Ambesi’s Winter Corner - Figure Skating
I’m a figure skating fan, I’ve been a casual one for some years now, and since last year, I’ve got more involved with groups and everything. I love learning new things, so I took the opportunity of being surrounded by so many people who know TONS about it and ran with it :D. I’m on an international fan group and one of the best commentators about the sport is the Italian Massimiliano Ambesi, who is really so interesting to read and listen. So sometimes, with other Italian fans, I help people in the international group by translating Ambesi’s commentary or articles. This is an extract from Winter Corner, where he talks about severl winter sports, and I translated the part about figure skating. I hope it’s useful somehow! This is the original article: LINK Q: Massimiliano, let’s start with one of our features in the feature. In your opinion, who was the ATHLETE OF THE WEEK? A: “Forever and ever Alena Kostornaia: in the Grand Prix final in Turin she was the clear-cut winner of the competition, with the highest technical level ever seen in the history of the sport, and she even allowed herself the luxury of establishing a new World Record. By the way, it is possible that in the sum of the components she could go even better, allowing her to get more than 250 points in a spotless competition, and all this without quadruple jumps. At the moment, she represents the best synthesis between technical skills and artistic quality. The only minor flaw in the final was that she was not the winner of every single segment of the competition, as she had been before. In the free skate her training companion Anna Shcherbakova preceded her by mere tenths of point. For this, it was determining the triple axel + triple toeloop combination although from a negative point of view, that she completed with less quality compared to the one at the NHK Trophy some weeks ago. In any case, Alena improved her personal records in every segment of the competition, both TES and PCS, and this, at the end of the game, is definitely resounding because, we can say it now, she competed with a problem of unknown gravity to one shinbone. The victory in the Grand Prix Final will probably guarantee her a place for the European and World championships regardless of what will happen at the Russian National Championship.”
Q: A question arises then, if you want a bit obvious. Who can beat her? A:“There are three skaters that can have the chance to compete with her at the same level, both in this moment and in the future. As for the future, it’s impossible not to mention the Japanese Rika Kihira, although she needs to recover her full physical health, and, consequently, the triple Lutz she had to forcibly put aside. In the short-term, instead, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, who were preceded by Kostornaia at the Grand Prix Final and are ready to get their re-match in the imminent national Championship at the end of December. The other skaters, in a way or another, are several steps behind as demonstrated not only in the Grand Prix Final, but during the whole season, in which three of Eteri Tutberidze’s students have annihilated the competition in any context. Obviously, the staff directed by the coach with Georgian origins deserves a mention because they established a long series of records that, from now one, can only be matched.
Q: As we opened with Figure Skating, let’s keep it as a topic. I’d like to have your comment on the results of the other competitions on the other Grand Prix Finals that were held in Turin. A: “We witnessed four competitions with clear-cut results, besides the final leads. In the single competitions, the victory went to two skaters, Kostornaia and Chen, who completed every planned element, improving the world record. In the Ice Dance and even more in the Pair Skating, the indisputable favourites of the eve won, Papadakis/Cizeron and Sui/Han, although there was some minor mistake here and there. The most problematic segment of competition was the Rhythm Dance: during that you could feel the competitors’ tension, but everything got back to normal for the free dance.
Q: You haven’t mentioned it, but I'd like to know your opinion about the multiple complaints about the scores in the Men's single competition. What is your idea about it? A: "First things first, Nathan Chen is the worthy winner of the final, and he deserved his result on the field, but his skating isn’t worth the scores that he gets. Right now, there's a clear problem on the attribution of the GOE and on the evaluation of the program components. More quadruple jumps can't automatically mean more PCS, and especially when the necessary requirements are not present, over-scoring the jump elements should not be possible, but it's not just that. The current score system doesn't work well right now. It's not only a problem of lack of proportionality between the TES and the PCS, which is well known, I also think that the situation was way worsened when they changed the GOE attribution system at the beginning of this Olympic four-year period. In my opinion, the current rules are not applied correctly because no judge, and I challenge anyone to prove otherwise, is able to evaluate in real/almost real-time the many elements of the programs, with precise references to the six bullet points that are to be referenced in the rules, to the possible deductions that may happen, and don't forget that at the same time they also have to evaluate the five scores of the components. With this statement, I'm not saying that the judges are not competent to do that, but simply that the current GOE assignment system is not applicable in such a short time as what they have. The example, in this sense, can be represented by any segment of the competitions in this season. I invite everyone to compare the quad Salchows made by Hanyu and Chen in the free skate in Turin, jumps that, inexplicably, obtained the same GOE. Thus, if it is not possible, for reasons that I think are understandable, to apply the rules as they were thought, maybe it would be better to create something different, so that anyone can adjust accordingly, and they can avoid losing credibility. Obviously, my premise is that there's no deceit, although, after having seen some people at work, I might have a doubt about that. In any case, I'll ignore it for now, and go forward, even if I'm quite perplexed. We need corrective measures, and we need them as soon as possible, but I'm not convinced that those who are in charge of these decisions may be able to intervene."
Q: With an answer like this, I cannot help asking you if Yuzuru Hanyu can beat a Chen who, in fact, is able to carry out every planned element. A: "In a competition with spotless programs for both of them, the victory would go to the Japanese skater. I have no doubt about it, because he is one step ahead in every score entry. In the free skate in Turin, the base value planned by Hanyu, counting the highest GOE possible, was 0,8 points above Chen's. Thus, they are on basically even ground on this. It's clear that Chen is more at ease in completing five quadruple jumps. The American skater, in this sense, is favoured by his skating: he spends less energy because he clearly covers less ice and has more two-footed skating, and this advantage still remains even though Hanyu had to simplify his free skate, compared to the previous ones, to be able to put in five quadruple jumps as well. In any case, it needs stressing that the Japanese man's jumps are better in quality, which means more height (in the final, the height for every jump was measured and the difference was embarrassing), the width, the entrance, the exit position, and a lot of other elements. Chen demonstrated to be superior on the athletic point of view, and on this part Hanyu will have to work in order to overcome this situation. Besides, another important difference is where the jumps are placed. Chen starts with his three most difficult elements in the first half (not in bonus zone), and two of them are combination jumps, and has a second part that is lighter than Hanyu's, who instead wants to execute three difficult combinations as the last three jump elements. I think that in Toronto they'll need to think about this. In general, I still think that the comparison on the PCS is out of the question, because the Olympic champion has an advantage on every item, in particular on the less subjective ones, like skating skills and transitions. Especially in the short program, the difference is even higher. It is clear that it's still necessary for Hanyu to complete every planned jump. In Turin, for the first time in his career, he was able to complete five quadruple jumps, of four different kinds, Lutz included. Surely, this is an important starting point for the future. As for the rest, we can only wait for the next competition.
