Did anyone watch the compulsories? | Golden Skate

Did anyone watch the compulsories?

NymphyNymphy

On the Ice
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Aug 26, 2017
I'm not old enough to have seen it live. Anyone here lucky enough to have seen it on live television? What was it like? Was it a snooze-fest?
 

Alex D

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Joined
Sep 23, 2013
I'm not old enough to have seen it live. Anyone here lucky enough to have seen it on live television? What was it like? Was it a snooze-fest?

Wasn´t 2010, the last year with a CD (Waltz)? I saw it live, but my intrest in ice dance was not that big, so I usually just skipped that part. For me, anything at ice dancing with too much limitation is less interesting, but I do come from a different dance background, where free movement and innovation is rewarded. That´s why I was so into the Hip Hop ice dance season, it was by far the best.

In my opinion, ice dance does a lot better today, than 10 years ago, but I still miss bravery at times and that said braveness is often not fully rewarded by the judges, like with Madi and Evan or the Russian dancers.
 

TontoK

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Jan 28, 2013
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In the olden days, compulsories were generally only covered in America through a quick summary, and only then during the ABC Olympic coverage. I have vague memories of Dick Button doing a studio interview wherein he said Dorothy Hamill's improved performance in figures made her the favorite to win. Likewise, I remember a similar report when Scott Hamilton won all three figures against a French skater who was apparently a figures genius.

There were rare exceptions of slightly more indepth reporting, like when Midori Ito blew a figure that cost her the WC against Jill Trenary.

I don't ever recall seeing a compulsory dance on television except during the Olympics with Uncle Dick doing the commentary.

Once the age of the internet hit, you could scrounge some reports, but it wasn't a lot.
 

NymphyNymphy

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 26, 2017
In the olden days, compulsories were generally only covered in America through a quick summary, and only then during the ABC Olympic coverage. I have vague memories of Dick Button doing a studio interview wherein he said Dorothy Hamill's improved performance in figures made her the favorite to win. Likewise, I remember a similar report when Scott Hamilton won all three figures against a French skater who was apparently a figures genius.

There were rare exceptions of slightly more indepth reporting, like when Midori Ito blew a figure that cost her the WC against Jill Trenary.

I don't ever recall seeing a compulsory dance on television except during the Olympics with Uncle Dick doing the commentary.

Once the age of the internet hit, you could scrounge some reports, but it wasn't a lot.

Wow... looks like ISU could easily manipulate the outcome of competitions through these barely broadcasted compulsories. Midori would have destroyed the competition under IJS.
 

el henry

Go have some cake. And come back with jollity.
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Mar 3, 2014
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Wow... looks like ISU could easily manipulate the outcome of competitions through these barely broadcasted compulsories. Midori would have destroyed the competition under IJS.

Not really:) Although we only saw snippets on TV in the states (I remember seeing Trixi's school figures broadcast and :bed:) the skaters and the coaches were there. Watching the judges measure with their little whatever they measured with. Figures reminded me then of the way some natter on about jumps today: a fixed, concrete way to evaluate a skaters' performance.

The free skate on the other hand :laugh: The cold war was still raging in every score the judges posted. The ISU wasn't "fixing" anything, but nationality colored almost every comp.

IMHO.;)
 

merrywidow

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Joined
Jan 20, 2004
I go back into the '60's & never could understand why the compulsories were worth so much towards the final score. They were all about precision & difficult to judge watching on tv. I found them boring.
 

hanyuufan5

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May 19, 2018
I wasn't born yet, but I probably would have watched them. I'd also like to learn how to do them someday.
 

mrrice

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Jul 9, 2014
I'm not old enough to have seen it live. Anyone here lucky enough to have seen it on live television? What was it like? Was it a snooze-fest?


Yes and YES. It was actually more interesting to watch figures on TV. It was very difficult to see the tracings due to the angle of our seats. I had decided to bring binoculars the next time I went to see them but, they were eliminated by the time I went to Skate America in 1991.
 

hanca

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Sep 23, 2008
I found it extremely boring. Usually I would watch the top five or six and that was quite enough for me. And the music was killing me!
 

Harriet

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Oct 23, 2017
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Australia
I remember seeing snippets of the compulsory figures sections way back in the 80s, but we didn't get sustained coverage of them in Australia. I actually found them quite fascinating.

It's interesting, though, to think about how they could be made more telegenic or at least less tedious for observers if they were still part of competitions. Maybe they could be skated on black ice like they are in the International Figures Championship, so that the tracings were more dramatic and easier to see, or streamed online/photographed, with judges' markups and commentary posted on the images too so people could understand why skaters got the marks they did. Or instead of being a component of scoring they worked like the old Qualifying Round at Worlds: if you pass the figures section you go through to the Short Program, and then your score starts from there...
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
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Jan 9, 2017
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Olympics
I used to skate them and loved every minute! They need to make a comeback.
 

Globetrotter

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Jan 17, 2014
Wow... looks like ISU could easily manipulate the outcome of competitions through these barely broadcasted compulsories. Midori would have destroyed the competition under IJS.

Oh that probably will be true. In the Calgary Olympics free programme, her second half 3A would have gotten a bonus and her GOEs on jumps and better basic SS and transitions will certainly have easily allowed her to outscore Yamaguchi's smallish jumps. Not many current ladies will even be able to match Midori in real jump GOEs and basic SS to be honest.
 

gkelly

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Jul 26, 2003
Oh that probably will be true. In the Calgary Olympics free programme, her second half 3A would have gotten a bonus

You mean the second half 3A in her Albertville free program?

But there were no compulsories in Albertville.

and her GOEs on jumps and better basic SS and transitions will certainly have easily allowed her to outscore Yamaguchi's smallish jumps. Not many current ladies will even be able to match Midori in real jump GOEs and basic SS to be honest.

Would her SP+FS have beaten Yamaguchi's if judged by IJS, even with the falls? Possibly. But that has nothing to do with compulsories.
 

TontoK

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Jan 28, 2013
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I go back into the '60's & never could understand why the compulsories were worth so much towards the final score. They were all about precision & difficult to judge watching on tv. I found them boring.

They were difficult to watch on television, no disagreement. Even the old YouTube videos you can find - it's hard to see any tracings, much less examine the figures in the minute detail the judges did.

I seem to recall a fairly recent figures competition that was done on black ice, and those who attended reported that it was much easier for a spectator to see the tracings.

Even though we might consider them boring, they are, in fact, the basis for the sport. It's where the "figure" in figure skating comes from. I think they actually added a lot to a skater's abilities in terms of edge control, balance, handling nerves...

My favorite fun fact to trot out regarding figures: The very first Olympic champion from Russia - and we're talking Tsarist Russia - was Nikolai Panin who won the one-time event of Special Figures in the London Summer Games of 1908. His Wikipedia entry has some drawings of his Special Figures, and they are pretty intricate and amazing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikolai_Panin
 

soogar

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 18, 2003
Oh that probably will be true. In the Calgary Olympics free programme, her second half 3A would have gotten a bonus and her GOEs on jumps and better basic SS and transitions will certainly have easily allowed her to outscore Yamaguchi's smallish jumps. Not many current ladies will even be able to match Midori in real jump GOEs and basic SS to be honest.

That's true, however I don't think Midori would have won under any system. I think she was a very fragile competitor. Of course COP eliminates the need to skate a perfect program so maybe that would have helped. However Kristy would have also received good marked under COP and I think she could have hit the more demanding spin positions to get higher spin levels.
 

danse

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 17, 2017
I've sat through compulsory dances... it gave an interesting perspective on the real meaning of "deep edges and curves". But hearing the same music over and over and over x24+ skaters was the thing that drove some people nutty.
 

MiraiFan

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 6, 2016
Oh that probably will be true. In the Calgary Olympics free programme, her second half 3A would have gotten a bonus and her GOEs on jumps and better basic SS and transitions will certainly have easily allowed her to outscore Yamaguchi's smallish jumps. Not many current ladies will even be able to match Midori in real jump GOEs and basic SS to be honest.

She didn't do the triple axel in Calgary... Are you thinking Lilehammer?
 
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