The Dance Hall 13: When You Dance on the Ice and Your Feet Twizzle Twice, That's Amore

Even if you were right, that is still ludicrous. Doing choreo within 2 metres of the boards is banned outside of a choreo step? What kind of ice dance programmes do you want to see in the future?
Don't be silly. Of course choreo isn't banned outside of the choreo step, but they were on the center axis and that is a key part of the choreo step sequence element in the RD. There are plenty of ways to be creative about how you start your program or incorporate unjudged choreo sections into your program.
 
Sorry if this has been answered already, but did the skaters' team try to appeal this call?

Or more generally, can someone summarize what can be appealed? I think it has to be immediate (before the referee certifies the result) and coaches can only appeal a call about their own skater(s).
My understanding is that this isn't a thing that can be appealed. The only thing I know for sure that skaters can appeal is an incorrect calculation of their program score. That can mean addition errors, incorrect data entry into the system etc, but I also remember a woman at an Olympics, I think PyeongChang? - appealed her score because a jump that was performed right at the start of the second half of the program didn't have the bonus applied (as was within the rules for bonuses then), and on checking of the timing of the jump it was found to be performed within the second half and the bonus was awarded. It didn't change a thing about the ranking IIRC, but the score that was recorded was the score she should have received under the rules.

An appeal also has to be done within a very limited timeframe IIRC. Something like half an hour?
 
this was most likely been discussed in the rhythm dance thread but did they play the Czechs wrong music but they just got skating to it? Oh my gosh she dropped the F bomb on the ice as she was skating to Maurizio.
Yes, the wrong music was played for them. I went and compared it with their NHK performance, and it's not massively different but enough for the 2nd half of their program to be rushed and not on the music and you could tell they were struggling to make it work. They also had to rush to reach the choreo step sequence at the right time in the music. Really unprofessional from the organizers.
 
Yes, the wrong music was played for them. I went and compared it with their NHK performance, and it's not massively different but enough for the 2nd half of their program to be rushed and not on the music and you could tell they were struggling to make it work. They also had to rush to reach the choreo step sequence at the right time in the music. Really unprofessional from the organizers.
The music played is their July's cut. Filip said the link they received to upload the music before the competition did not work.
Before practices they went to physically give the right track. However, during the practices they played the wrong one. So they told them again they should play the hand delivered file. But they played the old version again during the competition.
 
Olympic tech panels are nominated well in advance, usually in the Summer. That's why the hosting Fed had to submit their names in the spring.
They’d announced, though, before Worlds, and they’d been practicing before then. Looking at teams 5-8, they could be reasonably expected to beat all of them. The French Federation had announced them as the best France had to offer, and implied they were the second coming, so if they couldn’t have a judge, they could hardly complain. That’s not the way it played out, and stabbing L/B in the back before Worlds to ensure a judge was well-played.
 
Since the new judging system was introduced, here are the officials appointed for Olympics

Torino 2006
Referee: Janet Coton (Great Britain)
Technical Controller: Olga Gilardini (Italy)
Technical Specialist 1: Andrezej Dostatni (Poland)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Marie Bowness (Canada)

Vancouver 2010
Referee: Halina Gordon Poltorak (Poland)
Technical Controller: Katalin Alpern (Israel)
Technical Specialist 1: Marika Humphreys-Baranova (Great Britain)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Francesca Fermi (Italy)

Sochi 2014
Referee: Katalin Alpern (Israel)
Technical Controller: Halina Gordon Poltorak (Poland)
Technical Specialist 1: Ayako Higashino (Japan)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Gyorgy Elek (Hungary)

Pyeongchang 2018
Referee: Ingrid Charlotte Wolter (Germany)
Technical Controller: Hilary Selby (Great Britain)
Technical Specialist 1: Slavka Grincova (Slovakia)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Tae-Hwa Yang (South Korea)

Beijing 2022
Referee: Mika Saarelainen (Finland)
Technical Controller: Halina Gordon Poltorak (Poland)
Technical Specialist 1:Gyorgy Elek (Hungary)
Technical Specialist 2: Ayako Higashino (Japan)

This post is just an excuse to post the link to the old video of Dostatni doing the Samba
 
So, do we know WHAT was on that piece of paper? Do we know the exact timing of when Rettstatt allegedly handed MF this piece of paper? Do we have video footage that can prove exactly how soon after ChoBat's practice this occurred?

This is the first I've heard/seen this allegation - no one's brought it up in here or anywhere else on FSU and I certainly haven't seen this rumor circulating on X which is a cesspool of ChoBat hatred - so I'm quite surprised to see it coming up now, a week later when, suddenly, FBCiz got an unfavorable call for their choreo step sequence, especially when others have pointed out that this is the sort of call that a different member of the tech panel, Towler-Green, was on a panel that made the exact same call against another team in the past.

I'm all for giving Rettstatt all the hate he deserves, but we don't have any insight into the tech panel's deliberations today. For all we know, Towler-Green and Pedrazzini could have been the ones giving the ! call on the choreo step seq. And, FWIW, I'm no fan of the choreo step seq in the RD. It's nothing but a GOE grab for teams and doesn't serve any purpose but to keep teams boxed into their relative tiers within the international ice dance hierarchy. IAM has taken ruthless advantage of it, especially during this current Olympic cycle, but the hysterics about the FBCiz call today are a tad on the melodramatic side. I mean, teams can still have choreography and there are ways of setting up that opening choreo bit that don't invite the tech panel to do what they did today. Not that I expect most of the Cizeron ubers around here to see it that way at all.
I think the fact that it came from someone on FSU makes it quite believable. And I also think it's counterproductive to try and connect the criticism about what Rettstatt is doing to liking or disliking a specific team. The fact that it's easily believable that Rettstatt has been assisting specific US teams while being questionable towards other teams (American and not) is a problem on its own, and I can bring several examples of his questionable behavior dated over a decade and a half ago.

FB/C are arguably the most disliked team on the field, but the outrage over their judging was genuine because it feels like it's just another step forward in the destruction of ice dance. It was as if they were being told to dumb their choreography down, or they would risk something like this happening. And the insanity of calling their starting step the choreo step but then giving it a ! since it doesn't meet the requirements - well, of course it won't meet the requirements when it's not the actual element. And the rest of the calls were not better. Piper's TwB was absurd in the context of how other people's twizzles were called (Kolesnik for example).

There's optics to this, and it's getting incresingly worse, and the complete lack of trust in the judging and their behavior is only growing, and at this point, I'm starting to fear we are nearing another potential judging scandal, and that will be the last nail in the coffin for ice dance after this last quad which was arguably one of the weakest that brought a real regression to the sport.
 
Since the new judging system was introduced, here are the officials appointed for Olympics

Torino 2006
Referee: Janet Coton (Great Britain)
Technical Controller: Olga Gilardini (Italy)
Technical Specialist 1: Andrezej Dostatni (Poland)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Marie Bowness (Canada)

Vancouver 2010
Referee: Halina Gordon Poltorak (Poland)
Technical Controller: Katalin Alpern (Israel)
Technical Specialist 1: Marika Humphreys-Baranova (Great Britain)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Francesca Fermi (Italy)

Sochi 2014
Referee: Katalin Alpern (Israel)
Technical Controller: Halina Gordon Poltorak (Poland)
Technical Specialist 1: Ayako Higashino (Japan)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Gyorgy Elek (Hungary)

Pyeongchang 2018
Referee: Ingrid Charlotte Wolter (Germany)
Technical Controller: Hilary Selby (Great Britain)
Technical Specialist 1: Slavka Grincova (Slovakia)
Assistant Technical Specialist: Tae-Hwa Yang (South Korea)

Beijing 2022
Referee: Mika Saarelainen (Finland)
Technical Controller: Halina Gordon Poltorak (Poland)
Technical Specialist 1:Gyorgy Elek (Hungary)
Technical Specialist 2: Ayako Higashino (Japan)

This post is just an excuse to post the link to the old video of Dostatni doing the Samba
Maybe I’m hating ice dance these days, but I thoroughly enjoyed that samba OSP and the hot pink pants.
 
RE: the story I told on my latest video with Chock/Bates at Skate America.

The person reporting to me from the other side of the rink was RIGHT behind team IAM. They had that side of the arena closed off for practices but people still wandered over there. Team IAM took a photo together at the boards that first day and said person was right behind them.

I asked to clarify even more detail and this is what I was told:

"After Madison and Evan skated, Rettstatt handed Lauzon [so it was Patrice in fact] a piece of paper. They didn't speak, only nodded. The paper had an element list. It was a table with two columns. The left column had what looked like the elements listed in order with notes/comments next to each element in the right column".

Take it for what it's worth. What made me 👀 from the start is why IAM decided to stand right next to the technical panel anyways. It was on the other side of the rink from where the kiss and cry was and where every other last coach stood all week.


This is my own video from day one. During Chock/Bates, you can see Patrice literally feet away from the tech panel and right at the bottom of the steps, even far away from where the rest of IAM were standing. 🤷‍♂️
 
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Well, one cannot but wonder if one of Rettstatt's objectives was to do everything he could to ensure the lowest possible score for the French, so that Chock Bates would qualify in first for GPF. Arguably, before Helsinki, it should have been a breeze for FB-C to have the highest total score. So, well done, Rettsttat, you live up to your VM epoch reputation.
 
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Well, one cannot but wonder if one of Rettstatt's objectives was to do everything he could to ensure the lowest possible score for the French, so that Chock Bates would qualify in first for GPF. Arguably, before Helsinki, it should have been a breeze for FB-C to have the highest total score. So, well done, Rettsttat, you live up to your VM epoch reputation.
Not just them. It certainly helped Z/K they they got the highest levels here versus the hits LaLa took at SA last week 🤷‍♀️
 
The current plans are as follows: let Bock have their Gold medal, Z/K are the heirs apparent, and FB/C get to be on the podium and whichever of the three brings it; that is, G/P, Gui/Fab, Fear/Gib, gets bronze? If only I were a betting man, I'd be rich. I think it will be Fear/Gibson.
 
The current plans are as follows: let Bock have their Gold medal, Z/K are the heirs apparent, and FB/C get to be on the podium and whichever of the three brings it; that is, G/P, Gui/Fab, Fear/Gib, gets bronze? If only I were a betting man, I'd be rich. I think it will be Fear/Gibson.

Gui/Fab change the RD and during the Team Event the judges pretend the new one is not bad. Then they all close their eyes when Grassl lands his jumps and Conti/Macii don't botch a lift. Italy get the Bronze Team Event.
And then Gui/Fab can be dumped again to 10th place in the individual event.
 
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Gui/Fab change the RD and during the Team Event the judges pretend the new one is not bad. Then they all close their eyes when Grassl lands his jumps and Conti/Macii don't botch a lift. Italy get the Bronze Team Event.
And then Gui/Fab can be dumped again to 10th place in the individual event.
There isn't enough time for them to switch the RD btwn the GPF & Euros. Are you predicting the skip Sheffield? :rofl:
 
Well, one cannot but wonder if one of Rettstatt's objectives was to do everything he could to ensure the lowest possible score for the French, so that Chock Bates would qualify in first for GPF. Arguably, before Helsinki, it should have been a breeze for FB-C to have the highest total score. So, well done, Rettsttat, you live up to your VM epoch reputation.
Yep. And I think the other part of the plan was for if Gilles/Poirier skated clean they would win Finlandia to show FB/C can be beaten but then Piper biffed her twizzles.
 

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