2023 World Figure Skating Championships Men's Free Skate

[BlissfulSynergy]

Shout out to the men's discipline! Clearly, practically everyone is hugely talented. This can be noted in the fact that everyone except the last place finisher, scored over 200 pts (albeit that the sp scores trended upward for a few guys simply because the judges were obviously trying to protect particular guys from the chopping block). Aside from a few notable exceptions, the men's field is interesting and entertaining. Also, it's obvious that the sport does not know how to manage this wealth of talent. More on this aspect later.

Overall, a good event. However, I disagree so much with the scoring, in many instances. It also left a very sour feeling for me the way TPTB felt it crucial to cut 10 guys!!! If they were going to cut, with this wealth of talent, they should have cut only six, leaving the fp field at 28. They could have had 5 fp groupings of five, five, six, six, six. It would have been much fairer, under the circumstances. I know Conrad Orzel had a pop on a jump in the sp and thus he missed points. But Conrad had a good season vs Morisi K, who was heavily protected and padded on PCS in both programs, so unfairly. Give good skaters in their Worlds debut a friggin' chance to compete the entire event!! More on this aspect later.

Of the final result, quite a number of guys are unfairly lowballed on PCS, especially Deniss Vasiljevs! Maybe if Deniss considered cutting his hair and presenting himself with a neater, more pulled together look? Would that help with the judges, I wonder. I thought Deniss should have finished at least two spots higher.

Best performances in the fp: back-to-back Jason Brown and Kevin Aymoz, then later, Junhwan Cha!!! Too bad that couldn't have been the podium result.

There was so much energy in the arena after Jason and Kevin. I thought Keegan might ride the wave, but it was probably hard for him to contain and manage all the energy, in addition to his own high adrenalin and emotions. Still, he did okay in his final Worlds comp. Kudos to Keegan! He will be missed. But I'm happy for him that he finished with a bang and will now have more time to spend with his family. Canada fortunately still has two spots for men due to Keegan. And the U.S. still has three spots for men, largely thanks to Jason Brown.

IMO, Ilia Malinin should have placed 4th, Shomo Uno 2nd, Kevin Aymoz 3rd, and Junhwan Cha deserved to win!!!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

To me, Ilia's messy technical skate here was more from nerves than lack of ability. He has shown he can earn very high GOE on the 4Lz, 4F, and 4A too. He just didn't do so last night and received fair marks for that effort. I think he gets a bit shaky when he's suddenly in the mix at a big competition or there's a lot of expectation going into the LP (2022 and 2023 Worlds, 2023 Nationals) whereas he skates lights out when he's coming from behind (Skate America, GPF). He's going to have to learn how to deal with the pressure and find his confidence, because he's only going to find himself in these situations more.

Ilia is still very young. They don't give him a lot on PCS, and that's fair at the moment. He has room to grow. When others skate the programs of their lives, combining technique with superb artistry and interpretation, it isn't fair to see guys with talent, but messy performances, get the medals. It was exactly right to scrutinize Ilia's URs and takedown points from his high tech score to prevent Ilia landing in second over Junhwan's stellar performance.

I think Ilia's camp need to focus on Ilia staying healthy, working on his creative side, and scaling back a bit on feeling like he has to do the quad-axel all the time. It's a long way to the next Olympics, so Ilia needs to pace himself. The U.S. media over-focused on Ilia doing the 4-axel, and it backfired. Too much pressure and emphasis on that one jump, IMO. It looked slightly under rotated at this event, and he flubbed it at U.S. Nationals. Scale it back a bit during the early season, while still training it safely.

I know Shoma has a mesmerizing talent. But he's not an untouchable God, or is he? Why was Stephane exclaiming how wonderful Shoma was, when Shoma did not skate his best? Shoma has rarely skated clean performances, but he has mostly always made the podium. I hope he's not going to be babied to the top of the podium when he makes mistakes, straight through the next Olympics.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

Honestly, Boyang Jin is talented and likeable. I just feel that the Chinese fed has put everything into Jin, at the exclusion of wonderful Han Yan. They should have supported both of them. By supporting both, perhaps they both would have flourished. What we end up with is a perennially injured Jin, and Han Yan having to retire without fully reaching his potential, largely due to lack of financial and training support. Too much has been extended on Jin, with meager results. Now he's a reclamation project at the Cricket Club. He's a good jumper, but very inconsistent. Despite all the choreo help in the world, he's not a musically interpretive skater. I guess he's lucky in being able to train around Jason Brown. Sigh... Still, Jin will never have the SS and artistry of Han Yan.

 

[viennaskater]

I personally think Kevin deserved third place rather than Malinin. Malinin is not yet a complete skater - he is of course a great talent but has plenty of time to develop. Too much emphasis on the tech side and not enough on artistry and components.

 

[viennaskater]

Don't want to be mean, but Malinin's face (and his dad's) when the points were showed was something. Almost like, ”Wait, I won't be champion? But, but I landed a 4A and a gazillion of quads..."
It must be sad to work so hard in figure skating and then seeing bronze medal as a failure, no joy after all the work...And then the fans complaining instead of congratulating or feeling joy. Many skaters who only reach, say, top 10 appear happier with their careers than some of these quad gods and goddesses.
And I blame the inflated hype about the most revolutions always and only gold counts (the toxic competitiveness culture)-when a casual viewer doesn't even distinguish between a tripe and a quadruple...
At least that's how I've seen it and see it.
At the end of the day not many people will remember, "Oh, this skater got this many medals, this many gold, this many this, this many that", but skaters like Jason Brown will forever be iconic and superstars in whichever rink they set foot in and seeing Jason so happy so many times competition after competition when the points were announced is really exciting.
(Sorry for my English)

You are not mean - I totally agree. In my book Malinin should not have even got a medal. He's still young, he has years to develop. He should also develop a more sportsmanlike attitude.

We don't want to risk seeing another deplorable display of sour grapes like Trusova at the 2022 Olympics ... my God!

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

^^ Ilia has a fine attitude. He's confident in himself, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't think we need to nitpick him or tear him down. He had a rough performance on a couple of elements, but he didn't fall apart, and he had a very strong sp. I'd have liked to see Kevin on the podium, but looking at the event again, I do get why they rewarded Ilia -- his high tech content is valued. And his aesthetics will get better as he matures. If Kevin can get another quad, maybe that will help. If Jason could get one quad, that would make a huge difference. That's just how the sport rolls -- it revolves around quad revolution expertise (sadly even to the point of tech content impacting PCS scoring).

The top guys who skated perfect, put a lot of pressure on Ilia and Shoma. But that's a good thing. When adversity and struggle is faced, it can help an athlete grow and hone their talent. What Nathan Chen endured at the 2018 Olympics is how he was able to come back over the next four years to win everything and to be practically perfect nearly every time he skated. Nathan set such a high bar, the judges never gave him the margin for error that Shoma often gets.

After going back to take another look at the top performances, I have to amend my earlier comments somewhat. Shoma did not make too many mistakes. There was that one error on a jump when he got too close to the boards, and then he singled a planned triple in a combo. He was also saving several landings, but with his deep knee bend, those landings were okay, despite the obvious effort. And this would be why Stephane told Shoma he was 'wonderful.' I get it now.

Because Shoma has extraordinary abilities, the judges get swept away and give him lots of margin for error. In the heat of a competition though, it's kind of hard to accept errors when other guys give it their all and skate clean performances. Last year, in Montpelier, Shoma made one minor mistake in the fp and he was exquisite in the sp. He really came into his own, and it was lovely to witness. But, Shoma's top competition wasn't as close as this year in Japan. Yuma Kagiyama was very good, but he had mistakes. Vincent Zhou wasn't perfect, but came in third. Camden Pulkinen had the cleanest two performances, but only came in fifth. Camden should have made the podium.

So from year to year, the top positions may change due to the huge depth of talent among the men. If Shoma stays motivated by those around him, he'll probably remain at the top. Shoma has said he is motivated to please the people who believe in him.

ETA:
I don't think Kevin Aymoz is given enough credit for how influential his skating has been. Lots of guys are inspired by his innovative athleticism, just as much as everyone has been inspired by Nathan's technical prowess and his unique way of moving over the ice.

 

[4everchan]

Shoma's planned content said 4t-2t...
I actually believe that there was no room on either of his quad toes to fit a proper combo.. they were both tight and Q.
I think he was brilliant to add the single toe in there to avoid the +REP.

 

[mskater93]

You are not mean - I totally agree. In my book Malinin should not have even got a medal. He's still young, he has years to develop. He should also develop a more sportsmanlike attitude.

We don't want to risk seeing another deplorable display of sour grapes like Trusova at the 2022 Olympics ... my God!

I think Malinin was more disappointed in his mistakes than placement or anything else. He came off the ice and didn't flash that trademark smile at his dad like he does when he knows that's the best he could do on that day. He was looking disappointed, even as he finished the program and long before his score came up. When you've trained and trained and things don't go as well as you've trained, of course you're going to be disappointed! Maybe he was also feeling relief because he said he felt pressure to land the 4A so as to not disappoint the expectations of skating fans? In his post event presser comments, I didn't see anything resembling poor sportsmanship or sour grapes. He said he has to work on his presentation and artistic side and maybe will scale back the tech a little next season so he can focus on style development. How is that poor sportsmanship?

 

[Jeanie19]

^^ Ilia has a fine attitude. He's confident in himself, and there's nothing wrong with that. I don't think we need to nitpick him or tear him down. He had a rough performance on a couple of elements, but he didn't fall apart, and he had a very strong sp. I'd have liked to see Kevin on the podium, but looking at the event again, I do get why they rewarded Ilia -- his high tech content is valued. And his aesthetics will get better as he matures. If Kevin can get another quad, maybe that will help. If Jason could get one quad, that would make a huge difference. That's just how the sport rolls -- it revolves around quad revolution expertise (sadly even to the point of tech content impacting PCS scoring).

The top guys who skated perfect, put a lot of pressure on Ilia and Shoma. But that's a good thing. When adversity and struggle is faced, it can help an athlete grow and hone their talent. What Nathan Chen endured at the 2018 Olympics is how he was able to come back over the next four years to win everything and to be practically perfect nearly every time he skated. Nathan set such a high bar, the judges never gave him the margin for error that Shoma often gets.

After going back to take another look at the top performances, I have to amend my earlier comments somewhat. Shoma did not make too many mistakes. There was that one error on a jump when he got too close to the boards, and then he singled a planned triple in a combo. He was also saving several landings, but with his deep knee bend, those landings were okay, despite the obvious effort. And this would be why Stephane told Shoma he was 'wonderful.' I get it now.

Because Shoma has extraordinary abilities, the judges get swept away and give him lots of margin for error. In the heat of a competition though, it's kind of hard to accept errors when other guys give it their all and skate clean performances. Last year, in Montpelier, Shoma made one minor mistake in the fp and he was exquisite in the sp. He really came into his own, and it was lovely to witness. But, Shoma's top competition wasn't as close as this year in Japan. Yuma Kagiyama was very good, but he had mistakes. Vincent Zhou wasn't perfect, but came in third. Camden Pulkinen had the cleanest two performances, but only came in fifth. Camden should have made the podium.

So from year to year, the top positions may change due to the huge depth of talent among the men. If Shoma stays motivated by those around him, he'll probably remain at the top. Shoma has said he is motivated to please the people who believe in him.

ETA:
I don't think Kevin Aymoz is given enough credit for how influential his skating has been. Lots of guys are inspired by his innovative athleticism, just as much as everyone has been inspired by Nathan's technical prowess and his unique way of moving over the ice.

I think Kevin should have received a small bronze medal for the free program. And I totally agree that Kevin has not been given enough credit for his innovative athleticism. His programs are far from cookie cutter. If he had done a 4T3T as well as his 4T, that would have been enough.

 

[icybear]

Don't want to be mean, but Malinin's face (and his dad's) when the points were showed was something. Almost like, ”Wait, I won't be champion? But, but I landed a 4A and a gazillion of quads..."
It must be sad to work so hard in figure skating and then seeing bronze medal as a failure, no joy after all the work...And then the fans complaining instead of congratulating or feeling joy. Many skaters who only reach, say, top 10 appear happier with their careers than some of these quad gods and goddesses.
And I blame the inflated hype about the most revolutions always and only gold counts (the toxic competitiveness culture)-when a casual viewer doesn't even distinguish between a tripe and a quadruple...
At least that's how I've seen it and see it.
At the end of the day not many people will remember, "Oh, this skater got this many medals, this many gold, this many this, this many that", but skaters like Jason Brown will forever be iconic and superstars in whichever rink they set foot in and seeing Jason so happy so many times competition after competition when the points were announced is really exciting.
(Sorry for my English)

Wait so skaters arent even allowed to be disappointed? Its one thing to be crying and shouting at your coaches with mascara running down your eyes. Its another thing to "just not smile". When France loss the WC final, people didnt give them flack for not celebrating their sliver medal while other teams were celebrating reaching the semi or even the last 16. Its about what you aim to reach. Obviously Malinin was aiming for gold or silver and with 6 quads, its not like thats egoistic of him to expect so since the scoring books would dictate so. What is so wrong about doing high tech program and just thinking you would score well. Maybe he didnt realise he had so many UR for his tech to drop.

As for the last part, I think Malinin couldnt care less about missing out on being "world most adored skater". He wants them olympic and world gold. I think if Evgenia had to choose between the real pyeongchang gold medal and the fake plastic "people's champion" medal her fans made her, she would smash that fake thing up and take the real gold. So yeah olympic gold do matter to skaters not getting the biggest fandom.

 

[icewhite]

I think Kevin should have received a small bronze medal for the free program. And I totally agree that Kevin has not been given enough credit for his innovative athleticism. His programs are far from cookie cutter. If he had done a 4T3T as well as his 4T, that would have been enough.

A very small part in me was also thinking "what if he actually put in the 4T3T". He showed in the short that he was able to do it. But in the end a 4th place is above what I had hoped for and two clean skates are just wonderful to always look back on. Who knows if a harder combination would not have screwed things up... He clearly went for a clean program instead, also preparing his jumps much more carefully (aka telegraphing them) than he usually does.

I am honestly always left wondering a bit why people adore other skaters like Brown and Cha and Messing so much and do not appreciate Kevin in the same way. They are all great in their own way, so I'm also a bit reluctant to compare them, but sometimes I think about it nonetheless and fail to see how Jason is so superior to Kevin. Sure, he does have qualities that Kevin doesn't have, like his flexibility, but it is also the other way around. In my eyes the speed that Kevin has, his footwork, his precision, the way he hits every beat, his attention to every nuance in the music, his transitions, are amazing. And then the bunch of original moves he brought to the ice...

I mean, in general I was content with the way he was scored at this event. But the judges who gave him 8s in skating skills or composition when he skates clean... I don't really understand that. I tend to think it is because he doesn't fit in the classic way a "beautiful" skater has to flow across the ice. I suppose he has too many stops and artistic elements in his choreo for them. And not enough facial expression or something...

 

[Magill]

Wait so skaters arent even allowed to be disappointed? Its one thing to be crying and shouting at your coaches with mascara running down your eyes. Its another thing to "just not smile". When France loss the WC final, people didnt give them flack for not celebrating their sliver medal while other teams were celebrating reaching the semi or even the last 16. Its about what you aim to reach. Obviously Malinin was aiming for gold or silver and with 6 quads, its not like thats egoistic of him to expect so since the scoring books would dictate so. What is so wrong about doing high tech program and just thinking you would score well. Maybe he didnt realise he had so many UR for his tech to drop.

As for the last part, I think Malinin couldnt care less about missing out on being "world most adored skater". He wants them olympic and world gold. I think if Evgenia had to choose between the real pyeongchang gold medal and the fake plastic "people's champion" medal her fans made her, she would smash that fake thing up and take the real gold. So yeah olympic gold do matter to skaters not getting the biggest fandom.

Sure he wants gold. Many of them do, but only one can get it each year for Worlds and one every four years - the OGM. No guarantee Malinin will EVER get it, no matter how hard he tries. Just in case he fails, it does not hurt to be at least somewhat adored and adorable...
And yes, if a 17 or 18 year old with no international title calls himself a quadgod - or any "god" if we're at it - and announces that "his era has arrived and is here for everyone to see", what he shows is not self-confidence but a bit of an unhealthy ego too big for his shoes. Closing the season as he had started it, with no international title.... well, sure he's disappointed as hell, but .... honestly, ain't this the irony which he was asking for all the way? Wouldn't it hurt less and feel better if was not preceded by all this fanfaronade? In the end of the day, even his quads were far, far from being godly, as his GOEs showed. Not to mention his components....
Comparing him to France at WC is completely missed. France at the time was a multiple World Champion while Malinin is just aspiring to any international title. As for now, he has not won any yet.

 

[anonymoose_au]

Wow Grassl was really punished. There's been a clear, undeniable trend based on coach, background, associations. It doesn't change medals, but let's hope it doesn't get to that point.

Well Daniel has often had surprisingly low TES when the scores come up, even before his move. I'm terrible at spotting under rotations so I was always unpleasantly surprised, but I don't think the judges were targetting him because of his coach. The tech panel just doesn't like his jumps very much - he does have the look up in the air position Boyang has - although Boyang seems to be doing it less these days now that he's with Brian.

I enjoy watching Daniel so I hope he can regroup over the off-season and have a great 2023-2024 season!

 

[icewhite]

Well Daniel has often had surprisingly low TES when the scores come up, even before his move. I'm terrible at spotting under rotations so I was always unpleasantly surprised, but I don't think the judges were targetting him because of his coach. The tech panel just doesn't like his jumps very much - he does have the look up in the air position Boyang has - although Boyang seems to be doing it less these days now that he's with Brian.

I enjoy watching Daniel so I hope he can regroup over the off-season and have a great 2023-2024 season!

He is just one these skaters who are very dependent on the tech panel. It's similar to Vincent Zhou who suddenly at the WC fell down to the scoring grounds. While the scoring in WC and Olympics has generally been better in past years than in the GPs, it was better overall this season - much stricter on URs, more willing to give good PCS to skaters who don't have the absolutely biggest jump outlets. Grassl, in addition to maybe some personal confidence or whatever problems, has been a "victim" of better judging/calling, like some others.
This "anyone who trains in Russia or is of Russian origin is targeted"-agenda is so tiresome and so wrong. Maybe Eteri has lost the ridiculous bonus her skaters used to have. That wouldn't be the worst thing.
I found it interesting (and very deserved) that Starostin was getting rather good PCS in comparison. He's not a big name or a big fed skater, he even struggles with his 3A, is far from a quad in competition and fell on his 3A in the free, but his exquisite lines, posture, expressiveness, interpretation and very good skating skills brought him a bunch of 7.5 and even 8s from one judge -which is still a bit less than he would deserve if PCS were absolutely independent from jump content and reputation, but definitely more than I would have expected for him.

 

[mskater93]

this is the number 1 problem

If you look at Ilya from earlier in the season, he appeared to have put on a few inches of height as he looked disproportionate at the GPF to me - all arms and legs. If he grew a few inches, this will play havoc with your posture on the ice along with edge quality and power. Let's see what the next 12 month brings as he's 18 not 28.

 

[mskater93]

Sure he wants gold. Many of them do, but only one can get it each year for Worlds and one every four years - the OGM. No guarantee Malinin will EVER get it, no matter how hard he tries. Just in case he fails, it does not hurt to be at least somewhat adored and adorable...
And yes, if a 17 or 18 year old with no international title calls himself a quadgod - or any "god" if we're at it - and announces that "his era has arrived and is here for everyone to see", what he shows is not self-confidence but a bit of an unhealthy ego too big for his shoes. Closing the season as he had started it, with no international title.... well, sure he's disappointed as hell, but .... honestly, ain't this the irony which he was asking for all the way? Wouldn't it hurt less and feel better if was not preceded by all this fanfaronade? In the end of the day, even his quads were far, far from being godly, as his GOEs showed. Not to mention his components....
Comparing him to France at WC is completely missed. France at the time was a multiple World Champion while Malinin is just aspiring to any international title. As for now, he has not won any yet.

You do realize that his IG handle is tongue in cheek and he's an 18 year old kid just having fun with that account, right? Go back in time and look at his first post of "quad Axel" (where it was 4 3As in a row) as a joke. He's got a healthy sense of humor (greatest disappointment is realizing he doesn't have good skating skills, the initial quad Axel post I referenced) and is really just trying to find his way in this sport with a TON of expectations thrust on him with Zhou and Chen vacating those top "balanced" spots in the US.

 

[Kris135]

If you look at Ilya from earlier in the season, he appeared to have put on a few inches of height as he looked disproportionate at the GPF to me - all arms and legs. If he grew a few inches, this will play havoc with your posture on the ice along with edge quality and power. Let's see what the next 12 month brings as he's 18 not 28.

I think that he is middle of his final growth spurt. I mean look at what he was wearing to worlds. He has grown so much that his original outfits did not fit anymore, even the outfit that wore during his Short Program at Nationals looks like it had to be changed out as well. That can also mean that he had get a new pair of skates, maybe third pair this year to accommodate his growth. Most likely he had grown at least 4 inches and maybe closer to 6 inches. That means he may be nearing 6 ft tall. In men's single skating that is gigantic these days. But with all the height gain it can throw off his timing for everything. His jumping style is more finessed than pure power so timing everything so if he is still adjusting to his new height so it amazing that he is doing as well as he is. Most skaters who grow this much this have to take a season off and basically have to learn how to jump again so Ilia competitiing at that senior level Grand Prix level and winning a medal at every competition he has been in this season is amazing. Hopefully he is reaching the end of this growth spurt and does not have another. He does not need to any taller than he is now. Now he has a whole summer to fully adjust to his new height. I think that his team should find to use his height as an advantage because he can find a sense of line and position it could be breathtakingly beautiful and it would take care of his PCS problems.

 

[Magill]

You do realize that his IG handle is tongue in cheek and he's an 18 year old kid just having fun with that account, right? Go back in time and look at his first post of "quad Axel" (where it was 4 3As in a row) as a joke. He's got a healthy sense of humor (greatest disappointment is realizing he doesn't have good skating skills, the initial quad Axel post I referenced) and is really just trying to find his way in this sport with a TON of expectations thrust on him with Zhou and Chen vacating those top "balanced" spots in the US.

Oh, so you're saying that making statements like "My era is here and it will be here for a long time" or " I came here [US Nats] to claim my title" he was actually "struggling under the burden of expectations" or "showing a healthy sense of humor"? Cause he seems quite serious when saying it, not a tongue in cheek at all.

Genuinely wonder what you make out of such statements.
Cause, like it or not, to many people they just make him look arrogant and unlikeable.

 

[skatedreamer]

You do realize that his IG handle is tongue in cheek and he's an 18 year old kid just having fun with that account, right? Go back in time and look at his first post of "quad Axel" (where it was 4 3As in a row) as a joke. He's got a healthy sense of humor (greatest disappointment is realizing he doesn't have good skating skills, the initial quad Axel post I referenced) and is really just trying to find his way in this sport with a TON of expectations thrust on him with Zhou and Chen vacating those top "balanced" spots in the US.

I get that he's just a kid and may not understand how this looks. However, where the heck are his dad and his coach? Someone needs to make him understand that comments about "claiming [his] title" and an "Ilia Malinin era" sound absurdly arrogant and won't do a damn thing to increase his popularity with the fans or the USFSA. If his dad won't rein him in, where the heck is Artunian?

When the "Quad God" name first appeared, I assumed somebody else had come up with it. Wasn't impressed at all that he had given it to himself. US fans (like me) may try to make allowances for him but the rest of the world won't have as much patience.

 

[JimR]

Ilia will be favourite to win in 2026. The casual viewer will tune in to watch him. He does a great job promoting the sport and attracting attention (the good kind) when the governing body and his federation do almost nothing to help the skaters.

His gala performance was wonderful too showed real artistic qualities.