A lot of questions, I admit. But these are, indeed, the questions of the figure skating fans at the conclusion of the Team Event, which brought Russia its first gold medal at this edition of the Winter Games. Some say: this is too much for the skaters, who are emotionally and physically drained before their individual events. Other say: this is actually a warm-up event, which helps the skaters settle their nerves, adjust themselves with the Olympic ice and the arena, show their programs to the judges, check their levels etc.
by Florentina Tone
Well, these are all legitimate points of view, but, from where I stand, the main problem with the Team Event scheduled before the individual events is the fact that it has already created a sum of expectations, good and bad; the Team Event was actually a preview of the main events, a worrying preview for some skaters and fans, an encouraging one for others.
In other words, with this particular event, introduced for the very first time in the Olympic program, almost no one starts from scratch in the individual events, but with a background of winnings (Yuzuru Hanyu in the short, Julia Lipnitskaia in the short and the long) or with a background of errors and concerns (the unsuccessful Triple Axel of Mao Asada; the 7 points difference between the Americans and the Canadians in the free dance; a faulty short program for Jeremy Abbott; a shaky beginning for Patrick Chan…).
Don’t get me wrong: I love more skating at the Olympics – but I don’t really like to have a preview of the main events before they actually happen; is it as if someone already tells me the result when all I want to do is sit and enjoy a competition from the beginning till the end. As someone pointed out, the Team Event (scheduled before the individual events) almost devalues the other medals, it almost take away from the main events.
Having pointed out his, let’s have a thorough look at the other good and bad things of this inaugural event.
PLUS
More skating in the Olympic program. If you look at it like that, the figure skating Team Event might lead to a greater popularity of the sport worldwide. The World Team Trophy is actually very popular in Japan – why not officialize an event which emphasizes the team, not the individual skater? In theory, the idea is actually very good.
Another Olympic medal for Evgeni Plushenko, who became, alongside Gillis Grafström, the most successful figure skater in Olympic history. This was definitely a joyful time for Evgeni’s fans: the Russian became the second skater, after the Swede Gillis Grafström, to win four Olympic medals in a row. Grafström was awarded gold in Antwerp-1920, Chamonix-1924, St. Moritz-1928 and silver in Lake Placid-1932. Plushenko, on the other hand, won a gold medal in Turin-2006, two other silver medals in Salt Lake City-2002 and Vancouver-2010 and another gold, in the Team Event, in Sochi, two days ago.
Evgeni Plushenko, at the 2013 Europeans in Zagreb
Gold for Russia in an inaugural figure skating event. Actually, Russia has this particular habit of winning the gold in the inaugural figure skating events. Nikolai Panin, for example, won the gold in “special figures” at the 1908 Summer Olympics, becoming Russia’s first Olympic champion. Two men’s skating events were contested at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London: single skating and special figures. Panin won the special figures event and competed, but did not finish, in the singles event. 1908 was the only year in which special figures was an Olympic event.
Ice dancing, on the other hand, was at first a demonstration event at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, won by the team of Diane Towler and Bernard Ford of Great Britain. It became an official medal event eight year later, in 1976, at Innsbruck, with the first title won by Lyudmila Pakhomova and Aleksandr Gorshkov (Russia).
“A number of skaters who will otherwise not medal get to be Olympic medalists – forever”. This particular comment, coming from Monica Friedlander, is actually very true. We have a total of 12 medals in the individual events – it goes without saying that some skaters, though talented and appreciated, will remain off the podium. Being a part of a powerful team gives them the chance to be Olympic medalists; and this is quite a lot.
The Team Event – a warm-up for the individual events. You could look at the Team Event from this particular point of view: the skaters adjust themselves with the ice, with the arena, with the public; they get to settle their nerves during these particular “practice-session”; show their programs and get a feed-back from the judges; cast out their fears and demons.
Just an example: having shown her new short program just once, at the Europeans, three weeks ago, Carolina Kostner entered the Olympic Team Event and skated her beautiful “Ave Maria” in Iceberg arena on her birthday; the day after, she flew back to Oberstdorf and she’ll return to Sochi prior to the ladies’ events (February 19-20).
MINUS
Having already skated in the Team Event are the athletes ready to start again in the individual ones? As Naomi Lang said during the Team Event, on her facebook account, “Team USA brought it today! Woohoo! But couldn’t the team event be after individual? The athletes are going to be emotionally drained…” Coming from a former competitive skater (Naomi used to skate with Peter Tchernyshev in the ice dancing event), this comment should definitely be taken into consideration.
The fear of an injury might have held the skaters down; or, on the contrary, an actual injury during the Team Event might have taken them out of the Olympics. This is actually another good point – and an additional reason to move the Team Event after the individual ones. Looking at Stefania Berton’s face after the terrible fall in the free program, this particular thought (Olympics are over for her) might have crossed your mind.
And there are, of course, the worries about the judging. And I’m not talking about the proposed agreement between the Russian and the American judges, in order to keep the Canadian dancers off the podium, reported by the French newspaper “L’Equipe”; I’m actually talking about the way the Program Components scores have been awarded during the Team Event.
Case study number 1: Plushenko’s PCS for his short program
Call it an abnormality of the scoring system; and I’ll call instead for a change of it, at least when it comes to the anonymity of the judges. This particular system was supposed to eliminate, as possible, the subjectivity of the judging – but I’d say the subjectivity is still there, reflected in the Program Components Scores. Just look at these two sets of scores, coming from two different judges: 6.75 vs. 9.50 for Skating Skills; 4.50 vs. 9.25 for Transitions; 8.25 vs. 9.75 for Performance; 7.00 vs. 9.50 for Choreography; 7.50 vs. 9.75 for Interpretation. Weren’t there supposed to be some reliable indicators in awarding the Program Components Scores? How is this difference (almost 5 points when it comes to Skating Skills) even possible?
Case study number 2: Julia Lipnitskaia’s Program Components
Julia Lipnitskaia, at the 2014 Europeans in Budapest, where she won the gold medal
Take Julia’s short program at Skate Canada and the Grand Prix Final, on one hand, and the same program at the Europeans and the Olympic Team Event. You’ll find similar scores when it comes to the executed elements (TES; technically, Julia has been very consistent throughout the season), but an appreciable difference when it comes to the program components; as if Julia has tremendously improved her skating skills/transition/performance/choreography/interpretation during the past few months.
Skate Canada
Grand Prix Final
Team Event (Winter Olympic Games)
If you look, for example, at the short program she skated at Skate Canada, Julia got 37.95 points for her executed elements (TES) and 28.94 for her components (PCS). At the Grand Prix Final in Fukuoka, she received 36.84 TES and 29.78 PCS. In the Olympic Team Event, Julia was awarded 39.39 points for executed elements and 33.51 for her components, being almost at the same level of artistry as Carolina Kostner (34.92 PCS) and Mao Asada (33.82 PCS).
Well, I’m not a judge, but I don’t think Julia improved that much, in term of Program Components, from the beginning of the season till now. The 15-year-old Russian is very talented, no doubt about it, but when it comes to artistry and conveying emotions to the public, she’s just not there yet.