2018 Olympics live reports

[seabm7]

Thanks, do they have seafood? It’s ok if they don’t speak English as I have Korean sentences written on the phone by my friend. Thanks that’s a nice suggestion.

By the way, I heard that 강릉중앙시장 (Gangneung Jungang Market or Gangneung Central Market) has raw fish shops in the basement. Some shops have a couple of seating tables behind, or you can ask to prepare raw fish as a takeout. They must be cheaper than the oceanfront restaurants.

The second floor of the building is also a food court.

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=2507421

* 자리 (pronounced as Ja Ri): Seat
* 아이스 (pronounced as Ice) : Ice, if you order a takeout.
* 아이스박스 (pronounced as Ice BOX) : Icebox, ditto.

 

[OniBan]

I am here to report they have ran out of food at the western food stall outside the ice arena
Edit: I only lined up here because the queue was the shortest!

But at least they still have hot chocolate

 

[seabm7]

Well, a NY Times article on food in Gangneung. I feel sorry for those chefs who did not see a lot of visitors:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/sports/olympics/korean-food-visitors.html

A lot of spectators commute bewteen Seoul and Gangneung. It just does not leave time for them to enjoy the local quisine.

 

[[email protected]]

Well, a NY Times article on food in Gangneung. I feel sorry for those chefs who did not see a lot of visitors:

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/sports/olympics/korean-food-visitors.html

A lot of spectators commute bewteen Seoul and Gangneung. It just does not leave time for them to enjoy the local quisine.

A good article, indeed. My wife and I are those who contribute to local restaurants prosperity, no doubt. I thought that snow crab was vastly inferior to the king one. The article has urged me to try it next time - it's also much cheaper.

 

[[email protected]]

My thoughts about the ladies event.

I have not read the competition thread. I have not looked up protocols in order not to cloud my own impression and judgement. So, here are my thoughts, biased, of course.

This time we had truly prime seats behind the judges http://uploads.ru/nsMKw.jpg
The near right corner view was a bit blocked by cameras but that was the best seating so far anyway.
The Russian support team was gathering slowly.At some point it was "USA" rather than "RUSSIA". http://uploads.ru/W8Mm5.jpg

The first group.

I liked Bradie - she did not belong there. Good speed, good edge work, high quality elements. She looked boring on TV - she is not boring live. Sad about the fall which killed her chances to anything serious.

I did not understand Diana Nikitina's score - I think she did not as well getting so down after she was so up. Her jumps looked big and powerful. Whatever URs they might have found are imaginary - her jumps were good - well, they looked good. Wuzrobbed big time.

In the second group Alexia Paganini started very strong. I picked her during the Europeans in Moscow as a very promising skater. Not only I - she was invited to the gala. Unfortunately, something went wrong towards the end of her program. I cannot remember what exactly but I do remember that my positive impression was spoiled somehow.

Aiza Mambekova was not as bad as her SB of 36 sugggested. She stayed on her feet, she is quite flexible her Bielman was impressive. Her getting 5 points less than Anita Oestlund whom I did not like at all is imo unfair.

I checked the bio for age and I feel safe now to say that Larkyn Austman is stylish and cute. There is good potential in her: she is fast, she is elegant, she is an eye-catcher. She just has to deliver the jump content and Canada has another strong skater.

As for Mae Berenice Meite, I think that at this stage she is doing it just for fun. I see a slow but steady degrading of her skating since Sochi. But who cares - she is one of the kind with her unique powerful style.

Group 3

Kailani Craine started with a good drive and energy. She lost it a bit towards the end. Without 3-3 her score seems right.

I enjoyed Ivett Tott's AC/DC program. It was so different but pleasantly different. She looked like a rock girl in her jeans. I think she was lowballed for her effort which we liked a lot.

The girls then all disappointed. I remember Loena Hendrix impressed me last season at one competition. I thought we have another European star. But she somehow lost it. Nicole Rajicova, as far as I can remember, can be better as well - similar perception after she finished to that from Loena's skating. Nicole Shott's skating today was pale and forgettable. And I think there's something wrong about her posture.

 

[[email protected]]

Group 4

Kaori Sakamoto was sublime. Beautiful skating with good speed. She has a very strong SP this season - all her movements made perfect sense. I would place her right behind Medvedeva and Zagitova above everybody else.

Mirai Nagasu was a big sigh. She needed that 3A to make a statement for the final group in FP. And she could not deliver. I never paid much attention to her skating before. I did today and I liked it. She is nothing like a "senseless machine" as some people hear treat her. And she was the fastest skater, well, at least that was my impression.

Gabby Daleman. I have now formed my view about her skating, sorry dear fans of hers. She is "a good average skater". Her signature 3T-3T once again did not impress.The first jump covered good distance. But it was not high. The second jump was not performed well. 2 benchmarks: Sotnikova and Osmond when we talk about big time jumps. Daleman is nowhere near. She skated with enthusiasm but that was it. After Kaori she looked like "missed the right group".

Karen Chen was not particularly impressive. Once again the benchmark was Kaori. Even jumping mistake aside she tried to skate beautifully but something was missing. Her signature spiral was like: "guys, did not you forget that I can do it while others do not even try". At this time it's like famous Medvedeva's element towards the end of her programs - don't know how it is called. It was fresh and impressive when she started to do it. Now with all my love to Zhenya my reaction to it is more like "come on, are you serious".

Elizabeth Tursynbaeva's skating is not my cup of tea. It is sloppy: the impression was that a child was skating. There was also some strange jump preparation at the beginning. It looked like she was preparing for a quad. May be I just imagined that - it was in the area where the view was partially blocked.

Finally Dabin Choi made me happy again. She delivered beautifully. I just thought that she could have broken 70 with that program.

 

[rollerblade]

This time we had truly prime seats behind the judges http://uploads.ru/nsMKw.jpg

Wow, AMAZING seats! Who are the people sitting in the second row behind the judges?

I checked the bio for age and I feel safe now to say that Larkyn Austman is stylish and cute.

 

[anyanka]

I checked the bio for age and I feel safe now to say that Larkyn Austman is stylish and cute. There is good potential in her: she is fast, she is elegant, she is an eye-catcher. She just has to deliver the jump content and Canada has another strong skater.

As for Mae Berenice Meite, I think that at this stage she is doing it just for fun. I see a slow but steady degrading of her skating since Sochi. But who cares - she is one of the kind with her unique powerful style.

I LOL'd at your comment re: Larkyn! I don't know your age but if you were around long enough, you may recall she is styled similarly to Linda Evangelista around 1990 or thereabouts, especially in that old George Michael video "Freedom '90". That's a great throwback look with the bob and smoky-eyed makeup. I was standing literally two feet from her in nationals in the arena and she looked so much like Linda, it was a bit disconcerting.

Props to Mae for skating to Beyoncé at the Olympics. With that kind of music: yup, she's doing the games for fun, that's for sure!

 

[withwings]

Group 4

Kaori Sakamoto was sublime. Beautiful skating with good speed. She has a very strong SP this season - all her movements made perfect sense. I would place her right behind Medvedeva and Zagitova above everybody else.

Mirai Nagasu was a big sigh. She needed that 3A to make a statement for the final group in FP. And she could not deliver. I never paid much attention to her skating before. I did today and I liked it. She is nothing like a "senseless machine" as some people hear treat her. And she was the fastest skater, well, at least that was my impression.

Gabby Daleman. I have now formed my view about her skating, sorry dear fans of hers. She is "a good average skater". Her signature 3T-3T once again did not impress.The first jump covered good distance. But it was not high. The second jump was not performed well. 2 benchmarks: Sotnikova and Osmond when we talk about big time jumps. Daleman is nowhere near. She skated with enthusiasm but that was it. After Kaori she looked like "missed the right group".

Karen Chen was not particularly impressive. Once again the benchmark was Kaori. Even jumping mistake aside she tried to skate beautifully but something was missing. Her signature spiral was like: "guys, did not you forget that I can do it while others do not even try". At this time it's like famous Medvedeva's element towards the end of her programs - don't know how it is called. It was fresh and impressive when she started to do it. Now with all my love to Zhenya my reaction to it is more like "come on, are you serious".

Elizabeth Tursynbaeva's skating is not my cup of tea. It is sloppy: the impression was that a child was skating. There was also some strange jump preparation at the beginning. It looked like she was preparing for a quad. May be I just imagined that - it was in the area where the view was partially blocked.

Finally Dabin Choi made me happy again. She delivered beautifully. I just thought that she could have broken 70 with that program.

Thank you for a wonderful report. I totally agree about Daleman- it is exactly my impression about her- an average skater. She has accomplished a lot, a girl has a strong will and determination,.

 

[evasorange]

I was there yesterday! I was up in the second to last row but still feel like I had a pretty good view! My number one of the night has to be Kaitlyn. I’m baffled that she’s not in first. I would love to see a judging break of just how and why Evgenia and Alina were able to earn 3+4 more points then her. Kaitlyn had higher jumps with more ice coverage, supreme musical interpretation, and from where I was sitting harder entrances into jumps(that could be wrong though). Even with the backloading she still should have been able to come out on top based on pcs...I enjoyed Alina, I would have put her in front of Evegenia based her jump combo alone, it was lighting fast and really impressive! Some movement felt a bit sloppy(was thinking she needs Misha Ge to come in and teach her sharpness), all in all the performance was solid and enjoyable but definitely not record breaking(I don’t think any performance was). Evgenia was good but honestly found it to be a bit...stale? Idk what the word is I’m looking for but the jumps just felt a bit labored and the performance just wasn’t a strong as we saw with Kaitlyn. The skate just didn’t captivate me like I wanted it to. It was my first time seeing Carolina live and she did not disappoint! Such grace such elegance and such interpretation that can only come from an artist soul and maturity. I though her jumps were ok, but let’s just be real you don’t come to a Carolina Kostner program for jumps hahah. Gabby Daleman I was excited to see but I really just don’t like this program(the music sounds even more shrill in an arena then on tv) Mirai was heartbreak, everyone around me was holding their breath through the triple axel setup but it wasn’t meant to be. She recovered but it just took the wind out of the program. Karen I was expecting a Jeremy Abbott style meltdown and so was pleasantly surprised to see a skate that was shaky but still had good moments. Bradie I though fit right in with the first group of skaters. Also I thought the audience was a bit lackluster no one got a full standing ovation and overall it just wasn’t as hyped a crowd as the men’s event was.

All in all it was so excited to be able to watch the top women compete on Olympic ice!! We are still hoping and praying to find cheap free skate tickets! It’s going to be such an exciting battle for
Gold!

 

[withwings]

Thank you evasorange

In my unprofessional eyes, Kaetlyn was the first, too. Unfortunately she is not Russian so it never will happen.

 

[[email protected]]

Wow, AMAZING seats! Who are the people sitting in the second row behind the judges?

These were the people with 2 monitors: the judge monitor and TV monitor. I don't know who they were.

 

[[email protected]]

OK, about the last group.

Why Medvedeva receives the scores she receives? Her program is just one harmonic piece, a story she is telling doing the jumps because they are supposed to be there. No other skater left the same impression here - Kaori was sort of close, then Satoko only then Alina. There was a family of American big time private banker (we had a small chat in New Horizons lounge after the event). They admitted they were not that knowledgeable about figure skating. The lady said: "Perfection" after Medvedeva finished with shaking her head and smiling. And I agree with her. Whoever does not see this perfection - it's fully their problem.

I liked Satoko's skating - beautiful and delicate. Still Medvedeva and Sakamoto were better. Her jumps, though. I could see an UR in her 3T at the beginning - it was a clear 270 degree hook left on ice - judging by her score she was not called. One more time, Diana Nikitina wuzrobbed. She deserved the free skate.

I saw Osmond live for the first time. Impressive - by all means. The best - by no means. Her program had 2 clear parts not aesthecically connected. In the first part she skates very fast - I think together with Mirai they were the fastest. Her jumps are jaw-dropping. But then come "buts". Lutz was right in front of me. Come on, it was from very inside edge - it was clear with 0 doubts about that - was it called? Then the first part had very few transitions - it was straight line fast skating from one element to another - they skated like that before for better or for worse. New generation: Medvedeva, Zagitova, Satoko, Sakamoto - they all skate differently. In the second half when she started the step sequence her speed dropped at least twice - that's the answer to the "speed quest": no transitions - big speed and vice versa. I don't complain about her score - her jumps are the biggest, no doubt (I would still place Kaori higher). Her signature program looks better on TV than live.

Zagitova was good but not as perfect as at the Europeans. It relates only to just a couple moments when her arm movements were a bit jerky. The rest was of the same highest quality (the Americans turned to me another time with big kudos). She has a balanced beautiful program. She performs it with a little less excellence than Medvedeva. I would score them equally at 82.0

Kostner was good but not as good as in Moscow. I was on my feet there (together with the half of the crowd) after she finished. Not here. There were Italians in front of us who just came for the last group. They were very disappointed when she skated. They liked the score, though.

Finally Sotskova was clearly not in the mood or can she be in the mood at all now: Nationals - no, Europeans - no. I compared her with Kostner once. Seeing her right after Caro I understand that she is far from her - very far. She was slow and heavy. No finesse, nothing - it was another time, why is she in this group? Sorry, Maria, you had many chances by now. I would like to see someone else as Russia's #3 in Milano.

 

[OniBan]

Wanted to post since the free dance event but the moment my head touches the pillow in the hostel - I fell asleep
I must be less fit than I should be because damn, the commute to the Olympic Park by bus (if you are on a budget like me) is quite arduous because there is a lot of walking involved to and from shuttle bus to the next transportation hub. And the Olympic Park is really impressively huge and the Ice Arena is right at one end of it from my usual entrance point. So yes- much walking and very tired at the end of the day.

So I am just gonna write about the short program ladies and the training session. It won't be as comprehensive as samkrut's because I will only write what I mostly remember about the event.

 

[OniBan]

Ladies SP (not in order of performers because I am just typing as I remember it)

Not much that stands out to me here much except that Isadora William did a lot better than she did in Sochi. I thought her performance was lovely and I was quite moved actually XD glad to see she qualifies for the free skate.

Bradie Tennell is very efficient in her delivery of the program, and that is a word I use deliberately. Jumps aside she was all .. angular and juniorish. Her program is delivered well but it doesn't move me. She will definitely have time to develop her artistry and performance skills. Also the fall in the opening combo surprised me.

Not sure what happened to Mae's skating in general though she remained a very enthusiastic performer. I remember a time I thought she was going to be a force to be reckoned with. Time will tell.

Quite disappointed to see Mirai's 3A didn't work out as it should though it is only because I was really looking forward to witness it in person. Hopefully will see it in the free skate. Thought her step sequence was a bit plodding towards the end though that could just be my vantage point.

I have always enjoyed Karen Chen's On Golden Pond SP and I thought out of the US ladies she is the most artistic on ice, but there's something not quite inspiring about her performance this time around.

Who else did I miss? Oh Dabin Choi I thought did really well- clean and projected more than she did before and was cheered on most enthusiastically. Good marks for her all around.

Gabby Daleman I think.. is efficient. I think she may be a waist-up skater - where the expression and interpretation happens waist up (facial expressions, shimmies, poses etc) but not really on the skates. Big jumps though. Just.. ok for me, nothing that particularly stands out.

 

[OniBan]

Carolina Kostner - I will be honest and I may get lambasted for this: I expected to be more impressed. Perhaps my seats were not great so I don't have a good vantage point; but I was expecting to be blown away by her skating skills like I did with Patrick Chan. Unfortunately that didn't quite happen. She also wasn't as fast as people often say she is. So i think her current placement is fair.

Satoko - she has arguably one of the best skating skills in the ladies now and I will argue to the death that her PCS should be above Kaetlyn's and perhaps even Alina (though Alina has much better jumps). By now I concede that Satoko has tiny jumps and though it is proportionate to her tiny body, it does make it much less impressive than taller ladies with bigger jumps. By now it's clear that the judges link PCS proportionately to jumping abilities so Satoko is probably forever going to be rewarded less in that segment than what she deserve. This program showcases her beautiful skating and Satoko for me is NOT a waist up skater- watch her feet and she will have something interesting going on.

 

[treeloving]

I am so glad many of you who watch it live found Satoko to be amazing.

 

[OniBan]

Kaetlyn Osmond - I am quite fond of Kaetlyn - I always thought she had such great potential before the unfortunate event where she broke her leg. Am glad to see her living up to it. She has huge jumps and good speed on ice and a generally impressive performance ability that appeals to the audience in a much more extroverted way than skaters like Satoko. However I won't go as far as saying she should be tied for first as some people do because I think a lot of that performance is waist-up rather than down on the skates. Some people like the theatrics and it is part and parcel of the sport but it IS a skating competition and expression done through skating should be prioritised.
I do think though if she goes clean in the free skate she will medal.

Medvedeva- this is my first time seeing her live and I have to admit I have a lot of presumptions. A lot of people say she doesn't live up to her marks and i expected to see something less inspiring - like a skater just going thru the elements; like skate by number.
But to my genuine surprise - not only she is fast, but she is smooth. As in the elements between the jumps are smoothly executed to produce a overall complete program that isn't jarring and nor did it take you out of the moment. I enjoyed her program and her performance- it has a lot of interesting elements that makes one appreciate her skills, and she did not make you break out of that moment.
This girl is good, really good. Waist up and waist down skater
Just goes to show you really have to watch figure skating in person to appreciate it and make informed decision from such viewings.

Alina - also my first time viewing her live. I was less impressed by her in terms of artistic performance compared to Medvedeva and Satoko - but holy hell can this girl jump and can she do the program anymore efficiently? Her technique is good, hence the consistency. I thought her step sequence is a bit 'choppy' as in it is obviously a 'i'm going into my step sequence now' moment as opposed to smoothly slide into the segment so it seems connected and less jarring but I cannot deny that she is able to interpret that program to the T and perform elements to the phrasing of the music (which is not easy given how her program is choreographed).
Not sure if I agree her PCS should be that close to Medvedeva but as we see with Nathan Chen - if U have the skills to execute jumps well, your PCS must follow.
I have to say there is something very appealing about Alina despite what I said of her performance ability - I think she is charismatic and carries an air of one older than her age. While she still needs some polish, it's not the performance of a gangly, awkward 15 year old. So if that counts into the parts and parcel of that complex sport of figure skating, then I can understand why it has the judges scoring her PCS the way they do.

 

[OniBan]

Maria Sotskova - I find her to be a lovely looking lady with beautiful presence on the ice. But after her fall it's like something just fell apart. Her performance fail to extend to be more inspiring and I personally thought by the time she got to her step sequence it was quite plodding. Hopefully she will bounce back in the free. Tbh I'm not quite sure to expect from her as this is also my first time watching her.

Kaori Sakamoto - this lady - if she can retain her consistency and polish her artistry , would really be a force to be reckoned with. She is very much a waist-down skater - good skills on the feet and knees and has the technical content. Her short program is impressive, tho I think her performance immaturity may show up more in the free skate. But like bradie, that polish will hopefully come with time n practice.

 

[OniBan]

Also a first - today I got to watch the training session of the ladies! I got lost on the way over and missed the first group of ladies but managed to get there in time for the rest. Met up with the awesome SamL (who is basically my skating viewing buddy since yesterday) and we scooted over to the seats nearest to where the skaters n coaches come out during their session. They were just right there!! So was kind of in awe of they were right there in the flesh at the Olympics less than a few metres away and I was fortunate enough to see them.

Training session was interesting to see how diff skating team works with their respective skaters. Team Satoko was super diligent - Satoko would do her jump / an element and her coach would record it and review it with her right after. And she will go off on ice to attempt to correct it. If anything that people want to find beef with Satoko (and there are many in this forum, I know) one thing you can't accuse her of is laziness/ complacency.

It also rather amusing to see Brian change team jacket twice during practice XD

Also a little funny thing - I have some little gifts that I wanted to give to skaters I find impressive. It was a phone strap with a wooden medallion with some laser cut design and the words 'Born to Make History' on it. I chose to give them to Satoko and Medvedeva. So with just around 5 min to the end of the practice session, I ran to the area just above where they would exit from the ice and got my gifts ready. I was not sure how I would pass it to them so I thought I would just shout their names so they would look up and upon which I would toss the gift to them.

Medvedeva came off the ice first and some guy came up to talk to her and gave her a bunch of pins. So I waited. And when he was done talking to her, she went past and into the 'tunnel' area with this laser like focus that my meagre attempt of shouting her name went unnoticed. So as a last ditch attempt- I tossed the packet (it was wrapped in plastic with a thick card backing) towards her.

And it clipped her right on the ear.

She clapped her a hand to her ear because I think the edges of packet must have grazed it and I could see she went 'ow' and looked up and around to see who did it! Oh god I could not feel worse because I sure did not mean to hurt her In that moment I could only just apologize profusely while wishing the ground would just swallow me already.

But she picked up the packet from the ground and looked at me- so I yelled out 'it's for you!' Incredibly, she broke into this huge smile and waved back and pocketed the gift. So that made me feel a bit better. Though seriously if that was me clipped in the ear by an errant flying gift, I would be quite annoyed, and rightly so. Sorry again, Medvedeva!!

When it was Satoko's turn to come off the ice, I have learned my lesson from the previous fiasco and yelled out her name loud enough to get her to look up just before she entered the 'tunnel' (the area between the spectators' stairway).
So I was able to toss her the gift without any weird incident, phew. Satoko was incredibly sweet - she looked surprised to receive something, and was very gracious about it.

So mission accomplished - I managed to deliver my gifts. Though I would prefer it to be less injurious to a skater should there be a next time.