Team Canada maintains lead | Page 7 | Golden Skate

Team Canada maintains lead

pearly

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 1, 2017
I wonder how people reacted to the team event in gymnastics when it was just getting started. It's been around now for about 20 Olympic cycles with the vast majority of medals going to the same handful of countries. Yet somehow it keeps going.

I think it depends on the history of it. If the team event always had the same format in all competitions, not just Olympics, then it definitely holds more legitimacy. We have two team events - WTT and this team event, both totally different, one more arbitrary than the other.
 

russianfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 4, 2017
I wonder how people reacted to the team event in gymnastics when it was just getting started. It's been around now for about 20 Olympic cycles with the vast majority of medals going to the same handful of countries. Yet somehow it keeps going.

It's the same weird stuff if you ask me. Team sports are football, hockey, etc, where all of the players do interact with each other to achieve the result. Unlike gymnastics/skating where all athletes perform separately and then their results summed up in some weird way, which even changes from one competition to another.
 

schizoanalyst

Medalist
Joined
Oct 26, 2016
It's the same weird stuff if you ask me. Team sports are football, hockey, etc, where all of the players do interact with each other to achieve the result. Unlike gymnastics/skating where all athletes perform separately and then their results summed up in some weird way, which even changes from one competition to another.

Gymnastics at least has 3 competitors in each discipline, they get scores individually which are added together for a discipline score - and then all the discipline scores are summed. From there, we get the rankings. So, the placements don't matter really - the scores do. In that way, everyone is actually contributing to the event meaningful - not just getting a default 4th or 5th place setting points when the 1st place beats them handily. The *gap* matters, not just placements, and everyone is making a big contribution to the joint success of the team.

Of course, this method can't work in figure skating because (1) we'd have a 14 hour nightly event and (2) because of the *massive* point differential possible in men's, the event would be heavily weighted towards just the men (although perhaps you could normalize the result to fix that problem )
 

Violet Bliss

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 19, 2010
It's the same weird stuff if you ask me. Team sports are football, hockey, etc, where all of the players do interact with each other to achieve the result. Unlike gymnastics/skating where all athletes perform separately and then their results summed up in some weird way, which even changes from one competition to another.

Well, the Individual events have these athletes perform separately and individually. Team work means the sum of contributions from all members, whether or not competitors interact directly. I sure don't want Interactive shooting events! There are sports that are one on one competition and it's possible to have teams for these too. And then there are triathletes, decathletes, and heptathletes who are teams all by themselves!
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
I hope this team event - with a team of (mostly) Canadian legends celebrating their long and fabled careers will mark the beginning of glory for the team event.

In tennis, the Australian Open was considered a minor event, even though it was a major... until suddenly it wasn't a minor event.

In American gymnastics, the team event was an afterthought - the real story was the quest for AA and event medals... until suddenly it wasn't an afterthought. Team became a priority, so much so that individual event medal favorites were left off because they didn't help the team enough.

I'm not a fan of WTT, it seems so campy and insincere. This was different. This was real competition, real team spirit. It really mattered to the athletes.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
The team competition took a major leap as a legitimate event unlike in Sochi where the skaters weren't sure if they should act like they were at the WTT. This time it was a much more serious event and a 4th team being in the running for a medal right up to the Ladies event along with the big 3 made it feel like a real event. In 2022 i think China will be the team to challenge the podium if they can find a good Ladies skater since Italy is one of the older teams and i don't see them replacing their top skaters in four years.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
I hope this team event - with a team of (mostly) Canadian legends celebrating their long and fabled careers will mark the beginning of glory for the team event.
....

I'm not a fan of WTT, it seems so campy and insincere. This was different. This was real competition, real team spirit. It really mattered to the athletes.

WTT hugely benefits skaters, especially those who don't get enough funds from their own federation.

Even the last placed skaters and teams get generous prizes.

https://www.isu.org/inside-single-p...rld-team-trophy-2017-preview?templateParam=15

Prize Money
The teams will compete for a total prize money of 1,000,000 US$, made available by the organizing ISU Member, Japan Skating Federation (and secured through ISU agreements).
The prize money is awarded as follows:
1st placed team: US$ 200’000
2nd placed team: US$ 170’000
3rd placed team: US$ 160’000
4th placed team: US$ 150’000
5th placed team: US$ 140’000
6th placed team: US$ 130’000.

I am very grateful that for years Japan has contributed to this sport by supporting skaters by holding the WTT.

:thank: :thank: :thank: Japan
:bow:
 
Joined
Jul 30, 2012
Country
Russia
WTT hugely benefits skaters, especially those who don't get enough funds from their own federation.
(...)
:thank: :thank: :thank: Japan
:bow:
Not only WTT, Japan Open too. US$ 80'000 for first place, 60'000 for second, 40'000 for third. It means 20'000 to 10'000 for skater.

And not only money. Where else could we see retired Nobunari Oda with strong program (two quads and two 3A)?

Both WTT and Japan Open are interesting and exciting competitions.
And OWG Team Event hardly could be without three WTT before.

Thanks Japan!
 

russianfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Feb 4, 2017
One more contribution from Japan is their fans who attend almost every event and support all the skaters. That's awesome!
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
Not only WTT, Japan Open too. US$ 80'000 for first place, 60'000 for second, 40'000 for third. It means 20'000 to 10'000 for skater.

And not only money. Where else could we see retired Nobunari Oda with strong program (two quads and two 3A)?

Both WTT and Japan Open are interesting and exciting competitions.
And OWG Team Event hardly could be without three WTT before.

Thanks Japan!

I was so thrilled to see Oda again! :love:

Again

:thank: :thank: :thank: Japan
:bow:


 

ancientpeas

The Notorious SEW
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 11, 2014
Japan rocks! Figure skaters from all over the world love skating there and always talk about how wonderful Japanese fans are.
 

TontoK

Hot Tonto
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 28, 2013
Country
United-States
WTT hugely benefits skaters, especially those who don't get enough funds from their own federation.

Even the last placed skaters and teams get generous prizes.

https://www.isu.org/inside-single-p...rld-team-trophy-2017-preview?templateParam=15



I am very grateful that for years Japan has contributed to this sport by supporting skaters by holding the WTT.

:thank: :thank: :thank: Japan
:bow:

Doris, in view of your reply, I'd like to re-state my earlier contribution:

While grateful to the Japanese for hosting competitions like WTT, I am more enamored of the Olympic style Team Event we saw here and in Sochi. The competition seemed fierce, the skaters seemed into it, and I ate up every second that NBC allowed me to see. I'd love it if the World Championships adopted a similar format for a Team Event.


That's a little more generous in spirit than my first attempt, which you artfully (and correctly) called me out for being inelegant and ungrateful.

PS. For all my uncalled-for snootiness towards that event, I still watch it, at least on video.
 

dorispulaski

Wicked Yankee Girl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Country
United-States
:thumbsup:

I like that version of your position much better!

(But I must say love the costumes and cheerleading aspects of WTT too,not to mention the invitations to retired still wonderful skaters of the Japan Open, and the possible Inclusion of great skaters from smaller feds, like Michal Brezina, of the Team Challenge Cup held in Spokane in 2016, by having skaters represent continents.)

I think we might create a better format some time than any we have seen.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 3, 2014
Country
United-States
I like the Team Event.
I like WTT.
I like costumes and cheering and celebrations and fun KnCs.
If the skaters or their feds don’t take the actual event seriously, IMHO, that’s on them:roll5: and not the event:clap:
 
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