2019-20 Canadian Figure Skating
- Thread starter Colonel Green
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The costuming/hair is definitely like Kevin.
Aleksa's actual performances don't much remind me of Kevin, because he's much more musical than Kevin ever was (especially early on), but you can definitely see the similarities from their shared coach.
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Yes, of course Aleksa is already superior to Kevin in terms of his connection to the music (that's why I want that boy to be saved!
) , but it really is striking how strong Joanne's influence is on her students.
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Was thinking similar. He has so much potential and the lightness of his jumps was a thing of beauty. Hopefully in the next few years he can incorporate more speed and strength in his skating style, but a well deserved medal here.
Congrats Aleksa!
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B&B were def. robbed here. Somewhere Didier is slugging his usual (champagne & vodka), while recounting his fond memories from Salt Lake. :sarcasm:
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Aleksa's post-LP interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stHuvLr7_o4
Skate Canada article: https://skatecanada.ca/2019/08/canadas-rakic-wins-silver-at-isu-junior-grand-prix/
Skate Canada article: https://skatecanada.ca/2019/08/canadas-rakic-wins-silver-at-isu-junior-grand-prix/
I noticed it right away, even in the SP.
B&B made three obvious mistakes between their two programs: his mucked up twizzles, his mistep in the pattern, her trip in the footwork. They will learn from the experience & live to fight another day. (Better if they are not fed nonsense from fans about having been robbed when they did not skate their best). And there was never any reason to expect them to defeat Demougeot & Le Mercier with a clean skate in the first place. Reason to think it might be possible if D&LM mucked up, but not with B&B mucking up themselves. B&B outscored their own international debut this season by over 15 points. They outscored their PB by over 10. This despite the mistakes. They should be quite happy with those scores. I'd like to see them work on fewer crossovers, but this was a very nice result for them in only their 2nd JGP season.
As far as D&LM are concerned, were they a bit overmarked here? Yes, I think it's likely. I thought they were overmarked at Junior Worlds too. (They had mistakes there). But I really like them as a team. This will be an interesting season for them as there is all kinds of opportunity on the JGP, and they are in a good place experience-wise to break through onto podiums; but with that opportunity comes expectation, and they have a lot of learning to do about this level of competition.
French judge actually marked K&V's FD very low (they were contenders for D/LM afterall). He is the only judge with no positive GOE on the step sequence (Canadian judge gave a +2).
It is Italy and US that helped to put V&K on the podium along with, as expected, Belarus, Hungary and Russia. Canadian and German judges were strongly in favour of B&B over K&V. Yuri Balkov just overscored everyone.
The tech team could have given K/V an additional deduction because it took them too long to recover from the fall. If they had, B/B would have ended up 3rd. I'd think the Canadian asst tech spec would have been in favor of that, and the British tech spec may have disagreed. The Russian TC would have resolved that issue in favor of K/V---i.e. no additional deduction.
If the deduction had been taken, it wouldn't have mattered much how the judges marked the PCS.
If the deduction had been taken, it wouldn't have mattered much how the judges marked the PCS.
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Alla Shekhovtseva, is the controversal judge from the ladies event in Sochi. Remember the hug? She once stated that "the talks about my influence are greatly exaggerated". Indeed. :sarcasm:
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YUP. I thought the same about the interruption of the FD which was not penalized... and same thing for other elements, also in the RD that came HIGHER in the scoring box for BB, and then, after review were all taken down one level... from memory, BB had 7/8 keypoints, they lost one on the official scoring sheet, then, they had a higher twizzle level for Aissa, which was lowered once more , I think that one is fine to be lowered though
and there was the step sequence which originally came in at level 3 and ended up at level 2.... so the RD, even with the mistake was supposed to score a couple points higher but 'someone intervened" ....Also, in the FD, the fall wasn't the only mistake from KV : bobbles happened elsewhere, like on one of the lifts etc... Emmy and Aissa were not flawless but they paid for their mistakes dearly, while KV were often given a get out of jail for free card.
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Aissa visibly made an error toward the end of the RD pattern — people in the competition thread were initially confused about it being called as Level 4; it being revised down isn’t some conspiracy. Teams lose (or gain) levels on review as a matter of course.also in the RD that came HIGHER in the scoring box for BB, and then, after review were all taken down one level... from memory, BB had 7/8 keypoints, they lost one on the official scoring sheet, then, they had a higher twizzle level for Aissa, which was lowered once more , I think that one is fine to be lowered though
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I thought what happeed in the competition thread stays in the competition thread?
Sorry to be redundant to you, but some of us do not have access to those threads so we haven't discussed this before. If Aissa indeed made a mistake at the end of the pattern, fair enough. What about the step sequence then... ? What about the 3 bobbles of the Russians in the FD that didn't get any devaluation from the TP nor the judges? Ted mentioned it very clearly : KV's FD was a hot mess.... I am not the kind to preach for conspiracy... I usually say to everyone : well... the judges see it from the rink and know better than we do. I usually bow down and accept gently all kinds of results in figure skating... but this event was a bit much for me. And sure, I love BB, have followed them since Aissa decided he had made a mistake going to skate singles and returned to dance....but here, if i were disappointed about the twizzles and were willing to accept a low score, when other teams didn't get penalized as much for their flagrant mistakes, I had a change of heart. Not sure I feel like quietly accepting every single result anymore... especially not in the junior world. I will not comment further on this. Please leave me with my personal thoughts... I am well aware people will disagree with me, I mean, the ranking of the event proves that
To further show I am moving on : I have watched Aleksa's interview... Funny enough, unlike some of you folks, I was not surprised he would skate clean at this event. Aleksa often does skate clean (of course, he had some issues with growth recently).. in any case, I had ranked him in the top 5 before the event... I thought he would go clean but may be in trouble for his lack of speed or 3axel.
His interview pleased me very much as he said " I focused on what I can do and not on the results" This is WHAT I PREACH all the time... It's the basis of all neuro linguistic programming for performers. This is the best way to relieve anyone's anxiety. " you know what you can do, you worked for it... go and do it, forget everything else" BANG... So, I know MANY complain about McLeod, but I will give her that, or at least someone on her team, the boy has a good head... and goes to competition with the right approach... Maybe it has nothing to do with the coaching team, considering a few headcases there though.. but in any case, bravo Aleksa. Ted asked him if h played the piano, I knew the answer right away. He does move like someone who understands music. So I discovered this weekend a bit more about the young man that makes Aleksa the skater he is, and I am very happy about that. He is calm and smart, has a good head and prepares his mental game very well. May he obtain other successes in a near future, may he improves his speed and flow... may he get a 3a for XMAS
I know... this is a bit much to ask all in one year... he has some time ahead of him of course.
I also got Kevin vibes when I first saw Aleksa, but I think it may have been the hair style or the body type more than anything skating related.
I'm more concerned about the female skaters under McLeod than the men. Don't get me wrong, there were many moments where I hoped Reynolds would change coaches and was happy when Nam moved to the Cricket. And Aleksa may well benefit from a change in coach at some point in the future. But at the moment, things seem to be working and progressing. If Aleksa does indeed have a strong mental game, he could do well with McLeod (think Sandhu without the inconsistency).
I'm more concerned about the female skaters under McLeod than the men. Don't get me wrong, there were many moments where I hoped Reynolds would change coaches and was happy when Nam moved to the Cricket. And Aleksa may well benefit from a change in coach at some point in the future. But at the moment, things seem to be working and progressing. If Aleksa does indeed have a strong mental game, he could do well with McLeod (think Sandhu without the inconsistency).
I don't get Kevin vibes from Aleksa really. I do get Joanne's awful axel technique from him though. I can see him hitting a brick wall quickly with the 3A.
I am concerned about the men because all of her men over the years had scary axel technique. They also have poor speed.
I think the difference between Mcleod coaching the men and the ladies is that she has had men in general who had a better feel for line and music ( Reynolds excepted ).
I agree that Aleksa has a strong mental game. It is the strongest of any of the junior or senior men in Canada.
