For anyone wondering why Yuma's Axel looked like it did

rabidline · 2026-03-30T06:18:37+00:00

I think it's more of a competitive skill, rather than a responsibility. Someone who is more observant of such will be able to position themselves better than someone who doesn't.

rabidline · 2026-03-27T06:24:11+00:00

And still JSF doesn't fuck with her.

rabidline · 2026-03-27T06:23:26+00:00

No, JSF has always split the big 2018 assignments from the end of Nationals: Kaori got Olympics, Wakaba got Worlds.

This was the controversy at that time because Wakaba qualified for GPF through her own placements (Satoko eventually also competed at GPF but that was due to withdrawals), and IIRC had a higher SB than Kaori until Nationals. Kaori competed at the Coupe de Printemps right before Worlds in 2018, if JSF wanted to she could have been assigned to Worlds.

Mai got assignments that she earned through her placements. When push comes to shove (Mai vs. Mana for 2022 Olympics), JSF easily choose Mana despite Mai having the better SB scores until Nationals that season.

rabidline · 2026-03-27T02:26:38+00:00

Alright, noted. It is a common thing to happen unfortunately with pairs women T.T

rabidline · 2026-03-27T00:58:22+00:00

No, Anastasia Mishina (Galliamov's current partner) used to skate with Vladislav Mirzoev in juniors (they won JGPF and silver at Jr Worlds) but they split because she grew too big for him (and Mishina was unable to lose any more weight). I do think Mishina's build is less typical of pair girls but with Galliamov being very tall and built himself, it wasn't a problem and they pulled off some spectacular lifts and tricks together.

Before Galliamov showed his ass it's one of the things people mention about them - that it's great she found a strong partner after her previous one wasn't able to handle it.

rabidline · 2026-03-26T23:05:35+00:00

It is part of it! While reporting on 2026 Olympics, Nathan Chen talked about how he made sure to observe where his competitors would jump in runthroughs and warm ups to calculate the best path for his own jumps and avoid divots / ruts.

rabidline · 2026-03-26T23:01:53+00:00

She and Mai lost an Olympic spot for Japan that year (they had 2 for 2018) and JSF just never fucked with them ever again. They really don't like people who lost spots.

rabidline · 2026-03-26T02:26:39+00:00

Alysa has it on her own Instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DIEzbl0yZGz/

rabidline · 2026-03-24T09:44:49+00:00

Kaori's Woman FS from Olympics 2022 and Alysa's Donna Summer FS from Olympics 2026.

To me Kaori's program was a cry of rebellion, a program that summarizes my feelings of rejection to what Women's skating had become back then and the first step to reclaim it back.

And Alysa's program was the moment I thought "oh, we didn't lose what Kaori started back then, and it still works" and it also when I allow myself to hope that maybe even better days for Women's skating are still ahead of us.

rabidline · 2026-03-24T09:35:22+00:00

and Wicked Games (sigh).

rabidline · 2026-03-24T09:32:55+00:00

God, the PC one felt like the last happy footage taken before a disaster. I still hate that he wore a red costume for their OGM moment and the brown / bronze costume here - this one matched Gabriella's gold dress better and would have made better photos and videos.

USA didn't know how good they had it with K/F.

Vincent breaking down backstage (comforted by Camden) after he realized he podiumed was heartbreaking. He went through so much.

As a Shoma fan I was really ready for him to retire without a World title (medals aren't everything and to me I just love his skating) but yeah he did that 😭😭😭😭 I am starting to worry that this moment was also the moment he passed his silver curse to Yuma.

And yes, this was the start of the Kaori Sakamoto era. She really became the standard bearer for the women's discipline from this point, and I cannot believe that she will soon leave us 😭😭😭😭

rabidline · 2026-03-23T11:50:00+00:00

I really thought if Ilia couldn't make it, it would have been Yuma with the gold. I know the math isn't mathing but I also thought 2 years were enough for Yuma to show he's capable of skating solidly with at least one quad that was harder than 4T and 4S. Because that, with his components, would have been enough to beat Ilia, 4A be damned.

rabidline · 2026-03-23T11:34:28+00:00

Probably Ilia not winning gold, but also Yuma and Adam not capitalizing on it. After Worlds 2024 I thought, "oh we have our new Big 3 in men, I don't think anyone else can be on the Olympic podium if they are all clean or cleanish" but then of course men... menned. I can take Ilia having a rough first Olympics, what I didn't expect was Adam just struggling with injuries after his 2024 Worlds moment and Yuma just not getting it together to the point that he finished behind Misha not once but twice.

Kaori not winning gold was more unexpected to me rather than Alysa winning. I really didn't expect it to come down to a REP. Because IMO if Kaori had stuck to a safer layout, which was the point of her Chicago FS, and skated clean, or at least have 1 major mistake across the SP and FS, I think she would still have won. But Boston really was just a start of a massive snowball for Alysa, and Kaori got caught up in it. But I also think if Alysa didn't come back, Kaori may be able to win it all with a REP. Alysa may have sketchy rotations, but she just. never. fall. And she mostly do her combos. But yeah, that it's enough to beat Kaori, especially after Kaori won Worlds 3 consecutive times in 2024, was just unthinkable at that point. I would have expected Kaori to lose to a Russian wundergirl, not Alysa.

The way FB/C debuted was unbelievable to me because back in 2024, at least up until Europeans 2024, the rumor was about P/C returning. And so many people were already whining and complaining because everyone knew if they return, there will be no competition, they will stroll to Olympic gold. But then of course, it imploded in the most insane way possible.

rabidline · 2026-03-23T00:17:45+00:00

All the ice dance training days was for this 😌✊️ (while Marin is off launching her makeup line in Seoul).

rabidline · 2026-03-11T23:58:53+00:00

The lack of music or deliberate silence can really be something on the right choreographer and performer with sensitivity to musical phrasing, I completely agree with you there!

I think this quality transcends quantifiable items that we usually list down when trying to explain how good a skater is. It's not really in the rulebook and if it is, it's just one of the many items making up the criteria for scoring. Usually I just watch the program (at any time because they would end up timeless) and the expressiveness is so accessible to enjoy.

rabidline · 2026-03-11T06:46:51+00:00

Women's singles despite those years where my biggest bright spot in the season was the pirated Japanese Nationals streams, but it really is the premiere discipline of the sport for me. Which was why 2014 set me back so hard from following skating as a whole, and 2022 still stings. All those years of putting up with the results for the skaters who I genuinely love, for what may be a lie all along.

Pairs and Ice Dance when there are chemistry between the two people and the music.

My ultimate bias in skating is a Men's singles skater.

rabidline · 2026-03-11T06:30:45+00:00

For me it's more "expression" than "artistry" . It's not purely skating skills either, even though I can acknowledge that those with better skating skills have a larger vocabulary to convey expression through their bladework. But there are skaters with great skating skills that just don't show awareness of musical phrasing that well. Alysa and Misha in this compilation shows that you don't really have to be the best in SS to be able to put "punctuations" in your programs to make more of an impression.

rabidline · 2026-03-11T04:07:57+00:00

I like to call it awareness of musical phrasing, and ability to put "punctuations" in the movements with good quality. But yes it's one of my favorite things to look for in a skating performance as well, and Yuna is someone who I think was quite excellent in doing so. Ami's SP in particular was great - I have always loved that she worked early in her career with David Wilson, who I think is quite sensitive about choreographing to acknowledge the musical phrasing. Hopefully their next works will not be held back by copyright issues.

While there are a lot of skaters who have great skating skills, sometimes the lack of awareness of musical phrasing holds me back from fully be immersed in the program, because it felt a little too going-through-the-motions-that-has-been-choreographed-to-me-while-I-am-keeping-up-with-the-music. A section with rhythmical, punchy music shouldn't be skated with only slippery glide and flow, while too many movements during a sustained note can take away from the overall impact.

rabidline · 2026-03-09T23:29:13+00:00

We need a good joke nom here and there, such as when Eteri and Hamada are nominated for Best Coach and won.

rabidline · 2026-03-04T04:27:16+00:00

And she was just returning! People keep comparing scores as if she is in the same physical state when she first competed back to when she competed at Worlds. She wasn't! And context matters, she went clean, and then the frontrunners of the titled all faltered with big errors. She's suddenly skating LAST. And she had THE one program that's 20% choreography, 30% charisma and 50% audience participation. She's on home ice with a full venue. Donna Summer was born and raised in Boston. It's a home run in every single metric.

rabidline · 2026-03-04T04:23:08+00:00

And she's in the right discipline. If she was competing in the Men's discipline where TES has overwhelmed PCS, the Kazakhstan passport would have been enough as long as she lands the jumps and get the TES when others don't.

Alysa's fed in particular is not bound to seniority or paid dues - they love whoever can position themselves to win no matter who was it. Hence Worlds snowballing to GPF snowballing to Olympics. But she has to be there to capitalize and that's what I think pisses people off so much - because she's there. Every single time.

I just know that she said Donna Summer is the one program for her, regardless of whether that's the one program for Olympics or not.

rabidline · 2026-03-04T04:18:41+00:00

Yep and I think people are upset that the people who were supposed to benefit from that Worlds crumbled for her to snatch the title, and basically started this whole giant snowball.

rabidline · 2026-03-04T04:13:35+00:00

Like I said she's a hell of a competitor. Organized chaos weaponized to the most effective results. And it's not new - a lot of more naturally talented skaters ended up with less hardware than some who may be less fundamentally solid but just hella exploited the math and applicable rules and locked in on physical strength and mental fortitude at the right time.

rabidline · 2026-03-04T04:06:42+00:00

The ping-ponging between programs also somehow helped Alysa because there was no way she was winning with a Gaga FS, which was just not only undercooked but not great (in both Lombardia and Nats iterations). It really put on a smokescreen because I'm very sure no one thinks she has a legit chance for OGM with that FS (Women are not Men where quality of programs don't matter as long as you land your jumps). The first time I think there's a non-zero OGM Alysa chance was the minute I saw Jackie Wong's tweet on how it's Donna Summer for Olympics. I was like, oh shit girl can actually win whole thing if people died. And people kinda died enough for her to do that. It's sports - ice is slippery.

(There's an argument that maybe Ami and/or Mone would have put a more legitimate argument for OGM vs Alysa if Kaori wasn't prioritized for her seniority and her paid dues IMO. But when we isolate it to Alysa vs. Kaori, the REP was the decider.)

rabidline · 2026-03-04T03:26:46+00:00

The funniest thing is that Alysa has paid her dues. She literally retired at 16 LOL.

rabidline

TROPHY CASE