Figure Skating

[DavidMn]

Cohen would really have to screw up pretty bad not to get a medal now. I lvoe how its so close. It will make for a very exciting Thursday evening.

[skcin]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

Her spiral sequence. It is flawless; one of the best I've seen. It really is all the connecting moves, the spins, the footwork, etc that add to the performance. I hate when all a skater can do is jump well. And, I just sounded like Dick Button there.

Yes! Spiral sequence! Thanks, Mr. Button!

He's been driving me nuts - "even though she royally f*cked that up, she's really just a pleasure to watch..." or "what a pleasant program that was..."

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Cohen would really have to screw up pretty bad not to get a medal now. I lvoe how its so close. It will make for a very exciting Thursday evening.

Not really, it's so close that the littlest stumble could ruin everything. She's not consistent, she tends to make mistakes when under pressure. Hopefully the short program provided her with confidence so that she can stay relaxed & just skate her heart out Thursday.

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by skcin

Yes! Spiral sequence! Thanks, Mr. Button!

He's been driving me nuts - "even though she royally f*cked that up, she's really just a pleasure to watch..." or "what a pleasant program that was..."

He is a real pill. He's been commentating for as long as I can remember, and he can be so annoying. "She's just a delight to watch" or "his spins are really third-rate." He would be a good source for a book -- The Quotable Dick Button.

[Serrart]

Originally Posted by elie

Lol! That would certainly be something to see...

Anyway, did you watch the Ladies' Short Program? I thought that Sasha Cohen was stunning - even though I am not a big fan of hers. But I think I want her to win. I was very sad about Carolina Kostner though, she fell in the combination and got 11th place (I think).

I usually skip the Ladies's competition since it is my least favorite , but this time it is going to be exciting. Sasha leads by 3/100 only and Irina Slutskaya is second. It's going to be a tough final at last! I hated the fact that I knew before the olympics who was going to get the gold in the Mens' competition

It isn't my favourite either, but yesterday was really a beautiful evening. Sacha Cohen did a fantastic program, very clean, the only minor problem I remember was the saving on the double axel (I think) but she did it with great elegance and experience, and totally deserved the first place. Usually Slutskaya is more a 'war machine' on the free program, but if Cohen will cope with all the pressure she could make it, IMO. I was really impressed by Emily Hughes, she showed great class and wonderful jumps.

I was sorry too for Carolina Kostner, even if I liked how she reacted after the initial fall.

Romy

[amber]

This was my first chance to watch and I came in on the Italian girl. (sorry, behind the curve) what a doll. And it's so nice to see a skater with a bit of thickness and shape to her muscles. Did you see she was crying right after? Just lovely, so sweet. Did you see how fine her husband was?
anyways...

Krista - I love when "all" a skater can do is jump well (I've never seen that be all one can do, but). Syria Bonali is still my favorite ever, I love superathleticism in the skate. Where's my backflips? Will no one ever do them again? I want my skatenastics!!!! Gah she was stunning.
Oh, I'm just gonna cry this whole time I'm watching, I can feel it. So amazing.
That Tugba girl's story is really inspiring.

All my fantasy outfits are these skating ones. Clothes I like resemble them...

Yay, Tugba kicked it out! That makes me happy cause she's the first from Turkey and her fam sacrificed a lot.

Jesus, that Finnish skater is gorgeous!

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by amber

Krista - I love when "all" a skater can do is jump well (I've never seen that be all one can do, but). Syria Bonali is still my favorite ever, I love superathleticism in the skate. Where's my backflips? Will no one ever do them again? I want my skatenastics!!!! Gah she was stunning.
Oh, I'm just gonna cry this whole time I'm watching, I can feel it. So amazing.

Well, I like when they can jump well enough to not fall. It just seems like most skaters are either artistic or technical specialists. I need to see the choreography between the jumps to be satisfied.

I remember when Surya did her backflip at the Olympics. An illegal move, but God bless her for doing it anyway.

[amber]

Originally Posted by GypsySorcerer

Well, I like when they can jump well enough to not fall. It just seems like most skaters are either artistic or technical specialists. I need to see the choreography between the jumps to be satisfied.

I remember when Surya did her backflip at the Olympics. An illegal move, but God bless her for doing it anyway.

That was like the coolest thing a skater has ever done. Her and her mom were always being all defiant. And member they said the judges were prejudiced? I wouldn't doubt it, but I think they were even more prejudiced about her athleticism. She could knock those jumps out like nothing, the kind people are doing now. I think she was much more graceful than they gave her credit for, I feel like they saw she was an athletic skater and automatically judged her not to be graceful enough or a good enough dancer - it's like they had cognitive dissonance..."great...jumper...couldn't...possibly...be...graceful...." At least somewhat. I'm not saying she was the most graceful skater ever or anything, but you know.
I just started watching, so I haven't seen any yet who are all one thing. I always thought Michelle Kwan was boring, too "only graceful" or whatever. I mean, she could jump, but she rarely had much punch in my opinion. Judges love that usually.

The canadian lady just kicked out some super moves.

oooo, Sasha Cohen's red and gold outfit is hot! I really like her. i didn't realize how teensy she was.

You guys don't like Slutskaya?! i was pretty touched by her mom's illness then her illness.

[elie]

BIG HURRAY for Arakawa!!!
I thought she was sublime!! A totally deserved Olympic Gold Medal IMO. I was a bit sad for Cohen, I liked her choreography a lot, but I had not expected any different. But still, Arakawa was the only gold medal in the figure skating event this year that I was really happy about...

[GypsySorcerer]

Originally Posted by amber

That was like the coolest thing a skater has ever done. Her and her mom were always being all defiant. And member they said the judges were prejudiced? I wouldn't doubt it, but I think they were even more prejudiced about her athleticism. She could knock those jumps out like nothing, the kind people are doing now. I think she was much more graceful than they gave her credit for, I feel like they saw she was an athletic skater and automatically judged her not to be graceful enough or a good enough dancer - it's like they had cognitive dissonance..."great...jumper...couldn't...possibly...be...graceful...." At least somewhat. I'm not saying she was the most graceful skater ever or anything, but you know.

When she won the silver at worlds (or did she win it twice?), I remember she and her mom were very upset. I wouldn't doubt either that there was some prejudice involved, but like you say, I think it was more of her athleticism that did her in. Same thing with Tonya Harding....great jumper, but she wasn't petite and ballerina-like, so she always got marked down.

Originally Posted by amber

I just started watching, so I haven't seen any yet who are all one thing. I always thought Michelle Kwan was boring, too "only graceful" or whatever. I mean, she could jump, but she rarely had much punch in my opinion. Judges love that usually.

I am not a Kwan fan myself. She is an incredibly boring skating. Sasha Cohen is just as artistic, but never boring. I love her.

[DavidMn]

SO who's performance wasmore dissapointing, Slutskaya's or Cohen's?

[elie]

Originally Posted by DavidMn

SO who's performance wasmore dissapointing, Slutskaya's or Cohen's?

I would say Slutskaya's. She seemd kind of "heavy" on the ice, not so energetic and I can't remember the last time I had seen her fall.
Cohen fell too, but from an artistic point of view (and also, the rest of her jumps), her program was a thrill, IMO.
And if I may be a bit cynical, I would add that I sort of expected her to fall (since she has a reputation of being incosistent in the finals), so I wasn't that surprised.
But Slutskaya, that I had not expected. And given that she was skating last, I thought that she would win anyway.

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by elie

I would say Slutskaya's. She seemd kind of "heavy" on the ice, not so energetic and I can't remember the last time I had seen her fall.
Cohen fell too, but from an artistic point of view (and also, the rest of her jumps), her program was a thrill, IMO.
And if I may be a bit cynical, I would add that I sort of expected her to fall (since she has a reputation of being incosistent in the finals), so I wasn't that surprised.
But Slutskaya, that I had not expected. And given that she was skating last, I thought that she would win anyway.

Well, at least they both got medals. And btw, if Slutskaya's career is over, she'll have exactly what Michelle Kwan ended up with, a silver and a bronze over 2 olympics. not too shabby.

[wondergirl9847]

Congrats to Sasha for the silver! She has the biggest eyes.

Arakawa was spectacular and her outfit was stunning. I want it. I can't ice skate (roller skate, sure), but I want it. Congrats to her for the gold! First Japanese gold medal for skating.

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by elie

BIG HURRAY for Arakawa!!!
I thought she was sublime!! A totally deserved Olympic Gold Medal IMO. I was a bit sad for Cohen, I liked her choreography a lot, but I had not expected any different. But still, Arakawa was the only gold medal in the figure skating event this year that I was really happy about...

She was. Her program was beautiful last night. And she won Japan's first gold in the entire Olympics. No one could touch her last night.

[DavidMn]

Not to get off the Women's topic, but after Plushenko won the gold he said he was for sure coming back for Vancouver 2010. He's only 23, so I think that's a very real possibility. If he were to win gold again there, that would give him a silver and 2 golds in olympic competition. In my opinion,that would put him right up there near the top of the all time list.