The GOATs of Figure Skating

Link to the previous thread.

Until you folks pay up or DL changes its MO, we'll have to deal.

So Daleman is going to add a 3A and a quad to her programs? I bet Orser is so happy to have her gone from TCC.

R2 thiis sounds like Gracie Gold at Rostelecom cup 2018 version 2.0

Well, I'll kick it off with my musings on Aliev's music chouces.

SP: Je Dors Sur Des Roses  FS: Sound of Silence by Disturbed

FS sounds tailor-made for him, both lyrical and dramatic. I'm generally not a fan of lyrical programs, I usually find them boring, only a special skater can elevate this kind of music for me and make it interesting. Yuzu is such a skater and Aliev is another. If Aliev were able to skate cleanly, he might rise to be one of my very favorites.

The Sound of Silence is tricker. I love this rendition of the song , I loved the Morgan/Cipres program. But this moody dramatic stuff could be a great vessel for him. Can't wait, and please, Dima, stay on your fucking feet.

r2 r3 Someone suggested she might have been joking. With all the "Tursy's going to do a 3A with her 4S" and "Kihira's adding a 4S" and "Miyahara(!) will YOLO a 3A and a quad" I wouldn't be surprised if Gabby joked, "Hey, I'm trendy, me too!"

r3 Btw, any update on Gracie Gold? She used up her return skater card last season, which was really fucking stupid of her, so the best she can count on is a SA host spot. It's not like USFS has a lot of female skaters to choose from, Karen Chen, Bell and Tenell already have 2 spots. Will she have to do sectionals in order to do Nationals or does she still have a bye?

Seminar for Referees: PCS most commons mistakes

R4 I’m also not a fan lyrical programs (especially if it’s in a language I understand). Mainly because a lot of skaters just fail to convey the message of the song as a whole. It’s also more noticeable how empty a program is when there are lyrics because you could hear dramatic words and then you’d see a skater do absolutely nothing. But I’ve been seeing a lot of program announcements to lyrical music. I’m not really looking forward to them. Let’s see if someone can at least pull of a decent one.

Thread OP/sugar daddy - thanks for creating this new thread. We're like fugitives on the run from Muriel's paywall.

R6 Lynn Rutherford wrote an article on GG in May. Here's what she said about future comps:

[quote]Gold eyes the Philadelphia Summer Championships, held at IceWorks July 30-Aug. 3, as her possible return to competition. After that, she would have to compete at South Atlantic Regionals, also at IceWorks, in early October, to begin the quest to qualify for the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina.

GG also confirmed she's keeping her FS and SP from last season.

R7 FS fans: PCS scores are a joke lol judges are biased. ISU why aren’t you addressing this??? You’re killing the sport!!

ISU: We know it’s a problem and told them not to make these mistakes via this video idk why it’s still happening shrugs

Fucking sucks you have to pay to post on popular threads now. It's not that I don't want to pay $2, it's that I don't have access to that currency. Which I believe is the case for a lot of people who post here

I've sometimes paid for DL in the 10+ years I've been here. However, I'm not paying when 1) the site is glitchy as hell right now; 2) the Hanyu thread is the only one I frequent that's behind a paywall. Even if I do pay up, there are no guarantees that other regulars here will pay and there may just be three of us talking to each other (no offense, but it's just not the same, no matter how awesome you are). So what do we do cheap/po' hos? Do we disperse, stay on the run on DL til they shut us down completely or agree to go somewhere else?

r11 You don't have to have dollars, just use your regular credit/bank card. The currency will be converted automatically, I believe. I paid for some stuff in foregin currency and it was never a problem. Conversion rates might be a pain in the ass but at $2 it won't be that much.

R11 R13 I'd be careful with that, some banks/cards will charge you a transaction fee for foreign currency transactions which can be quite hefty.

Well, OP here. I've been reading the thread posted below, people wondering why are some threads locked and some not.

Anyway, right now lets see if this thread gets locked or not. We could just try to continue here, then rename threads without putting "part xyz" if it's the popularity that's an issue. But if we're clogging the bandwith or if it's non-American subject matter that's an issue, we'll either have to pay up or move elswhere but finding a place that allows anonymous posting won't be easy.

Forgot the link

When Hanyu announces that he's keeping his free, I'll console myself with knowing he'll tinker with it and it will be better than it was before. Imo everything he's recycled has been tighter and more impactful than the previous iteration.

Thank you op, you're a savior! When I finally caved and registered, I had to find out they still wouldn't let me post unless I handed over my credit card details. No, thanks. I don't have a problem with shelling out $2. Why isn't paypal an option?

R15 I think DL is targeting multi-part threads with a low number of paying subscribers. The other skating thread is also behind a paywall and it's been pretty inactive. The Mueller and theatre threads are very active and are in the hundreds but they are still open.

R17 It's not that I dislike Origin or that I don't think it could get better, but I'm just done with Plushenko and Weir and want Hanyu to be too.

R18 you're right, they should have better payment options.

r19 I really like Origin, and if I had to suffer through another season of Plushenko worship to see it done perfectly, I gladly would. However, I think that such fast-paced program won't cut it if he adds a 4Lz and, I'm wincing at the thought, 4A.

I don't mind paying but I'm concerned about using my credit card on a site that has so many glitches. And I'm really only on this site to talk about FS and Hanyu.

Never had a payment problem, r21. Maybe if there were enough paying members, this thread wouldn't get locked down. So if someone doesn't mind paying, chip in for the good of all. These days FS is 90% of my DL activity but paying and raging about Med hating loons is preferable to somewhere where Med hating loons don't provide me with entertainment. And I'm too fucking old for Twitter.

Welcome to the new judges

Results of the exams have been given this afternoon

r23 Did they watch r7's video?

39 took the exam for new International Judges.

2 China 1 Australia 1 Austria 1 Belgium 1 Belarus 1 Brazil 1 Bulgaria 3 Canada 1 Denmark 1 Spain 2 France 1 Georgia 4 Germany 1 Italy 2 Japan 2 South Korea 1 Lithuania 1 Luxembourg 1 Malaysia 2 Thailand 2 Turkey 2 Switzerland 1 Sweden 1 Ukraine 3 USA

Let's see when they publish the new list later this month, what was the success rate.

R5 Gabby was actually training a 4T and landing it successfully prior to her meltdown, so I wouldn't be surprised if she was serious about adding that jump in. Her 3T has always been huge and consistent. She should focus on getting her triples back in shape before working on quads and 3As, but with everybody else doing them now, I can see why she'd want to join the club.

Off topic but I just figured out what GOAT meant this last year, esp. seeing it in reference to Tom Brady. I thought it was some inside joke related to some sort of prank by teamates,LOL!

r27 In Helsinki a large portion of toys thrown at Yuzu were plushie goats.

Does this thread have a paywall yet? Oh well... it is what it is. Anybody want to talk about the Japan Open? Last year, Oda beat Chen and Fernandez (for that matter, so did Zags :) Anyway, on the GS site for this year's Japan Open, they've got a little feature on Daisuke Takahashi... so are they holding the spot open for him at the moment, since the rest of JPN team is named?

Team Japan: Satoko Miyahara, Rika Kihira, Shoma Uno, ?

Team Europe: Javier Fernandez, ?, ?, ?

Team North America: Mirai Nagasu, Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, ?

Stephane Lambiel will perform as a guest.

Teams will have 2 men and 2 women. The event is pro-am, so retired skaters are eligible.

r29 I wish Oda would go again, but Takahashi makes sense as he needs competition experience if he wants to get on an international circuit. I wonder if the NHK Trophy host spot is for him. Uno's participation seems bizarre taking into account what's been going on with him lately. If I remember correctly, he'll be getting his programs from Bourne and Wilson in August. And then JO in September? It's asking for a disaster. But I'm gonna be highly interested in the programs. Uno's actually a good dancer so a Bourne program seems like a great match, and somehow he seems to me like one of the few skaters who could pump some life into a Wilson choreo.

On team Europe it's going be Fernandez - I wonder what he'll jump. Will he be able to pull off 2 quads? It'd be a shame to let that 4S go. And probably one of the Russian guys, Samarin or Kolyada. Maybe Aymoz? Vasiljevs like last year? Hah, if Lambiel's going to be a guest star, maybe it'll be Vasilievs!

(Btw, yesterday I rewatched the 2015 GPF and Fernandez jumped a 3T instead of a 4T, planned because man that jump came out of nowhere even more that Hanyu's 3F, so cool to watch. Makes me wonder what it'd look like if those quadsters were told to prepare a triples-only programs, because they can do those with their eyes closed.)

Shoma being unprepared for JO wouldn't matter much if he was just against Javi, but he's gonna be up against Chen and Zhou and if they do better than him, which is likely, Shoma's reputation is gonna plummet even further.

Now, European ladies . I wish they'd venture or of just the Russian offerings and invite Loena Hendricx. But if not, then it's probably between Zag, Med and Tuk. I'd live to see Tuk's programs.

I'm surprised that Team North America is just US, I'd have thought they'd invite a Canadian. Maybe Gabby can make it.

Japan Open never invites Russian men, I guess because the ladies are a given. Matteo Rizzo could be an option. I really don't like JO (or team events in general). Only one program, no pairs or ice dance. Meh. I'm not going to lose sleep to watch Nathan, Vincent and Shoma be obscenely overscored.

I’d also like to have Oda in JO just so I can see his 3A from a back counter again.

[quote] And then JO in September?

I looked it up and it's Oct 5, two weeks before Skate America, where Chen will be.

Shoma seems to do whatever his fed wants him to - like the team trophy thing at the end of the season. Maybe that's the case here? Last year, I think he was #1 in the men, over Chen and, well, everybody else. Oda beat Chen too. I wish it was Oda - but understand why they might send Dai (or why he might want to go?) Dip his toe in the water? But with only a freeskate, where a functioning quad will be expected... I don't know.

Lots of suspense for 2019-20. I thought it was mainly on the ladies' side, but now I'm thinking both will be full of surprises.

JO is pretty much a joke as far as competition goes. I would say it's basically a glorified exhibition where the participants get paid really well.

R29 could get an invitation since he’s also a Kinoshita Group skater. That’s how both Miyahara and Kihira will be there, and probably the same with Zhou, but maybe only for the gala like his coach. Oda was jumping quads last year. I’m not sure if Takahashi will want to be compared to him, although Takahashi is recycling his FS, so it should be cleaner this time around.

JO pays well, which is why skaters like Chen who are probably very busy still do it. Both Aymoz and Rizzo are getting some Japanese attention lately, so we could see one of them, but Lambiel is a guest again, so maybe his boy toy will get invited again. Brown could also be doing the gala (Carnival on Ice) again.

Daleman and Kostner were supposed to compete last year, but had to pull out. But since Nagasu is already on Team North America, it seems like the NA ladies spot will go to Tennell if she needs the money. I think at least one of the European women will be Zagitova or one of the 3A and maybe Kostner.

I meant to say that Shimada could get an invitation because of Kinoshita Griup, though maybe only for the gala.

Good day.

R32 That was impressive! I'd love to see him wipe all those active competitors' faces again. Nobu and Dai would have been my preferred combo for team Japan. Nothing against the young guys, but they have enough opportunities to compete. The biggest draw of JO is to see some of the veterans and retired favourites again. I understand though that most of the participants are doing it for the money. Heck, why didn't Machida do JO before retiring from skating altogether? He still got some chops, though probably couldn't do quads anymore.

R35 In April Dai said he'd like to do it, if he gets an invitation. I'm not sure recycling his FS is gonna help him that much. His weak nerves are the biggest hurdle for him. A low-stake competition like JO could help him get over the jitters and ease back into international waters.

r38 if Dai is in, doesn't that mean Keiji (and any other junior skater) is out

R39 Unlikely. If it's not Dai it will probably be Nobu again.

Thanks for making this thread. We might have to change the name of thread when we create a new one. I may just pay the 20 dollars for yearly subscription.

Let's name the new thread after a diffeeent skater each time

Hanyu and other skating news

Alexia Paganini and other skating GOATs

Viveca Lindfors, Emmie Peltonen and other skating GOATs

Unknown Italian girl and other skating GOATs

Shingo and other skating GOATs

R42 LOL Love it. Let's do that.

R38 That’s really interesting. Official media reports from the talk show omitted the JO talk and a big hint like that would usually get reported by everyone right away. (Even one of the more detailed reports by Business Journal and Naturie went as far as to claim that he said he’s just focusing on domestic competitions next season and doesn’t want to do an international comp.) Takahashi was supported by Kinoshita in the past, too.

An article in Asajo by Kimiko Shiba came out yesterday about the upset regarding Zhou and the Kinoshita deal, and not just by fans. But being Shiba (a well-known Takahashi uber/Hanyu-anti and Med/Ge-supporter, who also just recently published an article on the Bad Boy controversy including about claims of the music being stolen from Med), she also quoted a “sports writer” (probably herself) who said the complaints are unreasonable and it’s no different than complaining about TCC supporting Hanyu, and then said something about sportsmanship. Miyahara’s photo was used in the article simply because she’s also supported by Kinoshita Group (and Shiba doesn’t care for her.)

r44 One can tell by the photo that she doesn't care about Miyahara.

R44 [quote]Takahashi uber/Hanyu-anti and Med/Ge-supporter

Nuff said

R44 Impossible to tell (for me) if fans at the talk were collectively hallucinating. Maybe it wasn't reported, because he stressed he hadn't been invited at that point? I mean, didn't his ties with Kinoshita end about 5 years ago? The translation reads like a campaign to me rather than a hint at a done deal. shrug

R45 True. lol

R47 It would’ve been reported by the press (“Takahashi wants to do JO!”) even if he hadn’t been invited, unless his team, fed, or Kinoshita didn’t want it out. (There was fs press, but also fashion and beauty press at the show.) Since it was so early, maybe they were concerned he might change his mind if invited or have to drop out. It could just be a coincidence, but TV Tokyo did open the official 2019 JO site a couple of days after the talk show.

Interesting that he originally had wanted Bourne to do his SP last season but couldn’t go with her for scheduling reasons. I was by his condo yesterday but completely forgot to take a look.

Fancy Hyoen goods are on the official website now:

Thanks for the updates, JDC. Poor Satoko - why would anyone dislike her? I wish they would just call her jumps and give her the PCS she deserves, but I'm not pissed about it the way I do about Zhou. Maybe it's because of his big mouth or that he gets candies across the board, not just from the tech panel.

JDC, I don't know if this is just another rag or something, but I read on my TL that Weekly Asahi is coming out with an article on Takahashi where he will reveal "the real reason" why he declined Worlds. Is Google translate just being a drama queen or does he actually say something new?

[Quote]Shoma seems to do whatever his fed wants him to - like the team trophy thing at the end of the season. Maybe that's the case here?

Gee. One has got to wonder why. Biggest mystery in the universe.

[Quote]...who said the complaints are unreasonable and it’s no different than complaining about TCC supporting Hanyu...

Convenient that she left out the fact that Kinoshita's sponsoring the dude while TCC isn't exactly providing Hanyu lessons for free, nor does he conveniently have a Canadian-based sponsor that we're aware that's paying for his Canadian-based training.

Saw this on reddit. Nothing everyone doesn’t really know.

R51 this part is not true "Apparently judges who conform to bias for the right skaters move up the ladder in ISU. Those who oppose these biases are slowly phased out of big competitions. "

I mean, yes but it is no ISU doing so. Judges are named by National Feds. Hence it is them that can not call some judges amore when drawn for big competitions

Isu van do that only for technical panel

R49 Shiba is also a Mao uber hence the Miyahara hate.

Google translate is correct. The magazine came out in stores today, so we should find out what this “real reason” is soon. It’s probably not a coincidence that Shukan Asahi and Asajo (Asahi Geino) both published figure skating-related articles around the same time.

But that Takahashi cover is hilarious. The text above him in red says: “How to choose the right oils and sugars that won’t age you/A male adult film star’s guide to health.”

Does everybody here also go to GS? I don't know if I should bring this over or not, but just in case some here don't go there...

From the poster Yude on Yuzuru's dedicated thread:

This is the text of the interview in FaOI Makuhari day 2 broadcast, there are new comments about 4Lz and the choreography of Crystal Memories.

(this is only summary, I hope we will have whole translation) Yuzuru thinks Masquerade and Crystal Memories are the genres he is good at. He feels asking David to work with him in Crystal Memories was good decision. David's emotion, expression of fingers, the posture, use of face, each one of his during the choreography is very beautiful but also has sense of masculinity, and Yuzuru wants to absorb them one by one. He feels the vocabularies in himself (in his expression?) has been increased after working in some programs with David. About 4Lz, he thinks the fans remember his fall well and might be scared of him trying, but he hopes new beautiful 4Lz will be staying in fan's memories by landing it clean.

Link to article she translated:

r54 Crystal Memories, sense of masculinity? Lol. I hope he did notice which of his exhibitions the fans were actually gushing about. Just don't go to DW for a FS, ok?

R54 Actually, that bit where he revealed he thought of ToshI as the 'master' and himself the sword-wielding knight in that program does kind of reflect masculinity, albeit in a superficial, otakuish sorta way. And Hanyu is nothing if not the biggest of otakus (he checks all the boxes I have in my head that tell me are signs of an otaku), so it would make sense for him to interpret all that as a form of masculinity. For all his depth as a person, he seems to have a very literal and childish way of interpreting things at times. At least he never once claimed Haru or NS as masculine. Not that I heard, anyway.

Sorry. That was in response to r55.

Alexia gets a David Wilson FS

r58 Next thread must be hers then

r56 So what are the boxes he checks? #bored

Hanyu is not only an Otaku... he’s a rather intense one but for some reason i find this rather endearing. You don’t often see people lose themselves so completely in something they love

r56 Hmm, let's see...

For one, the guy indisputably has a penchant to obsess over things. He has several well-known obsessions and/or strong interests and I find it highly unlikely he doesn't have a few other lesser known, or completely unknown, ones (and I hope they remain that way). He's also a shut-in when not on ice and while most otaku aren't shut-ins, most shut-ins are certainly otakus. Anyway, my list isn't a comprehensive one because it's not like I spend my days analyzing what otakus are like but being one myself, even though my level of obsession is significantly lower than his now that I'm older, I find the fannish behavior he's displayed so far completely relatable so there's that as well.

Let's try this again https://www.instagram.com/p/BzsPlKTlzJx/

Nope still get the 'URL signature mismatch' message i give up lol

Eric Radford is getting married this week

R64 Javier Fernandez has already donned his black mantilla.

Uno has a new sponsorship with Mizuno, which seems appropriate.

I wonder if Under Armour has ever offered Hanyu a sponsorship. They're sitting on a potential gold mine there.

R65 *chuckle* You haven't seen the last of me yet, Luis. A little paperwork won't get in true love's way. See you at the wedding!

R66 Given how much he loves those Marina Ice pants, I doubt he'd give them up for a UA sponsorship.

None of the stuff he endorses are stuff people can see on his person when he isn't actively endorsing them. You see him wear the ANA jacket on media day and during Nationals but he's more doing it as a representative than an endorser, since he's affiliated to the company as an athlete and not a brand ambassador, so it's not all that different from all those sponsors you see on the Team Japan jacket (among which Kosé is one of so even though he's now affiliated to one of their products as an ambassador, he isn't wearing their logo in that capacity when he puts in the Team Japan jacket.). He's so far removed from his sponsors and corporate employers usually that when he does hawk their wares once in a blue moon, it's really weird seeing him do it, like that Bathclin commercial that just came out. Lol.

While I don't know if UA was ever one of them, it's probably a given that he's been approached by at least one or two of the big sportswear brands over the course of his senior career, which he didn't go for. Other than those...do Edea and John Wilson Blades count? Though I think those are more like one-off deals.

Well maybe except for that Phiten necklace he never seems to take off. But the guy was already wearing it long before he ever signed anything with them so it's more like they're paying him to wear something he'd have worn anyway even if they weren't paying him to do it, lol. Only now, they get to associate his image to their brand officially.

Shoma looks so pretty in the ads. Interesting they're pushing him a bit more as a model or sex symbol or whatever. But wasn't that Itsuki's job?

I've looked for and can't find the new Bathclin ad with Yuzu, if anyone would be so kind ?? Is he in the bathtub again?

R69 Seems like every skater who uses Edea or JW is fair game for their advertising as long as they're using them.

R71 Bathtub not in this commercial, but our baby is. I think it has Yuzu's eyes and my legs.

I don’t know why Yuzuru never got CM for sport related products.Shoma became ambassador of Mizuno looking cool like a model while Yuzuru selling baby bath liquid soap like a sellman trying to sell items at ur home. I like cute Yuzu for chewing gum and chocolate or beautiful Yuzu as ambassador of sekkesei but I also want to see his cool image as an athlete with the product. The nearest I could see was amino drink something which kind of pull off his hard work as athletes. Btw why he didn’t get offer from Underarmour,they can come up with new product line by him

R74 I find it highly doubtful that he didn't get a single offer. I think he just didn't take any of them. Maybe he simply likes to maintain freedom in the things he wears to train and when he's simply walking around. He seems particular in stuff like that, down to his bloody toe socks, so maybe he doesn't like being dictated on what he should wear and be a walking, gliding ad even when he's not "working". I kind of think it's nice that when we see him rocking those UA tops in various cool positions on ice like the one you posted, or slinking around in those sleek but comfy-looking Chacott jackets he so loves, he's not doing it deliberately to showcase what he's wearing. The Sekkisei gig is nice but as much as as promoting mundane things like household stuff probably only his mom uses and chocolate and gum and bathtime products may seem "beneath" the guy, I think it's all very him somehow. I like the contrast of all the other successful skaters around getting cool endorsement deals and there he is, the most successful and possibly most adored one of them all, hawking clinical baby bath time goods and looking like a cardboard cutout doing it. Then again, he's also the guy whose image is being used in a classy manner and splashed all over airports and cosmetic counters in Asia. Lol. It's apparently only short-term, though.

Anyway, not sure what goes on in his head when he picks endorsement deals but the down-to-earth choices he seems to like making, even if some of them seem 'dasai', are all very fascinating and dare I say, refreshing.

R75 "cardboard cutout" is a perfect description of Hanyu in that new CM.

I think his endorsement choices make sense when you think about what he prioritizes: training time + his image (over money + fame). Sekkisei might seem odd, but it required nothing from him during the season except for a few short (albeit very penetrating) blogs; he didn't even have to shoot a commercial; the company also donates a portion of its sales to the recovery effort. So it's all very Hanyu despite being a skin care product that he admits he doesn't really use.

A few months ago, IK also translated a tweet from someone who claimed that they were familiar with one of Hanyu's commercial contracts and the contract was unusual in that it had very comprehensive language regarding copyright and personal rights (not sure what this means, likely use of his image). So maybe the companies Hanyu picks are the ones willing to agree to these terms.

This is not a DL block- it’s called the Hanyu drought

And off-season drought. Nobody does anything interesting much. Even the Lysacek engagement thread is kicking our assess in post count.

I think some posters may have just given up and left for good after the last thread was locked (it had 52 posters at the time) - is this one paywalled too? Anyway, only 20 posters so far. So that's 32 people who may not have followed over and just said fuck it.

I haven’t been able to find the entire Takahashi interview in Shukan Asahi, but when asked if he plans to compete in the GP, he replied: “I’ve been informed that I can use the Comeback Clause” and didn’t elaborate. There was also a large Skycourt ad in the magazine.

Uno’s Japanese trainer Demi has been tweeting from Russia @demi0120. He tweeted a video of their jogging course yesterday.

Eteri has been unsuccessful at changing Uno’s Diet so far. Latest photo from Russia sent to Itsuki:

R79 It's quite normal to have fewer posters at the beginning of the thread. Some people only contribute 1 or 2 comments to the entire thread, so how many people have posted can only be said at the end of the thread. And, frankly, it's the deadest of the off-season.

However, I've just made another, unpaid account to check it out, and here's what I discovered: the thread is not behind a paywall, I can post.

BUT When I'm on mobile, I can't see all the posts. On one browser I can see posts up to post 51 and on another up to post 61, while the post count on the top gives the accurate number of 80 at the moment. No matter how much I refresh, I can't see all the posts. When I'm logged on my paid account, I can see all the posts and when I'm logged out completely I can also see all the posts. It's only my unpaid account that fucks up. On laptop everything works fine. So, there's a possibility that some posters who are on mobile just think there's no conversation going on.

Thanks JDC! You can keep us afloat!!

That food doesn't look Japanese - or Russian, for that matter. Looks Anglo-American. Anyway, it's MEAT!

I don't know if Eteri would dare do her body/fat shaming schtick with Shoma. He's such an anomaly anyway, being so short. Maybe he needs the bulk to muscle himself up into his jumps - and torque those landings?

That's weird R81. Thanks for the espionage ;) In another thread, somebody said the links weren't automatically loading. I've wondered if DL doesn't like threads with a lot of pictures/links. (refusing to think that they might not like anything that relates to fan ubers)

That reminds me of something Yuzuru said that I've been wondering about since I read it - he said about Shoma, "He's so strong!"

I guess he would know what he's talking about - so I took it to mean he muscles his jumps, whereas Yuzu has said he depends more on form and timing. But maybe he just meant in general he's a tough little guy. Seems to me all the skaters are strong. I was admiring Kolyada thighs just the other day...

Well, now I can see all posts on the unpaid account too. It's like the visit on the laptop unblocked them. DL is glitchy, that's what it is.

Oh God so much pretty! It's Conrad's birthday!! To think that big old boy would qualify for another junior season - but he's going to NHK so I guess he's moved up? Or can you do both at the same time? I mean, he only has one GP, at the end of the season. But he got the best one - come on, get your jumps - he's tailor made (by his good looks) to become not only Canada's hope but a fangirl idol. gotta land 'em though.

R85 you can't do Senior GP and Junior GP in the same season. You can do Junior Worlds even if you have done Senior GP.

If he was born on 11 July 2000, I think he indeed is still junior eligible because he turned 19 after 1 July

Thank you, Judge1. You're another one of our thread gems. I hope this thing can keep puttering along.

Haha, poor Matteo Rizzo is falling asleep while exercising! (sondreboe and valen_matos instagram stories)

TSL 7/10 – Part 1 - “Zhou, Kostornaia…” Starts w/a lot about Dick Button… 13 Then a LOT about a BBC documentary about a creepy gymnastics coach, Irina Viner (typical of Russian methods) 21 Rumor about Sambo using ‘shame’ as a coaching strategy. 34 Zhulin shaded about Papadakis/Cizeron always being overscored & he called Marie France’s style lethargic / politics of ice dance 40 Same Zhulin interview: he said Med didn’t understand the blues number she did (OCS?) & Russians don’t grow up knowing anything about that 1940’s pinup kind of thing. 42 J: Zhulin is carrying around an ego like he’s still a skater, making it all about him. D: There’s a lot of that in this sport. 43 D&J disappointed in Kostornaia’s “Twilight”. D: “Danny G has no talent – none!” J: They don’t see what’s right in front of them w/Alena & they’re putting her in danger. D: Twilight shd instead be for Trusova who has the aggressive edge for it but can’t handle artistry. Zag’s Cleopatra just sounds like a “big ole mess”. 46: J: They must hear the Peter Gabriel music as vaguely ethnic.

TSL 7/10 – Part 2 – 47 Zhou’s got a big sponsorship in Japan. D says Zhou’s mother is a major chef in his soup of too many cooks & she’s moving to Brown w/him in the fall + he’ll drive 90 minutes to a rink in Boston to work w/Mark & Peter; Tammy and Mie will fly in to help? 52 D: Zhou doesn’t even seem excited about all this himself. Why do all this work this summer (2 months in Japan) – and then go to Brown? Meanwhile Hanyu’s working to improve – why isn’t Zhou, who isn’t at Hanyu’s level? Chen’s stabilized. Shoma is making big move to Eteri. D: “Vincent, you’re shooting yourself in the foot” (just when he’s broken through!) Is he just trying to keep up with Nathan? And why is conservative Zhou going to liberal Brown? (The VZ interview was in Japan Times) Mie has really taken him under her wing. 54 Kolyada’s not making the changes but should, like a coach change – they’re still blaming sinusitis for his problems which D finds weird – he has the talent but there’s just less hope as time goes on (but J is ever hopeful for his fave Misha)

TSL 7/10 – Part 3 – 55 Some show/comp that Jerry Solomon is putting on ESPN w/Ashley Wagner – a pro event? J: Is Jerry seeing an opportunity for a new pro circuit? (It’s female only.) 58 Is Gracie Gold gonna do Liberty Philadelphia Summer Open? Camden & Torgeshev are. 59 USFS is putting money into promoting Camden. J: Speaking of USFS, can you explain what’s going on? D: They’re not doing the “baby events” at Nats anymore which is why they’re doing a summer series. Some insider friend of Dave’s (Jensen?) may have taken TSL’s suggestion that they do camps & qualifiers. Nats was getting too long and too expensive. 1.02 NBC Gold showed sectionals last yr/will they again? 1.04 “The JVN thing” About 2002 Olys – D recommends listening to it (podcast?) Michelle Kwan was on it & said she preferred training jumps over artistic part but she was afraid of the 3Lo – D: Frank, who shd not choreograph!, made Michelle dance to a Judy Garland song =awful…Frank is camp in his own way. Priscilla Hill is sweet but you need a Tarasova to win, then stuff about Linda Fratianne...

[quote] he called Marie France’s style lethargic / politics of ice dance

I indeed slept through a Gadbois final group during GP. Not that the lyrical FD he gave to S/K wasn't any different

[quote] Is Gracie Gold gonna do Liberty Philadelphia Summer Open? Camden & Torgeshev are

Philadelphia Summer International runs from 31 July to 3 August. It is the first International event of the new season (in the same week Lake Placid is only Ice Dance)

In the same week the Philadelphia club also have a National competition.

Pulkinen and Torgashev will surely do the International one (they did last year too IIRC). I guess Gracie is doing that too.

August International Calendar

30 July Lace Place International (Ice Dance, Junior and Senior)

31 July Philadelphia Summer International (Men and Ladies, Junior and Senior)

5-9 August Asian Open Figure Skating Trophy (Senior Men, Ladies, Pairs and Ice Dance. Junior Men and Ladies) *

9-13 August Tayside Trophy (Scotland) (Men, Ladies, Pairs, both Junior and Senior)

10-11 August NRW Summer Trophy (Germany) (Senior and Junior Ice Dance, Junior Men and Ladies)

Then on 21th August Junior GP starts

Philadelphia could have second tier US men such as Torgashev, Pulkinen, Kranozhov, Ma or second tier International skaters training in US (Paniot usually does it).

Lake Placid is usually done by Wheaton team. Except McNamara/Carpenter to debut there

the Scottish one is new...not sure who would show up there

The Hong Kong one is rumoured of being postponed because of local disorders.

NRW is usually the Cancer Dance's overscoring fest. It is held at their club. His parents run it. Throw in a couple of average to low level Euro teams.

Thanks for the details, Judge1. Dave talked more about Zhulin but I don't follow ice dance and it sounds like Greek to me - he was probably talking about S/K like you mentioned. Some kind of gossip about one partner in a team being better than another, being put down by partner/coach, improving, oh something like that. I didn't know who they were - I think one of them was "Victoria"

I really need to start watching lol. Maybe this season...

[quote] I indeed slept through a Gadbois final group during GP. Not that the lyrical FD he gave to S/K wasn't any different

LOL. That's kind of how I feel about ice dance in general. And now I remember - Dave said Zhulin was bragging about some program he did for Med, but Dave said it wasn't the least bit memorable - all he remembered about it was she botched her first attempt at a combo and had to take it on a later jump.

* tack it on a later jump

R95 yep, that's them. Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov

Katsalapov won bronze at 2014 Olympics with Elena Ilinykh. They used to fuck. Then Ilinykh fucked Morozov (who was their coach). Then Katslapov fucked Sinitsina and he switched from I to S. That's ice dance drama at its top

That's Miki and Javi's Morozov? What a guy. Is he the one Dave keeps saying can't go home due to legal troubles? Or maybe that's Vincent Restencourt?? Oh hell, maybe both.

Morozov did Miki, Ilinykh and Shae-Lynn Bourne

Ai yi yi! Did he do Dai too?

r100 And Davankova, an ice-dancer whom he married the day she turned 18 and who already managed to come to her senses and divorce him. To be fair, from what I read on FSU, Davankova seemed like a spoilt brat from rich family. Morozov got around.

r98 I was at GS and FSU reguraly at the time and yeah, the Ilynkh/Katsalapov split was a major drama. I didn't know Ilynkh and Katsalspov used to fuck though, now Katsalapov dumping her professionally makes more sense, if he was mad that she had dumped him for Morozov.

r101 If I were making a tv series, I'd have Morozov fuck everybody, including Dai, Javi and Amodio. I remember speculation that one of Javi's reasons to leave Morozov was a that Morozov focused on Amodio and ignored Javi (which might have been because of Miki).

I remember Bourne. Told Canadian woman: I vote for this Bourne if you vote for Ukraine dancers I can't recall name. I told her how to rank everybody. Canadian cow taped me. And then Canadian idiot caught because of her marks to this Bourne girl. And then to justify herself, she handed tape to blame me. She acts like a Saint who is favour of transparency. But look at her marks, they were exactly as I told her to do.

The Morozov Kiss and Cry during Amodio's last FS at 2016 Euros is still iconic...

from 5minute15 onward

R103 Yuri, your English is surprisingly good! Congrats on all the hard work you must have put into it!

That's why I can't completely dislike Morozov. He does get invested in his skaters. No pun intended.

R106 He was really pissed when Amodio missed the podium at Euros 2016.

Anyway, came across this tweet from Eric's sidepiece. I think Javi's definitely dabbled; he's been trying to tell us for years. We were just too blinded by Miki's sparkling vagina to believe our own eyes.

Sob!!

r107 Wasn't it when Amodio won Europeans and Javier was still his training mate?

But if I were making that tv series I'd have them fuck too.

R109 I meant Morozov was pissed about Amodio not medalling at Euros in 2016 (in response to R106 comment on R104's link).

Yes, Javi's tweet is from when Amodio won in 2011. Just thought it was funny Javi tweeted "[I'm] fucking Florent Amodio...we are so happy."

By social media posts, the skaters (and former skaters) I saw at Radford's wedding include

Papadakis, Cizeron, Chock, Bates, Weaver, Poje, Hubbell, Diaz, Jeremy Abbott, Rochette, Moscovitch, Celia Robledo, Jeffrey Buttle, Duhamel.

And Bulge Judge.

Fernandez posted from Granada with his girlfriend Yesterday(?), so not at the wedding? Putting on a brave face?

r111 Well, Looks like r108 was right and Javi and Yuzu were crying into their pillows.

Whoops, I didn't notice JDC's post. Yuzu crying into his pillow and Javi trying to find comfort elsewhere. What I don't understand is why they aren't comforting each other.

R114 because Hanyu is too smart to dip his pen into the office inkwell. Also, Javi is a messy slut who put his penis in another messy slut, a sure boner killer for OCD types like Hanyu.

spam posted by shitbags at gaybar69 virus russian bullshit.com removed.

I think Judge Bulge deleted his IG account! No more bulge selfies. What a sad day for figure skating.

Radford's best men were his brother, Dylan Moscovitch and Chiddy. Wedding looked beautiful.

Really wish i had something informative to contribute to the thread...

ah well here have this to enjoy

R117 I am still here. Best man of Luis

r119 he's like a cat playing and rolling around on the ice.

Tomono working with Phillip Mills on his SP. This looks quite good. As a bonus, some of it is filmed in Laguna Beach, once an enclave for OC gays (now just an enclave for the rich).

R120 That's strange JB, when I click on that link, it says "Sorry, this page isn't available. The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed." Is it working for everyone else? Have you blocked me on IG, JB (not sure blocking is an option on IG)?

Anyone catch this? Apparently Zhou posted and then took down an IG story video of his mom yelling at him for being "lazy," not doing as well as Nathan and threatening to take him to a mental hospital!

R124 That is horrible. Just looked up his age and he's 18, will be 19 in October. He needs to get away from her ASAP.

R123 what have you done to him?

R126 LOL Nothing, I swear! I don't even use my IG account to post or comment, just to browse. I've only appreciated the bulgies from afar, on DL. Call me, JB, we can work this out.

R124 'Explains so much' ??? hmmm?

r124 Trying to see his side for a moment here, what's the point of posting it just to take it down an hour later? Letting people know the shit he had to deal with but at the same time having plausible deniability to his mother?

r125 Mrs Zhou and Mrs. Chen vs. Eteri Tutberidze, I need a reality show.

Did the tech panels stop to call usr because mrs zhou was harrassing them?

R129 Might not even be that calculating. He was pissed at his mom at that moment and wanted to lash out and then regretted it an hour later. Story of my teenage years, without the SNS.

This is interesting - SLB choreographed Med's MoG program. No Geisha Ge for us! Pity.

And then there was Tomono working with that old guy, who mentioned Misha Ge, but Ge wasn't there. Could we be rid of that meddlesome sleaze?

Speaking of... about a week ago, Weir announced he was going off social media for a "rest" - he hadn't been home since January or some such. What's that got to do with "resting" from Instagram?

All of Med's programs are the same. Doesn't matter what music is in the background.

Haha. Brian Orser's Instagram post about summer training with all the skaters supposedly looking admiringly at a preening Med. This has to be a Russian press thing, no? Brian, get a backbone.

r134 Disagree. That DW atrocity last season was deefinitely different. And Ge's Tosca was also different from Daniil's fare. This time, there are some touches, like that small leap or the twirl-to-stop that remind me of a Hanyu program. I guess that's SLB stamp. Unlike most of peopke here I have nothijng against Med as a skater, so I'm glad she got SLB, and not for electro pop SP. I could give Memories of a Geisha a pass, but that's mostly because I actually liked Miyahara's rendition, with that Japanase flair to her hand movement. Still, at least it's not Madam Butterfly (Madam Butterfly is the absolute worst in my books, even worse than Carmen) and Med's good enough of a skater to do a SLB choreo justice. Even if she mimes some.

That said, who is Wilson inflicting his programs on this season other than Uno? I mean, I actually think Wilson and Uno might be a good match but he can't be the only one, can he?

[quote] That said, who is Wilson inflicting his programs on this season other than Uno?

Paganini

Wilson

Uno FS

Schindler's List FS for Brown

something for Lee

Veronik Mallet's SP (on Cindy Lauper's True Colors)

Alexia Pagainini's Tango FS (she has Ge for the SP)

Mai Mihara SP

R136 Arigato. I skate good for one whose uterus is heavy with unnamed skater's child. Of course whores in barren thread would not understand this.

R132 This is what they shouldve gone with last season instead of that boring tango (though I won't ever care for white skaters playing geisha.) Med's mode of expression is extremely literal and she needs a character to inhabit or a narrative to follow, so a story everyone knows with a familiar archetype (or stereotype) and a persona similar to one she's played before will be good for her.

r138 Brown? Shindler's List? For Pete's sake, last season was not enough, do they have to go over-boring? But then Brown committed a Piano program, so being boring is not exactly terra incognita with him. Couldn't care less for Mihara, Paganini and Mallet, but what about Cha ? Has he announced his programs? His DW SPs are exceptions that prove the rule.

Has Med fixed her flutz yet

Can’t wait for another post from Ge about how he was “too busy” to do Medvedeva’s FS.

Tennell, Trusova, and Zagitova have been added to Japan Open.

More from the Shukan Asahi Takahashi interview:

On why he didn’t take the third spot at worlds, Takahashi said he didn’t have the confidence to compete at Worlds, and thought skaters who were aiming higher should go in his place and younger skaters would gain more from the experience.

On Uno and Hanyu, he said he no longer sees them as rivals. He rarely watched performances by other skaters when he was competing (the first time around), but began to watch others perform after he retired. Now he cheers on Uno and Hanyu like a fan.

On his plans for this season, he said he’s going to try to go as far as he can and he’s thinking about getting the minimums for worlds.

On being named to the Special group (for funding) by the JSF, he said that while he appreciates it, he doesn’t want to embarrass the fed and doesn’t feel confident.

He also said that he’s no longer young and knows he can’t reach the top or achieve the same results as before, so he has other goals.

On his ultimate goal/dream, Takahashi said he wants to become someone who can perform in ice shows, but knows he can’t do that without the approval from others and he’d like to increase his fanbase by putting on good performances. (But he’s already in ice shows and when he first announced his return to competition, he said shows didn’t do it for him and that’s why he came out of retirement?)

This interview has upset some people, particularly since Oda’s interview in Numero came out and Tomono remains in the A Level group despite the recent update to the JSF’s development list two weeks ago.

Lambiel’s fan meeting in Kobe:

R125 Didn't see the IG post and I dunno if it simply looked worse for being taken out of context, but it *does* explain something somewhat. It explains why he's so desperate to be successful that he and his (then?) coach went to publicly argue about his URs not being URs. And if this is the case, I doubt we'll ever see him fixing them because it'd destablize him too much and if a World Bronze with cheated technique and subpar skills isn't enough to make mommy dearest happy, then it'd have to be more success with more cheated technique . As far as success goes, it doesn't seem to matter to him (or his mother) how he gets there so long as he gets there. The video does explain that much. But.

It still doesn't account for his obnoxious personality/character and entitled behavior/attitude. Uno pretty much got to where he is the same way (but with much better basic skills). We've never seen him act the way Zhou has and still does. He got more calls last season (possibly due to being less consistent) but we never hear anyone from his team whining about it. Guy then makes a huge (albeit mindboggling) change and didn't say much about it other than that he hopes that it will help him become a better skater in the future. So it's harder for me to despise him for being propped up. And I don't. The guy is far from being a favorite of mine but I hold nothing against him. Zhou, on the other hand, makes me dislike him more and more with everything that he does. This whole very deliberate business of very getting people to "understand" and feel sorry for his plight doesn't just not sway me, it repels me even more.

I'm not in the habit of judging hardworking athletes so long as their methods aren't overly heinous, and whatever Zhou's doing, even if unpalatable, isn't quite up there yet so I'm really surprised at myself for feeling the way I do about Zhou. I don't detest him and I don't wish him failure but I really do hope other skaters will step up to the plate when it counts next season so he and other younger skaters will know success can't be gained easily using methods like the ones he's employing.

r143 Takahashi sounds... reasonable? Why are people upset? What was in Oda's interview?

Lol. Takahashi sounds like...Takahashi. Wishy-washy.

Just this past week, Dave Lease brought up Zhou's mother, as being the master cook when there are too many cooks involved with Zhou - now 2 guys in Boston, Tammy, esp Mie Hamada - well, more especially, Zhou's mother, who Dave said is moving to Brown with him. He really needs to get away from her. (wasn't Patrick Chan an idealized only child? - don't know if he was treated harshly by mom or dad though - but he could be insufferable at times, like a spoiled brat - similar situation as Zhou?)

Sheesh, why is the fed pampering Takahashi - especially over Tomono, who I felt sorry for while watching him work with that old guy. He had one shining tournament at Worlds 2018, and it's just been downhill since. But he won that 3rd spot and I kinda wish he'd gotten to go as a reward instead of Keiji. Doesn't Japan realize it needs to look ahead to the future with the men, not back to Takahashi or even Tanaka?

R124 Maybe that's the reason why Zhou seems to adore (not sure it's the right word) Hamada. Maybe he sees her as more of an ideal mother figure than her mom.

R132 Might as well call this season SLB con. I like SLB but I need diversity. She better give Yuzu a phenomenal choreo or else.

R145 Here is a translation of Oda's Number interview. Don't know why people are upset, but Oda talks about how he wants to continue doing quads into his 40s, how much joy he gets out of jumping, the satisfaction he gets from challenging difficult things in FS. He just seems like a joyful, positive man, which is in contrast to Dai's usual Eeyore attitude I guess.

R147 It was Tomono's decision to get Phillip Mills for choreography. Tomono looks up to Machida, who worked with Mills during the later stage of his career (Mills described Machida as his muse). I'm not partial to either, but imo Tanaka deserved to place over Tomono (and over Takahashi for that matter) at Nationals. You could make a case for Tomono deserving third place.

[Quote]On his ultimate goal/dream, Takahashi said he wants to become someone who can perform in ice shows, but knows he can’t do that without the approval from others and he’d like to increase his fanbase by putting on good performances. (But he’s already in ice shows and when he first announced his return to competition, he said shows didn’t do it for him and that’s why he came out of retirement?)

To my knowledge he didn't explicitly state this, but it seems he doesn't get that much out of doing the regular ice show fare. He has said to be into theatrical productions and that he dreams of establishing a (touring) company together with likeminded skaters. For that he needs backing and to get his rusty skating back on track. He won't achieve the latter without discipline. I remember past interviews wherein he admitted not to be very highly intrinsically driven and needing the push of external motivators to realize his potential. He hinted that the pressure of competitions provides him with just that.

R146 That sums him up nicely. With Takahashi you always have to piece together various interviews to get an idea what he means, because he's so vague in most of them and because he seems to be indecisive as hell. Lol

R145 Because there's always going to be a handful of people bound to be upset about literally anything. In this case it's probably, because of the "stealing spots and funding from younger skaters" narrative. From what I can tell there are people, who see his (reasons for his) return to competition as vain and selfish.

R149 Thanks for the link. I love Oda's inherent positivity. Of course not everyone can be like that.

[Quote] Because there's always going to be a handful of people bound to be upset about literally anything. In this case it's probably, because of the "stealing spots and funding from younger skaters" narrative. From what I can tell there are people, who see his (reasons for his) return to competition as vain and selfish.

Maybe not exactly vain (in Takahashi's case) but it certainly *is* selfish, though I don't think it should be held against him because what competitor isn't selfish? In this vein, Hanyu's the most selfish (and vain) one of them all. LoL. It's a trait all competitors should have if they wanna get anywhere. Fernandez isn't selfish enough but he must have had enough of it to be able to get to where he is. But the moment he got what he wanted, he retired. I believe he also revealed that had he gotten his Olympic medal back in 2014, he'd have retired then. And then there's Hanyu. Two OGMs and numerous WRs set in stone and he's still out there attempting to take down newer competitors. Guy just can't seem to get enough of being on top.

Anyway, calling a competitor vain and selfish for competing is like calling a drill instructor strict and bossy for keeping cadets in line. Like...what the heck did they expect? It's what these people need to be to not just be good at their jobs, but to actually do their jobs.

[Quote]Anyway, calling a competitor vain and selfish for competing is like calling a drill instructor strict and bossy for keeping cadets in line. Like...what the heck did they expect? It's what these people need to be to not just be good at their jobs, but to actually do their jobs.

That plus what other options are there really? Apparently he was deeply dissatisfied with how his post-competitive career went (I thought his Number interview from January was one of the more enlightening ones) and presumably that aimlessness was the cause of or at least contributed to his drinking habits spinning out of control. Who knows how he would've ended up, if trying to avoid to step on people's toes was his only concern right now. I think he actually has been pretty considerate so far. That JSF wanted their all-star Worlds team and he was scored generously at Nationals is hardly his fault. This season he's made his goal of making it to Worlds or 4CC clear right from the beginning (I'd wager the funding aspect may have played its part here), so everyone with the same intention has to up their game. This is a naive wish, but hopefully scoring will be fairer this time at Nationals.

What I don't get about Gabrielle Daleman is that she made those big announcements last season that she was stepping away from skating for mental health reasons, and then she was back again lot long after.

R153 I think it's simple. She's mentally ill and none of the adults in her life are able/willing to push back on her delusions and get her the help she needs.

[quote]the "stealing spots and funding from younger skaters" narrative. From what I can tell there are people, who see his (reasons for his) return to competition as vain and selfish.

[quote]Maybe not exactly vain (in Takahashi's case) but it certainly *is* selfish, though I don't think it should be held against him because what competitor isn't selfish? In this vein, Hanyu's the most selfish (and vain) one of them all.

Yes, dai is being selfish, fine all competitive skaters are selfish, that doesn’t change the fact that his actions are taking spots and funds from younger skaters. The cold hard truth is that dai is not competitive internationally and he won’t be again. The younger skaters still have time to evolve and learn those quads on healthy ankles, knees, and backs.

So we all agree Dai is being selfish and the “narrative” is the result of his selfishness.

I agree but I don't blame Dai. I blame the Japanese fed.

R155 This is where I disagree: I don't think it's fair to deflect the responsibility for the consequences of corrupt/unfair judging back onto the skaters. The conclusion of that line of thought would be to expect everyone, who gets unduly rewarded by overly generous scoring to step back from their wrongfully obtained privileges. I don't see why age should matter here.

Oops, didn't see R156 before posting. That's a more concise way of putting it.

I blame JSF as well, but unclear who’s idea it was for him to make a comeback in the first place- both culpable.

R157 I didn’t even mention judging. Who knows how the international comps will judge Dai. I do know Dai’s FS at JNats was a hot mess and if that’s the 2nd best without much room for improvement, Japan men’s skating is in trouble.

R156 I'm probably in the minority here but I actually feel the younger skaters have a responsibility, too. Details of my hot take below in my reply to r155.

R155 That sounds valid enough on paper but in truth, I can't help but feel if the younger generation had been able to deliver the goods, they would have had no problem overcoming the very low hurdle Takahashi presented last season. It was a golden opportunity for them to prove to JSF that their priority should be in the future and not in their biases towards the past. That they hadn't seized it and instead left enough room for the judges to weasel Takahashi onto the Nationals podium says a lot about their capacity as competitors, or the lack of it.

Just because they're younger and healthier doesn't mean they're automatically entitled to benefits if they aren't yielding results worthy of them. So now, if they want to prove to JSF that they are the better investment, they're just going to have to go out there and fight harder for it. Take it back from Takahashi and show JSF once and for all that he's old news. This way, the guy himself can make a clean break and move forward once and for all instead of having lingering feelings towards competing.

Had they been more formidable right from the start, I doubt Takahashi would have even crawled out of retirement, given his weaker character. But they hadn't been which enabled Takahashi to feel as though he has a chance. If they want it badly enough, then it's up to them to overcome him this time. If they can't even overcome this comparatively low adversity, how do they ever hope to measure up on the international front? If they can, then they can only gain from the experience. That's my take on the whole issue.

R159 The distribution of spots and funds are consequences of the judging though. If the judging was fair, it would reflect everyone's actual abilities and everyone would get what they deserve. Had Dai received a realistic score at JNats, he very possibly wouldn't receive special funding now.

R161 Sad as it is, unfair judging should always be taken into account when you're an athlete in a judged competitive sport. You have to leave very little room for foul play. That had been Hanyu's strategy and it worked out beautifully for him because he's a narcissistic perfectionist anyway. Most people aren't Hanyu but nevertheless, it should always be kept at the back of a skater's mind, from the point of mapping out their competitive strategy, to their training right up to delivering their performance.

Anyway, speaking of funds, I highly doubt Hanyu needs JSF's financial support now. But he is entitled to it because of the stratospheric results he very consistently yielded--that is the only way one can truly claim they are entitled--and and I'm not sure if he could have refused it even if he tried, since these are the rules and all and it would not seem right that a highly successful national athlete isn't receiving support from the government.

Boyang Jin news from GS: Boyang sprained his ankles again earlier this summer, and he mentioned in the interview that there are other problems as well (might have been during Ice Fantasia; he didn't do any jumps on days 2 and 3.)

He will be participating in a domestic competition this weekend. It is called Chinese Figure Skating Interclub League, and this is the second year that the CFSA is holding this competition. Boyang is expected to participate in the first and fifth competition of the Interclub League and maybe even the final. He will be representing his current training place and skating club, Century Star, and will be debuting his new SP and FS.

His SP apparently is “First Light” by Cinematic Pop, featuring Spencer Jones, choreographed by Lori Nichol; FS: Luca D'Alberto "Wait For Me" and "Yellow Moon" (Benoit Richaud).

He will join ice shows at the end of month and then there will be another 2 -3 domestic competitions and a possible appearance at the Shanghai Trophy, all these competitions before he does Skate America, Oct 18-20.

Is it wise to push Jin tyo so many domestic competitions? Or is this seen as training? Terrible news about his ankles, I hope he'll get them completely healed before those shows.

New interview with Gilles & Poirier from IFS Magazine:

Here's Jin's new SP. Clean- he's taking it easy right now with just a 4T.

Eric Radford:

It was perfect. #husbands

R167 they look great together. I'm still surprised Fernandez wasn't there - he was just hanging out with his beard in Spain!

More pics posted by Eric today:

Words can never explain how incredible the last days have been. An amount of love I could’ve never imagined and a wedding day I could’ve never dreamed. Thank you to the amazing Victor Lax for capturing the best moments of my life so beautifully and making them into art.

I am actually surprised Zach Donohue wasn't there...or was he? His photos with Olivia looked like they were elsewhere and they didn't appear in any of the wedding photos I saw.

Btw. is Guillaume still with his bf? And if yes, was the bf there? I didn't see him.

Thanks for posting that R166. I guess it's good - I'm not sure it suits him. Doesn't he need more 'personality' pieces like Spiderman? Or maybe I'm just remembering that fondly.

He didn't look happy or relieved or anything positive after he finished. He sure seems like a grim person ever since the Olympics - at least what I've happened to catch. And then that interview where he admitted being depressed and not wanting to talk to anyone.

And I agree R164. That schedule is worrying. It reminds me of the hell that South Korea put Junhwan Cha through with all the stupid domestic competitions last season. I'm not sure either of those countries knows what they're doing, running their figure skating programs. I mean, they just dropped Han Yan like a hot potato - though I guess he's somewhat back, but maybe if he'd been supported more, things would have gone smoother.

And I'm still suspicious about the rumored Orser move - if the officials told him not to say they got angry about - well, I can't remember now - but there were rumors that China was acting out when it cancelled the Cup of China and Jin's Orser move was cancelled at about the same time. Anyway, if they told him to lie about that, that's what he would do. If he never wanted to go, it wouldn't have gotten as far as it did.

R171 Now that you ask, I do wonder whether Cizeron is still with his bf. Haven't seen pictures of them together since last year, but it's not like Cizeron posted pictures of them all that often. I didn't see him with Cizeron at Radford's wedding. Other than his name, do we know anything about the bf?

Here's a photo on Guillaume's IG from May 2018 with the boyfriend in Montreal:

Not really, R173! I don't think we know much at all. I just would have imagined he'd go with him to the wedding if they were still together, but he could have work obligations etc.

They look(ed) cute together, R174 :).

r172 Yeah, Cha was exactly what I was thinking about. Injured and not able to recover due to too many competitions. It'd be a real shame if the Chinese fed squanders Jin's talent, and everything points that way.

Eric and his brother look so much alike.

r145 I haven't been able to read the very beginning of the Shukan Asahi interview, but the response from Takahashi's own fans has been somewhat muted, so there could be more to it, or maybe it's the weird photo-shoot, but in his own interview, Oda was very enthusiastic about encouraging young skaters and it reminded everyone that Takahashi still hasn't apologized for creeping on Zagitova. Takahashi also sounded much less motivated than Oda, who talked about continuing to push himself.

r151 It's not the competing that's the problem, but accepting top funding. In the Asahi interview, Takahashi said that he's already "given up" and accepted he's not going to reach the top, and his goal is doing ice shows. The purpose of special funding is to help skaters challenge themselves at the highest level on the international stage and aim for the top, in addition to improving both their technical and artistic skills.

r168 Maybe Luis didn't let Radford invite him or girlfriend didn't allow him to go. Or he was afraid Ando might coincidentally show up again. Speaking of, Josei Jishin called the kiss their paparazzo captured between Ando and Fernandez (while the skaters were engaged to other people) one of their "best scoops of the Heisei era (1989-2019)."

r177 Re: scoop. Seriously? How low is their bar?

Zagitova's SP: Me Voy by Yasmin Levy

It'll be another utter bore by Daniil with lots of twists and turns which will be completely beside the music, because there are no highlights in that song that you could set the elements to. Listen to that and tell me: which part screams jumps? Which part screams spins? Step-sequence? There is nothing in there.

[Quote] It's not the competing that's the problem, but accepting top funding. In the Asahi interview, Takahashi said that he's already "given up" and accepted he's not going to reach the top, and his goal is doing ice shows. The purpose of special funding is to help skaters challenge themselves at the highest level on the international stage and aim for the top, in addition to improving both their technical and artistic skills.

If we're talking about recent international achievements, then Tomono is certainly more deserving but JSF has always put a lot of weight in their Nationals and it's just too bad that Tomono didn't do well enough to edge Takahashi out of contention, even with the overscoring and JSF's apparent intent to put Takahashi on the podium, because Takahashi wasn't exactly tough to beat, quadless and rusty as he was. Though, I gotta say, the guy himself actually did pretty okay, all things considered. Still, if it weren't fall that nasty tumble in his SP, or if he hadn't taken another one in his FS, Tomono could have put an end to both Takahashi's and JSF's puzzling ambitions.

And if the problem is with the accepting funding, then I have to say Takahashi's acting very contrary to all the talk he gave about not wanting to stand in the way of younger skaters. But then, a lot of things he says seem to be that way. He does this thing where he seems to be brutally honest to himself and others one minute and then lying through his teeth in the next. But for all his negativity (which is probably the bits that are honest), the guy is still training quads. So he must be hoping to at least get somewhere, especially if he's hoping to ultimately increase his stock value as a pro skater. Maybe he simply doesn't want to feel overly pressured and went out to set expectations low.

It's sad that opportunities that could have gone to the others went to him instead, but you can't deny things next season would be interesting with him back in the mix, however it turns out for him in the international circuit this season. He still has his triples somewhat but quads are a whole other ball game. He was never good with them back when he was still among the top so it's probably wise not to expect much when it comes to those.

Also, I hope the others, Tomono especially, fight like hell to gain back the ground he lost last season. His 4CC outing didn't do much to convince JSF that they made the wrong choice. I wouldn't be surprised if that was probably what made JSF decide to go with Takahashi instead.

These 2 really don’t have any competition this season

Back from the beach, Fabio and the Finnish blonde woman are explaining us the rules changes. Video examples included

I love her headband

R181 these videos are interesting but since I’m not convinced the judges will actually abide to anything...seems like a scam.

this one is fantastic...

apparently they get very different evaluation of English skills of judges for the same person by different referees...so don't write "yes, good English" to everybody, even those who don't understand nothing

remember to send the report within 14 days...it is not ok if we have to ask you after 2 months "where is the report?" and you reply "oh, I forgot!"

send it by email...if you really need by mail....I want to know which referee sends the reports by mail....

the report must be typed...because maybe we won't understand your handwriting....well, I gues the one tempeted to send by post may write it by hand...

this year they got one report in ice dance totally hand written and totally incomprehensible

if your reports are mediocre or poor and it is not the first time, we won't give you an assessement but oblige you to attend one of our boring seminars

ok, they are now through an example...an Ice Dance report from Junior Worlds

who is judge number 8 who did not attend the initial judges meeting because he fell asleep in the hotel?

Fabio's slide about English skill was wrong, But anyway, let's go head

"you can't evalute the overall organization with excellent and then write in the note that the bus was always on late, the ice terrible and the hotel a disaster"

Eric's friend is cute!

R184 Fenell did bob...skeleton....or luge.......one of them

he took part to one winter olympic....Sochi IIRC

Is John Fennell gay?

Do Eric & Luis have an open marriage where they bring him in?

R186 yes, he is

Thanks, R185! I don't watch any of those sports often so didn't know him. He really is pretty.

R186 I kind of find that offensive and hope it is datalounge casual speak. With Trump in power and assault on immigrants and non heterosexual white males, I want to celebrate this marriage. We all agree gay people can have Friends that they don’t necessarily want to fuck. Just like straights. If you believe straight people when to fuck all their friends then I forgive you for this comment

r183 So... some of them kinda know what needs to be done but basically it looks like freezes over before anything changes because people are dumb.

r189 Lol, did you look at the photo?

R177 Is the "I have given up" verbatim? I've seen a translated excerpt from the same Asahi interview that quotes him as reiterating he'll try to go as far as he can/doesn't set a limit this season. That seems contradictory.

He has acknowledged that he can't reach the top/the same level as before and stated that his main goal is to show gradual improvement rather than aiming for top placements (citing Sota Yamamoto and Koshin Yamada as inspiration) since he announced his comeback. "I'm competing to get my own skating back" and "I need to brush up my skills for my pro career" (paraphrased) popped up since last year too. If people are surprised now they haven't been paying attention to his interviews before.

R179 [Quote]It's sad that opportunities that could have gone to the others went to him instead,

I'm not sure I've fully understood how the funding distribution works other than that most skaters (Yuzuru being the exception) on the initial list are designated in accordance with their Nats results. (For instance: all podium finishers are always granted top level funding.)

There's an extensive explanation how it all works in Tomono's thread on gs (see link), but that still leaves some questions.

[Quote]However, likely due to a proposed budget, it seems no more than 6 Singles skaters per discipline will be designated for either “Special” or “A” categories.

1. If this is correct there are currently 2 unoccupied "spots" in the special category for the men. Now that Kazuki has two GP assignments, what keeps JSF from promoting him to top level?

2. And in case all spots are already occupied: What happens, if a skater declines a funding offer? Does that mean it will automatically be assigned to the next skater in line? (Has this ever happened?)

Can someone here answer these?

R191 What are you trying to say about the picture? I see two good rivals just rivaling each other, doing the usual rival things. Can't two guys just hold each other tenderly without people getting all suspicious? Sooo annoying.

Holy shit: Uno announced he will not compete with a coach next year. He will stay in Japan and Takeshi Honda will be his jump coach.

I will sit with my grandson in the K&C. Hope he lets me hold Pooh!!

R194, what happened to the Japanese Federation's plan to make Shomo get a new coach?

R196 I mean, what happened to Uno's plan to go to different summer camps and then choose among them? Eteri was the only coach under consideration?

R194 I guess we wont get to see Shomochka Unonov next season.

Poor Takeshi Honda - hasn't he had enough boots (or was it tissues?) thrown at him? Can't imagine Mama Uno will be in the best mood now with the additional coaching duties.

R197 He’s gonna train in Switzerland so maybe the search is still not over?

While Raf will remain her primary coach, Marin Honda will also be working with Takeshi Honda when she's in Japan (which she thinks will be about 50% of the time this season).

Shoma: “Mihoko-sensei also told me from this point on, she’s still my biggest supporter. That’s why when it’s just me, I can’t let my results fall. I’m doing this for Machiko-sensei and Mihoko-sensei’s sake too.”

Why doesn't Shoma go to Brian Orser?

Or does Hanyu want to keep Orser to himself?

Why do so many skaters require multiple coaches in multiple countries all of a sudden? Is this the result of quad mania?

Probably a dumb question, but I don't keep up that well - who coaches Dai?

I wonder if Shoma decided he was a home-body or if Eteri decided 'no thanks' (Dave Lease said she would blow him off if she didn't see a big opportunity for herself)

R203 Orser/TCC already have 4 senior men for next season (and at least 1 woman). I'd imagine they're not keen to take on another.

R204 Zhou's situation is certainly unusual, but it's not uncommon for Japanese skaters to work with overseas coaches while maintaining a primary coach. I can think of Dai with Morozov/Nagamitsu; Mao with Tarasova/Raf; Oda with his mom/Lee Barkell. Uno himself has gone to Chicago to work with Ouriashev for a few years now. Hamada's team travels to Colorado frequently as well to brush up on choreo and jumps.

R205 Utako Nagamitsu, his longtime coach/surrogate parent/uber/enabler. I think Takeshi Honda is also part of his coaching team.

Has Shoma ever explicitly said that he wants to go for another Olympics?

Figure skating is his whole life, R208, so I think he will go to at least one more Olympics.

Is no coach better than the old coach? Why doesn't Uno go back to Higuchi?

r203 r206 I don't think the overcrowdedness is the main issue. Orser was ready to take on Jin, after all. The main issue is that Uno is Japan's #2 right after Hanyu, three-times Japanese Champion is Hanyu's absence. It's not only that Hanyu might have serious objections and want to keep Orser for himself -or at least away from Shoma - but also that for Orser that'd be 10 times the headache as when he had Hanyu and Fernandez. Can you imagine the accusations of favortitism? The JSF on his heels all the time? If Orser's wise, he'll keep away for his own mental health.

r192 Although he's said that he's not limiting himself, when asked if he's improved since the past in any way (even artistically, which his fans believe he has), he admitted that he hadn't and said that "it can't be helped" if he can't do something or improve, that's just the way things are, and said he's starting the season from the acceptance that he's "given up" (諦める) on top results.

It's fine if his goal isn't to reach top placements and he's just trying to brush up his skills for his show career, but that directly contradicts the Code of Conduct (1 & 2) and purpose of the funding as stated by the JSF (see below), so criticism should be expected if he's not going to keep those thoughts to himself.

(As for quads, he originally said his goal was was to do one successfully in competition last season and when he didn't, he then said the one he did in practice counted.)

Special level also includes permission to use the Chukyo rink, but Takahashi already had a rink built for him at Kandai, so the funding really is moot if he's not aiming for the top.

I've outlined the conditions for funding in the past Hanyu threads, but Tomono does qualify for special-level funding with 2 GP, but the fed is still keeping him in A. There's no clear rule about how many places there are. The person who thinks there are six placements in Special is probably confusing the funding spots with the idea of seeded skaters. The top six at Worlds qualify for 2 GP, so if they're Japanese, that should qualify them for Special (on paper).

I believe the fed moved Komatsubara/Koleto up from B to A in 2018 after Muramoto and Reed's breakup. Also, Kanako Murakami received special funding even when she didn’t meet conditions once or twice, so the fed can break their own rules and there's no rule about having to accept funding, either.

r199 Skating boots, mobile phones, tissues, Chinese food (spring rolls and noodles, if I remember correctly)...

r203 The extreme Uno ubers would die. All kidding aside, Orser might not want to deal with another mom/second coach and Itsuki at TCC, Uno requires a lot of guidance, and Hanyu might not be willing to sacrifice his own time and training to look after him, too.

r204 Insiders at Uno's rink were already saying he was planning to stay at Chukyo next season before he even left for Russia, so it was always the plan that he would stay in Japan. It was reported by NHK, not some tabloid, but Eteri coaching Uno was probably more exciting to the foreign press.

JSF Funding COD:

Shoma's pathetic fans are all like "well, he knows best!!!" What proof could they possibly have of that? He seems...intellectually limited, to say the least. Actually, he seems like a moron. In the old clinical sense of the word. But I'll enjoy the shitshow.

I don't think Shoma's a moron. He's apparently a high-level gamer, and you can't really achieve that if you're stupid. He just seems shy to me - but interacts pretty normally with peers at shows and galas and such - lots of pix of him smiling/joking and playing around with Chen, Hanyu and the other Japanese skaters, etc.

[quote]I don't think Shoma's a moron. He's apparently a high-level gamer

he could be an idiot savant

R203 I initially thought that Orser or Raf would be a good choice for Shoma, but then that would mean that he would have to rework his jumps, which would take quite some time to fix. If he’s gonna take his time in choosing coaches, and make the final decision til the end of the next season, then I dont think Orser or Raf could rework his jumps in time for the Beijing. He needs someone to get his jumps consistent. I think it’s a but too late to rework them.

[R210] But when Jin was supposed to come, TCC still had Lee Barkell as a coach. Now Conrad Orzel has moved to senior and elected not to follow his coach Barkell to his other rink. One more senior and one less coach.

Shoma keeps saying he wants to work alongside other quad jumpers - something like that. Why?

If it's to watch them and 'pick up' their technique, he could look at videos. Maybe it's for motivation? But I thought Shoma was an 'over-trainer' if anything.

Anyway, on his level, how many places like that are there? Raf, Orser, Barkell? I never thought Eteri really qualified because he can't jump like a 90 pound 15 year old girl -- though I guess he could be motivated by harsh Russian strategies like shaming and forced starving and being whacked upside the head (like that weird video) - but why would he want that?

r216 Still, even now, I think Orser would take on Jin but not Uno.

But then Uno's screwed, because what are the options for what he wants? Orser, Raf, Eteri, Mishin? Anyone else training quadsters? (No, Lambiel is not a viable answer.) Eter's apparently a no, Orser no way, Raf unlikely. Mishin? I can see Uno with Mishin, training alongside Lazukin even less than with Eteri. Rukavicin, training alongside Aliev? Chebotareva, training alongside Kolyada? All oif them are inconsistent trainwrecks.

I just saw a theory: Uno's waiting for Hanyu to retire next season and then the TCC door would be open for him.

r217 Yeah exactly, very few places like that and, imo, 2 top, obvious and logical choices are closed to him due to who talready trains there.

He can't be shamed if he doesn't understand what's said to him. Shaming looses its impact in translation. U less shaming as in seeing that 15 yo girls are doing better than him.

[quote] I just saw a theory: Uno's waiting for Hanyu to retire next season and then the TCC door would be open for him.

Ahhh that's interesting. It sure sounds like he's leaning to Orser, I mean why in hell would he have David Fucking Wilson choreograph for him?

I still don't really understand why Hanyu makes Orser a no-go. He went to Orser when he had another top 5 skater, Javi. They thought they were getting yet another top-5er to replace Javi in Boyang. So it's just because they're from the same country (despite being very friendly towards each other)? Don't Rika and Satoko train together? What about all the female rivals at Eteri's place?

Yuzu seemed upset when Shoma's score was so low at Worlds (he stood there at the monitor, saying something, "Even if he fell on the firippu, his score shouldn't be that low"

Hanyu's already won the moon and the stars, this is just icing on the cake - I just can't see him feeling annoyed or threatened by pipsqueak trying to do better - I think he's be his cheerleader, like he mostly was for Javi, even when they were head-to-head at TWO Olympics, which wouldn't even be the case this time.

r220 I really think Orser wouldn't take on Hanyu's not-quite-heir because he wouldn't want the drama and pressure of dealing with 2 of Japan's best skaters. I may be projecting, because I'd want to stay away from all the shit it'd produce. We've got the superstar-he's-won-the-moon-and-the-stars Hanyu and the not-quite-as-good Uno that Orser would be supposed to make just-as-good. Can you imagine Japanese press at Japanese Nationals?

JDC, what would Japanese press be like at Nationals if Uno went to train under Orser together with Hanyu? What does your crystal ball say?

This link takes you to Jin Boyang's FS (at a comp this past weekend?) You have to sit through about 1 or 2 minutes of a video game and an ad, then the FS starts. He scored about 175.

He steps out of a 3A and fell on what I think was a triple loop. I 'think' he smiled when he got up from the fall. (I think he needs to get his hair under control - some mousse or something?)

Why does Brian hold Junhwan's hand to lead him out to be introduced - he didn't hold Jason's or Med's. ??

r223 Junnie's Daddy's favorite.

Aaaaaand we're behind a paywall. C'mon folks, pony up.

Dayum we done got ketched.

Looked at that insta - they're in Korea right now? That's probably the reason. Cha seerms to have picked up some endorsements.

Well, I suppose this next thread is going to get locked next week too, so you know what needs to be done.

The discussion moved here:

What ever happened to the Russian individual skaters? Everyone who's any good is Asian.

The tiny, emaciated, teen girls are doing great. Let's see how they are doing in 20 years.

No more paywall?

I read the last pages of the last thread linked @ R228, and all I have to say is wow, the crazy is really strong there.

R232 I migrated over there when this place went tits up with the paywall. It definitely is a chore to get through a lot of the threads because of the lack of a block button, but it was the next best thing to this.

I hope we can revive this thread again. Tapatalk is not for me. To start, here is the livestream, time conversion table and other info for Rostelecom this week.

Thanks, R234.

It will be interesting to see the dance results in Russia this weekend. Presumably the Russian team of S&K will have the edge, but is it possible Gilles & Poirier could pull another upset like they did at Skate Canada last month?

I would love it if G/P could pull off an upset, but I'm not holding my breath - I don't see RusFed allowing it to happen. Also, G/P's new FD isn't as good as the Vincent program, although they were really buoyed by the Canadian crowd at Skate Canada.

As for singles men, the only noteworthy item that's come out as of late is that our favorite aspie goblin, Uno, has been unmasked as a trash talking gamer. JDC posted that he has a gaming channel where he streams his games and you can hear him talking (I'm unfamiliar with this stuff - why would anyone want to watch others play games? So I might have some of the terminology wrong). Anyway, here are some tidbits about what Uno says/does:

He's your typical gamer who trash talks, brags, thinks girls are really stupid and the ones his age are slutty and always trying to attract guys, complains it's all about looks and money for guys, claims he's too "real" for for his real life friends, thinks a lot more and is more mature than the average person, etc. One interesting thing he's supposedly mentioned is that he and his brother have never spoken to each other about anything outside gaming..."

---

he streamed 4 times a week before IDF, 3-4.5+ hours each time. 6 times a week before that, almost for 6 hours one night. A few days before Finlandia, he even streamed an almost 7 hour session through the night. And he doesn't stream every time he games.

---

I don’t know when he actually starts answering questions and just skipped to the end, but 4:13:25 is where it gets interesting. Throughout the stream, he stops himself from saying too much because he might get in trouble and his followers in the chats constantly warn him, too.

He mentions several times that he hates manwhores and though he loves to talk about really naughty stuff with his friends, he hates hearing manwhores brag about their conquests and be very disgusting about it, etc. Since he doesn’t seem to go to class, he’s probably talking about a fellow skater. (Kozuka?) It sounded like he really hates this particular guy more than he hates girls his own age and he really hates girls his own age.

Then later, he said the guys who are popular actually have really horrible personalities, but he can’t say more because he’d reveal too much. Again, sounds like he was referring to a skater/s.

He had a friend (another skater?) who really wanted a girlfriend once and finally had one for a month, but was miserable. Friends used to ask him for relationship advice (really?) because he thinks a lot, knows the girls perspective? and can run scenarios through his head. He also used to interact with girls like he was playing a dating sim and just selecting responses.

One year, he thought and worried so much about his relationships with other people that he was sure his head was going to explode. He would analyze every interaction, even casual greetings, because he was afraid he was going to hurt other people’s feelings and didn’t want to be disliked. Now he doesn’t care what anyone thinks and often doesn’t listen to people when he’s not interested.

He dreams a lot and his dreams are mostly scary. He often acquires super powers but loses them by the end of his dream, even when everyone else still has their powers. (Ominous?) Also gets murdered or chased a lot, and dreams of falling. When he was little, he’d dream about peeing and would end up wetting the bed.

I think the vast majority of Japanese fans are aware of Omaru channel now, but I don't think anyone has listened to and/or summarized all of the videos. There's just too much content.

An Uno fan actually DMed だーぼ (the manager of Omaru Channel) months ago, saying they were worried that the long streams might affect Uno and Shimada’s performances, questioned why he got them into youtube, and suggested he close the channel. He sent a very long response politely telling the person that they don’t know anything about them, he and Uno started the channel together and they know what they're doing and not going to stop. The fan tweeted sceenshots.

At first I thought that the Joni Mitchell FD wouldn't be as strong as Vincent either, but the judges seem to prefer it so far. Plus, G&P may be getting the #1 Canadian team bonus now that V&M and W&P have left the stage.

Uno will be at Rostelecom next week (unless he withdraws). So I guess some of us will be looking at him differently now. Oh well, who knows what goes on in these skaters' private lives. Now I'm afraid we know too much about Shoma's. Some of that stuff - dreams and worrying about every interaction - should be reserved for the psychiatrist's couch.

He did say after IdF that he needed a coach. So if he doesn't stay with Stephane Lambiel, can we assume it's because Stephane didn't want him? or wouldn't put up with his gaming? (which may be what happened with his former coach Fluffy, with the pretty fingernails?)

It's surprising that Shoma would talk about all that personal stuff.

The question for Shoma this season is how he will fare without a regular coach.

[quote]The question for Shoma this season is how he will fare without a regular coach.

That WAS the question. The question now is who he thinks are the sluts and manwhores of figure skating. This overscored little gremlin has never been more interesting to me.

And if Tomono/Shimada were part of this, what did they have to say? Surely Shimada would have a few tidbits to share about the goings-on in the locker rooms and utility closets at Champery.

Is there a link to the Uno video? Not that I would understand Japanese...just curious.

I was thinking that Champery might be endgame for Shoma for at least this season, if for no other reason than he seems to feel comfortable there. I kind of like the idea that he's a little asshole on game streams just because I'd love to see his fangirls lose their shit. They treat him like an adult baby ffs.

Here's a link to Uno's youtube channel (where he calls himself "Omaru")

The next post I'll try to give a link to the page at tapatalk where this link comes from (look for "JDC" post)

Here's the tapatalk page link:

Love this new Uno. I hope he doesn't go into hiding because the twitter/tumblr fangulrs are "deeply disturbed and still processing this very traumatic revelation about one someone I trusted" (I made that up, but I bet you can find something along those lines on sns once the fangurls get on this).

What is the reaction on FSU and Goldenskate, R245?

R246 It's all hush hush right now. I don't think it's made its way to GS or FSU. People are just making vague references to it on twitter. JDC said the Japanese fans are talking about it though.

It's just locker room talk!

R248 Thanks, M. I knew the sluts would have my back.

Apparently, he hasn't streamed at all since IdF so Lambiel must be keeping the little goblin busy. I, too, am immensely interested in this Shoma...I never gave two shits about him before and suddenly he gets a personality? Okay, I'm all ears now, so spill the beans on the manwhores and sluts, Shoma!

What is the relationship between Shoma & Yuzuru like? Are they bitter rivals? Do they dislike each other, or do they respect each other's abilities?

Yuzuru sort of looks after Shoma, like a big brother or something - when Shoma was shivering once in a corridor or something at the rink, Yuzu took off his jacket and had Shoma put it on - he adjusts his ear pieces at press conferences - that sort of thing. But Yuzuru's 3 years older and I think that's a common sort of senpai/kohai thing they have in Japan that I don't really understand but very hierarchical, so I doubt Shoma resents it, but I guess he might. They're both very polite and complimentary about each other in interviews but I mean, duh, of course they'd be.

Shoma competes at Rostelecom this weekend.

Nguyen Brezina Kvitelasvili Tomono Vasilievs Aliev Samarin Krasnozhon - sheesh, there was a time when Uno would be a shoo-in for gold.

Ladies more exciting: Trusova! Satoko Miyahara, Medvedeva, Mariah Bell

Piper & Paul have arrived in Russia. Lots of clips on Piper's IG Stories:

So Piper & Paul won the silver in Russia and will be going to the Final for the first time in 5 years.

They're practicing now in Japan for tomorrow showdown - Rika Kihira is planning a quad sal but only landed one in practice (amid a few falls). She goes up against Eteri baby Kostornaia & Oly champ Zagitova. Yuzuru is head-to-head with 6-foot tall Makar Ignatov ! (and Jason Brown, Kevin Aymoz and the gorgeous Conrad Orzel). What a field!

Is this thing open to commoners or do you have to be a subscriber to post here?

This thread may be paywalled, so it's possible another one will need to be started at some point, R256.

So do we know if Conrad Orzel is gay?

Sweet gods above how have I missed that.

Here I was still happy that Jason got a haircut a few years ago and having to crush on Latvians when THAT was around? A a man and a scholar R256.

Javy!

Wow, Nathan crushed Yuzuru and everyone else in the Grand Prix finals.

Did Yuzuru make mistakes, R260?

Based on the numbers from the Grand Prix going into the Final, Yuzuru had been outscoring Nathan this season.

Yuzuru didn't fall but he popped his triple axel combination. Nathan crushed him by 44 points and deserved to. He was fantastic.

What's GOAT mean?

R263:

GOAT = GREATEST OF ALL TIME

R262, what happened in Ice Dance? How did S & K end up 6th?

GOAT = Canada's Toller Cranston

Cipres caught sending dick pics to 13 year old girls. Zimmerman and Fontana accused to intimidating the girl to shut her up

Wow, R267.

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Olympic figure skater, coaches being investigated for sexual abuse allegations

Christine Brennan, USA TODAY

Dec. 10, 2019

The U.S. Center for SafeSport has opened an investigation into an allegation of sexual abuse of a 13-year-old American female figure skater by French Olympic pairs skater Morgan Cipres in 2017, according to the girl, her parents and emails obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

The girl and her parents also said Cipres’ coaches, John Zimmerman, a 2002 Olympian and member of the U.S. Figure Skating Hall of Fame, and Silvia Fontana, a 2002 and 2006 Olympian representing Italy, tried to keep the family from reporting the alleged incident to authorities by shaming and threatening the girl as Cipres, who then was 26, prepared for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

On Dec. 3, 2017, Cipres allegedly direct messaged two photos of his penis on Instagram to the girl, who skated at the same rink as Cipres in Wesley Chapel, Fla. USA TODAY Sports has reviewed those messages, which were sent from what appears to be Cipres’ verified account.

The girl and her parents said a fourth adult also was involved in the alleged incident. Vinny Dispenza, another coach at the AdventHealth Center Ice rink, allegedly told the girl and another underage girl, whose family could not be reached for comment, to message Cipres asking him to send the photos to the girls in exchange for the promise of a pizza from Dispenza.

Zimmerman and Fontana, who are married to each other, were made aware of the photos in a meeting with Dispenza at their home that evening, the girl and her parents said.

The girl and her parents said that instead of going to police or SafeSport, which opened in March 2017 to investigate sexual abuse in Olympic sports, Zimmerman and Fontana implored them to stay quiet because Cipres and his pairs partner Vanessa James were in the final stages of their preparation for the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea, where they finished fifth.

The girl and her parents allege Zimmerman and Fontana intimidated the girl for several weeks, telling her that she was at fault for receiving the pictures because she was a “pretty girl and men have their needs,” that no one would believe her and that she would be shamed on social media, particularly in France, where Cipres is popular.

Dispenza also allegedly issued a threat. “If I said something, he said I would never skate again,” the girl said.

Zagitova announces she will skip Russian Nationa Championships and will take a break from competitive skating.

I guess we will never see her in competition again....

R269, so typical of Russian women skaters these days. I wonder what all of Russia's young quad-bots will be doing when they start to grow then suffer hip injuries. Russia has a whole stable of these skaters, though, so they're interchangeable. When the current crop fades, the next will take over. But it is surprising how quickly the turnover is nowadays. I miss when skaters would hang on for a couple or more Olympic cycles.

About his Cipres dick-pic thing, I'm under the impression that this guy, Vinny Dispenza, wanted a picture of Morgan but possibly Morgan did not want him to have one, so he asked the 13 year old to ask for one and then send it to him. That's why Vinny offered the 13 year old pizza or whatever.

Am I right?

French Fed comes out with a press release in support of Cipres

The French Federation of Ice Sports (FFSG) has been made aware of the allegations aired by a journalist at the daily publication USA TODAY. A journalist who is well known throughout the skating world for scandalrelated articles, in this particular case a photograph of an inappropriate nature is said to have been sent to a young female skater by Morgan Ciprès.

The FFSG has noted that the media attack has been particularly intense in its targeting of two trainers of Mr Ciprès in Sysley Chapel (Florida) : Ms Silvia Fontana and her husband Mr John Zimmermann whose results, both on the American and international stage, have attracted great admiration, as well as against a third trainer, Mr Vinny Dispenza.

Without wishing to excuse any act should it turn out to be true, the FFSG points out that it would appear to date from November 2017, and that there has been no related complaint made to the relevant authorities in the USA against Morgan Ciprès. The FFSG has therefore asked the skater in question to keep it up to date with any pertinent developments. In light of the information at its disposal, the FFSG has no cause not to place its confidence in him.

Figure skating, John Coughlin and the disturbing reality of athlete-on-athlete abuse

Tue 17 Dec 2019

Interesting results at Japanese Nationals

1 Rika Kihira 229.20

2 Wakaba Higuchi 206.61

3 Tomoe Kawabata 193.96

4 Satoko Miyahara 191.43

5 Yuhana Yokoi 190.92

6 Kaori Sakamoto 188.26

They may decide to take Miyahara to Worlds anyway (giving Kawataba 4 Continents). Sakamoto looks out of the main events though

FRANCE nationals also took place this weekend

Easy win for Aymoz with Siao second and Ponsart third. With Lecavelier injured, Meité won Ladies but it wasn't very convincing (166 to 159 for Maia Mazzara).

Dance was interesting. Well, apart the sea of 10s for P/C

2) Adelina GALYAVIEVA / Louis THAURON 184.85

3) Evgenia LOPAREVA / Geoffrey BRISSAUD 182.87

4) Marie Jade LAURIAULT / Romain LE GAC 179.49

Uno won Japanese National Championships over Hanyu who bombed in the FS

World team

Uno, Hanyu, Tanaka

Kihira, Higuchi, Miyahara

the only Pair they have

Koleto and wife

Four Continents team

Uno, Hanyu, Kagiyama

Kihira, Higuchi, Sakamoto

the only Pair they have

Koleto and wife

Wow, R276. Maybe Hanyu is still feeling bad about losing to Nathan at the GPF?

Day 1 of Russian Championships

Sinitsina/Katsalapov leading by 1 point after RD. They and S/B tied in PCS. Zagorski/Guerreiro are sitting in third place, with more 3 points lead over the best of the rest.

Ignatov(88.8) leads the Men. Juniors Mozalev and Gumennik follow. Aliev is 4th (87.35) and Samarin 8th (80.68)

Tarasova/Morozov were clear (83.91). Boikovo/Kozloviskii (80.39) and Pavliuchenko/Khodiryn (76.13) are second and third.

Tarasova/Morozov dropped in second after FS. Aliev won among Men with Danielian bouncing back from 13th position. No surprises in Ladies and Dance.

Team for Europeans

Anna Shcherbakova, Alena Kostornaya, Alexandra Trusova (alternates: Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Anastasia Gulyakova)

Dmitry Aliev, Arthur Danielian, Alexander Samarin (alternates: Makar Ignatov, Andrey Mozalev, Petr Gumennik)

Alexandra Boykova/Dmitry Kozlovsky, Evgenia Tarasova/Vladimir Morozov, Daria Pavlyuchenko/ Denis Khodykin. (alternates: Anastasia Mishina/Alexander Gallyamov, Alina Pepeleva/Roman Pleshkov, Apollinaria Panfilova/Dmitry Rylov)

Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov, Alexander Stepanova/Ivan Bukin, Tiffany Zagorski/Jonathan Gureiro (alternates: Anabel Morozov/Andrey Bagin, Anastasia Skoptsova/Kirill Aleshin, Sofia Shevchenko/Igor Eremenko)

Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen have withdrawn from the Canadian Championships while Nikolaj heals from his ankle surgery.

So, barring any big falls, that should make it even easier for Gilles & Poirier to become the Canadian Dance Champions.

R280 are they also out of consideration for 4CCs? How are Canadian selection rules? Can they be considered for Worlds?

I see Hawayek/Baker are entered in the competition in Poland next week. After their disappointing season so far, I guess they want some overscoring to before Nationals

Lauriault/LeGac have not been selected for Europeans. Franche is taking Galavyeva/Thauron and Lopareva/Brissaud along with P/C.

R281, it's possible that Fournier-Beaudry & Sorensen will be named to 4 Continents and Worlds based on their strong Grand Prix results.

Laurine Lecavelier caught with cocaine at an antidoping test

Just catching up on figure skating this season, so I have questions.

1) Is Gracie Gold anywhere to be seen?

2) What's up with American ice dancing? Looks like C/B has pushed down H/D. Gadbois magic at work? Hawayek/Baker, meanwhile, have maybe topped out--he's just too damn short unless he finds a 4'11" partner.

3) Are Sui/Han the easy winners for pairs at Worlds if she can stay well? Shame about Cipres and the dick pix, I love J/C team--they have their own style.

4) So Uno's even more Aspie than Vincent Zhou? Congrats to Nathan--he's never going to be as fluid as Hanyu, but he's musical and continues to pick more interesting music than any other male skater. Zhou's at Brown, while Nathan's at Yale--Mama Zhou can't have been happy about that. Brown's a lower Ivy--nestled next to barely-an-Ivy Cornell. The insane Asian parent goal is HPYSM.

5) Alysa Liu took the silver at the JGP--the Americans have their own prepubescent jumping bot. Meanwhile it looks like Bradie Tennell had a good season for her--made the GP, didn't come in rock bottom in the GP final.

So, best programs of the season--haven't found a live link for P/C--but want to see that 80's aerobics outfit short. Those costumes are giving me Olivia Newton John flashbacks.

1) She was at Regionals and Sectionals. She qualified for Nationals. Mind you, at Sectionals she lost to Emily Zhang and Sarah Jung.

2) H/D's programs are a mess. I bet an American and a Russian team will be on the podium at Worlds...just still not clear which one. At least they keep a but of suspence given the winner is already known.

And yes, H/B risk to be caught by Carreira/Ponomarenko. McNamara/Carpenter were hit by injuries and are stagnating too. Parsons/Green were decent so far.

3) I hope. They are clearly the best if they can stay healthy. Tarasova/Morozov are regressing. Young Russians are promising but still unripe. Peng/Jin have nice programs but she still can't jump.

4) Zhou announced yesterday he is taking time off Brown and moving to Toronto to train with Lee Barkell.

Last not not least, here we go...there was another version of the costumes used in practices with him wearing legwarmers.

Thank you R285.

Okay, that disco number is a beautifully skated Eurotrash nightmare. I just . . . can't . . . it really seems like something that's more in Gilles/Poirier's theatre kids/camp lane. The first link didn't have the music and I thought maybe it was better with music. Then the next link *had* the music and it worse. OMFG.

What is the issue with H/D and programs? Romeo and Juliet was a whopping mistake last season and this season is worse? Ugh. Be beautiful and sexy grown-ups--their range is limited, but they're great in that range--they should stick to it. Talented, but I think not as smart as some of the other teams.

I'm curious about Parsons/Green--have to check out the sibling swap..

So, I guess we'll see Gracie. While I'm the subject of has-beens and never-beens--are Karen Chen, Polina Edmunds and Starr Andrews doing anything, or are we in a holding pattern of Bradie T., perennial bridesmaid Mariah B. doing the senior circuit while we all wait for Alysa Liu to age up?

Has Nathan moved clearly ahead of Uno as successor to Hanyu as dominant men's champ?

And how much longer is Hanyu going to compete? If he doesn't have a comeback at Worlds, do you think he'll stick around 'til the next Olympics?

The other camp ID number of the season is the now usual camp Fear/Gibson Free Dance

Well, shoot, R287, the video's now blocked--guess it was just too epic to remain on YouTube.

R288 I still can see it. Maybe it is blocked only on some countries. ANother version below

Anyway, Chen and Andrews are still around. They did GPs...and I can't remember their results. So nothing good! Ting Cui is injured. So only Tennell and Bell left with good senior results internationally. Edmunds was at Sectionals and failed to qualify for Nationals

Chen clearly above Uno (andh also Hanyu) this season. Uno was terrible at GPs and didn't even make to the GP Final (Kevin Aymoz finished third at GPF behind Chen and Hanyu)

Looking at US girls this season, top scores are

Tennell 216.14 (Skate America)

Bell 212.89 (French GP)

Glenn 186.28 (Salt Lake City US Classics)

Andrews 181.18 (Lombardia Trophy)

Cui 177.47 (Salt Lake City US Classics)

Chen 173.66 (Autumn Classics)

Okay, found the Autumn Classic version--slow and she's struggling, but I sort of like it. If you're going to Vogue it up, do it with sequins.

Shame about Ting Cui--she has a lovely airy height to her jumps. Poor Edmonds--she was on her way to Worlds when she got injured--to be so close and then slide so damn far down. Not quite the Gracie drama, but FS is an unforgiving sport. Chen's got serious flake factor and, I think, Chinese mama drama. Maybe Liu's real advantage is having the perfect skating parent--gay Chinese skating dad.

Amber Glenn's a beautiful skater, gorgeous edges, but she makes Chen, Bell and Gold look like stone-cold unflappable competitors.

[quote] Okay, found the Autumn Classic version--slow and she's struggling, but I sort of like it.

oh yes, technically they are still weakish. But they are over-scored to the moon right now. They aren't holding them down even in the RD. They have put ahead of Hawayek/Baker at Autumn Classic. They scored higher than Guignard/Fabbri in the FD at NHK. Will likely make top 10 at Worlds

Japanese DLers, what is all the drama with Hamada, what’s going on?

[quote]The other camp ID number of the season is the now usual camp Fear/Gibson Free Dance

Lewis Gibson definitely pings.

R295 He is sinning with this guy

Finally watched the recent Grand Prix Final in Turin! Nathan Chen is definitely the GOAT of quads. But, jeez, his programs are so 'meh'. Can't he find a choreographer who can put on a more memorable number. The yellow vest for his "Rocketman" number made him look like one of the recent Yellow Vest protestors in Paris, lol.

Does anyone have the schedule for Canadian Nationals?

R298, the event schedule or the broadcast schedule?

Novice and Juniors are already underway, and Seniors start on Friday.

CTV & TSN cover the event on Friday and Saturday.

R298 thanks. I meant event. So is Friday SPs and Saturday FS?

Yes, R300.

Short programs are Friday afternoon & evening, and long programs are on Saturday.

Broadcast on TSN & CTV.

Lajoie/Lagha second over Soucisse/Firus after RD. Judging by protocols, a mistake on the finnstep?

Alicia Pineault won SP. Daleman third.

I was watching the former Czech pair skater Ondřej Hotárek at the GP Final in Turin a few weeks ago. He was taking interviews at the Kiss & Cry spot. I always assumed he was family because he’s flaming so much you can see it from outer space, but now it turns out he married his skating partner. I’m dumbstruck.

R303 he is married ice dancer Anna Cappellini IIRC.

Ladies FS at Canadian Nationals was atrocious

1 Emily Bausback 175.54

2 Alison Schumacher 168.94

3 Madeline Schizas 168.07

4 Alicia Pineault 165.77

5 Michelle Long 155.02

6 Emma Bulawka 148.88

7 Veronik Mallet 146.09

8 Gabrielle Daleman 145.68

Daleman was a hot mess. The rest forgettable or not much better.

In Ice Dance, Marjorie Lajoie/Zachary Lagha defeated Carolane Soucisse/Shane Firus for second place.