Fiz Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 I agree with you, Quintus, but please leave the seals in peace! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Blummin' 'eck - Elise Christie has got some guts... Total admiration for her recovering from that fall but now the has been penalised. Unbelievable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Totally incomprehensible. I didn't even know that yellow and red card options were available in short-track. And I don't suppose there's any right of appeal either. Poor Elise - she must feel as though the whole world's against her. Let's wait and see what the assessment is, because she was in a qualifying position when she went over the line. Edit: Okay, she acquired two penalties, which means a yellow card, so fair enough. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Perhaps her whole attitude is more important than winning though. She has been so brave, and she is not whingeing- she actually laughs in the BBC interview- a very tough woman, much admired- that's what matters. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Lovely ice dancing competition. Well done to the British pair. Top 3 pairs gave great performances. Must admit the French couple were my favourite. Does anyone else find the vocal tracks more intrusive? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 I just finished watching it too- what a fantastic set of performances. I too preferred the French pair. I didn't really like their hacking about Beethoven sonatas but still, they were very beautiful to watch, dream-like in fact- and I strongly disliked the music for Virtue/Moir-(who danced/skated quite amazingly) a horrid racket IMO! It is a shame sometimes, I agree, not to be able to watch the dances without commentary. This is really not sport, as Alison says, it is all about so many different elements, and then the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Each pair is so different as well. I suppose if you wanted a fairer assessment you would make them do the same routine to the same music. That would be a bit boring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 That's what they used to do, didn't they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 Yes, I believe so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 A New York dance critic's review of the Ice Dancing competition: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/dance/ice-dancing-gabriella-papadakis-guillaume-cizeron.html 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 That's a very well written and insightful review- thank you Janet- and agrees with me so it must be right... How true that the tendency to just pack in moves for points is against the spirit of ice dance, and this reviewer explains brilliantly what ice dance can be at its finest- incarnated in the French pair, Papadakis, Cizeron, and in Adam Rippon, also singled out by me ( ahem)- as a real dancer- he burnished his turns and spins rather than doing quads- quads seem to me so pointless as you can't really see them! I'm not sure I agree about the Shibutanis though- they seem to have had a lot of criticism for being siblings, but perhaps people should 'get over it'and focus on their skating. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fonty Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 On 20/02/2018 at 08:55, Quintus said: Have to say it's only the figure skating that I find watchable in the WO. Curling, for goodness sake... Only the figure skating? Goodness me, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching people sliding down at vast speeds lying flat out on tea trays. And I enjoy the downhill skiing stuff. But my favourite events have been the snowboarding, especially the snowboard cross. And the commentators are so funny, they have me in stitches with their remarks. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I've been enthralled by the speed skating (although not able to watch as much as I would have liked) but I wish I understood the rules. The relays have been soooooo exciting to watch but I didn't have a clue what was going on! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 I really enjoy watching the majority of winter sports (at least from the comfort of my living-room ) I only regret that it's only every 4 years that we manage to cram so many of them on to the TV at once. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mary Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 4 hours ago, Jan McNulty said: I've been enthralled by the speed skating (although not able to watch as much as I would have liked) but I wish I understood the rules. The relays have been soooooo exciting to watch but I didn't have a clue what was going on! I know what you mean. I got quite engrossed in the women's bobsleigh but not being a sporting person am often puzzled- what is the second woman doing, who jumps in the back and crouches down, not to be seen again? At first I thought she was pedalling... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus Posted February 21, 2018 Share Posted February 21, 2018 5 hours ago, Fonty said: Only the figure skating? I'm afraid the Winter Olympics leave me cold. see what I did there? 😆 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shade Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 the ladies short program in the figure skating was very enjoyable. The competition is heating up and the two Russian skaters have the same coach. That must make matters tricky as they are first and second currently. Had this happened before I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 22, 2018 Share Posted February 22, 2018 6 hours ago, Mary said: I know what you mean. I got quite engrossed in the women's bobsleigh but not being a sporting person am often puzzled- what is the second woman doing, who jumps in the back and crouches down, not to be seen again? At first I thought she was pedalling... She's the brake-woman. Not only is she responsible for getting the bob off to a fast start, by pushing it, but the implication from one commentary was that she also in some way contributes to guiding the course/speed of the bob. (She also applies the brake once you get to the bottom of the course, as her name suggests) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sim Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 On 2/21/2018 at 07:36, Jan McNulty said: A New York dance critic's review of the Ice Dancing competition: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/20/arts/dance/ice-dancing-gabriella-papadakis-guillaume-cizeron.html Thanks for this, Jan. I agree with everything Kourlas says, and on the night hubby and I agreed that the French couple should have had the gold. Maybe next time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 (edited) Interesting that Jayne Torvill said that the couple wouldn't get penalised for the costume malfunction*, yet back in the day she and Chris were penalised once on artistic impression when his jacket came undone during their routine. Of course, back in those days costumes were a darned sight less skimpy than they've become now - I can't imagine wanting to have so much bare skin exposed on an ice rink - BRRRR!! I'd cheat as they tend to do with ballet costumes, and have flesh-coloured fabric in the gaps. Slightly disappointing end to the ladies' free programme - and everyone seemed surprised at Zagitova winning despite missing a combination. Did she get more marks for re-inserting it later in the programme, I wonder, or is that only for the short programme? I actually really liked the Canadian who got bronze - and the Japanese second-string, Sakamoto, in the short programme. *Edit: Just listened to the commentary, in which Robin Cousins said they did get penalised. Edited February 24, 2018 by alison Corrected facts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliceinwoolfland Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, Amelia said: Alina Zagitova, 15, wins Olympic figure skating title for OAR’s first goldhttps://www.theguardian.com/sport/2018/feb/23/olympic-figure-skating-zagitova-medvedeva http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/winter-olympics/42981323 https://www.google.co.uk/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=zagitova+olympic+champion&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=O3OQWpTJNIP98we4oYqIBQ She was fabulous but I thought Evgenia danced with much more emotion and grace, and I liked that she didn’t tactically save all her jumps for the end. I think she should have won gold (but Alina did a fantastic job). Edited February 24, 2018 by alison Copied over Amelia's post, for context 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LinMM Posted February 23, 2018 Share Posted February 23, 2018 I love Medvedeva such a smooth flowing skater. I like Zagitova too probably a bit more sparkly and she looks natural on the ice ....however I did think Medvedeva should have won on this occasion. I still cannot make up my mind about the ice dance couples. I do love Tessa and Scott the Canadian couple but preferred the French couple on this occasion .....I think!! I certainly preferred their music! .....and I just thought there were a bit too many complicated looking lifts in the Canadians routine this time so the French were more in tune with the music. Probably best to have watched the Canadians without the music on this time!! But the Canadians did have a lovely routine a few years back which I preferred to this one and they are still really superb skaters ....Mark wise there couldn't have been that much in it between the two couples. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alison Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 Interesting to note near-unanimity from the experts, thinking that Medvedeva was the better skater and should have won. Jayne Torvill's assessment, for example, mentioned her superior speed across the ice, fluidity, continued movement out of turns rather than stopping, programme elements better spread out over the 4 minutes ... whereas Zagitova's habit of backloading (was that the word used?) her programme with the big jumps towards the end (rewarded with better marks because the skaters are assumed to be tired by that stage) led to an unbalanced programme, and JT thought that should have been reflected in the "artistic" score (or whatever it's called these days). Apparently this tweak to the rules was only introduced fairly recently, and it's been suggested that the ISU will be having a rethink about it, given all the criticism from those high up in the sport. And we thought that marking based on giving specified points for specified elements would get rid of the potential unfairness in the judging system ... I was also gratified to find JT agreeing with my opinion that the Canadian bronze medallist was a better skater than either of the other two Changing tack completely, I was disappointed to see the GB women's curling team not make it through to the gold medal match, but they were clearly outplayed by Sweden, who I hope will go on to take a justified gold medal. Hoping we manage to get the bronze as some compensation, though. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jan McNulty Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 I found the curling quite enthralling. I found I was mirroring the sweepers movements! Best wishes to the British Ladies for the bronze medal match today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunrise Posted February 24, 2018 Share Posted February 24, 2018 https://www.vox.com/platform/amp/culture/2018/2/23/17043540/evgenia-medvedeva-alina-zagitova-olympics-figure-skating I thought this was a good analysis on how Zagitova won on points. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now