#2018 gpf

[domokunrainbowkinz]

this quote tweet is making me lose my mind how are you a figure skating account but don't know who Tessa and Scott are 😭

[raininyourblackeyes]

Me? Thinking about this specific Rika picture from 2018 GPF? More likely than you think.

[spiralcomet]

............just used the mass post editor because i wanted to delete a bunch of posts from my drafts, and i think i just accidentally deleted a bunch of published posts.......

[rabidline]

Japanese Skaters' Favorite Shoma Uno Programs and Their Reasons

This was in the Figure Skating Team Japan Fan Book for the 2024-2025 season, which had Shoma on its cover along with both a pretty substantial Shoma interview and Stephane interview about Shoma.

For Shoma's retirement, the magazine made a special column to include the active Japanese skaters (and Satoko) messages to Shoma, as well as their favorite Shoma programs. A friend helped in sharing and translating just the favorite Shoma programs part:

Sota Yamamoto: I love so many programs. Loco is the best for me because it’s unique and cool. Turandot 2.0 (2017-2018), when I had a difficult season because of my injury, this program encouraged me. Stairway To Heaven... brushing his hair upward is so cool. Great Spirit and Dancing On My Own (2019 Nationals) He graduated from Grand Prix Tokai and struggled but he could be National champion. I was so moved and almost cried. I love Bolero. Gravity and Air On The G String, he could perform not only powerful but loss of strength and I could learn from him.

Yuma Kagiyama: I love so many programs. Loco is the best. I love Great Spirit so I chose Believer last season (2022-2024 SP). I watched and watched Great Spirit on YouTube and I can skate its step sequence.

Shun Sato: Of course I love Ladies in Lavender. And Great Spirit.

Kazuki Tomono: I love Legends (2015-2016) so much because it’s first SP as a senior skater. His image as a skater changed a lot and it was impressive.

Koshiro Shimada: I love Loco at Helsinki Worlds (2017) the best. And Everything Everywhere All At Once and Bolero. At first Shoma mentioned about Bolero, “It’s so difficult and I can’t.” Finally he could do great performance and win at Worlds (2022) and it was what Stephane wanted to see I think. I was so moved and I almost got goosebumps.

Kao Miura: I love Loco the best because the balance of powerful and sensitive movements is good. I love Bolero because he seems to reach his limits. Not only jumps but each movement were so great and the last he seems to collapse because he skates so hard. I love it so much.

Nozomu Yoshioka: I love 2019-2020 season Great Spirit and Dancing On My Own. Nobody skates for such a number like Great Spirit and it’s so exciting. I like a stop before step sequence and before 3A and it’s so cool program. He struggled first half of the season so I was so moved to see Dancing On My Own at (2019) Nationals.

Tatsuya Tsuboi: I love Turandot 1.0 the best. When I was novice skater I saw his senior debut GPF (2015) and he got a bronze medal. It was so impressive and I was so moved.

Kaori Sakamoto: I love Moonlight. This season he won 4CC title. Second year 4th place, third year 3rd place, fourth year 2nd place, and finally he got gold medal. He seemed very happy on the podium and both program and costume were great. Everything was perfect.

Mone Chiba: I love the last season’s SP, Everything Everywhere All At Once, because I love the atmosphere. His step sequence expresses powerfulness and gracefulness. It’s great program so I feel it too short.

Rinka Watanabe: I love Moonlight because I’d like to express like that. His skating is like a clear (not hazy) night and it’s great.

Rion Sumiyoshi: I love many programs. I love Air On The G String because I sometimes skate it for skating lessons. It’s a very simple music but he can tell a story and he can bring a joy to audience. His technique is great.

Mai Mihara: I love many programs and each has a charm. If I choose one program, I’ll choose Turandot 2.0. Especially cantilever is really great and I was so moved and I almost got goosebumps. Both skating and expression were great.

Hana Yoshida: I have two programs in my mind. If I choose one program, I’ll choose Bolero. I forget the name… small pattern…Great Spirit? I love the step sequence and I’d like to rewatch it.

Yuna Aoki: Turandot 2.0 is so impressive because I love princely costume and I feel his powerfulness from this program. I love it so much.

Wakaba Higuchi: I love Bolero and Turandot so much. I could see Bolero at ice shows many times and it’s impressive.

Satoko Miyahara: I love Bolero the best. Turandot 2.0 is impressive. I also love gala program Padam Padam and I always think it great.

Rino Matsuike: I love Bolero. I used to skate Moonlight, so It’s so special for me. When Mihoko-sensei choreographed this program, she said “When the music started, audience was so focused on his performance from the first moment. (He could bring audience to his world.) When I am training, I think “I’d like to perform like him.”

[yuzu-all-the-way]

Yuzuru Hanyu's K&C reactions to breaking World Records (Through the Years)

Historical world records (during the +/-3 GOE ISU scoring system)

1) October 19th, 2012 (Skate America) - Parisienne Walkways 95.07

2) November 23rd, 2012 (NHK Trophy) - Parisienne Walkways 95.32

3) December 5th, 2013 (GPF) - Parisienne Walkways 99.84

4) February 13th, 2014 (Sochi Olympics) - Parisienne Walkways 101.45 (Yuzu was the first men's single skater in history to score above 100 points)

5) November 27th, 2015 (NHK Trophy) - Ballade No. 1 106.33

6) November 28th, 2015 (NHK Trophy) - SEIMEI 216.07 (Yuzu became the first men's single skater in history to score above 200 points)

7) November 28th, 2015 (NHK Trophy) - Total 322.40 (Yuzu became the first men's single skater in history to score above 300 points)

8) December 10th, 2015 (GPF) - Ballade No. 1 110.95 (Yuzu was the first and remains the only skater to score above 110 points before the 2018-19 season*)

9) December 12th, 2015 (GPF) - SEIMEI 219.48

10) December 12th, 2015 (GPF) - Total 330.43 (Yuzu remains the only skater in history to score above 330 points prior to the 2018-19 season)

11) April 1st, 2017 (World Championships) - Hope & Legacy 223.20 (Yuzu became the first and remained the only skater in history to score above 220 points in the free skate prior to the 2018-19 season)

12) September 22nd, 2017 (Autumn Classic) - Ballade No. 1 112.72

Modern World Records (*during the +/-5 GOE ISU scoring system introduced in the 2018-19 season)

13) November 3rd, 2018 (GP Helsinki) - Otoñal 106.60

14) November 4th, 2018 (GP Helsinki) - Origin 190.43

15) November 4th, 2018 (GP Helsinki) - Total 297.12

16) November 16th, 2018 (Rostelecom Cup) - Otonal 110.53 (Yuzu became the first skater in the new system to score above 110 points)

17) March 23rd, 2019 (World Championships) - Origin 206.10 (Yuzu became the first skater to score above 200 points in the new system)

18) March 23rd, 2019 (World Championships) - Total 300.97 (Yuzu became the first skater to score above 300 points in the new system)

19) February 7th, 2020 (Four Continents) - Ballade No. 1 111.82

[triptychgrip]

What if a drunken/accidental livestream led the public to find out about the Sochi banquet, four years after the fact?

MOTHERing_Heights commented: 12-09-2019 at 07:15am Love your posts, as always.

Regarding theories as to how the ISU kept banquet details from leaking…we all know the organization is all but broke, so they probably didn’t bribe any of the skaters to not mention it through $$$. More than likely, Viktor “I Have Gorgeous Eyes But Cross Me And I’ll Shoot Laser Beams Out Of Them” Nikiforov probably made every banquet attendee swear not to leak anything, realizing Yuuri might not want that level of media attention.

We now know Viktor didn’t realize Yuuri was that drunk, so his desire for discretion back then was probably more along the lines of “well I’m so famous and this level of scrutiny is something Yuuri probably isn’t used to, best to keep this quiet” and less of the “Woe is me! My future husband was trashed the night he captured my soul, gotta keep this hush hush” variety.

1 response to MOTHERing_Heights Lets_Get_You_To_Bed_Grandma commented: 12-09-2019 at 07:25am ajldkfjlskdaldkflskdf “Woe is me! My future husband was trashed the night he captured my soul…” This honestly sent me to the moon....why is this totally something Viktor would have thought?!

I’m now imagining him pacing and hand-wringing in his/Yuuri’s hotel room at the Barcelona GPF the night he found out that Yuuri didn’t know (the same night of their engagement, apparently?!). Oh, to be a fly on that wall…

And speaking of hand-wringing, can we all spare a moment of silence for the freaking PINING Viktor must have undergone during that 4 month gap between Sochi and hauling ass to Japan?? I’m wondering if he consoled himself in the meantime by commissioning a fanfic writer to bring to life all of his lovelorn fantasies on the page? Or, perhaps he went the route of us mere mortals and stalked Yuuri’s (formerly nonexistent) social media outlets? LMAO

---

Ahh, in-universe social media freak-outs: I love writing them, and the above excerpt/text message image is from my latest one-shot: part 1 of an eventual 3-part series about the aftermath in the event that the public finds out about the Sochi GPF Banquet shenanigans, four years after the fact.

As in: well after the Yuuri of my fic-verse wins gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics, as well as after he and Viktor get married.

The ensuing chaos has the potential for humor, of course, but also major feels, which is what attracted me to wanting to write about it in the first place

In my fic-verse, our YOI faves are having a hell of a time in Turin, Italy, enjoying themselves at the 2019 GPF Banquet, which ends up being a celebration of Yuuri winning his second GPF title (just a few points ahead of Yurio).

Due to Mila and Sara's peer pressure, Yuuri and Yurio drink far too much of the locally reknown grappa, which leads them to 1) set off together in search of more substantial food than the slim hors d'oeuvres pickings, and 2) accidentally go live on Instagram while discussing what went down in Sochi (well, it's more like Yurio slurring in his explanation and Yuuri interjecting now and again with incoherent "wait a secccc, tha' wuzz me? I did that?!" exclamations)

Needless to say, when a few Yuri's Angels record the live and upload it online, the internet EXPLODES; up until this point, everyone had believed Yuuri and Viktor's relationship origins to be pretty straightforward: they've been together since October 2016 and since then, they've never hinted at anything even slightly chaotic happening in Sochi.

Part 1 focuses on everyone's initial reactions the morning after Yuuri and Yurio's livestream; part 2 will be hurt/comfort-focused, as both Viktor and Yuuri grow insecure (though, for very different reasons); and the final part will feature Yuuri and Viktor hosting their own (sober) livestream to "take command of the narrative", as Yuuri's extremely stressed publicist suggests

I hope this overview piques your interest in my story, or encourages you to check out my other Yuri!!! on Ice works

[jennibeultimate]

Women Podium @ GPF 2023 FS

Congratulations to all medalist! 🥳🥳🥳

Congrats on Kaori for completing a grand slam! 2018 4CC champion, 2022 and 2023 World Champion, 2024 GPF champion! 🥇🥇🥇🥇

[myjunkisyuzuruhanyu]

I don't remember who, but someone once said Shoma performs by pacing himself according to his rivals' condition. If they make mistakes, he does, too. If they have high scored performances, so does he. It is not always true, but I think they are right. In my opinion, what delayed Shoma's acquisition of gold medal before was him believing he cannot beat Nathan or Yuzuru. This season, it looks like he has mixed feelings regarding competition about artistry and all. But this aspect aside, when he was asked about beating Malinin, he says it is difficult. If we check the reality, I think it is not true. Of course, judges' decision to infilate Malinin's scores through undeserved pcs and all, and detecting and punishing Shoma's every mistake including non-existent ones contribute him to think like that. Not to mention, Shoma never receives the PCS he deserves. In the end, I am afraid Shoma will create his own obstacles by believing he cannot achieve this or that. For me, he is a skater who has a chance of getting olympic gold medal if he continues. Of course 2 years is so far away and an unknown future , but I am trying to emphasize his capability. So, it is not really a question but I wish he considered himself an unbeatable competitor. I wonder what would happen then. Btw, I am okay with Shoma not winning if he is content with himself and his skating. But he is really extremely humble that it looks like it creates a psychological obstacle.

(Assuming this goes together anon! Also sended quite a while ago, so sorry for answering so late! 🙇)

I think there is a lot to unpack here...it might get long...see it as a "discussion" even if you didn't post a particular question...

I cannot tell you who said Shoma would "pace himself according to his rivals"...I think there is a sort of correlation between skaters doing good and skaters following that also doing good and vice versa that a bad performance leads to more skaters having bad performances. If we look at 2018 Worlds free skate for example, everyone in the last group had horrible skates apart from Nathan (who magically wasn't affected or how I believe learned to distance himself from pressure after the horrible SP at the Olympics), which lead Shoma to win silver despite 3 falls, just bc everyone else was even worse. And I think Shoma didn't like winning the medal that way. I think it's only natural that skaters are influenced by the mood of the audience and skaters. Shoma is a skater that watches his competition until he has to start so Shoma knows exactly what he has to do. So I am almost sure he sometimes just does what he has to in order to get the result he needs. If it's crucial to put the combinations in at the end to secure a medal, he does them like at GPF 2023, but if he knows he'd done enough to win like at GPF 2022 he will not go for it. I think Shoma is smart in that regard, he does difficulty also according to his competition sometimes (and I think that was also a strategy that helped Nathan to win bc he always did adjust his difficulty according to his competition). If you want to call it "pacing to his rivals' condition" or just knowing what he has to do in order to achieve what he needs is up to you. Shoma is not really a skater that skates clean, yet his results speak for himself, that he still has such high personal bests of 212 points TSS, even with couple of errors. So I think Shoma will aim for Gold and to beat Ilia, he's just realistic that it's not gonna be guaranteed to win and also that it's not easy. And ofc if we look at the scores this season it's not Shoma who is in the best position. I don't think you have to fear that he will just condition himself to be good enough to podium. Shoma always paces himself with each competition. I think the real obstacle here are his new boots that may hinder the pacing. For the last two years Shoma has paced himself that he would always have peak condition at the 2nd half of the season. (Even if in 2023 Worlds he was injured, he was well prepared)

"In my opinion, what delayed Shoma's acquisition of gold medal before was him believing he cannot beat Nathan or Yuzuru."

I don't think that's the entire truth. Yes Shoma didn't believe in himself enough to win for sure, but I also think it was just realistic to not think of winning only. I think Shoma was always one that was in the mix to win but not as the favorite (and that's not bc of the judges but bc of BV and consistency) Tbh Nathan had a crazy consistency and also Yuzu's consistency was way better than Shoma's so in reality the chance to win against Nathan (after 2017-2018 season) and Yuzu (from the start) was slim. If everyone would have been clean, Shoma would not have won. When Shoma started to have 5 quads in 2021-2022 then he could cross the line to win on his own accord, before his BV would not have allowed him to pass Yuzu and Nathan even with a clean skate. But up until then it was not only a lack of confidence. I think Shoma was just realistic. Btw Shoma tried to have a different approach in 2018-2019. He did in fact tell media that he wants to win against Nathan and Yuzu. But this approach let him down. He was good in practice and never got it together in competition against Nathan and Yuzu. I think this approach was even what lead him to struggle so much mentally until he felt he was not good enough for any medal. He was close to quitting soon after Worlds 2019. He came in with the height of winning 4cc and delivered worse than ever at Worlds that season. Afterwards I think the believe in himself was completely broken. It took 2 years to get back on a confidence level and then there was also COVID...that was an emotional rollercoaster, never in a million years would I have imagined him to become back to back World champion, I was worried he would quit without ever achieving any big title.

"This season, it looks like he has mixed feelings regarding competition about artistry and all. But this aspect aside, when he was asked about beating Malinin, he says it is difficult. If we check the reality, I think it is not true. [...] In the end, I am afraid Shoma will create his own obstacles by believing he cannot achieve this or that. For me, he is a skater who has a chance of getting olympic gold medal if he continues."

Again I think Shoma is just being realistic. I am the first person to emphasize that Shoma is still in Gold contender position and I was also the one to continuesly emphasize that the Gold was his to lose last season and I sort of still believe that, bc Shoma so far did not deliver his absolute best while skaters like Ilia and Adam this season have still room for adding points but especially Adam I consider to be at a maximum PB score if he's not adding more difficulty. If Ilia would have landed the 4A at GPf 2023 ofc his points would have been a tad higher as well but it's still nothing that Shoma could not achieve with clean skates for SP and FS. Yet realistically Ilia, Adam and Yuma also have a chance to win, bc their score potential is so close to one another, so for me it's a way healthier approach to not expect to win but just try to focus on yourself and your own goal instead of the win only. I also don't think winning only is truly what Shoma wants at this point bc he said himself that winning is cool but also kind of boring, he lost motivation last season with winning. (That's not a direct quote but a summary btw) Shoma experienced to win, but instead of bunking on his legacy and focusing on a winning streak, he reduced the technical content knowing very well that it would cost him points if he doesn't manage to skate his current BV clean - with a quad more you have more room for mistakes - yet he chose this approach for the season. He also knew a focus on artistry would not get him better scores, yet he still chose this path. If Shoma's goal would be winning only he would not have changed his 5 quad approach this season. He can still very well do the 4S, he could return to a 5 quad program to have better chances at beating Ilia but he so far decided against it. So let's see if he adds it back in for Worlds.

I think Shoma has a chance of getting Gold at Olympics but tbh at this point I doubt that it's what he wants. The Olympics was never as important for him than for everyone else. In 2018 he even said it's just another competition. He underestimated the aftereffects of the celebrity like status and expectations that followed bc of it, but the competition itself was not more meaningful to him. I think 2022 was not that different. I am not convinced that Worlds 2024 will be his last competition, but at the same time I am also not convinced that it's not his last. If Shoma has the ideal skate he thrives for - what medal that may be - he may retire. And actually if that's what he feels is best for him than that's ok. I come to terms with the fact that Shoma will retire sooner or later, it took me a long time but now I can say I am at peace with that.

I don't see Shoma's way as a "psychological obstacle", I see it as a healthy approach to competition. I have seen the contrary approach in Yuzu: Yuzu was all about winning, specific titles, specific goals and that's what worked for him lots of times, but I don't feel it's a healthy approach to always aim for first when you know it's not always gonna happen, no one in this sport is truly unbeatable bc ice is slippery. It will make you unhappy if you're not able to achieve your goals. So in this sense I always felt Shoma has a healthier mindset. It's not that Shoma doesn't like winning or doesn't want to win, but he is realistic that it might not always happen. Shoma will never see himself as an unbeatable competitor, bc he is realistic and bc he knows his flaws. He is not boastful and overconfident, he is humble indeed but I think that's what makes him special that he sees his competition and is happy for them if they achieve something for themselves. He's not unhappy when others win, look at how complimentary Shoma was of Nathan, Yuzu, Adam, Ilia and Yuma. Even if Shoma feels unfairly treated like at NHK23 he didn't begrudge Yuma his win, he let out his frustration against the judges in the interview, but imo he was more unhappy with the result bc he felt the skate was good and didn't get the proper reward, so ppl would like to rewatch it and bc Stephane was so upset about it. If all Shoma cares a bit too much about his surroundings - his fans, the coaches, other skaters - but I don't think that's a bad trait to have. I think if it wouldn't be for fans and Stephane and probably a bit of not knowing what else to do, Shoma would have long retired, but he is still here to reward us all, not himself imo. (Bruh this guy doesn't even know where he keeps all his medals and wanted to gift his medal to the grave. Good that he has a family that cares) It may seem contradictory but I think that's what truly works for him. This season the scores have been quite disappointing - also for Shoma himself - but if we look at it objectively his results ain't bad. He won Nationals, he got a Silver medal at GPF and all of this despite judges not being fully supportive of him, especially the technical panel has been even unfair, yet he didn't finish off podium. I am not disappointed that Shoma doesn't see himself as the best skater - what imo he currently definitely is - but I am disappointed even angry at ppl downplaying his achievements or his fans losing believe in his abilties. The results are out of Shoma's hands in the end - that's up to the judges how they treat him. Let's hope they are fair at Worlds.

I think just as important is that WE as his fans believe in him. That we support him. And with that believe of everyone else around him he has the believe in himself. I believe in Shoma. I trust in Shoma to deliver a performance that leaves us speechless. Will he win? Maybe. But even if not, what's the problem? He has two world titles, he's 26 years old, he has a long career and many medals. He has written his name in the history books. He's the 2nd most decorated Japanese skater of all time behind Yuzu. What more is there to achieve? 😌

[tutuandscoot]

Allow me to geek out on some maths for a moment..

Ages of the winners of the Olympics Ice Dance event from the past 2 decades:

2002: Anissina/Peizerat (FRA) 27/30

2006: Navka/Kostomarov (RUS) 31/29

2010: Virtue/Moir (CAN) 20/22

2014: Davis/White (USA) 27/26

2018: Virtue/Moir (CAN) 28/30

2022: Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA) 26/27

The ages of the top 6 (as of GPF 2023) + P/C as of Milano/Cortina 2026:

Papadakis/Cizeron (FRA): 30/31 (3rd olys)

Chock/Bates (USA): 33/37 (5th olys *E)

Guignard/Fabbri (ITA): 37/39 (4th olys)

Gilles/Poirier (CAN): 34/34 (4th olys *Paul)

Fear/Gibson (GBR): 27/32 (2nd olys)

Fournier Beaudry/Sorensen (CAN): 33/37 (2nd olys)

Lajoie/Lagha (CAN): 26/27 (2nd olys)

Of the above 7 teams, only one will be younger than VM were in 2018.

AND PEOPLE THOUGHT VM WERE “ANCIENT” when they won in 2018…

In a world where VM return for the 2026 Olympics.. they would not be the oldest team competing..

Pre-VM, Ice Dance was an ‘older skaters’ sport.

VM made ice dance a ‘young sport’- they pushed the athleticism, skating skill, difficulty, artistry, versatility. Everyone was forced to skate to their standard. They retired at, what is now proven to be, a relatively young age. The ages of the *top* teams looking to the 2026 Olympics, the above teams are made up of holdovers from the VM era, and teams that have not and will never have the opportunity to achieve what VM did at- clearly now an anomaly of a young age, because of the holdover teams- If they do, it will be at the rate of the age cycle that has reappeared starting precisely at the retirement of Virtue/Moir.

VM was the outlier.

[seafood-33]

In the days of waiting for notte stellata, we miss Javier and Yuzuru-swan.

Worlds 2017, GPF 2016, Olympics 2018

Source : yuzumi7 Shibsibs Ninny others from pinterest.

[harocat]

Fun old post! I’d like to see how the BV for Nathan’s Pyeongchang and Milano Worlds free skates compared as well, as they had six quads.

Of course, the scoring system changed after 2018, so we can’t really compare past that point. Ilia’s GPF Succession and Nathan’s Rocketman would lead the pack on that front, but remember, post 2018 there is one less jumping pass. Ilia’s yet to nail his planned program content when he has over four quads, but certain to say if he can, the TES will be bonkers.

And Nathan did eventually get stronger in backloading some of those combos. For example, the 4t1eu3f at the end of his free, and the 4lz3t at the end of his SP. He also got that missing quad loop under his belt. And Ilia has all six like the mad lad he is. Looking back is so interesting.

Nathan Chen vs. Victor Nikiforov

Kubo has made some comments recently about how when YOI was being created she wanted it to be a ‘little ahead of where skating is right now’. It’s not as if they had the characters doing quintuples or something. She just, jump content wise, had the characters somewhat ahead of the standard of the top skaters in competition. Victor’s program in the first episode stood out to a lot of people. It seemed a bit fantastic! 

He performed four different quads. No one had done that before. Jin Boyang had first done four quads in a program before, almost a year previous to YOI’s premiere. But… they weren’t four different quads. It did still seem a bit fanciful, although yes, it was inevitable that it would occur within a couple years. There were skaters, multiple ones, who we knew probably had the capability to do it. There was a lot of talk about a trio of teenagers nicknamed the ‘quad squad’ and which one would be first to pull it off. These three young men are Jin Boyang of China, Shoma Uno of Japan, and Nathan Chen of USA. 

Anyway, the ‘first to pull it off’ ended up being Nathan Chen of the USA, and not only did he ‘pull off’ Victor Nikiforov’s jump layout, but he did him one over and completed a more difficult one. There’s no quad toe triple toe in there, but instead the harder combination the quad lutz + triple toe loop. However, he did do four different quads, and on top of that, one more, for a total of five quads. He’s now done this twice in two months, once at US Nationals and once at Four Continents. 

Even Kubo-sensei herself expressed amusement at this. She meant to make the show a little bit in the future, but within a month of the series ending, actual figure skating surpassed it! 

So how does Victor’s (record breaking in the YOI universe) Stammi Vicino free skate compare with Nathan Chen’s (history making in our universe) Polovtsian Dances free skate? Let’s take a look! 

As a note, I don’t really have a way to know exactly the levels and base values of Victor’s step sequences and spins, so this will be based on jumps only. Also this is based on Nathan’s jump layout at US Nationals. His jump layout at Four Continents was slightly different. :)

Nathan Chen:

Quad Lutz + Triple Toe loop

Quad Flip

Quad Toeloop + Double Toe loop + Double Loop

Quad Toeloop

Triple Axel

Quad Salchow

Triple Lutz

Triple Flip + Triple Toe loop

Base Value of jumps alone 91.96

I pulled these base values directly off icenetwork’s official scoring sheets, so if there’s anything wrong, blame them not me. 

Victor Nikiforov

Quad Lutz 

Quad Flip 

Triple Axel 

Quadruple Salchow

Triple Axel + Triple Loop + Double Loop 

Triple Lutz

Triple Flip

Quadruple Toe Loop + Triple Toe Loop

Base Value of jumps alone: 88.79 

If there’s a mistake in these though, it’s my fault. 

Why is Victor’s so close to Nathan’s despite having one less quad? It’s mostly because his program is a little more backloaded with jumps than Nathan’s is. He puts his quad/triple as his last jump element, and he even squishes that three jump combination in his latter half of the program.  Remember that jumps in the latter part of your program get a 10% bonus on scores. This is emphasized in YOI especially with Yuuri’s character, as his stamina allows him to put the most difficult elements of his program near the end of his programs to take advantage of that. A quad flip within mere moments of your program ending is absolutely balls to the wall nuts, but Yuuri does it in both his short and long programs at the GPF. 

Nathan Chen’s original program plan at US Nationals was a triple loop where the last quad salchow is. If he had done that, he would have had four quads and his base value would have been: 85.51, which is a little below Victor’s (despite the fact that Nathan’s quadruple jump combo, the 4 lutz/3 toe is more difficult than Victor’s choice of a 4 toe/3 toe. In fact, at Four Continents it broke a record for the highest score on an individual element!). The power of those latter half bonuses is strong! 

Anyway, the scores being close w/ four quads all makes sense, as the quads Victor and Nathan have in their competitive arsenal are identical. The one quad they both don’t do is the loop (Victor apparently can but has only done it in exhibition, so perhaps it’s not something he’s consistent enough on? And of course no one does the axel). 

I wouldn’t call Nathan’s program particularly front loaded. However, if he does want his sky high base scores to be even higher, he can try to move some more of those jumps to the latter half. He is still only seventeen though, so he may not have developed the stamina for it yet. Victor on the other hand, has been working on this forever. That being said, that also proves what an athlete Victor is, because he’s twenty-seven years old and still doing this, which is incredible. Twenty-seven is still very young, but figure skating, like gymnastics, is known as a sport with a mayfly life span for a lot of athletes. It’s very hard on the body. Thus, Victor slamming out those quads at the end of his program at twenty-seven is pretty darn amazing. 

But yes Nathan is an absolutely stunning (and non-fictional!) athlete. It’s wonderful what he’s done. I’d be interested to see how Victor’s short program layout compares to his, but we don’t have any info on that, although I could do a comparison to JJ’s Rostelecom layout or Yuuri’s (planned) GPF one! 

[vikaandnikita]

[anythinggoe]

Day 7: Favourite warhorse

Junhwan Cha | Romeo + Juliet | Grand Prix Final 2018

[virtched]

Charlene crying after getting their scores is so heartwarming, u can see how much effort both of them are putting into this season

[icedanceupstarts]

2018 GPF Recap

Wrapping up the Grand Prix Series before we head into Nationals Season! We were very excited to see this field and get some questions answered, and answered they were. Click through for more analysis of performances, momentum, trajectories, all as your mods try very hard not to say “I told you so”(But like, we told you so). As always, read fast before the links die!

Rhythm Dance

Sinitsina/Katsalapov opened the senior rhythm dance with their powerful, intricate tango that was our favorite of the event. They skate really close together, and very smoothly and cohesively, a towering testament to how far their partnering has come in four years.

This was not the first time they've struggled with levels on that rotational lift, cool as it is. They also received a level 2 at Skate Canada. It's a difficult, eye catching lift, but Nikita fell short of six rotations here, dropping the level to a 2. He's always been a somewhat shaky rotator, being especially notorious for messing up on his twizzles, though he's improved leaps and bounds there.  Sometimes a little shakiness creeps in, as it did here, but the rotation was smooth and confident a couple weeks ago at IdF. It's a really good lift, and well choreographed for the tango, so we really hope they can get their rotations consistent because we'd hate to see them take it out. Had they received a level 4, they would have been second in the rhythm dance, a point out of first.

Hawayek/Baker had a tough act to follow, but they performed admirably at their first GPF. This was a tough tech panel, so Hawayek/Baker managing to avoid getting basic calls on either section of the pattern for the first time this season is better than it appears. They've developed a really nice maturity in their fifth senior season that only emphasizes their natural musicality.

One thing we like about this tango is how it's choreographed so that the music for the step sequence increases in tempo as they go through the element. It's very difficult to portray the shift in expression and movement mid element, and it's an admirable challenge they've set for themselves. It might be a more climactic ending to their program than their lift, as nicely timed to the music as it is.

While they weren't as on fire as they were at NHK, Zagorski/Guerreiro still delivered a solid performance here at their first GPF. Considering the drama of his skates arriving late, they should feel proud of their decent skate here. With how long and complicated the tango romantica is, it's hard to get the keypoints in the second half if you miss your timing in the first section, so kudos there. They opened with great twizzles, fast and with lots of ice coverage. There's a nice warm tension between them throughout, and they make good use of their long lines to accent the music.

Bringing their usual drama but not their best tech were Stepanova/Bukin, who were a little disappointed by their fourth place finish in this segment. They opened with a strong set of twizzles that thankfully weren't the popular yet small sit twizzle variation they've been struggling to execute at a high level for several years. The ones they used here have much stronger ice coverage and got them off to a great start that carried through their midline step sequence, if unfortunately not their pattern. There have been complaints all season that levels don't matter-- well they did here. Getting just one key point is so crucial when the teams are this close, as the point loss between a level 1 and a base level is nearly three times as much as between a level 2 and a level 1. We really love this program, and their performance was still on point. They use her ridiculously long legs to great effect, and the intensity of their expression and their musicality is just perfect. We really hope they can bring the technical proficiency they showed at Helsinki at Nationals next week.

We were very interested to see what Hubbell/Donohue have been up to, as they've had the longest to prepare, and even more so after we heard of the changes they were making. The original version of their tango was going for something more subtle and tense, but the revamped version allows them to let loose and better utilize their power and amplitude. The tension of the first half could be a little better utilized for greater impact when it breaks and they go into their dynamic midline steps, but the changes definitely are a more natural fit for their powerful, dramatic skating style. There are still a few tweaks they could make to the transitions and overall feel, but they skated very well.

We'd say we weren't feeling a little smug about Guignard/Fabbri coming second in the rhythm dance, but we cannot tell a lie. They've been very technically strong and consistent all season, which as we pointed out would come more into play at GPF where the differences between PCS and GOE were smaller. With no music mishap to distract them or saddle them with a bogus music deduction they came in a strong second, ahead of the Russians(which, again, we previously noted was possible, and would have happened at Helsinki had it not been for the music issues). There's a real level of maturity and polish to them, and a confidence that many of their fellow competitors did not share. The tango suits them really well, and all their movements are precise, placed, and finished. They don't have quite the same level of speed and ice coverage as the other medal contenders and so had to be better in the other aspects of their skating to fight for a medal, and they did just that.

Free Dance

Hawayek/Baker may be a little disappointed with their placement here, but someone had to come #actuallylast, and they still performed extremely well, the best they have thus far this season. There's been some debate over whether this free dance is Hawayek/Baker's style, or Montreal style, and your mods would like to humbly put forward that it is both. The general style is the sort of light, emotional, lyrical genre that they've explored various aspects of over the past few years (Amelie, Romeo and Juliet, The Theory of Everything, Liebestraum, Liebestraum: Once More With Feeling), but in terms of choreography it's like Gadbois threw up on them. It feels a little like what would happen if you forced a bot to watch hours and hours of Montreal programs and then had it create one itself. Which is not to say it's a bad program-- the structuring is very nice, the elements are well integrated into the choreography, it builds well, and there are some really nice choreographic touches like his slide or their spread eagles. What we still struggle with is the interpretation. While this was their most engaged, expressive performance yet, it made the program more emotionally confusing and incoherent. They clearly love this program and their joy is infectious, but also a very odd choice with how mournful the lyrics are. We can't tell what the storyline is supposed to be or what they're trying to convey to us. It may be that they're interpreting the music rather than the lyrics, which is a valid choice, but then they need to take out the lyrics so we're not jarred out of the performance when the singer is going on about how their love is gone and he's lost and Kaitlin and Jean-Luc look downright ecstatic. But if you can get past that it's a gripping performance of a program suited to their style of skating.

Stepanova/Bukin gave a fiery performance but were unable to make up the gap. This was good but not the best they've performed it. We love this program and they definitely had the crowd going, but the entire time we couldn't help but feel like they'd skated this better in the past. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what was off. There was Ivan's twizzlol which cost them around two points, if not more, which would have at least gotten them a medal. Combined with their pattern issues from the rhythm dance and the tough break of skating in the first group for the free, several points were left on the table in a competition where absolutely every point and fraction of a point mattered. But Stepanova/Bukin have never been a team to wallow in disappointment, and just last season came back at Worlds (where we promise they didn’t flop!) after not getting the invite they needed for the Olympics with performances at the level of their personal bests set at a home Europeans. We fully expect to see them looking better than ever at Nationals, ready to fight like hell for their National title.

There are a lot of weird coincidences in skating, such as at least three different skaters using In This Shirt or Tokio Myer's Bloodstream, but two tall, leggy Russian teams in all black skating blues free dances back to back is further proof that the skating hivemind is real. With a smaller lead over Hawayek/Baker than they had at NHK, Zagorski/Guerreiro needed to substantially improve their execution of their free dance in order to place #notlast, and they rose to the occasion. It's still very much a work in progress, but this was their smoothest outing yet. Still some slight shakiness going into the opening combination lift, but the position is striking and perfect for the mood once they get into it, and the transition to the stationary portion was a lot smoother. They're such a tall, striking team, and this free dance does a lot to show off their lines and strong body shaping. We don't love this music but we love the way they interpret it. For the most part we just think this program needs further cleaning up, but we do take issue with the ending pose. It's certainly unique, but it's also a little wobbly and way more than a little weird. Surely there is a final pose they can find where it doesn't look like she's drunk and can't stand up.

Sinitsina/Katsalapov reminded everyone who assumed they'd slot neatly into Russia #2 without a fight that they beat Hubbell/Donohue in the free dance at Skate Canada and their Season's Best score going into this event was near identical to both Hubbell/Donohue and Stepanova/Bukin, and not to count them out. They've always been a couple with potential but it's really astonishing to see how far they've come, both in terms of actual skating and competitive mettle. Even hanging on through a slight loss of balance in their opening straight line lift. There is some great choreo through the first section (except okay why does Nikita stick his head in Vika's back while she flourishes her arms beautifully? the world may never know) if not the most exciting music choice. The last minute really picks up with some wild chaos in a way that makes us kind of wish the whole program was like that. Last season’s free dance was probably the best one of their partnership, but you know what, they fully commit to this program and it’s great to see them skating so well and looking happy with their performances.

Much like in the rhythm dance, we were eager to see the changes Hubbell/Donohue made to the free dance, and there certainly were changes. We're not quite sure how to feel about them yet simply because the program feels unfinished, in an inbetween stage. It's like the skating equivalent of a molting chicken. We think the more dramatic O, Verona piece is much better suited to their powerful skating, but you can definitely feel that the program has been hastily reworked. With the new more dramatic opening, we'd think a more climactic finish would tie things together and give the piece a stronger, defined storyline and emotional progression. As it is currently, it feels somewhat unfocused and meandering. Their basic skating quality is undeniably top notch, however, and they sold the program from the start.

As we may have mentioned the result here didn't surprise us, but what did was just how genuinely thrilled we were for Guignard/Fabbri. They've been dismissed and overlooked and underestimated for so long and have worked so hard for this result, and we couldn't be happier for them. We genuinely like this free dance too. It feels like a throwback in the best possible way, and the upbeat dancey section in the middle is so charming and refreshing. In an era where some argue that there's not enough acrobatic, obvious difficulty in lifts, Guignard/Fabbri give you no cause to complain, and just assume that we're always raving about their twizzle entry.

So this weekend generated some controversy as you have probably noticed! Honestly we're not sure we feel like bothering getting into it that much again. The new system has done Things to scoring! Some of them good, several bad, and some of them five point knee slides, which is to say ???!?!?!?? Time will tell as to how many of these actually last more than a season. We're just really not sure what more there is to say about it at this point. We are as always interested to see where ice dance goes from here, and what changes are made after this season, but also what happens at worlds where we suspect those levels will make or break it for several teams.

For the record, we don't actually think that Gadbois has some sort of strategy where they're purposefully ignoring levels. No coaching group has exactly been crushing it and Gadbois has always been a little stronger at picking up GOE than BV. With the upping of requirements for levels combined with smaller differences in levels and the new GOE system, it's led to this result. And the teams this weekend generally didn't bring their best tech, regardless of coaching group. One reason it would be foolish to ignore levels is that it's very easy for a level 1 on the pattern to turn into a Basic call, which is killer as Stepanova/Bukin learned. It's something a top team can get away with in weaker fields, sure, but if Hubbell/Donohue had gotten a B instead of a level 1 on the second half of their pattern, they could have been in big trouble. Stepanova/Bukin and Hubbell/Donohue both hit three key points and missed five, but missing all four on one side hurt Stepanova/Bukin more. Final standings could have looked different just changing a level or two rendering them Still Important, particularly in close fields, no matter the scoring.

We have expressed numerous objections to the scoring system this season, but we feel obligated to point out that while the champions winning with the lowest BV is less than ideal, the difference was three points. If you don't think a world medalist team would have been able to overcome a three point BV difference on the strength of their GOE and PCS in previous seasons, we have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn. Additionally, while we can't say that Hubbell/Donohue's free dance is one of our favorites of this season, or even this field, it's a position we're so often in that it doesn't even register at this point. Our tastes in programs and teams often run against the more popular opinions, if we declared a result illegitimate because we didn't personally care for a program, we'd have to throw out a lot of competitions. We're extremely used to analyzing and praising the strengths of teams and programs we'd cheerfully never watch again for the rest of our lives.

We're big fans of Stepanova/Bukin, and while we're disappointed for them, we thought the results were fair. And we’re not planning their funeral just yet, though we promise we do about the future of their career. This wouldn't be the first time fandom has declared a team over and prepared to dissect them and declare the exact cause of death only for the team in question to bolt upright on the table in the morgue, confused, full of life, and demanding to know why there are so many people hovering over them with scalpels. Sinitsina/Katsalapov's own career has been “over”, conservatively, at least six times over the past quad. We remember hearing very definitively that after they were put behind Zagorski/Guerreiro in the Nationals SD last season following more twizzle troubles that it was clear the Fed had dumped them for good and there was no point in them continuing. Now we're being told just as definitively that they're the Fed darlings because Nikita is an Olympic medalist(something which has been true for the past four years), so clearly someone here is confused. Additionally, we always thought it very possible that the top Russian team at GPF and the National Champion might not be same team, so the grieving strikes us as a little premature. It’s way too early to call, but we are very interested in how these storylines continue to play out through the rest of the season, and particularly how the new scoring system will continue to play out.

[yuzu-all-the-way]

Aoi Honoo III&IV machine translations MasterPost

Disclaimer: These are all machine translated => nuances may be lost, inaccuracies may exist, but the relevant info is present

Aoi Honoo III

Misc

Prologue (full introduction)

Scenes 1 & 3 - Hope & Legacy

Scene 6 - Yuzu talking to the media after arriving at PYC

Scene 7 - CiONTU title

Scene 8 - Post-ACI 2018

Scene 8 - GP Helsinki ice condition

Scene 8 - ankle-chan not okay

Scene 11 - 2019 ACI vs 2019 Skate Canada scores

Scene 11 - Yuzu's ideal

Scene 12 - jumping competition

Scene 13 - 2019 ACI, SC, GPF

Last AH3 sentence

Aoi Honoo IV

Prologue (full introduction)

Scene 3 - Yuzu's physical condition at WTT21

Scene 4 - reminiscing about DOI 2012