2014 Worlds - Men Free Program

[Panpie]

Also, it is not always easy to get the audience involved, and I love it when skaters can do so.

 

[bartlebooth]

So, I had to babysit my niece today, so no GS for me, I watched on TV instead.
Amazing competition, the only thing that killed my mood was inane RAI commentary: like listening to Pollyanna on acid. Luckily, my niece enjoyed FS, and made me smile with her spot-on commentary such as:
“Oh, no, he fell again! I can do that, too!” “He's sticking out his butt like I do on roller-skates”
On Ivan Righini: “He looks like the Phantom Blot!” “Oh, they are all dressed up” “This music is a bore”
Final flight: “I'm rooting for the Japanese guys , I like them!” and after Machida and Hanyu skated: “I told you they were a sure bet!”

Random thoughts:
Wow, so Hanyu was injured and still managed to skate like that? He's so gutsy and dedicated. Machida was great, he really gave it all too. Fernandez always lets a random pop slip in, but boy he delivered - 3 quads is the standard for him.

Happy for Abbott – he deserved a skate like this, sad for Verner – I wasn't expecting a perfect skate, but I hoped for something better.

Kudos to Kovtun for bringing 2 spots back after all that drama, and I'm beyond thrilled for Besseghier! T'es trop cool, mec!

So many enjoyable skates, and IMO a day off between SP and FS is needed in order to avoid splatfests.

 

[Blades of Passion]

So many enjoyable skates, and IMO a day off between SP and FS is needed in order to avoid splatfests.

The Olympic schedule really was stupid. There are 15 days inbetween opening and closing ceremony and all of the figure skating events could have been slotted perfectly in that time:

Day 1: Pairs and Mens Team SP
Day 2: Dance and Ladies Team SP
Day 3: Pairs and Mens Team LP
Day 4: Dance and Ladies Team LP
Day 5: no competition
Day 6: no competition
Day 7: Pairs SP
Day 8: Mens SP
Day 9: Pairs LP
Day 10: Mens LP
Day 11: Dance SP
Day 12: Ladies SP
Day 13: Dance LP
Day 14: Ladies LP
Day 15: Exhibition Gala

 

[usethis2]

First time watching Nam Nguyen (how do you speak his last name?) and lots of things come to mind.

- His skating is smooth like Patric: Keep the Canadian tradition going!
- Definitely see the "touch" of David Wilson in choreo.
- His jumps are like Yulia's..

He is only 15 and obviously there is a huge potential. His body has not even hit the puberty yet, it seems. Once testosterone starts flowing he will become bigger and skate bigger, I hope.

The Korean kid has an interesting Jumping technique. I know that you are supposed to bend the landing knee to absorb the shock, but his bending looks a bit extreme? Slo-mo showed his landing edges and those were some of the deepest edges I've ever seen. Very promising kid and he looks kinda cute, too.

Yuzuru is the undisputable winner. (well, assuming everyone else did their things) Glad to see him finally getting that monkey (4S) off the back, even with not-so-pretty one. I hope he eats well and do something to grow stamina. Not that he isn't able to perform now, but I get nervous that he will one day crash and burn. The dude needs to eat a bit more!

Oh, Jeremy. Finally a decent performance that he can be proud of (in Worlds). I doubted that he and Max could earn 3 spots for the next year's WC, but I am only happy to be proved wrong. Magic number 13 together!

I haven't got to watch the rest yet. I guess Peter Liebers melted down?

 

[usethis2]

The Olympic schedule really was stupid.

Totally agree on that. Team schedule + no day off between SP and FS = splats galore

 

[chloepoco]

When Yuzuru was waiting for his scores, it looked like he asked the audience to keep the noise/clapping down, as he pointed towards the ice--was that so as not to distract Javier? Or am I imagining things? I'll have to go back and re-watch that part again, but that was the impression I got.

 

[WeakAnkles]

:thumbsup:

Seriously, what is people's problem? Last year we had a skater who fell twice, had a major step out on another jump and popped a fourth jump who still won because of a lead in the short program.

This year we have a skater who manage to not fall AT ALL, save for a few close landings and now we're complaining he wasn't clean enough.

I'm going to stand up for him because I remember seeing him in 2012 in the FS where he was an ABSOLUTE mess -- fell three times and completely botched his step sequence and spin. It was obviously that back then he couldn't handle the challenging programs but yet Orser was willing to work with him to increase his stamina and look at him now--he stood up for the entire program DESPITE INJURY.

Geez people. Yuzuru should be getting praise for his effort not disdain. He doesn't deserve this vitriol.

I'm not by any means a fan of Yuzuru's skating, but I greatly greatly admire him. If you think about it, he's turning into the new Plushenko. He keeps going and going and going. Kid has asthma. I have friends with asthma who get winded walking up a flight of stairs. And he's out there doing 4.5 minutes of the most strenuous physical exercise you can imagine. He's the ONLY Olympic champion who skated here. I give him major props.

 

[cheerio2]

When Yuzuru was waiting for his scores, it looked like he asked the audience to keep the noise/clapping down, as he pointed towards the ice--was that so as not to distract Javier? Or am I imagining things? I'll have to go back and re-watch that part again, but that was the impression I got.

Nope. I also noticed that. That was very considerate of him!

I really hope Yuzuru won't become the new Plushenko in the sense of becoming so injured. Yuzuru seems like the type to push himself to extremes. Hopefully he can pace himself, because I want to see him and all the other skaters be healthy and get better and better over the next quad.

 

[moviechick]

How are people complaining still. Yuzuru just did 2 quads + 8 triples (including 2 3As). Sure, a lot of those jumps were not the best aesthetically but that's a pretty amazing skate. Even Chan's record setting lifetime best at TEB was a 7 triple/2 quad skate. Yuzuru certainly has the competitive spirit, he hung on to those jumps like his life depended on it.

Seriously, when was the last time a dude even skated a clean program with 2 quads/8 triples??

 

[Krunchii]

First time watching Nam Nguyen (how do you speak his last name?) and lots of things come to mind.

- His skating is smooth like Patric: Keep the Canadian tradition going!
- Definitely see the "touch" of David Wilson in choreo.
- His jumps are like Yulia..

He is only 15 and obviously there is a huge potential. His body has not even hit the puberty yet, it seems. Once testosterone starts flowing he will become bigger and skate bigger, I hope.

The Korean kid has an interesting Jumping technique. I know that you are supposed to bend the landing knee to absorb the shock, but his bending looks a bit extreme? Slo-mo showed his landing edges and those were some of the deepest edges I've ever seen. Very promising kid and he looks kinda cute, too.

Yuzuru is the undisputable winner. (well, assuming everyone else did their things) Glad to see him finally getting that monkey (4S) off the back, even with not-so-pretty one. I hope he eats well and do something to grow stamina. Not that he isn't able to perform now, but I get nervous that he will one day crash and burn. The dude needs to eat a bit more!

Oh, Jeremy. Finally a decent performance that he can be proud of (in Worlds). I doubted that he and Max could earn 3 spots for the next year's WC, but I am only happy to be proved wrong. Magic number 13 together!

I haven't got to watch the rest yet. I guess Peter Liebers melted down?

You pronounce his last name like New-en, I have high hopes for him, looks like one day he could be Canada's top guy

 

[karne]

First time watching Nam Nguyen (how do you speak his last name?) and lots of things come to mind.

- His jumps are like Yulia..

Poor Nam. His jumps weren't that bad!

 

[Blades of Passion]

Seriously, when was the last time a dude even skated a clean program with 2 quads/8 triples??

This is actually the first time ever. Timothy Goebel came close at 2003 Worlds, but he had a hand down on the last Triple.

 

[gmyers]

It was an outstanding worlds of amazingness

 

[moviechick]

This is actually the first time ever. Timothy Goebel came close at 2003 Worlds, but he had a hand down on the last Triple.

Wow, even more impressive then! I remember 2 quads/7 triples used to be the standard back in the day but I figured someone must have done the 2 quad/8 triple program at one point. Do you need to have two different quads or something to pull that off though? Since Goebel also had the 4Sal in addition to the 4T.

 

[kresslia]

SO impressed with Nam. What was he, 12th? And he's just 15 years old. Huge future for that kid.

I actually would have given this title to Machida, despite Yuzuru being my favourite. I'm so happy for Yuzuru that I can't complain though.

 

[dardar1126]

The totally ironic part being that if Max wasn't trying so hard, he probably would have been cleaner. Poor Max. Oh well, hopefully the news of three spots will lift his mood.

Hope he and Jeremy party tonight

And Kovtun's scores are still ridiculous...

I agree about Max Aaron...sometimes he wants it so badly that he actually tries too hard...enters jumps too fast...forces the rotations rather than just letting them flow. But when things aren't going well the hardest thing to do is relax, breathe, and let your body do what it's trained to do...one tends to begin to skate with the brain rather than the body.

I think he needs to go back to the style of choreography he had with TRON and WSS; if he took that style and added his new sense of artistry and presentation/performance he'd have the makings of his own unique style.

 

[jaylee]

I am thrilled for Jeremy. I thought he had the most wonderful program/performance overall. I loved just about everything about it. Technically, no, he didn't have the multiple quads that the medalists did, but I enjoyed his program the most. His reaction afterwards was very moving. I was sad though to see his disappointment in the K&C after the scores were revealed, but I hope he remembers that it's the performance that matters and that what he did won't be forgotten. If that was his last competitive performance, it was a great way to go.

I also really enjoyed Javier's performance. His program is a little smarmy at points but it's entertaining. He kept the energy up, he was committed to the choreography, and it was fun. The quads were great--disappointed about the popped lutz. Bronze medal last year felt awesome, I get the feeling that it's not enough for him this time. I hope that he is really fired up for next year and comes back with better programs.

Sad for Verner's FS, but his SP was fantastic. I hope he's proud of his skating career.

 

[Ziggy]

I feel that Machida was screwed out of a gold medal here.

Hanyu definitely delivered the base value and showed exceptional glide but he got very generous GOEs for some of his lower quality elements (some of the jump landings were poor), he's been allowed to get away with sloppy posture and lines and his choreography was very flat.

Not that Machida's program was a masterpiece either but at least it had some variety and contrast in it and some movements to the highlights.

No doubt it was very close but I think that Machida has overall done enough, especially considering how excellent his SP performance was.

I feel really sad about this because this was probably Machida's only realistic shot at gold and Hanyu has at least one more quad left in him, provided his body allows it and he doesn't lose motivation.

 

[Ziggy]

Verner, no no no... hope to see more of him, maybe in Kiss&Cry beside someone else ?

He completed some kind of finance/business/management degree (can't remember the details) and I don't think he plans to remain involved in skating.

[Abbott] was actually underscored on TES. He didn't deserve the < call on his 3Lutz+3Toe and in general the GOE on his jumps was stingy.

He got more or less exactly the GOE he deserved with the exception of the 4toe where the judges didn't seem to deduct him for the under-rotation.

I guess you could say he was underscored on TES in relative terms given the inflated scores some of the other skaters got.

The 3toe after the lutz was very obviously cheated so I think that call was on point.

 

[kimganos]

:thumbsup:

Seriously, what is people's problem? Last year we had a skater who fell twice, had a major step out on another jump and popped a fourth jump who still won because of a lead in the short program.

This year we have a skater who manage to not fall AT ALL, save for a few close landings and now we're complaining he wasn't clean enough.

I'm going to stand up for him because I remember seeing him in 2012 in the FS where he was an ABSOLUTE mess -- fell three times and completely botched his step sequence and spin. It was obviously that back then he couldn't handle the challenging programs but yet Orser was willing to work with him to increase his stamina and look at him now--he stood up for the entire program DESPITE INJURY.

Geez people. Yuzuru should be getting praise for his effort not disdain. He doesn't deserve this vitriol.

:agree: