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Figure Skating Worlds

Can't find an open thread. So I'm starting this. It's weird, but interesting without the Russians. No big loss in ice dancing, just one team. Nice for Knierem/Frazier to win Gold, though the rest of the field was beyond weak. The silver going to the Japanese was ridiculous. That free was a mess.

Ashley Cain's fall was horrifying. This may be it for that team.

Love ladies without the doped-up Eteri bots. It's like a breath of fresh air to see a range of countries in competition. Can't believe Mariah Bell is in the mix. See how long that lasts.

Ilia Malinin should have been at the Olympics. That much is very clear. Wonder if the Japanese men will indeed sweep?

by Anonymousreply 399June 22, 2023 2:59 PM

I miss Nathan Chen 🍆

by Anonymousreply 1March 25, 2022 7:41 PM

The Georgia, Gubanova could end up on the podium at this rate, from 14th in the short programme!

by Anonymousreply 2March 25, 2022 7:56 PM

Malinin short program.

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by Anonymousreply 3March 25, 2022 8:29 PM

Tha Loena Hendrickx skate was GORGEOUS

by Anonymousreply 4March 25, 2022 8:53 PM

Well, damn, Alyssa Liu got her triple axel and landed the US a bronze. Sakamoto was on fire--love her speed and fire. Haven't seen Hendrickx's FS yet, but great to see Belgium get a medal. Really not missing the Russian girlss and their fucked-up jumping technique on this at all. Do miss Nathan, but feeling good about Ilia.

by Anonymousreply 5March 26, 2022 12:14 AM

I don't miss the cheaters.

by Anonymousreply 6March 26, 2022 12:41 AM

I hope Shoma wins.

by Anonymousreply 7March 26, 2022 12:54 AM

Leona's Frees Skate if you haven't managed to catch it yet, R5. The last minute of the programme s beguiling. If she hadn't been carrying that injury and could've been slightly bigger on the jumps, I think it could've been ever closer.

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by Anonymousreply 8March 26, 2022 8:21 AM

Canadian-Danish ice dancer, Nikolaj Sorenson. = PHWOAR

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by Anonymousreply 9March 26, 2022 5:59 PM

And the Lithuanian, Saulius Ambrulevičius ain't bad either. The standard of male ice dancers looks-wise is wat higher than the Men';s or the Pairs skaters.

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by Anonymousreply 10March 26, 2022 6:03 PM

The pair from Ukraine.

by Anonymousreply 11March 26, 2022 6:48 PM

Oops, forgot the link-

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by Anonymousreply 12March 26, 2022 6:49 PM

Congrats to Shoma for finally getting his gold.

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by Anonymousreply 13March 26, 2022 10:10 PM

What will be Silver Prince Shoma's new nickname now that he has a world title!?

by Anonymousreply 14March 26, 2022 10:19 PM

Uno Titleist.

by Anonymousreply 15March 27, 2022 1:52 AM

If you'd told me six months ago that the US would win one gold medal at Worlds, I would never have guessed it would be in pairs . . . I'd have assumed it would have been Nathan--who would have won if he'd been there.

But, outside of ice dancing, it was kind of the Worlds of the also-rans and that was kind of weirdly satisfying--Shomo won, Vincent got on the podium again after his truly shitty Olympics experience. There were non-Russians on the Ladies podium. The US medalled in every category for the first time since the 1960s.

There was even some scandal with the ISU announcers (the Brits) getting caught referring to Megan Duhamel as a bitch on a hot mike and getting canned as a result.

That said, I get the sense Duhamel is a bitch--she and Radford were the least connected successful pair I've ever seen skate. It's not surprising that he didn't tell her directly that he was skating with another partner--she found out through social media.

But, honestly--he seems happier with Vanessa James. Or at least they seem to be skating in the same rink at the same time.

by Anonymousreply 16March 27, 2022 9:43 AM

R16 every time I see or hear Megan Duhamel, I get serious vibes of Reese Witherspoon's character in Election. One of those hyper-driven Alpha personalities.

by Anonymousreply 17March 27, 2022 9:47 AM

I can also imagine Megan raging about the fact that Eric and Vanessa managed to medal.

by Anonymousreply 18March 27, 2022 9:49 AM

The women's medal ceremony was so happy and uplifting - total contrast to the Olympics.

by Anonymousreply 19March 27, 2022 9:55 AM

Yeah, amazing how much more cheerful things are when the recipients aren't a bunch of drugged-up teenagers with a Cruella de Ville coach.

A number of the female pairs skaters seem really tough--Alexa Knierem and Aljona Savchenko--tiny tough birds who don't mind being tossed through the air, but Megan didn't ever bother with any kind of facade of treating pairs as anything but a purely athletic endeavor. It had to be like skating with your coach, not just your coach's wife. I remember some minor story from when she and Radford skated at the Olympics and he was nervous and she pretty much told him to snap out of it. I guess there's some resentment of James/Radford in Canada, but, honestly, Canada's in such a slump right now, they can use all the help they can get. So strange given that Canada has some of the best coaches in the world.

Camden Pulkinen, meanwhile, who was only there because Nathan Chen pulled out managed to go from 12th to fifth because he was third in the free skate. Was he on anyone's radar for anything?

Wonder just how much the US has been holding backing some of the younger male skaters to keep Jason Brown in contention?

by Anonymousreply 20March 27, 2022 10:18 AM

I guess this will be the end of the road for Piper Gillies and Paul Poirier, Such a shame as they never really seemed to reach their full potential. Paul always seemed slightly stiff to me in their performances at Worlds and Olympics. I'm glad they go that bronze last year, just wish they could've pulled out something spectacular this year.

If they continue, even with the G&G and H&D retiring, I think the Italians and the British couple have far more career momentum. I hope they do something special at the gala tonight.

by Anonymousreply 21March 27, 2022 10:35 AM

R21, Gilles & Poirier said in their CBC interview that they haven't made a decision yet on whether they will continue competing. Since the Worlds are in Canada in 2024, maybe they will keep their options open.

by Anonymousreply 22March 29, 2022 9:55 AM

(R22) thank you for the update. I think they might benefit from a year out to refresh and figure out how to go forward.

by Anonymousreply 23March 29, 2022 10:07 AM

Why didn't China compete in Montpellier?

by Anonymousreply 24March 29, 2022 11:24 AM

Hubbell and Donohue are retiring, the Russians are going to have a single spot next year. Sounds like Papadakis/Cizeron are sticking around for the time being since they're one title away from the all-time record. There's some room for movement.

I really liked Green/Parsons FS at 4 Continents, wonder if they'll be in the mix next year. Much as I like Hawayek/Baker, I think his petiteness just limits them--they don't skate big.

Gilles/Poirier are always the art-school kids and judges don't love that. Your costume shouldn't draw more attention than your performance. There's a reasonable amount of latitude, but flourescent orange with rainbow details kind of pushes it.

by Anonymousreply 25March 30, 2022 12:56 AM

R24, it was never clear. There were rumors that the French government would not allow in skaters who had received the Chinese Covid vaccine. That seems likelier "the paperwork was submitted too late."

by Anonymousreply 26March 30, 2022 1:26 AM

Ashley Cain has posted a weepy, apologetic Instagram, where she says she's had a concussion. It's apparently her fourth one. Reading between the lines, it's pretty clear that this is the end of the line for her skating career.

by Anonymousreply 27March 30, 2022 7:54 AM

Hot photo of Guillaume Cizeron:

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by Anonymousreply 28March 30, 2022 9:46 AM

bumping this... because shit's gone down.

Plushenko went to that big pro-war rally that guest-starred Vlad the Impaler himself! So he's pro-war, I take it. Sinitsina/Katsalapov were there as well, not sure there were any other skaters.

Speaking of the missing: Eteri Tutberidze who some think will try to move to the good old USA, her old stomping ground where her daughter was born, and now lives/trains in Las Vegas.

Could she re-work US women's skating like she did in Moscow? Do we even have any raw material? Would Arthur let his darling Alysa train under Eteri?

And will the current Russian skaters ever get a chance on an international stage again? Word is pair Tarasova and Morozov are suing the international skating powers-that-be to force them to be allowed to compete, regardless of Ukraine. Could they succeed, with Lakernik or whatever his name is gone? At least I think he's gone??

Do we have any experts here any more? The times, they are a-changin! Roll on JAPAN and KOREA!

by Anonymousreply 29April 7, 2022 10:54 PM

R29, yes, Plushenko and his tacky, tacky wife are big Putin supporters.

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by Anonymousreply 30April 8, 2022 1:27 AM

OMG, I think Plushenko is playing with fire. Will he (and wife who's connected to the Russian mafia?) go down with the oligarchs - though he isn't one. I have a feeling he doesn't have a Plan B like the real monied ones do -- haven't a lot of them already flown out to Dubai and points beyond?

You in danger, you old big-nosed blond gurl - with the trophy wife. Wait, I think he's the trophy husband ??

by Anonymousreply 31April 8, 2022 7:05 AM

I see Anna Sherbakova may be retiring. Only wonder is that she made it this long.

Eteri's evil, but she's not dumb. She may be trying to get the hell out, but I don't see her being interested in Alysa Liu who actually went through adolescence. I'm wondering if she'd be all that welcome in the United States at this point. I'm wondering if China is an option--they're ruthless, rich and like medals. Lots of tiny Chinese girls to exploit.

by Anonymousreply 32April 8, 2022 8:53 AM

Not a bad idea. I lived in Shanghai for a year and thought it was great. Weather's probably better than Moscow as well.

I imagine there will be quite a diaspora of Russians thoughout the world, too - Shanghai might be a major destination, since China's been semi-friendly throughout the Ukraine horrors. I'm sure Beijing's ok but I think the pollution is worse there (or maybe I'm misremembering) and I just thought Shanghai was more chic, at the time (2010).

Eteri's from Georgia - maybe that's a possibility? Taking Morisi and her choice of girls who can skate for other countries with her.

by Anonymousreply 33April 8, 2022 4:36 PM

"Could they succeed, with Lakernik or whatever his name is gone? At least I think he's gone?? "

Lakernik is still ISU Vice-President for Figure Skating. Congresss is this summer. On current rules, he can't run again because he is too old. There was an attempt to bring an amendment raising the age limit for ISU office holders but it will likely be withdrawn now.

by Anonymousreply 34April 8, 2022 10:24 PM

R33 A bunch of Georgia is occupied by Russia. Not sure about their current prime minister but it doesn't seem like the best bet, to be honest.

by Anonymousreply 35April 8, 2022 10:30 PM

[quote]Sinitsina/Katsalapov were there as well

So since S&K were at the pro-Putin rally, does that mean their competitive figure skating career is probably over?

by Anonymousreply 36April 9, 2022 9:40 AM

Another pair couple were there as well, Tarasova and Morozov:

Other Olympic medalists athletes in attendance included figure skaters Victoria Sinitsina, Nikita Katsalapov, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov; cross-country skier Alexander Bolshunov; and rhythmic gymnastic twin sisters Dina and Arina Averina.

And of course, his big cheerleader, Plushenko - who keeps posting videos from his skating school. Let's hope there's blow-back on him as well.

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by Anonymousreply 37April 9, 2022 5:47 PM

Alisa Liu announced retirement today

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by Anonymousreply 38April 9, 2022 6:30 PM

Aww, and just 16-years-old. But at least she got a Worlds bronze medal.

by Anonymousreply 39April 9, 2022 6:54 PM

Alysa, Nathan, Vincent and others have already started their Stars on Ice tour - international again for the first time since the pandemic started.

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by Anonymousreply 40April 9, 2022 6:59 PM

Liu looked burned out at Nationals. Thought it might be COVID, but she's just done. Too damn hard to get a good triple axel and she doesn't seem to want to refine the other stuff.

Did think she might stick around for another year with the Russians being limited, at best, to a spot or two.

by Anonymousreply 41April 9, 2022 9:25 PM

Video clip of Stars on Ice - it looks like Kaori got a short haircut. Nathan does a backflip.

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by Anonymousreply 42April 10, 2022 2:55 AM

Kaori on SOI

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by Anonymousreply 43April 10, 2022 3:07 AM

American women are just over. She was one of the few possible bright hopes. Now? Lindsay Thorngren? I mean, there are only the elders Mariah Bell, who can't do a triple-triple to save her life, and the ever-ailing Bradie Tennell. And headcase Amber Glenn, who's already 22.

Roll on Japan and Korea.

Ilia Malinin might save US men. Or he might not. Without Russia - it's all East Asia, and maybe just Japan and Korea.

For the rest? Sad.

by Anonymousreply 44April 10, 2022 4:40 AM

Oh I forgot Karen Chen but I think, like Alysa, she's reached the summit with her Olympic team medal - and goodbye and off to the Ivy League.

by Anonymousreply 45April 10, 2022 4:41 AM

I wonder if we'll see some Russians defect to other countries so that they can compete.

by Anonymousreply 46April 10, 2022 4:44 AM

R44 Isabeau LeVito--just turned 15--third at Nationals. With the Russians out, she's likely to medal at Junior Worlds next week, could even top the podium. Broke 200 points at her international debut. Will have to survive puberty, so we'll see.

Amber Glenn's a beautiful skater, but too many years of being a headcase means the US feds don't trust her to represent them at the big events.

by Anonymousreply 47April 10, 2022 6:32 AM

Okay, how the hell long is it going to take to strip the doping Russians of the Olympic team title? It should be a very simple task.

by Anonymousreply 48April 10, 2022 2:36 PM

Hmm, I had a google:

[quote] USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said the wait will continue. “RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) holds the key for the initial investigation and needs to complete that investigation. WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) is conducting an investigation of its own,” Hirshland told reporters.

I think we can all guess what the corrupt RUSADA will conclude: Valieva will not be suspended, so they get the gold medal. It's confusing but I think the only way they can be stripped of the medal is if RUSADA itself is suspended again by WADA. RUSADA's last 3-year suspension was lifted in 2018.

Either way, the optics of giving out gold medals to Russia when they've invaded Ukraine are terrible, so the US skaters will probably be waiting a long time for their medals.

by Anonymousreply 49April 10, 2022 3:42 PM

What has been the reaction on FSU and Goldenskate to Sinitsina & Katsalapov and Tarasova & Morozov appearing at the pro-Putin rally?

by Anonymousreply 50April 11, 2022 8:32 AM

I want to fuck Nathan Chen till his ass looks like an uncooked meatloaf.

by Anonymousreply 51April 11, 2022 8:37 AM

Who's gonna try to get tickets to the gayest ice show in the world (take that, Plushenko and Putin!)

Fantasy on Ice starring Johnny Weir, dressed literally like a middle-aged Karen in white tights, white skates, oh lord help us all.

But there's gorgeous Stéphane Lambiel, even hotter Guillaume Cizeron (and what's her name), Jeffrey Buttle, Javier Fernandez and Nobunari Oda. Four Japanese cities, May 27-June 26.

And the piÚce de résistance, the GOAT himself, Yuzuru Hanyu. (try to stay calm, ladies)

Keiji Tanaka, as well, who just announced his retirement, and there have been a couple photos published of him and Satoko doing ice dance lifts hmm. Probably just for shows but after Kana and Dai got together, anything can happen.

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by Anonymousreply 52April 12, 2022 6:15 AM

A better link in case that account posts more stuff at the top - you've got to see Johnny up close !!

Now that Corona XE is in Japan though... well, hope springs eternal.

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by Anonymousreply 53April 12, 2022 6:19 AM

Plushenko's recent ice show started with a fucking pro-war pep rally, upsetting some of the skaters who knew nothing about it till they got there.

Kolyada refused to perform, but the rest did. I think Alexandra Trusova was scheduled to perform but didn't show. But the rest went ahead with it: Semenenko, Kondratiuk, Kostornaia, Boikova & Kozlovskii, and Liza Tuktamysheva, who got on Instagram afterwards and said:

‘Everything is a Mess’ I really wanted to believe that sports was outside of politics, but today it turned out not to be so. I love figure skating, I truly love what I do – I live it. I want to compete, I want to skate, I want to do new programs, I want to go to ice shows. But I don’t want athletes’ performances to become a way of manipulation and persuasion. At a total loss 
 (comments: ‘then she stayed & performed’; ‘you shdn’t have, should you?’)

by Anonymousreply 54April 12, 2022 6:44 AM

Junior Worlds this week

Safina/Berulova from Georgia won Pairs as expected in the absence of Russians. They were top 10 at Olympics

The Browns are leading after the RD followed by the Canadian couples and surprisingly by some Germans. Wolfkostin fell on the twizzles and so Wolfkostin/Chen are 9th, 9 points behind the leaders

Malinin leads Men after SP (89) followed by Chiu and the younger Seleveko (both at 81 points)

Women SP skating right now

by Anonymousreply 55April 16, 2022 9:01 AM

Thanks R55. Good to hear about Malinin. He should be moving up the ranks pretty quickly if Nathan continues to withdraw from competitive skating.

Can't imagine what Ladies will be like without the drugged-out Eteri bots.

by Anonymousreply 56April 16, 2022 9:32 AM

Junior ladies SP

1) Levito 72.5

2) Shin 69.38

3) Yun 66.28

4) Thorngren 66.14

5) Wi 66.09

6) Petrokina 65.90

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by Anonymousreply 57April 16, 2022 5:42 PM

Well, will Easter be good to our new Qu0dG0d or however he spells it - or will he fall flat on his face?

by Anonymousreply 58April 16, 2022 6:23 PM

Levito is something special. She's a young Sasha Cohen who can jump.

by Anonymousreply 59April 16, 2022 7:17 PM

Hope LeVito can make it through puberty and the pressure to save American women's skating because she has something special. She'd have been an interesting counter to Alyssa Liu if Liu were sticking around.

Man, the Japanese girls sure tanked in the short. The top five are the US and Korea. Japan is 9th and 11th.

And Ilia Malinin pulled it off. Our new quad prince.

by Anonymousreply 60April 16, 2022 7:33 PM

[quote] She's a young Sasha Cohen who can jump.

I wouldn’t go that far. Technique is atrocious.

by Anonymousreply 61April 16, 2022 7:47 PM

The Browns won Ice Dance

Wolfkostin/Chen went up to 4th but couldn't catch the Canadian couples.

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by Anonymousreply 62April 17, 2022 12:42 PM

I thought the German couple who came in 5th - Grimm and Savitskiy - looked really promising. A particularly dynamic programme in the rhythm dance

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by Anonymousreply 63April 17, 2022 1:05 PM

Junior Men's competition . Who will be the stars of tomorrow?

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by Anonymousreply 64April 17, 2022 2:18 PM

Isabeau won the ladies' event.

by Anonymousreply 65April 17, 2022 6:58 PM

Weird thing about Isabeau LeVito is that she has a knack for performing that you don't normally see in juniors, but her technique needs some clean-up work if she's going to make it as a senior. Pre-rotating and shoulder scrunching aren't really the answer. She needs speed. Her spins are gorgeous though and she's so musical that her two-footed skating looked like it was a choreographic choice.

I wish that whomever taught Gracie Gold to jump taught all the American women--ton of air and no underrotation problem.

The Koreans are coming on strong.

I guess Lindsay Thorngren will be the next Bradie/Rachel Flatt/Polina Edmunds--the reliable skater who doesn't excite audiences and wins if the anointed star is underperforming.

by Anonymousreply 66April 18, 2022 5:32 AM

About Gracie's jump coach - Shoma Uno went to him for a while. He's based in Chicago, originally from Ukraine: Alex Ouriashev.

Not sure I can manage to link the article but an excerpt:

"We were looking for a jump coach," said Uno's mother, Junko.

One of her son's Japanese coaches, Mihoko Higuchi, had been impressed with Gold's jumps and wanted to see if Ouriashev was interested in teaching Uno. At the request of Uno's agent, Koji Ohama, skating agent/impresario Ari Zakarian called Ouriashev to sound him out.

Uno first came to the Chicago area, where Ouriashev has taught for two decades, in the summer of 2016. That would also be the first of the four visits Uno made to Ouriashev last season.

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by Anonymousreply 67April 18, 2022 6:52 AM

Stars on Ice Finale in New Jersey. Jason Brown does cartwheels in the end when they all take their bows. Loud cheers for Alysa Liu. Nathan does a backflip and looks like he’s having a great time.

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by Anonymousreply 68April 27, 2022 12:13 AM

Putin met with and gave awards to Olympians but there was one notable absence: Anna Shcherbakova, who went to Eteri's show instead.

Eteri may be thinking of defecting - the rumor is that she has put her Moscow apartment up for sale and insisted that Z symbols be removed from her show.

Mark Kondratiuk, Nikita Katsalapov, Kamila Valieva, Victoria Sinitsina, Anastasia Mishina, Alexandr Galliamov and Alexandra Trusova met with Putin.

by Anonymousreply 69April 27, 2022 4:17 AM

Terri is a smart girl. She knows Putin is done and she wants none of it.

by Anonymousreply 70April 27, 2022 5:26 AM

Eteri likes the US and spends a lot of time in Miami. I would guess that she'd do well. Despite all the allegations you can bet that ambitious parents would want her to teach their kids. I'm not sure if she could get a green card though.

by Anonymousreply 71April 27, 2022 5:29 AM

Eteri lived in the states - her daughter Diana was born there - and Diana now lives in Las Vegas, I think? (this is her only child, an ice dancer who magically cured her own deafness, no less!) A family with a magic touch!

Though I'm not sure the long arm of the KGB or whatever it's called now can't catch up to her, if Vlad decrees. New Yorkers have fallen out of windows, Brits' tea has been made radioactive...

Good luck, my dear.

by Anonymousreply 72April 27, 2022 5:34 AM

There's no cure for deafness, only aids. Diana is still deaf.

by Anonymousreply 73April 27, 2022 5:42 AM

Cochlear implants?

But I take your point. Eteri didn't say she'd had medical treatment that cured it, but it was sheer willpower (or magic, I guess)

Diana's last name is Davis - and I think her father was American? Would that help her in trying to move back to the US where her daughter (and ex-baby-daddy?) reside?

by Anonymousreply 74April 27, 2022 5:54 AM

Nah, if it were cured (or as good as cured) Diana wouldn't need to lipread and communicate through her partner like that we saw at the Tokyo Olympics.

by Anonymousreply 75April 27, 2022 5:57 AM

I doubt Eteri has state secrets--other than the extent of doping, but she's unlikely to talk about that. If her daughter's an American citizen (and it sounds like she is), she'll be able to bring mom over.

And, yeah, Eteri could make a ton of money over here--it's not like there's an American coach who's been shown to have a golden touch with American women recently. Frank Carroll is ancient and the Gracie Gold thing wasn't a good look.

But if Eteri is really thinking of leaving, she should do it sooner rather than later--Russia's getting more and more Soviet-Union like. It's going to get harder to leave for anyone who's considered valuable to the state. And Eteri is.

by Anonymousreply 76April 27, 2022 6:03 AM

New pics of Eric Radford:

#1:

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by Anonymousreply 77April 28, 2022 11:17 AM

#2:

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by Anonymousreply 78April 28, 2022 11:17 AM

That's hot. But why why the lack of dick? (Okay, I do know. It just looks weird and obviously photoshopped out?)

by Anonymousreply 79April 28, 2022 1:02 PM

Given Vanessa James' last skating partner is in deep doo-doo for sending dick pics to minors I imagine her current partner's dick being plastered all over the interwebs would be a 'twice... shame on me' moment.

by Anonymousreply 80April 28, 2022 3:04 PM

R80 But.. there's no dick.

by Anonymousreply 81April 28, 2022 3:07 PM

That's the whole fucking point R81

by Anonymousreply 82April 28, 2022 3:25 PM

Agenda for 2022 Congress in Thailandia with all proposal to be discussed. They want to reduce PCS to 3 categories: Composition, Presentation and Skating Skills.

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by Anonymousreply 83April 29, 2022 8:59 PM

WTF is Composition and why isn't that the fault of the choreographer and coach rather than the skater?

by Anonymousreply 84April 29, 2022 10:11 PM

The US SOI looks amazing, then comes along the shitty version in Canada. WTF?

by Anonymousreply 85April 30, 2022 4:48 AM

Sounds good to me - Satoko !!! Kurt, Elvis, Kaetlyn, Piper and GORGEOUS Paul, Cutie Pie Elladj, Jeffrey Buttle, Maddie Schizas, Weaver and Poje - wish I could go.

by Anonymousreply 86April 30, 2022 6:28 AM

Eric Radford #3:

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by Anonymousreply 87April 30, 2022 10:47 AM

Eric Radford #4:

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by Anonymousreply 88April 30, 2022 10:48 AM

Yeah - why aren't Vanessa James and Eric Radford at Canada's SOI? Didn't they just win something or other?

And his former partner was furious because she expected that she would be able to do shows with him to make extra bucks. And yet he isn't doing the premiere skating show in Canada with new partner Vanessa? (and I don't remember seeing their name on the many Japanese ice shows this season though they're in need of pairs to add variety - SO many singles.

In fact, one of them, "The Ice" has signed Uno, Chen, Jason Brown, Junhwan Cha, Ilia Malinin, Kevin Aymoz, Vincent Zhou (July) - and another one, "Fantasy on Ice" (most of June) has Yuzuru Hanyu, Johnny Weir, Stephane Lambiel, Javier Fernandez, Elladj Balde, Kaori Sakamoto, Papadakis/Cizeron. And those two are the tip of the ice berg.

Come on, Canada! And does Europe have any ice shows at all, now that the Russians are caput? Well... limited to their own country, like Plushenko's war rally show. BTW, did Semenenko ever get out of the hospital after his horrible double concussion on that horrible ice at Plush's show?

by Anonymousreply 89April 30, 2022 12:49 PM

Add Satoko and Jason to Fantasy on Ice for the second half of June, in case you're making your travel plans.

by Anonymousreply 90April 30, 2022 12:55 PM

Article from just a couple days ago about James/Radford. Pretty incredible for them to make the Worlds podium despite only skating together for a year and at the ages of 34/37.

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by Anonymousreply 91April 30, 2022 3:20 PM

James/Radford in Music on Ice in Switzerland earlier this month


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by Anonymousreply 92April 30, 2022 4:12 PM

Nathan Chen and Mariah Bell rehearsing together


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by Anonymousreply 93April 30, 2022 5:17 PM

Fantasy on Ice 2022


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by Anonymousreply 94April 30, 2022 6:06 PM

Eric Radford #5:

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by Anonymousreply 95May 6, 2022 10:32 AM

Eric Radford #6:

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by Anonymousreply 96May 7, 2022 9:57 AM

Eric Radford #7

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by Anonymousreply 97May 7, 2022 9:58 AM

Renowned figure skating coach and 1988 Olympic bronze medalist Peter Oppegard was just suspended by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for “physical & emotional misconduct.”

[quote] Oppegard allegedly bit a teenage female skater on the arm during a 2013 training session, according to the skater, her mother and a person who was present in the rink and said they saw the bite mark immediately afterward. The SafeSport investigation, which began in July 2020, also looked into allegations that Oppegard threw hot water and coffee at skaters he coached on multiple occasions at East West Ice Palace in Artesia, California, where he worked from 2005 until he left in 2018, according to two people who witnessed Oppegard’s actions and have discussed them with SafeSport, and who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.

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by Anonymousreply 98May 7, 2022 2:04 PM

Oh my, Safe Sport just jumped right on those complaints against Oppegard, didn't they? Gotta protect those kids from abuse that happened 9 years ago.

by Anonymousreply 99May 7, 2022 4:04 PM

Why the hell would you bite your skater? Even in the realms of abusive coaches that seems particularly demented.

by Anonymousreply 100May 7, 2022 7:33 PM

Just saw Stars on Ice in Pittsburgh
awesome energy. Karen Chen had missed some shows sick but she’s back. Loved seeing Chock & Bates’ alien program live. Mirai Nagasu opened the show, and even though she retired 4 years ago, it’s the first time I saw her skate live. Ditto with everyone else - haven’t seen live skating since 2007. Everyone was on tonight.

by Anonymousreply 101May 9, 2022 12:03 AM

Old dinosaur Frank Carroll interviewed by Polina Edmunds

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by Anonymousreply 102May 10, 2022 6:18 PM

Apparently Jamie Sale went on another blocking spree because people were calling her out on Twitter for her transphobic views. Cannot wait for this bitch to just die already.

by Anonymousreply 103May 15, 2022 4:44 AM

Whoa, she's an anti-vaxxer nut. Hadn't thought of her for years. Turns out it was better that way.

by Anonymousreply 104May 15, 2022 4:51 AM

Eric Radford #8:

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by Anonymousreply 105May 17, 2022 11:16 AM

Eric Radford #9:

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by Anonymousreply 106May 19, 2022 11:33 AM

Eric Radford butt:

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by Anonymousreply 107May 19, 2022 11:55 AM

Eric Radford full frontal #1:

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by Anonymousreply 108May 19, 2022 11:57 AM

Eric Radford full frontal #2:

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by Anonymousreply 109May 19, 2022 11:58 AM

Body's great but he's just not pretty enough to be the model he aspires to be.

Now Stephane Lambiel, Yuzuru Hanyu, unknown but drop-dead gorgeous Conrad Orzel! Even Junhwan Cha and his pretty baby face... give me those nudie pix please!

by Anonymousreply 110May 19, 2022 12:02 PM

R110, uh-uh, it still all begins and ends with Joubert (though, Nathan Chen is quite the piece).

by Anonymousreply 111May 20, 2022 10:19 PM

And don’t forget Jason Brown, who always gives 110 percent in these performances. I saw the show in Pittsburgh but I would see it again if I could.

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by Anonymousreply 112May 20, 2022 11:50 PM

The Skating Lesson has some good gossip:

Eteri's daughter and ice dancer Diana Davis who is an US citizen by birth married her partner Gleb Smolkin in Nevada in March (he found the public record of it). March is also when Eteri "listed her apartment for sale in Moscow and deleted all of her photos with Vladimir Putin. She did not allow the ‘Z’ at her show or attend the war rally."

Davis and Smolkin are going to be monitored by the USFS tomorrow, and they want to skate for the US. Supposedly Diana's instagram has stopped posting in Russian and only posts in English now.

Diana's biological father is Sergei Buianov (Husband of rival coach Elena Buianova !) The Skating Lesson found a document showing that Sergei Buianov previously owned Eteri's apartment.

by Anonymousreply 113June 30, 2022 3:25 AM

Maybe they're just in love????

by Anonymousreply 114June 30, 2022 3:29 AM

R114 Smolkin needs to get US citizenship to be able to skate for the US (he was born in St Petersburg). Sure they can be in love as well but the timing almost certainly isn't coincidental. Eteri seems as if she is preparing to move to the US. She can get residency and then citizenship through Diana when Diana is 21.

by Anonymousreply 115June 30, 2022 3:34 AM

Buianova coached Adelina Sotnikova, Russia's first Olympic gold medallist in women's singles. I can only find this picture of the Buianovs - he's old now but can see the resemblance to Davis..

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by Anonymousreply 116June 30, 2022 3:54 AM

Oh man, Eteri's coming here, isn't she?

by Anonymousreply 117June 30, 2022 7:27 AM

R115 For Olympic Game, yes. For all ISU events, it is enough one part of the couple has citizenship.

Meanwhile, in France, Nathalie PĂ©chalat has been ousted as head of the Federation by a woman no-body has heard before but who was backed by Didier Gailhaguet.

by Anonymousreply 118June 30, 2022 8:39 AM

Smolkin is a cute twink. Quite a mop of hair on him.

He looks like he could be tennis player Denis Shapovalov's brother.

Do blond Russian men tend to look alike? There aren't too many of them.

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by Anonymousreply 119June 30, 2022 8:46 AM

Phil Hersh says the Grand Prix assignments have been moved, probably to the middle of July, because they don't have a sixth location for the Cup of China that China won't have.

US - Canada - France - ? - Japan - Finland.

I think that's right (so far). I may have the order wrong. Finland's taking Russia's GP.

And when are the Olympic Team Trophy medals going to be given out? Did the ISU cover that at their recent Phuket summit?

by Anonymousreply 120June 30, 2022 12:57 PM

I doubt the team medals will be given out for a long time. What's really lame is that the Russians are allowed to conduct the investigation themselves.

"@LiftLoopLunge

Olivier Niggli, the Director-General of WADA, explained that the August deadline for RUSADA to complete their investigation into the Valieva doping case is "not a hard deadline" & that procedural issues could lead to a delay.

The team event medals won't be awarded until this is"

by Anonymousreply 121June 30, 2022 1:00 PM

What is the purpose of a governing body if they refuse to govern?

by Anonymousreply 122June 30, 2022 1:03 PM

I have never really understood why countries do anti-doping themselves. It seems like an obvious conflict of interest - countries obviously want their athletes to win medals. It seems so much more sensible that countries should be required to put those funds towards an independent international body to do anti-doping for everyone.

by Anonymousreply 123June 30, 2022 1:06 PM

Okay, this made me laugh, from The Skating Lesson who has been divulging all this:

"@SkatingLesson

Diana Davis appeared very surprised to see me at the rink I skate at."

"@SkatingLesson

Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin confer with a USFS judge."

by Anonymousreply 124June 30, 2022 3:09 PM

Ugh, Dave Lease is such a stalker. I miss the days when skating was covered by actual journalists and not creepy stans.

by Anonymousreply 125July 1, 2022 12:28 AM

Oh, I absolutely love Dave Lease. Figure skating is at a nadir in terms of interest and his Youtube channel has all of the latest gossip for an old fan like me. Plus, he gets great interviews from competitors, past champs and coaches. And even back in the day, who was covering skating other than cranky Hersh and sanctimonious Brennan? They had the monopoly on print journalism. I’ll also love him for his first blog, Aunt Joyce’s Ice Cream Stand, which was brimmimg with pointless bitchery (including the title) and for calling a certain skater “Hooker Nails” because she possessed, well, hooker nails. It never got old for me.

by Anonymousreply 126July 1, 2022 12:37 AM

So Chen's back to Yale so no GPs. Vincent Zhou's going back to school too (Brown?) Jason Brown is "taking a break." Yuzuru Hanyu hasn't said yet - and he's always done so by now.

Should we even have a GP series, with the war and covid and all these retirements and delays - and no Russians who dominated three out of four divisions.

Has figure skating just suddenly fallen on its sword, so to speak?

by Anonymousreply 127July 1, 2022 12:39 AM

Sad last days.

by Anonymousreply 128July 1, 2022 12:52 AM

Eh, we now have the newbies--Nathan's hips won't last forever. I think we're more likely to see a return of Vincent at some point.

Without the Russians, this could be kind of an interesting season with new people coming forth. I won't miss that boring Russian pair in ice dancing. Are Maddie and Evan finally going to get gold?

by Anonymousreply 129July 1, 2022 1:28 AM

At his ice shows, Yuzuru's 4Ts and 3As looked beautiful. He could go on but if Malinin lands 4As in front of him - and he can't match them - I don't know if it would be worth it. But if he gave up trying, he'd probably podium everywhere. But it's not what he wants dammit - gold or 4A or fuck it all.

All sports careers end in tears. (in Hanyu's case, very wealthy tears, but still...)

by Anonymousreply 130July 1, 2022 12:33 PM

Pretty sure Hanyu did a 4T-4T combo in an ice show but does that even count, scorewise?

Oh and Chock/Bates. I've never liked her but I can't deny she's quite the performer.

Went to find list of retirements and yep, no more Hubbell/Donohue. I'll miss him.

WOMEN: - Evgenia Medvedeva (Russia) - Sofia Samodurova (Russia) - Anastasia Tarakanova (Russia) - Serafima Sakhanovich (Russia) - Elizabet Tursynbaeva (Kazakhstan) - Satoko Miyahara (Japan) - Rika Hongo (Japan) - Yura Matsuda (Japan) - Rin Nitaya (Japan) - Alysa Liu (USA) - Alaine Chartrand (Canada) - Emily Bausback (Canada) - Aurora Cotop (Canada) - Ivett Toth (Hungary) - Nicole Rajicova (Slovakia) - Danielle Harrison (Great Britain) - Niki Wories (Netherlands)

MEN: - Michal Brezina (Czech Republic) - Keiji Tanaka (Japan) - Nam Nguyen (Canada) - Alexei Bychenko (Israel) - Alexei Krasnozhon (USA) - Ryan Dunk (USA) - Christopher Caluza (Philippines) - Peter James Hallam (Great Britain) - Roman Galay (Finland) - Adrien Tesson (France) - Joseph Phan (Canada)

PAIRS: - Kirsten Moore-Towers / Michael Marinaro (Canada) - Camille Ruest/Andrew Wolfe (Canada) - Justine Brasseur (Canada) - Zoe Jones / Christopher Boyadji (Great Britain) - Miriam Ziegler / Severin Kiefer (Austria) - Ashley Cain-Gribble / Timothy LeDuc (USA) - Brian Johnson (USA) - Mervin Tran (USA) - Nicole Della Monica (Italy) - Jessica Pfund / Joshua Santillan (Switzerland) - Antonio Souza-Kordeiru (Croatia)

ICE DANCE: - Madison Hubbell / Zachary Donohue (USA) - Sara Hurtado / Kirill Khalyavin (Spain) - already coaching a junior team - Adrian Diaz (Spain) - (“Olivia Smart will follow a new path with the Spanish Federation” - Natalie D'Alessandro / Bruce Waddell (Canada) - Ksenia Konkina (Russia) - Sofia Shevchenko / Igor Eremenko (Russia) - Anastasia Skoptcova / Kirill Aleshin (Russia) - Alena Kanysheva (Russia) - rumor: Arina Ushakova (Russia) - Kiria Hirayama / Aru Tateno (Japan) - Jim Wang (USA)

by Anonymousreply 131July 1, 2022 12:48 PM

poohzuruhanyu JSF updated Yuzu's profile in their website! Translation of his comment: "Thank you always for your support. I will aim for even greater heights this season."

So this is the official confirmation. Yuzu will compete next season.

by Anonymousreply 132July 1, 2022 4:12 PM

Shame about Hubbell-Donohue--they'd win Worlds this season, but they've been at it a long time. I like Chock/Bates better off ice than on, but if they pull off a Worlds win, I'll clap. Looking forward to the younger teams climbing the ranks.

I thought Gilles/Poirier retired, but maybe not?

So Cain/LeDuc retired--they kind of had to--she's had too many concussions. I see that James/Radford are still around and Knierem/Frazier.

Bradie Tennell's not on the retirement list either, so wonder if she'll come back this season. With Alysa retiring, the US needs somebody. I guess Karen and Mariah are around as well, though I assume Karen will be back at Cornell.

by Anonymousreply 133July 2, 2022 12:25 AM

R133 James/Radford are done. They have been pulled out from the World Standing list in the latest update. Radford has been elected to ISU Council as the athlete representative

by Anonymousreply 134July 2, 2022 7:48 AM

That turd?

by Anonymousreply 135July 2, 2022 7:50 AM

German dance team (Muller/Dieck) also split. Same for German top pair (Hase/Seegert).

Polizoakis came out of retirement and he partnered with Denisa CimlovĂĄ to skate for Czech Republic. They are coached by Fusar-Poli.

Armenian Garabedian/Proulx Senecal also retired.

Britain #2 Fear/Waddell split.

by Anonymousreply 136July 2, 2022 8:34 AM

Wow, so who does Canada have left? They're in a serious slump.

by Anonymousreply 137July 2, 2022 8:08 PM

Oh, no, Brian Johnson retired? Who's going to take his place as cute, hairy-chested pairs skater?

by Anonymousreply 138July 2, 2022 9:16 PM

"Tatiana Tarasova: If the topic of changing sports citizenship of Smolkin and Davis is being promoted, then the skaters, who had not previously considered the same possibility, will think about not sitting idle for a year.

Now I have no idea what is really happening, I’m just speculating, but next week I will go to Novogorsk, where I would like to hold a meeting with our skaters, to express my opinion on this matter.

We need to know what the guys think on this issue. Davis and Smolkin are a good pair, but you need to understand what the guys who are closer to the first place think.

Of course, they are unlikely to tell frankly about everything, but I will be able to understand their moods."

by Anonymousreply 139July 2, 2022 9:50 PM

I love how she shades Davis and Smolkin there - 'a good pair' ... but not the top ones.

by Anonymousreply 140July 2, 2022 9:52 PM

R133 - Isabeau LeVito? Don't know much about Audrey Shin but she was 3rd at Four Continents. And whatever happened to Ting Cui?

And will Eteri start coaching? That's the subject of the latest "The Skating Lesson" with Dave Lease. Eteri took down all photos of Putin she had on Instagram, was even quoted as saying she doesn't like him. She didn't show up at the big pro-war rally that Plushenko went to - she didn't show off the letter "Z" at her ice show.

Gleb and Diana being married gives Eteri some sort of easier access to a green card and eventual US citizenship I think. And she did live and work here before and has connections. Dave spoke of coaches who only accept cash (which can't be traced) on the off chance she's not allowed to coach because of Safe Sport or whatever, but they'd have to prove she was drugging the girls -- and likely she wasn't. That doctor who was always hanging around or some gov't official, who knows, but her hands are probably clean enough, on that front.

How many stage mothers would pay to have a proven winning coach like Eteri work with their precious babies? I would assume quite a few. She worked miraculous wonders with Russian women, I don't think anyone would dispute.

by Anonymousreply 141July 2, 2022 10:52 PM

*Audrey Shin was fourth at 4CC, not third.

by Anonymousreply 142July 2, 2022 10:54 PM

The GP is going to be fantastic without the Russian druggies and cheaters.

by Anonymousreply 143July 2, 2022 11:10 PM

Sooo, is Tarasova basically saying the Russians will change nations in order to skate and, just as possibly, return to Russia when Russia's allowed to play again? Seems likely, given all those Russian satellites. This would be particularly valuable in ice dancing where placements get so fixed.

I assume China's out because its COVID vaccine doesn't work, but the Chinese won't use anyone else's, which means they're always one spike away from a regional shutdown.

Isabelle LeVito is a lovely skater with kind of jumping technique that won't get her through adolescence. If she fixes it, she might be around, but that's a big "if".

Maybe Amber Glenn will finally have stabilized. She's a beautiful skater when she's not doing a Gracie Gold.

by Anonymousreply 144July 2, 2022 11:27 PM

I think the Chinese vac works if you get three shots. But the elderly haven't gotten them.

Though they're close on an mRNA (link)

Don't know what that means for their skaters (I understand they can't do Cup of China - or maybe any kind of comps inside the borders?)

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by Anonymousreply 145July 3, 2022 3:21 AM

Amber Glenn is showing a triple axel in practice on Instagram. Anyone want to tell me how fully-rotated it is? I can never tell.

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by Anonymousreply 146July 5, 2022 1:36 AM

Looks good to me - but I'm not good at telling either. We shouldn't worry - the judges are hit and miss, as well.

If Amber and Wakaba could just get it together. Come on girls. We'll be missing out on our one reliable 3Aer, Tutkamysheva, who never got her due because of witch Eteri. But then, unlike men, jumping jack girls never get propped - see FIVE quad Trusova losing to whatsername, even after Kamila crashed out. Midori, Tonya, Surya -- guys can get away with zero artistry if they have the tech - females? They're almost punished for it. Even poor Mao vs Yuna - not clear on those details but I think there are other examples.

by Anonymousreply 147July 5, 2022 2:48 PM

R147 Well at least you have Adelina Sotnikova who won over the far more graceful Yuna Kim.

by Anonymousreply 148July 5, 2022 2:53 PM

Looks like Malinin is landing some sort of quad axel in practice as well. If he pulls that off in competition, he'll definitely be the new quad king for the U.S. Nathan Chen is timing his exit well. Wonder if Vincent will stick around--he sounded like he was a real mess at the Olympics--maybe the Bronze worlds is enough of a high note for him--that and whatever Olympic team medal finally shows up.

Karen Chen seems to have put up an Instagram post that people are reading as a soft-retirement notice. Bradie's still silent. With Alysa Liu gone, there's definitely room for some of the also-rans to move in. Naturally, the Gracie Gold fans are still wishing. And, hell, this might be the year Gold has a moment to shine and do some sort of redemption thing.

by Anonymousreply 149July 5, 2022 8:34 PM

R149 Ilia didn't land the 4A in Japan this week despite several attempts. I think his IG was making it seem like he had the jump more than he does. As in we don't know how many attempts he's doing before he lands a clean one to put on IG. His level of skating is so far below Shoma and Yuma's though, it'll be interesting to see what happens. But I'm sure USFS will push him hard. Focusing so much on the 4A seems silly. Just do 5 clean solid quads and work from there. History making achievements don't mean much if you can't win.

Karen is probably done. She was barely hanging on. Mariah will stick around for a season or two. With the new SEQ rule changes, she doesn't have to really rely on a 3-3 anymore though, so maybe she sticks around longer? Vincent could come back in a couple years, but he can also probably read the room. I'm sure he'd love a national title, but if Ilia even reaches half his potential that seems unlikely.

And Nathan held up as long as he could I think, the timing was perfect for him. He has major hip issues he's not talking about much. We know about the one hip, but this injury is the other hip. Two bum hips at 23 doesn't bode well and it's good to get out and walk without pain in 10 years. He mentioned he can't rotate jumps well because of it but wouldn't go further into the issue. He's got zero reason to ever return anyway. He'll go out and top and shade to a lot of the other skaters who hang on but I think he has more of a life outside skating. Some of these people obviously have no idea what to do with themselves if they aren't skating.

by Anonymousreply 150July 5, 2022 9:42 PM

R150, Yeah, I always kind of thought Nathan would have retired if he'd won back in 2018--he'd have been perfectly happy to go to college and do a few shows. He knows his hips won't last forever and would probably prefer not spending the rest of his life crippled. He and Bradie both have a certain stiffness that I attribute to having to protect areas prone to injury--with her it was the back. Not sure what it is now. Despite his not having officially retired, I'd be shocked to see Nathan in competition again. With Malinin showing potential, the focus will shift to him anyway.

Japan has that other young guy along with Shoma and Hanyu. The rule changes should really benefit Japanese ladies who don't have the same puberty monster issue and have the kind of technique that can be sustained.

by Anonymousreply 151July 5, 2022 10:15 PM

[quote] With the new SEQ rule changes, she doesn't have to really rely on a 3-3 anymore though, so maybe she sticks around longer?

How has it changed? You don't need 3-3's anymore?

Sorry - I don't really understand the technical side of skating very well.

One thing about Malinin, who I'm pretty sure has landed a rotated 4A that he put on Instagram (though not in Japan yet which the promoters are desperate for him to do, I guess) -- but the thing about him, his legs look too long for the rest of him. And I remember thinking that about Stephen Gogolev who subsequently seems to have crashed and burned. Got too tall? It'll be interesting to see if Malinin can make it long enough to land that thing in competition.

by Anonymousreply 152July 5, 2022 11:30 PM

Some of the successful men have been, if not tall, fairly close to average height--Vincent Zhao is 5'9" and while he's had his issues, he's never flamed out. Yuzuru's 5'8", which has got to be around the average for Japanese men.

Ilia's currently 5'6", so he may have a couple of inches to go, but I doubt he'll "outgrow" the sport, not with both of his parents being singles skaters.

by Anonymousreply 153July 5, 2022 11:39 PM

R152 It used to be when you did SEQ you only got 80% of the base value (the point value of the two jumps added together). A sequence is when you change feet or edges or put your free leg down. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva does a 3lz+2A SEQ quite a bit. You are going to see a lot of easier combos now with the rule change since you get full points for them. Basically, women (espeically) who can't do 3-3's will have other ways to make up points. You'll still need a 3-3 to be a top skater though, but it does help a bit.

And I feel Ilia just has insanely long legs. He's the same height as Nathan, who is like 5'6. Nathan has good proportions though while Ilia looks very lanky.

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by Anonymousreply 154July 5, 2022 11:52 PM

Ilia probably hasn't 'filled out' yet and has very long legs.

by Anonymousreply 155July 6, 2022 12:06 AM

The long legs would definitely be a disadvantage for a female skater, but I think it might not be the same hindrance for a guy--he can use all that leg muscle to propel himself up and doesn't have a lot to lift. The women just don't have the same kind of brute strength so they have to be compact. Nathan is relatively short-legged, like Javier and Shoma, but I'm thinking there have been some leggier guys among the Russians--Plushenko, who was 5'10". Different era, but he made his reputation as an early quadster.

Melanin's overall jumping technique looks pretty good to me, but I don't actually know much--I notice he can actually go straight up, which seems to me would indicate good lift-off and turning position. Right?

The changes in women's skating are definitely going to favor longevity more than they have in a long time. Basically, it's the Mariah Bell rule. Not sure I love it because the top ladies really should do triple-triples.

by Anonymousreply 156July 6, 2022 12:19 AM

I'm too lazy to research but I feel like Urmanov and or Kulik had long (ish) legs..

by Anonymousreply 157July 6, 2022 12:26 AM

Ilia's feet look bigger than Nathan's in that photo, but then if they're both just 5'6" Ilia has several inches to go before he runs into trouble.

And there are some current tall quadsters - Junhwan Cha is 5'11" - Roman Sadovsky 6 feet (though he hasn't had a good showing lately but he can do them when he's on) - Makar Ignatov 6 feet - probably others.

by Anonymousreply 158July 6, 2022 1:05 AM

He has great technique. He's already 17, yeah he can grow some but I doubt it'll be like Gogolev . I think the more obvious issue he'll deal with is injury and focusing too much on jump/combos he doesn't really need. The name of the game is still being consistent (to build up reputation) and clean to win. He wants to make a splash which is understandable, but 2026 is a long time away in figure skating years. It's also expected for men to do 4-5 quads and that's a looot of wear and tear on their body for four years. I see people already saying it'll be Yuma vs Ilia for Olympic Gold in 2026, but way too soon to tell.

by Anonymousreply 159July 6, 2022 1:18 AM

Yeah, wish Ilia had been able to go to the Olympics instead of Jason Brown. He could have used the experience and if he stays uninjured, he's the future of US Men's. Kagiyama v. Malinin could be a great rivalry, I won't be sorry if those two dominate the current quad. Malinin's only going to be 21 then.

by Anonymousreply 160July 6, 2022 3:51 AM

I guess he should have been sent over Jason - but Ilia did fuck up at Worlds just the next month, ending up 9th. And that's with no Nathan or Yuzuru. So if they'd been there, he'd have been 11th?

Don't know why he did so bad - but he did. He choked in his one chance to show the USfed that they were wrong.

He did win Junior Worlds which was a. month later in April - but so what? It was a lot easier than Senior Worlds with Shoma, Yuma, Vincent (the podium - but also ahead of Ilia were 4 Kvitelashvili, 5 Pulkinen, 6 Tomono, 7 Grassl, 8 Siao Him Fa, so what the fuck happened to him?)

by Anonymousreply 161July 6, 2022 9:06 AM

I would not be sad if Nathan retired. I can appreciate his jumping ability, but point collecting is pretty much all he does.

by Anonymousreply 162July 6, 2022 5:45 PM

R162 Yes, skaters like to win. Point collecting is how you do that within the current rules. Others are really welcome to try it. But he does more than that anyway. People who act like all he does is jump are delusional, possibly brainwashed and maybe dumb. He wouldn't have such universal praise by so many skaters and coaches if he weren't the full package.

by Anonymousreply 163July 6, 2022 5:51 PM

Someone has posted a full show of Fantasy on Ice on YouTube. Features Jeff Buttle, Mai Mihara, Johnny Weir, Shizuka Arakawa, Jason Brown, Stephane Lambiel, Javier Fernandez, Kaori Sakamoto, Satako Miyahara, P&Cizeron, and Hanyu, plus Nobunari “Lola” Oda.

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by Anonymousreply 164July 7, 2022 11:48 PM

4th GP officially assigned to Sheffield

Grand Prix saignements will be published today

by Anonymousreply 165July 22, 2022 7:17 AM

[quote]Grand Prix saignements will be published today

Will it really happen this time? Because the ISU has postponed the Grand Prix assignments about 10 times so far already.

by Anonymousreply 166July 22, 2022 10:58 AM

Can someone please help identify the skaters, especially the bigger guy with the killer thighs and butt?

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by Anonymousreply 167July 22, 2022 12:23 PM

It's strange how no one is talking about Zabijako being bi/gay. By the way, why did Canada drop her as soon as she came out?

by Anonymousreply 168July 22, 2022 2:12 PM

For context, Zabiiako is dating Russian tennis player Daria Kasatkina who recently came out.

by Anonymousreply 169July 22, 2022 2:20 PM

R169, it’s being discussed. A lot of quotes from Russians about Zabiiako coming out are towards the end of the video.

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by Anonymousreply 170July 22, 2022 2:57 PM

Also on Eurosport


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by Anonymousreply 171July 22, 2022 2:59 PM

From 2019, Zabiiako and Enbert


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by Anonymousreply 172July 22, 2022 3:05 PM

I saw some new posts on this thread and figured they had to be about Yuzuru's retirement, but nope . . .

Until now . . .so injury, age, upcoming Japanese skaters. But what will he do now. The guy's been the monk of figure skating.

by Anonymousreply 173July 22, 2022 4:16 PM

R170 that's exactly what I mean. Everyone and their mother (including Tarasova) has commented on Kasatkina's coming out. But Zabiiako? Crickets. Not a word from Tarasova, Mozer, Enbert, Yagudin etc. While poor Daria is being crucified in the Russian media, no one in the Russian figure skating world is commenting on Natalia. Either condemning or supporting her. I find that very curious.

by Anonymousreply 174July 22, 2022 4:47 PM

“On May 18, 2022, it was announced that Zabiiako "is resuming her career and will compete for Canada" with Zachary Daleman as her partner under the guidance of a coach Bruno Marcotte.[27] On July 20, 2022, it was announced that Zabiiako no longer trains in Canada and the request of the Canadian Figure Skating Federation was withdrawn.[28”

I was thinking the Russian figure skaters’ comments were strictly the party line. They actually don’t say anything like “homosexuality is wrong,” although the worst of them describes it as an unfortunate birth defect. But where the aggression towards Natalia comes in is their criticism of Russian skaters who try to skate for another country. Natalia wanted to skate for Canada and she had to withdraw the request.

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by Anonymousreply 175July 22, 2022 5:21 PM

R173 Yuzuru did his own ice show once (and one-off) so after the one this summer that had some effortful (if strange) new exhibition skates, I think that's on the docket. Keiji and Satoko did "Romeo and Juliet" - sort of ice dancing (saw photos of a couple lifts) - I love both of them so hope they're included (they just retired as well).

Santiago Hanyu also said he'll continue hunting the great white fish- the quad axel that Ilia Malinen has already landed (albeit only in practice). We'll see. I think he should forget it and do his thang (poured a cup of water over his head in one skate - orgasmically squirmed on the ice in the other one - did some peek-a-boo lifting his shirt - maybe a striptease is next??)

All sports (and political) careers end in tears. But I think he still has his groupies (even new ones in China and that's a massive market if this pandemic would cooperate).

by Anonymousreply 176July 22, 2022 8:26 PM

R167 Michael Parsons and Trent Michaud

by Anonymousreply 177July 23, 2022 12:43 PM

Grand Prix Men

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by Anonymousreply 178July 23, 2022 12:46 PM

Grand Prix Women

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by Anonymousreply 179July 23, 2022 12:46 PM

Grand Prix Pairs. It is an EPIC mess of a line-up

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by Anonymousreply 180July 23, 2022 12:47 PM

And finally the ice dancers

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by Anonymousreply 181July 23, 2022 12:47 PM

So Piper and Paul are sticking around.

US Ladies is kind of a mess.

So is the season for Deanna Stellato to shine having outlasted every other skater?

by Anonymousreply 182July 23, 2022 4:18 PM

Has Mariah flown with the wind?

I haven't forgiven her for stabbing Eunsoo with her skate so good riddance, freckle-face!

by Anonymousreply 183July 23, 2022 4:41 PM

R177: thank you! I knew DL would come through

by Anonymousreply 184July 24, 2022 5:35 AM

Elvis Stojko fucked Johnny Weir, that blows my mind.

by Anonymousreply 185July 24, 2022 5:43 AM

R185 when was this?

by Anonymousreply 186July 24, 2022 7:05 AM

[quote]So Piper and Paul are sticking around.

I had a feeling they would. Back in March at R22 I posted that they were keeping their options open. It makes sense that they want to stick around until 2024 Worlds in Canada and try to win another world medal on home ice.

by Anonymousreply 187July 24, 2022 9:47 AM

At Philadelphia Summer International 2022, in the SP

Levito 70.72

Thorngren 69.57

Gracie Gold 67.01

by Anonymousreply 188August 6, 2022 8:05 AM

Go Gracie Go! Hope she still has those big beautiful grown-up jumps - so nice to see in the women's field again.

She studied under that Ukrainain (?) coach in Chicago, Alex Ouriashev - and Shoma's coach Fluffy noticed how good her jumps were looking and sent Shoma there, multiple times, to work with him.

by Anonymousreply 189August 6, 2022 9:29 AM

Gracie's Free Skate.

I'm wondering what the new world of figure skating is going to be like. Maybe Yuzuru's quads were just too beautiful and Nathan's were just too consistent - and the little drugged up Russian wonders were just too efficient, with their skinny-sparrow bodied quads (Trusova excepted)... I mean those things were just beyond human.

Let's get back to reasonable tech - and people concentrating on artistry more than tech - and, well, I guess I'm saying quads were destroying figure skating, even with the men ?? Or maybe I'm just full of shit, but I'm excited about the massive changes in the sport with the retirements of some huge names and with the Russians down for the count (for this season anyway - and will they somehow be redeemed for '23-'24? How? Will the ISU just say never mind - the way they did when they decided to let them run for office or whatever?)

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by Anonymousreply 190August 7, 2022 4:57 AM

Yuzuru Hanyu has made a Youtube account and tonight he live-streamed a two-hour practice session. I don't think he's had an official social media account before - nothing on Instagram, for example.

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by Anonymousreply 191August 10, 2022 4:55 AM

Tweet about Yuzuru's stream:

Happy to see his session end with a smile on his face. “I’m glad I was able to show that I could still do SEIMEI in full in the Olympics version.” He said it will be once every 6 months that he’ll do something like this session. He says he’s really really tired!

by Anonymousreply 192August 10, 2022 5:06 AM

Kurt Browning and Alissa Czisny just got married.

And I didn't get invited.

by Anonymousreply 193August 18, 2022 11:35 PM

I had to look up their ages...she is older than I thought, but still young enough to be his daughter. Ew. Wouldn't be as bad if he was in his prime, but he is old and bald now.

by Anonymousreply 194August 18, 2022 11:39 PM

Did the resident “I hate Alissa Czisny” troll weigh in?

by Anonymousreply 195August 19, 2022 7:09 AM

A man who marries his mistress creates a vacancy.

by Anonymousreply 196August 19, 2022 8:14 AM

Paul Poirier (in the centre with his 2 arms raised) at this month's Montreal Pride:

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by Anonymousreply 197August 19, 2022 9:47 AM

Green/Parsons officially moved from WISA to MIDA

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by Anonymousreply 198August 20, 2022 8:50 AM

Interesting. Green/Parsons are, IMO, the most interesting of the up and coming teams. Loved the Martha Graham piece.

by Anonymousreply 199August 20, 2022 11:26 PM

Junior GP starts next week

Entries of first stage

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by Anonymousreply 200August 21, 2022 9:07 AM

So, are the cheating Russians allowed to keep their team gold medal? It seems that nothing is being done. How soon until they are all allowed to compete again, as if nothing happened?

by Anonymousreply 201August 21, 2022 2:09 PM

R201 They are not allowed to compete because of war against Ukraine. If it wasn't for that, they would already be competing. Valieva is finished because she will grow and lose all her jumps in the meantime.

by Anonymousreply 202August 22, 2022 8:06 AM

[quote]Kurt Browning and Alissa Czisny just got married.

Ew. I still remember an incident where, after a horrible free skate, Alissa skated to the boards and was embraced by her secondary coach, Jason Dungjen. But it was this very long, intimate embrace where he whispered into her ear for like what seemed an eternity--way too intimately for a coach and student relationship. I got such a creepy vibe watching it, like he was her boyfriend comforting her. And then, after that, she turns to her main coach, Yuka Sato, and give her just a quick little hug.

Such an odd, weirdly creepy dynamic all around...I always suspected Jason and Alissa were hooking up on the side after watching that. Yuka and Jason divorced not long after, and I always wondered if it was because Yuka discovered a possible hook up between them.

And now, to see Alissa marry a man old enough to be her father...I can't help thinking that again.

by Anonymousreply 203August 22, 2022 9:43 AM

Thanks, R202, but are they still gold medal winners?

by Anonymousreply 204August 22, 2022 12:35 PM

R204 For now, yes, they are. It's a ridiculous system where RUSADA gets to run the investigation themselves and they've been dragging it out for over 6 months now. I'd imagine that eventually there will be appeals to CAS.

by Anonymousreply 205August 22, 2022 12:59 PM

Yes, in 2030 we will probably have the final verdict on the team event

by Anonymousreply 206August 22, 2022 8:11 PM

Women Short Program at Junior Gran Prix Courchevel streamed by ISU YouTube channel

It starts at 2pm French time

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by Anonymousreply 207August 25, 2022 7:05 AM

Men Short tonight at 7pm local time

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by Anonymousreply 208August 25, 2022 7:05 AM

That Korean girl is everything I hate about the sport. Twelve years old, covered in five pounds of rhinestones and absolutely skeletal. A kid walking into school looking like that would require a home visit from CPS. Yes I know being thin is important in figure skating, but watching this sickens me. This is far too thin for any child.

by Anonymousreply 209August 26, 2022 12:58 AM

I don't link Tango for Junior Rhythm Dance.

Not that I am a fan of Latin for Seniors again either.

Anyway, Lim/Quam leading RD in Courchevel JGP

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by Anonymousreply 210August 26, 2022 9:43 PM

Czisny creeps me out. She has a fetish for old men, so congrats to her for landing a sugar daddy.

by Anonymousreply 211September 7, 2022 4:07 PM

Never done before quad axel landed in competition.

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by Anonymousreply 212September 15, 2022 5:52 PM

Yeah and clean. He was landing them in practice, great to see him officially deliver. And the pressure is on.

by Anonymousreply 213September 15, 2022 7:02 PM

So, Jonny Weir has his announcing job *and* he still does ice shows.

Can someone please explain to me how Tara Lipinski wins a gold at 15 and is financially set for life? She works for NBC now, but did she make a ton of money right after Nagano? Or some great investments? Or have family money?

by Anonymousreply 214September 15, 2022 8:07 PM

I'm out of the loop - were Russian competitors all banned?

Because of corruption....or the war?

by Anonymousreply 215September 15, 2022 8:19 PM

[quote] She works for NBC now, but did she make a ton of money right after Nagano? Or some great investments? Or have family money?

Pretty much. Her father was an oil executive and lawyer, so she came from money already. When she won gold in 1998, skating still had a pretty lucrative professional circuit where skaters could earn a decent living skating in shows if they were Olympic or World medalists. As an Olympic champion, I'm sure Tara raked in plenty of money doing skating shows, appearances and endorsements before retiring from skating completely. I wouldn't be surprised if her father made sure she invested wisely. Now that she's a NBC commentator, also probably making a decent salary off the gig.

So, all these combined factors equals a spoiled little daddy's girl who wanted for nothing and never had to do a hard day's work in her life.

by Anonymousreply 216September 16, 2022 5:10 AM

R216, uh...never had to do a hard day's work in her life? She's an Olympic and World Champion figure skater ffs, what do you think that just happens by taking some magic beans? By all accounts, Tara was relentless in her perfectionism while practicing and wouldn't leave the ice until she had landed a certain amount of each jump daily.

by Anonymousreply 217September 16, 2022 5:33 AM

R217 I didn't mean it literally.

I'm talking about REAL work you HAVE to do in order to pay the bills and survive. Chasing after a childhood dream to be an Olympic figure skater--a wholly person pursuit funded completely by your money bags father who can afford to pay for all your private coaches, ice time, designer-made costumes, etc.--is a privilege, not work.

by Anonymousreply 218September 16, 2022 6:14 AM

I'd say it's both, just to chime in here.

She worked hard but was privileged, sure.

by Anonymousreply 219September 16, 2022 6:37 AM

R218, again you make it sound like anyone could do what she did and that's far from the reality. And to presume that an Olympic level athlete doesn't know the vaule of hard work is ludicrous, regardless of whether the 'hard work' they have done lives up to some arbitrary criteria you created.

by Anonymousreply 220September 16, 2022 4:39 PM

Result from first Challenger of the season - Lake Placid

1) Malinin 257.28 2) Aymoz 236.17 3) Pulkinen 219.49

1) Yelim Kim 190.64 2) You 183.40 3) Kawabe 180.11

1) Ghilardi/Ambrosini 189.22 2) Chan/Howe 181.81 3) Plazas/Fernandez 166.25

1) Fear/Gibson 190.80 2) Pate/Bye 179.63 3) McNamara/Spiridonov 179.03

by Anonymousreply 221September 17, 2022 6:21 AM

Did anybody see Malinin’s quad Axel? I guess it was ratified?

by Anonymousreply 222September 17, 2022 7:25 AM

We all saw it a R212.

by Anonymousreply 223September 17, 2022 11:53 AM

Watanabe beats Sakamoto at Lombardia Trophy

1) Watanabe 213.14

2) Sakamoto 205.33

3) Kurakova 188.41

by Anonymousreply 224September 17, 2022 7:15 PM

Loena Hendrickx leading the SP at Nebelhorn Trophy. Gracie Gold 15th out of 17th competitors (45 points)

Sadovsky and Lee leading Men SPs over Messing.

Hocke/Kunkel, Stellato/Deschamps and Efimova/Blommaert all pretty close at the top of Pairs SP

by Anonymousreply 225September 22, 2022 9:52 PM

Oh Gracie . . . well, at least she's back on the international circuit, sort of.

by Anonymousreply 226September 23, 2022 1:29 AM

Gold

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by Anonymousreply 227September 23, 2022 9:58 AM

Leona

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by Anonymousreply 228September 23, 2022 9:58 AM

Is YouTube becoming the only place we can see the performances?

by Anonymousreply 229September 23, 2022 1:04 PM

Nebelhorn Trophy is live-streamed by German Fed

Women FS is tomorrow at 11am German time. Free Dance follows

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by Anonymousreply 230September 23, 2022 10:15 PM

Fear/Gibson Free Dance (won US International and Nebelhorn Trophy challengers)

So they have done Donna Summer, Madonna and Lady Gaga in the last 4 seasons. Cher for next season?

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by Anonymousreply 231September 24, 2022 6:12 PM

Guignard/Fabbri FD (won Lombardia Trophy)

Other top teams left (Chock/Bates and Gilles/Poirier) haven't debuted yet

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by Anonymousreply 232September 24, 2022 6:13 PM

This one was gorgeous, I'm impressed:

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by Anonymousreply 233October 10, 2022 2:40 AM

Mariah Bell's retiring. This year's nationals truly are going to be a free-for-all.

by Anonymousreply 234October 14, 2022 7:10 PM

Junior Gran Prix finalists

Women

đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” Mao Shimada

đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” Hana Yoshida

đŸ‡°đŸ‡· Jia Shin

đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” Ami Nakai

đŸ‡°đŸ‡· Chaeyeon Kim

đŸ‡°đŸ‡· Minsol Kwon

MEN

đŸ‡ș🇾 Lucas Broussard

🇼đŸ‡č Nikolaj Memola

đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” Shunsuke Nakamura

đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” Takeru Amine Kataise

đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” Nozomu Yoshioka

đŸ‡ș🇾 Robert Yampolsky

ICE DANCE

🇹🇿 Kateƙina Mrázková / Daniel Mrázek

🇹🇩 Nadiia Bashynska / Peter Beaumont

đŸ‡°đŸ‡· Hannah Lim / Ye Quan

đŸ‡©đŸ‡Ș Darya Grimm / Michail Savitskiy

🇬🇧 Phebe Bekker / James Hernandez

đŸ‡«đŸ‡· Celina Fradji / Jean-Hans Fourneaux

PAIRS

🇩đŸ‡ș Anastasia Golubeva / Hektor Giotopoulos Moore

đŸ‡ș🇾 Cayla Smith / Andy Deng

đŸ‡ș🇾 Sophia Baram / Daniel Tioumentsev

đŸ‡ș🇩 Violetta Sierova / Ivan Khobta

🇹🇩 Ava Rae Kemp / Yohnatan Elizarova

🇹🇩 Chloe Panetta / Kieran Thrasher

by Anonymousreply 235October 15, 2022 11:19 PM

2025 Worlds assigned to Boston

2025 Euros to Zagreb

2025 Junior Worlds somewhere in Hungary

2026 Worlds to Prague

2026 Euros to Sheffield

by Anonymousreply 236October 15, 2022 11:22 PM

The ISU has voted to make solo ice dance an international discipline.

And RUSADA have farcically said that they won't tell anyone the outcome of their Kamila Valieva investigation which leaves the team medals in limbo.

by Anonymousreply 237October 22, 2022 12:30 PM

Men at Skate America

1) Malinen 2) Miura 3) Cha

Pairs:

1) Knierim/Frasier 2) Sellato/Dechamps not far behind. Then some unknown couples

Women SP: close rance between Sakatomo and Levito. Decent Short for Gold (64.18, #5)

Rhythm Dance: Chock/Bates leading with an unconvincing (to me) RD

by Anonymousreply 238October 23, 2022 12:06 PM

Wow, Malinin lands the quad axel again in competition. What an achievement. I'm really curious to see if Nathan Chen will continue competing. These two could have a pretty interesting rivalry heading into the next Olympics.

by Anonymousreply 239October 23, 2022 6:37 PM

Chock/Bates almost lost Hawayek/Baker. Less than 1 point

@239 I would be really surprised to see Chen skating in competitions again. Same for Zhou and Brown.

by Anonymousreply 240October 23, 2022 7:01 PM

Yeah, I think Chen is done. His body can't take doing those jumps and he's not going to acquire a quad axel without some heavy-duty training.

Malinin makes it look easy.

by Anonymousreply 241October 24, 2022 3:08 AM

Why would Nathan keep going? He's achieved everything. Why tear up his body when he can go ahead and finish college and move on with his life. He's always struck me as someone who has more to do with life than just skate (unlike Hanyu).

by Anonymousreply 242October 24, 2022 3:10 AM

[quote]He's always struck me as someone who has more to do with life than just skate

I get the sense he's crazy competitive though. Malinin presents a real challenge and is someone who can equal (and surpass) him technically. Athletes want to beat the best of the BEST. It makes the victory is sweeter and more meaningful that way. I think Nathan would retire if he didn't have a decent rival. Hard to savor victories when you're winning by 20+ points. But when there's real competition to be had, you never know.

It's why Virtue and Moir came back. They wanted to beat Papadakis/Cizeron who were being hailed as the best ever. I doubt they would've returned if their biggest rivals for gold were the boring Shibs.

by Anonymousreply 243October 24, 2022 4:31 AM

I think VIrtue/Moir returned because they hated going Gold then Silver in two Olympics. They wanted to finish on a high note.

Wonder if Hawayek/Baker will medal at Worlds.

by Anonymousreply 244October 24, 2022 4:57 AM

I'm very interested to see what Piper and Paul come up with at Skate Canada. I got the feeling that their heart wasn't really in it last season after they performed poorly at the Olympics.

Chock and Bates look very beatable based on what they showed this weekend. There are about 4 teams at a similar level so far this season. If Piper and Paul can come up with a Free Dance on the level of 'Vincent' and a more solid RD than last season they could, finally, clean up.

by Anonymousreply 245October 24, 2022 8:32 AM

Piper and paul brought the heat in the Rhythm Dance at Skate Canada - personal best and edged out Gibson and Fear. I think their score tops Chock and Bates from last week.

Paul looked rejuvenated.

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by Anonymousreply 246October 29, 2022 8:25 AM

I think, other than skating shows, Nathan Chen is through with competitive skating, now assuming the life of a college student and everything he missed about the experience. He has nothing else to prove.

by Anonymousreply 247October 29, 2022 12:12 PM

The men were an absolute splatfest mess at Skate Canada. Every single one of them fucked up their quad(s) or triple axle.

The level of jumping is now too high to produce clean programs. Maybe 1 in 50 goes clean (if they have high level technical content - one or two quads in the SP along with a 3A -- and more in the free).

Since nobody else can do it, I foresee Malinin dominating - with a couple Japanese men also capable, on a good day (Uno and Miura - maybe Kagiyama if he recovers from whatever his injury is).

One thing Nathan had was consistency so I think he could compete and win a lot, because of the rate of flubbed jumps, but does he want to? Maybe after a year off, he might start dreaming of a second Olympic gold, especially if the three or four contenders trip up.

by Anonymousreply 248October 29, 2022 12:46 PM

I hope Chen never comes back. He is unbearably boring and I can't take any more of his fugly costumes.

by Anonymousreply 249October 29, 2022 12:56 PM

Lilah Fear is as almost as bad as Diana Davis.

by Anonymousreply 250October 29, 2022 4:33 PM

Muramoto/Takahashi won the Challenger Series - Denis Ten Memorial competition. Very generous scoring all around that competition. It was a cluster of Eastern European judges all put in the same place.

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by Anonymousreply 251October 29, 2022 4:35 PM

Watching Skate Canada and I give up. What was with the Japanese dancers? What are those costumes doing?

by Anonymousreply 252October 29, 2022 8:22 PM

The Japanese were skating a Fifth Element program. Could have been executed better, but at least they are trying to do something different than some generic LaLa Land program.

by Anonymousreply 253October 29, 2022 8:35 PM

[quote]I hope Chen never comes back. He is unbearably boring and I can't take any more of his fugly costumes.

Sorry, but I prefer seeing the men look like men, rather than sequin encrusted drag queens. Let the skating speak for itself.

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by Anonymousreply 254October 29, 2022 8:39 PM

Is this letting the skating speak for itself?

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by Anonymousreply 255October 29, 2022 9:02 PM

The men were a hot mess in Boston last weekend, too.

Every man fellđŸ«ŁđŸ€­

by Anonymousreply 256October 29, 2022 9:08 PM

Oh for the days of the manly jumpsuits - Orser Hamilton Boitano John Curry....

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by Anonymousreply 257October 29, 2022 9:30 PM

In defense of all the tacky outrageous costumes, since the beginning of figure skating...

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by Anonymousreply 258October 29, 2022 9:37 PM

R255, sorry, I don't see the sequins.

by Anonymousreply 259October 29, 2022 10:14 PM

Scroll down to Toller Cranston (blue jumpsuit with sequined flowers, 1976) in R258 link and a bit further down to 1984 Jozef Sabovchik

"....Adams cited a German writer who wrote this about the two in a book recapping the 1976 Winter Olympics: “If either the handsome Toller or the graceful John had worn a small skirt they could have become the best female skater of this year’s winter games. 
 Never before have men skated so femininely.” What this writer is pointedly saying is that there is functionally no difference between the performances of the women and those of Curry and Cranston other than costuming. And what they’re acknowledging is that the distinction between men’s and women’s skating is largely a performative one, not an athletic one...."

by Anonymousreply 260October 29, 2022 10:28 PM

well, the quote is about skating style -- but the costumes pictured there speak for themselves

by Anonymousreply 261October 29, 2022 10:29 PM

I love Shoma Uno (Gold Medal after free skate at Skate Canada) and his costumes are to die for (like this one)

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by Anonymousreply 262October 30, 2022 3:30 AM

I just watched that clip and now it's gone. The powers that be are trying to destroy figure skating by denying access to videos. ;(

Here's his SP at least (we'll see how long it takes them to take it down)

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by Anonymousreply 263October 30, 2022 3:34 AM

Men are eschewing the sequins and going to more conservative, masculine dress because of Nathan Chen.

by Anonymousreply 264October 30, 2022 5:18 AM

I haaaaate that the Grand Prix circuit is no longer being broadcast on network TV (yeah, yeah, crappy ratings, blow me). I watched the first round of skaters in the Skate Canada free dance live on Peacock, and it was just the video feed -- no Tara, Johnny and Terrence, just a chiron at the beginning on who the skaters are and the music they're skating to and then the kiss-and-cry results at the end. I turned it off after two teams. Granted, I often think Tara, et al. talk a bit too much during routines, but their commentary can be insightful (when Tara and Johnny aren't squealing; Terry Gannon has the patience of a saint). It would have been nice to know what the required step pattern in the free dance was, but no. I did find a 90-minute hodge-podge of Skate Canada on NBC Sunday morning, but it only covered some of the women and men, and the other two categories were given a brief mention. Gah...

by Anonymousreply 265October 31, 2022 9:12 PM

I think this is why figure skating is dying in the US. Maybe it was inevitable with the demise of cable/satellite tv. I don't understand why the streaming service that used to do it (Peacock - I think the Olympic Channel before?) can't do it. You could even choose your sports and figure skating was one of them, and they kept the recordings for the whole season... Now there's this worthless shit.

I guess they just decided there weren't enough people interesting in FS so it wasn't worth whatever resources were required to post the videos. End of.

Die-hard fans are getting VPN's and tracking down the video in other countries, but I'm not that engaged. If I can't find the few programs I'm interested in on Youtube, then I'm out.

by Anonymousreply 266October 31, 2022 9:48 PM

The replacement of the Pattern with the Choreographic Rhythm Sequence in the Senior Rhythm Dance is a travesty.

by Anonymousreply 267October 31, 2022 9:56 PM

I'm not that engaged either, R266, but I won't even search YouTube for programs. I want it on my TV, not my computer (yes, I know, I can hook one to the other). Back in the day (i.e., last season), I would record something like Skate Canada and watch it at my leisure (since FS has next to no media traction it was easy enough to avoid the results). If a skater went splat more than once I'd FF to their kiss-and-cry. Commercial blocks? FF! I realize I'm probably the type of viewer that led to FS being shunted largely to streaming live, but I don't see why streaming sports events can't have a shelf life of a couple of weeks or a month (I think Premier League matches are available on Peacock for a month). I'll even sit through the commercials! (Well, I'll leave the room until they're over. I'd sooner have a gun held to my head than take an American Cruise Line trip.)

by Anonymousreply 268October 31, 2022 10:04 PM

I still think changing the judging system killed the sport. The general public understood the 6.0 system. No layman understands this ridiculous point system, with all its levels and GOEs, etc.

by Anonymousreply 269October 31, 2022 10:06 PM

Agree, R269, there's also a sameness to the program structures that few skaters but the very best can transcend.

by Anonymousreply 270October 31, 2022 10:14 PM

Also, more points for jumps (completed or not), fewer for artistry. Now we have "skate to the other end -- jump -- skate back -- jump, and there's not very much in between (there are exceptions to that, of course, but they're few and far between).

by Anonymousreply 271October 31, 2022 10:16 PM

And no one can spin anymore. They give more points for a leg over the head than a combo with multiple edge changes and a consistent center. Make everyone go to a Swiss spin clinic.

by Anonymousreply 272October 31, 2022 10:21 PM

NBC killing off the Olympic Channel was a killer, unfortunately. If you still have cable, you can at least go to Search and enter "skating" and have the chance to find what little IS telecast.

Thinking the archaic 6.0 system is part of the problem is nuts. That just made it all completely political. At least the scoring system blunts much of that.

by Anonymousreply 273October 31, 2022 10:56 PM

I find so much of the music these days to be unbearable. Horrid pop songs and cheesy covers, often with a bunch of different cuts sloppily put together. Some of the rhythm dances were beyond cringe worthy - random "Latin" tune with some samba shoved in at the end - wtf? I often wish they had never allowed vocals in competition.

by Anonymousreply 274October 31, 2022 11:30 PM

R246, yeah, Piper & Paul skated well in both the Rhythm Dance & the Free Dance.

Paul looks hot in his RD costume -- a muscle shirt with no sleeves, showing his deltoids.

Their Evita FD was also pretty good and has more potential than their FD last year.

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by Anonymousreply 275November 1, 2022 7:52 AM

The Russian scandal also turned people off. The lack of resolution by the cowardly ISU, also did it. In the US, the lack of any competent women skaters is a killer, since they were always the featured event on television and the beneficiary of endorsements.

by Anonymousreply 276November 1, 2022 8:17 AM

Those of you watching Grand Prix France this weekend, please report back. I am not getting up before the asscrack of dawn in California to watch it live-streamed (and not banked for replays) on Peacock. Anyone know why Papadakis and Cizeron aren't competing? Have they retired? I can't keep up.

by Anonymousreply 277November 4, 2022 6:21 PM

R277 Pap & Ciz haven't officially retired - at present they're 'taking a year out'. Cizeron is choreographing some other couples this year.

I just watched the Ice Dance RD - a few mistakes from some of the fancied couples, but generally high quality. The italians, Guinard & Fabri are leading just ahead of Beaudry & Hot Hot Hot Sorenson - who PB'd. Both couples about 5 points behind Piper and Paul's score from last week in Canada.

by Anonymousreply 278November 4, 2022 7:03 PM

Japanese Sota Yamamoto and Kazuki Tomono top two men after short program; Belgian Loena Hendrickx first, Yelim Kim of Korea second, in women's SP..

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by Anonymousreply 279November 5, 2022 4:08 AM

R278 I doubt we will see P/C again in competition.

Papadakis had some rough couple of years leading to Olympics according to recent interviews. She suffered from depression. She got pregnant in 2021 and got an abortion. Coaches sounded pretty cold with her during her depressive phases

by Anonymousreply 280November 5, 2022 9:03 AM

If anyone in the US wants to watch the Grand Prix live on Peacock, the free dance is starting now and the men’s free skate will start in 2 hours and pairs free in 4 hours. Women’s free has finished
New this season, it won’t be available for replay after you watch live.

by Anonymousreply 281November 5, 2022 2:20 PM

Jason Brown will be competing at Nationals


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by Anonymousreply 282November 5, 2022 2:57 PM

Jesus Christ, doesn't Jason have anything else to DO with his life? He shouldn't have been given the Worlds spot last season; it should have gone to Malinin to start him up the international ladder.

by Anonymousreply 283November 5, 2022 3:57 PM

One to watch out for the future - Lukas Britschgi of Switzerland - a bit uneven at the moment but bags of personality on the ice, and cute for a single male skater

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by Anonymousreply 284November 5, 2022 5:15 PM

Face is a bit Picasso-esque - well, it's just one photo. Out of this bunch, I think Sota is hot! And silver is great -- for him! How did Adam Siao Him Fa come back to pass him though? dammit

by Anonymousreply 285November 5, 2022 6:36 PM

I'm not really a fan, but Jason is sweet - and I think he's the type who'd make a good coach. So many top names don't have the personality for it - either too egotistical or too shy or not into it enough.

Poor little Mana Kawabe, falling out of medal contention. She's got so much promise but Japan is a hunger games for skaters, on the national level. This sport would really be over without Japan. Though I love Loena - well, you have to.

by Anonymousreply 286November 5, 2022 6:42 PM

R283. Malinin went to Worlds last season. And finished 9th

by Anonymousreply 287November 6, 2022 7:37 AM

R280 Why did she talk about her abortion?

by Anonymousreply 288November 6, 2022 12:30 PM

R254 Chen is a MANLET and not a man
.

by Anonymousreply 289November 6, 2022 12:31 PM

Evan, you couldn't do a quad even if your life depended on it.

Nathan. Quad stud.

by Anonymousreply 290November 6, 2022 4:36 PM

GP Sheffield

Mia Mihara leads Women SP with Levito just behind. Tennell is not ready: 2 falls and one of the lowest TES

Men SP see Sadovsky leading Grassl and Vasjlievs. However, everything can happen tonight in the Free given how inconsistent men are

Guignard/Fabbri and Lewis/Gibson very close in the Rhythm Dance. Italians leading by 1 point.

by Anonymousreply 291November 12, 2022 5:04 PM

Danny O'Shea has always had a creepy smile. Now he is bold, he looks even creeper

by Anonymousreply 292November 12, 2022 5:09 PM

Grassl won Men at GP Sheffield after Sadovsky predictably bombed

Mia Mihara won Women over Levito.

by Anonymousreply 293November 13, 2022 12:33 PM

Lithuanian Ice Dance Hottie, Saulius Ambrulevicius (and friend), absolutely killing Hallowe'en

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by Anonymousreply 294November 18, 2022 9:05 AM

Chock/Bates behind Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen in the RD at NHK

by Anonymousreply 295November 18, 2022 11:45 AM

There's shaping up to be an almighty 4-way fight for the medals at the Worlds between Piper and Pau, Beaudry/Sorenson, Chock & Bates and Guignard/Fabri. They're all scoring at similar levels.

Big question will be whether Chock and Bates have 'fixed' their Free skate which was unconvincing first time out.

by Anonymousreply 296November 18, 2022 12:07 PM

They should dare and do a program with Conrad Orzel as a Nazi soldier.

by Anonymousreply 297November 18, 2022 2:23 PM

Grand Prix Final is taking shape with 1 stage left.

WOMEN

Yelim, Sakamoto and Levito already qualified.

Hendrickx and Mihara are likely to qualify next week.

1 spot left. Watanabe leading. Gubanova needs a Silver in Finland to pass her

MEN

Uno, Miura, Yamamoto and Grassl qualified.

Malinin will get in next week.

Last post is between Siao and Sato. Sato needs 2nd place next week

PAIRS

Miura/Kihara, Knierim/Frazier, Stellato/Deschamps, Chan/Howe and Conti/Macii qualified.

Last spot probably between Ghilardi/Ambrosini and Metelkina/Parkman. Needs a 2nd next week. If neither finishes in top 2 in Espoo, Kolovev/Kolovev qualify.

ICE DANCE

Guignard/Fabbri, Fournier-Beaudry/Sorensen, Chock/Bates, Fear/Gibson are qualified.

Gilles/Poirier and Hawayek/Baker will join them next week

by Anonymousreply 298November 19, 2022 9:50 PM

I'm OBSESSED with the Reed/Ambrulevičius Free Dance to 'Insomnia' by Faithless. Great to see a couple doing something different. Just off the overall podium in Tokyo, and 3rd in the Free Dance.

They could be carving out a niche for themselves like Fear/Gibson. Could be in with a chance of a bronze at the Europeans?

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by Anonymousreply 299November 19, 2022 11:13 PM

Poor Conrad Orzel. Should move to pairs like fellow hottie Canadian Nic Nadeau.

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by Anonymousreply 300November 19, 2022 11:41 PM

R299. Yes, I think they are a strong contender for Euro Bronze. They beated Lopareva/Brissaud here who were among the contenders for that medal. Finnish Turkila/Versluis may challenge them. I can't think of anybody else being in contention. Taschlers siblings could be close in RD but will fall behind in FD.

by Anonymousreply 301November 20, 2022 7:47 AM

Remember baby Yulia Lipnitskaya? Her husband has been conscripted. Apparently he could get out of it but still wanted to go. He had been posting a lot of Z stuff. The irony is that Lipnitskaya's father was mobilized when her mother was pregnant with her and decided to not return to the family.

by Anonymousreply 302November 23, 2022 7:41 AM

So glad I woke up early to see the Espoo splatfest that was the men's short program. Morisi Kvitelashvili had one of the worst skates ever. I wonder if Putin will have him conscripted after that.

And Keegan is quite heterosexual, if anyone is wondering.

by Anonymousreply 303November 25, 2022 4:43 PM

Good to see a great skating performance rewarded (Kevin's) over a jumpingfest - with some crappy 'skating' squeezed in between (Ilia's).

If Kevin could build up to a quad or two in his programmes by the time of the Worlds, he could be in with a shout of a medal.

by Anonymousreply 304November 25, 2022 7:10 PM

[quote] I wonder if Putin will have him conscripted after that.

he left Russia for Italy last month.....

by Anonymousreply 305November 25, 2022 7:35 PM

I think Georgia Federation got their Russian men out of the country. The dancer and the pair guys also moved their training base to Italy or Germany.

by Anonymousreply 306November 25, 2022 7:36 PM

R303, I should hope so. Keegan is married with a kid.

by Anonymousreply 307November 26, 2022 2:02 AM

r307, that's weird. I don't think he's ever mentioned it. You'd think he'd have a picture of his kid to show us in kiss and cry!

by Anonymousreply 308November 26, 2022 2:12 AM

Men's skating right now is horrifically bad minus Shoma.

by Anonymousreply 309November 26, 2022 2:22 AM

R309 Okay, I also forgot Kao Miura, who is the 2nd least offensive men's skater right now. But seriously for all the hype Ilia can't score a 90 in the SP and for some reason can't fully rotate anything else. Not sure why he can do a 4A like it's nothing, but struggles with his other quads. They are also rather tiny, again minus the 4A which is huge. Wonder if Yuzu is regretting retiring seeing the scores this season. He could have won worlds in Japan pretty easily with a 3 quad FS and his usual killer SP.

by Anonymousreply 310November 26, 2022 2:35 AM

I AM IN LOVE with US pair skater Danylo Siianytsia. What grace and magnificent talent.

A killer ass, big bulge, and a gorgeous face.

I hope they win tomorrow because that man is destined to be a world champion some day.

by Anonymousreply 311November 26, 2022 2:39 AM

I know R308, he just leaves his young family alone while he goes jaunting off to international skating events.

You'd think he'd realize that if he pushed the whole 'dad' thing he'd get some product promotion opportunities.

by Anonymousreply 312November 26, 2022 2:58 AM

Gilles/Poirier get a new SB to take the lead in the Espoo Rhythm Dance.

Paul looking hot:

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by Anonymousreply 313November 26, 2022 7:33 AM

Gosh, I witnessed Ghilardi/Ambrosini winning a GP....

by Anonymousreply 314November 26, 2022 11:18 AM

r314, not to mention the forgettable German pair with two falls moving up from 4th to 2nd.

by Anonymousreply 315November 26, 2022 11:58 AM

Speaking of Pairs skaters with big bulged all s - Dutch cutie, Michel Tsiba. Unfortunately couldn't find a pic highlighting the bulge.

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by Anonymousreply 316November 26, 2022 12:29 PM

The young Estonian, Aleks Selenko is future hottie. Incredible hydroglide. 90% of his body was connecting with the ice!

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by Anonymousreply 317November 26, 2022 3:46 PM

Why are the pairs guys so hunky and masculine? If I were the partner, I would fall in love with them.

by Anonymousreply 318November 26, 2022 3:49 PM

R318 - you need big ,strong guys to be able to pull off the lifts and the throws they do in Pairs.

by Anonymousreply 319November 26, 2022 4:07 PM

Yes, R319, but they're almost all straight dudes.

by Anonymousreply 320November 26, 2022 4:09 PM

the winner of pair competition in Finland today is gay

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by Anonymousreply 321November 26, 2022 4:39 PM

Kevin Aymoz and his Italian coach, Silvia Fontana, look like they'd be a riot on a night out!

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by Anonymousreply 322November 26, 2022 5:08 PM

Timothy LeDuc is an 'out' pairs dancer! (remarkable because most of them are not out)

Also Eric Radford of Canada

I bet even in pairs, it's more than half.

I think Tim retired at the end of this past season though. Maybe Eric did too?

by Anonymousreply 323November 26, 2022 7:37 PM

* oops LeDuc competed in Pairs not Ice Dance - I made them confusing - and he's an American from Cedar Rapids, Iowa

by Anonymousreply 324November 26, 2022 7:38 PM

Big gorgeous Guillaume Cizeron of France is also out and proud (France, Ice Dance) - I think his partner is bi? (Gabriella Papadakis of Greece)

by Anonymousreply 325November 26, 2022 7:40 PM

Paul Poirier and his gorgeous giant ass is also gay. Ice dance though.

Honestly probably quite a few pair skaters who are gay, just most don't come out until later

by Anonymousreply 326November 26, 2022 7:57 PM

Morisi did not redeem himself in the free program. Ended up last. Keegan did terrible as well. A Finn skater who works as an ER doctor, and is in his mid-30s, skated amazingly, ended up 7th or 8th IIRC.

by Anonymousreply 327November 26, 2022 8:03 PM

Bradie Tennell’s free skate with the Greta Thunberg voiceovers is cringey beyond belief. What is Benoit smoking?

by Anonymousreply 328November 26, 2022 8:10 PM

For real R328. When I saw that dress I was hoping she would do a Greatful Dead tribute. That would have been an improvement.

by Anonymousreply 329November 26, 2022 8:15 PM

That Finnish doctor, Vallter Virtanen, shaded Yuzuru Hanyu, saying all he had to do was practice, while he (Vallter) worked part-time at a hospital as a doctor. So I'm sure he would have done as well if he'd had the time.

(not really true - Yuzuru completed a thesis and got his Master's from a Japanese university, their equivalent of our Ivy League, "Waseda Univ" I think was the name of it -- his thesis was about using artificial intelligence to score jumps in figure skating)

by Anonymousreply 330November 26, 2022 8:25 PM

It's an online university and almost positive he didn't get a master's degree. Not really the same thing as being a literal doctor

by Anonymousreply 331November 27, 2022 12:21 AM

Gilles & Poirier got a higher score at Espoo than Skate Canada. They got a Free Dance PB of 131.69 (4 pts more than Guignard/Fabbri) for a total of 219.49 -- the 4th best score in history. (almost 6pts more than the Italians.)

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by Anonymousreply 332November 27, 2022 8:11 AM

R332 Paul's ass is so big it has a gravitational force so strong it could pull the planets out of orbital alignment.

by Anonymousreply 333November 27, 2022 8:25 AM

Agreed, R333. Paul's boyfriend is a lucky guy to get his hands on Paul's muscular thighs every night:

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by Anonymousreply 334November 27, 2022 8:34 AM

Now, Fillipo Ambrosini (the gay Italian Pairs skater) has lost the moustache, he's actually quite hot!

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by Anonymousreply 335November 27, 2022 6:09 PM

The mustache made him look like a tragic Castro clone.

by Anonymousreply 336November 27, 2022 8:14 PM

Is this still the main thread for figure skating discussion? Any thoughts on the Grand Prix Final?

Paul Poirier & his amazing ass & Piper Gilles won the dance event. Not quite as high a mark as in GP Finland, but good enough to win their first GPF.

Chock & Bates 2nd; Guignard & Fabbri 3rd.

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by Anonymousreply 337December 11, 2022 8:31 AM

Chock & Bates showed a massive improvement over their early season outings. Think Paul & Piper are going to have to up their game if they want to retain their lead going into the Four Continents and Worlds.

In other news: so glad Shoma beat Ilya in the Men's. Outside the jumps, Malinin is like a giraffe on skates!

by Anonymousreply 338December 11, 2022 11:38 AM

Mihara Mai đŸ‡ŻđŸ‡” 208.17 Isabeau Levito đŸ‡ș🇾 197.23 Loena Hendrickx 🇧đŸ‡Ș 196.35

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by Anonymousreply 339December 11, 2022 12:52 PM

R338, I like Shoma too but Ilia is about 7 years younger than him and still growing. He looks the same height as Sota now(5’8) and his dad is 5’9. Going through the growth spurt phase is hard. I’m wondering what he’s going to become when he outgrows calling himself the quad god. Height and size can be a factor in the sport but even Yuma, who is only 5’3, has been out all season with a serious injury so it’s hard to say.

by Anonymousreply 340December 11, 2022 2:16 PM

R338, I agree that Piper & Paul can't take anything for granted. They have only recently attained the #1 position in dance and so it's too soon to predict victory for them yet. However, for now they are in a stronger position than they have been before. They beat Chock & Bates by 3.7 points at the GPF, which is more than the 1.66 point win Piper & Paul had at 2021 Worlds when they beat C & B for the bronze. So it's a good start, but as you said they would still be smart to up their game.

by Anonymousreply 341December 13, 2022 7:36 AM

Piper & Paul have had to withdrawn from next week's Canadian Nationals because Piper had to have her appendix removed. They say they will be back on the ice soon.

by Anonymousreply 342January 5, 2023 6:54 AM

Suprise, surprise:

"Kamila Valieva: Russia clears figure skater over doping case

Valieva bore "no fault or negligence" for a positive doping test, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) has found.

She will not face any sanctions except the disqualification of her results when the sample was taken in 2021.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) says it is concerned by the finding and may appeal against the decision."

by Anonymousreply 343January 13, 2023 7:16 PM

It's the fault of the ISU for letting Russia conduct their own investigation. Talk about clueless and corrupt.

by Anonymousreply 344January 13, 2023 7:25 PM

I simply don't understand that. Isn't it obvious that the country would have an obvious conflict of interest when it comes to their athletes. This stuff should be done by a neutral organization (all countries can put funds towards that neutral org.).

by Anonymousreply 345January 13, 2023 7:28 PM

I thought after Rusada finished their investigation it went to the international agency WADA, World Anti Doping Agency, and they would make the final determination about the Olympic medals - this affects the "Team Medal" (she helped Russia win gold before her prior violation was found). So Russia may still get gold, get demoted to bronze-giving the gold to USA; or Russia may be kicked out, giving a bronze to Canada (which wouldn't get any team medal otherwise)

by Anonymousreply 346January 13, 2023 7:32 PM

Way to destroy the sport, ISU!! Good job!!

by Anonymousreply 347January 13, 2023 7:34 PM

R346 WADA will have to appeal the decision that RUSADA has made... such a mess. (Remember that CAS cleared Valieva to skate? WADA doesn't have final arbitration.)

by Anonymousreply 348January 13, 2023 7:35 PM

Oh I thought the case automatically went to WADA for the final determination.

Wil the team medals ever be decided? They ended 1 Russia, 2 USA, 3 Japan, 4 Canada.

Even without Valieva's points, Russia had more points than Canada.

by Anonymousreply 349January 13, 2023 7:42 PM

Well, congratulations to Alexandra Trusova at least:

"According to the results of the RUSADA investigation, the results of Kamila Valieva at the Russian Nationals-2022 have been cancelled. Gold goes to Alexandra Trusova."

by Anonymousreply 350January 13, 2023 7:51 PM

R349 If one person is disqualified due to anti-doping violations the entire team is disqualified. You see that with Olympic relay events: it will be the same with figure skating.

by Anonymousreply 351January 13, 2023 8:01 PM

I'm thrilled for Trusova. 5 quad FS by a female!! I don't know if she did it there but she did at the Japan Open (Nathan Chen was there and posted a photo of her on his Instagram and said "Mind BLOWN !!!!"

At least she'll have that National Championship.

by Anonymousreply 352January 13, 2023 9:03 PM

Oh and when Yuzuru Hanyu skated by at the gala after the Beijing Olympics, he held up his hand with 5 fingers spread out -- he noticed !! The judges would have given the gold to any man who did that, but... well, politics and all that.

by Anonymousreply 353January 13, 2023 9:04 PM

*when Yuzuru Hanyu skated by HER at the gala... She saw it and held up 1 finger (I guess meaning she should have been number 1)

by Anonymousreply 354January 13, 2023 9:05 PM

the thing is though is that we all know that all of Eteri's skaters were doped up. Valieva just seems to have got unlucky.

by Anonymousreply 355January 13, 2023 9:07 PM

R355, it's incredibly implausible that all of her skaters were not doped. Supposedly girls respond much better to the drugs, plus there's much more competition with the girls, so they would be all be particularly vulnerable and compliant.

by Anonymousreply 356January 14, 2023 1:09 AM

My boo, Lukas Britschgi, pulled out all the stops to snatch a bronze at the Europeans.

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by Anonymousreply 357January 27, 2023 10:43 PM

Are there any American skaters worth caring about?

by Anonymousreply 358January 28, 2023 3:11 PM

Short program US nationals.

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by Anonymousreply 359January 28, 2023 9:19 PM

Jason Brown is still going.

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by Anonymousreply 360January 28, 2023 9:19 PM

I was at US Nationals and 2 or 3 of those pair boys are chubbos! WTF? Either that or they were wearing back braces, but their partners weren't big enough for them to need help.

by Anonymousreply 361January 29, 2023 11:34 PM

Yeah, there was that fat ginger, I think.

Then there was the one with the bad back, or were they the same person 😝

by Anonymousreply 362January 29, 2023 11:52 PM

The Junior men were so good. They ought to encourage some of them to get into pairs.

by Anonymousreply 363January 30, 2023 12:04 AM

High profile Canadian skating coach Richard Gauthier found guilty of sex assault, gross indecency

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by Anonymousreply 364January 30, 2023 8:27 AM

25 year-old, Dmytro Sharpar, silver Ukrainian nationals medalist (2015/16), two-time Ukrainian junior nationals medalist (2014 – 2015) and Youth Olympic participant has died in combat fighting near Bakhmut.

by Anonymousreply 365January 30, 2023 10:31 AM

R365 meanwhile 'Moscow Dan' Grassl quad toe-loops over Dmytro's dead body to 'further his career'.

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by Anonymousreply 366January 30, 2023 10:52 AM

[quote]“I think the coach has nothing to do with it.”

Technically it's going to be the doctor who gives them the drugs isn't it? But I am pretty sure that Eteri knows all about it.

It will be interesting to see whether the Russians will be able to compete in the next Olympics. The IOC seems to be saying that they can as 'neutral' athletes again (so much for that when everyone knows it's the Russian team) but there's a campaign led by Ukraine to prevent that.

by Anonymousreply 367January 30, 2023 11:51 AM

BUT WHAT ABOUT MEEEEEEE!

I didn't tell that fat fuck to cap that skinny bitch in the knee. I demand respect!

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by Anonymousreply 368January 30, 2023 12:01 PM

One of my favorite lesser known facts about the Tonya Harding case is that her mother really did wear a wire to try to entrap her.

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by Anonymousreply 369January 30, 2023 12:33 PM

R361, love fit fat guys, especially ones with a football build.

by Anonymousreply 370January 30, 2023 12:57 PM

It is so refreshing to see men's singles skaters not all decked out in sequins like drag queens on ice. Thanks to Nathan Chen for that.

by Anonymousreply 371January 30, 2023 1:42 PM

My favorite of all time was Evan Lysacek. That man used to cause a stirring in my nether regions.

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by Anonymousreply 372January 30, 2023 6:40 PM

R372= Vera Wang

by Anonymousreply 373January 30, 2023 10:01 PM

Fit/fat works OK in many situations. Don't think it looks good in pairs skating. Sorry.

by Anonymousreply 374January 31, 2023 3:13 PM

This Finnish ice dancer is the very definition of Big Dick Face. Lucky partner. Skip to the kiss and cry part at the end for close up of him and his hot bearded coach.

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by Anonymousreply 375February 3, 2023 4:46 PM

Speaking of hot skater/coach in the kiss and cry, I'm very partial to Saulius and Adrian Diaz!

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by Anonymousreply 376February 3, 2023 5:44 PM

Adrian Diaz is engaged to the butch Madison Hubbell.

by Anonymousreply 377February 3, 2023 8:53 PM

R377, since 2018
now they are both coaching together. But as a skater/coach dynamic, the skaters and the coaches are close in age, which is interesting. Saulius was born in 1992, Díaz in 1990.

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by Anonymousreply 378February 4, 2023 12:29 PM

Saulius has great skin - he's 30 but could easily pass for early 20s

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by Anonymousreply 379February 4, 2023 3:28 PM

Saulius reminds me of Chord Overstreet.

by Anonymousreply 380February 4, 2023 3:50 PM

Is Roman Kostomarov still with us?

by Anonymousreply 381February 10, 2023 5:53 AM

R381 Both feet amputated, still in critical condition.

by Anonymousreply 382February 10, 2023 6:01 AM

Cute-as-a-button Ukrainian Pairs skater, Ivan Kotba, picks up a bronze at Junior Worlds, with partner, Violetta Sierova.

Suck it, cheating banned Russians!

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by Anonymousreply 383March 3, 2023 11:30 AM

So the 2923 World Champs start tomorrow. Who are people rooting for? I'm hoping Piper & Paul finally manage to get it over the line in the Ice Dance, Kaori or Loena in the Women's, Shoma or Adam in the Men's, and the Japanese pair in Pairs.

by Anonymousreply 384March 21, 2023 1:21 PM

[quote]So the 2923 World Champs start tomorrow.

It's been over 900 years. Have the Olympic medals for team skating been awarded yet?

by Anonymousreply 385March 21, 2023 2:04 PM

Hoping Chock and Bates finally get the gold!

by Anonymousreply 386March 21, 2023 11:50 PM

Kaori absolutely slayed in that short programme. Her jumps are SO satisfying.

Great competition so far - so many women delivered season's bests.

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by Anonymousreply 387March 22, 2023 12:23 PM

What channel, R384?

by Anonymousreply 388March 23, 2023 2:15 AM

R388, it’s streaming on Peacock (right now, in fact), and it starts on USA at 6:00 am (Eastern Standard).

by Anonymousreply 389March 23, 2023 2:32 AM

Oh, thanks, R389.

🙂

by Anonymousreply 390March 23, 2023 2:36 AM

Canadian Pairs hunk, Trentt Michaud about to go in the Pairs Final.

So handsome I could even forgive him the ridiculous second 't'

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by Anonymousreply 391March 23, 2023 4:35 AM

The second 'n'!

*self-facepalm*

by Anonymousreply 392March 23, 2023 4:36 AM

Pairs has the huskies guys.

by Anonymousreply 393March 23, 2023 5:14 AM

I meant hunkiest

by Anonymousreply 394March 23, 2023 5:43 AM

Kevin Aymoz finally gets some love from the judges and is 5th after the Short programme.

Shoma leads from Illia, Junwa, and Keegan. Top 5 could all realistically medal.

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by Anonymousreply 395March 23, 2023 12:06 PM

Junwa was sublime and should be above Malinin. Shoma was excellent by overmarked a bit.

by Anonymousreply 396March 23, 2023 12:43 PM

Cha Jun- Hwan performing a dance routine with Park Sunghoon, former figure skater, and now a member of the group Enhypen. They are performing to BTS's " Black Swan."

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by Anonymousreply 397April 4, 2023 3:39 PM

Jun-Hwan and Sunghoon's paths to stardom took different roads.

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by Anonymousreply 398April 5, 2023 1:50 PM

Cha on " King of Masked Singer."

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by Anonymousreply 399June 22, 2023 2:59 PM
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