Gold on Gold: Lajoie & Lagha Cheer thread!

[ginsengtea]

Finally got a chance to sit down and catch up with everything after a lot of traveling. Beautiful skate from Marjorie and Zach in the FD. I really love all the upgraded and new elements, standouts to me are the ChSp, the twizzles, and the new dance spin (her positions are sooo stunning, best in the business for me). Shame about the ! in the choreo steps again, that’s probably around 7-8 points in TES they lost across the entire competition on choreographic elements, but anyways I’m sure they will work on it before Skate America.

Also anyone know why they got the lower levels on the twizzles and dance spin? I was scratching my head at that.

 

[ginsengtea]

Some fun bits from the press conference and post-skate interviews!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1985516170234249568

https://twitter.com/x/status/1985280355813958094

https://twitter.com/x/status/1985141246319620515

 

[ginsengtea]

Also this longer interview which essentially confirms they changed their FD after HPC.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1985293061568827789

 

[almiranara]

Finally got a chance to sit down and catch up with everything after a lot of traveling. Beautiful skate from Marjorie and Zach in the FD. I really love all the upgraded and new elements, standouts to me are the ChSp, the twizzles, and the new dance spin (her positions are sooo stunning, best in the business for me). Shame about the ! in the choreo steps again, that’s probably around 7-8 points in TES they lost across the entire competition on choreographic elements, but anyways I’m sure they will work on it before Skate America.

Also anyone know why they got the lower levels on the twizzles and dance spin? I was scratching my head at that.

the twizzle was a mystery to me as well, i thought they might pirouetted in one of the sets but the first one looked really good to me with lots of coverage, and the entry was really difficult

 

[ginsengtea]

the twizzle was a mystery to me as well, i thought they might pirouetted in one of the sets but the first one looked really good to me with lots of coverage, and the entry was really difficult

That might be it, though to me it’s kind of a harsh call if it was. I guess we’ll see at Skate America if they make changes with the spin.

 

[almiranara]

That might be it, though to me it’s kind of a harsh call if it was. I guess we’ll see at Skate America if they make changes with the spin.

gonna be so sad if they get rid of marjo's haircutter position though, it's so pretty

 

[ginsengtea]

Wishing Marjorie a very happy birthday today!

https://twitter.com/x/status/1986401154553815169

 

[shan]

Step by step: Lajoie and Lagha are focusing on the now in the Olympic season - Team Canada - Official Olympic Team Website

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha are all too familiar with the highs and lows of figure skating.

olympic.ca

I love the picture accompanying this article!

 

[Ka3sha]

Bit interview with Zachary (by Maya Bagriantseva, in Russian)

«Увидел Липницкую и пропал». Канадский топ-танцор из Алжира – про нашу культуру и фигурку

Зак Лага не чужой России.

www.sports.ru

don’t pat too much attention to the headline, though

 

[ginsengtea]

Such an interesting (and long) interview! A lot about classical music/piano, his mother's background as a pianist, and appreciation of Russian composers, literature, etc.

Some new skating bits that stood out to me (take with slight grain of salt on phrasing because Google Translate):

• He says they “didn’t really progress” last year and that this must change. He hates the idea of waiting in ice dance and doesn’t want to move up only when others retire. For him it’s “now or never” to break into the elite, and with the field so strong with teams returning, making the GPF this year feels like an Olympic-level fight.
• Says young Russian ice dance teams are strong (K/N and K/N), that Russian junior field of ice dancers are excellent skaters, stronger than Canadian field in some ways, though questionable choreography.
• They have plans to eventually skate to something he'd play himself on the piano, like a concerto, but knows he'd need 2 years to prepare it. Maybe Rachmaninoff because it works better for skating than something like Chopin, where the musical phrasing is more repetitive. Says coaches might not like it because Rach gets used too much in ice dance.
• Wants the compulsories back because he feels there's currently too much emphasis on elements and not pure skating quality, and that it would partially solve the music copyright issues.
• For him the golden age of ice dance was 2010-2022. Top male ice dancers are Guillaume, Nikita, Scott, Charlie, and Jean-Luc. Outside Marjorie, he sees Madison Hubbell as the best female ice dancer and technically flawless, also praises Laurence and Vasilisa, says the latter's partner is a stronger skater than her but that she's interesting.
• Became seriously interested in figure skating at age 12 after watching Yulia Lipnitskaia at Junior Worlds and wanted to be just like her. Seeing Nikita skate the blues at Marina Zoueva's rink made him want to commit to ice dance.
• Worlds 2024 in Montreal was far more stressful for him than the Olympics. He was at an emotional low point because of Marjorie’s injury and personal issues and trained intensely on his own so he’d be ready to push them forward when she returned.

 

[almiranara]

Bit interview with Zachary (by Maya Bagriantseva, in Russian)

«Увидел Липницкую и пропал». Канадский топ-танцор из Алжира – про нашу культуру и фигурку

Зак Лага не чужой России.

www.sports.ru

don’t pat too much attention to the headline, though

very interesting interview, thank you!

 

[almiranara]

They have plans to eventually skate to something he'd play himself on the piano, like a concerto, but knows he'd need 2 years to prepare it

there's still time for 2030, just saying

 

[ginsengtea]

there's still time for 2030, just saying

Or 2034 judging by the interview