GPF2016: Onsite Reports

[yuna13]

Senior dance practice: all team looked good, the audience specially kids loved the twizzles and lift, big applause for that! Best 5 euros I ever spend!! Totally worthy it! you're so close of them! Couldn't stop smiling !! I had confirmation by a fan that indeed Tessa mother was there, she left after the dance practice.

 

[eppen]

Is that you in white behind me?

E

 

[yuna13]

Is that you in white behind me?

E

No I have a black jacket and a gold pull over. I'm in the carre d'or section in the middle right in front of the three camera. There 2 Japanese fan with yellow headband. I'm behind them!

 

[eppen]

Yesterday was hard in many ways - I was at the rink for some 14 hours... those seats are v. uncomfortable indeed and it was cold, no time for proper food. Sigh, because we are in France after all.

It is still quite viewer unfriendly event but I did get to keep my preferred seat even after comps began and they emptied the rink for checking tickets. Practice attendees did not have to go out of the building. Let's see what happens today...

Junior stuff you have all seen, so not a whole lot about that. Gubanova's arm movements are so controlled, measured and graceful that i'm in years all the time watching her. Saw her warming up in the corridor before SP. Sakamoto I love for her lightness,easy speed and effortless jumps. No performance, though. Aliev was good in men, but I can't understand why Samarin's rough around the edges performance got the same score...

Dance practice was cool with the top pairs putting in some formidable stuff. Scott was joking all the way to the first second of the SD runthrough...

Medvedeva and Miyahara rules the ladies practice. So great to watch! In men Javi hot and cold - 3A was not a friend yesterday.

In comps, almost all my faves fell, so I guess I have to start support in the others so that they will do well? ;-) Aliev, Zagitova, Tarasova & Morozov huge highlights. Happy for Patrick for a good SP.

This morning got in with the Shibs who arrived by taxi... And failed to understand where the entrance was :-D

The announcers are the worst ever! Koe the ladies start, gotta go!

E

 

[yuna13]

Pairs: D/R she made jumps mistake, she almost collide with the Chinese pairs!!! No throw axel but they tried 3 times the throw quad, she fell once. The Russian pairs (morosov and ? ) looked good and confident. The ladies medvedeva didn't miss one jumps, she looked amazing and unreachable!! Pogo seems really good as well.

 

[DarR]

4Lo 4S 3F 4S fall 3A3T 3Lz Yuzuru run through

- - - Updated - - -

1S 2S 4S3T 4T fall Yuzuru

4T

4S3T 2T 2T

4T

3A lo 3S

4S 4T 4T

1Lo 4Lo 4Lo

Shoma falls again and again

Yuzuru falls on step haha

 

[ioanna]

Satoko Miyahara long program run-through
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fka9E47bDQg

 

[MaiKatze]

Shoma falls again and again

Nooooo....:sad21:

 

[Winnie_20]

Nooooo....:sad21:

Really really really really really hope he's not injured and making things worse now. It's nationals in a few weeks, staying healthy is more important right now, surely.

 

[CoyoteChris]

After sitting on one for most practices and all competitions yesterday... I really started to "feel" the lack of back support. Not very comfortable... lower back started to hurt by the end... two full days to go and gala on Sunday... :-/

By the way, at least they let us buy advance practice tickets for every day... so no chance of getting stuck in the queue again, behind the tour company guy buying 500 tickets at once -_- When practice is about to start.We can even watch practice for the gala on Sunday...

Thanks for taking your time and providing the info...I know how busy it is to be at comps.....you would think there are better ways to handle practice tickets than having the tour guy buy 500 at once. Those seats look like something that might be used in a medium rink....not an arena...in the US, we have something called "stadium seats" that, if they are allowed to be brought in, can be strapped to the bleachers and have real seat backs. Its hard to see on the telly, but it looks like many of the steps leading up dont have grab rails? One wonders what kind of entertainment this arena presents during the year normally (and to what age group) where those seats would be appropriate?:confused2:

 

[YesWay]

you would think there are better ways to handle practice tickets than having the tour guy buy 500 at once.

I think they underestimated the number of Japanese fans (and others!) who would want practice tickets... despite the local French fans who we spoke to, who tried to warn them. And the tour company buying en masse is just bad form.

They ran out of gala practice tickets the day we bought ours (actually, the "tickets" are nice plastic cards, the size of a credit card - nice souvenirs!)... and lucky us, a fresh batch arrived just as we reached the head of the queue. I think they're making them onsite...

Those seats look like something that might be used in a medium rink....not an arena...in the US, we have something called "stadium seats" that, if they are allowed to be brought in, can be strapped to the bleachers and have real seat backs. Its hard to see on the telly, but it looks like many of the steps leading up dont have grab rails?

Yes, I looked into various stadium seats and similar "devices", but none of them looked like they would fit/work with the Marseille seats :-/ Or they looked too flimsy, or too bulky (we travel light, hand-luggage only...)

There are indeed no rails down the steps... so yes, you have to wonder about who they did/didn't design the place for.

By the way, I have to say the event is being organised better than I expected (!) - there have been some gaffes but at least they seem to learn from them and not repeat them each day. Clearout after practices and re-entry with competition tickets has been quite quick and efficient.

I have been astonished at various "ladies" who sneaked into gold seats that weren't theirs... and they knew it... but then argued and fought endlessly when challenged by the rightful owners and the security guys One had to be bodily removed. Why do they waste everybody's time (including their own), and cause so much disruption, when they always end up forced to move anyway? Do they really think they can win, and stay in somebody else's seat?!

Bringing your own food/drink is indeed banned, I discovered today. I got lucky and the few things I had in my bag the last couple of days went undetected - but it appears others (most?) have not been so lucky. Well, at least there is a café, and a well-stocked kiosk selling (quite palatable!) sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit, panini, drinks etc. I won't take any chances on the remaining days...!

They've been letting hordes of schoolkids watch the practices from the upper-level seats, yesterday and today. Not sure what they were like today, really... but I am pleased to report that yesterday's kids seemed impressed and were really getting into it - cheering enthusiastically for the big Pairs throw jumps, twists and lifts etc etc...

 

[eppen]

If you come in early enough, you seem to be able to get in almost anything. None of my food has been confiscated so far... But then I have but some water and snacks... The concession stand girl recognizes me already

The rink would be half-empty without the Japanese fans. Much less local audience than in Barcelona last year despite the ice dancers as a lure.

Love the possibility of chatting with fans from different countries and interests! I have some friends sitting in the carree d'or, but the random other people around me in the non-numbered section were great today - some Italians and Frenchmen and Finns. I prefer to travel on my own and also have gotten to meet some utterly lovely people!

I will try and keep the same seat for the last comp day, so if you are interested to say hi, you can find me on the judges side, right in the middle, just above the tv cameras. Dressed in all black. Will be there right from the start!

The russian junior ladies came to watch the senior ladies skate. They were so tiny! Apparently Bobrova's parents sat just to the right from me.

And there has been discussion somewhere else about judges watching practices. They do, at least here. The tech panels sat through all sessions. For them it probably is of great importante to get an idea of where elements are executed and what to look for.

Now I will try to get some sleep. The days are long!

E

 

[Esopian]

Must give an update after day 2 of the competition! :yay: (no matter how exhausted I am)

My impression of Marseille at first is that the weather is extremely unstable: in the day it was hot as California and in the evening the cold chilled like that of Paris. On the way from the airport to the main Metro station, the buildings were ancient looking with greenery surrounding it. Too much graffiti –I never knew there would be this much; how do those people climb to those dangerous, hard to imagine places? Including over-the-highway bridge railings and above builders of rocks, among other unthinkable places.

Arriving to the arena I was really glad that I finally made it after the plane ride + multiple forms of transportation! In the direction of stairs to the skater’s warm-up area I saw multiple famous coaches/notable skating team personnel coming in, including Yoshiko Kobayashi, the woman who had a huge reaction to Yuzuru scoring 101 at Sochi 2014 Olympics, Raf, Marina in the stands and later in the evening Matsuoka hanging by the stairs to observe the fans waiting for a glimpse of Yuzuru leaving, before that Tracy Wilson.

Onto the skating, Day 1:
(note: wrote 'today' in present form for that day)

Senior Pairs SP:

A joy to watch, just really scary when they were in the 6 min warm up almost colliding at times/grazing each other. Brief comments on each:

Peng/Jin: So much character, smooth skating, first and skated clean!

Tarasova/Morozov: Great skate, liked their precision and flare.

Megan/Eric: It’s too bad they made so many mistakes and had a bad skate today, I wanted them to dominate as usual.

Zabiiako/Enbert: Wasn’t feeling this one or wasn’t memorable because I can’t remember.

Seguin/Bilodeau: Both of them looked so ready and pumped to skate today it’s really a bummer to see the mistakes and results. Hope they come back with a beautiful free skate!

Yu/Zhang: Beautiful and elegant, mis-matched in spins for a bit but otherwise so great, poised and well-composed program that suits them.​

Senior Men SP:

In the start of the 6 min warm up I couldn’t believe my eyes that I was seeing Yuzuru skate in person for the first time. Compared to videos, he looks 100x more handsome and his costume looks many times more airy. Seeing him skate in real life, the instant he steps on the ice you can’t take your eyes off of him.

Javi: Maybe skating first really affected him, he made mistakes and didn’t skate to his complete potential. Though still the step sequence and overall atmosphere of the program is stunning!

Patrick: Wow! With one quad combo + axel + lutz skated clean = almost 100 points! Agree with the scoring here, seeing his footwork in person is amazing. So much difficulty not caught on cameras because it compressed 3-D space in a flat 2-D screen. Seeing Patrick’s change in steps + edgework live from the audience is a complete other experience.

Shoma: He looks like he’s trying so hard and then came the shocking trip/fall. His skating flow is smooth and musicality is unique to him, keep going in the FS!

Nathan: I saw him perform in Trophee de France, and I can’t say he’s improved. He has so much potential, I wish he could lay off a few quads and focus on the overall presentation and flow of the program with connecting to the audience. This is coming from someone who really hopes for him to succeed in current figure skating field.

Adam: Felt so enjoyable that it seemed like an exhibition! He really has his way of capturing the fans and looking into the cameras with amusing expressions. I wish he had been scored above Nathan, despite the jumping pass rotation calls.

Yuzuru: Tons of superlatives to describe this guy, so on point with his skating in the SP! His goal was to skate a performance that he was satisfied with and his smile at the end sure proves that true! The last move where he bends his back and hand coolly reaches for the judge/audience was exhilarating to see live. Flexibility top notch, performance like a dream, jumps with character (made the first loop almost-fall part of his “Let’s go crazy” character, his expression was like “I just saved that jump in the nick of time, you won’t dare to give me a ton of negative GOEs!” lol) and never-ending charisma that comes from his presence on the ice. Honoured to witness his near-perfect performance of his “Let’s go crazy” SP live, he turned into a rock star again and captured everyone’s hearts!​

 

[Esopian]

Day 2:

Junior Ice dance FS: Enjoyable but sometimes I don’t get how the judges score. The skaters just got higher each time the next one went, odd. Some had a lot of potential though.

Junior Ladies FS: A young Japanese skater, Rika Kihira tried a 3A in the warm up and everyone gasped! The last two Russian girls were pretty good, especially the winner who had a lovely red/gold ballet-esque costume.

-

Senior Ice Dance SD:

Tessa and Scott got the highest score of the night because they deserved it, their performance was amazing to watch! So much character, diverse movement, synchronicity, and style. They 100% trust each other and it is seen in their wonderful skating.

I thought Papadakis/Cizeron would get a home-score boost but they didn’t, the judges gave marks accordingly without adding the fact that they’re on home ice.

Got to admit after the first group went, it was a bit of a snooze because the top 2 anticipated teams already went in the first group(sorry for admitting that!). I wish instead of the multiple U.S. ice dance teams, the substitute dance pairs listed at this GPF could’ve made it: Like Piper/Paul, Cappellini/Lanotte, Weaver/Poje would’ve been so much more excitement and contrasting styles.​

Senior Pairs FS:

Okay this was sort of a disaster, other than the final Russian team. So many mistakes here and there made by each pairs skaters that it was getting hard to watch near the end. Some mistakes looked painful, too many falls/not in synchronicity/jump mistakes, most of all –one mistake gave everyone a scare (Peng/Jin!) and I think that let off a bad vibe to the second group who saw the replay on the screen before they went on the ice for warm-up. For the medal ceremony at the end, most of the audience left to go back to their hotels because it was getting really late since some people where at the rink since the morning which is completely understandable. This gave a bit of a shock to the medalists because the amount of empty seats were almost offensive to the skaters who qualified and medaled at one of the most important competitions of the season.​

Senior Ladies:

Great to watch after the unlucky previous discipline, these ladies were sensational to watch and brought enthusiasm/something positive to cheer for back to the audience. Many standing ovations after the ladies skates, they saved today’s competition for sure!​

Will update more in the next two days when I get the chance! :agree:

 

[Arriba627]

^^^ Thank you so much for your on-site reporting. It takes a lot of discipline to write that all up after you've had a long, tiring day at the rink. I went to Sk Am and Sk Can and had the best of intentions of writing every day, but I got lazier and lazier about writing as the competitions went along. So thanks a lot. It means a lot to those of us who wish we could be there!

 

[CoyoteChris]

I think they underestimated the number of Japanese fans (and others!) who would want practice tickets... despite the local French fans who we spoke to, who tried to warn them. And the tour company buying en masse is just bad form.

They ran out of gala practice tickets the day we bought ours (actually, the "tickets" are nice plastic cards, the size of a credit card - nice souvenirs!)... and lucky us, a fresh batch arrived just as we reached the head of the queue. I think they're making them onsite...


Yes, I looked into various stadium seats and similar "devices", but none of them looked like they would fit/work with the Marseille seats :-/ Or they looked too flimsy, or too bulky (we travel light, hand-luggage only...)

There are indeed no rails down the steps... so yes, you have to wonder about who they did/didn't design the place for.

By the way, I have to say the event is being organised better than I expected (!) - there have been some gaffes but at least they seem to learn from them and not repeat them each day. Clearout after practices and re-entry with competition tickets has been quite quick and efficient.

I have been astonished at various "ladies" who sneaked into gold seats that weren't theirs... and they knew it... but then argued and fought endlessly when challenged by the rightful owners and the security guys One had to be bodily removed. Why do they waste everybody's time (including their own), and cause so much disruption, when they always end up forced to move anyway? Do they really think they can win, and stay in somebody else's seat?!

Bringing your own food/drink is indeed banned, I discovered today. I got lucky and the few things I had in my bag the last couple of days went undetected - but it appears others (most?) have not been so lucky. Well, at least there is a café, and a well-stocked kiosk selling (quite palatable!) sandwiches, salads, fresh fruit, panini, drinks etc. I won't take any chances on the remaining days...!

They've been letting hordes of schoolkids watch the practices from the upper-level seats, yesterday and today. Not sure what they were like today, really... but I am pleased to report that yesterday's kids seemed impressed and were really getting into it - cheering enthusiastically for the big Pairs throw jumps, twists and lifts etc etc...

Great report! After 18 major comps, I have never seen people try and stay in seats that didnt belong to them after being challanged by guards! Usually, if someone is in a seat not their own and someone comes to claim it, they move out of the seat post haste and into another...I have had a few rude ladies finish talking with their friends before moving out of my seat but not many....but to even argue with security guards??? What could the argument be? I have low tolerance for those kinds of people. Ban 'um for one comp, I says....
Glad there was real food there in the rink. Were there places to sit down and eat it?

 

[YesWay]

Glad there was real food there in the rink. Were there places to sit down and eat it?

Café has seats of course, but food from the kiosk you just have to eat standing, or take it to your seat in the arena. There's no seating area, or water fountains etc.

By the way, Medvedeva and Miyahara nearly collided during Miyahara's practice run-through yesterday, and Miyahara uncharacteristically botched a jump right after. The skater who has their music playing has priority, so it's Medvedeva who should kept out of the way... But I was pleased to see her go to Miyahara after her run-through was finished, and apologise. She has good manners!

(I saw other near-misses in other practices... some between skaters who are obviously "close" and no apology needed... but in at least one instance, that did not seem the case and I would have expected an apology - but I didn't see it happen. I'm not going to give names because maybe I got it wrong, perhaps there was an apology and I missed it, and anyway I don't want to generate any bad feeling for any skater).

BTW I noticed Hanyu and Fernandez seem to take great care to stay out of the way of other people's run-through's etc.

 

[ancientpeas]

Is it wrong to say that I would greatly disappointed if I went to France and the food wasn't excellent? Even in an arena?

 

[shyne]

Is it wrong to say that I would greatly disappointed if I went to France and the food wasn't excellent? Even in an arena?

Have you tried the bouillabaisse yet? Marseille is known for that.

 

[ancientpeas]

Have you tried the bouillabaisse yet? Marseille is known for that.

:drool: I've never had the good fortune to make it to France. It's number one on my bucket list. One day. Maybe even in time to see a GP there too (multitasking)