Christine Brennan USA Today launches war on Zagitova!

[MIsty Blades/Skate Mom]

I don't think this article is that controversial. She does explore the fact that the program may be unbalanced. I think she is also right that one of the Russians will win if all goes well for them. Other people quoted in the article echo the opinion the backloading may be unbalanced. Zagitova is backloading her program because it is legal, she has good components, and she wants to win.

IMHO, the Russians skate artistically, jump well and use the rules to their advantage. I do enjoy watching them and wish that the US women could have a sip of the water the Russians are drinking.

Christine Brennan is an American, and she does want her country to medal, but the US women aren't performing like the Russians right now.

The US women have lost their dominance because other countries have outperformed the Americans. So right now, a gold medal for American female skaters is a huge stretch. Hopefully, the next crop of US female skaters will think big, become mentally strong, jump well, have strong components, hit their programs when it counts, and envision a finish on top of the podium at the Worlds and the Olympics.

 

[asdf334]

Zagitova is a piece of shit skater that is totally overscored and overrated. She is as sloppy as **** and deserves all the criticism she gets.

 

[asdf334]

She’ll be the WORST Olympic champion ever.

 

[Willin]

I do agree that we shouldn't blame her for the backloading - that's a problem with the system, not with her.

I don't agree that we shouldn't complain about her PCS. Yes, she may deserve 8s for choreography, composition, transitions, and performance, but no way she deserves an eight for skating skills. I don't think she deserves a 5 or 6 for skating skills since she can do the difficult transitions while maintaining speed, but a 7 for skating skills would make a lot more sense than a nine. Girl does not use those edges well. I'm honestly surprised that she manages to get a lot of her turns called.

 

[David21]

LOL @ the people who are saying that she is useing the rules to her advantage and then the rules should be changed...no! Besides from the 10% bonus, the rules are also saying that you have to have a well balanced program so they are giving the judges enough possibilities to give Zagitova the correct PCS, and those would be in the 7s and 8s and not in the 10s like she's already getting. The judges are not useing the PCS correctly and that is the real problem.

 

[skateboy]

Zagitova is a piece of shit skater that is totally overscored and overrated. She is as sloppy as **** and deserves all the criticism she gets.

Oh great, the crazies are back.

 

[Allskate]

She's doing what the system rewards, so I don't blame her. But, it's not well-balanced. She's like the Energizer bunny in the last half of her programs. There's no dynamics. There's little nuance or expression beyond sheer energy. I don't think that's only because of the jump layout, but it's part of it. There's something wrong when Zagitova is getting such high composition, performance, and skating skills scores. It's like she's getting a PCS bonus for backloading. It's comparable to the issue of PCS bonuses for men who are doing quads.

 

[Imagine]

She’ll be the WORST Olympic champion ever.

Great! Then your kind can finally get over Adelina! And perhaps Lipinski too, but that's probably just wishful thinking...

 

[MAXSwagg]

Oh great, the crazies are back.

I actually laughed out loud at how demented some can be.

 

[misskarne]

Zagitova is a piece of shit skater that is totally overscored and overrated. She is as sloppy as **** and deserves all the criticism she gets.

You should stop using what you see in the mirror to describe skaters.

 

[SHARPIE]

She’ll be the WORST Olympic champion ever.

You need to chill the heck out!

 

[justAfsfan]

If Alina is American they will hype her as the next goat. I am not her fan at all but this kind of media tactic to create us vs. them mentality is disgusting. They should aware that in the end she is just a 15 year olds who work hard and want to do her best. See her as she is, a young girls, rather than a representative of your evils enemy.

 

[lala]

the "shit" word has another meaning? or this is just an incredible rude post about a skater again?

 

[Ananas Astra]

My mother mentioned this on the phone earlier since it made the Russian news on tv. She said that Zagitova calmly commented on it by saying something along the lines of: "The American girls should feel free to do the same."

 

[becca]

My mother mentioned this on the phone earlier since it made the Russian news on tv. She said that Zagitova calmly commented on it by saying something along the lines of: "The American girls should feel free to do the same."

Good for her

 

[muffinplus]

So you drop her PCS down to a more reasonable level-- somewhere in the 8's. She's still going to for sure beat everyone else besides Medvedeva or possibly Kostner if she has the competition of her life. So what's the point? She doesn't deserve scores in the 5's or 6's like some people try to suggest.

Assuming her PCS were all in 8s, her total PCS for SP would be around 33-34. That would be extremely close with Osmond and Miyahara, who would be getting 36-37.

 

[Mayra]

If Zag had USA next to her name Brennan would have never written this article.

An article praising her ambition and smart use of the system would be in it's place.

Tara Lipinski would disagree

 

[becca]

Tara Lipinski would disagree

Tara was competiting against Kwan.

 

[allezfred]

My mother mentioned this on the phone earlier since it made the Russian news on tv. She said that Zagitova calmly commented on it by saying something along the lines of: "The American girls should feel free to do the same."

Oh the shade of it all!

 

[becca]

Oh the shade of it all!

I have utmost respect for that response. .

 

[Wyliefan]

Kid's got snark.

 

[clairecloutier]

I think where Brennan went wrong here was in framing this issue as Russia vs. USA. The potential for the scoring system to be used in this manner was always there, mathematically. It was just a question of who would actually take it to that final point of all-backloaded, all-Tanoed jumps. It so happened that it was a Russian coach and Russian skaters who took that step. But it could have been anyone. For example, IIRC, this year's U.S. Junior Nationals champion Alysa Liu also backloaded all, or almost all, of her jumps in the free skate and also won and beat older competitors by quite a margin. The point is that if you have an issue, it should be with the ISU and its scoring system, not with the coach or competitors who are simply taking advantage of it. And don't frame this as a Russia/USA issue. It is not that.

Also, to expect ISU judges to mark down skaters in components for unbalanced programs when said skaters are following ISU rules to the letter is totally unrealistic and even illogical. If the rules allow for all-backloaded programs, how can ISU judges penalize that? When the ISU changes the rules and gives the official stamp of approval to more balanced, non-backloaded programs, then the judges will mark accordingly. And not before then.

 

[David21]

Also, to expect ISU judges to mark down skaters in components for unbalanced programs when said skaters are following ISU rules to the letter is totally unrealistic and even illogical. If the rules allow for all-backloaded programs, how can ISU judges penalize that? When the ISU changes the rules and gives the official stamp of approval to more balanced, non-backloaded programs, then the judges will mark accordingly. And not before then.

No offense but your logic makes no sense. Just because something is allowed, that doesn't mean you can't deduct for it.
E.g. it is allowed to rotate your triple jumps one cm above the air, yet the judges can deduct for the poor height.
It is also allowed to skate your programs without any transitional steps, but that doesn't mean that the judges shouldn't consider that in the PCS. The same is true for programs that are extremely back-loaded because that rule was never supposed to encourage programs like Zagitova's who does no jumps in the first 2 minutes and then directly after that does all 3 jump combos in a row and the all the other jumps in a row.

 

[Sylvia]

I think where Brennan went wrong here was in framing this issue as Russia vs. USA. The potential for the scoring system to be used in this manner was always there, mathematically. It was just a question of who would actually take it to that final point of all-backloaded, all-Tanoed jumps. It so happened that it was a Russian coach and Russian skaters who took that step. But it could have been anyone. For example, IIRC, this year's U.S. Junior Nationals champion Alysa Liu also backloaded all, or almost all, of her jumps in the free skate and also won and beat older competitors by quite a margin. The point is that if you have an issue, it should be with the ISU and its scoring system, not with the coach or competitors who are simply taking advantage of it. And don't frame this as a Russia/USA issue. It is not that.

You should pass along your comment to Christine Brennan, Claire.

BTW, Brennan tweeted this after the Ladies SP: https://twitter.com/cbrennansports/status/966180604256636929

Texting with US Olympic judge Joe Inman. He would have had it Med, Osmond and Zag in that order because of balance of Osmond’s program, her speed and her interpretation of music’s details.

 

[MissIzzy]

My mother mentioned this on the phone earlier since it made the Russian news on tv. She said that Zagitova calmly commented on it by saying something along the lines of: "The American girls should feel free to do the same."

That would be very well if it was the American girls she's robbing. If Medvedeva honestly doesn't resent her any, well, she's a very remarkable person indeed then.

 

[Vash01]

That would be very well if it was the American girls she's robbing. If Medvedeva honestly doesn't resent her any, well, she's a very remarkable person indeed then.

I believe these young ladies are very mature. They treat each other well. They don't whine when they lose. They just work harder and try to do better. Based on her interviews i have read or watched, Evgenia really is a remarkable teenager.

 

[Willin]

I think where Brennan went wrong here was in framing this issue as Russia vs. USA. The potential for the scoring system to be used in this manner was always there, mathematically. It was just a question of who would actually take it to that final point of all-backloaded, all-Tanoed jumps. It so happened that it was a Russian coach and Russian skaters who took that step. But it could have been anyone. For example, IIRC, this year's U.S. Junior Nationals champion Alysa Liu also backloaded all, or almost all, of her jumps in the free skate and also won and beat older competitors by quite a margin. The point is that if you have an issue, it should be with the ISU and its scoring system, not with the coach or competitors who are simply taking advantage of it. And don't frame this as a Russia/USA issue. It is not that.

Also, to expect ISU judges to mark down skaters in components for unbalanced programs when said skaters are following ISU rules to the letter is totally unrealistic and even illogical. If the rules allow for all-backloaded programs, how can ISU judges penalize that? When the ISU changes the rules and gives the official stamp of approval to more balanced, non-backloaded programs, then the judges will mark accordingly. And not before then.

I do agree it isn't a Russia/US problem - it's a problem in all of skating. A ton of skaters are doing it.

I also agree that they shouldn't penalize her components for following their rules, but that doesn't excuse how high her skating skills mark is vs. her actual skating skills.

 

[Megi]

My problem with Zagitova is that she never extends her free leg, her knee is always bent and her butt is always "sticking out". Everything about her body line just looks broken.

 

[Wyliefan]

That would be very well if it was the American girls she's robbing. If Medvedeva honestly doesn't resent her any, well, she's a very remarkable person indeed then.

I'm a bit surprised Janny hasn't tried it herself. She's capable. Or at least, she was before the injury.

 

[Xela M]

Zag's LP is actually a guilty pleasure of mine I love it and the girl has so much spunk. There's something very genuine and endearing about her.

American girls don't backload programs because it's bloody hard! Duh! That's why Zag gets more points