put the guy into to seduce "Fernando." You left out the important part: why, exactly, is Noriko his bitch????

R503 This was nice to see, especially with LeDuc winning, but why the fuck is this such a rare thing in 2019, and in figure skating of all sports.

reading the documentary stuff too. although there's bickering about the present, noone can argue that Hanyu has had a legendary career and is definitely up there with other GOAT candidates.

r501 30 costumes and the best 3 was what we saw at Nationals? Just how bad were the others? And why the hell couldn't Nathan keep the original SP costume?

My theory: Nathan is trying to have his own costuming style. Hanyu has his own style which is on the elaborate and androgynous side. Shoma Uno's style is just as elaborate. So perhaps Nathan wants to have a trademark look but be the the opposite of his biggest rivals, and thus his choice of boring black with sparse geometric shapes.

On the documentary - I guess that's what I'm quoting - I loved that Dick Button sort of stood up for Yuzuru when I 'think' Plushy was suggesting four, maybe five Olympics for Hanyu - WTF??

(End of the show) Plu:If Japan's skating world let him concentrates on the Olympics , at least he can win four consecutive titles, and it's not impossible to win five. Button: Who says things like that, Hanyu is exceptional, just let him do what he wants to do!

What documentary are you guys talking about

r504 Lol, wtf Plush. How well did concentrating only on Olympics work out for Plush? He lost his touch with the scoring system and got himself beaten by a quadless Lysacek. And then bolts in his spine snapped at his fourth Olympics. Sure, let Hanyu and his non-existent ligaments attempt to win 2030 Olympics.

R509 - I think it's the one they're talking about here (if it's still up - you know how they've been quickly taking things down lately)

wherespacepooh ‏ @wherespacepooh 29 Jan 2018

"I'll definitely win! Yuzuru Hanyu's Challenge to Himself" Documentary (NTV 2018.1.14)

Translation and subs: tadaki x gladi Please do not reupload to other platforms.

Well, crap - already gone. Sorry for the bum link. Maybe it could be searched for on Youtube and grabbed if somebody else uploads it?

Or Planet Hanyu can sometimes come through with a private link where somebody saves it (and they give you the passcode or whatever through private messages?) I'm just guessing because I've been able to find things on there before that weren't public anymore, but I'm not sure they have this because I haven't checked yet.

Plush is ridiculous. I hope Hanyu is smarter than that.

R509 R511 No, we're talking about a different one. It just aired on 1.29.18, featuring interviews with Button, Fernandez and Plushenko. I've linked a twitter account that has some of the translations. Just look through the account - there are snippets of other parts of the doc.

This account has the actual doc, unsubbed though.

r505 He was just being sassy. After that, he said "she's my friend!" He seems more Raya than Fernandez to me.

r509 It's from NHK's "Another Stories" documentary series. It's mainly about Hanyu in the period leading up to the 2018 Olympics and there are interviews with Button, Plushenko, and Fernandez. It's going to be broadcasted again though unfortunately on BS and not the main NHK channel.

They actually showed screenshots of some comments from antis, although they were tame compared to the usual fare on the anti threads. But it's NHK, so they probably couldn't show the really nasty stuff.

The antis said that Hanyu wouldn't win or wouldn't medal at the 2018 Olympics, that he didn't want to work hard anymore and was running away, called him dirty for reusing his programs and said it'd be so embarrassing when he lost.

It was the first time TV media has addressed his antis in a straightforwardly way, so many fans think it's a big deal. I think it was a nice start. Fernandez briefly mentioned lies and mischaracterizations hurting Hanyu, referring to how Hanyu's injury was treated by media and antis leading into the Olympics.

TSL – Part 1, 29 Jan - Europeans/Javi’s show. Guest: Sandra Bezic. [Like Dave giving up alcohol, I gotta withdraw from this, one day at a time] Sandra worked on Javi’s show in Spain. “Javi and his people asked David (Wilson) and I to make the show – make the tour” (6 days, then added an extra Madrid show - “ticket sales were amazing”) Audience loved live skating – 6 they fell in love with Elladj and the eight Spanish synchro girls called “The Revolutionettes” (at David’s suggestion) became stars themselves. (Details on prep for show) 12 When YUNA Kim joined, she replaced Anna & Luca and used the same bench as the “girl” in their 10-minute Chaplin tribute. Yuna loved that – she was disappointed she wasn’t in the opening number. Yuna was so low-maintenance and “not the diva.” 14 Yuna had a “mini viral fall”, it was being televised and they hadn’t planned to redo anything so they left it in. 15 Yuna “likes to be prepared – she’s not like Javi.” 17.30 Dave brings up MED’s short program Orange Colored Sky. She was “very much on board with it in the summer.” She’s bubbly/turns on in every practice. But this turned out too far from her comfort zone. Her FS music was her choice – she led all the choices.

TSL – Part 2, 29 Jan - 21 Bezic discusses Med’s personality and the wall she hit in her career; details about the OCS dress. 25 How backlash affected Med (“It got evil.”) Dave thinks she may be sent to Worlds – Bezic thought she might should have taken off this year. 29 Bezic: Med looked at other skaters and asked, “Why is covering the ice so hard for me? It just takes so much effort! They don’t look like they’re taking any effort so she really wanted to accomplish that.” 29.44 Dave asks her about her ‘wine dates’ with Tracy. “We celebrate each other.” 32 Dave: “Tell us about Javi.” 33.40 He’s an enigma/hard to get to know. “Very Spanish, now is now, why prepare?” TCC team had to wrangle his natural ability. 36 For him, doing something once is enough – one quad? “Ok if I can do it once, I can do it in a comp.” 37.20 He didn’t train, we all know that. 38.40 Skating doesn’t need to be all-important in life. Nathan is proving that. 39.40 Javi’s comments about bad judging in Minsk. 43 Javi’s future: “They’d like the tour to continue.” Then KOLYADA. His problem’s in his mind. She said about Javi at Euros, “He won this in his brain.” 48.30 Jon: Kolyada has that kind of machismo, open shouldered thing going on that’s really alluring.”

TSL – Part 3, 29 Jan- 51:30 Dave asks about Kevin AYMOZ. She/they wish the judges wd reward such uniqueness in a bigger way. 54:30 RIZZO. S: How did that happen? (10th to 3rd) S/D/J wanted Aymoz third. D: Now TES to PCS is 60/40 due to new system – we don’t like that. 57 Jon fussing about Samarin’s lack of art? 59 Critique of ETERI’s girls being disposable. ZAG’s struggles vs Osmond’s sounder technique. 1.02 J Mishin’s jump technique is better for longevity. 1.03 “SAMODUROVA has all the Mishin sloppiness but she sells it”; feisty. Poor Konstantinova. 1.06 Russia may have test skate in couple of wks to pick Worlds ladies. 1.09 Kurt Browning had same “wing it” attitude Javi has. 1.10 ICE DANCE – lots of stuff, P&C, Montreal school traits, twizzle technique, S&B’s lousy music, G&F-she’s stiff and they don’t know the point of the program. 1.28 PAIRS. J&C so authentic. Vs Russian precision. 1.31 SB hates what IJS has done to pair skating – they made it small/slow/tight. 1.35 Jon wd like to skate w/Italian male pair skater. Kurt just called her to work on Stars on Ice and she broke out in cold sweat fearing the music choices to be made because it’s so hard to get it right, in all the disciplines. 1.41 Changes Dave wants to eliminate sameness in singles – skaters need more freedom. END

Javi apparently had some very sweet things to say about Yuzuru in this newest documentary:

"In Spain, it is very rare for figure skating to be reported. On the other hand, figure skating is very popular in Japan, too popular. As regards Yuzuru who stands on the top, they were eager to catch him napping and jealousy or lies were everywhere at the time he was injured, just as I thought."

"Yuzuru is a person who tries insatiably to gain something meaningful from everywhere for his performances. So when he feels down, he feels down thoroughly. I kind of understand they wanted to know the secret of the top athlete and start rumors. But if so, they should have covered him straightforward. Yuzuru himself and his coaches respond to media's requests properly."

Skate on in your gloriousness TSL troll.

The yuzuvier shippers are gonna be unbearable. We can expect another Instagram photo shoot from Javier and girlfriend by next weekend.

LOL. Maybe we'll get a baby announcement.

I wonder if this has anything to do with the video message Yuzuru put out on Javi's retirement. But that doesn't really make sense - they wouldn't make a documentary to respond to Yuzu's message lol. Maybe there's no ulterior motive at all (or it's somehow related to Worlds in March?) Oh I need to take off my tinfoil hat. Not everything is suspicious. But following this sport, you start to wonder sometime...

Hanyu documentary was advertised a while ago. Plu and Buttons also had really great things to say too.

I'm really pleased as a Yuzu fan who's a little touchy with the Weir comment, and others comparing him unfavorably with Chen. (and I like Chen, so I'm not all up in arms or anything, just a little defensive on Yuzu's behalf, for various reasons.)

I remember Button saying that Yuzuru "moved like a dream" and that he was "elegant." And Plu's said a lot of good stuff but I don't remember the specifics - I'm still sort of stunned that he suggested that Yuzuru go for five consecutive Olympics. Let's see, that would take him to 2030, and he'd be 35. I can't help but wonder if Plu is pointing out that he was at four Olympics, in some shape or form, and if Yuzu doesn't do that (or better), well, he's substandard (compared to Plu.) But then, I'm sure he didn't mean anything like that -- and I do admit he's been kind to Yuzuru when some would have bitterly slunk off when Yuzu took the stage, right Dai?

Thank you, TSL Troll.

If Fernández lived a life more like Hanyu’s - no SOs (let alone a consistent, likely overlapping, and sometimes messy string of SOs), no pets, no hanging out with non-skating friends, no social media, no vacations - could he have been the GOAT instead of Hanyu? Or would he have suffered from burnout and never accomplished much?

Fernández reminds me of what Bowman and Bobek - who also had so much natural talent and charisma - could have been if they got their shit together and were able to balance life on and off the ice.

I can't stand Sandra Bezic. The affected, concern troll voice, the affected, careful shading, well manicured talons running through her well manicured bob. Imagine her being all of this as she observes about the Eteri girls: "At a certain age, they begin to struggle just to skate and that's so sad because these are beautiful talented girls who...it seems like they're disposable. But these are little lives, beautiful talents who have given their hearts and souls...they should have a full impact and full career and a happy life from this experience." Barf. I dislike Eteri too and am skeptical about the quadsters, but so hypocritical when the North Americans express concern for Russian or Japanese girls training quads, but the minute you ask about Gogo or Liu, they will light up and tell you this is the future of FS.

r526 Geez, Fernandez's only major fuck ups were falling apart at Sochi and 2017 Worlds. He had his shit together throught 90% of his career under Orser and he held it just as well as any other skater and better than most. He was up against Hanyu at his peak, so it's doubtful whether giving up on his private life would have made a difference. I'd wager on your other option, a. burnout. He's a 7-time European champion and 2-time World champion, with his own style. He certainly didn't waste his talent or potential. After all, has there ever been a skater who went from the 38th place at his first Worlds all the way to first and Olympic podium?

r526 Sorry, I misread you'r comment. You were saying Bowman and Biobek couldn't hold their shit together, unlike Fernandez. Forget my previous post.

Bezic and Wilson fucked up by trying to impose their Canadian eldergay aesthetic onto a Russian diva, but in the TSL interview, she presents it as Med just not being ready to grow so quickly while rebuilding her technique. I'm American, but that distinctly North American way of wrapping up arrogance in a warm down blanket of concern and false humility never ceases to piss me off.

Bezic also thinks Nathan is an example of artistry melding with technique, so if this is the way other people see it too, I wouldn't be surprised if his inflated scores hold up internationally.

If Chen is the epitome of melding artistry and athleticism then it's time for Hanyu to retire. Honestly ISU doesn't deserve him.

Although I'd like to see 100+ years into the future and see how opinions on the legacies of today's skaters will have changed or which stayed the same.

Chen is just so MANLY all the underpants get wet. I like Chen, I think he's hot and a good skater, but I think the reason the American media likes him so much is because of his perceived masculinity.

Americans are just annoying. The whole Kerrigan-Harding debacle explains a lot. Ice princess versus trailer trash. Look how that media hype worked out. I still remember the Kerrigan bitchiness waiting for medal ceremony and Disney parade.

Miyahara doing Bavarian Open next week

Stellar line up

Hubler

Roth

Vandersarren

Cotop

Ounasvuori

Bock

Isaev

Lugert

Iushchenkova

Guttman

Leccardi

Paolucci

Rodeghiero

Aoki

Miyahara

Worries

Sakhanovich

Dubinina

Remstedt

Lahmann

Yamada

MEN

Orzel (senior international debut)

Jiri Belohradsky

Virtanen

Dimitrescu

Piontek

Stroll

Hallam

Yuen

Kishina

Shimada

Kennes

Huber

Conrad Orzel looks like a movie parody of a male model.

Have we talked about this? Judges draw for Worlds. No USA, JPN or RUS judges for Men and no JPN or RUS judges for ladies.

Traditionally, what are those countries allies? Other than Georgia and Turkey being at Russia's beck and call? Will Spain slam on Hanyu's scores again now that Fernandez is out of picture? Will Canada support their neighbour?

I will slam on Hanyu's scores again and again until they come hands free.

R536 The Mexican judge will be an issue for Hanyu

r537 lol

t538 Damn. Hopefully he won't get drawn for the Free.

I would think the Mexican judge would be anti-USA, considering politics lately. But there's probably some major fact I'm ignorant of...

Is Russia sending one, two or three men? I'd assume Samarin is a lock, and then... Kolyada?

Somehow, I think it all depends on who falls or pops (or who doesn't). I know this much - after watching the practice at Rostelecom where Hanyu sprained his ankle, there is no way I'm watching any of this live. And that's a shame because it's the only chance to watch the practices, most likely, with the way they're taking down youtubes.

r540 I'm not convinced real-life international politics can trump a traditional fed alliances or personal preference. If it's the judge who's been under the us fed thumb for a long time, I doubt Trump can change his/her tendencies.

I'm curious as to how the Russian allies will score Men. Kolyada or Samarin are hardly medal contenders so will they hold Chen/Hanyu/Uno/Jin down? They'll have it out for Jin probably, but Jin will at least have a Chinese judge to grossly overscore him.

Russia has 3 spots, so most likely Kovtun as the national champion, Samarin as the breakout at the Europeans and 1 more. They're probably waiting to see how the Russian Cup and minor competitions go and whether somebody will make a sensible replacement for Kolyada.

Bulge judge is on leave this season. Spain will either nominate Saioa Sancho or Marta Olozagarre Garces.

Salome Chigogidze will be the Georgian judge. She judged Men at Skate America and Rostelecom this season

France depends on who will field. Merriguet would have a general orgasm over Shoma, the other French judges couldn't care less.

r542 The only thing I can see is that she'll happily hand 95 PCS to both Hanyu with a fall and pop (average 90.64) and to cleanish Chen (average 90.94).

I meant the Georgian judge.

R543 yes, I remember her. She gives PCS candies to all. Harsher on the TES though.

I am used to watch Moris. Everybody else looks pure art to me

“Girl with a Ball” Kamila Valieva has withdrawn from Russian Junior Nationals due to injury.

NBC says Liu is on par with Kihira.

Hopefully this isn’t an anti account, but I’ve found the clip of boozy Takahashi attempting to breakdance. (He also recalled that time he got incredibly drunk at one of the banquets and somehow ended up in someone’s stilettos.)

R547 Thanks for that. LOL I've seen that footage of Dai; didn't realize he was drunk. Seems like Old Team Japan had a blast back in the day. No wonder they're so tight - they're the keeper of each other's secrets!

NBC is fucking delusional.

Kamila Valieva is like 12! She's supposed to be our 15 year old upstart for 2022 gold.

Links to streams for Russian Junior Championships

That NBC article is the most hypocritical thing I've read in a while. For all the harping on the Russian girls, Alyssa Liu is following the exact same pattern, the only difference being that Russia has a dozen Alyssa Lius.

If you take into account that Alyssa Liu can do 2 3As in one program, then theoretically she IS on Kihira's level. Sorry, but I'm not one to wax lyrical on Kihira's excellence. But why the fuck didn't they say that Kihira's 16 and likely to keep her axels whereas Liu is 13 and fuck only knows hat will happen with hers in the next 3 years?

All things considered, I hope Liu will survive to seniors in a competitive shape, being the only wunderkind on the American scene, the odds are god. She'll be a nice addition to the Russians for us to make judgments and comparisons about puberty.

r547 Isn't Valieva the girl whose SP is a favorite program of Eteri's? Another Daniil masterpiece?

The image of Daisuke getting blind drunk and breakdancing and ending up in someone's stilettos makes up for all of his shortcomings.

That's the girl (Valieva, R550). Her short program was posted on this thread, or the last one... Our boy Friday, Dave Lease, found Eteri's Instagram and her comment about it being her fave short program - she starts it out by shifting her shoulders to the right (or left?) and someone called it the "Picasso" program. Her spins really were amazing - and jumps really easy. But she's itty bitty and 12, so we'll see. More elegant than Liu but then at 12, what difference does it make. Kinda telling that she's injured right NOW and can't compete. This sport is reminding me a lot of gymnastics.

I might consider turning the corner on Dai if we could see him in those stilettos. I'm kind of interested in him as a real estate promoter - Japan's future Trump? (I jest, of course)

Eteri has 34 thousand followers on IG...I can just imagine Dave patting himself on the back for "finding" her Insta, like it was a secret or something.

Like Dai says, promote promote promote... We'll all self-promoting little robots now.

I still don't understand why Dai didn't make it as a tv presenter. He even had branched out beyond skating and was doing personal interest stories but said it was "too tough". He's such a delicate little hothouse flower. He's been keeping it interesting though, I'll say that. Hopefully our little cocooned genius will become a happy successful butterfly when he gets released from all this intensity and pressure. I can't imagine that NOT being interesting, though with our luck, we'll never hear a peep about him again.

I'm worried about Yuzu and Worlds. In a way, I wish he'd gone out on the highest of all highs at Pyeongchang - but as our resident philosopher-skater, he'll find a way to say it was the best thing to ever happen to him - whether it's a supreme success or a wipeout.

Nah, I'm glad Hanyu stayed after his 2nd OGM. I wanted to see how he'd do in the new score system. Surprisingly he holds the WRs, though for sure it won't last.

But all the folks that said he has the advantage with his quality jumps under the new GOE guidelines were soooo wrong, lol. Even when he and the other favorite guys give the standard (or below standard) fare, GOEs still rain down.

R553. I am also worried for Hanyu at worlds. He's very capable of winning if the judging is fair. I believe he is still better than Nathan and it's a shame that the judges at U.S. nationals inflated Nathan's scores like they did. I mean that was over board inflation. No way Nathan's skate deserved that score. Judge 9 I believe gave all 10.00. Pretty laughable. I sometimes ask myself why he didn't quit after winning his second gold medal. I think he loves the competition. He loves performing for his fans. I hope he never thought if he quits he will disappoint his fans. I know I could never be disappointed with him when he decides to retire.

I agree about Nathan. Though I did watch his program, twice (the long, I think - the one with spider webs?) It was better than that thing where he starts out mimicking someone having a seizure? Shaking his body in this awkward way that I guess was supposed to be quirky charisma or something? Didn't work. The "real him" seems to be quiet, understated, brooding, lots of cross overs lol. And so so many landed jumps. I do have to admire that - at least at Nationals (and Worlds when everybody was flopping around like fish in the bottom of a boat). Didn't he win Worlds in Milan by 50 points too?

I also thought his jumps looked prettier. Some of them used to look horrible - like he wouldn't bend his knees and land with a terrible straight-up-erect jarring HALT. And then just like nothing happened, start up skating. He still doesn't present his jumps, the way Yuzu and Shoma do - he just gets on with it - but he was bending his damned knees, which was my biggest gripe. It was the beautiful deep knee Japanese bend, but it was a vast improvement. I think Bezic or whoever it was was partially right, it helps Nathan to get out of his head (his "other" life at Yale gets him out of the skating fixation which may be a hazard for him.)

What uni can Kolyada enroll in? He's already got the blazing talent and natural beautiful movement, so maybe, a la Javi, he can stop practicing very much - land a quad once before a comp and say, ok, I'm ready let's go...

* Oops Nathan's jumping WASN'T the beautiful deep knee Japanese bend.... I mis-typed that.

R554 Yeah, It's easy to forget Nathan's stsq got the highest GOE and Shoma's 4F got almost the same GOE as Yuzuru's perfect 4S. I genuinely believe the GOEs Nathan, Shoma... would get on their elements won't be any lower than what Yuzuru would get.

It does feel like there are some people in the skating hierarchy, such as it is, who are ready for the next shiny object, post-Yuzuru, and will score accordingly. It was already happening with Shoma.

BUT, I'm not sure I have any faith that judges have much competency. And they all have biases, whether geographic or political or who their friends are blah blah... and don't even get paid, if iirc. Who are these people anyway? There never seems to be an ex-skater I've heard of - not that they would be perfect arbiters but do these people have any kind of rigorous training? And if no pay, why would anybody do it anyhow?

I should really stop reading youtube responses. The Nathan stans there think Nathan is now ubbeatable and he is the greatest. Greater than Hanyu. I would love to tell them to let me know when Nathan wins two Olympic gold medals and then we'll talk about who is greater. Inside I feel like who cares if Hanyu wins worlds. He is the goat anyway. I worry more about how he will be if he doesn't win. I hope he will be ok. I think his aim is to give two perfect or near perfect programs. I know he wants to give that almost perfect program for Origin.

A poster on GS wrote a very detailed summary of the NHK documentary. It's times like these that I really appreciate the hardcore fanyus. They make him accessible for the rest of us.

Even though Javi's segment got a lot of press, the Dick Button part was really good too. I've linked to the GS page with the translation, but here's what Button had to say about Plush and Kulik: "“Plushenko?? Amazing technique, but I wish he’d listen to me earlier. His spins were excessive, too many turns. His head stuck out I was sure it would one day spin off onto the ice.” “Kulik? Worst costume ever. Yellow with black dots, you’re not a giraffe! Well, because of that, it can’t be denied that you couldn’t take your eyes off him.”

LOL I wish he were still commenting. Instead we get the Hamilton-Gannon-Weir-Lipinski shit show.

[quote] And they all have biases, whether geographic or political or who their friends are blah blah... and don't even get paid, if iirc. Who are these people anyway? There never seems to be an ex-skater I've heard of - not that they would be perfect arbiters but do these people have any kind of rigorous training? And if no pay, why would anybody do it anyhow?

You find former skaters among Technical Specialists because being a former high level skater (for ISU high level here means national level skater) or coach is one of the requirements.

Few judges were former skaters. The great majority of them comes from different backgrounds. They don't get paid much.

ISU Championships: all expenses (travel, hotel, meals) paid + 400 CHF overall (450CHF for Technical Panel)

GPs: they get all expenses (travel, hotel, meals) paid by the organizers. They get 300 CHF if they serve at GPFinal, nothing for GP events.

Senior B competitions: get hotel and meals paid by organizers. Not obliged to pay travel expenses (I guess in many cases Feds cover them for their judges) except for Technical Panel (IIRC).

R551 Ask and you shall receive.

LOL thanks so much R563. He got teeny weeny feets!! Maybe he could start a Ru Paul's drag race show for Japan??

And also thanks to R562 - so CHF is a Swiss Franc and they're roughly the same as US dollars - so they get $400 in addition to expenses ($450 for tech panel.) And a nice trip I guess. Really appreciate the details.

I'm with you R560. I never read youtube comments but do go to GS and read the individual threads - and they're usually ok (as far as nastiness towards other skaters). When they stop being ok, I stop reading.

R561. Thank you for sharing the link. I will definitely read that later today.

I usually make the new threads but I just got another phone and I guess DL will not let me create a thread yet. If someone can create a new thread? This one looks like it's almost done.

New thread

r563 A man that can hold himself upright, not to mention dance, in stilettos, even a gay one, is a rare sight. Dai has some talents!

So far this season

369 judges served in International competitions in Single and Pairs

Albert Zaydman (Israel) was the most active, having served in 11 different events this season. Eddy Wu (Taiwan), Franco Benini (Italy), Marta Olozagarre (Spain), Slobodan Delic (Serbia) and Zusanna Vikarne (Hungary) served in 7 events so far.

127 judged served in International Ice Dance events

Anastasia Makarova (Ukraine) served in 8 events. Albert Zaydman, Csba Balint (Hungary), David Munoz (Spain), Lolita Labunskaya (Russia) and Zhanna Shemet (Belarus) served in 7.

Some of them are in both but many Single/Pairs judges don't have the Ice Dance qualification

Technical specialists used this season

101 in Single

26 in Pairs

39 in Ice Dance

There is some overlap between Single and Pairs among TSs but none with Ice Dancers

This is the list of Technical Specialists used this season

You must recognize some names...

mainly of them were "high level" skaters...

well, you must have followed some obscure Nationals Championships in the 90s to get some of them...

Albena ALADJOVAtBulgaria

Alena SAVOSTOVAtBelarus

Alexander KOENIGtGermany

Alexander KUZNETSOVtRussia

Alja PAHORtSlovania

Andrei BROVENKOtLatvia

Anett PÖTZSCHtGermany

Anja BRATEC LESJAKtSlovenia

Anna BURVALLtSweden

Annemie DE PRETERtBelgium

Artem KNYAZEVtUzbekistan

Ásdís Rós CLARKtIceland

Bartosz PALUCHOWSKItPoland

Christel BORGHItSwitzerland

Clarence ONGtAustralia

Claudia UNGERtGermany

Corey SUTHERLANDtCanada

Cornel GHEORGHEtRomania

David SANTEEtUSA

Denise WILLIAMSONtUSA

Dorina SUPÁKtHungary

Duygu SALURtTurkey

Eugen LARASSERtGermany

Eva SONNLEITNERtAustria

Evelyn ROSSOUKHI-SCHNEIDERtAustria

Evgeny MARTYNOVtUkraine

Fabio MASCARELLOtItaly

Fernand FEDRONICtFrance

Filip STILLERtSweden

Franca BIANCONItItaly

Gilberto VIADANAtItaly

Grety MARTONtRomania

Heather LEHNERTtGermany

Hristo TURLAKOVtBulgaria

Igor BICHtRussia

Ikuko ISHIKAWAtJapan

Ilona Senderek-WojciktPoland

Ingrid AALDERStNetherlands

Ivana JAKUPCEVIC MARINKOVICtCroatia

Jae-Eun CHUNGtSouth Korea

Jamie MCGRIGORtCanada

Jan CEJVANtSlovenia

Jayson PEACEtCanada

Judith STRAUSStAustria

Julia SHEIKOtIsrael

Jyrina LORENZtItaly

Katerina KAMBERSKAtCzech Republic

Kelly CRUICKSHANKtCanada

Kevin MARSHALLtGreat Britain

Konstantin KOSTINtLatvia

Kristel OJASAARtEstonia

Larisa FEDOSEEVAtRussia

Laura FERNÁNDEZtSpain

Line KALDESTADtNorway

Lisa STIGANTtSouth Africa

Lorenzo MAGRItItaly

Mamiko YAMAItJapan

Maria BAEKGAARD KJAERtDenmark

Mariusz SIUDEKtPoland

Marta SENRAtSpain

Maxim SHIPOVtIsrael

Merja HUTTUNENtFinland

Michael HOPFEStMexico

Milena PANICtItaly

Monika KUSTAROVAtSlovakia

Monika WAGNER KUTINOVtGermany

Myriam LORIOL-OBERWILERtSwitzerland

Nancy GARCIAtMexico

Natalia LEBEDEVAtRussia

Natalya PONOMAREVAtUzbekistan

Noriyuki KANZAKItJapan

Olga BARANOVAtFinland

Olga HILKEVITSCHtGermany

Olga MARKOVAtRussia

Pavel CHERNOUSOVtRussia

Raimo REINSALUtLatvia

Raoul LEBLANCtCanada

Ravi WALIAtCanada

Robyn BURLEYtAustralia

Sandor GALAMBOStSwitzerland

Sandra PAVICICtCroatia

Sara AGNAFORStSweden

Sari HAKOLAtFinland

Sarkis TEWANIANtPoland

Scott DAVIStUSA

Serhii VAYPANtUkraine

Simon BRIGGStGreat Britain

Soltan KOKOEVtRussia

Sung-Jin BYUNtSouth Korea

Terry KUBICKAtUSA

Todd SANDtUSA

Tunca UNLUtTurkey

Vadim FEDCHENKOtUkraine

Vanessa GUSMEROLItFrance

Vera VANDECAVEYEtBelgium

Veronique FLEURYtFrance

Vojislava VASOVICtSerbia

Zsofia KULCSARtHungary

Zuzana DRNZIKOVAtSlovakia

Update on Kolyada who's my fixation for the day - I was afraid what happened at Europeans would really hit him hard but he seems to be handling it well. What a strange career for such a talented skater, in so many ways. I wonder if performing in shows would help him - I don't think he's done much of that, if any. Anyway, from the GS thread (I don't know if it's proper protocol to name the poster or not - probably not even kosher to bring their post somewhere else but... well, it's interesting and maybe somebody else here is a fan? This is someone who says she actually spoke to him recently)

"Yes, the arm was in a cast. I guess now they gave him something else if his coach said he has a removable cast. This is to stabilize and protect the wrist. Good that they make him wear that, because he wasn't keen on it for sure. I met Misha on Sunday in the hotel in Minsk and he felt a lot better, also the arm was a lot better he said. I don't think it should affect his training so much, but obviously he should be careful not to fall on the hand again and hurt it further. As for competitions, he said to me he plans to attend the Tallinn Cup February 23-24 in Tallinn. Don't know if the Federation will ask him to do the Russian Cup Final instead or if it is also okay for him to skate in Tallinn as long as he is doing an event to prove his readiness."

r570 What's the status on Aliev and Voronov, have you learned anything? Are they doing any competitions? I guess it's between Kolyada, Aliev and Voronov, who will fill the 3rd slot at Worlds.

r571 Pretty sure Kolyada and Samarin are locks. Kolyada might be a chronic choker but he consistently places decently no matter how badly he bombs and is the only one that has a realistic chance of medaling if he randomly skates well for once. The others would need an epic meltdown from the top 3 as well as mistakes from the 2nd tier skaters to have a shot at the podium whereas a relatively clean Kolyada is the 4th or 5th guy in the world and only needs 1 or 2 major mistakes from the top 3 to crack the podium if he manages to not implode.

Not sure how committed Russia is to sending their national champion but it didn't help Kovtun in 2014. Both Aliev or Voronov would be better choices. Voronov has had the best international results of the 3 so far and seems more stable than the other 2. Aliev has the most long term potential. I would personally pick Voronov because Aliev might be an even bigger head case than Kolyada but doesn't have the technical quality to fall back on and Russia will want a solid anchor to the team since they have so many mental midgets.

Holy crap she’s cute!!! The news cycle on her is 10x that of Chen.

Alysa and her dad are so cute. Three other children? Does he have a partner or is he a single dad? Sweet story - Dave Lease loves his "gay dad doing everything right" story w/Arthur. And he still has a strong accent - wonder what his hometown in Sichuan Province, China. He used egg donor and surrogate mother, so no wonder they look alike. (I sound like a 12 year old who's never heard of such a thing but it just surprises me somehow - is figure skating finally modernizing? (and we owe it all to Weir I guess - certainly not to Vera's poodle...) She homeschools in his law office... Sorry to ramble.

Hope she keeps her 3A. At least with that, compared with the quads, some women have kept them way past puberty - Midori Ito of course, but Mao Asada, Tonya Harding, even Marai Nagasu who worked on hers and got it (or got it back) in the twenties. And Midori wasn't thin as a rail throughout her jumping career either - just very very short, 4'9". I bet many people thought it would be impossible for her to do what she did and she just said screw that. She said they'd let her work on her 3A as a "treat" for working hard on what they wanted her to do lol. Speaking of all the little-girl naysayers, Midori landed her first triple jump at age 8. She went to live with her coach after her parents' divorce when she was 10. At the 1981 World Junior Championships, in her FS, she landed a triple loop, a triple salchow, and two triple toe loop combinations, at 11-year-old and only 3'11" and 53 pounds.

Well back to Kolyada - in a recent B. Orser's interview for Sport-Express after Europeans, he had special praise for Misha: What do you think about Russian players? - A. Samarin skated great! All of them - he, Kovtun and Kolyada have all the main points of their career ahead. Mikhail, in my opinion, is a unique talent, he has magnificent skating skills!

*Oops - meant to say "Wonder what what his hometown in Sichuan Province THINKS OF HIM."

Oh and somebody got a screen capture of Yuzuru's computer in one of the many documentaris - and at the top, it said he was reading (or writing?) a paper about "Ito M." - I think there were some mathematical diagrams or something about her jumps, which were noted for their height. And I remember Brian saying that Yuzuru "flies - he just soars" - so I guess his height is sometimes amazing. I really need to learn how to analyze jumps - I don't know much about them - just know what I like.

[quote]Update on Kolyada who's my fixation for the day - I was afraid what happened at Europeans would really hit him hard but he seems to be handling it well.

Well, he ought to be used to it by now, and also, he seems like a weak and non-competitive person since he has done nothing to address his issues after all this time. He always says the same boring non-answer after he bombs each competition - "A bad result is also a result." He is far too passive and spineless to be a top skater.

Point taken - but he can be so glorious. Maybe he can hook up with Javi and travel around Europe doing shows. Bezic and crew all thought that of everybody out there doing it, Carmen suited Kolyada the best. He really is stunning as a performer, other than fucking up like clockwork, but in a show with watered-down jump content, I think he could be quite the star.

I know he's just 5'6" but his feet look so small in this photo. Maybe that's his problem? Not a big enough landing strip for his quads.

Oh and he recommends these earphones and his name will get you a 15% discount !

apropos of nothing, except I get oddly anxious when we have a new thread open and space left on the old one... I remember an interview done with Yuzuru that I found particularly odd (and translations always make things odder, especially when they're incorrect)... but anyway, someone was asking Yuzuru about his skates (Edea I think.)

He said he had to get longer ones with that brand because they were too narrow otherwise. The interviewer said, "So Japanese people have wide feet?" And I can't remember if Yuzuru said "I guess so" or didn't answer...

I looked up the size he mentioned (with European numbers) and it correlated to a men's size 10 in the US (I think - it's been a while - larger than I expected anyway).

Oh, and he never seems to have boot problems which bedevil so many others, like Nathan and Shoma. Maybe it's the softer way he lands his quads? Or maybe he's such a perfectionist that he's developed the ideal way of coping - multiple pairs always at the ready, measured out numbers of hours per new skate to break in without hurting your feet, yada yada. I remember a video of him visiting an older Japanese guy who made his blades for him (Nanami's husband?) Oh I don't know - somehow it was just fascinating and calming to think about the pre-determined careful selection, preparation, handling, etc., that he was completely on top of. Lao T'Yuzu on skates.

R573, Alysa is precious. She's a young seeming 13, probably because she's been at the rink so much and not doing the more typical teen stuff. I hope she maintains that sense of awe and wonder as she gets older.

I forgot Tuk's 3A! Who was it - some female commentator said, "I love her - she jumps like a man!" I'm pretty sure it was Meagan Duhamel who said that.

And I remember reading an article somewhere that Midori Ito had talked to Wakaba Higuchi about working on her 3A, and she told Wakaba to think of the air position like a pendulum on a clock.

I don't understand that but then I've never skated on ice before and certainly haven't jumped. Midori never got her legs straight - she had that weird bend that people complain about, but I wonder if it somehow made it easier for her? There are some current skaters who don't keep their legs straight and their feet close together though I know that's what you're supposed to do - pretty sure both Yuzu and Nathan do it the textbook way.

You know, when I think about jumping up, just on dry land - if I bend my legs as I jump up, I feel sure I could jump higher then if I deliberately kept my legs stretched straight down. Surely it would add to the "loft" you get as you jump up? (I need to find that Ito M. article that Yuzu had on his computer - maybe it would explain why I'm wrong - but she bent her knees a lot AND was famous for the height of her jumps.)

Ah well - here's our philosopher/skater saying that after adversity, good things always arise. So maybe I'll stop worrying about Worlds now.

R583 It’s always comforting and a pleasure whenever Yuzu is thoughtful, heartfelt, and reflective when he speaks. I was worried about Javi embarrassing himself at Euros, but Yuzu’s video message to him via Olympic Channel assured me that Javi would be OK.

Speaking of Javi, he has a stache now. 🤢

Someone's already subbed the Javi part of the NHK documentary. As a bonus, you see Javi's junk whipping around at 4:57.

R584: Javi is too lazy to shave.

Good catch on the jump junk R584 ;)

That's a really well-done documentary with the three men giving tribute to Hanyu. It's interesting they waited this long - a year - to get it up. But with Worlds coming up and Europeans just done, I guess the timing was easy to choose? Well, especially Javi's retirement.

Oh - something I noticed last week - I forget the exact day, but Plushenko posted a remembrance of the day he won his seventh European championship - like a throw-back Thursday post or whatever - but this, along with him suggesting Yuzuru should do as many Olys as he had, if not more, makes me wonder if there's a little ego involved there - a bit of diminishing the other guys and "Hey remember me!!!"

Well, I still give Plush his due for praising Yuzu immediately in Sochi. And encouraging him before, as a young skater. He didn't have to. Certainly not every former champ did.

Hey guys don't leave this thread! Here, I'll try to pad it out - the "In the Loop" girls talking about Javi saying WTF and going after the judges after his Free (and a link to a transcript of their vlog/podcast or whatever you call it)

Kat: Javi finally just, like, stopped caring.

Kite: He snapped! (Kat: Yep) They called his quad Salchow under in the Short Program and he just went after the judges.

Kat: Yeah, I know.

Kite: [He] lambasted them in the press conference.

Kat: I love it, I love it. (Evie: Clap back!) I've never seen that from him, but I love it.

Kite: He was like, 'you know what, I need to go out in style, tell them what I really think'.

Evie: I like that in the Kiss and Cry for the Short Program, Brian basically explaining to Javi how the new judging system works. That was so adorable!

And a lilttle shade on Samarin from them (is this shade? do they ever get downer and dirtier? oh probably... I'll have to give them more attention -- btw, does anybody think Samarin has promise? Boyang wasn't exactly the great artiste - Chen either - but I still think my little Japanese leprechan is pretty good on the artsy-fartsy side. Anyhow, another quote - and I had thought about them giving him positive GOE on a step out at Europeans:

Evie: So, in Silver, we have Alexander Samarin of Russia. You know, I think, out of all of the Russian Men this season he's probably the one that's been the most consistent overall.

Kat: Yeah! By far!

Kite: He really has. He's landing things!

Kat: Yeah, it's already a step above basically all of the other Russian Men at this point.

Evie: It's Samarin and probably Voronov as well, he's been pretty good in the first couple of competitions, but then obviously he's not getting sent to things in the second half of season. But, yeah, I'm not surprised. He put out two strong performances here but I think there is absolutely no doubt in my mind that the scores he got were a little bit inflated.

Kite: A little bit?

Kat: Just a tad...

Evie: It's a running theme throughout this season, it's not something that I was completely surprised about, but it's kind of a let down I guess?

Kat: Yeah, you shouldn't be able to get positive GOE on a jump that has a turn-out.

Kite: Yeah, his opening quad Lutz [in the Free Skate], he turned out of it and they gave him [0.66] positive GOE, small GOE but it was positive.

Kat: That reminded me of how Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, she often turns out of her triple Axel, right? And she gets negative GOE on it, that's something you expect. So when Samarin turned out of the quad Lutz I was like “Why is it green? Why is the GOE green?”

Kite: In my opinion, also giving him 88 in Program Component Scores, for the Free Skate, was pretty excessive. It should be about 7-8 points lower. (Kat: Yeah.) Low 80s would be a comfortable place for him given the performance he's actually putting out.

* I HADN'T thought about them giving him positive GOE on a step out

And some edited slagging off on poor old Zags:

Evie: So, in silver, we have Alina Zagitova, continuing kind of a worrying trend in her skating that we've seen since the Grand Prix Final, and then Russian Nationals, and now here, kind of faltering in the Free Skate. It's just upsetting to see her have these kinds of issues that she's been having with her jumps, and her reactions that she's had in the Kiss and Cry. Oh god, my heart breaks for her.

Kat: Honestly, is it sad that when I saw the Free Skate I was like "You know... This isn't as bad as I thought it could have gone."

Kite: It was pretty bad...

Kat: The thing is though is that I feel like whenever I see Alina skate she either nails it, obviously, or really grits it out, like she did at Grand Prix Final with like a minor mistake, or she just completely melts down. So as soon as she fell on that triple Lutz-triple toe I was like "Oh, it's all over for her." But she brought it back a little (Kite: Did she?) like she didn't completely meltdown like she did at Russian Nationals or at Worlds, is what I'm saying.

Kite: Well yeah, I mean, I guess.

Kat: It's not as bad as it could have been, basically.

Evie: Oh yeah, definitely.

Kite: It could always be worse. Just different benchmarks, I guess...

Kat: I don't know, it was labored, for sure...

Kite: ...I'm going to be totally honest, it's getting really hard to watch her. Every time I'm watching live I don't even breath until she goes into the first jump and whether or not she lands it determines whether I'm going to continue watching. But you can see that her jumps are getting more labored and underrotated, literally at every competition. Her jumps looked so much worse.

Evie: Especially her Flip and her Lutz. She obviously had problems in her free skate with them. But in the short program, her landings on those weren’t great, they were quite shaky and there was quite a lot of ice spray when she landed them. And then in the free skate obviously she had those issues. problems. So I’m just so worried for the future...of her in general, but just… these consistent problems she’s been having with her jumps. Her team really needs to look at her technique and work on the issues she’s been having all throughout this season so far.

Kat: Do you remember in her free skate that really tragic - I think it was a triple Lutz triple loop attempt where she didn’t even get off the ice and kind of almost marked it and did a single loop or something?

Kite: It was a triple flip. So she missed her opening combo and then she was going to put the triple loop on the second triple Lutz but she ended up putting her hand down so she couldn’t get it so she went for the flip-loop which I don’t even know she trains. They should train her for a flip-loop, they gotta have one of them, because her flip is much better than her Lutz.

Kat: She just looks exhausted and it’s just really sad to me. Remember how less than a year ago, she could casually tack on a triple loop to another triple Lutz on a fully backloaded free skate like… good times guys.

Kite: Well I mean obviously she’s grown a lot since then. And again, this is something that her team should really look at, which is they need to teach her the kind of technique that will last her throughout her growth and throughout her body changing because you can see she is swinging her shoulders like crazy before she even gets off the ground for her toe jumps. It worked up until a point, it worked probably until the end of last season and it’s not working anymore.

Kat: I feel like the only jump I can watch her do now is the double Axel.

Kite: Yeah she goes for the double Axel and I’m like ‘she’s going to nail it.’ It almost seems a little harsh to say this but the fact that she had three clean jumping passes in the free skate and no clean combos and still got the highest PCS of the event just really hammers home how ridiculous her scores have been in the past season and a half. And now her jumps are sometimes here and sometimes not, you can see the discrepancy between her performance and how she’s rewarded for it. And again this just an example of inflation doing the skaters no favours.

Evie: Honestly, I think that part of the problem could also just be the pressure of the competition because we saw in the exhibition when she was skating her program, she was nailing her Flip, she was nailing her Lutz. Both those jumps were looking really really solid in the gala. So it could just be that the pressure of competition - knowing her record, knowing the fact that she is the Olympic champion...all of that pressure going into it could be having some sort of effect on her skating as a whole.

Kite: I think we also need to consider the environment she trains in and the environment and that she works in day to day. There was a video that surfaced of Alina in practice at Euros and apparently she was having a really rough practice and Eteri at the end just stormed out basically, and someone caught her on a fancam. And also she trains with the Russian girls who are doing quads. Like Trusova and Shcherbakova and Kostornaia are her training mates so she sees the competition that’s coming up next season and that can’t be easy for her to go out as the woman to beat still and have that hanging over her. There’s definitely more at play here than just the fact her technique isn’t solid but it still is really really tough to watch. I want to say I really hope she pull it back together and have a performance she can be proud of at Worlds but at this point, I just want her to be healthy and to enjoy what she’s doing. That’s it now.

coughlin hanged himself

sad all around, USSF really need to figure out some semblance of the truth

R587 The anti-comments were screencaped mid December, so they only recently finished the documentary.

“While I wish I could speak freely about the unfounded allegations levied against me, the SafeSport rules prevent me from doing so since the case remains pending,” he wrote. “I note only that the SafeSport notice of allegation itself stated that an allegation in no way constitutes a finding by SafeSport or that there is any merit to the allegation."

This has been challenged - Christine Brennan on that TSL show with Dave:

36 CB talks about Richard Callaghan story w/named victim (Maurizi, who’s wife Tara Modlin was Coughlin’s agent) and Richard is fighting it – she says they would have covered it had Coughlin fought these allegations [like they did with Callaghan.]

[quote] The anti-comments were screencaped mid December, so they only recently finished the documentary.

Then I'm glad they waited and put those anti comments up. I hope it helps him to have some light shed on this shit.

That sucks R593

R596 I don't know if SafeSport has a gag order on pending investigations or not, but the Callaghan and Coughlin cases are different and I think Brennan is being unfair to Coughlin by saying he should have fought those allegations in the press while the case was still in the early stages of investigation. By the time the Callaghan case got to SafeSport, we all knew about the allegations, the name of the victim, etc. Also, Maurizi is an adult. Sounds like at least some of Coughlin's alleged victims were minors. No sensible lawyer would have allowed Coughlin to "fight" these allegations in the press against unnamed young victims so early in the game. It could have easily backfired on him. He did what he should have done - denied the allegations strongly. The names of the victims and the allegations were kept confidential - what else could he have said?

That said, it was a dick move for him to hang himself in his father's house. Who did he think would have to find his body and take him down? How is the fuck is the father going to continue living there?

I hadn't thought about that - and I guess Brennan hadn't either. You're right - he didn't have to do that at his father's house. That's so horrible. I looked at his social media in the past few months, right after he died, and there were numerous photos of his mother and he was talking about how much he missed her (she died fairly recently?) It felt... strange. Maybe he was already thinking about doing this.

Let's round out this thread with some ass.

New thread