Team Canada maintains lead

Violet Bliss · Feb 11, 2018

NanaPat said:
Isn't Zhang also planning to continue to 2022, unlikely as that seems?

Zhang, with the Chinese fed's support, is planning to skate at the 2022 Olympics, thus the partner switcheroo in 2016. Skating for his country at the home Olympics is an honour and opportunity he doesn't want to miss. Chinese fed is all about 2022, especially with the Pairs. It was a big concern when their Pairs program lost its luster and world power position. I hope they invest more in their Ladies and Dance, maybe not taking all the most talented girls into the Pairs program, and guiding taller girls into Dance.

Mathman · Feb 11, 2018

Olympic said:
My post was in remembrance of Lipnitskaya and Sotnikova in Sochi. While Lipnitskaya had her best performances in the team event, she petered out by the individual event and Sotnikova was rested and ready

Or ... it might go the other way. Someone is a dud in the team event and then excels in the individual. You never know.

sunnydaysmom · Feb 11, 2018

Why isn’t Keegan skating?

I’m from the US, but also follow (and love) skaters from other countries. I was just wondering if any of you from Canada know why Keegan Meesing isn’t skating the free for Team Canada? I would think it would give Patrick time to rest for his individual competition, and also allow for Keegan to get a Team medal. Any talk about that in Canada?

NanaPat · Feb 11, 2018

Olympic said:
My post was in remembrance of Lipnitskaya and Sotnikova in Sochi. While Lipnitskaya had her best performances in the team event, she petered out by the individual event and Sotnikova was rested and ready

I think that was a very unusual case. If I recall correctly, Lipnitskyaya went on a whirlwind publicity / victory tour between the team event and the individual. I doubt if any of the other skaters will do anything like that.

NanaPat · Feb 11, 2018

sunnydaysmom said:
I’m from the US, but also follow (and love) skaters from other countries. I was just wondering if any of you from Canada know why Keegan Meesing isn’t skating the free for Team Canada? I would think it would give Patrick time to rest for his individual competition, and also allow for Keegan to get a Team medal. Any talk about that in Canada?

Look in the Canadian road to the Olympics thread for discussions by / of Canadians. Most people understand perfectly why Canada isn't using all their substitutions. One person is heatedly castigating Skate Canada in multiple threads for not using Weaver / Poje. Basically, they've made the right skater choices if they want to maximize their chances at the team gold medal.

Violet Bliss · Feb 11, 2018

SpiffySpiders said:
I don't understand the hate for team event either. I find it adds an exciting strategy element that I quite enjoy.

I think skaters found out they like the comradery and support in a team, after having competed in a very solitary sport for all their careers. For Canada especially, there is this tight group of friends who rose to the top of the sport in each discipline within the same period of time. Now that they are leaving together, it's really special to have this upmost of shared glory, going out with a bang, before ending an era and passing the torch.

Many of the other individual sports also have team competitions at the Olympics and you don't hear the complaining about tiring out the athletes or the medals being pointless. It's strange to me, especially the overtaxing the skaters argument; there are so many athletes with multiple, difficult heats and qualifiers to get through and some of them even do it all for several events! The snowboarders, the speed skaters, the skiers - they aren't any tougher and their sports are no easier, so if they can handle odd hours and busy schedules then so can the figure skaters!

Some sports are all about guts and gory and grunt work. Hockey players would wish to bleed more heavily to draw penalty while a very technical sprinter might fuss over a hang nail. Athletes in a solitary and extremely technical sport usually need to have everything just right to have a peak performance. Physical conditioning and mental preparation, and details in every aspect of their training and competition readiness are all very important with great effects on their performances. After all, they have very small margin for victory, a fraction of a second, a centimetre or less, and often less than a point out of a 3 digit number in case of figure skating. As well, every second and every little move matter in a figure skating competition. There are no second chances, no catching up opportunity, no overtime, no redoing, just a total of about 6 minutes to put in all those high risk and highly difficult and precise technical executions. Judging is stringent, with video replays if necessary to determine very minute details. Yup, they need to be properly prepared and be 100% ready to give a peak performance.

I believe by now the Olympic skaters have adjusted to compete in Pyeongchang. They had traveled from different time zones and having to skate at unfamiliar early hours with little sleep was not conducive to excellent or even regular performances. But they are pros and would have adapted by now.

sunnydaysmom · Feb 11, 2018

NanaPat said:
Look in the Canadian road to the Olympics thread for discussions by / of Canadians. Most people understand perfectly why Canada isn't using all their substitutions. One person is heatedly castigating Skate Canada in multiple threads for not using Weaver / Poje. Basically, they've made the right skater choices if they want to maximize their chances at the team gold medal.

Thanks NanaPat! Didn’t mean to start anything bad! I’m sure Team Canada knows what it’s doing!

Violet Bliss · Feb 11, 2018

sunnydaysmom said:
I’m from the US, but also follow (and love) skaters from other countries. I was just wondering if any of you from Canada know why Keegan Meesing isn’t skating the free for Team Canada? I would think it would give Patrick time to rest for his individual competition, and also allow for Keegan to get a Team medal. Any talk about that in Canada?

Canadian fed and the top skaters, due to retire, take the Team Event gold seriously. They are not taking any risk to jeopardize their chances of winning this OGM together.

Kaetlyn and Gabby are rivals but the other Canadian champs have no Canadian equals or close enough rivals. Thus they are all out willing to do whatever it takes and however hard work they need to put out to ensure the Team OGM.

Working hard and winning will have a different effect from working hard and losing or working hard for an indifferent cause. Hopefully, the Canadian skaters will be energized and motivated by their collective Gold Medal and rise up further in their individual events.

Corwin · Feb 11, 2018

The fate of gold was already decided on the first day, the rest is a formality

chopinskate · Feb 11, 2018

Blades of Passion said:
If USA and Japan had chosen their Ladies more wisely, then Osmond could also have been down in 5th, and suddenly the whole team podium would be up in the air instead of the Gold just being handed to Canada.

Agree about the US, but Japan? Kaori would have had the 2nd best TES for sure, but I think combined with the PCS she has been getting, she might have still ended up behind Osmond. >.>

chopinskate · Feb 11, 2018

Corwin said:
The fate of gold was already decided on the first day, the rest is a formality

Yeah, this annoys me greatly too. At least bronze is still exciting.

Corwin · Feb 11, 2018

chopinskate said:
Yeah, this annoys me greatly too. At least bronze is still exciting.

except gold, others medals is nothing...

Osmond4gold · Feb 11, 2018

sunnydaysmom said:
I’m from the US, but also follow (and love) skaters from other countries. I was just wondering if any of you from Canada know why Keegan Meesing isn’t skating the free for Team Canada? I would think it would give Patrick time to rest for his individual competition, and also allow for Keegan to get a Team medal. Any talk about that in Canada?

Thanks sunnydaysmom, and who doesn't love this kid Keegan! Fyi, it was reported by Jackie Wong, that Keegan suffered an injury right after nationals in Vancouver. For this reason, I am sure that team management wanted him to be as rested/recovered as much as possible, for the main event.

Violet Bliss · Feb 11, 2018

Corwin said:
The fate of gold was already decided on the first day, the rest is a formality

You may say the fate of gold was decided at least a year ago when Canada and its top skaters decided they wanted it. Nobody else has been really quite as interested and eager to have it. Now it's time to watch the plan being executed, with full and cautious respect to the rivals and the ice.

SpiffySpiders · Feb 11, 2018

Violet Bliss said:
I think skaters found out they like the comradery and support in a team, after having competed in a very solitary sport for all their careers. For Canada especially, there is this tight group of friends who rose to the top of the sport in each discipline within the same period of time. Now that they are leaving together, it's really special to have this upmost of shared glory, going out with a bang, before ending an era and passing the torch.

Some sports are all about guts and gory and grunt work. Hockey players would wish to bleed more heavily to draw penalty while a very technical sprinter might fuss over a hang nail. Athletes in a solitary and extremely technical sport usually need to have everything just right to have a peak performance. Physical conditioning and mental preparation, and details in every aspect of their training and competition readiness are all very important with great effects on their performances. After all, they have very small margin for victory, a fraction of a second, a centimetre or less, and often less than a point out of a 3 digit number in case of figure skating. As well, every second and every little move matter in a figure skating competition. There are no second chances, no catching up opportunity, no overtime, no redoing, just a total of about 6 minutes to put in all those high risk and highly difficult and precise technical executions. Judging is stringent, with video replays if necessary to determine very minute details. Yup, they need to be properly prepared and be 100% ready to give a peak performance.

I believe by now the Olympic skaters have adjusted to compete in Pyeongchang. They had traveled from different time zones and having to skate at unfamiliar early hours with little sleep was not conducive to excellent or even regular performances. But they are pros and would have adapted by now.

My sport is individual as well; we often train alone and we're responsible for our own races. Success and failure are separated by seconds. Years of preparation can come to nothing after a stumble or a false start. Travel, challenging schedules and team events are also part of the competitive equation well before the elite level. Like their peers in other disciplines, skaters and their coaching teams will adapt just fine and embrace another medal opportunity. I suspect that, for the most part, they already have.

Violet Bliss · Feb 11, 2018

SpiffySpiders said:
My sport is individual as well; we often train alone and we're responsible for our own races. Success and failure are separated by seconds. Years of preparation can come to nothing after a stumble or a false start. Travel, challenging schedules and team events are also part of the competitive equation well before the elite level. Like their peers in other disciplines, skaters and their coaching teams will adapt just fine and embrace another medal opportunity. I suspect that, for the most part, they already have.

Yours sounds like one of those the athletes need to be meticulous. Many athletes have a few to many chances to compete for medals and there are chances for redemption. Until there is the Team Event, figure skaters have only one chance at each competition when every precise moment and movement count unforgivingly. And few sports require such diverse and difficult skills and physical requirements as figure skating, all within minutes. Not saying other sport are not difficult and technical and detail oriented, but figure skating is unique in all its requirements, athletism, flexibility, power (both explosive and enduring kinds), risks, artistry, musicality, all being performed alone while looking regal in a big rink being watched and scrutinized over. It's relentless.

Osmond4gold · Feb 11, 2018

Violet Bliss said:
You may say the fate of gold was decided at least a year ago when Canada and its top skaters decided they wanted it. Nobody else has been really quite as interested and eager to have it. Now it's time to watch the plan being executed, with full and cautious respect to the rivals and the ice.

Canada took this event serious 4 years ago after losing Gold. The Team event can only promote this sport. Heck, who would of thought 4 years ago that a comedian and movie persona such as Leslie Jones, would be tweeting in real time, about the Team event and the sport.

In our attempt to get back to 90's hype, any exposure is good exposure, ...right Madonna?

Corwin · Feb 11, 2018

#114

You may say the fate of gold was decided at least a year ago when Canada and its top skaters decided they wanted it. Nobody else has been really quite as interested and eager to have it. Now it's time to watch the plan being executed, with full and cautious respect to the rivals and the ice.

I mean, losing like that...without fighting, i cant accept this *shame Misha(

Osmond4gold · Feb 11, 2018

Corwin said:
#114

I mean, losing like that...without fighting, i cant accept this *shame Misha(

Like that? The Olympic team from Russia were bested in Mens, Pairs, Dance and who knows what will happen in Womens. I don't believe Misha could have helped the situation, either way.

narcissa · Feb 11, 2018

So now that the Canadians won no matter what, who is going to skate the FD?

Team Canada maintains lead

Violet Bliss

Mathman

sunnydaysmom

NanaPat

NanaPat

Violet Bliss

sunnydaysmom

Violet Bliss

Corwin

chopinskate

chopinskate

Corwin

Osmond4gold

Violet Bliss

SpiffySpiders

Violet Bliss

Osmond4gold

Corwin

Osmond4gold

narcissa

Similar threads

Connect with us