Zoueva is talking of two Olympics for them (may be joking?), and Vladimir said he would be too old by the 2026 Olympics. Not so, Vladimir. Hongbo Zhao was older.
I wish they had made a coaching change much earlier, but better late than never.
Thanks for the recap. I don't think Marina is joking about 2026. She's very good at reading which way the skating winds are blowing, IMO. No, they are not going to be too old given the longevity of pairs and that there have been older medalists and champions lately at the Olympics in pairs.
I'm still worried about technical stuff because that's where their problems are and I'm not sure an ice dance camp is the right place for a pairs team struggling with elements right now. I think Trankov did a far better job with them last year than most give him credit for, but I too wish they'd made a coaching change earlier. I don't think Mozer has ever been fully invested in them. One thing that always seem to hold in this sport over the years, no matter what the discipline, the coach has to be fully in to get the skater/team to the top.
I've seen worse programs. I don't know if I've even seen a program less appropriate for the skaters and the circumstances (Olympic season, a young pair contending for the gold, etc.)
I agree with that sentiment. I don't think it was the right vehicle for T/M in the Olympic season. The 16-17 season made them into the surprise contenders for 2018. In 2014-15, when they first moved up to seniors, T/M were touted as the hope for 2022. Any betting person would have said S/K would be the top Russian team for 2018.
I'm gonna come right out and say it, I never got the hate for Candyman. I found it fun and engaging, and to me it was the perfect example of how lyrics can destroy a program. If not for "cherry pop" and "nasty dirty boy" it wouldn't got got nearly the amount of hate it did.
However, the amount of ridicule T/M got for it was cruel and disgusting, there were people who were honestly happy T/M missed the podium at the Olympics (the most important competition of all) JUST because of that.
And then they wonder why T/M are so reclusive and quiet! Imagine reading some of the stuff directed at them as if it was directed at you! I'd never leave my house!
I do think anonymoose_au makes a good point about those lyrics destroying the program. I think it's those lyrics that added fuel to the hate fire for the program, and I speculate that the reaction would have been more muted if the music cuts hadn't included those particular lyrics. Still not what I would have picked for them for the Olympic season, but I think there would have been a lot less hate for the program.
Even with the program as it was, I do think that the cruel type of hate T/M got for it was and is horrible. Instead of constructive criticism of the program or hating the program for T/M, it became hating T/M. I don't know how anyone could watch that k&C and feel joy in that moment. Something in them, especially Evgenia, seem to break in that moment and I don't think it's yet been put right. (Which is one of the reasons it's been so upsetting for me to watch them struggle this season and miss the gpf after they were so strong at test skates.)
T/M don't seem to have ever been the most visible of skaters, but I do feel like since 2018, they have been pulling further back into their shells. The stuff that gets said about them in fan discussions, the stuff I've seen in the Russian media (granted, read through google translate)..... I'd hide too.
Regardless of the program, I still don't think they would've won a medal at the Olympics with the mistakes they made, but it would've given a much more professional impression. IMO, they had better skating skills than Duhamel/Radford (I say this as a big D/R fan), but D/R's programs accentuated all the positives of the team whereas T/M's program emphasized the negatives.
I do agree that even with a better program, if they'd made the same exact mistakes that they did with Candyman, I don't think it would have helped them get on to the podium. The bigger what-if question for me is what the judges would have done with a clean Candyman that night. If they'd hit like they did in the FS at Euros.... They were less than a point out of first after the short. S/H had mistakes, and S/M were in a bit of a hole after the short. S/M's FS score was a monster score. T/M would have needed a total score of 235.91 to win, so a FS score of 154.23. They scored 151.23 in the FS at Euros. This is probably the hypothetical scenario where maybe a different program might have gotten them enough PCS to get the extra 3 points they needed for the gold. I do think a clean Candyman would have at gotten them a medal though. If they'd matched their FS score from Euros, they would have had a total of 232.91, which would have easily gotten them the bronze. They would have edged D/R by 2.76 points.
So, clean Candyman would have for sure medaled. It just probably wouldn't have been enough for gold. A team in T/M's position coming in to the 17-18 season should have come in with a program that set them up to contend for the OGM. Olympic FS programs tend to strive for the more traditionally elegant and refined end of the skating spectrum. I think the judges expect the skaters to be more serious in their Olympic FS and save the lighter stuff for earlier in the quad.
I am going to miss them too at the GPF. My heart hurts for them so much. They have the talent to be world and Olympic champions. It feels like skating media and a lot of fans in multiple languages are forgetting that they have that kind of talent and are ready to put them out to pasture. I don't think politics will allow them a win even if they deserve it at Russian nationals, but I hope they skate well for themselves.
