Worlds: Ladies FS | Page 7 | Golden Skate

Worlds: Ladies FS

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
None of the programs were great, which is usual these days, but still sad to see. The artistry is so lacking.

Zagitova's program is one of the most mechanical interpretations of Carmen ever from a top lady. I don't think a single choreographic passage was ever fully extended or given serious treatment in creating a striking picture or conveying a real story/character/emotion on the ice. Her basic posture and stroking never has a clean line (her basic skating skill not the best either), she's continually hunched, although she certainly does a lot of movement. She deserved this win by virtue of the jumps, but even those are overrated here. Her 3Lutz+3Loop combo was lacking rotation on both of the jumps and didn't have the pop off the ice she used to get, plus a pulled landing edge. Her other jumps were all rather small too, except for the 3Lutz+3Toe, which was "okay". Her GOE's should have been much lower: +3 for the 3Toe combo, 0 for the 3Loop combo, and no higher than +2 for every other jump element.

Turysnbaeva skated nicely and the Quad attempt was solid. Still 1/4 turn short, there's yet to be any lady who has ever done a "full" quad, but she actually got off the ice quite well on it, so I'm fine with considering this the first quad by a senior lady. Overall she has nice energy and basic skating, but her program lacks the amount of transitions others do, while at the same time feeling a little rushed and incomplete, because she's stick stuck in the overall mode of current figure skating - which means a lack of longer edges, pleasing positions, meaningful choreography, and great musical interpretation.

Medvedeva gave a very determined and spray-tanned performance, but I do not think she deserved to be on the podium. It was a mature performance, no excessive flailing around from her, but lacked anything particularly special. I like that she upgraded to the +3Loop combo this season, but it's not great quality, and why is she still doing a +2Toe+2Toe combo? Her continued axel problem is what really knocks her off the podium for me though (she also still has a Lutz edge issue that has yet again been ignored). Also in the SP, her 3Flip+3Toe should have been called underrotated. So while she visibly skated cleaner than Kihira, it's not the same level of skill.

Kihara did not skate her best, but it needs to be considered how she was attempting the highest level of content. Her only actual mistakes were on 3Axel, a jump nobody else was doing, and she still landed one in the competition! With the current state of figure skating, I think she generally shows more meaningful movement than the other girls too. The overall picture is hurt because of the mistake (and she never hit that ending pose perfectly all season), but her choreography is slightly more pleasing.

Sakamota was pleasant as always and shows an improvement in her line, along with generally higher quality jumps than the others, but you can't pop a triple into a single when the competition is this strong.

Miyahara had the best program but the weakest jumps. Life is unfair.

Tennell did a good job and has improved in her performing, but there's still an aspect of gangliness to her skating that need to be worked on.

Samodurova was solid and has some personality to her skating, but she should sell it even more, and needs to improve her basic skating to be on the same level as the others.

Mariah Bell has one of my favorite Long Programs this season, but she seemed a bit tentative here, despite it being her cleanest skate of the season. I also dislike the foot stomp at the end of the program, detracting from the character of music. This problem plagues modern skating in general; people don't even try to stay in character at the end anymore. It's indicative of how much less people are caring about the choreography and performance as a whole, instead treating the individual elements and transitions as if they are everything.

Eunsoo Lim is a skater with so much talent, I wish she was getting better artistic direction. I think she has range to do many styles and create truly beautiful performances, but unfortunately nobody is putting their full attention into that anymore in skating.
 

evasorange

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 22, 2015
Frantic and slow do not go together. Alina was way ahead in the field.

That’s why it’s so frustrating to watch Alina! Frantic and slow indeed do not go together, but somehow that’s how it comes across. So much constant movements and I find this season a lot of times her entrances to the jumps are noticeably slow. I don’t remember seeing that from her last season. We will have to agree to disagree that she was way ahead of the field, the only advantage she has over the other skaters here is the judges refusal to score her based on what she actually does.
 

sk8ath

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
That’s why it’s so frustrating to watch Alina! Frantic and slow indeed do not go together, but somehow that’s how it comes across. So much constant movements and I find this season a lot of times her entrances to the jumps are noticeably slow. I don’t remember seeing that from her last season. We will have to agree to disagree that she was way ahead of the field, the only advantage she has over the other skaters here is the judges refusal to score her based on what she actually does.
They have so many transitions yet they are often so "incomplete" and affect the flow of skaters on the ice.
The transition score on PCS should not be only based on the quantity and also the quality.
 

Manitou

Medalist
Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Watched first on Eurosport, then on Xfinity, then again on Eurosport. Absolutely satisfied with the results. I was wishing for Alina/Zhenya top 2 in whatever order, but I was also almost sure Alina would bomb her FS. But no, my wishes were granted. Almost 100%.
I was hoping for a higher placement for Sofia, but she was very tense and not really herself. Too bad, because probably she will have to go to the second row next season. Very likely it was her last performance on this kind of stage.
 

Lunalovesskating

Moonbear power 🐻
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Medvedeva gave a very determined and spray-tanned performance, but I do not think she deserved to be on the podium. It was a mature performance, no excessive flailing around from her, but lacked anything particularly special. I like that she upgraded to the +3Loop combo this season, but it's not great quality, and why is she still doing a +2Toe+2Toe combo? Her continued axel problem is what really knocks her off the podium for me though (she also still has a Lutz edge issue that has yet again been ignored). Also in the SP, her 3Flip+3Toe should have been called underrotated. So while she visibly skated cleaner than Kihira, it's not the same level of skill.

It was called underrotated by the judges though??!?!!?
 

Blades of Passion

Skating is Art, if you let it be
Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Country
France
That’s why it’s so frustrating to watch Alina! Frantic and slow indeed do not go together, but somehow that’s how it comes across. So much constant movements and I find this season a lot of times her entrances to the jumps are noticeably slow. I don’t remember seeing that from her last season. We will have to agree to disagree that she was way ahead of the field, the only advantage she has over the other skaters here is the judges refusal to score her based on what she actually does.

Quite accurate. The only advantage Alina has, assuming everyone skates well, is the 3Loop combo. There's nothing better about the rest of her skating overall, she's actually at a technical deficit compared to people with a 3Axel or Quad and overall decent technique/performance, but she did skate cleanly when nobody else did.

Rika as good as she is was not a factor. Alina even after disappointments in Russian Nationals and Europeans ended up having the best season of all the ladies. That is not debatable.

How can you make such a wrong statement and then say it's not debatable, LOL. Rika outskated Alina the entire season until Worlds and Rika at her best is better than Alina. 1 competition does not equal a season. It's great to peak at Worlds, but Alina did not have a better season.

As I spoke about before, the only thing Rika actually did wrong was the 3Axel -- an element that Alina is not capable of doing. Rika falling on her (second!) 3Axel doesn't actually put her at an overall technical deficit. The scores should have been close between the two of them in the LP, personally I would put Rika slightly ahead. Rika's mistake in the SP is what really cost her.

Medvedeva's SP 3Flip+3Toe was called underrotated by the judges though??!?!!?

I didn't look at her sheet there, was just giving my own assessment, so I'm pleasantly surprised the tech panel got it right. Her PCS were too high however and the Lutz wasn't called as !, which going by the judge's own scores (although I don't care about them...), would have made the difference in her getting a medal.
 

sx98423

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
i thought this was probs one of the most exciting competitions we've had in a while, including the olympics :drama: so many high quality skaters could've made the podium and in the end it was the ones with the strongest nerves.

alina looked fast and smooth so idk where these frantic and slow comments are coming from. at the beginning of the season she definitely looked slow and labored but now she's speeding across the ice and everything looks so effortless. i honestly didn't think i'd be able to use effortless to describe her skating this season since it really looked like she was struggling at one point but she managed to get it done. obviously people can have different opinions but i agree with the besp guys that we've never seen a carmen done like this (obviously in a good way lol). the only part that took me out of the performance a bit was her landing on the loop, but for the first time this season i was completely taken in by her programs. and i think the audience felt the same way judging by the huge response she got.

zhenya also did great i loved her reaction at the end of her fs, she looks so mature now i can't believe we got all that growth in less than a year.

and of course lilbet also majorly upgraded, didn't she say she's only been practicing the quad for a couple of months? it's amazing how she turned her career around so quickly

overall it was a great competition, there were so many good comeback stories. im sad about the japanese ladies :( but at least they got a couple small medals and im looking forward to some redemption for them next year
 

esteticlove

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
I didn't look at her sheet there, was just giving my own assessment, so I'm pleasantly surprised the tech panel got it right. Her PCS were too high however and the Lutz wasn't called as !, which going by the judge's own scores (although I don't care about them...), would have made the difference in her getting a medal.

You obviously don't have a problem with Mariah Bell's uncalled UR though.
 

Aino

Rinkside
Joined
Oct 29, 2016
I think Rika should have gotten a medal. She is quite perfect to me. She has strong and clean jumps. Her skating is very mature for her age. The LP is an art piece. She loses in the thing that others don't get called for their technical errors. For example, was Alina's 3 lutz 3 loop underrotated? To me it looked like that. And Evgenia has the wrong lutz edge. And for example Daleman seemed to have a couple of underrotations which were not called. Isn't this evaluation of the technic a basic thing?
 

Scott512

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2014
Quite accurate. The only advantage Alina has, assuming everyone skates well, is the 3Loop combo. There's nothing better about the rest of her skating overall, she's actually at a technical deficit compared to people with a 3Axel or Quad and overall decent technique/performance, but she did skate cleanly when nobody else did.



How can you make such a wrong statement and then say it's not debatable, LOL. Rika outskated Alina the entire season until Worlds and Rika at her best is better than Alina. 1 competition does not equal a season. It's great to peak at Worlds, but Alina did not have a better season.

As I spoke about before, the only thing Rika actually did wrong was the 3Axel -- an element that Alina is not capable of doing. Rika falling on her (second!) 3Axel doesn't actually put her at an overall technical deficit. The scores should have been close between the two of them in the LP, personally I would put Rika slightly ahead. Rika's mistake in the SP is what really cost her.



I didn't look at her sheet there, was just giving my own assessment, so I'm pleasantly surprised the tech panel got it right. Her PCS were too high however and the Lutz wasn't called as !, which going by the judge's own scores (although I don't care about them...), would have made the difference in her getting a medal.
Do you think it bothered Rika Kihira and her Japanese teammates how much the Japan crowd their home crowd was rooting for a Russian in Alina?

Please Blades don't take what I write personally.

Would you rather be first at Worlds and second at JPG final or 4th at World's and first atbjpg final? I knowbyour answer and Alinas answer and Rika's answer to this question. And Alina first at Worlds and fourth at JPG final and Rika fourth at worlds and first at jpg final was the decider or tiebreaker for the season. That matters most this season not the JPG final where Alina rolled her ankle on a cable wire before the free skate and had a hematoma on it the size of it a hot dog and yet still performed capably but was not mistake free.

You have every right to prefer Rika and her very high content and that is to be admired. But that does not change the facts that I am posting in this post.

Speaking of mistake free and clean. Zagitovas first two years as a senior have proven that when she skates clean she wins. No one has beaten her when she skates clean. That's just a matter of fact. I'm sure that will change in the future with the quad crew coming and more skaters doing triple axel.

By the way the great Katarina Witt enjoyed Alinas Carmen made that known publicly yesterday. :)
 

moriel

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
Can you prove that there are hordes of Russian fans who did that? Cause that's your implication. It's not a secret that the most hateful you are the louder you seem. I don't think russians here tried to belittle Kazahstan or Elizabet. They were saying it more tongue-in-cheek. It's not so nice how you all jumped on them like that.

Russians here were supporting LilBet in hordes as one of their own.
But of course sore people are upset that some of us dont support Medvedeva and support LilBet appearently, and come up with all sorts of random lies to explain it.
 

moriel

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 18, 2015
I think Rika should have gotten a medal. She is quite perfect to me. She has strong and clean jumps. Her skating is very mature for her age. The LP is an art piece. She loses in the thing that others don't get called for their technical errors. For example, was Alina's 3 lutz 3 loop underrotated? To me it looked like that. And Evgenia has the wrong lutz edge. And for example Daleman seemed to have a couple of underrotations which were not called. Isn't this evaluation of the technic a basic thing?

Zhenya got a +2 on that Lz, which was, for the benefit of skater, unclear (see slowmo, if doubts).
But then the calls were overall extremely lenient - most if not skaters had uncalled URs and edges. For instance, with a strict pannel, Medvedeva would have gotten a ! call, but then also Rika's fallen 3A could have gotten a < call (not sure, it looked like she fell because she was a bit short). So it would end up same order, but with lower scores.

Honestly, i think Zhenya and Rika were pretty much tied, so it was a matter of sheer luck. Maybe if Rika was in the last group, she would be ahead of Zhenya, but that is on her, not on the judges.
 

Noxchild

Medalist
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Country
Canada
Why would the Japanese skaters be upset their home audience would cheer for... other skaters? The cheerfulness and inclusive support of a Japanese skating audience is something I'm sure all the skaters there appreciate... and us too, from our home computer screens.
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
ELIZABET! :love: :love: :love: Congratulations to all!

I'm so, so, so happy for Alina and Evgenia. With Alina's posture problems and Evgenia's coaching change, I thought they might never get back to where they were at Pyeongchang.

So glad Alina finally got her world title. I've been a casual figure skating fan my entire life and only turned serious after Pyeongchang, in part due to Alina and how enchanting she was there. I fully expected her to win Worlds and was so shocked when she didn't. Then I was pretty scared this season because of her posture problems. But after the free, I was just jumping around shouting, "ALINA'S BACK!" I was worried for a while, but never lost hope that she'd return to top form.

...and she's not even my favorite! Elizabet Tursynbaeva is! And I really hope that she can surpass Alina next season, but seriously, I'm a fan of good skating and of good skaters living up to their full potential first and foremost. If Alina hadn't gotten her world title, it would have stuck in my craw forever.

And Zhenya! I had the same reaction as Alina. "SHE'S BACK, SHE'S BACK!" :biggrin: Hopefully she'll only improve more.

Now as for Elizabet... how to write anything coherent...? :laugh: I knew she'd land that 4S. I just knew it. Soooo glad I was right. From the moment I laid eyes on her at Pyeongchang, I just knew she was something special. Everyone says she's improved so much, but I honestly don't see where she's improved much more than any skater does with experience. She was always great, but few people saw it. I'm glad more are now. ELIZABET FOR GOLD 2020! :love:

Ugh, the ladies field is just so fantastic, I wish they could give gold to the top three, silver to the next three, and bronze to the next three... All the Japanese ladies plus Eunsoo and Mariah were stunning as well. That Eunsoo and Mariah performed so beautifully despite all the drama is all the more impressive, and I really hope that whole situation turns out to be nothing more than an unfortunate accident plus a bunch of rumors that ran wild.
 

readernick

Medalist
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
Do you think it bothered Rika Kihira and her Japanese teammates how much the Japan crowd their home crowd was rooting for a Russian in Alina?

The Japanese fans are respectful of everyone. They would never shout their own countries name repeatedly while skaters from other countries are on the ice. ( unlike in certain countries). They cheer for everyone. That doesn’t mean they didn’t want Rika to win or appreciate her overall superior quality of skating. Even former Russian skaters, have admitted that Rika has better SS and jump quality than Alina. I am happy for Alina because she had a really hard season and this win is good for her. She is a true fighter. But, her SS, posture, and the overall quality of the program are not at the level of the Japanese ladies. Her jumps and step sequences aren’t as good as Rika or Kaori. ( she is a beautiful! spinner though) She was, however, the deserved winner here because she delivered when others didn’t. People are just pointing out that the program is bad and her PCS/ GOEs were inflated.

Even with those inflated GOEs for Alina a clean Rika would have scored 160 in the free and 84/85 in the short thus beating Alina. She will beat Alina if she is clean in the future.
 

Erin9

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 24, 2018
After all Evgenia’s been through in the last year, it’s lovely to see her on the podium. And it must be a huge confidence boost for her.
 

NoviceFan

Triple Something-Triple Looping
Medalist
Joined
Sep 21, 2018
.... (she also still has a Lutz edge issue that has yet again been ignored). Also in the SP, her 3Flip+3Toe should have been called underrotated. So while she visibly skated cleaner than Kihira, it's not the same level of skill.

To be fair, at this point, if you want to criticize Evgenia’s 3Lutz and how it didn’t receive an edge call, then you have to also the criticize all the 3Lutzes jumped in the SP and FP that didn’t receive an edge call - particularly the last two group of ladies. If Evgenia’s 3Lutz received an edge call, then she would have had the sole honor of having a strict tech panel, having 2 UR calls and an edge call, when the rest of the ladies basically got away with a lot.
 

readernick

Medalist
Joined
Dec 5, 2015
To be fair, at this point, if you want to criticize Evgenia’s 3Lutz and how it didn’t receive an edge call, then you have to also the criticize all the 3Lutzes jumped in the SP and FP that didn’t receive an edge call - particularly the last two group of ladies. If Evgenia’s 3Lutz received an edge call, then she would have had the sole honor of having a strict tech panel, having 2 UR calls and an edge call, when the rest of the ladies basically got away with a lot.

True, the other two ladies on the podium also benefited from the lenient tech panel neither has a true lutz and some of Alina’s jumps were UR but not called 3F and 3lz3lo. Kaori, Satoko, Mariah Bell, and Eunsoo also benefited but the one skater who does not need a lenient panel is Rika. She has almost perfect technique on all jumps. ( like Liza T. and Carolina) She is the one skater whose scores could have stayed the same with a tougher panel. She ended up in fourth by less than a half a point and silver was one point away. The lenient technical panel hurt her.
 
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