Men:
Gold: Han Yan- He has the most difficult program technically and he has the artistry to match. His consistency was an issue at the Jr GP Final. His podium placement could well be determine on how his quad affects the rest of his program. I believe he will have it together here and win for China.
Silver: Joshua Farris- If he skates clean he has the goods to take gold if Yan or Brown make mistakes. He had a bad performance at US Nationals. He will have fire in his belly to comeback and skate to his potential here. I wish him good luck.
Bronze: Jason Brown- Love his skating. I will be curious to see if he puts in the triple axel or not. He has the best transitions and a complete program for his short and long. A triple axel can insure him the gold along with the PC's lead he will have. Without the triple axel he will need to rely on the mistakes of others to take gold, just like at the Jr GP Final
Dark Horse Denis Ten: First of all I don't think he should be competing here. He should be focusing on World's. He's been lacking consistency and just had a half way decent performance at 4CC. I have no idea what expect. He could be first or fifth.
Ladies:
Gold: Julia Lipnitskaia; She has won everything during the Jr GP series is the most consistent of the jr ladies. Has a solid triple -triple and amazing show of flexibility. This is hers to take.
Silver: Gracie Gold: She only had one Jr GP event but solidly won gold with her huge jumps. She lacks a bit in presentation. She did really well at Nationals and should do well here. Lack of international experience is the only thing keeping her from gold.
Bronze: Adelina Sodnikova: She been having trouble this year with her jumps. She should be able to do enough for bronze. If she doesn't Polina Shelepen will be there
Monday, February 27, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Timothy Goebel Robbed of Gold: 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics
This post is inspired by Jackie Wong of the figure skating examiner.(P.S. would have his baby.)http://www.examiner.com/figure-skating-in-national/jackie-wong.
After watching the short and long programs of Yagudin, Plushenko, and Goebel back to back it became painfully clear that Yagudin was lacking in technical content, program components, and choreography compared to the other two.
Quick Short Recap
Yagudin: Clean Quad Toe-Triple Toe, Triple Axel, Triple Lutz. His transitions was only involved throwing his hands up in the shape of a bowl or a V while doing crossovers. I hope he didn't pay for the choreography. His spins was average and his footwork simple. He had great speed and body carriage and played to the audience.
Goebel: Quad Salcow-Triple Toe, Triple Axel, Triple Flip. His transitions were only slighty more difficult but he did have more variation of arm movement during the entire program. He accented the music made use of the strong points. He had superior, faster , and well center spins. He had great speed. He didn't catered to the audience and had hunched shoulders. Should have been ahead of Honda.
Plushenko: He fell and underotated the Quad, hit the triple Axel, and triple lutz. Program Component + his speed , charisma , showmanship I would say he had the best overall package. Solid spins and interesting footwork.
Free Skate:
Yagudin: Two Quads, Six Triples(only one triple Axel) Good spins, Footwork was decent and good presentation even though the choreography was forgetful. Clean skate.
Plushenko: Did a quad toe-triple toe-triple loop combo to begin ( stepped out ), quad toe, triple axel-half loop-triple flip combination and second triple axel. Overall 2 Quads six triples with a double salcow and axel. He did a better job selling his performance and had a better overall package. Would have put him ahead of Yagudin.
Goebel: Was on Fire! 3 Quads(1 toe ,2 sal) , 2 triple Axels for and overall total of Three quads and six triples. He did a triple axel out of a spread eagle and a triple loop out of a hydro. What he lacked in showmanship and speed he made up in Stronger program components and choreography. Would have put him first.
After watching the short and long programs of Yagudin, Plushenko, and Goebel back to back it became painfully clear that Yagudin was lacking in technical content, program components, and choreography compared to the other two.
Quick Short Recap
Yagudin: Clean Quad Toe-Triple Toe, Triple Axel, Triple Lutz. His transitions was only involved throwing his hands up in the shape of a bowl or a V while doing crossovers. I hope he didn't pay for the choreography. His spins was average and his footwork simple. He had great speed and body carriage and played to the audience.
Goebel: Quad Salcow-Triple Toe, Triple Axel, Triple Flip. His transitions were only slighty more difficult but he did have more variation of arm movement during the entire program. He accented the music made use of the strong points. He had superior, faster , and well center spins. He had great speed. He didn't catered to the audience and had hunched shoulders. Should have been ahead of Honda.
Plushenko: He fell and underotated the Quad, hit the triple Axel, and triple lutz. Program Component + his speed , charisma , showmanship I would say he had the best overall package. Solid spins and interesting footwork.
Free Skate:
Yagudin: Two Quads, Six Triples(only one triple Axel) Good spins, Footwork was decent and good presentation even though the choreography was forgetful. Clean skate.
Plushenko: Did a quad toe-triple toe-triple loop combo to begin ( stepped out ), quad toe, triple axel-half loop-triple flip combination and second triple axel. Overall 2 Quads six triples with a double salcow and axel. He did a better job selling his performance and had a better overall package. Would have put him ahead of Yagudin.
Goebel: Was on Fire! 3 Quads(1 toe ,2 sal) , 2 triple Axels for and overall total of Three quads and six triples. He did a triple axel out of a spread eagle and a triple loop out of a hydro. What he lacked in showmanship and speed he made up in Stronger program components and choreography. Would have put him first.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
4CC's Ladies' Long
4CC Ladies long blew me away with how well the top three skated. Finally there is a beacon of hope for the US Ladies. Here are the top five skates.
Caroline Zhang: She's Baaaack! With better technique included. She hit every jump and with good height. Her axel is still slow and she could use some more speed. With more intricate choreography, she can go places. I am so proud of her.
Ashley Wagner: Did an amazing job. It was the best I seen her skate all year. Love her spiral sequence and she hit everything but double the triple toe on her double axel combo. Highest long program total this year and she is within eight points of that oh so hard to reach 200 mark.
Kanako Murakami: This child was gonna pass out on the ice. I am glad she made it through. She singled the second part of all her combos. I really like the program for her. It fits her amazing speed and grand movements. I thing she has the most natural arm moments of all the ladies. I think she is the fastest too. I wish she would straighten her free leg and point.
Mao Asada: The first thing I notice watching her after Kanako is that she doesn't make great use of her arms. She need more curvature and bend to bring emphasis to the movements. This program is pretty but she not really doing any thing with it. Her Triple axel was two footed and under rotated again. She also doubled her Salcow. Other then that she did pretty well. She is making a steady comeback.
Kexin Zhang: China has them a promising jumping bean. I hope she does well at worlds. Definitely rough around the edges but huge Triple + Triple . The standing are:
1. Ashley Wagner
2. Mao Asada
3. Caroline Zhang( bronze again, I think she likes 4CC)
4: Kanako Murakami
5: Kexin Zhang
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