Figure Skating Champions SURVIVOR: Ladies ROUND 8

[SamuraiK]

I'm sad about last week's decision but the tribe has spoken and lovely Shiz bows out of the game...

6TH PLACE: SHIZUKA ARAKAWA (39.06% of votes)

The remaining contenders are:
01. Lu Chen - CHN - 1995 World Champion.
02. Michelle Kwan - USA - 1996,1998,2000,2001 and 2003 World Champion.
03. Irina Slutskaya - RUS - 2002 and 2005 World Champion.
04. Mao Asada - JPN - 2008 and 2010 World Champion.
05. Yuna Kim - KOR - 2009 World and 2010 Olympic Champion.

Already Eliminated:
07th Place - Tara Lipinski (37.15% votes)
08th Place - Carolina Kostner (41.39% votes)
09th Place - Maria Butyrskaya (32.67% votes)
10th Place - Miki Ando (24.90% votes)
11th place - Sarah Hughes (53.06% votes)
12th place - Kimmie Meissner (50.26% votes)

Only the strongest remain. They all have made it to the gala of this game You decide who doesn't make the podium

[SamuraiK]

At first I was going to vote for Chen, but thennI realised Mao hasn't had the stellar carreer everyone was predicting six years ago. And even her two world titles weren't that smashing (2008 was a splatfest where even she fell hard and 2010 lost the SP to newcomer Nagasu and the LP to an unmotivated Yuna).

[briancoogaert]

Irina Slutskaya.
I admire her qualities, but compared to the others, her skating lacks of lightness, grace, and she was not technically that superior.

[judgejudy27]

Lu Chen. She has way overstayed her welcome.

[RumbleFish]

Mao Asada is one of the most overrated skaters ever.

- Unlike any of the great lady skaters, she hasn't left a signature program.
- Even her 2 world title was lackluster, failing to win neither sp nor fs both times.

[chipso1]

I love Mao, but I had to vote for her.

[kwanette]

Irina Slutskaya.
I admire her qualities, but compared to the others, her skating lacks of lightness, grace, and she was not technically that superior.

^ This.

[judgejudy27]

Lu Chen skated the performance of her life and STILL lost her World title as the reigning Champion. Imagine that ever happening to any of the others on this list, LOL! She was never even a contender for an Olympic Gold. She isnt even in the league of the others on this list.

[briancoogaert]

Lu Chen skated the performance of her life and STILL lost Worlds. She was never even a contender for an Olympic Gold. She isnt even in the league of the others on this list.

This is really hard.
You know that with a stronger federation, she could have been consider as a contender.

[judgejudy27]

This is really hard.
You know that with a stronger federation, she could have been consider as a contender.

Shen & Zhou, Pang & Tong, Zhang & Zhang, Sui & Han, came from the same federation and still managed to get higher scores than they deserve on a regular basis, especialy the last 2 or 3 of those. The Chinese fed. being weak is a myth.

[Macassar88]

Shen & Zhou, Pang & Tong, Zhang & Zhang, Sui & Han, came from the same federation and still managed to get higher scores than they deserve on a regular basis, especialy the last 2 or 3 of those. The Chinese fed. being weak is a myth.

First of all, that's very debatable for Shen and Zhou as well as Pang and Tong. However, even if you say that the four of them have been overscored, that's only been in the IJS system. I doubt that you'd argue that in the era of the 6.0, they were all overscored. If anything, Shen and Zhao were underscored in 6.0 because of their nationality. The Chinese fed was quite weak until recently, and even then, it's only in pairs. Han Yan is not being overscored, and neither is Zijun Li or Kexin Zhang. Their dance teams aren't being overscored either.

[Alex Forrest]

Who wants to bet that it comes down to Kwan vs. Kim?

I voted Lu, next Slutskaya, Asada, Kim, and Kwan is the winner.

[dawnie]

Another vote for Mao. I did enjoy her circa 2005-2007 when she was more jovial, but I have not enjoyed her at all the last few years. I don't know if it's her obsession with the triple axel or her frustration with the under-rotation and edge calls, but she lost her spark a long time ago.

Although Irina is my least favorite skater of the remaining ladies, I can't ignore her longevity and consistency.

[Macassar88]

I'm surprised that Yuna got so many votes.

[dawnie]

I'm surprised that Yuna got so many votes.

All the Maobots are coming out in droves

[Cherub721]

First of all, that's very debatable for Shen and Zhou as well as Pang and Tong. However, even if you say that the four of them have been overscored, that's only been in the IJS system. I doubt that you'd argue that in the era of the 6.0, they were all overscored. If anything, Shen and Zhao were underscored in 6.0 because of their nationality. The Chinese fed was quite weak until recently, and even then, it's only in pairs.

Under 6.0, I think they were way overscored at 2002 Olys, 2003 Worlds (SP) and 2004 Worlds.

Chen was more underscored because she was THE breakthrough skater from China. The very idea of having a Chinese skater on the podium wasn't there before Chen. That in turn made it easier for S&Z, which made it easier for P&T, and pretty soon you have the Zhangs racking up massive scores...

So yeah I'd say it's different. The Chinese federation is very powerful now, but it wasn't during Chen's time, and in fact I give her some credit for that country becoming a powerhouse.

[berthesghost]

Lu Chen skated the performance of her life and STILL lost her World title as the reigning Champion. Imagine that ever happening to any of the others on this list, LOL!

Yes, I can.

Kwan just barely won 01 worlds despite skating wonderfully. Had Irina kept her shyte together for once, she'd be 01 champ. I'd also argue that Irina was winning 02 worlds no matter what. And then there is the matter of 04 worlds, most notably the questionable sp scores for Kwan.

Irina's 03 lp was crap, and no way her Euros winning skates would beat Kwan's quiet confidence that year.

Had Maria skated a clean 00 lp, she very well may have defended her title, and she's been gone from this poll for a while now, so....

She was never even a contender for an Olympic Gold.

She may not have been as favored as Nancy and Oksana in 94, but she was int he mix should either implode, as both were want to do.

She isnt even in the league of the others on this list.

So says you, with blatant disregard for her world and olympic medals which prove that for the entire time she skated, she was considered podium material just like everyone else on this list. The judges obviously disagreed with you.

[RumbleFish]

Lu Chen skated the performance of her life and STILL lost her World title as the reigning Champion. Imagine that ever happening to any of the others on this list, LOL! She was never even a contender for an Olympic Gold. She isnt even in the league of the others on this list.

Flaws in your arguments stem from the fact that you always assume that judges' marks are correct and hence the competition results juestified.
I just don't think this is always the case.

[SamuraiK]

All the Maobots are coming out in droves

This actually confirms they are just bots and don't know how to vote strategicaly. If they were smart, they will leave the Yuna hate aside and would vote for Chen who's the likely candidate to get kicked out.

[judgejudy27]

Had Maria skated a clean 00 lp, she very well may have defended her title, and she's been gone from this poll for a while now, so....

So even Maria was more of a threat to win 2 Worlds than Chen one and she was one of the first people gone. Exactly.

She may not have been as favored as Nancy and Oksana in 94, but she was int he mix should either implode, as both were want to do.

Bonaly was also more favored than Chen in 94. She was 4th favorite at best, and not a potential gold medalist.

So says you, with blatant disregard for her world and olympic medals which prove that for the entire time she skated, she was considered podium material just like everyone else on this list. The judges obviously disagreed with you.

On the contrary, the judges obviously agree with me. She is the only person on the list to not have atleast 2 World or Olympic titles, and the only one on the list to not win atleast Olympic silver. The judges did not even think she was the best the year she won Worlds, it was due to Bobek's implosion that her win was possible. The judges viewed her worthy of less medals and titles than several women already voted out in fact.