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I've misjudged Carolina Kostner. I always thought she was a clunky, gangly skater, But after watching her "Ave Maria" short program, I find her to be a lovely skater -- very ethereal and really graceful. At 27, I hope she gets to take home a medal this time around!!

She was a wreck for years, but has blossomed amazingly at the end of her career. Too bad the same can't be said for the likes of Alissa Csizny.

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Some of my figure skating friends in my Twitter feed felt that Kostner should have scored above Yulia... I think there was like 2 points difference? Again, haven't seen the skates yet, so I don't have a real perspective yet.

The Italian ice dancers are great, definitely.

I preferred Carolina to Yulia. For me, Yulia lacks grace and poetry. Yulia's Program Component score was too high IMO.

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Men's scoring was slightly BS. Reynolds should have beaten Plyushchenko.

Just check the protocols to see Plushenko's range in PCS. It's like from a 6 up to a 9. That shows they don't know what to do with him. Rate him accurately, or based on his reputation?

I'm so curious if we see a Kovtun substitution.

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I preferred Carolina to Yulia. For me, Yulia lacks grace and poetry. Yulia's Program Component score was too high IMO.

After seeing the skates, I agree... Carolina should have won the short here. Yulia's PCS is boosted by the fact that she's skating in Russia and she has been the most consistent skater the entire season. I do think the programs they chose for her help mask some of her artistic weaknesses - but they ARE there. She is just packaged very well.

Yulia is just so cold and robotic to me. She just lacks the grace and elegance that I you see in skaters like Yuna and Kostner.

Gracie Gold is an incredible jumper; she just need to improve her artistic elements.

Yeah, someone on Golden Skate said Yulia should skate to Terminator next year. LOL.

Gracie Gold, I agree with you. Her jumps are amazing. Her spins are really nothing to sneeze at either. I can't believe how quickly Frank Carroll managed to rein in her flapping arms which were still evident at the time of her two Grand Prix events this fall. To me, she still completely lacks emotional connection with her music, but her's got her looking cleaner at least.

I have to say, I kind of don't want Gracie to medal - because I don't think she's getting gold. Yulia beat her by like 14 points in the free. If she's of the podium, more incentive for Gracie to stick around a full quad and get gold in 2018, which I think she would have a really good shot at.

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Wow big score for Julia. I didn't get to watch the free skate. Was the 140 deserved?

Her jumps are small. For sure smaller than Gold, who with Sotnitkova has some of the biggest, baddest jumps in the ladies' field. There's also a question about Yulia's lutz... should she be getting the edge call every time? She only got it one time in this competition.

Then there's PCS which is the really sticky question. See my remarks above. I think above all she is being rewarded for being SCARY CONSISTENT.

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Consistent, maybe. But she's not magical.

Between Yuna, Mao, Carolina and Yulia, I'd be very surprised if an American woman medaled.

I love Gracie, I believe she has the potential artistically and I really want to see her blossom. She could be phenomenal.

As for Ashley, I don't like her short. That music is never going to score well internationally.

Polina's young . She's all elbows and knees. Have to see how she fills out over the next few years.

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Julia's scores have dramatically improved even since the Grand Prix, just. 2 months ago. And here I was hoping Gracie would win the bronze :( I hope there's still room for her.

Speaking of American skaters, I just saw a picture of Ashley with her hair down. Wow. She is one beautiful girl.

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Consistent, maybe. But she's not magical.

Between Yuna, Mao, Carolina and Yulia, I'd be very surprised if an American woman medaled.

I love Gracie, I believe she has the potential artistically and I really want to see her blossom. She could be phenomenal.

As for Ashley, I don't like her short. That music is never going to score well internationally.

Polina's young . She's all elbows and knees. Have to see how she fills out over the next few years.

I agree with pretty much everything you said... except I love Ashley's short and I think it's a good fit for her personality. Maybe you're right about the music and the judges, but I wish there was more room to be adventurous if that's the case. (I do think that in the new system there is more flexibility about music, but maybe I'm crazy. Did you know everyone, not just ice dancers, can use music with lyrics next year?!?) Anyway Ashley did well on the Grand Prix with the short.

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Yulia looks like she is 12. There have been a couple of extremely talents young (14 to 16) skaters that have progressed so quickly and than hit a plateau and watch the field blow past her.

It is just funny, Russia was the biggest complainer that artistry has been taken out of figure skating yet have produced a lot of skaters with little artistry lately.

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I agree with pretty much everything you said... except I love Ashley's short and I think it's a good fit for her personality. Maybe you're right about the music and the judges, but I wish there was more room to be adventurous if that's the case. (I do think that in the new system there is more flexibility about music, but maybe I'm crazy. Did you know everyone, not just ice dancers, can use music with lyrics next year?!?) Anyway Ashley did well on the Grand Prix with the short.

It's obvious that Ashley likes her short, and that's definitely worth something. The Grand Prix comment is fair. The music (and correspondingly insufficiently detailed choreography) did strike me as the primary reason for the low PCS. Ashley should be able to deliver a superb PCS with every program.

I didn't know that about vocal music. Wild! I have to say, sometimes the lyrics feel a bit distracting to me. Interesting to see how choreography develops in response.

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It's obvious that Ashley likes her short, and that's definitely worth something. The Grand Prix comment is fair. The music (and correspondingly insufficiently detailed choreography) did strike me as the primary reason for the low PCS. Ashley should be able to deliver a superb PCS with every program.

I didn't know that about vocal music. Wild! I have to say, sometimes the lyrics feel a bit distracting to me. Interesting to see how choreography develops in response.

Most people are assuming that skaters and their teams are going to approach the lyrics thing verrrrrrrrrrry conservatively to start with.

I also realized... Yuzuru has a sort of similar music selection for his short. Obviously he's been garnering astronomical scores with that program:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisienne_Walkways_(song)

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Most people are assuming that skaters and their teams are going to approach the lyrics thing verrrrrrrrrrry conservatively to start with.

I also realized... Yuzuru has a sort of similar music selection for his short. Obviously he's been garnering astronomical scores with that program:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parisienne_Walkways_(song)

Yes, but he's also male. Much as I hate to say it, I think in that respect the playing field is not level.

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World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov claimed a second gold for themselves and the Olympic hosts on Wednesday night as they led a Russian 1-2 in pairs figure skating.

Already team gold medallists, Volosozhar and Trankov led all the way to seal the title ahead of teammates Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov with Germany's Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy taking their second Olympic bronze.

...

AFP

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