Recap of FOUR CONTINENTS 2024 Figure Skating Championships » Scoreography Podcast
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- Опубліковано 5 сер 2024
- We examine all the competition at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships 2024 in Shanghai, China. We discuss the dominant, definitive gold medal wins, dozens of highly memorable performances, and a couple frustrating judge calls.
Chapters
0:00 Intro
1:31 Men’s Competition
23:02 Pairs Competition
34:03 Women’s Competition
49:27 Ice Dance Comp
1:08:12 Gold in our Hearts
1:09:44 Wrap and call for questions
In the last major international skating competition before the 2024 World Championships, we saw some iconic performances - from many who may be destined for World medals - at the Four Continents Championships in Shanghai, China.
From a stunning season’s best from Japan’s Yuma Kagiyama to the continued dominance of Piper Gilles & Paul Porrier of Canada, to renewed hope for reigning pairs World Champions, Riku Miura & Ryuchi Kihara, this event felt like a preview for what we’re about to see in Montreal this March.
Men’s Competition
Yuma Kagiyama was in a league of his own here. Not that he didn’t have incredible competition, but Yuma leveled up his already stellar programs this season and took another step towards what may be his first world title.
In silver, the ever-solid (in consistently improving) Shun Sato delivered his quad lutz (twice!) and continued to show why he is always a threat. We want to see him show more emotion and really develop a persona on the ice, but his talent is undeniable.
With his best showing this year, the bronze landed around the neck of the brilliant Junhwan Cha. After a rough start to his season due to injury, we’ve been seeing consistent improvement and a steady increase in his technical difficulty.
The most popular performances of the entire championship easily belonged to China’s Boyang Jin - who delivered two incredible performances to wind up fifth, and was showered with stuffies from a grateful and excited home audience.
Pairs Competition
At the top of the podium, this season’s superstars - Canada’s Deanna Stellato-Dudek & Maxime Deschamps - continued to deliver great performances, with a few unfortunate errors.
In second, we saw the return of World Champions Riku Miura & Ryuchi Kihara from Japan. As they are still getting back in the swing of competition, this was not their best showing - but still enough to take silver and bring a little of their magic to the ice.
The newly crowned US National Champions, Ellie Kim & Danny O’Shea, took the bronze with two flawed but excellent programs that showed off their continuing development as a team.
Women’s Competition
This competition saw a huge breakout for Japan’s Mone Chiba. After a rough Grand Prix series, she has found more consistency and delivered the best programs we’ve seen from her yet.
In silver position, South Korea’s Chaeyeon Kim gave two solid performances that felt far more confident than what we saw in the Grand Prix Final. It solidifies her as South Korea’s top woman competitor going into Worlds.
Japan’s Rinka Wantanabe landed her first triple axel of the season and earned the bronze in fantastic fashion.
Ice Dance Competition
Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier continued to dominate this season with two stellar programs, and earned their first Four Continents gold. While having a small twizzles issue in the rhythm dance, their free dance to Wuthering Heights was near flawless and completely captivating.
The silver was won by Laurence Fournier Beaudry & Nickolaj Sorensen, amidst Nik’s continued assault investigation.
In the bronze medal position, Christina Carreira & Anthony Ponomarenko delivered a fantastic rhythm dance but did see some small errors creep into their free dance.
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Torgs skating clean for two programs is like a dream. When has he ever done that? Not a single splat anywhere to be seen.
Those were beautiful programs! In the age of quads everywhere, it's nice to see a skater prioritize clean, quality programs over potentially messy technical skates.
This podcast is so refreshing compared to a very popular one hosted by two mean gays who only focus on gossip, obsessed with Eteri even though she’s not even in the competition and bashing skaters and often express micro aggressions against Asian athletes for their lack of western artistic expression.
Thank God I find this channel. I was looking for a new podcast about figure skating to listen. You did great, already listened for 3 episodes, love it. And thank you for not being too American-centric, because we need to support all athletes and wish them the best regardless of their countries. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you! We love the international nature of skating, and many of our favorite skaters are from outside the US!
Been really enjoying your podcast! Thanks for all the awesome work and love for the sport you both are bringing. Couldn’t agree w you more on the love for Lim and Quan! Couldn’t agree w you less on the love of the Lauriault and Le Gac program, It’s not my jam at all. To each their own and I love that!
Ha! To be honest, I (Adron) hated the Lauriault & Le Gac program at the beginning of the season (and I still don't like the music). The campy costumes and makeup were a very difficult sell, but I've definitely come around on it.
Def true, they are committed, just not enjoyable to me. Now we gotta sell him on how good Zingas and Kolesnik are. 😊
🎉 Congrats on 25!😁😁
Since you were torn, I will definitely nominate Lauriault & Le Gac as gold in my heart. I agree with everything you said there. And I am beyond glad that Yuma Kagiyama doesn't need my nomination - he is gold through and through and through (at least in my heart)! It was another laugh and cry and clap out loud in my living room performance for me. (He and his dad were adorable in the Kiss&Cry.) There are so many great skaters and performances right now in men's, but with Yuma I always feel that instead of giving an outward performance, he gives a performance that invites us inward to feel for a few moments what skating is to him. Kinda Jason Brown-ish that way but with a style and flavour uniquely his own.
For your Q&A segment, is there a chance you might be able to help us understand the judging system(s) more clearly? I know that's a huge ask, but even a general rundown of how the judging works, what options are open to athletes and coaches if they question a judgment, what is a controller/referee/etc. - it would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks for another great episode. Your tagline made me laugh - and groan.😆🙄
Totally agree on all points with Yuma. It's so wonderful to have him back, and only getting better.
Re: Judging system - that's probably too big a topic for the Q&A. *However*, we have a lot of plans for the off-season after worlds to go deep on that topic and a bunch of others. Possibly in video format. More to come!...
Re: tagline - that's pretty much the perfect reaction :)
We want your listener questions for an upcoming Scoreography Q&A episode!
In the comments, ask us about specific skaters or events, the history of the sport, the culture of figure skating, or anything about the show itself. We'll give you our most thoughtful answers-and/or hottest takes*-in an upcoming podcast.
*probably medium warm takes, let's be honest, but we'll at least try to make them funny 😅
Hello and thanks for your great podcasts
My question for Wendy is how did you coerce/convince Adron to start watching figure skating in the first place (my husband’s eyes glaze over when I try to talk to him about it - and to be fair, I do the same thing when he goes on about basketball!)?
And Adron - was there a specific skater/team or even a program that got you hooked?
Thank you!
Have you all gotten into the golden age of skating… the 90s? If not I would love to suggest great programs that would likely make your heart sing.
@@sohosongs4685 These are good, adding them to the list. Thank you!
@@chrisjacobsen5558 Wendy is practically a walking textbook on 90s figure skating! I think in answering the questions from @sohosongs4685 we'll get into that a bit.
That’s exciting! Could you pick a favorite skater(s) ever from each discipline and talk about why you love them the most?
My thoughts as I'm listening...I don't know much about the challenger series. I really liked Torgashev's free program, loved seeing Jin Boyang do well. The men skated well. I like Yuma Kagiyama but not so much his programs, and the opposite with Shun Sato, I love his programs, but don't really know him as a skater.
The pairs, well, Deanna seemed to be a bit upset after the short, which was uncomfortable to watch. I wonder what the Chinese audience thought when she said she had been shopping for outfits in Shanghai, for her dog. I was gasping because other cultures don't always view pets as their kids, lol.
Really love Mona Chiba and her programs this year, even though I still don't really know her skating. Ava Marie seemed kind of ho hum when her free program ended, then surprised that she was in 4th.
For dance, really enjoyed Piper and Paul's programs. I really like that they're portraying mental illness, because it's so hard to do it in a realistic, but what I see as dignified, way. I don't know why Chris never mentioned that Sorensen is under investigation, he was probably told not to, but it felt wrong. I'm glad to see that Carreira and Ponomarenko are getting more recognition. I also like Green and Parsons free program, maybe a different costume, something dramatic like black and white and red would wake it up.
Happy 25th episode, I really enjoy hearing your commentaries! Mmm, not liking the tagline, sorry.
We didn't know Piper & Pauls program was about mental illness. We'll need to look into it.
Re: Sorensen - we'd guess Chris was instructed to comment as usual and not bring up anything about the investigation. Agreed, it felt wrong.
And agreed that Deanna's reaction after the short was not comfortable to watch. Felt bad for Max.
Ha! The tagline was really just a gag. Don't worry, it's not a permanent thing!
Re: dog costume shopping, it's very common nowadays in China to spoil pets like kids (especially in a big city like Shanghai), so people most likely would find it funny and endearing
@@XiaoYang1989 Oh good! She very likely knew that, too. 😊
Congratulations on 25🎉
I’ve been wondering about mixed order of performances after the short program. I feel like in most of previous competitions that I’ve seen, after the short the skaters perform according to the scoring order. Lately I’m seeing it mixed up ( like Junhwan performing after Yuma). Was in always like that or is it specific to some competitions? For me it kinda diminishes some of the excitement.
Anyways, I’m glad this podcast exists, love you❤
Yes, the reverse order from the SP was the result of pandemic -- to avoid bringing the skaters together for the draw. The draw is the standard procedure, so to speak. There's now random draw within the groups, except for the final group where there are two draws; among though who finished 6, 5, 4 in the SP and separately among those who finished 3, 2, 1.
@Moretowers Wow, I (Adron) didn't know quite how that worked. It all seems unnecessarily complicated, when the SP reverse order feels more exciting (and straightforward). Though it doesn't seem like every competition is doing it the same way?
@Dshinshi1 Thank you! We need to read up on that system more, but the answer from @Moretowers is very helpful! Agreed, though, that the reverse-SP-results order for the free skate feels more exciting and coherent.
I was confused about that, too. I'm glad you mentioned it.
Lauriault & La Gac 🎉
What do you think of the two young Japanese ice dance couples?
I just discovered your podcast! It was a really good listening! Thank you!
We really enjoy both those teams! Of the two, Yoshida & Morita look more polished and senior level. They bring more drama and technical prowess to the ice. But, after seeing them at multiple competitions, they also seem a bit more likely to make mistakes.
Tanaka & Nishiyama are the more charming team, though, and that Super Mario program is just adorable (if very junior). We think they need more development than Y/M to be truly competitive, but we like their vibe and personality.
@@scoreography Thanks for your thoughts! I completely agree. I also think that Yoshida & Morita have a tendency to make more mistakes because they tend to skate very fast.
@@aerosuffly Definitely! They are flying on the ice-but it makes them a little wild in places.
Mone chiba was great, after her bad outings earlier in this season she had good back to back competitions. She has great skating skills and good musicallity. It's just her nervousness every time she's about to perform, she needs to gain more confidence. Her jumps can be questionable but SS wise she's among the top women imo. Her stsq in both programs covered the entire arena back and forth with so much flow and deed edges. Here hoping Hamada does not break her and she will be healthy in the upcoming Olympic
She looked SO nervous before her programs! Obviously she handled the pressure amazingly, but we were so concerned for her!
IMO the thing with the Korean skaters is that KSU and what they require of their skaters in terms of how many domestic competitions they have to attend.
Korea and Japan both seem to send their skaters to a TON of comps. We're often surprised to see high level competitors being sent to pretty minor events.
@@scoreography but korean Skaters have to complete a number of domestic comps to even be able to Go to nationals while japanese Skaters can sub in international comps like the grand prix
@@Sayu277 Ah, that makes sense. As opposed to the US where competitors who've been absent all season can kinda just show up at Nationals.
@@Sayu277 what do you mean they have to complete a number of competitions to even attend Nationals? That’s not true. Now, they do have to compete at two domestic competitions-Ranking Competition and Nationals- to be on the national team. Being on the national team means a lot to the skaters as they get to train at their own rink and receive some (but little) financial support if they get in. Also, those two competitions decide who goes to 4CC and Worlds, respectively. KSU doesn’t force or require anyone to compete in anything, it’s entirely up to the skaters to decide. It is frustrating that the top skaters who’ve already had great results internationally still have to attend those domestic comps to be sent to Championships, but that’s just the way it is, I think it’s the most fair method. The reason why they compete at other minor events can be a lot of different things, like they might need it to apply and get into university.
@@pistachiominion it seems fair but actually it’s dumb. Jun had to compete at ranking and nats to be in the national team and send to 4CC and worlds while at the time he was still injured. In 1 interview he said that he’s even afraid to put on the boots because his feet were still healing. Like be honest South Korea won’t even have 3 spots in WC without Jun and he’s their best skater internationally by miles. He shouldn’t need to feel forced to compete while injured!
What do you think about Deanna's reaction after Short, and how she treated Maxime? M/K should really use a different choreographer. Their programs are so... boring and uninspiring. I am impressed by Z/K, and I think they should have gone to Worlds instead.
Bruno should stop using his sister to choreograph world champion level skaters. Like I’ve never liked any programs Julie made. Some were okay but never hit me. Imagine program by Lori? I think M/K will do it justice
I (Adron) was pretty uncomfortable with Deanna's post-short reaction. She's an intense competitor, but I dislike seeing that kind of disconnect/coldness towards a partner. Maxime is clearly a softer personality, and does his best to lighten the mood in the kiss 'n cry. But I felt bad for him there.
Agreed that Riku and Ryu need better choreo this season.
I didn't like her reaction too, quite like Barbara Fusar Poli at Turin 2006. 🙄
@@giuliacleti5950 Oh, that glare! Nobody wants to be turned into a gif/meme for that kind of reaction...
I love Zingas/Kolesnik! Emilea is amazing, of course. But Vadym is one of the best ice dancers on the planet. And I’m not ashamed to admit I *like* the B&B program - they sell it so well - but I do agree they need better material next season. They apparently worked with Benois last summer but a full program didn’t come to fruition. This tells me they’re well aware that they need a choreography upgrade. (B&B was their 3rd FD this year after discarding the first two.) They’re not in it to be also rans. Z/K had their best skates of the season at 4CC and with Emilea’s health issues and Vadym’s childhood home getting blown up I was thrilled to see them get redemption.
And I love PP Wuthering Heights too AND the music (So there.)
Deanna…that was excruciatingly uncomfortable.