PyeongChang 2018 Olympics - FIGURE SKATING (excl. Team Event; including Pairs & Men))

[Elizabeth]

wah!!! and I didn't see it. the cbc website had technical problems perhaps it was my wifi connection. Hope I can catch up at home.

The CBC video is not available outside of Canada ("geo-blocked") and probably requires a fairly high amount of bandwidth for playing it, even inside Canada.

For anyone in Canada, the CBC has a "recap" of the full pairs free scheduled for this afternoon from 3-5 p.m. ET (main network).

[Elizabeth]

And



here



is



a



very



happy



podium



shot

[Elizabeth]

A blog from Bev Smith on the pairs event: https://bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com/20 ... air-final/

and one on Seguin & Bilodeau that really focuses on Josee Picard, their coach: https://bevsmithwrites.wordpress.com/20 ... but-a-win/

Some photos from Duhamel & Radford's SP & FS: https://olympic.ca/photos/pyeongchang-2 ... xed-pairs/

And a National Post article: http://nationalpost.com/sports/olympics ... ting-pairs

[Elizabeth]

The men's SP is this evening. 30 men will skate and the top 24 will move on to tomorrow's free skate.

The Start orders/Results page: http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... SEG001.HTM or: https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game ... 00100-.htm

The detailed time schedule (Korean time; 14 hours ahead of ET): http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... hedule.pdf

The "dedicated" full event coverage will be on TSN3 beginning at 8 p.m. with CBC "blending" it in with other sports.

Information from a "source" via Twitter:

• Judges drawn for the Mens SP: ESP LAT FRA UZB JPN RUS AUS CAN CHN.
• Not drawn and set for FS: CZE ISR USA KZK

[Elizabeth]

No comments on the men last evening?

Surprises? Disappointments?

Thoughts about the free skate?

[kittykins]

Poor Patrick!! I actually thought he did really well considering. If you look at the break down in marks he had the 4th best marks in terms of skating skills. I think the top 3 are just SO strong that it's going to be too hard for him to medal, although miracles do happen. I would not be surprised if he finishes 4th when this is all over. He sure was in a bad mood when he came off the ice with a little Tude but as Kurt Browning tactfully pointed out, emotions were high. I cannot imagine the pressure these skaters face and it's so humiliating not to do your best. The same thing happened to Elvis at the end of his career. People blamed it on his groin muscle not being as strong, but whatever the reason the body can't keep up at such a high level forever, never mind the nerves. I really hope that Javi wins this. I feel he is the best all round skater at the top. I thought he was brilliant. I am sort of Meh regarding Hanyu, although he is the cutest ever and is very intense. At this point it would take one skater to fall ill for Patrick to medal. About Nathan Chen...wow, now I really feel sorry for him. Patrick did pretty well and is still in the game, but Nathan really has no chance at all. I never bought into the idea that Nathan was a Shoe-in for the gold like the US media was promoting. My feelings on this is that he has moved up so quickly and doesn't have a lot of international experience. He must be devastated but he'll be back. For whatever reason the US commentators always seem to feel that someone with quads will automatically win. What I see with skaters like Nathan is that if their jumps aren't there, there isn't much left and they fall fast like Nathan did in this competition. Speaking of commentators, I wish Carole Lane would stop saying that if you skate in earlier flights your marks will be lower. This is one of the things the COP was to correct and I think it's been pretty good that way...I guess I don't see this happening, does anyone else? We need to trust the "new" scoring system imho. Good for Keegan, whoohoo. I'm having some friends over this evening for a dessert party. My initial plan was that we would cheer on Patrick, but I think that's going to be a bit late. However, Keegan should skate early enough. I've been spoiled this year by watching live streaming with no commentating. I'm struggling with all the advice they are giving...tell us what's happening on the ice and nothing more, thanks.

[Kevin]

I think Carol is being honest about the scoring of the earlier groups, in whichever scoring system is used. In something that is subjectively judged, there is always the philosophy of "leaving room" for the skaters that follow. Watching the entire event myself (since this is the first time in a LONG time that we've actually been able to see the whole field skate) I could see this in action. The quality of skating really improves noticeably in the final two groups. If someone skates really well in the first few groups, they definitely stand out, but it's impossible to know how far they stand out until you can compare them to the better skaters to come. It's tricky.

I don't feel sorry for Patrick. I'm hoping that his attitude and disappointment was with himself, and not with the judging. He simply has not trained as hard, or as consistently as the other athletes in this field, so his result really is a miracle as far as I'm concerned. I get the impression that he feels he is "owed" special consideration, which he is not. And without a triple axel, it's just not going to happen. The rest of the program was stunning. I hope he can just go for broke in the free, and no matter what, end his career with a decent skate. It's just been a string of disappointing performances for two years. Sorry to sound harsh, but I don't feel sorry for people who aren't committed to their work while others are.

I do feel sorry for Nathan Chen however. He has worked hard, and prepared well, but he's the victim of the US media machine and also a bit with his coaching strategy. Instead of trying to win with more quads than anyone else, he probably should have been counseled to scale it back a little and build more confidence with a program that was well within his wheelhouse. I still remember the words of a great musical artist I studied with saying, "Practice the things you can't play, but only perform the things you CAN play".

I would have had Javi in first place after the short. I found his performance to be clean as a whistle, and such great posture, control, and relaxation. Hanyu to me was kind of wild and out of control. My impression is that he went into everything hoping, and got lucky, while Javi *knew* going in that everything would be solid. I think the freeskate will show Hanyu's lack of training time and my hope is for Javi to claim gold.

[Elizabeth]

Nathan is young with little international experience; it is his first Olympics; he had way too much pressure put on him with all the hype, especially from the US media He has had a lot of injury problems but I hope he's able to stay healthy and return in 2022, like Sui & Han in the pairs. Since the US media generally overlook ice dance, they felt that Nathan was the US's sole hope for a medal in FS after Ashley Wagner failed to qualify for the Olympics. I put a lot of the blame on them

Patrick doesn't have the "arsenal" on the technical side and he certainly had a "little help from his friends" to stay in the top 6 for the free skate. A clean skate tonight would be a good thing. I was very pleased for Keegan, despite his fall on the triple axel

Dick Button really likes Javier - these are some of his live tweets from last night:

Fernandez the young Jean Paul Belmando ...

Fernandez Beautiful combo, elegant clean... remember this is a quad fest

Fernandez gorgeous curved edge coming out of edge. Exquisite axel. He IS a performer

The arms come out from the body and the choreography. A COMPLETE package. Strong upper body .

Fernandez - strong placement of the arms. finishes the move through his fingers. Secure and wonderful theatre

And his last comment:

Thoughts on Fernandez - This is a prime of example that you cannot have Artistry without Technique and you cannot have Technique without Artistry. He along with Hanyu have it both, with Fernandez having the edge of a terrific performer

[Elizabeth]

I totally agree with all of your comments, Kevin. Thanks for sharing

With respect to Nathan - I really do question his coaching strategy &/or his decision-making - they have been constantly changing his programs throughout the season. That is not the way to develop the necessary "muscle memory" needed to do it when it really matters.

Since Hanyu has been off the ice so long and only really doing his jumps for a few weeks, he did better than I expected but I do prefer the full package of Fernandez

It appears that we will have the full event on TSN4 this evening.

Here is the timed start order: http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... hedule.pdf

[Judy]

Thank you CBC for showing all 30 men, albeit on TSN.

Re Patrick. I suspect he regretted his decision to return when he saw how many quads other skaters were doing. It must be difficult to train when you feel defeated long before the competition begins. I also suspect Skate Canada put pressure on him to continue. That said, I'm with you Kevin, and don't have much sympathy for him, but do have fingers crossed for a clean skate today.

Keegan. Very happy for him. He brought the WOW for me along with Javi.

Chen and Kolyada are young and I'm sure we will see wonderful skates from them in the future.

[kittykins]

I do think that the COP is less subjective than the old system and problems such as we discussed are kept to a minimum. As for the coach/commentator she may be frustrated & bitter that her skaters haven't been getting the marks she feels they deserve lately. It's so easy to blame other factors. If the skaters are mixed up for the SP, the better skaters will be in the final 2 flights. Whenever you have people deciding things, and you can't exactly measure things like in other sports, you get over the line first, etc. there will be some subjectivity. What I've seen is the better skaters have been rewarded most of the time, no matter what flight they skate. The fact is the better skaters are generally in the final flight, with exceptions. It will be interesting to see what happens with Nathan this evening. I agree with what you said Elizabeth about Nathan and all the pressure he's under.

As much as I've been upset with the attitude presented by him at times (no one is perfect), I don't think Patrick thinks he's entitled and I think that is a little harsh. His skating skills have held him up to some degree. Sure, he's had trouble finding his niche and the proper coaching environment where he feels comfortable. I also think he hasn't been training the way he should have to win a gold medal. I think how I was at the end of my teaching career and how burnt out I was...this was after 30 years mind you, but I know by the end one doesn't even care anymore. Patrick has sacrificed at least 25 years of his life to skating, so perhaps he is in the same type of situation. Keeping your nerve is hard when you are in the public eye, especially at the Olympics. I think Patrick is just frustrated and he is quite a sensitive person (can relate) that puts up a front of more confidence than he feels which sometimes comes across as cocky. In some ways I appreciate his honestly. I have a short fuse myself at times, so I can appreciate losing your temper would be easy to happen with that kind of pressure. Although I think Patrick may finish 4, the bronze is not completely out I don't think. Yanyu tends to lack stamina for the FS, especially as he's had a break in his training. I think Javi will win. However the points the top 3 skaters got in the SP are probably going to be next to impossible for Patrick to beat. Anyway, this is going to be interesting. Well, gotta go get ready for my party. Enjoy everyone.

[Elizabeth]

A photo after the men's SP - Tracy & Brian with Paul Wylie who is part of the media at the Olympics:


Paul's comment to them:

Whatever you're doing, it's working.

[Elizabeth]

From the post SP press conference:

Fernandez: At the end of the day, we are all friends and good competitors. I'm about to wash my hands of figure skating and they are going to keep going. It's exciting to see them compete well in the future. We are still holding our own, right Yuzu?

Fortunately, I think Javier just means the end of competing. I believe he plans to get involved in coaching. I'm looking forward to seeing him on the CSOI tour

Fernandez: I'll be happy to be in this same position tomorrow. I've been training to be the first [Spanish skater to win a medal at the Olympics]. If I'm first, I'm first; if I'm second, I'm second; if I'm third, I'm third. I'll be happy with any of that.

[Elizabeth]

And one more quote from Dick Button:

For those who were born after, I urge you to look up performances by John Curry, Toller Cranston, Robin Cousins. All were different, all interesting, all innovative. Compare with the similarity of today's skaters who have to abide by current rules. Remember it's a Quad Fest.

And Sandra Bezic on "hype": http://smb-creative.tumblr.com/post/170952295625/hype

[Elizabeth]

From TSN Skate on Twitter:

Men's Free Skate tonight on TSN 1,4,5 starting at 7:55 pm ET @KeeganMOnline 10:27 pm and @Pchiddy in his final Olympic skate in the final flight at 11:34 pm

Start order/results: http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... SEG002.HTM or: https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/en/game ... 00100-.htm

The detailed time schedule (Korean time; 14 hours ahead of ET): http://www.isuresults.com/results/seaso ... hedule.pdf

We will get a break tomorrow - the next event, ice dance, will begin on Sunday evening in North America.

[fred]

Patrick said some time ago that he was not going to skate for marks, but rather that he wanted to skate for himself. Now if he was doing that I would have though the'd have landed more stu\ff, but he duid say he was going to do the minimum requirements and I guess the 3-Axle is one of those in the short program.
He's not going to win and he's OK with that, I expect. The good news is he's got a gold medal from the team event, and no one will take that away from him. Every time he skates anywhere, he'll be introduced as Patrick Chan, Olympic Gold Medallist! Somewhere in Heavan, Ozzie is so proud!

[Elizabeth]

You're right about Ozzie being proud of the gold medal in the team event, Fred.

I doubt that he would be proud of "just skating the minimum" - I know that Patrick doesn't have the ammunition to compete with the quad masters but after all these years, I thought he would be able to land the triple axel. So far Mirai Nagasu has landed more in Olympic competition in Korea than he has

He said something in an interview about having been gifted with skating skills but not triple axel skills...

He is still a lovely skater who is entertaining and uses the music well. He seems to have lost the desire to be competitive, however, and I find that a bit sad. I presume he will not be going to Worlds so I hope the alternates are training, training, training...
As named after Canadians, the alternates were:

• Alternate 1 – Nam Nguyen
• Alternate 2 – Elladj Balde
• Alternate 3 – Kevin Reynolds

With respect to the quads, here's a stat of interest:

From the NBC research team: There were 17 quads cleanly landed in the short program yesterday – the same number of quads landed at the entire men’s event in Sochi (short and free combined).

[Elizabeth]

This just in (via Twitter) -

• Judges drawn for the Men's FS: KZK USA UZB JPN ISR RUS CHN CZE LAT.
• Not drawn: AUS CAN ESP FRA

[kittykins]

You're right about Ozzie being proud of the gold medal in the team event, Fred.

I doubt that he would be proud of "just skating the minimum" - I know that Patrick doesn't have the ammunition to compete with the quad masters but after all these years, I thought he would be able to land the triple axel. So far Mirai Nagasu has landed more in Olympic competition in Korea than he has

He said something in an interview about having been gifted with skating skills but not triple axel skills...

He also said in an interview that he didn't have proper training in his past...something about bad luck. I hadn't seen this before I made my comments above. It was a little strange.

I'm in shock about his FS...I really thought he'd be 4th or 5th. I'm just stunned. Did he give up?? I'm just puzzled. Perhaps I was just distracted from my party. I'll have to watch it again...if I feel like it. The Chan era is over and I'm a bit sad about it but in a way I'm excited for the future as Canada's talent is very deep. Thanks for all the info. I'm going to try to go to bed. Party was a success with 8 people coming.

[Elizabeth]

You're right about Ozzie being proud of the gold medal in the team event, Fred.

I doubt that he would be proud of "just skating the minimum" - I know that Patrick doesn't have the ammunition to compete with the quad masters but after all these years, I thought he would be able to land the triple axel. So far Mirai Nagasu has landed more in Olympic competition in Korea than he has

He said something in an interview about having been gifted with skating skills but not triple axel skills...

He also said in an interview that he didn't have proper training in his past...something about bad luck. I hadn't seen this before I made my comments above. It was a little strange.

I'm in shock about his FS...I really thought he'd be 4th or 5th. I'm just stunned. Did he give up?? I'm just puzzled. Perhaps I was just distracted from my party. I'll have to watch it again...if I feel like it. The Chan era is over and I'm a bit sad about it but in a way I'm excited for the future as Canada's talent is very deep. Thanks for all the info. I'm going to try to go to bed. Party was a success with 8 people coming.

Taking a look at the protocols for the FS, the judges gave Patrick the 4th best marks on the PCS, after Hanyu, Fernandez & Uno but his technical mark was lower than the 16th place skater in the FS (from BEL), putting him in 8th place for the free skate. He needed to up the jump content to make that program look like more than an exhibition, I'm afraid. As an exhibition it was lovely; as a "competitive" free skate, not so much.

[Kevin]

Taking a look at the protocols for the FS, the judges gave Patrick the 4th best marks on the PCS, after Hanyu, Fernandez & Uno but his technical mark was lower than the 16th place skater in the FS (from BEL), putting him in 8th place for the free skate. He needed to up the jump content to make that program look like more than an exhibition, I'm afraid. As an exhibition it was lovely; as a "competitive" free skate, not so much.

Exactly. And to be honest, this was a better skate than I was predicting he would have. Brilliant, gifted skater - but fell into the "Michelle Kwan" syndrome at the end of his great career.

It's going to be an interesting Worlds this year. With so many of these Olympians being on the verge of retirement, I wonder how many will actually attend Worlds? It will become very important for Canada's skaters to keep two and three berths open for 2019, but I worry what will happen in the men's event as well as the pairs.

[Elizabeth]

There is an interesting interview with Patrick on TSN: https://www.tsn.ca/olympics/video/chan- ... er~1328827

[kittykins]

Taking a look at the protocols for the FS, the judges gave Patrick the 4th best marks on the PCS, after Hanyu, Fernandez & Uno but his technical mark was lower than the 16th place skater in the FS (from BEL), putting him in 8th place for the free skate. He needed to up the jump content to make that program look like more than an exhibition, I'm afraid. As an exhibition it was lovely; as a "competitive" free skate, not so much.

Exactly. And to be honest, this was a better skate than I was predicting he would have. Brilliant, gifted skater - but fell into the "Michelle Kwan" syndrome at the end of his great career.

I was recently transferring Michelle's skate from her last Olympics in 2002. Her Dad was sitting next to her looking worried. They say a picture paints a thousand words. What a wonderful Dad to stand by her in one of her hardest moments. She is one skater who definitely should have been Olympic champion. She probably was tired of the whole scene by that point like Patrick. As I've said earlier, I don't really blame them. For Patrick he had the skills but just not he mental strength needed. I know not everyone is an Elvis fan, but at least for him training was never a problem...things that affected him were out of his control like injury. He was probably our best bet because of his mental strength and focus.

[kittykins]

Taking a look at the protocols for the FS, the judges gave Patrick the 4th best marks on the PCS, after Hanyu, Fernandez & Uno but his technical mark was lower than the 16th place skater in the FS (from BEL), putting him in 8th place for the free skate. He needed to up the jump content to make that program look like more than an exhibition, I'm afraid. As an exhibition it was lovely; as a "competitive" free skate, not so much.

That's crazy, he's so much of a better skater than that. I wonder what Kurt thinks of all this....I got the impression he was disappointed that Patrick didn't incorporate his Quad Sal this year. It seems that 4th place for his skating skills was pretty consistent during this competition. He's the 4th best skater, but didn't arise to the occasion for whatever reason. Well, on to better things. There are still 2 skating events left and Canada has a chance at medals in both I would think. The Ladies will be a hard one, but I think the American skater Mirai is beatable despite the triple axel which is impressive I might add. I'm impressed with Gabby's mental strength. We know she and Kaitlyn will capitalize on any openings provided to them.

Oh and thanks for the picture of Paul Wylie with Brian and Tracy. He's definitely one of my favourites. I'm glad he's looking so good!

The interview I saw with Brian was really good when he said that winning the silver in 1988 made him a better coach...excellent attitude and he's right.

[Elizabeth]

Nathan Chen made Olympic history in the quads department and he won the free skate.

We know who ended up on the podium.

Here's an interesting look at how the various judges placed the top 10 skaters in the FS based on their technical scores only - the nationality of the judges is shown at the top.




And here is the information with rankings based on the component scores.