Worlds: Men's FS

[ladyjane]

Wow, wow, wow! After all the terrible men's events through the years (and I'm not talking about the top guys because, hey, Yuzu and Javier)), finally a great, fantastic event with un unbelievable climax. I enjoyed many skates today, Brezina despite a big mistake perfectly mirroring the heavy metal music (never thought to experience a skate on that kind of music and even enjoying it), Kolyada finally skating as he can, Rizzo regrettably having a fall while his 4T had been picture perfect at the EC and the Universiade but still a good skate to watch, Amoz as is the custom this season moving me to bits with his wonderful moves and his emotional interpretation, Zhou showing a fantastic future (and not too bad today at all, I don't care so many people think him bland. I think he's improved immensely, both on the URs and on the PCS), Jin finally delivering this season (although I think this Spanish programme is not his thing), Samarin showing that terrible SP really was a mistake, and then finally the climax. First off, I got all teary when I watched Yuzu skate. And a 4L!!!!! Yes, my favourite jump, and he did it again. And that wonderful 4T-3A sequence. Oh, he wasn't perfect, but it was lovely and very moving to watch. What a warrior! And, then up comes Nathan and improves on that (with no loop at all though, regrettably). Can you believe it, most of it looked effortless. What a wonderful, wonderful back to back watch. Alas, there were also regrets. I've never seen Uno do so bad, as if he was really very tired. Sad for him. And Brown...he tried, he really did. I admire him, and I love his skating. He's still got that small medal to be proud of though. And that quad is coming into being. I know he fell (and had some more problems) again today, but I'm sure it will come. All-in-all just great skating (and jumping). Exciting!

 

[KwanIsALegend]

In my mind I don't see it as Nathan beat Yuzuru. They are both on another level and both are just amazing.
I think the respect and sportsmanship they both show for each other is wonderful. Yuzuru has had his injuries and I hope to see him recuperate and come back strong next season.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Vincent Zhou! Go, man, go!

Vincent had a starry, starry night.

I am not afraid to be the lone appreciative voice crying in the wilderness. OK, maybe his presentation isn't as mature yet as the -- um, more mature skaters. (Duh).

You're not alone there. He was very pleasant to watch. Not the level of power and excitement as Chen or Hanyu but he has a very endearing quality. Even his choreo seq you can see his maturity and blade ability. He has so much potential so it was nice to see this breakthrough for him, especially after last year's disappointment. Hopefully this bronze and the one from 4CC, give him the confidence he needs.

 

[Noxchild]

Yuzuru has been skating 2x Olympic Championships WHILE applying for and attending the elite Waseda University these past years. All credit goes to him. and living and training in Canada.

Come on lol. Do you think someone praising Nathan for balancing school and figure skating is a slight to Yuzuru? Because you're gonna have to go after approximately 5000 comments on GS then...

 

[lizardlass]

I'm very happy with the top three. They all rose to the occasion, and skated beautifully. I love Nathan AND Yuzuru, and it's hard to root for one over the other....but I do like Yuzuru more. I mean, every performance is magic. But I think Nathan's LP this season suits him so well, and I love his attack towards the end. It's really breathtaking, IMO. AAAAND, I love Vincent Zhou. I've mentioned this before on here, but seeing him in person really endeared him to me. I don't understand why some believe he shouldn't have been on the podium. Who SHOULD have gotten third, then?

Super bummed for Jason. I wanted him on the podium SO BAD. I was more invested in that than in who won gold, tbh.

 

[Farnaz]

Come on lol. Do you think someone praising Nathan for balancing school and figure skating is a slight to Yuzuru? Because you're gonna have to go after approximately 5000 comments on GS then...

Of course it is not. Such comments are disrespectful and as a Yuzuru fan I call them out. Nathan and Yuzuru both have been doing a great job joggling between their studies and their skating career :agree: There is no place for comparison here unless you want to check all their grades one by one :sarcasm: which is as stupid as it sounds.

 

[Casual]

I'm happy for Vincent :luv17: (finally, he got some respect from the judges LOL), and heartbroken for Shoma (but he's still one of the GOATs).

Nathan and Yuzu - we are so lucky to see them compete side by side. Both are "once in a generation" miracles.

 

[4everchan]

nathan was just gorgeous to watch! Bravo.

I am sad for Shoma as he couldn't shine at home, which is always special to athletes.. his Moonlight Sonata is my favourite in men programs this year...

Gutted for Canadians who just didn't manage to combo their axel and thus lost a spot ... i usually don't care so much in non-olympic years about spots but worlds are coming to montreal and having just one guy when we have several good guys... it's sad.

 

[SNAKSuyun]

Whoa! While I agree with many of your points, I want to emphasize that there is nothing wrong with being a model Asian kid . I think the spark and flair will come with time/maturity. It can be learned. I don't think many skaters/dancers are just born with it innately.

Of course! I mean Vincent the best, this is more a pet peeve on my part since I am Asian myself and have seen so many other Asian kids think working hard and ticking off the boxes is an end to itself. They are good, admirable people, but I also know too well how it often leads them to (at least appear to) lack personality, which always hurts them in professional settings or when they're trying to get to the next level.

 

[Blades of Passion]

PCS scoring is such an unbelievable joke. Hanyu is less than 1 point ahead of Chen there, it's just worthless. The artistry essentially counts for nothing at all and Hanyu is on a different level with his use of limbs, refinement of positions, intent of movement, and outward expression. Not to mention his basic skating across the ice. The GOE's are not being properly applied either and also the base values themselves are inaccurate, as Hanyu's 4Toe+3Axel sequence should be worth much more points than it currently is.

Hanyu won this Long Program. He went for the same number of Quads as Chen, yes slightly less difficult ones and slightly messing up one of them (the < call was wrong - he was far enough around, it was just too low of a landing), but he had an additional Triple Axel in the program over Chen...which the scoring system did not properly credit. Chen only should have been slightly ahead technically and Hanyu's second mark should have easily exceeded the gap.

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Wow, wow, wow! After all the terrible men's events through the years (and I'm not talking about the top guys because, hey, Yuzu and Javier)), finally a great, fantastic event with un unbelievable climax. I enjoyed many skates today, Brezina despite a big mistake perfectly mirroring the heavy metal music (never thought to experience a skate on that kind of music and even enjoying it), Kolyada finally skating as he can, Rizzo regrettably having a fall while his 4T had been picture perfect at the EC and the Universiade but still a good skate to watch, Amoz as is the custom this season moving me to bits with his wonderful moves and his emotional interpretation, Zhou showing a fantastic future (and not too bad today at all, I don't care so many people think him bland. I think he's improved immensely, both on the URs and on the PCS), Jin finally delivering this season (although I think this Spanish programme is not his thing), Samarin showing that terrible SP really was a mistake, and then finally the climax. First off, I got all teary when I watched Yuzu skate. And a 4L!!!!! Yes, my favourite jump, and he did it again. And that wonderful 4T-3A sequence. Oh, he wasn't perfect, but it was lovely and very moving to watch. What a warrior! And, then up comes Nathan and improves on that (with no loop at all though, regrettably). Can you believe it, most of it looked effortless. What a wonderful, wonderful back to back watch. Alas, there were also regrets. I've never seen Uno do so bad, as if he was really very tired. Sad for him. And Brown...he tried, he really did. I admire him, and I love his skating. He's still got that small medal to be proud of though. And that quad is coming into being. I know he fell (and had some more problems) again today, but I'm sure it will come. All-in-all just great skating (and jumping). Exciting!

Lol I didn't realize that until you pointed it out. Which is interesting since he can do a 4L. Technically he did a Euler which counts as a 1Lo base value!

And interestingly, all the medalists left out a type of jump -- Zhou didn't do any loop. Hanyu didn't do any lutz.

 

[yume]

Well, that was a not so bad event. Some clean skates, not so much bombing. I would have had Boyang Jin higher and Chen 10-15 points ahead of Yuzuru instead of 22, but a not so bad event.

 

[moriel]

In my mind I don't see it as Nathan beat Yuzuru. They are both on another level and both are just amazing.
I think the respect and sportsmanship they both show for each other is wonderful. Yuzuru has had his injuries and I hope to see him recuperate and come back strong next season.

Honestly, the people who say the skater who won silver "Lost" are wrong on so many levels.
Zhenya "lost" Olympics to Alina. Alina "lost" GPF to Kihira. Hanyu "lost" Worlds to Chen. Its still an insane achievement, and all skaters would love to "lose" like that. It is understantable that top skaters may be dissatisfied with results, but seriously mean that skater A lost to skater B, or skater A beat skater B is pretty silly and somewhat diminuishes their achivement of winning a silver medal.

Kinda ideally, we should all be happy about medals our favs win just like Ashley was happy about her bronze.

 

[rikaquegira]

Another disappointing event.

I won't argue placements(although Vincent Z getting bronze was... nevermind), but I believe there needs to be some kind of reform on ISU. First they had Vanessa Gusmeroli basically sleeping throughout the entire Ladies event, and here in the Men's event the calls were not consistent or thorough as they should be. Not to mention, and I think this perhaps is just as an important issue, judges do not differentiate the components and also tend to award higher PCS if you execute more difficult jumps. There's also some pretty eyebrow-raising GOE's going around. The best suggestion on that ISU congress was so quickly dismissed: different panels for PCS and GOE. I think that change could make a huge difference. If we believe that the reason the judges' scores are so "strange" is because they have too much work to do in a blink of an eye and they can't possibly pay attention to every single detail, then different panels would be the solution.

Is this off-topic?

Anyway, congratulations to all the medalists. The Free Skate was a good event, not many falls from the top contenders! There were some beautiful performances, record breaking performances, it was a good night for skating. Of course the judges ruined that joy for me but nonetheless, this event was of very high quality. To me the highlight was Misha and Yuzuru. Also was pleasantly surprised by Nathan's beautiful jumps and how this time he managed to control his nerves and skated two clean programs with so much confidence. Like in the Olympics SP, he skated right after the pooh rain and this was such a contrast. This time he fed on that good energy and gave the crowd another performance for them to rave about. Bravo!

I'm looking forward to the last big competition(and perhaps the most fun) of the season, WTT. I hope we can see Yuzuru one more time this season. It was heartbreaking to watch him in the press conference speaking of himself as if he wasn't the best skater in the world. It's scary how much he criticizes himself. He telling the reporter that he will land the 4A before she dies was hilarious but at the same time it makes me worry how much he will push his body, once again. I'd hope he would rest, perhaps even take a season off. But it sounded like he's too kuyashii and will keep going working hard.

Anyway, this WC was a nightmare, probably the worst event I've ever watched, it is right there at the same shelf as Sochi Olympics. And to think I messed up my sleep for this mess. :disapp:

 

[moriel]

Lol I didn't realize that until you pointed it out. Which is interesting since he can do a 4L. Technically he did a Euler which counts as a 1Lo base value!

And interestingly, all the medalists left out a type of jump -- Zhou didn't do any loop. Hanyu didn't do any lutz.

Actually this somehow reminded me about Trusova explaining why she doesn't do 3 different quads: she said she has no time to properly warm up 3 different ones during a competition warm up. I kind of wonder if leaving out one of the jump types could be also related to something similar to that, -1 jump type to prepare alltogether. of course there are BV optimization strategies, and "weak" jumps, but wonder if preparing for a program in a very limited time could be also a factor

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Of course it is not. Such comments are disrespectful and as a Yuzuru fan I call them out. Nathan and Yuzuru both have been doing a great job joggling between their studies and their skating career :agree: There is no place for comparison here unless you want to check all their grades one by one :sarcasm: which is as stupid as it sounds.

I'm guessing that Noxchild thought Linda's post about Hanyu/Waseda was attempting to "one-up" the post lauding Nathan for balancing skating and Yale. I mean, who's-got-it-harder-due-to-where-and-what-they're-studying is not the contest that's going on between them. The contest between them that matters is the one that just happened.

 

[ladyjane]

Lol I didn't realize that until you pointed it out. Which is interesting since he can do a 4L. Technically he did a Euler which counts as a 1Lo base value!

And interestingly, all the medalists left out a type of jump -- Zhou didn't do any loop. Hanyu didn't do any lutz.

Hahaha...I should have taken account of that Euler...

 

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

Actually this somehow reminded me about Trusova explaining why she doesn't do 3 different quads: she said she has no time to properly warm up 3 different ones during a competition warm up. I kind of wonder if leaving out one of the jump types could be also related to something similar to that, -1 jump type to prepare alltogether. of course there are BV optimization strategies, and "weak" jumps, but wonder if preparing for a program in a very limited time could be also a factor

Really? That makes sense, and I never thought about that. Makes it that much more impressive the skaters like Jin/Hanyu/Chen/Uno who can have programs with 3 or even 4 types of quads in them are able to warm them up.

I think skaters usually avoid a jump because they are uncomfortable with it (e.g. Yu Na avoided a loop for a while because it hurt her hip) or they have a lower success rate with landing it - including a potential technical flaw (e.g. a flutz or lip).

Has Chen ever commented on why he's left out the loop and salchow for a while now? I mean, I'm sure he could still give them a good-go. Maybe he intends to add a new one in each year? I mean, he can win Worlds with "only" 3 types of quads, for now... doesn't make sense to burn out now - save it going into the next Olympics.

 

[shine]

Yuzuru has been skating 2x Olympic Championships WHILE applying for and attending the elite Waseda University these past years. All credit goes to him. and living and training in Canada.

Not that this is related to skating, but some people do believe there is just a small amount of difference between taking a full course load and attending classes in person in a STEM program, and doing part-time distance ed in general arts studies.

 

[oatmella]

Nathan has only done 4 loop a few times in competition. Last time it was seen was at Japan Open last October - I believe some fans reported he landed one in the warm up, but it wasn’t successful in his program.

As for 4S, he had been planning on doing one at Nationals, and possibly here at Worlds as well. But at Nationals, seems he omitted it because he wanted a clean performance. He landed one as recently as morning practice before the FS.

Here at Worlds, Jackie from watching practice, reported that his FS layout would include 5 quads - including 4S and two 4T-3T combos in the second half(!). But guess he wasn’t feeling super comfortable with it here either - and decided to go with the same layout as Nationals. He did say today he wants to bring 4S back though.

At Skate America, where he was doing less quads in his FS, he did include 3lo.

I think it’s best for the long term if he doesn’t go too crazy with the quads (for his standards) right now.