2022 Olympics: Men's Short Program

[mskater93]

Oops! I did not know that - I thought the whole TEAM got medals. How embarrassing ...

It's like swimming in a relay. If you take part at all (even prelim heats), you get a medal, otherwise no

 

[Tahuu]

The ice was resurfaced before the 4th skating group. Deniss and Andrei skated prior to Hanyu. He literally had the best ice when he skated. I am not saying Hanyu lied but he seemed using excuse. There’s a pattern he flopped whenever he faced Nathan.

 

[Alchamei]

Not saying he's lying. But it does sound like he's making an excuse. As pointed out, when other skaters have done it, they've been criticised for it too. Excuses are bad because it trivializes the good things that others do as circumstantial/lucky (or unlucky in his case), and isn't taking ownership of one's own mistakes.

He like didn't at all??? He never said others won just because he messed up. Also, it is possible that he just had bad luck and was The only one that hit the hole on the takeoff. Every skater takes off at a different place. Since four group had skated before, The ice wasn't The best even with The resurfacing. Again, he knows he made a mistake, he simply said why. Stop putting words in his mouth.

 

[rollerblade]

- Sihyeong showed us what a Zombo is.

It was a fownbo. Dictionary has been uupdate.

 

[ICeleste]

Is there a link or a website to watch now the Men's short programs with NBC Tara and Johnny's commentary? I heard a lot about their commentary and I want to be able to hear it and assess it myself. I'm not from the USA.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Is there a link or a website to watch the Men's short programs with NBC Tara and Johnny's commentary? I heard a lot about their commentary and I want to be able to hear it and assess it myself. I'm not from the USA.

They've uploaded most of the top men's videos on the NBC YouTube channel (needs US VPN to watch)

 

[mskater93]

I thought skaters when they take the ice (while the previous skater is in the Kiss & Cry) they skate around looking at the ice for debris, etc. Don't they do that anymore? If so, perhaps Hanyu would have spotted if there was a pit or divot in the ice.

^^^^
THIS! I posted this on FB to someone who said it was just bad luck that Yuzu hit the divot and I got blocked for my effort.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

To be clear I haven’t made up my mind about how I feel about all of this. I’m not a die hard fan of anyone I just love skating.

Some of my thoughts right now are -

While using the words “some other skater” was probably a poor look, Hanyu is also not a native English speaker. My interpretation of why he used these words was not so much to make an excuse/place blame on other skaters but to explain to the widespread audience the reason why it is normal in figure skating to have a hole in the ice.

Like if he just said “there was a hole” people would be like “Omg a hole!?? Why is there a hole? What’s wrong with the organizers that there is a hole on the ice at the most prestigious event in all of skating? He should protest his score!!”

So instead he was just explaining why it was normal because people had skated before him and toe jumps cause these holes. There is nothing anyone could do about it. But because English is not his first language his choice of words was not the best.

Perhaps a native speaker might have said something like “There can be holes in the ice caused by toe jumps”. Therefore it would be implied that “some skater” caused the hole but not necessarily “another skater”. It could have even been his own hole from warm ups.

 

[coldblueeyes]

In my very personal opinion, of someone who was too tired to watch the SP last night and just watched the videos, and someone that wasn’t really interested in watching Men, cause I’m not that much anymore, Nathan was extremely superior to Yuma. And you can see that in the first twenty seconds of the program already. Yuma has fantastic speed, he moves really well across the ice, but there was just a lot of crossovers in that program. His PCS were excessive to say the least. His program is also quite empty, and that comes from someone whose favorite skater is Kolyada, the king of skating pretty while doing almost nothing in programs.

Nathan doesn’t really connect to the music, in comparison to Yuma, but his program is very intricate, the variety of body movement is clearly shown from start to end, and although his edges are not the best, most of his step sequence covered a lot of ice and was quite smooth. Yuma had a noticeable misstep, in my opinion, that was kind of overlooked. But you can see that there’s a lot of difference between the two, and Yuma will have years to develop in the future. Can’t understand why his PCS score would be this close to Nathan. Athough, some of the GOE Nathan got was, a bit out there.

I only watched these two programs, so I can only opine on them. In my opinion, I would have put these programs at an ever bigger point difference.

 

[treblemakerem]

he could have some dignity and stop saying that, he was only third in first group AFTER ice resurfacing. What nathan, jason, keegan yuma and other guys had to say? They were all perfect. Ice was very good. It is disrespectful.

From the interview I saw he said he stepped in a hole caused by someone’s toe loop or flip jump. It did not sound like he was complaining about ice quality just that he was understandably upset it happened.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Also, if we can agree that these holes in the ice can and often do bring down jumps, and that if a skater happens to hit a hole upon take off it’s basically over, isn’t it true that there is an element of this that IS luck based? Even if the chance of hitting one of these holes in a vast rink is incredibly slim, there is still a chance.

I don’t think Hanyu is outright lying and I don’t think that he meant to place actual blame on other skaters. My jury is still out on whether he is making an excuse or there is some validity to this.

 

[sworddance21]

Probably some truth to that, too.

In my case, it's the poor coverage. I missed seeing several skaters I enjoy because NBC cut them out to do a Zoom interview with a skiier's mom and then to do a Nathan puff piece. That's inexcusable.

I wasn't able to get my fake Canadian credentials sorted out to watch on CBC, so that's a priority before the long.

Sign up for a free trial of Peacock and you can watch all the skaters. Once the olympics are over, cancel it if you don't want to keep it.

 

[mskater93]

In my very personal opinion, of someone who was too tired to watch the SP last night and just watched the videos, and someone that wasn’t really interested in watching Men, cause I’m not that much anymore, Nathan was extremely superior to Yuma. And you can see that in the first twenty seconds of the program already. Yuma has fantastic speed, he moves really well across the ice, but there was just a lot of crossovers in that program. His PCS were excessive to say the least. His program is also quite empty, and that comes from someone whose favorite skater is Kolyada, the king of skating pretty while doing almost nothing in programs.

Nathan don’t really connect to the music, in comparison to Yuma, but his program is very intricate, the variety of body movement is clearly shown from start to end, and although his edges are not the best, most of his step sequence covered a lot of ice and was quite smooth. Yuma had a noticeable misstep, in my opinion, that was kind of overlooked. But you can see that there’s a lot of difference between the two, and Yuma will have years to develop in the future. Can’t understand why his PCS score would be this close to Nathan. Athough, some of the GOE Nathan got was, a bit out there.

I only watched these two programs, so I can only opine on them. In my opinion, I would have put these programs at an ever bigger point difference.

I think the judges boxed themselves into a corner based on some of the previous scoring before Nathan in terms of excessive GOE and PCS and so had to score Nathan's GOEs on the high side to compensate.

 

[4everchan]

chance is part of sport... hanyu has been on both sides of it.

I think the judges boxed themselves into a corner based on some of the previous scoring before Nathan in terms of excessive GOE and PCS and so had to score Nathan's GOEs on the high side to compensate.

well... if that's correct, the LP will be exciting with lots of new records

 

[Wafflecakes]

I think the judges boxed themselves into a corner based on some of the previous scoring before Nathan in terms of excessive GOE and PCS and so had to score Nathan's GOEs on the high side to compensate.

I tend to agree.

I think the generally inflated scores of the OG (which I am ok with) led them to run out of room at the top before the final skaters so the only way they would create separation was really pushing the boundaries on GoE and PCS.

These same performances at a grand prix would have been at least 5 points lower and I think a LOT more point difference between the top skaters. Not so big that it couldn't be overcome, but still more.

 

[surimi]

I still hear the complaints from many fans when Patrick mentioned the ice in Boston (skating last on melted ice on top of that) , and that was obvious even from watching on TV. There was a gigantic puddle. Patrick was afraid he would hurt himself. Yet, in this case, Yuzu, receives so much sympathy? Double standards anyone?

Finally a factual comment on this topic. And for myself, I would say this: of course a skater's fans will defend him, while the antis will pounce upon their chance to grab their crystal ball and judge his character negatively. The latter is simply wrong and unfounded though, and just because the same slander has happened to other skaters in the past, doesn't make this behavior right. Hanyu is getting a lot of sympathy because his fanbase is huge, that much seems quite obvious to me. I feel sorry for him too, as this was a hard blow for him. And I believe his words about the hole. I was around at the time of Boston WC. I don't know if I believed Chan's words then, but if I didn't, then I was in the wrong, too. I have seen a lot of skating since then, and I've learned not to dismiss skaters' words.

 

[readernick]

Giving out a 10 for skating skills is ridiculous in itself.

Actually, I'm not sure it is. Yuma has absolutely amazing SS. I would question the Performance, Composition, and Interpretation scores more...

 

[brigit66]

He like didn't at all??? He never said others won just because he messed up. Also, it is possible that he just had bad luck and was The only one that hit the hole on the takeoff. Every skater takes off at a different place. Since four group had skated before, The ice wasn't The best even with The resurfacing. Again, he knows he made a mistake, he simply said why. Stop putting words in his mouth.

He couldn hit the hole, because we could see it. He should have lost balance or something and he didnt even move

 

[Sai Bon]

Skating lesson said an hour ago that Yuzu said he couldnt make his jump happen cause of a deformity in the ice

In the Asahi interview he said that he was trying to avoid taking off in exactly the same place as the warm-up, because he knew there was a dent there, but somehow ended up where he shouldn't.

 

[4everchan]

Finally a factual comment on this topic. And for myself, I would say this: of course a skater's fans will defend him, while the antis will pounce upon their chance to grab their crystal ball and judge his character negatively. The latter is simply wrong and unfounded though, and just because the same slander has happened to other skaters in the past, doesn't make this behavior right. Hanyu is getting a lot of sympathy because his fanbase is huge, that much seems quite obvious to me. I feel sorry for him too, as this was a hard blow for him. And I believe his words about the hole. I was around at the time of Boston WC. I don't know if I believed Chan's words then, but if I didn't, then I was in the wrong, too. I have seen a lot of skating since then, and I've learned not to dismiss skaters' words.

two big differences in my book :
Patrick skated last in the final flight and the ice was clearly melted by then. It was a large problem.
Yuzuru : i believe he got unlucky but the ice was fine enough for him to nail the rest of his program and for the other skaters to do so as well.

Boston : the entire event was over. No matter what is said, results are punched in.
Beijing : this happening after the SP distracts from the other skaters.

There should be more posts about Nathan, Yuma, Shoma, Jason, and others and less about a popped jump.