Yatagarasu

She's seriously fantastic, and she did his FS, I am sure of it. Honestly, she should have the 'title' of the best choreo out there by now. Way better than what Lori's been putting out.

Don't worry, it's going to be fine. And Shae always does a great job!

Count yourself lucky. In about an hour or two, there'll be 30 more.

It would be rare but he has done it before. As much as not committing, like @Valkyria mentioned earlier, he might not say anything either so as to keep his cards close, until he simply lets loose during ACI. But we'll have this sorted out soon. Luckily!

Ah, I see it's well and proper chaos here Breathe people, breathe.

By now, he already knows if it is doable or not. It's simply the timing, we're already in August. I think if he plans on it, and I do believe we'll see it, it'll pop up. The layout though, now that can be kept a secret. Even if we know about the Lz, the rest would still be wide open.

I heard this too and partially, I question the wisdom of it. If they truly wanted an homage, they should have kept it for 2022 but then maybe they're not sure due to her. Still, Sui/Han are phenomenal so I have high hopes. If there's one Turandot I'd be excited for in that case, it'd be theirs.

Not thrilled with this at all. I think tango is such a poor choice for her, she doesn't have the essence of the music grasped in the least. I guess Jeff did what he could and it is still very early, so might improve. Even with that though, I'd say it's a miss.

I am not sure what to think of Max' short. I think the last third is all right but this isn't the music I'd generally go to when thinking of him. His FS being POTO he has gone for the warhorses all right, but probably not a bad choice, considering the overall context, and the very, very tight battle for that third spot among the US men.

Honestly, I am relieved there're just three more days to go so that we can finally move on at least somewhat. Bring on the eight!

I think I like these waves. Up again! Michelle Kwan of the United States skating to Piano Concerto No. 3 and Piano Trio No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff at the 1998 US Nationals in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States A 5-time World champion (1996, 1998, 2000, 2001 and 2003), 1994 World Junior Champion, 1995 Grand Prix Final champion, 1998 silver Olympic and 2002 bronze Olympic medalist and a 9-time national champion (tied with Maribel Vinson-Owen, who we mentioned before, for an all time high), she is one of those skaters who has firmly written her name in figure skating history of both her country, and the world. This particular program we're visiting is thought by many to be the height of her career, looking at both the artistry and the technical. It was the artistry especially that pushed this one to new heights, and curiously, this is the same program she went back to for her second Olympics 4 years later. She was placed first after the short on both occasions. This particular year though, Kwan had been injured, a stress fracture of her foot, which had caused her to withdraw from a previous competition. In spite of that, she skated through and managed to get 7 out of 9 6.0 perfect marks for it. Not to mention, make the judges cry (literally. Both were men too. One swore not to give another 6.0 during the free, as the one he gave for the short was the first one in his career. He changed his mind when he saw Kwan's long program). One thing that always remains when Michelle Kwan is mentioned, is that she never achieved that coveted Olympic gold. Yet, in the grand scheme of things, it is her that we come back to, with her immense contribution to skating during the long years of her career, proving that while certainly important in an athlete's career, it is certain not the end all, be all of one and the lack of it is no impediment to achieving legendary status.

I am so happy for him, and that they're acknowledging just how much he's done for skating in Spain in general. Another reason it makes me feel great to know he's going to continue passing on that to kids after he re-tires!

I don't think all will splat but Olympics being what it is, I am sure there'll be issues. Honestly, Yuzuru's highest average makes sense, not just in terms of overall consistency but in terms of the ability to perform at the high-pressure moments, like Olympics. This is why not the highest BV, but those that a person can deliver at the highest possible average, consistently, will most probably win the day. In those terms, even when stress is at its highest levels, the body knows, as its been trained over and over, and successfully delivered it over and over (like Zhenya). Of course, watch him go wild for the FS and poo poo all over that but I think the SP is a manifestation of that philosophy he's been talking about since last season. You will get it. In a week tops too, I am willing to bet anything. What they layout itself will be, is a different matter. But soon, soon!

It is the muscles, while builds like Yuzuru's definitely help, no doubt. Fast-twitch muscles are what we're looking for. Slow-twitch muscles are good for endurance, so you'll find them prevalent in athletes that are in sports that require high-endurance. Fast-twitch though provide an athlete with explosive, high power. They're best for sprints, jumping, etc. They fatigue easily though, as a drawback. A person has both of these, but the ratio is pretty much genetically predetermined. Lately there's been talk that one can train one group to shift into the other but I have no idea to what extent that even works. Anyway, jumps, foot-work and spins in figure-skating all benefit from fast-twitch muscles, and all the athletes who have issues there should work on training to at least somewhat improve (there's this thing called plyometric training that improves speed/strength/vertical jumping). Not possible. It takes years to fix a flutz that's been present since childhood, like his has been. You can still find videos of him as a kid flutzing. So while working on it is of course commendable, it'll take far longer than one summer to fix that issue. He's not the first to fight that battle. On the other hand, since they don't call his flip, which isn't even a flip, I don't think they'll call his lutz either, if things remain as they are.

Well, ID today and then differs quite a bit, and even by the standards of that time, this particular FD wasn't that difficult. What it was, was a choreographic game changer, and that is what pushed it into history. And yes, of course, their incredible skating! The Soviets! They liked to poke and prod Seriously, those type of things are incredibly useful and it would be something to run tests on today's quad brigade. Though, when it comes to them, I think it'll be more about long-term effects of stress on the body (especially ankle/knee/hip) and what comes out of that. If you want another roll-eye moment about this quad twist, the credit for the first ratified one didn't even go to them! Later on, it went to Shen/Zhao from our first program here. I do not have enough face palms for skating and judging to be honest, and this has not changed since I was a child (a long time ago) and I got into this sport.

Yes, they did the quadruple split twist. There are actually interesting bits in her book (that is a very good read!) about that one. "We won the Nationals for the first time that season, then went to 1987 European Championships in Sarajevo. That summer we had learned a very difficult move called the quadruple split twist, in which Sergei threw me in the air, I did a split, then closed my legs and made four turns before he caught me. We were the only pair to do this quadruple element, and it was very exhausting—more exhausting than difficult, really. Soviet doctors had measured my pulse rate as exceeding two hundred beats per minute when I did it. I had to spin so fast, that one time my elbow caught Sergei in the eyebrow, and within a few seconds, his eye had swelled closed, and the next day it was grisly black and blue." It's also both sad and kind of hilarious on the why they dropped it: "Sergei turned twenty on the day we skated the long program at the Europeans, which we would long remember because of an unfortunate occurrence. In the first minute, we had successfully done the quadruple split twist, which even Scott Hamilton, who was doing television commentary, incorrectly identified as a triple. So did most of the judges, which is one of the reasons why we dropped this element from our program before the Calgary Olympics: it expended so much energy but didn't appreciably improve our marks." And yes! They had a boot problem or rather the elastic strap on his pants broke, so it was sort of flapping around his ankle. It wasn't a danger but one of the judges blew the whistle to stop, thinking it might be. They heard it but didn't know the significance so simply went on! Then the panel turned off the music, and having looked at their coach who gave them no signals to stop, she asked Sergei skating? and he said yes, so the finished without the music. It's a really good read.

And down, yo-yo again! Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean of Great Britain skating to Bolero by Maurice Ravel at the 1984 Olympics in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia Jane Torvill and Christopher Dean were 4-time World champions (1981, 1982, 1983, 1984), 4-time European champions (1981, 1982, 1984, 1994), 7-time national champions and of course, 1984 gold and 1994 bronze Olympic medalists (they used the ISU one-time rule change mentioned above). This particular program is quite possibly the most famous figure skating program in the history of figure skating. Even the youngest fans have heard of it, and it completely revolutionized ice-dance of the time. This is the highest scoring skating program under the old 6.0 system; it scored 12 perfect marks, and all perfect scores for artistic impression which only happened five times overall. A little curiosity - they did not wish to cut the music, so considering the program doesn't officially start until the skate hits the ice, they spent the first 18 seconds of it as you see them, kneeling on the ice and moving to the music. Original broadcast: Alternate link 1 - HQ

Thank you so much yana, really appreciated! Oh I must say I am loving Yun Kyung. Nice 2A She and Ye Lim really did great, well done. Should be a great free. But what happened to the spins? Huh.

And down! (hope nobody gets Tardis-sick!) Ekaterina Gordeeva and Sergei Grinkov of Soviet Union/Russia skating to Piano Sonata No. 8 "Pathétique", Piano Sonata No. 14 "Moonlight" at the 1994 Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway. If we called them the greatest pair team to have skated, I don't think many would be angry with us; one of the greatest ever certainly, in the entire history of the sport. Three-times European champions (1988, 1990, 1994), four-time World champions (1986, 1987, 1989, 1990), 1985 World Junior champions and the 1988 and 1994 Olympic champions. She started skating when she was four, he five. They paired up when she was 11 and he 15. They changed coaches when they tried to separate them. In 1985 they won the World Junior championships and well, they were on their way. Prior to their first Olympics win, they had a very bad accident; his blade caught and he dropped her on the ice, on her forehead. She had to be hospitalized but even with that, they returned well enough to snatch the gold. When they turned professional in 1990, that seemed to be it. They were married in 1991 and their daughter Daria was born in 1992; their professional career was good. Then the ISU offered professional skaters a one-time option to reinstate as eligible competitors between 1992 and 1995. They took it and returned to amateur competition for the 1993–94 season. Their technique, the speed, the glide, the artistry and emotion on ice, brought them their second Olympic gold. They were the only reinstated athletes to win one. Out of 31 competitions they completed at both the Senior and the professional level they won 24 times, and only once finished off the podium. In fact, from the time they won their first World Championship, they never placed lower than second, and that happened only on 4 occasions. They were a team who executed a quadruple twist in 1987! After they Olympics, they once again returned to a successful professional life.They were headliners for Stars on Ice and then were introduced to the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame. They were planning yet another SoI season. On November 20, 1995, Sergei Grinkov suddenly collapsed during practice and died from a massive heart attack. He was 28 years old. Fortunately, programs as these remain so that we can forever go back to the one and only G&G.

You're very welcome, I'm glad we can enjoy some of the history together! There's so much there! And yes, that's exactly the article I was thinking about. I re-read now as it's been ages and yes, still think it's very well written and yes, still think it's very depressing. I do believe we are seeing changes, for the better, but it is so darn slow that one can't help but be frustrated. It is wonderful how Yuzuru is beyond these, especially considering how we could say there are both sides to him but unfortunately, I've lost count the times that the fans reacted with the usual not masculine enough, etc. Eeeeh. I have so much respect for all these athletes who are doing their things and well <insert a certain popular phrase>.

No, the entry is still bad but at least the jump itself seems improved! we'll see it better in a program. (I have a terrible desire to show him Rika's and go, see? A girl. So we can poke his fledgling male pride) Prison garb is right! Sigh.

As far as I know, yes. It's the choreographer/coach, for those skaters who aren't that involved or all together if they are, sometimes some fans will send music or on very rare occasions, they'll have music composed for them but that's about it. There's the conventional wisdom about warhorses and easily recognizable music for the audience themselves to get them involved but yes, I do think going outside the box would be very good and would 'spice' things up a bit. They could definitely offer options and then the teams could decide what is appropriate for skating (this season while Jason's music was composed, the composer worked with Rohene piece by piece, so it is doable).

Tukt looks great and good to hear new programs are coming along!

Glacier Falls has a couple of folks from this group skating these three days. We'll be (hopefully) hearing about Mae Berenice Meite, Brendan Kerry and Michael Christian Martinez. Again no livestream but here's hoping for videos.

Quick reminder that Glacier Falls starts today and we'll have Mariah Bell, Karen Chen, Polina Edmunds, Caroline Zhang and Kaitlyn Nguyen while Jason Brown, Grant Hochstein, Ross Miner and Sean Rabbitt for the men (plus the international folks). There is no livestream but I am sure there'll be videos!