It seems
like every season, the technical boundaries of the sport
are being pushed further and further. In the Men's
competition, two quads are almost mandatory to have a
chance of finishing on the podium. The up and coming
contenders are producing two different quads, and I
wonder whether in the forthcoming season if someone will
try three different quads.
In both
the Men's and Pairs, the Chinese skaters are a big factor
in helping to advance the technical levels. Min Zhang
attempted three quads in his free programme in the Winter
Olympics, before Timothy Goebel repeated the feat a
couple of hours later. Shen & Zhao were oh so close
in almost landing their thrown Quad Salchow.
It appears
that the ice dancers do not want to get left behind!
Averbukh (of the Lobacheva & Averbukh partnership)
performed two single Axels. Correct me if I'm wrong, but
aren't dancers not allowed to do jumps of more than one
rotation?
Only in
the Ladies (Sarah Hughes and Yoshie Onda apart) is the
technical side standing still. It was good to see Onda
going for the Triple Axel at the World Championships, and
surely its only a matter of time. Sasha Cohen is reported
to be working on the Quad Salchow. With all three skaters
making their mark, they could be the ones to take the
technical side forward. Kwan had better find better than
a triple-double combo if she wants to be competitive,
even next year.
It seems
like every season, the technical boundaries of the sport
are being pushed further and further. In the Men's
competition, two quads are almost mandatory to have a
chance of finishing on the podium. The up and coming
contenders are producing two different quads, and I
wonder whether in the forthcoming season if someone will
try three different quads.
In both
the Men's and Pairs, the Chinese skaters are a big factor
in helping to advance the technical levels. Min Zhang
attempted three quads in his free programme in the Winter
Olympics, before Timothy Goebel repeated the feat a
couple of hours later. Shen & Zhao were oh so close
in almost landing their thrown Quad Salchow.
It appears
that the ice dancers do not want to get left behind!
Averbukh (of the Lobacheva & Averbukh partnership)
performed two single Axels. Correct me if I'm wrong, but
aren't dancers not allowed to do jumps of more than one
rotation?
Only in
the Ladies (Sarah Hughes and Yoshie Onda apart) is the
technical side standing still. It was good to see Onda
going for the Triple Axel at the World Championships, and
surely its only a matter of time. Sasha Cohen is reported
to be working on the Quad Salchow. With all three skaters
making their mark, they could be the ones to take the
technical side forward. Kwan had better find better than
a triple-double combo if she wants to be competitive,
even next year.