Sochi Olympics 2014!

C/L and S/S were enjoyable (IMHO), and C/B less so, according to me.... and their D/W fluff was cute.

Thank you everyone for the update!
Here is one more clip   

Another clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c85-INUJcC0

And back to my NBC ice dance recap, V/M were so light and airy!  and B/S were kind of eh...

I really really hope Mao brings that to competition!

NBC panned to Edmunds and Brown in the stands taking selfies...

I/K were more interesting than B/S...

I'm seeing the improvements on Mao's 3As although there was one which I'm not sure if slightly UR or borderline. Might be the one polosatik mentioned about. But the other 3As look fully rotated and had good height and width. The 2S looked like she had to pop it as someone was speeding at the back when she took the jump.

And now, for the enjoy-o-meter! (Top 5 only)

1. V/M
2. D/W
3. C/L
4. P/B
5. S/S or W/P

linglang wrote:

Thank you everyone for the update!
Here is one more clip   

  forgot to paste a link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dajvMl7yUI

zarinaballerina wrote:

Does anyone have a video of Yuzu's medal ceremony?

Here you go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiNh0rNJg2k


And the cute moment when he found out he won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j255-a8g-HE

I have luked around Yuzu forum for some months but couldn't do so anymore.
I guess they don't want new members who are not skating fans but
interested in him only because of his looks ...?

roma wrote:

I'm seeing the improvements on Mao's 3As although there was one which I'm not sure if slightly UR or borderline.

I find that the speed change feature on youtube videos is useful for checking these things. Isn't it funny how the Code of Points has conditioned us to obsess over certain aspects of skating and completely ignore others  ? I'm very guilty of this.

☆Genie wrote:

Another clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c85-INUJcC0

Goodness... Those 3a's and 3-3 are as close to perfection as I've ever seen.

josling wrote:

Video of Mao's runthrough!!!!!!!
http://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=Ahgjqo5hi2s&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DAhgjqo5hi2s%26feature%3Dyoutu.be



Go Mao!!


PS: Sorry guys, I won't be able to search for streaming links for the short dance today because I can't even watch the event live (my dependability is lacking! ;p). But you just need to go to streamhunter.eu or hahasports and you'll find lots of streams!
I'll be there for the Free Dance and for the ladies of course!!!

Thank you so much Josling, Mao looks so strong    I lit a candle for the success of Mao!

BTW, I hope judges will give to V/M the scores they deserve  

shar wrote:

☆Genie wrote:

Another clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c85-INUJcC0

Goodness... Those 3a's and 3-3 are as close to perfection as I've ever seen.

Definitely. We can see that she can hit those jumps in practice, but would Mao be able to bring it in competition? I am so worried, but at the same time this will be Mao's last Olympics so I hope she goes for an all-or-nothing approach.  

Ken Himura wrote:

BTW, I hope judges will give to V/M the scores they deserve

I was definitely baffled by the gap in the scores between D/W and V/M. In some ways the latter was more enjoyable, although there is argument that technically the Americans was ahead. I really don't want to think again about that Russia-US conspiracy.

BTW, pic related



It really should have been closer.

silenceisgolden wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

Does anyone have a video of Yuzu's medal ceremony?

Here you go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiNh0rNJg2k


And the cute moment when he found out he won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j255-a8g-HE

I have luked around Yuzu forum for some months but couldn't do so anymore.
I guess they don't want new members who are not skating fans but
interested in him only because of his looks ...?

Believe me, you don't want to go tumblr. I've always thought that Yuzuru was a marketer's dream, but now that he has OGM around his neck he just attracted what seemed to be a rabid following.  

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK1701U_X10C14A2000000/?n_cid=TPRN0008
Skating order
Mao will skate last #30, Akiko #24, Kanako #20, Yuna #17 and Yulia #25


OK, live result has been updated
http://www.sochi2014.com/en/figure-skating-ladies-short-program

linglang wrote:

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK1701U_X10C14A2000000/?n_cid=TPRN0008
Skating order
Mao will skate last #30, Akiko #24, Kanako #20, Yuna #17 and Yulia #25

Aw!!! I wanted her to skate earlier. Less pressure, in my opinion.

1 EST Elena GLEBOVA
2 KOR So Youn PARK
3 CAN Gabrielle DALEMAN
4 UKR Natalia POPOVA
5 GBR Jenna MCCORKELL
6 AUT Kerstin FRANK
7 CHN Kexin ZHANG
8 CAN Kaetlyn OSMOND
9 AUS Brooklee HAN
10 BRA Isadora WILLIAMS
11 KOR Haejin KIM
12 USA Polina EDMUNDS
13 SVK Nicole RAJICOVA
14 CZE Elizaveta UKOLOVA
15 NOR Anne Line GJERSEM
16 GEO Elene GEDEVANISHVILI
17 KOR Yuna KIM
18 GER Nathalie WEINZIERL

19 SWE Viktoria HELGESSON
20 JPN Kanako MURAKAMI
21 ITA Valentina MARCHEI
22 USA Gracie GOLD
23 CHN Zijun LI
24 JPN Akiko SUZUKI

25 RUS Yulia LIPNITSKAYA
26 ITA Carolina KOSTNER
27 USA Ashley WAGNER
28 FRA Mae Berenice MEITE
29 RUS Adelina SOTNIKOVA
30 JPN Mao ASADA

Mao_Asada_sunrise wrote:

linglang wrote:

http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK1701U_X10C14A2000000/?n_cid=TPRN0008
Skating order
Mao will skate last #30, Akiko #24, Kanako #20, Yuna #17 and Yulia #25

Aw!!! I wanted her to skate earlier. Less pressure, in my opinion.

I just want her to forget everything but focus on herself, ditch doubts and believe in herself.  I understand pressure will be enormous though  

Yulia & Mao will be in the same warm up group, is it good or bad?  

I hope that they don't give Adelina some monstrous score which may rattle Mao :/ And the Russians don't really seem supportive of other countries' athletes.

It'll be so difficult for Mao to control her nerves, and produce an amazing skate after the Russians and Yuna in the earlier group. But, if anyone can....it'll surely be Mao!

Nerves has been her enemy for so long, and I hope in her final competition, she can produce like she does in her practices. Positive vibes are sent your way Miss Asada! Go for Gold!

Thanks for the videos!

3A looks excellent and so effortless. 3F-3L in the run-through would be UR (free leg toe-pick touched the ice too soon), but the one in this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c85-INUJcC0) video looked good.   
3Lz also looked better than usual:

Not a perfect outside edge, but not inside, either.


TAHbKA from FSU posted some PBP and seemed impressed with Mao's speed and ice coverage! A part of the report posted below (some errors as far as jump identification goes, but I guess it's hard to tell jumps apart when so many ladies are practicing at the same time):

Quote :

(...) Asada is flying across the ice (...) Rajicova's music. About 20 sedconds of posing. Asada had enough time to cover the whole rink while she was posing. (...) Asada3f3loop (pingu says). Asada 2a3t Asada 3s (...)
Asada's music 3a LANDED!!! Clean!!! SO EASY!!!! 3loop3loop (actually, 3F-3L). (...) She covered more ice in those 40 seconds than McCorkell during her whole career. Glebova 3t3t Rajicova 3t Asada 2a/3t Asada 2s Asada 3f2loop2lopp Asada 3loop Glebova 3t2t almost into Asada Asada's steps are SO into the music accents it's amazing. It seems she does just as much as Sotnikova in her steps yet it doesn't look rushed and impossible. Asada spiral. She is amazing.
(...) Asada 3z3loop! (again, it probably was 3F-3L )

silenceisgolden wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

Does anyone have a video of Yuzu's medal ceremony?

Here you go.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiNh0rNJg2k


And the cute moment when he found out he won.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j255-a8g-HE

I have luked around Yuzu forum for some months but couldn't do so anymore.
I guess they don't want new members who are not skating fans but
interested in him only because of his looks ...?

Thank you so much!  

O gosh, he is so cute. I'm first? I'm the first?   

If javi hadn't zayaked himself with that last 3Sa, Brian would've had two of his students on the podium. All he had to do was go for 2A and he would've had the bronze.    But I'm really happy that Denis won a medal if Javi couldn't. After everything he went through, he more than deserved it.

Oh how I hope we'll see Mao at the exactly same spot on the podium.   On top!  

shar wrote:

☆Genie wrote:

Another clip!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c85-INUJcC0

Goodness... Those 3a's and 3-3 are as close to perfection as I've ever seen.

I agree. And while I'm over the moon that her 3A looks so efortless and I really hope she'll bring it to competition, I'm also pissed at the constant repetition of her 3A by japanese media. For the love of God, she is so much more than just this one jump (no matter how difficult it is), why can't they focus on other aspects of her gorgeous skating? Enough with thousand repetitions of 3A in one news segment!   

I actually like it that she'll skate after the Russians, because if she hits it, the judges won't hold her down, because they wanted to see how other candidates will do. They'll already see Yuna, Yulia, Caro, Adelina.
IMO, had Mao skated after Yuna in Vancouver, her SP score would've been higher.

Thanx so much for posting the links, news and reports guys! You're the best!     

I must admit though, that while watching Mao's run through, I kept screaming (while sitting infront of my computer) at the other skaters, to get the heck out of Mao's way.   My family thinks that I've finally lost it.  

Edit: Here we go, the conspiracy theory in Ice dance continues. I don't really know what to think. I hope it's not true, and that people are just having a hard time dealing with Tessa/Scott no longer being Nr.1.
And I really, really hope the judging in ladies is goig to be fair. No mysterious UR's for Mao, and magical GOE, PCS for Yulia.      

Here's the link to the article about V/M and D/W scores.
http://www.thestar.com/sports/sochi2014/figureskating/2014/02/16/tessa_virtue_scott_moir_second_after_olympic_ice_dance_short_program.html

klarification wrote:

78.89 for D/W! YES!   

pearlyriver wrote:

I want to ask: What are V/M and D/W's strength and weaknesses?

V/M are more emotionally connected and lyrical compared to their American counterparts. However, D/W have the advantage on the technical side. I also think its an advantage that Meryl has an exotic air around her– she can pull off a character like in this year's Scheherazade.

D/W got the highest scores for skating skills 9.6. From my uneducated eyes, they were on flats most of the time, their edge works not crisp enough and finn steps out of synce. I enjoyed their SD tremendously in previous competitions, but not last night. If they got 78, I think V/M should have got higher than 76. I can't help feeling that it's playing out exactly as the rumous says.

Back to Mao, there're so many things I want to say about Mao, but I'd better keep it for myself to avoid jinxing her. Just sending good vibes