So, another four years have sped by and another Winter Games have come and gone. Fans of figure skating have seen their sport in the headlines of these Games more than ever, barring the Tanya/Nancy debacle. The decision to award duplicate golds to Sale and Pelletier is unprecedented and as much as it will be seen as a "quick fix", one can only hope that it might spark some REAL reform to a corrupt judging system that any fan of skating has known about for years.
My random observations in no particular order:
- Ice dancing has become more of a joke. Innovation doesn't seem to be alive and the rules for critiquing performances are extremely vague. If something isn't done to overhaul it and soon...I would not be surprised if it gets dropped from the Olympics in the next ten years or so.
- Men's figure skating is where the action is at! The quads are getting bigger and better, and surprisingly enough, artistry is still around. As far as I can tell, the sport hasn't turned into a pure jumping contest at the expense of footwork and choreography.
-Timothy Goebel's ability to jump makes my jaw drop. And he's definitely making strides in his presentation. If this guy sticks around for Torino, he could be a big contender, I think.
-Alexei Yagudin managed to be "artistic" without being a buffoon (remember Urmanov?) A gold medal well deserved.
-Elvis Stojko must be soundly disliked by the judges because I rewatched the competition this weekend and when he messed up his quad combo in the short program but still completed it, he was penalized MORE than Yevgeny Plushenko was when he botched the quad and missed the entire combo.
Also, I'm going to miss Elvis in this sport. He was a true pioneer and had the guts to not bow to the pressure of changing his uniqueness just to cater to the whims of the judges.
- America might actually have something going with pairs! Ina and Zimmerman really surprised me.
- The Chinese team continues to improve. If they could finesse their really awful spinning and work on the choreography, I think they would be getting on TOP of the podium.
- Sarah Hughes and her two triple-triple combos might just be the spark that ladies figure skating needs. Since Midori Ito and Surya Bonaly left the sport, it seems to have fallen into a technical/athletic decline.
-The ladies short program was a display of some really AWFUL costume decisions. If nothing else, Michelle Kwan's exquisite taste in dress will be missed along with her grace and style on the ice.
- Speaking of ladies figure skating, for the first time in a long time, I found myself moved to tears during Sarah Hughes long program. The combination of her athleticism and radiance really reminded me once more WHY it is I love this sport.
- My proposals to help overhaul figure skating judging would include the following:
- No more judges sent from individual national skating federations. They should be hired by an independent board and therefore not accountable to any specific country.
- Separate the panel into judges to look at the jumps, judges to look for technique like speed and spins, and judges to mark on style and presentation. This is how its done in freestyle and aerial skiing and it seems to be much more objective. It would take some of the stress and pressure off the individual judges and allow them to really focus.
- Don't allow the judges to attend practice sessions.
- Don't let the judges know which of them will be judging each event until directly before the event.
- If a judge is found guilty of corruption, they should be GONE. I'm still flabbergasted that the judge whose taped phone conversation proved he was attempting to fix the results of the ice-dancing in Nagano was BACK IN THE PANEL at these Games. That sort of thing erodes even the appearance of fairness.
All in all, a really incredible round of Olympics for skating and one with results that I could not have predicted.
-sula
p.s. Anyone else excited about the upcoming World Championships? When exactly are they, btw?
