Members I Am A Swede Posted February 14, 2014 Members Share Posted February 14, 2014 Is this really the winter olympics? I've read that it's been as high as 15 degrees Celsius (59 degrees Fahrenheit) the last two days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darraholic Posted February 20, 2014 Members Share Posted February 20, 2014 Yuna & Carolina Kostner were robbed That US vs Canada Women's Hockey Final was amazing. What a comeback for the Canadians! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cat Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Carolina Kostner executed a not-so difficult routine perfectly and it won her the bronze, but Yuna was robbed a gold. She was sublime in the short program and sublime last night. She seems incapable of messing up any of her jumps or spins! Adelina Sotnikova gave a huge performance, though, and deserved high marks. I would probably have awarded two gold medals, to her and Yuna actually, even though I think Yuna edged it with the amazing quality of her performance. She really is the best in the world, still. Special mention to Mao Asada who fell in her SP but came back yesterday and delivered a flawless performance. Her tears at the end were so moving. She knew this was her farewell skate. Little Yulia choked, her confidence was hit bad when she fell in the short program. She's young, though, and can learn from this. Women's hockey final was breathless. Canada came back from nowhere and finally won during sudden death! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 I don't get the controversy about Adelina winning. Not only was her performance great, her jumps were insanely high compared to the others. I though Yuna was great too, but it seemed clear to me that technically that Adelina was superior. I liked Yulia. Hopefully, she will be there in the next Olympics. Actually, all this upset reminds me of when Tara Lipinski beat Michelle Kwan. Back then, I thought the outrage would ridiculous. It was clear that Tara was technically better there also. Oh, I also agree that Tara and Johnny have been the star announcers of these games along with the crazy skiathlon announcer who cracks me up with his intense enthusiasm every time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cat Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 I guess the controversy is that Adelina was a Russian skater in the Russian Olympics and they really wanted that gold (they say a Russian woman has never won the gold in the ladies event, but I recall Oksana Baiul triumphing to snatch the goldaway from Nancy Kerrigan's entitled little claw! lol). And that maybe... the pressure of all the support going Adelina's way... the pressure of Putin's "hopes" on the Russians... leaned on the judging? Which totally takes away from Adelina's great accomplishment, because she came out of nowhere to win this fair and square. That's why I suggested two golds and technical tie between Adelina and Yuna. they both gave completely different performances, but they are both equally as accomplished and equally as technically perfect. It is like splitting hairs with those two. They were both sublime and the best. Adelina was literally waving to the fans while she did spins! Poor Yulia Lipnitskaya was so shocked and depressed over falling. I think this is probably the first time this has ever really happened to her -- she is a skating prodigy apparently and has been landing these triples perfectly since she was 10. I hope that it makes her stronger, better, and better able to deal with the enormous burden of expectations that were put on her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members I Am A Swede Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 She certainly did, and deservedly so, but Oksana Baiul isn't Russian. She's from Ukraine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 I think the controversy is BS. Even when the NY Times in the article below attacked Adelina, the accompanying graphic break down of the judging and scoring by an American coach showed clearly why Adelina won. Like with Lipinski before her, the judges clearly prefer skaters who can do technically difficult performances over the "artistry" that others prefer in skaters like Yuna. Tara and Johnny got it right, not Browning. I also cannot believe that people take Ashley Wagner's complaints seriously. She is mediocre and was completely out of her league yesterday. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/21/sports/olympics/adelina-sotnikovas-upset-victory-is-hard-to-figure.html?hp&_r=0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cat Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Right, sorry. I thought Ukraine was still part of the Soviet Union at the time but it was already its own country. I guess I got confused because she was skating under the CIS/Confederation of Independent States which covered a lot of former Soviet athletes for a couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cat Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Yeah, Browning is hard on Adelina, and they are alleging judging corruption. But even though Lipnitskaya fell and Wagner didn't, you could see that the difficulty, execution and choreography of Lipnitskaya's overall performance outranked Wagner's which was more athletic and which (if the NYT's argument about technique outranking artistry is to be believed) should have placed her higher than Yulia! I agree with the article saying that they have to make the judging and marking clearer, simpler and more accountable, though. No mention AT ALL of Gracie Gold. Interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Except as Tara and Johnny pointed out in the live show that I watched, Wagner's jumps were not good. She had two-foot landings and under rotated several of her jumps. Not only that, but compared to the other skaters her performance had lower technical difficulty so not surprising that she got low scores. She cannot be mediocre and then cry about it. Hell, she should have never been on the team anyway and after that poor performance it is clear why. There was no corruption the right skater won, period. Again, this reminds so much of how people denigrated and insulted Tara Lipinski when she beat Michelle Kwan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Tara and Johnny have been the highlight if the Olympics. Loving them! And Gus whatever the adorable puppy adopting snowboarder. I never got the hate Tara received. She totally deserved to win. There an American girl who is being so childish and such a poor sport about her rank and the Russian girl winning. It's sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cat Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Nancy Kerrigan regarding Oksana Baiul? Or Ashley Wagner regarding Adelina? Sigh. I love Team USA but sometimes I wish our figure skaters would act more like our snowboarders -- chill, good-natured, but also focused and letting their work do the talking. Because Team USA is sweeping the medals in snowboard events. Plus it really hurts the image of the US abroad when these young skaters are seen behaving like entitled, snotty rich kids, bitching and moaning about the mean judges. Just because you come in third at US nationals does NOT mean you automatically get a bronze medal at the Olympics! You best believe that we haven't heard a peep from Yuna Kim whining about not getting the gold. I don't believe that Gracie Gold or Polina Edmunds (who is amazing) have spoken about being out of medal contention either, have they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackPeyton Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 Kerrigan deserved to win. But anyways, that Ashley Wagner girl. She's obnoxious and the Olympic committee should maker her shut up. It's embarrassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Ann_SS Posted February 21, 2014 Members Share Posted February 21, 2014 I cannot believe that people all over are still bitching about Adelina winning the gold. Here is the breakdown of the performances and scores. It is clear why Adelina beat Yuna. Her jumps and overall performance was more technically difficult so she got more points. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/02/20/sports/olympics/womens-figure-skating.html As for Oskana vs. Nancy Kerrigan, it was the same thing as Adelina vs. Yuna and Tara vs. Michelle Kwan. Oskana, Adelina, and Tara gave superior technical performances. All three winners were the better athletes who were stronger and better jumpers. If people ONLY want artistry to count, then they should do ice dancing, not skating where there are minimum athletic requirements. Ashley Wagner is just embarrassing. Her ass got put on the Olympics team when she did not deserve it and she gave a mediocre performance so she should shut the hell up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members juppiter Posted February 22, 2014 Members Share Posted February 22, 2014 Exactly. For Ashley Wagner, "She didn't fall" is a compliment. Like the best she can do is not fall. She never even reaches the level of performing those jumps correctly, and it's why it would've taken a miracle for her to medal. Like the 3F-3T that she does, I have never once ever seen her fully rotate the 3T. She's gotten by in a weak American field the past couple of years, but on an international stage her jumps just don't match up to the best of the best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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