Figure Skating XXI

Let me repost the last two post from the other thread about the red hats.

Tara Kayne and Danny Oshea wearing red hats to intimidate the accuser. Disgusting.

And The rest of these bile assholes joining in.

Replying to one question from previous thread

Only 1 US pair will go to Worlds

R3, that demonstrates how low US pairs have fallen.

What are the chances of the US getting 2 spots next year?

What does MAGA have to do with accusers of abuse? You're illogical.

r5 Please improve your reading comprehension skills. Nobody was wearing a MAGA hat. People were wearing Kansas City Chiefs hats "in support" of John Coughlin as John was living in Kansas City. However, USFSA/NBC/the powers that be made the skaters wear the hats with the brims up or backwards such that the logo for the KCC was not visible, so it then just looked like all these skaters were wearing MAGA hats. The effect of "showing support" for Coughlin is also, in some ways, saying that Coughlin is more important than believing the 3 skaters (including one under age person) who had accused him of sexual misconduct. It dissuades people who have faced abuse from coming forward because they see that nobody will believe them, they will just support the accused.

And don't let the Knierims off the hook. Alexa may not have worn the hat but she has been exceptionally dim about the whole situation on social media.

Bottom Kevin would NEVER be so stupid.

[quote] What are the chances of the US getting 2 spots next year?

top 10 is needed for 2 spots

Those who will likely beat Cain/LeDuc are

James/Cipres

2 Chineses

3 Russians (maybe if Zabjako/Enbert don't recover from his injury, they can fight with the third Russian team if C/L are clean)

Della Monica/Guarise

Moore Towers/Marinaor

then it is open for 9-10th. They can beat the Austrians, Germans and North Koreans

IMO the odds are decent for Cain/DeLuc to finish top 10 for two spots next year. So long as they avoid another concussion disaster like Golden Spin.

USA selections

Dance

World: Hubbell/Donohue, CHock/Bates, Hawayek/Baker

4 Continents: same as Worlds

Pairs

World: Cain/LeDuc

4 Continents: Cain/LeDuc, Denney/Frazier, Kayne/O’Shea

They left out Stellato/Bartholomay for Kayne/OShea

Wasn't it two people that were under aged who Coughlin allegedly abused, R6, according to Christine Brennan's off-the-record source?

Absolutely deplorable to keep Stellato home. Disgusting.

[r10] I'm unfamiliar with what you are talking about, but everything that happens happens because of God's will.

We wuzrobbed!

Who won Nationals?

R14, Alyssa Liu, Cain/DeLuc & Hubbell/Donohue. Men TBD today.

Javier’s fairwell skating was so beautiful moving and touching. I will miss very much.

Backstage of the Men FS at Europeans

That Nathan Chen has something that I can't put my finger on it but he is hot. He has real swag and doesn't take himself too seriously.

Do you guys think he has a big dick ??? He acts like he has.

Uhhh, in R17's video Javier is going gaga over the Frenchman. Get it Javier.

It will be fun to hate on Kayne/O'Shea. Skating needs a few good villains who you want to see go SPLAT. I mean, we already had the Knierems. It's a bonanza.

Meanwhile, in Ice Dance, I don't think there are words to describe how much I hate H/D's FD. That first part...the segment they say is supposed to be a trailer to the story of Romeo & Juliet? Are they retarded? Do they think we're retarded? It's Romeo & Juliet. No explanation needed. They are starting to act like they are better than they are. It's almost enough for me to wish the Shibs were back. As it is, they're barely beating Chock & Bates. They're not winning Worlds. Keep going and they might not make the podium.

Was shocked to see McNamara/Carpenter do a decent program. But Carreira/Ponomarenko totally seem to be the stars of that generation. They have "it." And then there's the poor Parsons. Thankfully they finally ditched the music from Papadakis/Cizeron's Boston Worlds FD (which so many skaters in all disciplines are now using)...but they are a big mess. They need to go to Marina immediately.

They need to split. Parsons boy has potential, Parsons girl needs her own Zack Donohue.

I can't stand O'Shea's big fake smile he shows almost every time

Bottom Kevin is going to finish 14th out of 20 this year

I just watched the ice dancing in the rebroadcast. I can't believe I'm saying this because I've always been so bored by Chock/Bates, but this year I love their FD. It's much better than H/D's. I wish they'd won.

Did you know that Zach Donohue & Piper Gilles used to skate together when they were Juniors?

Last flight of six about to start at Nationals.

Standings so far: Dolensky-Torgashev-Rabbitt-Johnson-Ma

Pulkinen bombed the FS so hard that he is in Bottom Kevin's scoring territory

You know a ton of people are bombing when Sean Rabbit is going to finish in the top 10. I love watching the guy, but he doesn't have a triple axel.

Very nice skate for Hiwatashi. I hadn't seen him before.

Tomoki's been my one to watch of the juniors. Love his edgework, speed, power, and that he already has a quad. So glad to see him deliver tonight.

After this Tomoki Hiwatashi is going to 4 Continents if Chen doesn't take the spot as suggested

NATHAN!!! Unbelievable.

Tomoki will probably get 4CCs and Junior Worlds

The USFSA needs to leave Brown home and take Tomoki to senior worlds. He is the future, Jason double and single jumps.

Seriously, is this being RIGGED for Jason Brown? How in the fucking HELL did he get a bronze with that performance?! He literally popped HALF has jumps, yet his score card was ALL GREEN!!! Meanwhile, that Tomoki kid did WAY better and yet he's 4th? I was literally afraid they were going to put Brown in SECOND place over Zhou too!!! That's how rigged this seems to be for Jason. I honestly think he must be sucking/fucking judges to get the scores he does. Because he sucks-- both literally and figuratively. He should have been in 5th place or WORSE if they were judging this honestly!

I agree R35 at least to some extent and said in the Hanyu thread that I thought Tomoki should've beaten Brown in the LP (overall perhaps not given Brown's SP lead). But no one there agreed with me, FWIW.

[quote]Seriously, is this being RIGGED for Jason Brown? How in the fucking HELL did he get a bronze with that performance?! He literally popped HALF has jumps, yet his score card was ALL GREEN!!!

Presumably they will say that it's because Brown has nice artistry.

Guillaume showing off his arms at Euros:

Well, if USFS loves storylines (and follow social media) - poor Jason had a nervous breakdown after Worlds last year, missed the Olympics, changed to the biggest name skating club in the world, leaving his lifelong coach behind, and he's lately been shining (2nd in France?) So for the publicity - he's a bigger score (for the sport) than Tomoki (who?? says the mainstream fans) And Jason says he's aiming at Beijing - and Tomoki is only 19 - I mean, hey, don't forget the storyline!

And who was second again? Oh yeah Zzzzzzzhou. Wonder if the idea of an all Asian-American men's podium bothered anybody (who might be wearing a red hat, Maga or otherwise, this touchy year?)

R39, are you saying that because Jason Brown is now coached by Brian Orser, it gave him a political advantage?

No - and maybe there was no bias at all, but if there was, I think it's because Jason Brown is a known commodity with a backstory - and the young guy is a nobody at this point (Tomoki). Maybe the judges remember the sorta sad story of Jason missing out on the Olys to youngsters Zhou and Chen last year and they remember how hard he took it.

OTOH, maybe they were 100% fair and square. I don't really know how manipulated-by-big-feds that the judges are. I've heard they are - but with the numerical system now - well, anyway, IF I were making a movie out of this, I'd want Jason in it because of the biographical details and his celebrity (compared to the newbie). Filling the niche that Adam Rippon did last year at Worlds and the Olys.

R38 Guillaume showing off his (not so) inner gayness

God that german pairs skater is hot.

So are Alisa Liu's triple axels going to survive adolescence? She seems to almost come to a full stop before she jumps. I don't see how that technique can work if she gets much bigger.

Timothy LeDuc:

[quote]“I’m very grateful. I stand on the shoulders of many great athletes who have come before me and allowed me to be open,” LeDuc told Team USA. “I believe I am the first openly queer person to win the U.S. pairs title. Rudy Galindo and Randy Gardner came before but I don’t believe they were out.

[quote]”Queer people still face a lot of challenges in this country. We’re still fighting for equality. I know for me personally I spent a lot of my earlier life self-deprecating because I didn’t understand who I was, and it’s taken years and years of work to overcome that; I still doubt myself sometimes.

[quote]“To be standing here today as the first openly queer athlete, I don’t say that to honor myself, I say it to show to others that you can do this, you can overcome, and you are worth it; you don’t have to doubt yourself for any reason.”

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

[quote]"To be standing here today as the first openly queer athlete..."

Yeah, that's nice babe, now lose about 15 lbs around that midsection. Backfat doesn't medal.

I must be really behind, but I had no idea LeDuc was gay and out. That makes me even happier that they won.

The men's selections for the world team and 4CC are completely predictable. I'm more interested in who ends up getting junior worlds.

I want to suck on Tim’s big titties.

[quote]Yeah, that's nice babe, now lose about 15 lbs around that midsection. Backfat doesn't medal.

Don't listen to him, Timothy. Your beefy midsection and bubble ass are hot AF. Keep working those Brian Boitano tights too.

[quote]So are Alisa Liu's triple axels going to survive adolescence? She seems to almost come to a full stop before she jumps. I don't see how that technique can work if she gets much bigger.

She definitely needs more power; however, the good news in her favor is that her basic technique appears decent, which generally holds skaters up in good stead as they get older.

That's half the battle already.

Like, there are certain skaters you can tell right away whether their jumps will start to fail them as they mature because the technique is so bad (i.e. Yulia Lipnitskaya, Caroline Zhang, and most recently, Starr Andrews), but when the technique is good, then the other half of the battle then boils down to body type and how that'll manifest over time.

If Alysa ends up maturing into a stocky build (like Zhang did), I don't think her existing technique will hold unless that new body lends her significantly more power and speed. But if she maintains are relatively slender frame through puberty (like Michelle Kwan) did, I could see her maintaining that 3axel.

So who is Timothy Leduc's boyfriend?

Thanks R51, sounds like Liu's gay skatedad is keeping on top of things, then. I felt bad for Bradie Tennell when she stumbled on her FS after managing such a powerhouse SP, but these things happen, but Alysa won for the right reasons.

There is about zero chance that Alisa Liu is still going to be doing triple axels in three years when she needs to.

[quote]“I believe I am the first openly queer person to win the U.S. pairs title. Rudy Galindo and Randy Gardner came before but I don’t believe they were out.

This bitch...

Rudy was a closeted teenager during his pair years, but he won US singles as an openly gay man. Le Duc can't even bring himself to say "gay."

Why R54? I mean I find the dead stop then jump iffy, but are there other things about her technique or future build?

Zach Donohue:

[quote]So proud of and excited for @icegirlash & Tim! You fought hard, skated your hearts out and performed like champions before your marks even hit the screens! Congratulations

I don’t know how I’ve missed this but I’ve stumbled on Lambiel’s Instagram. Is he fucking Deniss Vasiljevs??? And does Trankov has something going on with him? Isn’t he married?

R58, Lambiel has been the choreographer for Deniss for several seasons now.

And sometimes they've skated together at shows, so they are hinting at a relationship:

[quote] Is he fucking Deniss Vasiljevs??? And does Trankov has something going on with him? Isn’t he married?

Honey, Lambiel is a DL legend infamous for sleeping with married men. He's a whore darling. Trankov is crazy and clearly doesn't care who blows him.

r58 Lambiel's Vasiljevs's coach. Vasilievs has been living with him ever since he became his student, initially probably for financial reasons since Switzerland is so expensive for a Lithuanian. Lambiel appears to be dating and living with his manager and posting eyebrow-rising pics of domestic bliss with Vasiljevs. Lambiel's other student, a Japanese, also lives in his house.

general tweet by Stars on Ice about who won US Nationals

Ashley E. Cain @icegirlash Does this mean we can be on Stars on Ice?!🙈

Dmitriy Aliev@aliev_dmitriy replay to @icegirlash Agressive marketing😀

Adam Rippon @Adaripp in replay to @aliev_dmitriy e @icegirlash That’s show business!!!

Dmitriy Aliev @aliev_dmitriy in replay to @Adaripp. You’re pretty good in this world. Since you retired, maybe you wanna become my manager?)😄😜

I have noticed Dmitry (and other Russian male skaters) love stalking Nathan Chen on social media.

I bet that if Nathan ever went for it, he could have his pick from a long line of Russian Bros waiting for his attention.

Openly LGBT duo makes history at US Figure Skating Championships

[quote]Openly LGBT duo

*rolleyes*

Joseph is a gay man and Karina is Bisexual. None of them are Trans.

[R18] yeah omg nathan is thicc i swear the BDE is strong figuratively and i hope literally i wish he was gay tho

[R35] tf is wrong with you jason popped two jumps - 4S and 3S presumably due to the 4S his underinflated PCS (compared to the rest) is a travesty

yeah nathan has gorg abs i hope he has a nice dick too

New photo from Guillaume:

(liked by Paul Poirier, Eric Radford & Adam Rippon)

Guillaume is such a narcissist, LOL

Paul Poirier says he & Piper will be on the Stars on Ice Tour this year:

ISU raised to number of Pairs making the FS at Worlds from16 to 20 but I start to think that there can be less than 20 teams entered at Worlds...

3 Russia

2 Canada

2 Germany

2 France (but will likely use only 1. Given they didn't meet the minimum for Euros, I doubt the other French teams can achieve the minimum for Worlds in the coming weeks)

2 Italy

2 China

And that's 12 teams

Then

13 Austria

14 Spain

15 Croatia

16 USA

17 North Korea

18 Australia

19 Japan

There are only 4 events left to achieve the minimums (4 Continents, Bavarian Open, Ice Mall Cup and Challenge Cup).

All countries entered at 4CCs already have the minimums. Those trying to get it in the minor events are:

- The British pair who already have the minimum in FS. They are entered at both Bavaria Open and Ice Mall Cup

- The Israel pair in their home competition. They need to make minimum TES in both segments. Entered at Ice Mall

- Bidar who is expected to debut with the new girl at Bavarian Open. They will do also Challenge Cup.

- a new Dutch team with a former Finnish girl. Never competed before. Entered at Bavarian Open and Challenge Cup.

- a new Swiss team. Entered at Bavarian Open and Challenge Cup.

My favorite bromance was always Florent Amodio and Javier Fernandez. Their hug was so cute. Click on the > for more pics.

Why is Bradie Tennell still skating? There is now a skater more technically advanced and she is taking up a spot.

R73 She is still skating to save USFSA from the embarassment to send First Alternate Megan Whatshername to an ISU Championship

Those who were able to do triple axles tend to be on the stockier side dont they? Like tonya, tukt, mirai. Mao was the only really skinny one, but she was never as malnourished as lipnitskaia or med. even 16 year old kihira already has way bigger thighs than the chicken leg eteri bots

That's interesting. Midori Ito was not skinny either. Wakaba Higuchi has worked/is working on a 3A.

And to R73's point, a big ole country like the US ought to have a few skaters, not just one, so I'm proud of Bradie stepping up and doing pretty well on the international circuit. Lord knows we've had enough headcases with talent but who couldn't take the pressure. Gorgeous girl and I like her subdued personality. Enough with narcissistic Americans!

R73 Alysa Liu won't be eligible for senior internationals for three years, so the USFSA definitely needs Bradie for the time being.

It looks like Kori Ade is leaving Colorado Springs for Tennessee to join Scott Hamilton's skating academy.

Wasn't she running her own academy in Colorado? What happens to all the staff and students who worked there with her?

R78 Does she have any high profile athlete left? I mean, not Jordan Moeller

Loboda/Shibnev have debuted internationally. They scored 64.98 at Egna Trophy. It looks like a decent score but it was a pretty over-scored event. Tessari/Fioretti are leading with 67.40

Konkina/Drodz are expected to debut internationally at Ice Mall Cup on 21-23 February.

"Hope to see you all again tomorrow . Good night" said the announcer after the RD at Egna Dance Trophy

Ryom/Kim and Aleksandovskaya/Windsor are off the 4CCs list.

I didn't know Pavel Drozd got a new partner. I follow his Instagram and it just seems like he's always on a permanent vacation.

I guess Drozd comes from a rich family. Because yes, it looks like he is always on vacation, in Greece, in Spain and wherever.

But not rich enough to buy a release for him and/or Abachkina.

Alysa Liu isn't even eligible for international Juniors. Skaters get injured, girl skaters also can lose jumps once they go through an adolescent growth spurt and weight gain and their center of gravity changes. See every Eteri skater ever. Hopefully, this won't be the case with Liu.

Bradie needs to be around for the next three years--ideally, Mariah Bell will keep her head case issues together ad the two of them can skate well enough to get three spots back for US Ladies. Bell still needs a triple-triple though.

Keep in mind that if Bradie hadn't blown her triple-triple, she would have won. Liu doesn't have top-notch PCS scores and there was an issue with under-rotations. All of this is fine for a 13-year-old, but Liu won because she skated her best and Bell and Tennell did not. It wasn't a case of Liu being so much better technically that no one else had a chance.

I like Bradie. I like how hard she works, how much her PCS has improved. I even like the fact that she's a stork and not a swan or a hummingbird. She's got serious grit and she doesn't fall apart when a skate goes badly. She saved our American Ladies bacon last year after Gracie Gold imploded, Polina Edmunds was sidelined with that weird injury, Ashley Wagner's skills continued to deteriorate and Karen Chen showed that, yes, she would be inconsistent no matter what it took. Oh, and Mirai managed a three axel by basically dumping the rest of her choreography.

Bradie deserves way more respect than she gets.

R78 Kori has Laurine LeCavelier. Courtney Hicks? She probably still has a full stable of students but not at a high international level. It is odd that she's moving again, I wonder what's happening.

I agree R85, I don't even love Bradie's skating all that much but really respect her all the same.

R86 Ah yes, Hicks!

I am not sure what is the current coaching status of Lecavelier. She said she got French Fed's agreement to move to Ballester permanently just before he died in December. Joubert was with her in K&C at Euros.

Seems strange she would give up being the director of her own academy to be a staff coach in another.

Unless she thinks Hamilton's academy might attract a bigger pool of elite talents her way?

Maybe Jason was her breadwinner that allowed the academy to keep going, and now that he's gone, she can't keep revenue coming in without another star pupil?

And what of Miss Rohene? I doubt he'll want to move to hick-town Tennessee to work with Fundie Scott and his ilk.

Rohene departed some time ago. Last I heard he was based in the NYC area.

R88 I definitely think it was Jason's fame that was keeping Kori afloat in Colorado. I don't think figure skating is popular enough in the US to sustain coaches like Ade unless she can hitch herself to a "name"--in this case, Fundie Scott.

R85 Completely agree with you about Bradie and thank you for writing that. The comments I've been reading about how she and the other current American women are mere "placeholders" until Liu gets older have really pissed me off.

The team ranked in 12th in Ice Dance at Junior US Nationals (Purnell/Purnell) announe retirement.

Not that we care...but some damning passages by the girl

..."The very first time I ever tried to cut was with the blade of one of my skates. I should’ve quit then. Instead I told someone who I trusted could help me most. They did nothing. I continued to cut in silence for months. I then turned to the only way I thought we’d ever be successful, and I began to starve myself. I didn’t question the awful body expectations the sport has; I just followed the rules. I ate a few pieces of dry lettuce, spent my free time in the basement doing 1,000 burpee challenges, fainted, cried, and utterly despised my body because that is what the skating world taught me to do. I will never ever forget being at a skating camp, being weighed and coming in at my lowest weight ever (10 pounds under the weight that was considered underweight for my height and age), and a judge personally congratulated me on my weight loss. Thirty minutes after the weigh-in, we had one-on-one critiques with the officials. The very first thing the highly ranked judge said to me was, “Claire, I see that you’ve decided to take care of yourself. Congratulations.” What was intended to be a compliment actually seemed to indicate that the significant decrease in my weight, power, strength, mood, and health is what would finally allow Luke and I to accomplish our goals. "

Loboda/Shibnev aren't going anywhere. Well, apart with asses on ice.

Dropped to third place at Egna Trophy beaten by Calderone/Papetti. In the FS (both of them fell), they were behind Manni/Roethlisberger (or whatever his surname is) who can't even make the FS cut at Euros.

that sounds horrible. what's the point of spending all your family's money, starving and stressing yourself out on a sport no one cares about? especially as an American skater without hardly any touring or sponsorship opportunities, even if you reach the top? good luck to that poor girl.

Eric Radford posted a hot new photo:

Did you guys see the location of Eric's pic @ R94

[quote]Los Angeles, California

Very nice. Make those connections Eric while you are still hot.

Based on the shape of the underwear bulge, I'm guessing Eric is uncut.

Anyone else want to weigh in?

I can't quite tell with the lighting. Eric please, show us a pic of your fully erect penis. Thank you.

R95, there are some pics of Eric in L.A. on his IG Stories:

Crap! I don't have an instagram to see his story. v

New TSL out last night discussing US Nationals and featurig Scott Dyer who now teaches Soul Cycle in San Francisco. If he gets 30 students on Sunday (I forget the exact details) he wears a sparkly skating costume to class.

It's a longggg TSL, but I actually listened to the whole thing. So, upshot, all impressed with Nathan Chen's performance--talk of Hanyu being a bit sloppy in places. I'm sure that's going over well with the Hanyustans. Praise by Dyer for Jason Brown's triple axel. All in all, unsnarky and makes me look forward to Worlds.

Long time spent discussing Ladies--Dyer said Bradie seemed to never really get into her knees during the long and couldn't shake off the first stumble as a result. All thought she'd probably skate mad and well at 4 CCs. Lots of criticism of Liu's components, though Dyer thought her 3-axel jump technique was basically good. The Liu team is supposed to be bringing in people, including Frank Carroll, to work on Liu's non-jump elements, so generally a positive attitude toward our favorite skate dad's management of his daughter's career. Positive comments about Ting Cui and Mariah.

Lots of talk about the personalities and politics in pairs--thought the second place team shouldn't have been sent over Stellato/Bartholomey to 4CC? I didn't watch pairs, now I'm kind of sorry I didn't as it sounds like it was quite the drama/splatfest.

Dance--David compared Hubbell/Donahue to gods coming down from Olympus--which describes how they seemed to me when I saw them live last year--but thinks the FD this year is a major misfire that's not getting better. However, at this point, they're stuck with it. I agree. Rumor of some sort of Fosse-style number next season--I could definitely see that working for them.

Lots of praise for the Chock/Bates comeback skate and how Montreal is working for them--enough so that C/B might start climbing up next season. (I could see that.) Some discussion as to whether Hawayek/Baker, because of Jean-Luc's petite stature, were topping out and were not going to be able to go much further and if the fed should start giving some teams below them more opportunities. Jonathan countered that it was a little soon to say that.

Meanwhile, the discussion went on so long, that Scott Dyer missed the dance discussion because he had to go teach Soul Cycle.

When is 4CC?

[quote] When is 4CC?

it starts on Thursday

[quote]Crap! I don't have an instagram to see his story.

I'll see if I can link the photos here:

#1:

# 2:

# 3:

# 4:

[quote]Some discussion as to whether Hawayek/Baker, because of Jean-Luc's petite stature...

I'm glad the discussion is centered around Jean-Luc's short stature and not Kaitlin.

So often in pair/dance teams, it's the girl's body that gets put under a microscope whenever there are large discrepancies in body proportions between the male and female.

In this case, it's Jean-Luc's height that's the outlier from the average. He's tiny, and any average height girl is going to look big next to him.

I agree with TSL that they might have maxed out their potential. Baker needs to find an equally tiny woman (like 5'5" or shorter) and Kaitlin, vice versa, a taller guy with more power.

It's not politically correct, but I agree that Jean Luc looks too little and/or Kaitlyn is too big, to the point where they look odd together. His overall look still looks creepy with facial hair, deep V tops, etc. Similarly, i don't get Hubbell/Donahue. Her free dance dress looks boxy, drab, &dreadful and she looks like a Midwestern housewife. Tired of their over the top dramaticism. Yet some people are huge fans.

R91, where did you find the announcement and her statement? TIA

R100...if you are in the US and get the Olympic Channel...I think they're still showing the Pairs. If not, YouTube it...watching Tarah Kayne's meltdown was AMAZING. The dramatic pinched face as they skated over half the ice during the aborted lift. Her going to get the flowers from a fan and crushing them to her chest as the tears streamed down her face. Running into her coaches arms and sobbing (right in front of the camera, naturally.) And her absolutely losing her shit when she realized they wouldn't even make the podium.

Kiss and cry gold. It doesn't get any better.

It was fucking amazing to see Tara and her abominable coach get shut out of the podium. Their antics were a disgrace during the SP.

I'm sure Hawayek does her best to keep down the weight and she's not tall, but she's got broad shoulders--it just isn't a tiny frame, Jean-Luc is a dainty dude. It's kind of a shame because he's a beautiful skater. He needs a partner the size of Wenjing Sui--and girls that tiny are often in singles or pairs because it's easier for them to rotate jumps and get thrown. Hawayek could be matched to any number of male skaters.

Hubbell and Donohue are tall and really powerful skaters--add in their good looks--and they make an impact on the ice next to the itty-bitty singles skaters or even most dance teams. Madison, in particular, is a stand-out that way--she's got to be the strongest, fastest female ice dancer out there, she'd look at home with a hockey stick. But the speed and power don't come across on television--they just seem kind of big. Romeo and Juliet just seems all sorts of wrong for them--too big, too old, too grand. No fragility there--particularly with Madison.

Okay, will check out the pairs disaster. I tend to prefer watching good pairs skating, but the histrionics might be worth it. I'll always remember Barbara what's-her-name drop dead stare when her dance partner dropped her during the Olympics. If looks could kill, he'd have been a small pile of cinders on the ice.

I honestly don't get the love for Tarah and Danny--well, mostly Tarah I don't get.

In my opinion, she's such a weak skater with terrible jump technique. She pre-rotates her salchows until they are practically double axels by the time she leaves the ice.

Danny has good basics and probably would've gone a lot farther with a better partner.

It's true that Jean-Luc Baker is probably a bit too short to be an ice dancer.

So is Shane Firus. It may be why Shane dropped Soucisse on the ice during a lift in the Free Dance at Canadians last month.

They both have a small stature that is really more suited for men's singles. But it's probably hard to make the change at this late stage.

Okay, checked out pairs, then had to watch Sui/Han as a palate cleanser. What a disaster. Cain/LeDuc's win was nice because A) it was cleanish and B) she came back from that concussion. It's nice to see she's not paralyzed. Tough cookie.

Tarah was all drama-drama-drama. I had way more fun watching Deanna and her drag-queen eye glitter. At least someone was having fun up there.

And what the hell happened with Knierems? Is he injured? Such a weird pair--they can do the hard stuff, but they seem unable to polish and clean stuff up. Would love to know what happened with Aliona.

Eric Radford is a butterface. There I said it. Also why does Hubbell have the worst costumes? They look so trashy compared to let's say P/C or even C/B. Her free dance dress is all kinds of drab.

I checked out Rohene's insta and the show in German that he's on (Holidays On Ice) is so much better than the tacky SOI tours in US/Canada. The Europeans clearly have better taste.

R108 here

Both Jean-Luc and Michael Parsons are taller than Marco Fabbri. All the men are only a few inches taller than their partners. Yet, in my opinion, the Italians have learned how to overcome any height limitations.

This is mainly a choreography issue. The Americans need to develop better lifts that are better suited to them. Massimo Scali was only 5'5" (same as Marco) so sometimes his partner lifted him. The Parsons do a lift (in their new FD, I think) that basically copies a Papadakis/Cizeron one...but Rachel sitting on Michael's lap isn't aesthetically pleasing. They are too close in size. They need to develop that self-awareness. (Though this is the same team that thought it was a great idea to reuse P/C's 2015-6 music...so there is something lacking there. I maintain that the Parsons need to leave their coaches and go to Marina. This isn't working.)

Hawayek/Baker are a bit different. She is only 5'3" but looks bigger. Part of that is her body frame compared to his...but it's also skating style. She is so much stiffer that he is. Watch that FD at Nationals and you'll see him being so fluid and flexible and her skating like she has a metal rod in her back. If she could work on her upper body and extensions...that would help.

Yeah, I agree about Hawakey & Baker together. They both have perfectly fine bodies, it's just that their lines don't match each other.

As for the Hubbell / Donohue appeal, they look good together on the ice (well matched lines) and ooze sexual chemistry as a team. Their FD this year sucks, though.

I've liked some of Madison Hubbell's costumes, the Juliet costume just depresses me. Zach is fine in black, but then Zach is usually fine, am happy to look at Zach always. It's funny, I sort of feel like Papadakis and Cizeron are doing an H/D style dance this year, though they're doing it in their own inimitable P/C way, while H/D are doing something that P/C could do in their sleep.

Still on the fence about P/C's free dance this year--they'll win and, as always, they dance/express through every moment, but I don't find it compelling. However, their dances usually grown on me. But right now I like their short better than their long--and usually I think of their short as the thing to get through before we get to the really good stuff in the long.

Poje/Weaver's tango is gorgeous.

Really, it's a question of whether H/D's strength will be enough to overcome their crappy taste in programming this year. I suppose they were trying to stretch, but this one doesn't work.

Hawayek is a little stiff, but I don't know if that will be enough to overcome the scale issue. Good costuming helps--they had that in the Rachmaninoff. He needs to avoid anything that makes him look smaller--tight and dark. Dave on the TSL though thinks Jean-Luc's actual size though means he's doing a ton of paddling to build up speed and look big on the ice. When I saw them do the Rachmaninoff in person, they actually did have a strong presence on the ice--more so than the Shibs or Chock and Bates.

Not sure why the Parsons don't go to Marina. She knows how to package siblings and can work with a lot of body types. Montreal wouldn't work for them, but Zueva would.

It would be interesting to see if Zueva can rebuilt a relevant school or if she wants to or her move to Florida is just pre-retirement.

[quote]Eric Radford is a butterface. There I said it.

Eric Radford is 6 feet 2 of hotness.

You're telling me you would turn down this?

We need a close up of his erect penis in order to make a better assessment.

I don't find Eric R "hot", but if he spent more time showing off his skills and less time showing off thirst trap pics, I think I would find him unbelievably sexy. He's an athlete, a musician, an interesting person, and has great physique, but it seems like he wants to be known as a sex symbol and I find that that just emphasizes his rather humdrum face and other less than great features.

It's sort of like Gus K. He was very cute when he was an extreme skier who cared about puppies. As he tries to be "a gay twitter celebrity" it sort of just magnifies all his flaws because he so very much wants other people to comment on how attractive he is.

I'm a pass on both for now.

Tim LeDuc can give me the Tim LeD any day though

It's amazing how pretty universally everyone hates H/D's programs (especially the FD) this year. Maybe their superfan who always says they need to be seen in person will chime in with their love for it...but it's not getting much love from anyone except the judges. And I can't believe that they are using that long spoken first part. So fucking tacky. They may very well still grab Silver at Worlds...but this was not the year they needed. Instead of cementing their place...they are letting all of these other teams catch up to them. The one thing saving them has been better consistency. But one major mistake and they could very easily be off the podium.

Meanwhile, after years of being slagged by the world...with everyone telling them to just retire already...Chock/Bates have actually delivered. I hope they have a great rest of the season. Would love for them to beat H/D.

Was watching US Nationals again and continue to be impressed by Carreira/Ponomarenko. They're going to be stars. They're the only young team that seems ready for the big time. If they can get her citizenship issue solved, I could see them on the Olympic podium.

And I agree with R119...I LOVE P/C and while I do like their FD, it isn't my favorite of theirs by any means. But it's funny how people like PJ Kwong who have never really liked P/C now are really feeling this program. So, I guess that's something.

R123, Eric Radford is nowhere near the attention whore that Adam Rippon is.

And unlike Adam, Eric at least won an individual Olympic medal (as well as several World Championships).

Eric needs to show us the goods if he wants a lasting career. There is a lot of potential with the right angle.

A web series and the right "benefactor" could turn Eric into a gay sensation.

Eric posted an underwear photo showing the outline of his cock & balls at R94.

That's more than we get from most figure skaters.

It was a great way to advertise to the WEHO queens that will surely take him under their wing.

And credit to Paul Poirier for also doing some revealing photos:

r129 I love the Paul P photos. They are beautiful photos in addition to highlighting Paul's... assets. They also have a clear level of taste. He's not posing in a red speedo or having us gaze directly at his abs but see an entire body in motion.

R130, I agree that the Paul P photos are more subtle. They're not like the obvious Radford crotch photos. They're more artistic.

But Paul & the photographer obviously know that those tight black shorts highlight his ass & bulge . . . : )

Southern Californians, are any of you going to Four Continents. I made plans to go Saturday and Sunday, but am wondering if it's worth it since there is a depleted field.

R124, I'm the poster you think is the "superfan", but I'm also the one posting about how I don't think H/D's free dance doesn't work. I think Weaver/Poje is more likely to usurp H/D than Chock/Bates this season, but Chock/Bates are finally heading in the right direction.

Meanwhile, H/D should be challenging P/C's dominance, but that's not happening this year.

R133, Weaver/Poje barely beat Gilles/Poirier at Nationals last month, and lost to G&P in the Free Dance.

So it's hard to say where they will place this year.

True, G/P's FD is lovely and distinctive. W/P's FD is yet another downer. So, maybe the real challenge to H/D is from the Russians. I suspect, though, if Zach stays on his feet, H/D will stay on top even with Romeo & Juliet, they did, after all, win the Grand Prix with it and questionable taste never got in the way of Virtue/Moir winning.

The Technical panel at 4 Continents for Ice Dance is

Referee: Ms. Jennifer MAST (USA)

Technical Controller: Ms. Halina GORDON POLTORAK (Poland)

Technical Specialist: Ms. Marie BOWNESS (Canada)

Assistant Technical Specialist: Ms. Svetlana LYAPINA (Russia)

Judges drawn were Australia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Poland, USA (Reserve: Switzerland, Great Britain, Slovakia, Germany

Paul Poirier posted a photo of his plane ticket to Los Angeles on IG Stories:

Hmmm, seems like 4 CC should favor H/D . The other medals should be duked out by W/P, G/P, C/B with H/B slipping in if something goes disastrously wrong for a couple of teams.

Men's should be kind of interesting, neither Hanyu nor Chen there, so it will be interesting to see how the field shakes out. Uno and ?

Ladies--wonder if that will be a Japanese sweep of if Bradie or another American will sneak in there.

Pairs--there's going to be a hell of a gap between Sui/Han and the rest of that field. Ouch.

The Russian caller in 4CCs Ice Dance is Jonathan Guerreiro's mother

Annette Poetsch and Shin Amano are calling Men

Guillaume posted another photo today:

Does Guillaume post anything other than shirtless photos of himself? Granted, the photo is classier than Radford's but still.

R141, you're telling me that you wouldn't want to get your hands on Guillaume's body? ; )

I think it's great that our favorite figure skating gay men like Guillaume, Radford & Paul P are showing us their nice bodies.

R142, no, I'm not saying that but I'm not a huge fan of those who only /mostly post selfies of themselves shirtless, no matter how hot they are. Just seems naricissistic to me

Radford posted a few clips on IG Stories of himself being photographed in LA:

Just give it a rest would you Eric?

R145, I love Paul P's ass:

While I was watching the US Nationals rhythm dance short program I noticed that the stands were virtually empty even though the camera operators were trying to keep their cameras low so as not to show that. I texted a fellow figure skating fan, wondering why no one was there. He said, "US figure skating is DEAD. Just like US tennis."

Eric Radford posted another photo from Los Angeles today:

let's talke about nathan chen

r149 Nice ass, nice abs, some great jumps, some bad jumps, usually abandons choreography as he adds more quads, nice personalty and great brain, his worst trait is his association with Vera Wang

I'm starting to like Nathan Chen. At first I thought he was just about the jumps, but he's growing on me.

I agree with R150 that he has a nice ass. Not quite in the same league as Paul Poirier's, but still nice.

And I like the fact that he was one of the skaters that refused to meet Trump at the White House.

Nathan's an odd duck. He can go from devilishly handsome to incredibly unappealing depending on the day and especially depending on the hair cut. He's got a great body, but he needs grooming to really pull together a coherent look beyond "athlete". He's not particularly fluid and he does abandon choreo as he starts shifting around programs to add/subtract elements, but he's not unmusical. He clearly can feel a beat and can skate into a song (he's no Bradie Tennell, who while I admire, is definitely not a fount of artistry) but because he moves rather solidly he's been dogged by accusations of being non-artistic.

It's sort of the opposite problem of Guillaume, who flows so smoothly that people (or well, maybe just Canadians) always scream "oh he can't do anything but femme-y languid artsy.

I like them both and think both can be quite handsome on ice and off, but I think just because people have a style they excel the most at does not mean they are unartistic or non-versatile.

I also agree that Nathan seems to have a decent head on his shoulders despite the "Chen family coaching squad" It makes him an easier skater to cheer for than say Vincent.

Also, if somebody told me, out of Grant Hochstein and Nathan Chen exactly one of them was straight, I could believe it.

R152, I get the sense sometimes from things he has liked on Twitter that Vincent seems more right-wing than Nathan.

At least Guillaume and Eric are giving us new pics. Paul Poirier needs to up his game if he wants to be a DL icon. I'm tired of the same old three pictures (which aren't all that great anyway.)

Does anyone have snaps of Nathan's abs flashing? I watched the FS but didn't notice it (beyond the costume coming undone) and I'm too lazy to rewatch it.

r153 Is he a good Christian soldier? Hopefully he's not one of those... Rudy Galindo types if you know what I mean.

I have a soft spot for Nathan, he doesn't have Hanyu's fluidity of movement and he gets knocked for that, but I think it's those tight strong muscles that give him those quads. I give him major props for skating to challenging music. I don't think he's a great performer, but I think he's seriously musical.

Re: Bradie--she's getting better. Her short at Nationals was actually kind of expressive.

The skater whom I always found unmusical was Gracie Gold. Even when she was skating well, there was no connection.

Nathan's abs have flashed in more than one performance in that costume, I think it's the nature of the costume. Nice of him, no?

[quote]Vincent seems more right-wing than Nathan.

That's because Nathan is not right wing.

r159 I could give Nathan some private lessons and fix that. He's just my type (to teach, I mean).

Can we join you, Paul?

We like to..."teach" too.

r161 Twinning with Asian Wives! Anybody make the bet that Karen Kwan would stay married longer than Michelle? To this queen, no less?

So whatever happen to Yuka's ex-husband? It's like he banished after their split. There were always rumors that Jason Dungen was gay.

Jason Dungen always seemed pretty much like a straight jock to me.

Was even into going hunting at one point.

R163 He is coaching the crap Japanese pair. And he is a technical specialist for ISU...he was serving at Autumn Classic this season IIRC

R154 = Andrew Poje

Vincent seems maybe libertarian to me? He loves guns, I seem to recall. I haven't seen evidence he's a right wing religious nut like Courtney Hicks, but feel free to point me there if evidence says otherwise.

Nathan Chen seems like one of those liberal straight guys who's so hetero that he's not bothered if people speculate because he's in a 'gay sport.'

Vincent is the favorite mocking subject in the other thread, he appears to be a retentious twat leaning right but not religious.

Btw here's what a person attending practices wrote about him:

[Quote]Speaking of official practice, I saw Vincent Zhou on full display and his skating is like his poetry materialized. He skates as if he owns the ice no matter whose music is on, gets in everyone's way without making any effort to look out for other people, takes up 70% of the ice at any given time, and just acts like no one else exists there with him. I thought he was just an immature kid but seeing the way he acted today my narcissist radar started going off. Self importance, delusions of grandeur, victim mentality.

He makes it easy to root for Nathan. At least Nathan, for all his imperfections isn't "redefining his standard of what is an acceptable jump rotation",

[quote]So whatever happen to Yuka's ex-husband? It's like he banished after their split. There were always rumors that Jason Dungen was gay.

I always got the impression he was straight. I still remember that creepy moment when Alyssa Cizney bombed (yet another) free skate and when she got to the Kiss n Cry, Jason pulled her into this loooong embrace where he basically whispered gently into her ear for what seemed like an eternity. Maybe simply a gesture to try and comfort her, but omg the intimacy of it creeped me out and it came off super pervy and inappropriate.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if it was revealed he crossed some lines with her--especially after I saw that.

but yuka and Jason continued coaching some skaters together after their divorce. if he'd been cheating on her with a student or whatever, i doubt she'd want to keep coaching together.

I'm more curious about why Kulik and gordeeva split up. their kid is too tall to land the jumps. too bad but i hope she finds satisfaction in something else other than skating.

Kulik and Gordeeva split up???

Yes!!!!! So it was him I saw in West Hollywood? OMG OMG, I was right all along. Illia, I am right here baby. You don't need women at all.

R170 He filed for divorce in 2016

I thought that Alissa Czizsny was sleeping with Jason Djungen...and Yuka Sato left him. Never got a gay vibe.

Glad Ilia left Katya. She was, by several accounts, a bitter and nasty cunt.

Don't look at me bitches. I may have flirted with Jason, but that's why I left Yuka for Rafael.

Oh Jesus, I actually thought they made a nice couple. Ilia has a rink in SoCal, I hope he goes gay for his next relationship.

Radford & Poje, cute photo

My goodness, what a view. Now just take the pants off....

Ladies SP starting order today

Chen

Mallet

Austman

Isadora Williams

Montesinos

____

So

Cui

Lin

Yelim Kim

Perticheto

_____

Han

Craine

Lim

Hanul Kim

Chartrand

Leung

______

Tursynbaeva

Bell

Kihira

Sakamoto

Tennell

Mihara

MEN SP

Manko

Ip

Lee

Wong

Zhang

----

Carillo

Tang

Lee

Lynette

Webster

---

Dodds

Chew

Yee

Hiwatashi

Nadeau

----

Nguyen

Cha

Tomono

Kerry

Tanaka

---

Brown

Uno

Zhou

Messing

Jin

R177, that's the first time I've seen Poje willing to goof around with a gay guy like that.

Poje is usually so afraid of anyone thinking he is gay.

Poje has definitely been inching out of the closet for years now.

That's possible, R181.

I'm not a big fan of Poje because I find him (and Weaver) to be somewhat cold.

And I haven't forgotten his insistence that he was straight during the Skate Canada "Get Tough" campaign.

But if he starts being more out, I might warm up to him.

Stephane avoiding confirming anything about his personal life

Stephane is so pathetic. We know he fucking lives with his boyfriend and his kept boy.

Even Nathan Chen has been more openly gay in his instagram than these Maries, and Nathan appears to like girls!

Yeah, Lambiel's competitive career has been over for years, so what is he worried about?

Yeah, let me join head scratching. Everybody who's into figure skating knows Stephane's gay, in the place where he lives nobody cares. Why the fuck the avoidance?

[quote]Yes, nevertheless I do not like to talk about relationships, sex and divorce. When I run on the ice, it’s public. What I do at home stays there. That’s how I was raised.

How he was raised?

I would have thought the Swiss were pretty liberal about such things.

And I mean Jamal Othman married Romain Haguenauer...so can't be a Swiss issue

R170, Ilia Kulia and Katia Gordeeva had a simple and uncontested divorce without lawyers. I think it's likely they just fell out of love over the years.

I can kind of understand why some of the ice dancers are cautious about coming out because audiences like to believe in the romantic fantasy that the two skaters are a couple off ice.

But single skaters aren't under the same pressure.

the old British woman got the minimum for Worlds at Bavarian Open tonight in Pairs

Perhaps Stephane doesn't want to put Deniss in a bad position...like it's been said, everyone knows about him but maybe they want to keep up the illusion for Deniss.

Tennell leading SP at 4CCS.

Bradie 73.91

Sakamoto 73.36

Bell 70.02

Lim 69.14

Kihira 68.85

Tursynbarva 68.09

Cui 66.73

Mihara 65.15

[quote]Poje has definitely been inching out of the closet for years now.

Do you know whether Poje has a boyfriend?

He's handsome, has a ripped body, and is 6'3 tall.

He would have no trouble finding a lot of guys who want his cock.

Tennell's ahead of all the Japanese girls--wow, wasn't expecting that, even with a clean skate. Don't expect her to win, but a medal would be nice and a good sign for Worlds--i.e. getting back three spots.

I am disappointed Leanna Caron nominated herself as the Canadian judge for Ladies rather than Ice Dance at 4CCs

New pic from Eric Radford in Los Angeles:

A couple clips of Eric & his boyfriend at Universal Studios, Hollywood:

Vincent Zhou scored over 100 in the SP and is leading Cha, Boyang and Uno (all in the 90s)

People forget that Vincent used to be loved by the judges. Welcome back Vincent.

I'll take Nathan Chen, thanks:

R201 mmmmmm hot

r61 Shimada shares an apartment with Luke Digby and Matilda Algotsson, but I’m not sure if it’s the same apartment with Lambiel, his boyfriend (?) and Vasiljevs.

[quote]I'll take Nathan Chen, thanks

From behind?

Well sure, R204, I like Nathan's ass.

But I was saying I prefer him to Vincent because he's not right-wing.

Moore Towers and Marinaro beat Sui/Han in the SP

Moore Towers/Marinaro 74.66

Sui/Han 74.18 . She fell on the SBS

Peng/Jin 69.48. She landed the SBS but uncharacteristically fell on the throw

Cain/LeDuc 67.49

Kayne/O'Shea 66.34

Moore-Towers and Marinaro are certainly skating well these days.

They took a couple of seasons to gel as a team, but they have a shot at Top 5 in the World next month.

Marinaro is also kind of cute, and has a nice butt. And although I think he's straight, I was glad to see him go to Toronto Pride last summer.

Do Cain & Leduc have a chance to move up to bronze in the LP?

[quote] Do Cain & Leduc have a chance to move up to bronze in the LP?

you can always count on Peng on landing a SBS to save her life.

Rhythm Dance about to begin

Judges are Canada, Bosnia (yes, she is that woman from ISU congress this summer), Great Britain, USA, the usual Georgian woman (who must have no job to be available for 100 events each season), China, Australia, Japan and Poland

Men are the majority of the panel (5 out of 9) which is unusual.

For Canada, Bosnia and USA judges it is the first time with the +/-5 system in an international event.

Koledo and Japanese beard started well at Asian Open in August. But since then they didn't show any sign of improvement. Actually they scores went back to usual medium to low levels

And it is not that the panel is very strict today. Both the second tier CHinese couples and Dodds got SB so far.

Ex Danes should go over 70 judging by the TES

Hawayek/Baker into the lead by 1 point. I thought they were going to end behind. But yes, 1 point gained in PCS and 1 because of the -1 deducation of the exDanes

announcer is very annoying

The lovely Paul Poitier is up now.

78.05 for G/P

Hubbell/Donohue 81.95

loo too big

Chock/Bates are going to beat Gilles/Poirier and will be close to H/D

81.17. Won TES over H/D

Weaver/Poje into third place with 80.56

Weaver & Poje put me to sleep.

The referee called the tempo violation in the pattern to Fournier/Sorensen

I'm so sad G/P in 4th, they don't deserve that.. :-(

Kulik's rink in SoCal went bust. I presume going belly-up contributed to the demise of their marriage, but they were never the stable couple, always very on-off. Must have been confusing for their daughter. Her other daughter and Ilia clearly never got along.

Poje is gay? According to the Virtue/Moir fandom, he's secretly fucking Tessa, and Kaitlyn is pissed. Not sure I buy it

How do y'all know so much about kuliks marriage? How the fuck you know if a daughter hates him?

From his stans. No idea if its true or not

PCS

Georgia, Australia, Japan put H/D first

USA and Bosnia put C/B first

Canada, Britain, Poland and China put W/P first

No-one put G/P first. Georgia put them second

Sakamoto must be kicking herself over her single axel

This new judging system needs to be tweaked for Ice Dance. The levels are pretty meaningless now because GOE can make up the difference.

H/D got a Level 2 on their step sequence and only scored .3 less than Chock/Bates with a Level 4. It was a little too much on the tech callers before...where one supposedly missed edge in a sequence determined the medals...but there has to be a happy medium. They need to deduct more points for each missed level.

R229 I agree. Moreover, the key points are almost half of the steps of the first pattern. This season you have top teams missing half of the key points but being rewarded by +4 GOE for that pattern. Lower level teams hitting the key points but getting 0/1 GOE. Regardless of reputation scoring, you have some teams being fluid and "in part" and not focusing on the steps (high GOE), others getting the key point but resulting more labored in the eyes of the judges.

R228, seeing as she was crying at the end of her program, I'd guess so.

It looks like the pairs finals aren't being telecast. Really wanted to see Sui/Han. Love them.

Is anything being aired on NBC at all?

R232 you should be able to find a livestream airing it.

NBC is such an asshole company. They are not airing all the events in order to get everyone to subscribe to their fucking SportsGold pass. They're doing it with skiing, cross country, speed skating and biathlon, too. Like it's not enough we're all paying a couple of hundred dollars each month to get the fucking Olympic Channel and NBCSN? And the kicker is, based on people who have it, is that you don't even get commentary. You're just watching the feed.

Fucking hate them. At this point, I think I'd vote for anyone who told me they would bust up the cable/internet companies.

Tarah Kayne is splatting right and left

Good. She can have another over-the-top meltdown in the K&C.

I am fucking that Junior pair skater. Who cares if I can't skate a program anymore

Walsh/Michaud awful. Falls and missed lift. The Canadian pair who opened the FS weren't better

Sui/Han win by 0.06 over MT/Marinaro. Peng/Jin third. 211-211-205

Good. Wish the margin had been larger but a win is a win.

1) Sui/Han 211.11

2) Moore-Towers/Marinaro 211.05

3) Peng/Jin 205.42

4) Cain/LeDuc 196.82

5) Denney/Frazier 184.18

6) Kayne/O'Shea 180.36

7) Walsh/Michaud 159.05

8) Ruest/Wolfe 158.91

FS was S/H 136.92 MT/M 136.39 P/J 135.94

At least Tarah kept the histrionics to herself today.

Poor Tarah and Creepy Smile Partner. Karma is a bitch.

I almost want to watch the bottom 2 pairs team to see how awful they were. It makes you appreciate how difficult pairs skating is, and how the champs make it look easy.

Denney-Frazier: sorry but if your jumping is so bad that you must do deliberate single axels at this level, then maybe it's time to reconsider focusing on skating and work on a different career.

R246 Are you talking about us??

fffk

[quote]I am fucking that Junior pair skater.

Please tell me the rumors that she is dating TJ Nyman are not true. He barely turned 18 !

Well that bitch !

that's the sword

Look like Cain/LeDuc got under-rotation calls for their sbs 3Loops for both the SP and FP.

I checked the replay and they looked fine to me. Am I missing something? Maybe they were 1/4 under, but isn't that within the allotted margin for error?

R252 from this season if they are exactly at 1/4 it should be called UR. Last season 1/4 went in favor of the skaters.

less than a point between Weaver/Poje and Gilles/Poirier overall. G/P outscore W/P in the FS (also in PCS)

a 1 point deduction costed G/P the lead

ah no, the gap is 1.5. So W/P would have led anyway

Chock/Bates win!!

Hubbell/Donohue drops to 4th place

The Technical Panel dropped the first lift to base value. And the spin went down to level 2 during the review.

Why did G/P get a deduction?! The only one of any competitor?! Why do the judges hate them??

R259 extended lift

Hell of a comeback for Chock/Bates--great to see. But the feed cut out while I was watching H/D free dance, what the hell happened? I mean other than the fact that it turns out everyone hates that FD.

R261 The tech panel reviewed the stationary lift (the one opening the program) and it went down from level 4 as initial call to level 1. The dance spin towards the end went down from level 4 in the initial call to level 2. TES dropped by 7 points

LOL ....

The behaviour of tech panel was outragious!!

Lol the reaction had me rolling 😭

Weaver/Poje were boring as fuck. They should have been 4th instead of zack Donohue.

Damn, well, I can see why--4 to 1 for a lift they've done all season long. Damn. Chock/Bates were in kind of shocked too--like they were holding back on getting too excited because the whole thing was so unexpected.

But, hey, congrats to Chock & Bates--great to see that turnaround. They're now in the conversation for Worlds.

Weaver/Poje need Prozac--they skate beautifully, but it's one depressed, musically bland program after another. They're a better team than G/P, but I'd much rather watch G/P any day of the week.

H/B down in fifth--I think Dave Lease may, indeed, be on to something with the topping out. They're kind of in the best of the rest category.

Here's Jackie Wong on the lift--says they traveled too much, though it sounds like everyone was surprised.

Donohue goes from the second to the third N of Continents

I was there to see the free dance. And guess who I saw warming up, hottie Paul Poirier. He's very twinkish and at most 5 ' 7 and, of course, handsome. I would have asked for a picture, but he was on the ground stretching. I did ask Piper as she was standing.

Yes, it was shocking to see H & D in fourth, but the latter half of the routine was kind of a snooze fest and slow going.

Chock and Bates had the crowd eating out of their hands.

Oh, I argue go to DL fave Ashley Wagner. She's very approachable and friendly.

Sorry, meant to say I got to meet Ashley.

Aren't you not supposed to bother athletes while they're preparing to compete? How'd you get so close to them, volunteering behind the scenes?

And what's Ashley Wagner doing now? Coaching for Mitchell J. method?

I'm thrilled for Chock and Bates!

Who's Jackie Wong's BF? or is he married to figure skating, haha?

R187 he’s been raised by his Portuguese mother and his father was opposed to him taking up such a girlish sport and wanted him to become a hockey player instead.

When H/D were recutting their music the first time, why didn't they (1) get rid of that awful spoken word dialogue part (2) not change any of the actual step sequences.

This whole program, in addition to being garish, dull, and inappropriate also shows that somebody(ies) in their team not only has bad taste but has bad decision making.

I really really want to join the love fest for G/P's FD, but the execution comes off so gimmicky to me.

Maybe it's because the choreography looks and feels very disconnected from the song's meaning for me. The song is a pensive, contemplative tribute about the life of a tortured artist, misunderstood in his time, who suffered greatly to create what he did.

And here is G/P happily skipping around to an Ed Sheeran-esque rendition, replete with upbeat percussion and plucky guitar solos. WTF? Just feels so tonally off to me.

r276 I also don't get the love for the performance (or the version of the song they chose). It's so... frolicky? Without being fun. I still think its better than the Dennis Ten Tribute in Bad Taste, but I'd put it just above H/D and below C/B in terms of overall routine.

I like the G/P FD, but I think you guys have a point. I think what appeals to me about the FD is that G/P found away to express their idiosyncratic dynamic in a way that wasn't just shtick. So, it may be just a question of lower standards--i.e. this was expressive for them.

W/P's rhythm dance is strong, but they have got to stop doing weepy dances. They're also the team that did a FD to This Bitter Earth about addiction--tedious emo team. At least the Russians have fun being tastelessly tragic (Hey, I'll be the blind girl and you just drag me around for four minutes.)

H/D was just a conceptual misfire. I'm guessing they'll fix the technical issues by Worlds and recover, but the 4cc should be a warning to them to pick material more carefully. I think if they'd cast a spell on the judges the way P/C can, they wouldn't have been so severely downgraded on the stationary lift. If you're hate-watching a program, you're more likely to notice technical errors--judges are human too. They should bring in Charlie White or Christopher Dean next season, get a little non-Gadbois in their choreography--both White and Dean know how to modern/sexy (they did Morgan/Cipres' programs this season--CD the short, CW the long) and that's H/D's long suit.

Gadbois was good for C/B though--they needed the tweak in chemistry--got Evan to up his performer energy a bit and used his strength to throw around Madison in some cool ways and they were set. C/B have always taken chances with music, so they avoided the Montreal-mush trap.

Selections for Worlds being announced:

Spanish team: Valentina Matos, Barquero/Meastu, Hurtado/Khaliavin

French team: Lecavelier, Aymoz, James/Cipres, Papadakis/Cizeron, Lauriault/Legac

Switzerland: Lukas Britschgi, Alexia Paganini, Manni/Rothlisberger

It would pretty amusing if Paganini medaled at some point--the Americans on Golden Skate would flip.

Alexia is our gurl here at the DL, so we'll protect her from those Golden Skate meanies when she wins her world title.

I have a soft spot for ol gurl Alexia. She seems to be trying with her 3-3 and improved artistry.

Me?

I work at the economic ministry in Bratislava and skate in the afternoon.

Working for some Eastern European government seems fitting for Long Island trash like you Nicole. That bitch Emmi is from Tennessee but at least her parents are from a respectable country.

[quote]I also don't get the love for the performance (or the version of the song they chose). It's so... frolicky?

Exactly, R277. Perfect word. It is way too "frolicky."

"Vincent" is melancholy and bittersweet, about personal and mental struggle, of isolation and being misunderstood...it's a sad song to put it simply. Just look at the lyrics:

[quote]Look out on a summer's day...With eyes that know the [bold]darkness in my soul[/bold]

[quote]Morning fields of amber grain...Weathered faces [bold]lined in pain[/bold]

[quote]Like the strangers that you've met...[bold]The ragged men in ragged clothes[/bold]...A silver thorn, a bloody rose...[bold]Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow[/bold]

When I read these lyrics, I don't envision happy smiling and peppy footwork sequences. It's like G/P are dancing at a wedding instead of conveying the sorrowful emotion the song is clearly communicating.

The concept is great, but the execution is a total misfire for me.

G/P's FD is more like Steve and Gilda when they're trying to be Fred and Cyd.

I love you bitches...because I, too, have some serious issues with G/P's Vincent. Don't get me wrong...this is an absolute step in the right direction for them. But there's no story here. What is Piper doing? She had a grin from ear to ear while Paul was holding his head and going mad. Imagine, for a minute, Papadakis/Cizeron doing this exact same program. They would be able to actually convey the tragic relationship between an artist and his art. They would tell a story where G/P are just skating to music. Just like V/M and W/P do.

Meanwhile, Carol Lane is such a bitter hag. Did you see her drama queen act at the Kiss and Cry? She couldn't bear to look at the scores until Piper showed excitement when the placed first for the FD...but then when they placed behind W/P overall, Carol gave a caustic "Of course." How does she still have a job at CBC?

I continue to hate W/P's FD. The tribute to Dennis Ten that has nothing to do with life, death or Dennis Ten. They're just dancing in sparkly outfits. (Speaking of which...his outfit sucks. I love hers until the one lift where the skirt falls away and she looks like she's wearing granny pants.) But Kaitlyn Weaver's dramatic holding a hand to her heart and looking to heaven while just happening to skate past the judges is so heavy-handed and it reminds me of the old Weaver/Poje. Back when they were the heirs apparent but kept losing Worlds to Papadakis/Cizeron. The cuntfire had gone out of her eyes for a few years. It's nice to see it again. Welcome back, bitch.

I think the Free Dance of the season is Chock and Bates. P/C will still win, but their free dance this year isn't as interesting as some of the others they've done.They're in love, they have a fight--anything else?

TSL did another long podcast--over two hours on the TSL, the first 40 minutes are all about ice dancing because the Hubbell/Donohue downgrade was such a shocker. They do point out that G/P don't have a ton of ice coverage compared to the other top teams. H/D have a ton, but the scale at which H/D skate is kind of what tripped them up in the not-so-stationary lift.

I don't see anything frolicky about G/P except where the music cut changes. I think their expression reflects the music personally. And can we please not do the "Oh P/C would have done it so much better"?

If i were Carol Lane, I would be be bitter too. She is probably sick of seeing them lost out to Weaver and Poje at this point.

I don't get why Weaver/Poje are still competing. They're in their 30's now and have had their time. They're not likely to move any higher in the world standings.

All they're doing is blocking Gilles/Poirier and the Danish Canadians from moving up in the World standings.

[quote]I was there to see the free dance. And guess who I saw warming up, hottie Paul Poirier. He's very twinkish and at most 5 ' 7 and, of course, handsome. I would have asked for a picture, but he was on the ground stretching.

Please tell me you took the opportunity to check out Paul Poirier's ass!?

Btw, Paul is about 5'8 to 5'9.

But, R289, Papadakis/Cizeron would have done it so much better. Do you really think that Gilles/Poirier have the interpretive skills of the French? Please...enlighten me...what exactly is Piper Gilles attempting to portray in that FD? Why is she smiling throughout the routine? Is it meant to be a joyous number?

Am I the only one who hates that first lift where she cartwheels over his shoulders? It looks so jarring and amateur.

[quote]Am I the only one who hates that first lift where she cartwheels over his shoulders? It looks so jarring and amateur.

That, and I kinda hate their ending lift too.

I get what they're going for...she's the sky swirling above him...okay, but it just looks weird with his head buried up her cooch. At least have Piper positioned on her back so the sequin embroidery on her costume front is showcased and emphasized during the lift. She represents the art right? That metaphor would look more effective if the "sky/art" wasn't turned inward and out of view.

I think G/P get so much praise for being artistic and creative, but I always thought of them as the Philippe Candelero of ice dance--too heavily reliant on the spectacle of character "dress-up" to drive their so-called artistry. Every year it's a new gimmick...like look, we're the Beatles, now James Bond, now Van Gogh! It's a crutch for them more than anything else. It's a lot easier to choreograph around pop culture references than create authentic emotion based on abstract concepts. Just my opinion.

Gilles & Poirier are known for being good at portraying the characters in their pieces. They also have a unique style which sets them apart from some other teams, so that even though they probably won't ever be World Champions, they aren't as forgettable as some of their competitors.

As to why Piper is smiling at some points during the Vincent program, it's because she is supposed to be his inspiration.

And the first lift is actually pretty good -- it's a lift that was choreographed by Christopher Dean for Paul Poirier and he has used it with both Piper & Vanessa.

Well, R295, I've never heard that G/P "are known for being good at portraying the characters in their pieces." Maybe Carol Lane and Kurt Browning say that on CBC, but's that's it. On the other hand, G/P definitely have a reputation for being quirky. Which is why this year is a good step for them. But I've said it before and I'll say it again...they come across like drama club kids. They try really, really hard but most often miss the mark. You really think that they did a good job portraying the characters in their FD last year? That Piper Gilles was a femme fatale? Uh, OK. And R294 is exactly right. They rely on gimmicks. The fact that Paul for years has been using his mustache as a prop is a perfect example.

So the character Piper's playing is "his inspiration"...and she's smiling through most of the dance because...why? It is not a happy song. He went crazy and killed himself. He painted that picture while in an asylum. There is a relationship between artist and art there for them to explore and, in my opinion, they don't do it. I don't hate the opening lift, but like most of the rest of the choreography, it has no meaning. What does that lift show us in terms of Van Gogh and "his inspiration"?

But it will be very interesting at Worlds. Judges and audiences are definitely liking the FD. If Weaver/Poje mess up, they could overtake them. Hard to see them beating a clean H/D, C/B, S/K, S/B, G/F or P/C. So they're a likely 7-9th. Considering they've been either 6th or 8th the past 5 years...not a real improvement.

R296, I don't think Paul has been using the mustache as a prop that much. It's only been in a few programs. Usually it's just for one program when it fits the piece and he shaves it off.

And their Free Dance this year is definitely one of the most-talked about of the season. They've beaten Weaver & Poje twice in the FD now -- at Nationals and at Four Continents.

Anyway, I hope W&P retire soon -- that will allow G&P to move up the World standings and get higher marks from the bonus that dance teams get when they are National Champions.

I agree that G/P have a drama kids thing about them. However, if she's the sky/inspiration, the opening lift where she's coming over him actually makes interpretive sense. So do some of the fast, quirky parts--he's inspired/excited by the work he's doing. It's not all despair--it's despair at the end when life and madness are closing in on him (you can really see it in his last painting of the crows). G/P don't hit that tragic end note, but the subject doesn't require an angsty Weaver/Poje interpretation to work.

I also don't think Weaver/Poje are holding Gilles/Poirier back--G/P have beaten them and W/P weren't around during the GP season and G/P did better, but they were being outdone by the Russians. What's been holding back G/P are skills--their rhythm dance is weak--enough so, that a winning free dance doesn't result in a win.

R298, I think it's true that G&P's skating looked amateurish in their first couple of seasons, partially because Piper didn't have the advanced skating skills that Paul did. She had mainly been a Junior Ice Dancer (with Zack Donohue), whereas Paul had been at the Senior Level at the Olympics & Worlds with Vanessa.

But Piper's skating skills have improved over the past 7 or 8 years and they are now closer in ability (although there are still some areas where she can improve).

R292, this is not about P/C,.... are you their crazy stan? I'm sure they would have done a great job, but G/P's clearly have some interpretive skills if their FD has gotten so much interest/emotional investment this year. You just don't like it, we get it. Not entirely sure why you are obsessed with whatever facial expression Piper has during the FD...

I do think the lifts in their program are awkward and unattractive though

R300 is right. G & P are not trying to compete with P & C at this point -- their objective is to overtake W&P and become the top Canadian team so that they can then rise in the World standings.

G & P clearly have a great Free Dance since even the judges, who have been lukewarm to them in the past, are giving them huge FD scores this year.

They've beaten W & P twice now in the FD -- at Nationals and 4 Continents.

I blocked the P/C Crazystan ages ago, so I don't think that's R292. I think there's just a mixed response to the FD.

But since P/C's come up--Moonlight Sonata also had the muse/artist combo. It was beautifully danced, but what it a better interpretation?

Paul posted a video clip on IG Stories today of him & Piper skating on Lake Louise, Alberta:

P/C's Moonlight Sonata at Worlds did blow me away me in a way that G/P's FD doesn't yet.... But I can still appreciate it

As I mentioned above, I don't get why people are comparing G/P to P/C.

P/C are World Champions, and G/P obviously aren't trying to take them on right now. Their objective is to overtake W/P as the top Canadian team, and they're on the verge of doing so now that they've beaten them in the FD at Nationals & 4 Conts.

I hope P/C can drop their “pretending to be Man and Woman in love” style now and go back to their “cool as fuck” style in junior. Maybe they should change the coach.

R307, Dubreuil & Lauzon are known for preferring a romantic style because they were already a real-life couple during their competitive career. That's the way they did many of their own skating programs, so now that they are coaches they are assuming that style works for their skaters.

But considering that Guillaume is half out of the closet and has posted photos of his boyfriend on IG, it is a bit jarring for those of us here. Even some of the fangirls on FSU kno that Guillaume is gay.

It isn't like everyone follows Guillaume on social media. And, God knows, there are a lot of clueless, stupid people in the world.

R307 I’m 306 and I know that D/L are a couple, but what about Romain? How can he put up with this “pretending romance” ?? I also noticed that Lauzon’s name is not on P/C’s List of coaches for a while. But, anyway, I’m really looking forward to seeing P/C doing something like sisterhood bitch drama than confused and fragile couple.

Shit, I mean I was to reply to R308 and I’m 307.

Paul Poirier:

R291, he was in these sweatpants that did not show off his juicy ass. But he's definitely 5'7. I am very short, so I can tell.

Interview on local paper with Coughlin's family and friends

First accusation regarded a relationship when Coughlin was in mid 20s and the girl in late teens. The accusation (grooming the young girl into an intimate relationship) was reported by a third party rather than the girl

Then 2 more accusations came. They don't know if it was the girls (minors at the time) or a third party who made them. Coughlin told them the girls in question were young but he was also young ("no more than a few years apart")

Here's the link to the new article that R314 references.

Coughlin's dad & sister are interviewed.

Well of course it's a totally lopsided story with his friends and family all upset, believing he did nothing wrong. We still haven't heard the accusers' side of the story. I still think the allegations must have been credible and serious, and if it was nothing, why'd he kill himself?

Yeah, & the problem that Coughlin has created is that by killing himself, there's no way to resolve the cloud over all of this.

He can never be cleared now if he was innocent, and the girls can never get justice if he was guilty.

He had access to his own investigator and an opportunity to ask for an official hearing.

"SafeSport notes that when athletes receive letters saying they are under investigation, they also are sent policies that tell them that an investigator will be in touch to get their side of the story, and that they have the right at any time to contact an investigator. Athletes also have the right to ask for an official hearing before an arbitrator, which SafeSport will grant within 72 hours."

"It is unclear whether Coughlin was aware of these rights, but his family and friends said he did not speak to an investigator. "

Why are the family and friends vague about John's ages during the relationships?

R313, thanks for your info on seeing Paul Poirier in person.

I think Paul is probably a littler taller than 5'7. His Skate Canada bio lists him as 5’9”.

Btw, what do you think of the photo of Paul at R312?

Why are we discussing this Paul midget and not the hotter Poje or Donohue?

Paul is handsome, but every time I hear him speak, it sounds like Kerri Strug speaking to me. Very jarring to say the least.

R320, I posted some photos of Guillaume above.

Donohue has a nice body, but he's such a straight jock.

Poje is tall and handsome, but the fact that he seems to be a closet case is a turnoff. (I did post a photo of his ripped abs, though).

R321, I agree that Paul has gayvoice, but I have a crush on him. Handsome, well-educated & I want his ass.

“We have fantastic programs, if not the best in the world,” said Donohue. “There’s no need to go back and change anything. The only thing is going back and double-checking what we already know. Just making sure there’s not even an ounce of question in anyone’s mind that’s watching. And otherwise continue.”

Yeah, R323, Donohue is sounding a bit arrogant these days.

I liked H & D better than the boring Chock & Bates, but if H & D think they are the next Davis & White, perhaps it's just as well that they were taken down a peg at 4 Conts.

R324 HD thinking themselves as next DW? Not even in their dreams can they be closer to DW. I think even Meyrl’s hair can do better than a truck driver and part time wrestler Juliet.

R325, I think what people are saying on this thread (and on sites like FSU etc.) is that Zack & Madi have been acting like they are almost invincible and were shocked that they fell off the podium at 4 Conts.

But the point is that although they are now one of the best dance teams in the world, that is only recent. Not too long ago they (mainly Zack) were making major mistakes all the time (eg. when Zack tripped and fell and wiped out the twizzles at 2017 Worlds).

It's not like they are like Davis & White or Virtue & Moir who always finished 1st or 2nd at every event for years. They shouldn't think they are at that level yet.

I think Zach, who doesn't seem like God's brightest light, is parroting the pep talks he's given--nerves probably did him in at the Olympics. He's not up to the level of a good humble-brag yet. Charlie White's one of the smarter athletes around and played the PR game pretty well--neither he nor Meryl said anything remotely controversial while competing. It would have been great if he'd been more outspoken about conditions in Russia at the time of Sochi, but he wanted that gold and I'm sure there was a ton of pressure on him as a GM favorite not to make waves right then and there.

H/D have more potential than the ShibSibs ever did, but they're going to need to have a better sense of what's unique about them if they're going to even think of challenging the French and withstanding challenges from C/B, W/P and the Russians. No, Madison, you don't get to play fragile teens. Nope, nada. Not happening. No damn waifs.

R327, Madison is definitely one of the sexiest female ice dancers -- I'm gay, but even I can see that.

But I agree with R263 & R265 -- her reaction in the K&C at 4 Conts was way over the top -- it looked like she was having an aneurysm.

Well, it was a shock, since they'd been winning with the program, were in first place going into the free and they didn't realize they'd made a big error. To be completely knocked off the podium like that wasn't what they were expecting--particularly with ice dancing's tendency to be really static in the rankings.

I don't hold the shocked look against her--she wasn't nasty about it once she understood what happened. Just hope they and their team use their little brains to come up with better programs next season, I'm happy to see Chock/Bates have a comeback, but big Maddie is really a better skater than little Maddie.

Plus, I remember the Russian heyday and Barbara Fasar Poli's looks-can-kill stare. Madison's only now getting out of the minor leagues for ice-dance drama.

Paul Poirier on a bed . . .

Russian Cup ice dance

1) Zagorski/Guerreiro 195

2) Popova/Mogzov 182 (mistake by her on the FD twizzles)

3) Morozov/Bagin 180

Morozov/Bagin were second in the FD. I guess it means we will have to see them again next season.

Konkina/Drozd's international debut

They scored 70. But it was an overstored event. Nazarova/Nikitin are leading with 72

Ah Nazarova is back to white boots. She said some judges told her to drop the black ones because it is "boys in black, girls in white"

Wow Gracie Gold is hitting the news outlet. Didn't realize how intense her situation worse. Glad she's getting better, though I'm not sure she'll make a full comeback.

While it's great she's sharing her story, it doesn't seem helpful for her to continue in the sport where being young and slim is always the norm. Gracie said she wants to at least medal at a world championship. That seems ludicrous and bound to set herself up for failure. Some delusional fans think she can make it to the 2022 Olympics. Come on, she's still at least 20 lbs overweight and how old... 23 or 24 now? Even in her peak, she wasn't consistent with her triple triples.

Challenge Cup SP

1) Amber Glenn 70.25

2) Rika Kihira 66.44

3) Starr Andrews 64.76

4) Wakaba Higuchi 62.70

Bet for the FS? Amber will pop all jumps in the FS? And Andrews will UR and step outs of everything?

r334 r335 No way she'll ever get a Worlds medal, even qualifying for the Worlds team is unlikely with only 2 spots. But she has already wasted her GP comeback exempt, so being unrealistic is her middle name.

Based on their track records, I predict Rika and Wakaba will come blazing back and racking up lots of points in the free. Amber will pop and fall apart, Starr will underrotate and continue her choppy, hunched shoulder ways. They are still so much better than the rest of the competition though. Some of those girls couldn't even land triple toes and looked like they're meant to be at an adult skating competition.

It was the last desperate attempt to get the minimum TES for Worlds this weekend

The Dutch girl did it

The rest failed so far. Those who had already the SP minimum will try tomorrow in the FS

In the men competition, one of the British guys did it this afternoon.

The others failed this weekend. A couple will try in Tallin tomorrow.

Bidar and new girl and the Estonian ice dancers got the minimum at last attempt.

Oh Gracie . . .

I'd love for Amber Glenn to put two clean programs together. She really has beautiful SS--her blades look like they're cutting through silk--but nerves for days.

And Starr needs a real coach, not just one that looks good in the Kiss and Cry.

Paul Poirier auditioning to be the new Jon Snow:

Paul is so popular he has has own datalounge topic now.

Glenn drops to 4th. Andrews held on and finished second

Kihira 208.34

Andews 187.69t

Higuchi 186.24

Glenn 180.91t

Meite 166.84

Austrian girl get the minimum for Worlds by 0.02

Oh Amber. Andrews beat Higuchi? Wow. Well, I suppose 4th for Amber is less of a disaster than usual. She's the new Mariah Bell--the beautiful skater who can't quite manage the nerves well enough to be a real contender, but does well enough on occasion that people keep hoping and hoping (while they sneer at the workhorses like Bradie Tennell and Kaori Sakamoto).

I'm looking forward to Worlds--lots of good competitions--Hanyu v. Chen v. Shomo and some possible spoilers from Russia; Japanese girls v. Russian girls and a thin possibility of the U.S. getting three spots back; Sui/Han v. Morgan/Cipres and a couple of other teams. Really, the only locked-in gold medal is P/C in ice dance, but below them there are any number of scenarios involving H/D, C/B, W/P and the Russian teams and maybe even the Italians. I think G/P's rhythm is too weak to get them in contention despite the free.

r345 What is the scenario where the US gets 3 spots back in Ladies? To me it looks less likely than Zhou rotating his jumps.

New shirtless pic from Eric Radford:

r347 Eric Radford needs to realize his resume is hotter than his face. He should stick to composing and quit instagramming.

Hey I said it was a thin possbility--so, basically, one of the Japanese and/or Russians flame out badly enough that Bradie gets fifth and Mariah seventh. Admittedly, that means neither Bradie nor Mariah flame out too badly. but it's not impossible if both skate clean.

R345, Mariah Bell never bombed as badly as Amber Glenn. Poor thing is a mess. Having "only" a fall and a pop at this event was a huge improvement for her.

It's true that Bell doesn't pop that much. She just falls enough to keep her out of major contention. And she did get that silver at Skate America.

Someday, Amber will have a good competition. Just as a fluke.

R348, what can Eric Radford do to improve his slutty selfies?

losing his butterface B352

You guys are harsh. Eric hardly has a butterface. He looks good handsome in R347.

A big fan of Radford's face here. And the rest of him.

Entries at World Championships released

40 Ladies

35 Men

19 Pairs (they increased the FS cut from 16 to 20 this season..only to have 19 pairs)

27 Ice Dance (Italy seem have to forgotten that they have 3 spots!)

Russia entries are not the final ones. They said they still have to decide and therefore they entered the Euro teams with the other hopefuls as substitutes and can switch them in the coming weeks

r355 Radford's face is fine, but it's nothing special. I think the bigger issue is that he is an accomplished musician and athlete, and yet instead of continuing to contribute to the world, he just wants to be a dime a dozen instagram thirst trap. At least Paul Paurier's shots were well staged and artful. Radford has made a turn to vanity, and that to me is a huge turn off.

New pic from Eric, taken in Los Angeles:

Medvedeva chosen for Worlds over Tuktamysheva

Rest of Russian selection as expected.

Hmmm, that's interesting and unfair to Tuk. Bradie's beaten Medved this season, so a fifth place is possible and the regaining of 3 spots. More so, I think, than it would have been with Tuk.

Lubov Ilyushechkina and Charlie Bilodeau have teamed up

r361 Isn't that out of the blue? What are their chances?

I must confess that Iliushechkina/Moscovitch were my favorite Canadian pair, they could sell me the cheesiest program and I'd buy it, their chemistry was so good. Aside from Lubov landing her jumps once in a blue moon, does the new pairing have a chance of being as good as Lubov/Dylan?

[quote]Isn't that out of the blue? What are their chances?

Well, they both need new partners, so it makes sense.

And their chances are unknown, but they're a lot better than they were yesterday.

New shirtless pic from Eric Radford:

RD at Junior Worlds

Lajoie/Lagha in the lead with 70.14

Khudaiberdieva/Nazarov second with 68.69

Shevchenko/Eremenko third with 67.56

Nguyen/Kolosnik 5th with 65.18

Greens only 8th with 58.82. Twizzle only level 3 for her. They got the second Tango pattern totally wrong

Radford getting thirstier and thirstier. Shouldn't he get a proper job, like stripper or barback?

Video of Paul Poirier working out his ass muscles for his fans on DL:

Ice Dance at Universiadi

1) Popova/Mogzov 183.01

2) Evdokimova/Bazin 181.33

3) Galyavieva/Thauron 177.23

4) Turkilla/Versluis 171.22

5) Shiplevaya/Smirnov 166.82

6) Wagret/Souquet 164.21

7) Muller/Dieck 161.27

8) Calderone/Papetti 151.76

9) Manni/Roethlisbeger 145.65

10) Monaghan/Fourati 137.14

etc

So P/M get over E/B who have beaten them at Nationals.

Galyavieva/Thauron did well, comfortably beating some teams who were in their league. This partnership seems to click on now. Let's see if they continue the momentum into the next season and with other judging panel (this one was good for Krilova's teams). When Abachkina/Thauron split, I guess not many were thinking he would have been the one surviving. I wonder if G/T can surpass Lauriault/Legac. If judges start to get bored with Gadbois, it would be second tiers teams that will suffer first (L/L, Smart/Diaz, Soucisse/Firus)

Bad outing for Shiplevaya/Smirnov barely beating France number 4. Also disappointing for M/D to behind France4

Soucisee/Firus seem to be suffering already, R368.

They dropped off the podium at Canadian Nationals in January when they were overtaken by Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen.

Cute Italian twink Matteo Rizzo won Universiade. The Russians were obviously trying to prop up Kovtun for worlds but alas he was his usual headcase self.

Also there was this hot Brazilian guy with his single jumps. I'd watch this than the Eteri bots.

New pic from Eric Radford:

R370, we should make the Brazilian guy our new DL mascot. I'm not sure how he qualified for a senior international with his level of skating skills, but he was sure fun to watch.

OK, US DLers...can we talk about the fact that fucking NBC is not airing the Free Dance at Worlds on any of its fucking channels? Not NBCSN...not the Olympic Channel...not NBC. Instead they are trying to get us to pay more fucking money for that damn NBC SportsGold.

I hate them so much. Their greed is unbelievable. And it's a shitty product. There's only commentary on select competitions. You only have access for a limited window of time. And it doesn't have historical competitions.

I would gladly pay a reasonable fee to have access to figure skating all the time without clogging my TiVo. But this is bullshit and nothing but a money grab. It's not enough I'm paying thousands a year for cable? Now I'm supposed to pay more to Comcast because people are cutting the cord? Fuck them. You know...I can watch YouTube or DailyMotion, too.

I hear you, R373. It's nothing but a money grab. Same goes for you, ESPN+. I always record skating (and MLS matches, ESPN) to watch later and also so I can FF through the commercials. Can't do that with Sports Gold or ESPN+, so they can fuck the fuck right off. (It's easy enough to avoid the results for skating or soccer if you just stay off the Web for a day or so.)

SOMEtimes, though, R373, NBCSN or the Olympic Channel will show repeats of skating competitions the following week, so fingers crossed for that.

[quote]OK, US DLers...can we talk about the fact that fucking NBC is not airing the Free Dance at Worlds on any of its fucking channels?

It's surprising given that Dance is the only discipline the U.S. is doing well in right now.

R375, Excuse me?

Forgot about Nathan Chen for a moment. Sorry Nathan.

I meant to say that Ice Dance is the strongest discipline overall for the U.S. because it has at least 2 teams who are competitive for the top spots in the World (Hubbell/Donohue and Chock/Bates, and another Hawayek/Baker, who are a decent 2nd-tier team).

I'm not in the US, but that's bizarre R373, especially given the strength and depth of the US ice dance teams.

Igor Bazin is a cutie.

Fuji TV (@online_on_ice) will be live streaming pairs, ice dance, groups 1-3/4 for ladies and men SP, the opening ceremony, warm up areas and K&C on their Worlds website. (The K&C stream shows the entire K&C which you can’t see on broadcast.) Should be region-free. Times are approximations in Japan time.

March 20 (Wednesday)

10:30AM Pairs SP

2:15PM: Opening Ceremony

3:05PM Ladies SP (Groups 1-4), Ladies SP Warm up Area, K&C

March 21 (Thursday)

10:30AM Pairs FS, Medal Ceremony

4:00PM Men’s SP (Groups 1-3), Men SP Warmup Area, K&C

March 22 (Friday)

12PM Ice Dance RD

5:30PM Ladies FS Warmup Area, K&C

March 23 (Saturday)

12:30PM Ice Dance FD, Medal Ceremony

5:30PM Men FS Warmup Area, K&C

Commentators: Takeshi Honda (Men), Shizuka Arakawa (Ladies), Miyamoto Kenji (Ice Dance), Narumi Takahashi (Pairs). Guest commentators: Takehito Mura (Men), Kanako Murakami (Ladies)

Fuji Worlds Website (video will appear on page during streaming time):

Thanks for the information! Eager for worlds to begin.

Why can't I post?

Post where, R382?

Kovtun replaced by Lazukin at Worlds for medical reasons

Kovtun seems to be having a bad year.

r385 Bad 3 years.

Perhaps it's just as well that he's not able to do Worlds, given his poor competition results lately.

Maybe some time off could help him & his coaches come up with a different approach.

Apparently ISU changed its mind and the Rhythm Dance will have same pattern for everyone next season. It will be finnstep.

what it is?

Finnstep, according to R388.

But I think they had that pattern back in 2013-2014, didn't they?

r390 Yes. And Canadians still continue to claim that Davis/White didn't do it right.

The thing is that they will still have the Musical-operetta theme for RD.

Juniors are doing the Teatime Foxtrot as pattern. While Seniors were supposed to be allowed to do different patterns over it. Now Chock/Bates just told they must do Finnstep. I guess it will be formally announced next week at Worlds

Smart/Diaz have announced they will do Grease. Sales/Wamsteeker will do Mamma mia

Will someone try a finnstep over Phantom?

Madison Hubbel is Fosca in THE FINNSTEP PASSION (honestly it probably wouldn't be worse than Romeo and Juliet)

No, the Russians or Italians will do Passion, complete with scream. H/D are actually do something Fosse-themed, which is actually not a bad idea.

What we really need is a Finnstep done to Sweeney Todd.

Finnstep again? It's like they're almost tempting Virtue/Moir to come back for Montreal Worlds. (And, notice, STILL no official retirement.)

I would be fascinated to know what went down behind the scenes. It will hopefully make judging a bit easier if there's a set pattern. There's enough to do to work out the kinks in the new GOE.

This next year is going to be camp and crap and fantastic. Love how quickly the Grease and Mamma Mia teams got out there to stake their claims. LOL...like that's gonna stop anyone.

[quote]Finnstep again? It's like they're almost tempting Virtue/Moir to come back for Montreal Worlds. (And, notice, STILL no official retirement.)

Well, it's possible. Worlds in Canada would give Virtue/Moir an opportunity, but they wouldn't be guaranteed to beat Papadakis/Cizeron -- they only beat them by 1 point at the Olympics.

r396 I'm sure I can think up something to help us in a snip. I mean pinch! Help us in a pinch!

Gilles/Poirier have changed their rhythm dance to Mambo No. 5 with revised lyrics

Interesting, R398. Good for them for changing and at least trying to place better than 7th...but not sure this is a great idea. Will be interesting to hear the music. Assume it's going to be a cover...I'm just not sure why they would pick anything like that song or one that's even titled Mambo. This isn't supposed to be Latin.

The Ice Dance folks were very clear that they wanted music choices to scream "Tango." If G/P were going to change it should have been to some hardcore old school tango. Go full ballroom. In fact, I'm surprised there aren't teams that are really going that route. That is one of the natural antidotes to the Montreal style.

But, now it looks like we're going to get another Gilles/Poirier cheese fest. Will he grow his mustache? Will she rip his sleeves off again?

It was a joke i suppose

My bad. That's what I get for not actually clicking on R398's post.

So we'll see G/P's shitty RD after all. Yay!

Dance technical panel at Worlds

Controller: David Molina (France)

Specialist: Ayako Higashino (Japan)

Assistant specialist: Denis Samokhin (Russia)

On Finnstep choice

The former Danish turned Canadian in a recent interview:

What we heard at 4CC is actually that half of the pattern will likely be a Finnstep, and apparently that’s what they said at Europeans too. They had said they might remove the compulsory dances, but 90% of the figure skating community and coaches didn’t like it. They said we need pattern dances, so they try to implement back the Finnstep, but it’s only half a pattern so it’s not going to take much time, and then we would continue with our own style, and create our own partial step sequence.

Dance continues to be the most challenging discipline in figure skating.

r404 Karen Chen continues to lack all discipline in figure skating.

Is she trying ice dancing? It's so boring I can't see how anyone would want to sit through any of it, except for maybe watching the world medallist contenders.

R406 AFAIK Karen is only doing singles.

Looks like the Russian checks cleared in the Pairs and the Ladies shorts.

1) Zagitova 82.02

2) Sakamoto 76.86

3) Tursynbaeva 75.96

4) Medvedeva 74.23

5) Lim 72.91

6) Bell 71.26

7) Kihira 70.9

8) Miyhara 70.60

9) Samodurova 60.42

10) Tennell 69.50

11) Daleman 69.19

12) Schott 63.19

Last to qualify is Isadora Williams with 55.20

Pairs SP

1 Tarasova/Morozov RUS 81.21

2 Sui/Han CHN 79.24

3 Peng/Jin CHN 75.51

4 Zabiiako/Enbert RUS 73.96

5 Moore-Towers/Marinaro CAN 73.08

6 Boikova/Kozlovskii RUS 69.99

7 James/Ciprès FRA 68.67

8 Della Monica/Guarise ITA 67.29

9 Cain/LeDuc USA 66.93

10 Hase/Seegart GER64.28

James and Guarise crashed in the warm up

I thought Bradie was going to be the new Michelle Kwan and save US Women's?

She isn't the new Michelle Kwan; she's the new National Velvet.

What is this stuff about Bell running into Eunsoo Lim and trying to hurt Lim.

The one little blurb I saw said that the Korean federation has filed a complaint against US Figure Skating and Bell, saying Bell had bullied Lim for months.

Bell's instagram is a mess now with comments because of what happened.

Wow R414 that story is all kinds of WTF. Seems Mariah has a bit of Tracie Flick in her.

BTW I'm so sick of the judges propping up the Zagmed with the PCS given their ugly lines and postures.

Bradie's the next Rachael Flatt, not the next Michelle Kwan.

[quote]BTW I'm so sick of the judges propping up the Zagmed with the PCS given their ugly lines and postures.

I think having line and good posture is sooo overrated. Never seemed to hurt me. Yup, yup, yup.

ISU Athletes Commission - Single and Pairs election

Eric Redford 27 votes ELECTED

Misha Ge 23

Yuri Hulitski is elected unopposed for the Ice Dance slot

ISU should appoint the athletes representative on Single and Pairs Technical Committee since Coughlin left it vacant. They are not obliged to follow the Athletes Commission results (change of rules approved last summer)

Alper Ucar (athlete commission rep between 2016 and now) will remain on the Ice Dance Technical Committee

I just love the French pair who skates The Wicked Game

This one

I told Mariah, just a few cuts and her competition will be neutralized. I guess she didn't understand that I meant go for the dress, not the legs.

Skating order of Rhythm Dance

The British duo was drawn way early. They struggled with the Tango all season. Skating in first group may not help their PCS

First 3 groups are kind forgettable

Group 4 start to be good apart from the Dodds guy getting the last slot of first half

group 5 is

Sinistina/Katsalapov

Poirier's ass

the Polish...whose score depends on the panel drawn

Hawayek-Baker

Weaver-Poje

Last group

Guignard/Fabbri

Chock/Bates

Hubbell/Donohue

Stepanova/Bukin

Papadakis/Cizeron

If they're basically just going to give it to Papadakis/Cizeron, then why even bother to have them skate?

ISU statement on Bell-Lim affair:

The ISU has been made aware of a statement published on March 20 by All-That Sports, and subsequently by the Korea Skating Union on March 21 about an incident which happened between Ms. Mariah Bell and Ms. Eun Soo Lim, during their practice on March 20 at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.

The incident was verbally reported to the ISU by the Korean Team Leader however no formal complaint has been received.

Based on the evidence at hand at this point in time, which includes a video, there is no evidence that Ms. Bell intended any harm to Ms. Lim.

The ISU met with delegates from both USA and Korea and urged both parties to find an amicable solution. The ISU maintains that this remains the appropriate approach.

Yura Min is no longer the craziest person skating for the Korean skating federation. So that's something!

we are anxiously waiting for Yura next season

Man, Mariah Bell's supposed to be sweet and lovable--that's definitely the image her team tries to project. US Ladies has been severely lacking in killer instinct for some time.

Yes! Sui/Han....love them. They were phenomenal.

[quote]Poirier's ass

According to what was just posted online, Gilles & Poirier received a season's best today for their Rhythm Dance.

R429 the judges threw lots of candies...almost everybody got the SB tonight

Level 4 in Tango to all top 10 except Hawayek/Baker

Papadakis/Cizeron 88.42 SB

Sinistina/Katsalapov 83.94 SB

Stepanova/Bukin 83.10 SB

Hubbell/Donohue 83.09 SB

Weaver/Poje 82.84 SB

Chock/Bates 82.32 SB

Guignard/Fabbri 81.66 SB

Gilles/Poirier 80.44 SB

Hawayek/Baker 75.90 SB

Fournier/Sorenensen 74.76 SB

Kaliszek/Spodyriev 73.64 SB

Hurtado/Khaliavin 72.45 SB

Lauriault/Le Gac 71.26 SB

Wang/Liu 68.47 SB

Fear/Gibson 68.46

Reed/Ambrulevicius 67.21 SB

Koch/Nuechtern 66.91 SB

Turkkila/Versluis 66.01

Nazarova/Nikitin 65.76 SB

Yanovskaya/Lukacs 61.96

ELIMINATED:

Komatsubara/Koleto 60.98

Kublikova/Hulitski 56.55

Manni/Roethlisberger 53.94

Tessari/Fioretti 53.47

Ichilov/Davidovich 52.51

Kerry/Dodds 51.94

Bunina/Frolov 46.22

Wow it's tight at the top in the dance field. The free dance will be interesting.

is there a link to re-watch the RD? I can't find videos on youtube. I guess they are delating them for copyright reasons

Who’s bitch face when seeing the scores is better, the fake Madison or the real Madison?

I enjoy Carol Lane's bitch face

I think G/P were excellent today , better then S/B who has no tango at all. P.C geniuses - how can one say that they are not good as V/M is beyond me.

So did our skater deliberately hurt the Korean skater or was it an accident?

See the Yuzuru skating thread - replies 189 and 190 - there's a video; you can see Mariah shaking her leg (as if to shake off any blood?) as she skates away.

R437 She was rude.

so 1) Zagitova 2) Tursybaeva 3) Medvedeva is the Ladies podium

Japanese girls left at 4-5

Bradie is 7th and Mariah 9th.

3 spots for Russia

3 spots for Kazakhstan....is anyone ready for the switch from Russia?

3 Japan

2 USA

2 Canada

2 South Korea

Tango videos

Sinistina/Katslapov

Stepanova/Bukin

Gilles/Poirier

Weaver/Poje

Guignard/Fabbri

Papadakis/Cizeron

Bitchy Madison#2

Bitchy Madison #1

I think Gadbois have 9 out of the 20 teams making Free Dance cut.

However given Michigan Ice Dance death, the north America- Europe is only 11 to 9.

(I know Reed still lists Zueva among coaches but they are effectively based in Germany now and indeed Zueva didn't show up st Worlds)

Nice to see Nathan crush everyone else in the SP. Also really liked Matteo Rizzo and the kid from France...Kevin something.

Russian Ladies medals sweep? Really? Much prefer the Japanese--did they splat?

7th, 9th for the American Ladies is about as good as could be expected after the short.

Russian surge in ice dance, hmmm . . .

Panel is VERY european in ice dance , it was expected to be european podium- lack of canadian and american judge is very visible..

Papadakis/Cizeron were first for all judges

then

French judge: 2) Hubbel/Donohue 3) Chock/Bates 4) Guignard/Fabbri 5) Weaver/Poje 6) Sinistina/Katsalapov

Germany: 2) Chock/Bates 3) Hubbel/Donohue 4) Stepanowa/Bukin 5) Weaver/Poje 6) Sinistina/Katsalapov

Ukraine: 2) Sinistina/Katsalapov 3) Weaver/Poje 4) Stepanowa/Bukin 5) Gilles/Poirier 6) Hubbel/Donohue

Russia: 2) Stepanova/Bukin 3) Sinistina/Katsalapov 4) Hubbel/Donohue 5) Chock/Bates 6) Weaver/Poje

Turkey: 2) Hubbell/Donohue 3) Weaver/Poje 4) Chock/Bates 5) Stepanova/Bukin 6) Sinistina/Katsalapov

Poland: 2) Sinistina/Katsalapov 3) Weaver/Poje 4) Hubbell/Donohue 5) Stepanowa/Bukin 6) Gilles/Poirier

Hungary: 2) Stepanova/Bukin 3) Sinistina/Katsalapov 4) Weaver/Poje 5) Chock/Bate 6) Hubbell/Donohue

China: 2) Hubbell/Donohue 3) Weaver/Poje 4) Chock/Bates 5) Sinistina/Katsalapov 6) Stepanova/Bukin

Australia: 2) Sinistina/Katsalapov e 3) Weaver/Poje 4) Stepanova/Bukin 5) Guignard/Fabbri 6) Hubbell/Donohue

Hawayek/Baker between 8th and 10th

Fournier/Sorensen 9-13th

Kaliszek/Spodryev 9th-18th (lol, Australian judge buried them)

Hurtado/Khaliavin 10-15th

Lauriault/Legac 9-14

Wang/Liu 13-17th

Fear/Gibson 13-20

Reed/Ambrolevicius 13-20

Koch/Nuchtern 11-19

Turkilla/Versulius 16-21

Nazarova/Nikitin 15-20

Yanovskaya/Lukacs 19-21

everyone agreed that Bunina/Frolov were last

Huge score for Nathan and good for Vincent.

I'm actually going to have to watch some of Worlds. Yay Nathan.

Still irked that the Dance FD isn't being shown on TV. Asshats....

Okay Nathan v. Hanyu was a great competition--just YouTubed the performances--it's what the Olympics should have been, two very different skaters each skating lights out. Yale's been good for Nathan--lots of nice little performance touches in his short. The one good thing about his tanking at the Olympics is that he's continuing to develop as a skater (I think he would have retired if he'd won Gold). He'll always be stiffer than Hanyu, but he's working his strong sense of rhythm and getting some finesse with the hands.

Here's Papadakis/Cizeron Free Dance

Theor tango was one of the best tangos I have ever seen. And people laugh that british eurosport guys say now that EVEN tessa and scott wouldnt beat them..yeah what a surprise

for the Ice Dance die hards..2 hours of. Technical Committee explaining the requirements for next season

Rhythm Dance is Musical/Operetta

Jukebox musicals like Mamma Mia are accepted.

Finnstep must be done on Quickstep, Charleston or Swing. Then, immediately, they have to do a Pattern dance type step sequence on the same rhythm chosen for the Finnstep.

Ladies can wear trousers

If someone falls before the first twizzle, it is no level for both partners. So the other partner should wait and start with the fallen partner

The Olympic Channel is airing all the free skates at various times this coming week. I think Dance is on Thursday.

At the end of the video there is Barbara Fusar Poli bitching about cross-rolls and cross-steps

some teams were doing cross steps rather than cross-rolls but they were getting the levels anyway by technical panels

[quote]Okay Nathan v. Hanyu was a great competition--just YouTubed the performances--it's what the Olympics should have been, two very different skaters each skating lights out.

Well, on the flip side, it was Hanyu who choked this time in the SP. He basically took himself out of the competition just like Nathan did at the Olympics after his SP. There was no way Hanyu was going to overcome that lead unless Nathan imploded.

Had Hanyu landed his 4sal in the SP, then it would've been very interesting to see how the scores would've shaken out.

I do think Hanyu is the better, but he needs to take a break and let his foot heal--otherwise he'll never be well enough to up his technical ante. If he can attain a consistent 4lutz, I think that would be enough to put him consistently over Nathan as the quality of his elements are so much better.

But it's clear he's in the process of being passed technically now that Nathan is becoming more consistent. It'll be interesting to see how Hanyu proceeds from here.

Agree with everything you're saying R464. Even had Hanyu landed the quad sal cleanly in the LP, he would've needed mistakes from Nathan to win after the SP pop. I, too, would like to see him take real time off (perhaps even a whole season) to heal the ankle. I fear Hanyu's own stubbornness is coming back to bite him.

Figure skating is damned hard on the body with those quads. I think Hanyu's trying to keep his career going by being selective about competing, but the whole thing just grinds down the athletes.

I think Hanyu's got a fluidity and flow Nathan's never going to have, but Nathan's got serious athleticism. His musicality also helps him being more interesting than some of the other jumping beans.

R466 Yes, Nathan wont never have that flow and fudity, but he doenst have to. He has different type of the body- Yuzuru is slim and tall, long arms, Chen is smaller , more athletic. So for Yuzuru is easier to be artist. Anyway he does not have anything near the lines or extension of a Cizeron. He is not that good

What is famewhore Javi Raya doiing at the Worlds banquet? He didn't make the team.

R468: Begging?

Trying to get laid, of course.

I am searching for a rich Japanese daddy

Nathan finished the job this time around. He really should have won the Olympics but he was too green back then.

I should've won the Olympics too, R472. But it's all good now, my team gold is just as good as an individual one. Promise.

Countries qualified for World Team Trophy cheesefest (with big money and scores counting for Season Best list)

Russia

USA

Japan

France

Italy

Canada

Compared to previous editions, Italy take China spot. Lack of second man and ladies killed the Chinese score, especially as GP season counted towards the ranking (Italy doesn't have ladies in GP but they could use Junior GP points not to get a 0).

Formula is 2 Men, 2 Ladies, 1 Pair, 1 Ice Dance

Japan is the first to have announced the team:

Uno, Tanaka

Kihira, Sakamaoto

The pair that was at Junior Worlds....can't recall their name right now

Kamatsbura/Koleto

R473 Not as good as being DOUBLE Bronze medalists!

In case you don't know what an Olympic Bronze medal looks like, here is our 3,054,003 instagram post holding, showing, wearing and talking about it.

Double Bronze medals, all the way!

Yeah, but my bitch face is better than your bitch face

P/C's routine is the same lyrical style they did with Moonlight Sonata. It's about time they tried something different.

Why should they? Clearly, there's going to be lots of duking it out below while they float along on top.

It's H/D who need to fix their programming--what a crash and burn after winning the Grand Prix and you know it's because we all hated the program--including me, the H/D defender.

Pairs free skate is on Olympic Channel now btw. Fantastic Sui/Han coming up in about 40 or 45 minutes.

How did Chock and Bates do? I enjoy watching them more than the 2 other American teams. There was so much skating to watch, and at terrible times for us in the US, that I haven't gotten around to watching the ice dance or most of the pairs. Cain and LeDuc did well, right? Now the US will have 2 teams going to worlds next year thanks to them.

The Sui/Han Free was gorgeous--they're such a wonderful pair--hope her feet make it to Beijing.

I haven't had the heart to watch ice dance beyond P/C who, once again, built their free into something evocative over the season. He's always an amazing skater, but it takes him a while to really get all the little nuances of interpretation in there.

Oh, looks like H/D pulled back up to bronze and the Russians squeezed into silver. Gee, I'm sure the composition of the judging panel had *nothing* to do with that.

But, seriously, H/D need to fix their programming next season. I know Zach's not the brightest bulb on the planet, but c'mon.

Chock & Bates were sixth. Not great, but not hopeless.

I think Hawayek/Baker are the ones in trouble--they're not really moving up much.

Hawayek/Baker have stagnated in the last 2 seasons. He has physical limits, she has technical limits

R477, I'd enjoy seeing P&C do something different too, but there's not much motivation when the judges orgasm over what they do now, and their main competition are 30 year olds giving us their stunning interpretation of Leo's Romeo & Juliet.

Chock & Bates should really be encouraged IMO, between the 4CC win and finishing 6th after being out from extended injury. I always found them dull previouslsy but really enjoyed their change in style this season. I'm interested to see what they can do with full, injury free training time.

Are there any especially talented US dance teams coming up in the pipeline? H&B are okay, but I'm not sure if they're future world medalist material. Also, have the Shibs announced if they'll be competing again? It's not like they're lighting Hollywood on fire with their ShibSibs (tm) Amazon clothing line.

R482, in terms of young US teams, I LOVE Carreira/Ponomarenko. They are only 18 but are absolute future stars. (And he's the son of Klimova/Ponomarenko.) If they were from any country other than the US, they would have been at Worlds and threatening for medals. They are the reason that I think Hawayek/Baker are in big trouble, especially now that Chock/Bates have rejuvenated themselves. How much longer can the US hold a team this special back? There are only three spots.

There are citizenship issues...she's Canadian and they aren't fast tracking immigration so I know they are working hard for Beijing eligibility. But the US needs to get with the program because these two are the future of US Dance. There are two other major young US teams. McNamara/Carpenter did a good job at US Nationals. I've never been a big fan (partly because I'm shallow and they're not so cute)...but they've improved a lot. Meanwhile, the Parsons have absolutely stagnated and need new coaching ASAP.

Ice Dance is really the best discipline for the US...which is why it was such bullshit that the powers that be decided to give Adam Rippon and Mirai Nagasu spots in the Team Event instead of Chock/Bates or Hubbell/Donohue. If Chock/Bates had won their Bronze, they might have been more apt to retire...instead, they are surely going to try and hang around until 2022. Why not?

^^^^Oops...I mean to respond to R483. But I do agree with R482.

Carreira/Ponomarenko are not so amazing. He is small and she is stiff. Typical lyrical bore.

Oh Nathan won worlds, our boys racking up those world titles.

R484, my understanding is the reason the US only used the Shibs in the olympic team event is that they put in a request to do them both, which the USFSA granted. I'm not sure what gave them the leverage to do that when H/D were the US champions, but that's what happened.

Gabby Daleman came clean about her body image issues and the editing of her sm images.

H/D got screwed over by the Shibs at the Olympics. I think the idea was to protect Nathan, but he had a major attack of nerves and blew it anyway. I think that won't happen again. Nathan needs to stay uninjured, but he seems to have paced his training this season --he looked rough at the beginning, but was solid at Worlds.

C/B are young enough to stick around for Beijing--they're a good team for Gadbois because their biggest issue as performers was the disconnect between the two. Since they are a couple, it's just a matter of getting some of that on ice.

American Ladies is now waiting for Alysa Liu to grow up. That said, a lot of Bradie's problems this season were the result of her adding that Lutz combo--she had the right idea about needing to add technical content, but it was inconsistent. She still has another season to pull it together. Sweet-faced Mariah Bell being more of a Tonya than a Nancy still amuses me.

As for American pairs . . . even when the overall field is weak, American pairs never fail to disappoint. Can't we import a Canadian or two?

R490 but Canadian pairs are crap now. They are left with Moore Towers and Marinaro and not much else ...Bilodeau will be' back next season with Lubov whatever, if she has laernt to land jumps

PC should try something new and better, at least a better choreographer than Lambiel. I really don’t get this FD’s exhibition choreography...

R490, I think Ting Cui can really help US ladies along with Alysa Liu, if she can keep her nerves under control. If she can hold it together, she'll easily earn a worlds slot over Bradie or Mariah. Bradie I worry has maxed out in terms of judges' scores, and Mariah only has a shot at placing higher if she can add consistently rotated 3/3s and the 3sal back. Raf did help Ashley Wagner find higher tech content and consistency well into her 20s, so I haven't completely lost hope for Mariah yet.

I think Bradie improved a lot this season on the interpretation. *If* she can skate consistently clean again, she'll have a shot at the lower podium levels. She managed that Grand Prix bronze in a deep field. But she needs to be clean and make sure the rotations happen as they did last season. Ting Cui has the usual American Ladies problem--tons of talent, inability (so far) to put two clean programs together. It's not impossible, but we have no problem producing US Ladies who don't keep it together. However, Bradie, Mariah and Ting Cui are all the leggy types that seem to develop later than the more compact skaters..

But I think Alysa Liu is the only one who has the potential to beat the Russians at their own game, but that's a long ways away and growth spurts and injuries are potential pitfalls. Though, at this point, I'd take an American Lady who can get on the Juniors podium.

.Tarah Kayne/Danny O'Shea have announced their innovative music choice for 2019-20 FS:

Les Miserables

Man, just the thought of Les Miz routine turns out to be a thread killer.

Our take on Les Mis will be just as original and brilliant as Hubbell & Donohue's Romeo & Juliet.

USA team for World Team Trophy

Mariah Bell

Bradie Tennell

Nathan Chen

Vincent Zhou

Cain/LeDuc

Hubbell/Donohue

FRANCE team

Laurine Lecavelier

Mae Berenice Meite

Kevin Aymoz

Adam Siao Him Fa

James/Cipres

Papadakis/Cizeron

Russian team

Tuktamysheva

Samadourova

Kolyada

Samarin

Zabjako/Enbert

Sinistina/Katsalapov

Italy and Canada have not announced the team yet but the deadline for entry was today. So they will probably publish it tomorrow

Italy choices in Men, Pairs and Dance seem obvious anyway.. Girls are all weak anyway, they can pick at random

Finally watched H/D's FD, they did skate it well, but the better they skate it the more obvious it is that the program's just wrong for them. P/C would never deign to do anything that cheesy (Eurotrashy, yes, cheesy, no), but they can pull that sort of thing off--and did early on with that Mozart number. H/D had their big breakthrough last year by being grown-ups. Idiotic to think they can go backwards. Who the hell does that?

And now we get to deal with Russian overacting and judging shenanigans for the rest of the quad.

Re Coughlin

from latest Brennan's article

"In the Jackson County (Mo.) medical examiner investigative report, medical investigator Christina Hawkins wrote that Coughlin’s family told her Coughlin “had been depressed because of false allegations."

“The subject is an Olympic figure skater who was currently trying to get a commentator position with the U.S. Olympic Committee,” Hawkins wrote. “He was competing for the position with another person. This person made false allegations, which resulted in the subject getting suspended from all correspondence and activities.”"

...

"The report does not name the other person.

Coughlin had been a commentator for the now-defunct Ice Network, but that role ended well before his suspension due to potential conflict of interest concerns when he became chair of the International Skating Union’s Athletes Commission and a member of the ISU Single and Pair Skating Technical Committee.

It’s not clear what new television job he might have been seeking, or with whom he might have been competing. There are no figure skating commentating jobs within the USOC itself.

Coughlin’s agent, Tara Modlin, did not reply Thursday afternoon to calls and text messages seeking comment about the Coughlin family’s accusations."

Ice Dance line up at World Team Trophy is

Papadakis/Cizeron

Sinitsina/Katsalapov

Hubbell/Donohue

Weaver/Poje

Guignard/Fabbri

Koleto and his beard

Brennan has a new article out on Coughlin. Here is he most interesting tidbit: "In the Jackson County (Mo.) medical examiner investigative report, medical investigator Christina Hawkins wrote that Coughlin’s family told her Coughlin “had been depressed because of false allegations."

“The subject is an Olympic figure skater who was currently trying to get a commentator position with the U.S. Olympic Committee,” Hawkins wrote. “He was competing for the position with another person. This person made false allegations, which resulted in the subject getting suspended from all correspondence and activities.” The report does not name the other person.

Any guesses on who the person was?

Sorry for the double post. Meant this for this other thread.

Does the TV job really exist or did the family dream of it?

Can't speak to the veracity of Brennen's article, but I would imagine nabbing a TV commentating position for skating is a ruthlessly competitive endeavor, given the practically zero amount of interest in figure skating right now.

There are tons of former skaters who left competing long ago, but try to still make a living in the sport. That leaves them with 3 options: coaching, touring pro shows overseas or, the jackpot, land a TV commentating gig.

I'm sure commentating on a big network is the only option that pays well enough to sustain a stable, decent living in skating.

Tara and Johnny lucked out and got the biggest commentating prize, but then you have the Ryan Bradleys, the John Coughlins, and Micheal Weiss' all vying for those gigs.

Indeed.

But given it is not that half of the channels are broadcasting figure skating, it shouldn't be hard for Americans to guess which TV gigs he was aiming for

Sticks and stones may break my bones

Exactly. I still would like to know what the allegations were.

Michael Weiss, John Coughlin, and other vyers for commentating gigs like Ashley Wagner don't have the credentials for the top network jobs. Tara Lipinski and Tanith Belbin are OGMs, as were their predecessors. Johnny Weir only got in because he's friends with Tara and memorably outrageous. It must've been a smaller network like The Olympic Channel if this is true.

Tanith is a silver, not a gold medalist. Her former partner Ben Agosto does some commenting as does Charlie White at the Ice Network. Coughlin seems like small potatoes next to them, but he would be pairs, not ice dancing.

Who does the commenting on pairs now?

Brennan has a statement by the lawyer of the accusers

“My clients and I want to make this clear: John Coughlin used his position of trust and power and prominence in figure skating to sexually abuse multiple minors, three of whom I represent. His family can create any narrative they want to create,” Manly said, “but U.S. Figure Skating knows the truth, and for them to allow a story to circulate that a false accusation led to Mr. Coughlin’s decision to take his own life is despicable. It’s a mixture of denial, ignorance and in some instances, malice.” “My clients are going to pursue justice so this never happens to another little girl again."

Sorry for the error R512, I was thinking of Meryl Davis when I said Tanith was an OGM. That said, nearly all the major commentators have had Olympic medals (Tracy Wilson is another example). John Coughlin never competed at the Olympics.

“My clients are going to pursue justice so this never happens to another little girl again."

Well, it's certainly unlikely to happen with John Coughlin again. They should be careful what they wish for. Or maybe that IS what they wished for.

R515, what a stupid statement. They are clearly addressing the USFSA.

Good for the victims. Time for all the pedos at USFSA to go down in flames.

I'm guessing money was the reason Terry Gannon, Tara, Johnny and Tanith didn't actually go to Tokyo for Worlds and just made their comments from a studio in NY in their jammies. Money and the fact that interest in figure skating and therefore TV ratings are both in the toilet in the US now. It was nice to see the stands largely full in Japan, unlike US Nationals where there were huge banks of empty seats.

But bless the Olympic Network for showing all the Free programs the following week. I'm glad I got to see P/C and Sui/Han.

I didn't know the commentators weren't even in Japan covering worlds. Sad. NBC's 2 hour coverage last Saturday night was pathetic. I remember the good old days when they'd show both the shorts and free skates and all the competitors in the last 2 groups at least, pairs and ice dance. Instead, this time they didn't even show poor Bradie Tennell's programs, only a few seconds of her landing a jump or 2 in her free. And she's our reigning national champion! At least there was brief mention of Tomoki winning junior nationals. Will WTT be televised in the US?? I don't get the Olympic channel or NBC Sports, but I pay for NBC sports gold. I doubt anyone but the more diehard skating fans would subscribe. It is a bit of a downer watching skating competitions on my laptop. Wish I could attend SOI to show support for live skating here but the shows are all too far away. All we can hope now is that Japanese fandom keeps the sport going and brings some income to our skaters.

Actually, Alysa Liu is our reigning national champion . . . poor Bradie. I catch up on skating via YouTube--the British commentators are my favorites, though it must be fun to listen to Tatiana if you actually speak Russian.

Did Brandie eat the ice?

More likely a carrot, apple, or sugar cube fed on an open hand, R520.

Nah, she just underrotated in the short and, I think, doesn't get the PCS to hold her up. Ended up in tenth after the short, then came up to the ninth after a good long.

Oops how could i forget Alysa is the current national champ? Bradie is dull but I think she actually did as well as she could in the free. Can't remember exactly because I'm not a big fan. Girl also looks starving and anorexic.

I think Bradie's just gawky--it's a body build type, then you get the back injury and she's just kind of tight all through her core, just not a lot of ease and flow in her upper body. I have a soft spot for Bradie just because she's kind of an outsider that everyone ignored until they were desperate, but she isn't natural graceful like Mariah Bell.

[R524] Agree. It's her frame. She's more of an ectomorph with long limbs.. This gives the impression of bad posture and she needs to work twice as hard to keep her alignment. Unfortunately, the choreographed hunched positions in R&J did nothing to help her and that's mostly what I remember about that program.

Starr Andrews scored 64.83 in the SP at Egna Spring Trophy this afternoon. 3T+3T with +2 to +4. 3Lo with all +3. 2A with +1 to +3

Gabriella Izzo is second with 61.45. 3F+3Lo (UR) with negative GOEs. 3Lz with neutral GOE. 2A with +2/+3.

Yep, R525, it can be a great body type for dance, but she needs to own it and use it properly. She's clearly been working on it, but a different choreographer could help. Even for an exhibition piece. I still think she's got a better season in her. The Golden Skate people seemed to have slghtly warmed up to her--at least to the point of thinking that it's Mariah Bell, not Bradie, who's peaked technically.

Maybe Bradie can get some inspiration from watching Ting Cui's programs. Ting has a similar body type but moves gracefully and balletically across the ice.

Either you got it or you don't, especially at her age of 20 or 21? She's like the Tim Goebel of ladies skating, without intl. medals.

Bradie's won some international medals--a couple of grand prix events and a couple of B class events that she won. She also has a team medal bronze, of course. What she doesn't have is a world medal. And, yep, that's a long shot.

Izzo beats Andrews in Egna. 120 FS for Izzo and 182 overall. Andrews only 106 in the FS.

R529, the difference is that Tim Goebel was a technical pioneer in men's skating, the first skater to land 3 quads in a program (and with high regularity). While I like Bradie, her technical content is pretty standard for the top women. She's not pushing the technical envelope like Goebel did.

Guillaume Cizeron's new shirtless photo today:

What if you want to send money in a birthday card - or send a loved one some money? A check is easier than getting their banking account numbers, entering all that crap into the computer, to transfer the money - and it's a hassle for you and them (because you have to contact them for the numbers.) Sending cash is a hassle too because you have to go to the bank to get the right denominations - or a bunch of 20s makes the envelope too fat and I've heard of people in post offices opening envelopes with cards to take out the money...

I mean checks are EASY. You can print out a copy of the cashed check without having to print out a whole page of credit card purchases from your bill and you don't know exactly what it will say - a check can have your own note in the memo line for what it's for, the account number, etc. to totally prove to paid something - a credit card bill listing is not as individualized.

And my damned property tax collector's office charges $35 to pay the tax bill with a credit or debit card. WTF! There are often charges for credit card payments - and also even for bank transfers sometimes - but I've never seen an extra charge for using a check, unless you have that kind of bank account I guess but mine are unlimited and free.

* to totally prove YOU HAVE paid something...

Sorry! I thought I was in the check-writing thread. Slinking out the back door...

LOL. I was wondering what that had to do with figure skating!

[quote]Hawayek/Baker have stagnated in the last 2 seasons. He has physical limits, she has technical limits

Agreed. The Danish-Canadians beat Hawayek/Baker in the Free Dance, so H & B are vulnerable to falling out of the Top 10 next year.

[R538] Jean-Luc needs to pair with someone like Avonley Nguyen. Someone TINY. He's a wee slip of a thing and needs a partner who looks the same. He's so good. I hate to see him not reach his potential.

Jean Luc is probably one of the top 3 male figure skating dancers at the moment and could still be even better. He won't achieve his potential with his current partner.

They just don't look right together. Ask for that big post about writing checks, I guess it could be tangentially related to skating. Why don't all those Hanyu fans or skating fans in general throw little envelopes of money or checks, instead of all those wasteful, non-biodegradable Winnie the Pooh and stuffed animals that the skaters not even going to keep anyway. I agree with Raf A. that it is a hazard for the next skater. Would you rather skate on a smooth, freshly resurfaced rink, or one that has had 100 knick-knacks and fuzzy stuffed animals and flowers thrown on it? Just one little bit of material on the ice is enough to make even the best skater trip and fall. Let the fans make out checks to the skaters' favorite charity instead.

r541 The other thread has already discussed it: what the fans want is the visible proof of their appreciation. They would donate money, but because writing a check doesn't exactly have the same emotional payoff as the skater actually seeing the toys meant for them in the heat of the moment, they would throw things at them anyway.

[quote]Jean Luc is probably one of the top 3 male figure skating dancers at the moment and could still be even better.

I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Jean Luc is a stronger skater than his partner, but he's not at the level of Donohue, Bates, Poje, Poirier etc.

And he's not as pretty a twink as Poirier.

So the Parsons are no more as a dance team! She is quitting. Will Michael keep going? He seemed to be the stronger skater.

After all the talk about Hawayek/Baker and their size issues...

Rachel Parsons has an eating disorder. Very sad but you can see how that happens. She's very pretty and not big at all (only 5'4")...and yet when you put her next to her brother that perspective changes and she looks like some big cornfed girl. He's the one who is too short (at only 5'7"), but she's the one who feels the pressure to be as small as she can be.

I've been in these threads pushing them to change coaches...and I think this is partly a real failure in coaching. A lot of their choreography only called attention to the issue. That Bohemian Rhapsody program they did at the US Championships had a Papadakis/Cizeron-style lift where he struggled. It was so awkward and just made her look big and heavy. Instead of trying to be P/C...they should have modeled themselves after Guignard/Fabbri. He's short, too. She isn't a waif. And yet they make it work.

Obviously, Ice Dance needs to steal some of the tall guys from Pairs. I'd like to nominate Morgan Cipres.

I hope she recovers from her eating and image problems

I am sorry to have called her a tuckdriver in these threads

I wonder who can be a suitable available partner for Michael l

[quote]Guignard/Fabbri. He's short, too.

I agree. Fabbri is too short.

What I don't get is why do so many short guys go into Dance? Don't they realize they are too short and should be in Singles?

i wish nathan's abs were more prominent during the FS

r547 Once you know you are short and won't grow any more, isn't it too late to make a switch from dance to singles?

In the past being short used to be no deterrent to ice dancing. I find it a bit of a shame that it changed.

As Morozov once said (he wanted to be a compliment), based on their physical structure, in Russia Guignard/Fabbri would have not even allowed on ice

Fabbri actually did singles from 2001 to 2007. He was the Italian Junior Champion twice.

In Senior he was second at 2007 National Championships won by Karel Zalenka (bronze was Paolo Bacchini). Zalenka did the Olympics in 2006 while Bacchini skated at 2010 Olympics.

I wonder if part of the problem in North America is that the tall guys and petite women get moved into pairs, leaving mostly the (relatively) taller women and shorter men in ice dancing. Obviously neither Hawayek or Rachel Parsons are large women, it's simply relative compared to their partners' sizes. I'm average height and build and at a healthy weight, and I have a very short and small framed partner. I don't look large in any other context, but if I'm not careful about how we post in photos together I end up looking like The Hulk.

Siblings unfortunately aren't always well matched. The Shibs were, but I remember a pairs team from awhile back, Danielle and Steve Hartsell, where the sister looked large in proportion to her brother.

Yeah, and I think there was an American pairs team that had a very bad accident a couple of decades ago. Circa. 2000.

R553 That was Paul Binnebose, partnered at the time with Laura Handy. The accident left him with partial facial paralysis. I don't know if height differences had anything to do with what happened, enough.

I think Guignard/Fabbri have overcome any height issues. Part of it is personality and chemistry...he's so in love with her that I find it charming. But they have obviously also worked on that...particularly the lifts.

When I look at Hawayek/Baker, I feel like they haven't addressed that issue at all. They have Jean-Luc styled to accentuate his thin frame. (And, while we're at it, can someone please cut his hair?) And he has this really limber fluid style compared to Kaitlyn that only highlights the problem. She needs to work on being more flexible, but it seems like they're letting Jean-Luc be a mini-Guillaume Cizaron and get so low to the ice when he really needs to focus on elongating his spine and being more upright and projecting upward. That is a partnering issue. That is the skating world blowing smoke up the boy's ass and letting Jean-Luc be Jean-Luc while the brunt of the criticism always falls to Kaitlyn.

There's really nothing Kaitlin can do to fix the problem, the discrepancy is not only height but talent. The two together will make her look slow, less musical and mismatched.

Soucisse & Firus are also a little on the small side. That may be one of the reasons that Shane Firus had trouble lifting Soucisse at the end of their Free Dance at Canadian Nationals this year. He's a small guy and may have been tired, and he kind of dropped her and they fell to the ice.

Firus is 170 cm like Baker. Soucisse is shorter than Hawayek (155 to 160)

Fabbri is 165 and Guignard is 161

The other dance couple at Worlds with less than 10cm gap is Nazarova (170)/Nikitin (177)

Smart/Diaz also have a small gap: 165 to 173

R559, I'm surprised Diaz is the boyfriend of Madeline Hubbell. She must be around the same height as he is.

R558, Shane Firus is cute, kind of like a puppy dog. But he is a little short, and Soucisse & Firus have a lot of challenges right now.

I'm wondering where they are going to go from here. They've now been overtaken by Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen for the 3rd Canadian dance spot, and it may be hard for them to get it back again.

Zagorski 174

Hubbell 172

Stepanova 170

Yanovskaya 170

Nazarova 170

Weaver 169

Koch 169

Sinitsina 167

Papadakis 166

Fournier Beuadry 165

Turkilla 164

Reed 163

Wang 163

Komatsbura 161

Galyavieva 160

Gilles 160

Hurtado 160

Fear 160

Chock 157

Kaliszek 156

Lauriault 150

[quote] They've now been overtaken by Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen for the 3rd Canadian dance spot, and it may be hard for them to get it back again.

and Lajoie /Laja are coming up to Senior next season.

* Lajoie /Lagha

Weaver/Poje may retire after 2020 Worlds in Canada.

I suppose that could give Soucisse/Firus an opening to get back on the Canadian podium.

Gropman/Somerville have split.

He dumped her by email

Sommerville has a new partner

and the Greens are not in the International Selection Pool 2019/20

Some on FSU are speculated they have paired Sommerville with the Green girl.

Stellato/Bartholomay are not not on the International Selection Pool

Retirement?

Tim Dolensky is also missing.

LADIES

Starr Andrews

Mariah Bell

Karen Chen

Calista Choi

Ting Cui

Amber Glenn

Hanna Harrell

Courtney Hicks

Aubrey Ignacio

Isabelle Inthisone

Gabriella Izzo

Pooja Kalyan

Alysa Liu

Emmy Ma

Emilia Murdock

Akari Nakahara

Audrey Shin

Bradie Tennell

Megan Wessenberg

MEN

Lucas Altieri

William Annis

Jason Brown

Nathan Chen

Ryan Dunk

Tomoki Hiwatashi

Joseph Kang

Liam Kapeikis

Joonsoo Kim

Joseph Klein

Alex Krasnozhon

Max Lake

Peter Liu

Ilia Malinin

Matthew Nielsen

Eric Prober

Camden Pulkinen

Eric Sjoberg

Andrew Torgashev

Dinh Tran

Vincent Zhou

PAIRS

Ashley Cain & Timothy LeDuc

Jessica Calalang & Brian Johnson

Haven Denney & Brandon Frazier

Nica Digerness & Danny Neudecker

Sarah Feng & TJ Nyman

Kate Finster & Balazs Nagy

Cate Fleming & Jedidiah Isbell

Isabelle Goldstein & Keyton Bearinger

Tarah Kayne & Danny O’Shea

Grace Knoop & Blake Eisenach

Laiken Lockley & Keenan Prochnow

Audrey Lu & Misha Mitrofanov

Isabelle Martins & Ryan Bedard

Alexa Scimeca-Knierim & Chris Knierim

Anastasiia Smirnova & Danil Siianytsia

Erika Smith & AJ Reiss

Allison Timlen & Justin Highgate-Brutman

ICE DANCE

Ella Ales & Daniel Tsarik

Oona Brown & Gage Brown

Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko

Molly Cesanek & Yehor Yehorov

Madison Chock & Evan Bates

Sophia Elder & Christopher Elder

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker

Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue

Karina Manta & Joseph Johnson

Lorraine McNamara & Quinn Carpenter

Avonley Nguyen & Vadym Kolesnik

I guess Alex Johnson, Rabbitt and Angela Wang may be retiring...or they don't have the minimums to get on the ISP?

[R566] She didn't say the email was from Somerville. It could have been from a coach. Either way, not the way to treat a long time skater in their program. I'm sure she's done with Wheaton.

R572 Ah yes. Even worse. He may have not even bothered to tell her and just let coaches or someone else doing it

And yes. I can't see her staying at Wheaton if she continues given the coaching team may have been involved in the behind the back split

She was practically dumped by her skating rink team. That’s cold, though she was clearly holding him back and it was clear last season was probably going to be the last. The browns and Greens had passed them.

I think we knew Sean Rabbit was retiring. I might miss Dolensky and his jeans on the ice. He was very musical and could be a crowd pleaser but never got it all together.

[quote]Stellato/Bartholomay are not not on the International Selection Pool. Retirement?

Most likely. They actually started out really well, and I thought there was potential there, but somewhere in the last two seasons their partnership soured on a personal level.

You can tell in the Kiss n Cry they don't really like each other, and seem polar opposites in terms of their approach to skating.

Deanna seems like a crazy type-A perfectionist, and Nate seems very laid-back and chill. Probably they are two polar extremes that couldn't meet in the middle.

Also, Dave at TSL always seems to be dropping hints that when talking about them that Nate isn't exactly a nice guy when it comes treating his female partners with respect.

Anyone have any dish about that?

[R576] No dish about that, but TSL Dave has been lobbying for Deanna to leave Nate and team up with Danny O'Shea. He thinks Tarah is also a weak link.

Tara is indeed a weak link. Deanna needs a kick as partner.

But Tarah is gold medal level hysteric in the kiss-and-cry.

I always rooted for S/B, but seeing them skate in person, they looked more strained and jerky. No wonder they didn't place well at competitions. Kayne-O'Shea looked so much faster and effortless. Too bad they fell apart toward the end of their free. S/B were too many notches below the other top teams in quality and speed.

Confirmed split for Stellato/Bartholomey

She wants to continue. he is injured and he doesn't seem sure he will carry on

Her announcement

The Japanese pair, Suzaki/Kihara, also split

She seems she wants to continue (she will "consult with coaches and Federation"). He has a long running injury, he doesn't rule out continuing but he will focus on "treatment of the shoulder first"

Poor Nathan. He is such a cutie.

Bartholomay? I guess he looks decent. Must be so disappointing to devote 20 or more years to a sport that offers little in pay off. Did Cain/LeDuc get invited to Stars on Ice? I hope Nate can have a good career doing whatever satisfies him. Did he or Deanna ever go to college?

I'm not buying the injury from Nate.

Pair teams wait out injuries all the time if they are committed to their partnership. If they were gelling as a team and making progress, I seriously doubt a knee injury would keep them from continuing together--unless it was a career-ending injury, which doesn't appear to be the case judging from Nate's post.

I think this injury is just a convenient excuse for them to part amicably without stirring up drama, but it's been no secret there was tension between them.

I really wonder if Deanna is serious about continuing. To restart all over again with a new partner is tough at 35.

R585 according to his wikipedia Bartholomay only has a high school diploma. It makes no mention of any career outside of skating. Deanna Stellato is a licensed aesthetician. I knew her in passing when we were younger, and she's a tough and determined person. I have no doubt she'll be successful whether or not she continues in skating.

[quote] did Cain/LeDuc get invited to Stars on Ice?

No. No pairs in the cast list

Evan Lysacek is marrying a non-Vera woman. Way to join the club Evan! Pussy is great!

You're just jealous that your engagement to a woman didn't get you a People magazine spread, Grant.

[quote]To restart all over again with a new partner is tough at 35.

I don't see what the point of it is.

Unless a skater is in the top of the world rankings and can get on the podium, what would be the point of getting a new partner at a time when most figure skaters have retired from competition?

It's not like she's Aljona Savchenko.

That's exactly what I was going to say. She's not Aliona. What about Deanna's husband. How's the marriage going to work if the wife wants to quit her job (losing income), & move to another state to skate with another man? Who's been paying for all that? There comes a time when most athletes have to accept that they cannot achieve more and move onto something else.

TV Asahi (https://www.tv-asahi.co. jp/ figure-wtt2019/) is the official Japanese broadcaster for WTT. Their twitter has photo and video: @figureskate5ch

If you’re in Japan and watching via TV, you can play a game with the official Asahi FS mascot, Go-chan, using your remote control, and enter to win a poster signed by Team Japan, a lotion and moisturizer set from Shiseido’s Elixir, or some Go-chan goods. (Check the TV Asahi FS page)

Sponichisports (@sponichisports) is tweeting practices.

Actress Yuki Amami is the special guest. Shuzo Matsuoka is the main sportscaster. Shizuka Arakawa, Nobunari Oda, and Aya Kawai are commentating.

Teruji Kakuzawa, Jyunya Shindo, and Yohei Onishi with other Asahi staff will be reporting from the floor. Hiroki Mikami is the main reporter.

Sui/Han, Tatsuya Tsuboi, Hikari Sato, Yuhana Yokoi, and Ami Nakai are performing in the exhibition. (Nakai is a novice from Niigata, Kanto area.)

TV Asahi has an app that will stream a second cam (“2nd Screen”) on the skaters in their booths as they cheer on their teammates. I don’t know if it’s Japan-only, but it’s free and available in Google Play and iTunes. It will only stream when one of the skaters is performing. It can take up to 30 seconds for the video to load if your connection is poor. No sound.

TV Asahi App:

(Sorry, not Kanto region. Chubu region.)

World Team Trophy Rhythm Dance

Papadalus/Cizeron 87.31

Sinitsina/Katsalappv 84.57

Hubbell/Domohue 82.86

Guignard/Fabbri 80.25

Weaver/Poje 79.60

Komatsubara/Koleto 60.93

Polish and Russian judges gave 4 10s to Papadakis/Cizeron.

Well, they gave out 2 10s to Sinitsina/Katsalapov, so they have to be go even higher with P/C

But Japanese judge actually tied S/K and P/C in PCS

[quote]Weaver/Poje 79.60

Weaver/Poje aren't doing too well if they're behind Guignard/Fabbri.

What happened?

R597 lost a level in each Tango pattern compared to g/f. His twizzles weren't smooth, so less GOE. Step sequence level 3

Thanks, R598.

It still seems unusual for Weaver/Poje to be behind Guignard/Fabbri. Has that ever happened before?

Btw, should someone create a new thread? This one is almost full.

New thread