2018 Olympic Season: Ladies Figure Skating

[jenaj]

why would they think they could? they were robbed of their national identity and are hounded on by doping officials more so than anyone else. it probably feels like too much at this point.

They are lucky to be there, IMO. They can blame their country for the extra scrutiny given to Russian athletes.

 

[[email protected]]

If I were from Russia I would take doping tests every day given the embarassment I would feel from Sochi, even if I was not in any way invvolved.

If you were from Russia you would not write this nonsense based on hearsay of just one crook.

 

[Blondie12]

If you were from Russia you would not write this nonsense based on hearsay of just one crook.

I'm not going to debate what went on, but I think there was alot of documentary evidence as well. Intl olympic committee wouldn't just give out sanctions to punish the prior host who did put out such a great olympics for them based on the testimony of one person. But I guess if I was from Russia I would not be hearing the other evidence.

Russian ladies if they skate well tonight will get gold, silver. It's telling that they may likely be the only gold of the Games for Russia (though it seems like hockey may pull through for them). It makes the doping allegations all the more compelling because where did all the gold medals go, especially in the speed events.

I think any athelte where there is even a spector of doping either based on evidence or jealousy should just do lots of doping tests. Michael Phelps always knew that there would be some out there that would accuse him because of jealousy and he was always adamant about getting tested whenever they wanted. I think he even signed up for more tests during the olympics - some kind of experimental expended program to check doping. All Russian athletes know there is a cloud above them - if nothing to hide, why not act like Phelps did?

 

[VenusHalley]

They are lucky to be there, IMO. They can blame their country for the extra scrutiny given to Russian athletes.

This. Plus Olympic spirit is not just being able to wave your flag and drum the nationalistic pride (and I find it stupid that when athlete wins, every last loser of their country pretends it is their doing just because they happen to hold the same passport...).

Lots of athletes who go there enjoy that they can meet other athletes and enjoy the events. It is not yet another competition.

 

[beachmouse]

About the doping stuff, I'm pretty sure making athletes drink to get a sample is fairly standard. Meagan Duhamel was talking about it on the TSL pairs recap. She said that at home if you can't produce enough urine, they'll follow you round and get you to drink until you pee again. .

Canadian swimmer Alex Baumann actually has a funny bit about how one of the testers offering him a beer to help him get a sample at the 1984 Olympics (things were a bit laxer back then in many ways) and him having to point out that he was only 18 and not able to drink alcohol legally in either Los Angeles or his home country.

Every athlete has distractions or something go wrong in the process of getting to The Big Event- illness, injury, family problems, the airline accidentally shipping a checked bag of gear to Morocco... It's the mark of a champion when they learn to let that roll off them like water off a duck's back and perform at their highest potential despite the distraction.

 

[Dr-minus]

Russian ladies if they skate well tonight will get gold, silver. It's telling that they may likely be the only gold of the Games for Russia (though it seems like hockey may pull through for them). It makes the doping allegations all the more compelling because where did all the gold medals go, especially in the speed events.

Because leaders in most disciplines were simply not invited to the games by the IOC without any explanation. They were never accused of any doping. Their medals weren't taken away. And even most of Sochi "dopers" were cleared of all charges by CAS.

 

[Triplecomb]

Do you know if the training that starts at 7 am it is open to public? Thanks.

 

[Suzzzy]

About the doping stuff, I'm pretty sure making athletes drink to get a sample is fairly standard. Meagan Duhamel was talking about it on the TSL pairs recap. She said that at home if you can't produce enough urine, they'll follow you round and get you to drink until you pee again. Maybe they asked her to drink too much, I don't know. But I know they can't test it if the urine is too diluted either. But as people have said, making someone miss the practice isn't allowed, but it's already happened to a non-OAR skater, so I don't see how it's really country related.

Did they do the same with Meagan on training before the start of the program at OG?
For sure, no. They treated only Russians like that. Sorry, OAR!

 

[Fruitpie]

I'm not going to debate what went on, but I think there was alot of documentary evidence as well.

Did you read report with "evidence"? It has a a lot of "we don't know how", "we didn't find anything", "we didn't speak with anyone" and "but he said", "we think it can be something like what they showed on TV, but we didn't try".

Michael Phelps always knew that there would be some out there that would accuse him because of jealousy and he was always adamant about getting tested whenever they wanted. I think he even signed up for more tests during the olympics - some kind of experimental expended program to check doping. All Russian athletes know there is a cloud above them - if nothing to hide, why not act like Phelps did?

Phelps failed at least 3 tests. And it's only some we know about.

 

[Lightstar]

Any guesses on which six will not qualify through to the FS tomorrow? The field isn't as strong overall as the Mens.

These skaters seem the most vulnerable to me:
- Aiza MAMBEKOVA (KAZ)
- Larkyn AUSTMAN (CAN)
- Isadora WILLIAMS (BRA)
- Alexia PAGANINI (SUI)
- Diana NIKITINA (LAT)
- Anita OESTLUND (SWE)
___________________________________
- Anna KNYCHENKOVA (UKR)
- Giada RUSSO (ITA)
- Emmi PELTONEN (FIN)
- Mae Berenice MEITE (FRA)

MAMBEKOVA and AUSTMAN would have to give the performances of their lives to make the top 24. Otherwise, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. RUSSO and PELTONEN have the good luck of going in Group 3, so that should help. TOTH Ivett (HUN), Kailani CRAINE (AUS), LI Xiangning (CHN), Loena HENDRICKX (BEL), KIM Hanul (KOR) or Nicole SCHOTT (GER) could all end up on the chopping block if they make an enormous error, but it seems less likely and would be an upset. If anyone else fails to qualify, it will be a huge upset.

I really hope Paganini makes the cut!

 

[beachmouse]

Phelps failed at least 3 tests. And it's only some we know about.

Pot is effectively not currently banned by WADA outside of competition periods. Any sanctions he got from his federation over that were from violation of his federation's athlete code of conduct.

 

[Fruitpie]

Pot is effectively not currently banned by WADA outside of competition periods. Any sanctions he got from his federation over that were from violation of his federation's athlete code of conduct.

Yes. And it's only some we know about.

 

[beachmouse]

Yes. And it's only some we know about.

Pull up the search information history from USADA's web site on how often Phelps was tested- it was early and often. And while USA Swimming is a flawed organization in other ways, they're always been heavy-handed with sanctioning dopers, even when it would cost them gold in major international competition. (Contrast that with Chinese swimming and Sun's secret doping ban)

 

[TerpsichoreFS]

I hope Alina continues even if she wins. She is just a pure talent. Yes, you notice her skating skills haven't been worked on as much as the Japanese. But she is so physically good. Hopefully she develops her performance ability and she could be the greatest.

 

[kevinVchicago]

I think Khnychenkova has less of a shot than Nikitina, to be honest. I don't know how this will translate to the event, but Nikitina's been doing 3F-3Lo and 3Lz-3Lo. Just needs to calm her nerves.

I'm hoping Nikitina can go clean in the SP. She seems to be a lovely skater, and I would like to see that! It will work against both her and Khnychenkova that they are skating in Group 1.

 

[kevinVchicago]

I think the ladies least likely to qualify for the FS are Mambekova, Austman and Nikitina, as they have not scored above 50 points this season at ISU CS & above events.
The next tier would be Peltonen, Paganini and Williams, who have PB's in the low 50's range. They would have to top their PB's by around 3-5 points to be able to qualify, but that could happen especially if someone else bombs and scores below 55.
Russo, Oestlund, Craine, Hendrickx and Khnychenkova have PB's in the mid to high 50's, so it's a toss-up between them and the skaters in the low-50's tier, whoever goes clean has a chance to get through.
Xiangning has to be clean because she doesn't have a 3-3 this season, but is likely to make it given her 4CC momentum (57.01). Schott has been solidly scoring around 55 points in GP with a PB above 60, so could also squeak through. I'm also optimistic about Ha Nul who recently scored her PB and broke 60 points at 4CC, Ivett whose PB is also above 60, and Meite who has improved vs. previous years and overtaken Laurine.

It is going to be a nail-biter, that's for sure! I'm guessing the ladies in Group 3 have a big advantage. I don't know if Russo has high enough TES, though, and she seemed shaky at Euros.

Peltonen has more experience and than Oestlund, and is in Group 2 as opposed to Group 1, which is why I think she might have a better chance.

But the group 1 effect might work strongly against Khnychenkova as well.

Wishing them all good skates tonight!

 

[alpaca]

I think if both Alina and Zhenya skate cleanly, the competition is probably Alina's to win. But given her inconsistency with the SP, she's gotta skate that one clean tonight if she wants gold! Good luck to all the women!

 

[Inego]

about 10 hours to go :yay: cant wait anymore

 

[MedoLove]

I think if both Alina and Zhenya skate cleanly, the competition is probably Alina's to win. But given her inconsistency with the SP, she's gotta skate that one clean tonight if she wants gold! Good luck to all the women!

Zhenya SP: 81+ , with her Fs layout she did in the past 155 and 160.

Zhenya can win cleanly

 

[alpaca]

I think my biggest issue with the ladies skating nowadays is that none of them (with rare exceptions like Carolina) last. Like we see a lot of them, especially Russian ladies hit peak with maybe one or two seasons in their teens and then basically plunge after that and we can't see them grow and evolve like we see with skaters in the other events. I really hope that changes.