Which Ice Dance Teams Will Be In The 2018 Olympic Podium? (PREDICTIONS)

[AquaLady]

With the completion of the Grand Prix Series, the next event everyone is looking forward to is the Olympics! Which Ice Dance teams do you think will be in Olympic Podium?

 

[skatingguy]

Someone thinks that Papadakis/Cizeron are going to miss the podium? How bad would they have to skate to get beaten by 3 other teams?

 

[Aussie Willy]

P&C and V&M unless they really f*ck up big time will be gold and silver.

I wouldn't mind betting that H&D will sneak into that bronze medal.

 

[AquaLady]

P&C and V&M unless they really f*ck up big time will be gold and silver.

I wouldn't mind betting that H&D will sneak into that bronze medal.

YES on H/D getting that bronze! They are absolutely magnificent. The judges need to stop playing games and reward Madi and Zach the scores they deserve. Sadly, they get screwed over because of politics...

 

[Aussie Willy]

YES on H/D getting that bronze! They are absolutely magnificent. The judges need to stop playing games and reward Madi and Zach the scores they deserve. They always get screwed over because of politics, politics, politics...

Hmmm they didn't get the bronze in the GPF because of a lift that wasn't quite right. That is not politics. They will have to go away and work on that lift.

 

[caseyedwards]

Only five options!
1.P/C
2.V/M
3.H/D
Or shibutani or Chock Bates

 

[AquaLady]

Hmmm they didn't get the bronze in the GPF because of a lift that wasn't quite right. That is not politics. They will have to go away and work on that lift.

I know, but what about yesterday's short dance? It seems like they're the American team offered as a sacrificial lamb. Even British Eurosport thinks H/D deserve way better.

 

[ninalovesskating]

I know that none of the Russians are "contenders" this season but I wouldn't count them out. Oldies B/S will be pushed extremely hard and babies S/B are performing better than ever. Dark horses like H/D are the ones I'm looking out for

 

[caseyedwards]

I know that none of the Russians are "contenders" this season, but I wouldn't count them out. Oldies B/S will be pushed extremely hard and babies S/B are performing better than ever. Dark horses like H/D are the ones I'm looking out for

Why would russia bother with dance? They can absolutely sweep ladies. No one will be pushing anything for b/s. Russia will be using dance as a way to sweep ladies.

 

[ninalovesskating]

Why would russia bother with dance? They can absolutely sweep ladies. No one will be pushing anything for b/s.

Laughable. You don't know the Russian fed if you're saying that. Forgot what happened in rostelecom? B/S botched their spins and got a 108. Short dance - they were about a point behind shibs.

 

[caseyedwards]

Laughable. You don't know the Russian fed if you're saying that. Forgot what happened in rostelecom? B/S botched their spins and got a 108. Short dance - they were about a point behind shibs.

Why were they behind the Shibs at all? B/S are Olympic gold medalists. If Russia wanted to justify b/s winning they could just be like “b/s won gold in Sochi!” Why shouldn’t they be ahead of a team that was 8th. Or even 2017 worlds. B/S beat Shibutani in FD.

 

[ninalovesskating]

Why were they behind the Shibs at all? B/S are Olympic gold medalists if they wanted to justify b/s winning they could just be like “b/s won gold in Sochi!” Why shouldn’t they be ahead of a team that was 8th.

B/S won gold in the team event with plushenko, lipnitskaya, ilinykh, and gold and silver winning pair teams. It wasn't a personal victory.

 

[Vash01]

These kind of polls are normally started in the Trash can forum. Just go there and take a look.

 

[caseyedwards]

B/S won gold in the team event with plushenko, lipnitskaya, ilinykh, and gold and silver winning pair teams. It wasn't a personal victory.

Their third place in short dance was vital though. FD didn’t really matter. They were vital in winning gold and gave gold.

 

[ninalovesskating]

Their third place in short dance was vital though. FD didn’t really matter.

That's not what we're discussing. Question was are they being pushed or not and the answer is an obvious yes. You said it yourself that they beat the shibs in the last worlds free dance. That was purely politics because there's no way in hell that B/S had the third-best free dance.

 

[caseyedwards]

That's not what we're discussing. Question was are they being pushed or not and the answer is an obvious yes. You said it yourself that they placed higher than the shibs in the last worlds free dance. That was purely politics because there is no way in hell that B/S had the third-best free dance.

But almost everyone else made huge errors and they didn’t. They didn’t medal. A low and lousy fifth. First Time ever a Russian team didn’t medal at pre Olympics worlds in dance. Russia politics is for ladies now. Not dance.

 

[ninalovesskating]

But almost everyone else made huge errors and they didn’t. They didn’t medal. A low and lousy fifth. First Time ever a Russian team didn’t medal at pre Olympics worlds in dance.

Rightfully so because they're not even top 5 material. They got their placements because of politics and politics only.

 

[ninalovesskating]

I know, but what about yesterday's short dance? It seems like they're the American team offered as a sacrificial lamb. Even British Eurosport thinks H/D deserve way better.

Sacrificial lamb, indeed.

 

[caseyedwards]

Rightfully so because they're not even top 5 material. They got their placements because of politics and politics only.

But any politics to fifth is meaningless. They didnt even make GPF. You don’t have to worry about them.

 

[GREGORY]

LOL...at this time the bigs loosers : The designer of the earrings and her puppet are at 100 % .....and P&C only at 87,2 %....... FSUers never change

 

[Aussie Willy]

I know, but what about yesterday's short dance? It seems like they're the American team offered as a sacrificial lamb. Even British Eurosport thinks H/D deserve way better.

Hmmm I am not sure the judges are throwing them under the bus. The Shibs were the ones who got slammed in the FD and dropped. I don't often analysis protocols but in this case it is worth looking at because of how it impacted the result.

The difference between C&B and H&D in the FD was one lift. Going into the FD there was a .45 margin in favour of H&D. When it came to the FD this is where I think the event was decided.

• C&B's was called RoLi4 and was worth 6.13. Earnt +2s and +3s across the board on the GOE.
• H&D's was called RoLi3 and was worth 4.51. Earnt base and +1s across the board with one judge +2 (that would have been thrown out).

The difference in that element alone was 1.62. The base value for that element on levels is a .5 difference between a level 3 and level 4. If H&D had got the level 4 call and higher GOEs across the panel, then they would have got the bronze as they had a higher technical score.

On the components, H&B actually have the higher SS component.

I personally don't like watching C&B. I find they are hard work, it is not effortless. But when judging you have to take out the fact that you don't like the program or the music choice. You have to judge what you see. This was emphasised by a judge at a seminar last weekend (Synchro seminar at Australian Nationals). As much as I hate to say it C&B tick all the boxes when it comes to the components. But I would much rather watch H&D all day.

The margins on this are so minuscule that the smallest thing can change a result. And the judges I am sure are putting their marks out there without consideration of the result. But I am not going to suggest that there is any great conspiracy or that H&D are being sacrificed.

 

[Willin]

I know Virtue and Moir are technically very, very good, but I just don't like their performance. They tend to be leaning for a romantic or sexy angle but there's none of that romantic chemistry between the two of them, so I find that the programs fall very flat. I also don't like Papadakis and Cizeron's programs that much, but I at least feel there's some connection between them on the ice beyond that of teammates. They also tend to go for less explicitly romantic programs, so the lack of any romantic connection on the ice is a lot less glaring. When they're both so good at the technical side, it comes down to the character and performance, and I think P/C do that better. Personally, I'd prefer to see P/C win, but either way I'm not too excited about either of their FDs. I agree that they'll go 1 and 2 in some order barring mistakes.

As for the US dance teams - of which I think one will end up in 3rd, I think the Shib sibs are the favorite based on recent results, but they've certainly been making small uncharacteristic errors lately that have lost them some points in a discipline where literally every 0.1 point counts, so I could see them not getting that medal. At GPF they lost 1.5 points of FD BV against all the other teams except H/D - who had 2.5 points of BV on them. Not only that, but an element they didn't lose the level on - their strongest element (twizzles) - had a bad mistake that cost them another whole point on most of their competitors. They did have the highest PCS of a US team, but all three teams were within a point of each other, so not making technical mistakes is really what determines their places.
C/B tend to have interesting programs, but I find that their skating looks so labored or just not as fun to watch as other skaters. I find that although in ballroom the male's supposed to be a sort of prop to the females, the most entertaining teams to watch are comprised of two great performers who are both very good. In C/B's case, I think Chock just outshines Bates so much that they don't have that balance to make them enjoyable to watch. But, being the US team with the least mistakes (both big and small) recently, they can always have a shot at the podium.
I think if H/D are clean, they have a definite chance to win. It seems the judges really like them, and technically they're very good (they got the highest BV by a point over the other couples), but I think in dance more than any other discipline consistency and reputation counts. Recently, they've had big errors, and that might be holding them back. But they are my favorite team to watch - they truly make everything seem so easy (the performance, the skating, the connection) that I feel like I'm watching a piece of art.

 

[Simone411]

I went with V/M, H/D and S/S or The Shibs ... whichever you prefer. Okay carry on.

 

[Aerobicidal]

LOL...at this time the bigs loosers : The designer of the earrings and her puppet are at 100 % .....and P&C only at 87,2 %....... FSUers never change

"The designer of the earrings and her puppet" would be a great, voidy concept for a free dance. If Delobel and Shoenfelder were still competing, that would be a great concept for them.

It's probably a little too avant-garde for Virtue and Moir, though.

 

[DimaToe]

Given the fact that I don’t think TPTB will let Marie France sweep the podium, I think it will be P/C, V/M, and a USA team, most likely the Shibs, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s C/B, but I think that H/D are unfortunately destined for a pewter finish.

 

[overedge]

"The designer of the earrings and her puppet" would be a great, voidy concept for a free dance. If Delobel and Shoenfelder were still competing, that would be a great concept for them.

It's probably a little too avant-garde for Virtue and Moir, though.

Oh, I don't know. Tessa could wear big honkin' studs in her ears with the TESSA (TM) logo, and wave her arms around Scott while he moved like she was pulling the strings on his arms and legs...

 

[hockeyplayer2]

Given the fact that I don’t think TPTB will let Marie France sweep the podium, I think it will be P/C, V/M, and a USA team, most likely the Shibs, wouldn’t be surprised if it’s C/B, but I think that H/D are unfortunately destined for a pewter finish.

I think it's possible for MF teams to sweep the podium. I believe Marina and Igor teams did it (Worlds?) when they were together.

 

[ninalovesskating]

LOL...at this time the bigs loosers : The designer of the earrings and her puppet are at 100 % .....and P&C only at 87,2 %....... FSUers never change

https://mobile.twitter.com/Debwilker/status/938826018072285184

And that is coming from a former figure skater herself. Keep rollin

 

[caseyedwards]

I think it's possible for MF teams to sweep the podium. I believe Marina and Igor teams did it (Worlds?) when they were together.

And that was in Moscow. So not only did North America sweep they did so in Moscow.

 

[DimaToe]

I think it's possible for MF teams to sweep the podium. I believe Marina and Igor teams did it (Worlds?) when they were together.

But worlds and Olympics are a while different ball game, a sweep from the same region/coaching team seems to be allowed at worlds but not the Olympics. The most immediate example that comes to mind is the Virtue/Moir, Davis/White,and Domnina/Shabalin podium in Vancouver. When given how the skating went a Virtue/Moir, Davis/White, and Belton/Agosto was the more accurate top 3, a N. American top 3.