[figure skating]: MORE SCREAMING WTF WTF
Feb. 10th, 2019 10:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
catsbythegreatThe best thing ever happened last night and I'm still in awe: despite everything, Shoma Uno won Four Continents gold and broke the free skate world record for highest score. It's his first gold medal at a major international event in his senior career and I'm so proud!
Shoma has had the "silver" curse -- basically, no matter what big competition he's at and no matter who's there, he's ended up with silver, and this year he wanted to make a huge effort to get gold. He got injured in December and apparently re-injured his ankle twice in the past few weeks. His short program was watered down and not great as a result, and he was angry enough about it that he said he was going to attack the free skate. Practice reports didn't seem encouraging and he had ~8 points to make up to get into first. He did that easily with an amazing free skate and I'm so, so proud of him. He achieved what he set out to do.
And it wasn't an easy field. The men, especially the last two groups, were amazing. Usually the men's events have a lot of falling because of quads, but this time around people were on their game. It's the first time in a while (ever since I've started watching seriously, I thin?) that I've seen a men's competition be that good. Keegan Messing did well. Jason Brown attempted his quad and wasn't successful but the rest of his program was amazing, and he really is incredibly skilled at everything. The jumps are his only issue. Vincent didn't choke internationally (he got bronze.) Junhwan did well despite falling in the placements and I always love his free program (JUNLIET!) and it's so good to see Boyang back and doing well! Boyang got silver, anad this is the best he's been all season by a long shot!
Some salt
one annoying thing that comes with Shoma breaking the world record is the Yuzuru stans. I love Yuzuru, but Yuzuru stans annoy me, and for this competition in particular they are really salty about Shoma breaking the free skate world record and implying he didn't deserve it and that Yuzuru's previous record-breaking free skate deserves to stay more. I don't know what is the problem, because Shoma didn't break all three records that Yuzuru has and he isn't bragging about it -- he actually said that there are skaters who can break his record, so he doesn't take it for granted. He gave everything to his skate and literally collapsed at the end out of relief that it was done and that he pulled it off, so it wasn't like he phoned it in.
It seems like it's only ever okay for Yuzuru to break a record and with everyone else it's suspect. I hate when I see people saying Yuzuru is in a class of his own -- he's not perfect. He's an amazing skater and has done a lot for the sport, but acting like he's untouchable is silly. Yuzuru isn't in a different class as the other top skaters. If he was, none of the competitions would be interesting. He's older and more experienced, but the other top skaters will also grow. It just frustrates me because I like Yuzuru but I never want to interact with his fans because they piss me off.
Anyway, I'm really glad everyone did well! It makes things really interesting going into worlds, for both the men and the ladies. And I'm glad there was no Kaori-level disappointments where a PCs point cost someone the podium. There are only two events left: ice dance free and the gala. I hope I can watch the gala but it's always a pain to find the streams and it runs late.
This event has been a wild ride from start to finish. I'm glad it's almost over.
Shoma has had the "silver" curse -- basically, no matter what big competition he's at and no matter who's there, he's ended up with silver, and this year he wanted to make a huge effort to get gold. He got injured in December and apparently re-injured his ankle twice in the past few weeks. His short program was watered down and not great as a result, and he was angry enough about it that he said he was going to attack the free skate. Practice reports didn't seem encouraging and he had ~8 points to make up to get into first. He did that easily with an amazing free skate and I'm so, so proud of him. He achieved what he set out to do.
And it wasn't an easy field. The men, especially the last two groups, were amazing. Usually the men's events have a lot of falling because of quads, but this time around people were on their game. It's the first time in a while (ever since I've started watching seriously, I thin?) that I've seen a men's competition be that good. Keegan Messing did well. Jason Brown attempted his quad and wasn't successful but the rest of his program was amazing, and he really is incredibly skilled at everything. The jumps are his only issue. Vincent didn't choke internationally (he got bronze.) Junhwan did well despite falling in the placements and I always love his free program (JUNLIET!) and it's so good to see Boyang back and doing well! Boyang got silver, anad this is the best he's been all season by a long shot!
Some salt
one annoying thing that comes with Shoma breaking the world record is the Yuzuru stans. I love Yuzuru, but Yuzuru stans annoy me, and for this competition in particular they are really salty about Shoma breaking the free skate world record and implying he didn't deserve it and that Yuzuru's previous record-breaking free skate deserves to stay more. I don't know what is the problem, because Shoma didn't break all three records that Yuzuru has and he isn't bragging about it -- he actually said that there are skaters who can break his record, so he doesn't take it for granted. He gave everything to his skate and literally collapsed at the end out of relief that it was done and that he pulled it off, so it wasn't like he phoned it in.
It seems like it's only ever okay for Yuzuru to break a record and with everyone else it's suspect. I hate when I see people saying Yuzuru is in a class of his own -- he's not perfect. He's an amazing skater and has done a lot for the sport, but acting like he's untouchable is silly. Yuzuru isn't in a different class as the other top skaters. If he was, none of the competitions would be interesting. He's older and more experienced, but the other top skaters will also grow. It just frustrates me because I like Yuzuru but I never want to interact with his fans because they piss me off.
Anyway, I'm really glad everyone did well! It makes things really interesting going into worlds, for both the men and the ladies. And I'm glad there was no Kaori-level disappointments where a PCs point cost someone the podium. There are only two events left: ice dance free and the gala. I hope I can watch the gala but it's always a pain to find the streams and it runs late.
This event has been a wild ride from start to finish. I'm glad it's almost over.
