2014 Cup of China Mens Short Program 11/07

[Li'Kitsu]

Just something to chew over: Rachael Flatt got fined (not to mention dropped from 8th to 12th place) by U.S. Figure Skating for skating injured at 2011 Worlds: http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2...asu-reprimands

Mrs.P, I like Rachael a lot, and I don't think she deserved the hate and rage she got back then, but I don't think the situations are comparable at all.
With Yuzuru, we saw the incident that caused the injury. The majority of people are way more emotionally invested if they actually saw where the injury is coming from instead of not knowing about it. It was a way more 'dramatic' injury too, blood and all. I'd guess a good part of the "villain Rachael" post were coming from Mirai fans too - they were probably angered and/or disappointed they couldn't see their fave, and let that out on Rachael. Yuzu didn't "steal" anyone's spot (neither did Rachael, IMO, but I guess some people view it that way).
It's true though that Yuzu has a way bigger fan base here than Rachael, so there were fans to "defend" him from people calling him stupid for what he did. Probably, he'd get treated differently even in the exact same situation...

 

[Aesthetics]

Thank you for explaining while I wasn't online, Meoima.

It may seem like a funny joke to you but I wasn't joking. My appreciation of Han Yan's skills is not based on a single competition (CoC in this case), but on my observation in time. I respectfully disagree about Kovtun having better character than Yan, and respectfully disagree about Hanyu being an artistic skater like Takahashi. While his presentation is much improved, I wouldn't compare him to Takahashi just yet.

Well, I've also watched some of these skaters more than once. Yes Yan has better SS than Kovtun, but Kovtun already showed more character even in last year's flamingo program. Yan's new SP is very similar to last year's program and I don't see much improvement from him. And I've seen Yan more than once, but never saw him exhibiting the level of skating skills - speed and edge control - that Hanyu showed in his COC sp.

And yes, Takahashi is a real artist, but I start to see some of Hanyu's programs and movements may have more potential than Takahashi. Since Hanyu has better line and longer limbs than Takahashi, if he improves a little bit his posture and movements, then his programs may look very elegant. Another skater that shows artistic potential is Misha Ge here. He just got too over the top sometimes. If he could tone it down, then he could become an artist too.

 

[Sandpiper]

Another thing to consider about Hanyu/Yan vs. Rachael Flatt and Elvis Stojko is the state of mind and "freshness" of the injury. Hanyu and Han Yan were had received injuries just prior to their LPs, were likely dazed from the incident, and may or may not have been completely cleared by the medical staff. Browning thinks it's not a huge deal and they only skated after the doctors gave them the okay... but who knows how insistent the boys were, or how certain the doctors were. In the case of Flatt and Stojko, at least they made their decision after mulling it over for a period of time, with full knowledge of how injured they were.

Rachael getting lambasted likely has to do with people after that third spot/Mirai fans (while Frank Carroll fueled the flames). Hanyu or Han Yan withdrawing at that point meant no substitutes could benefit regardless. And we do see complaints about the scoring and how people below Hanyu were robbed. But his scores weren't something he could be control, the way Rachael could control her withdrawal.

Onto something more skating related:

Well, I've also watched some of these skaters more than once. Yes Yan has better SS than Kovtun, but Kovtun already showed more character even in last year's flamingo program. Yan's new SP is very similar to last year's program and I don't see much improvement from him. And I've seen Yan more than once, but never saw him exhibiting the level of skating skills - speed and edge control - that Hanyu showed in his COC sp.

Have you seen Han Yan's Artistry on Ice 2014 exhibition with Zijun Li? It's a change of style for him, and I thought he had a better connection with the music there. The current "try to be funny" competition programs aren't the right fit, imo. While I agree Han Yan isn't in the same league as Yuzuru in skating or performance, I think he's better than Kovtun (whose programs aren't any better than Yan's and whose performance ability is weaker).

 

[karne]

I disagreed then with the USFSA punishing Flatt and I still disagree now. If it was an isolated incident, then I would support it. But two skaters from the SAME COACH had skated with MAJOR injury when they were clearly unfit within a month and a half of each other. How, in the name of all things holy, did that not warrant an investigation into the coach's methods by the USFSA?