thanks to joey going through my whole yuri on ice tag, i saw this post again http://troglobite.tumblr.com/post/154092779980/iwillbeyourhands-as-a-long-time-figure-skating
and of course the first time going through it, and i’m sure the first time writing it, was a while ago. i read it like a week ago, i’m sure op wrote it ages ago.
but i was reading it again just now and thinking about the men’s grand prix final that i saw today. and i was like, bitch, nathan chen did 4 quads in his program today, all with positive GOEs*. i wanna know how these stack up
(*GOE is grade of execution. there’s a base value of points for the difficulty of every element, then there’s a panel of 9 technical judges that watch, rewatch, and analyze the SHIT out of every technical element in a routine to determine if it was completed accurately, should be downgraded, and then if it was done, just how well it was done. you can score anywhere between a -3 to a +3 on GOE for each element. the highest and lowest of the 9 scores on the element are dropped [iirc], and then they’re added up and averaged. then, based on that, there’s a scored that is added to or subtracted from the base value of the element, and that’s how you rack up technical points in figure skating. also, you get mandatory 1 point deductions for every time you fall. that’s on top of the negative GOEs you’re bound to get on whatever element you were doing. also since i mentioned downgrading, it means if you have a quad scheduled, and you do a triple, or you land the quad but you’re under-rotated [you land on the ice before your fourth rotation is complete], then you get downgraded so the base value is lowered. that’s why in yuri on ice you hear ‘he had enough rotations!’ after he stumbles or puts his hand on the ice; bc any negative GOE will still be from the much higher base value of a quad, rather than being downgraded.)
so the important numbers are that, in his fictional, fairly superhuman routine, viktor’s routine has a base value ON JUMPS ALONE (not counting step sequences or spins, which also have base value scores for the technical portion of the final score) of 88.79.
that’s jumps only, no step sequences or spins.
so i went to nathan’s score sheet from today’s free skate at the grand prix final in marseilles.
i tallied it up, cos that boy fucking did a quad lutz, quad flip, and two quad toe loops as his FIRST FOUR opening jumps.
nathan chen’s, real life, he-actually-did-this-and-got-all-of-these-real-points, base value score on jumps alone, not step sequences or spins, is fucking 86.02.
the point about yuzuru hanyu’s current world record holding free skate (and overall) score still stands, it was still “only” 79.87 for jumps’ base value technical score alone. nathan didn’t break any world records here, purely because his presentation score is comparatively very low to the rest of the field (an 84, compared to yuzuru’s 92), yuzuru in particular (who, despite falling once and getting downgraded on a couple jumps today, still had a much higher presentation score than nathan, and in fact had the highest presentation score out of the whole final)
SO TO COMPARE DIRECTLY
nathan chen is only 17 years old, whereas seasoned vet viktor is 27 years old. that difference of 10 years is huge. consider yurio’s discussion of how he has limited time, as a 15 yo, to do certain elements/moves. i know people are pissed that viktor left skating to coach yuuri, they wanted another season out of him, but 27-29 is around the time skaters tend to retire. it’s just so damn difficult on the body. (just today, a commentator was talking about nathan’s jumps and saying that his right knee is going to HATE him when he gets older for how deep and hard/heavy his landings are)
not to mention nathan is only 5′5″, and viktor is fucking russian and probably closer to 6′. different body types, etc, trying to do these ridiculous jumps. doesn’t make a Huge Difference, i’m just saying. lol
ALL of nathan’s quads were in the very beginning of his program. viktor’s were spread out over the entire thing--including having a fucking quad-triple COMBO as his FINAL JUMP. ludicrous. nathan got em all in right quick. no 10% bonuses on his quads--not that he needed them.
they land all the same jumps EXCEPT viktor does and lands a quad salchow. crucially, all of nathan’s quads are toe jumps. while they’re still ABSURDLY DIFFICULT, they’re a lil bit easier than edge jumps. (toe jumps: toe loop, flip, lutz; edge jumps: loop, salchow, axel) all that changes between jumps is what skate, and what edge, you’re on right before takeoff (and then also whether or not you kick down on the ice with your free leg’s toe pick to launch yourself into the air). viktor does a quad salchow which is an edge jump, and he does it AS HIS THIRD QUAD, already a good ways into the program!
(and let’s not forget that that quad flip is viktor’s specialty/signature move, like holy shit. nathan is one of a few guys routinely attempting it during competition [shoma uno attempted&nailed the quad flip in this competition, as well], much less nailing it as a signature move)
also, viktor does FOUR DIFFERENT KINDS OF QUADS in his routine. nathan does three. and 3/4 of viktor’s are absurdly difficult: lutz, flip (both toe jumps), and salchow (edge jump), then ending with the comparatively easier toe loop. nathan does one flip, one lutz, and two toe loops, all of which are toe jumps.
and also, today was nathan’s PERSONAL BEST skate. this was the best he’s ever done this program in competition. it’s super duper impressive and noteworthy.
then if we wanted to compare to yuzuru hanyu’s program (which he did NOT nail today, Yikes)--then yuzuru’s base value technical score for JUMPS ALONE, had he nailed his program today, would’ve been 86.91, so also right up there with viktor’s fictional masterpiece, and nathan’s amazing feat. lol
(in reality yuzuru fell and therefore missed a combination jump, and downgraded two other jumps, so his actual base value was 72.74 for jumps alone, no other elements)
also important to note, yuzuru’s program ALSO had four (attempted) quads (with TWO in the second half of the program). they are the quad loop, quad salchow, and quad toe loop. comparatively to both viktor and nathan, yuzuru does the two difficult edge jumps as quads. he also does one quad loop, one quad toe, and TWO quad salchows. that’s fucking impressive. though the lutz and flip can be way more difficult bc of skate/edge on entry, they’re still toe jumps, where you kick the ice to launch yourself into the jump. edge jumps do no such thing; you pretty much just fling yourself right into it by sheer force of will/power/strength/speed. that’s why, for some skaters (like nathan chen), the salchow is actually the more difficult jump. and, although it would see the loop would be easiest to quad, after the toe loop, yuzuru hanyu is the only guy to have landed the quad loop cleanly in competition. he does it in both the short and the free skate, iirc.
so there’s that fun nonsense!!! like just for reference.
this is stupidly fun and interesting for me so yay!!! thought you all might be interested to see how this grand prix final stacked up. or at least, how nathan chen and yuzuru hanyu stacked up. i also could’ve done the same thing with shoma uno’s routine and holy shit you bet your ass i am bc he ALSO did incredibly well today lemme just go ahead and do that real quick
so shoma uno came in third today, and for his free skate, he had three quads, a flip and two toe loops. he landed all of his jumps, some cleaner than others. if we tally up his base value technical score for jumps alone, it would be 76.98. so that, right there, is 3 quads, with one of them in the second half of the routine in a combination jump, for a 10% bonus and combined with another jump (a quad toe-double toe combo), worthy of a bronze medal, and it was still only a 76.98 base value for his jumps alone.
ALSO JUST REAL QUICK
i want to emphasize that all of these numbers are base values for technical scores for JUMPS ONLY. there are several other elements that have technical scores. so in reality, these skaters’ base value technical scores, are MUCH higher than the numbers we’re dealing with. nathan chen’s actual base value technical score is 101.01 shoma uno’s actual base value technical score is 92.48 yuzuru hanyu’s actual base value technical score is 102.41 (88.24 today, with mistakes/downgrades)
we don’t actually get to know viktor’s base values, or what his actual final score was, for either his free skate or his total overall.
((also, despite that huge discrepancy in yuzu’s base values because of mistakes he made, he still won gold against nathan and shoma because his short program was so fucking impressive. after the short, yuzu was 21 points ahead of nathan, who was in 5th place (he was also ahead of patrick chan by 7 points, who was in 2nd, and 15 ahead of javi who was in 3rd). so despite having lost several points in his free skate, and having gotten the 3rd best score in the free skate, he still won by 11 fucking points.))
here’s a few quick important things of note:
yuzuru hanyu was the first to break the 100 point barrier in the short program (at the 2014 olympics), and the first to break the 200 point barrier in the free skate/long program (not sure when; grand prix final 2015 was his world record)--and thus the first to break the 300 point barrier a while ago.
nathan chen today scored the highest in the free skate, with a 197.55.
yuzuru hanyu today became the first man to win FOUR CONSECUTIVE grand prix titles. the only other man to have won four titles (non-consecutively) was evgeni plushenko. comparatively, viktor has won five titles consecutively. and that’s not just for the grand prix--that’s nationals, worlds, and various other competition titles and circuits, as well. we don’t even know how he did at the olympics! yuzuru and evgeni did NOT win every single competition ever; yuzu’s gotten lower medals in recent history, it happens.
yuzuru’s world records, as they stand, are 110.95 for the short, 219.48 for the free, and 330.43 combined total, all at last year’s grand prix final. (so you see jj get like 113 in his short program: it’s never been done. 110 is the world record. shit like that. you start noticing these absurd scores.)
yuzuru hanyu and javier fernandez (who both have the same coach, btw, also javi calls yuzu his skating wife I’m Cry) are currently the only two men to have scored above 100 points in the short program. so when you see like 4 people do it in yuri on ice in one competition: LOL AS IF NO WAY. (likewise, javi is the only other dude to have broken 300 points in his combined total, and patrick chan is the third guy, with yuzu and javi, to have ever broken 200 in the free skate)
and then also, like i said way far above, yuzuru is currently the only guy to have landed a quad loop cleanly in competition.
OKAY I’M DONE!!! PROMISE!!!!
hope that was interesting at all. ^_^