- Joined
- Feb 3, 2011
In this case, there is definitely a halo effect from skating on home ice while injured, whether deliberate or not. I'm not arguing the levels so much, since the judges tended to like the Kry/Car camp of rhumbas better than the Canton rhumbas. That was a definite trend. It's all so close it's hard to judge on the rhumba itself. On the quality of execution of the elements, W/P had more attack, they oozed latin flavour out of every pore of their bodies through every element, they were fast, they had great unison, and their lines and edges were fantastic. There was a time when I'd agree with you that W/P skating skills (especially W) were not good enough for the top. Not today in the SD. They were fully on their game. I'm going to watch this again, but I think W/P were maybe even better than D/W today. It was that good. P/B were slower, more careful, did not have a good latin interpretation, and generally did not have the full body movement that W/P had. W/P skated lights out. So when W/P are behind I/K in PCS (ridiculous), and P/B are almost the same score as D/W who were only 1.3ish points away from V/M, yes, my eyebrows are raised. Not many skaters had a personal best today. The judging was much harder than in Quebec, but they still came out with a personal best, even though their skate was not as good as Quebec. It was out of line with how the rest of the competition was judged, which I thought was mostly fair, if a little harsh.
Then I think I might have misinterpreted you a bit. Don't get me wrong, W/P certainly have the SS to be at the top, but P/B are still better. There are areas were I think W/P are better, and there are areas where I think P/B were better. I just don't see any suspicious judging, that's all.