Winter Olympics 2026

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surya Bonaly did the backflip landing on one leg move before any of the men, back in the 90s. Sadly, that type of athleticism was not yet appreciated in women’s figure skating and she got a lot of criticism for it.

She was criticized because backflipping was illegal at the time and she did it anyway. She was also criticized for skating like was she wearing skiis.

Some of us actually remember watching her in competitions at the time.

There was no logical reason for it to be illegal back then and legal now. I remember too. Women’s figure skating and gymnastics have both changed since then. Back then the the little petite graceful girls were favored. Athleticism wasn’t appreciated the way it is now.

It was perfectly fine to say jumping was vertical not horizontal. I think backflips look heavy and sloppy in skating anyway. It just makes me laugh that everyone thinks they’re so awe inspiring when they’ve been a show trick for ages. A quad axel though? I never thought I’d see anyone do that.

[Anonymous]

Wow on those results.

[Anonymous]

Well that sucked.

[Anonymous]

Ilia’s arrogance did him in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ilia’s arrogance did him in.

You are sort of tempting fate if you are wearing a tank top that literally says Quad God.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ilia’s arrogance did him in.

He's 21 years old, the mental and physical pressure is insane on these people. He is far from the first ice skater to dominate and then fall at the Olympics. There was also some talk that the team podium damaged a bunch of people's skates which is 100% enough to throw people off.

He did a lot of work to get that team medal and he should be proud of his performance.

[Anonymous]

Pride goes before a fall.

[Anonymous]

Feel for Ilya carrying the whole country’s expectations on his shoulders. We hyped him up too much. He hasn’t bombed a program in years. He was unbeatable throughout the grand prix.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Feel for Ilya carrying the whole country’s expectations on his shoulders. We hyped him up too much. He hasn’t bombed a program in years. He was unbeatable throughout the grand prix.

Yeah, honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of his (eg, I felt other skaters were serving so much more joy and grace) but I feel terrible for him.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ilia’s arrogance did him in.

He's 21 years old, the mental and physical pressure is insane on these people. He is far from the first ice skater to dominate and then fall at the Olympics. There was also some talk that the team podium damaged a bunch of people's skates which is 100% enough to throw people off.

He did a lot of work to get that team medal and he should be proud of his performance.

Yes I think the level of attention and intensity around him this week was insane. I also think he and Chock & Bates really put the team medal on their backs and you could visibly see the strain on Ilia. He also struggled in his free skate for the team event, but was able to muscle through and added elements to the back half of his routine to boost his score and get them the gold. It wasn't a pretty performance but it was very gutsy and he deserved the accolades for it.

I thought he'd settled his nerves when he came out and nailed his short program in the individual event, but I guess it got to be too much. I hope he regroups and comes back next time. But man, what a let down. I don't even care about figure skating normally but my whole family got hyped up about Ilia, especially since he's local, and were so excited to watch him today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Feel for Ilya carrying the whole country’s expectations on his shoulders. We hyped him up too much. He hasn’t bombed a program in years. He was unbeatable throughout the grand prix.

Yeah, honestly I wasn’t a huge fan of his (eg, I felt other skaters were serving so much more joy and grace) but I feel terrible for him.

When he's good, he's really good. Sometimes he can marry the artistry to his jumps and it's really amazing. I felt he did that in his short program. He was so comfortable in his jumps that he was adding elements that make them harder and more beautiful, like lifting his arms over his head. I normally prefer Yuma's short program but this week I felt Ilia's was better both technically and artistically.

[Anonymous]

I'm happy for the kid from Kazakhstan though!

[Anonymous]

The top three all lost out to nerves. The winner was appropriate and Ilia showed good grace after his disappointment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy for the kid from Kazakhstan though!

Me too! He was so shocked - he had no expectation of winning gold!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surya Bonaly did the backflip landing on one leg move before any of the men, back in the 90s. Sadly, that type of athleticism was not yet appreciated in women’s figure skating and she got a lot of criticism for it.

She was criticized because backflipping was illegal at the time and she did it anyway. She was also criticized for skating like was she wearing skiis.

Some of us actually remember watching her in competitions at the time.

There was no logical reason for it to be illegal back then and legal now. I remember too. Women’s figure skating and gymnastics have both changed since then. Back then the the little petite graceful girls were favored. Athleticism wasn’t appreciated the way it is now.

+1 Surya Bonaly was ahead of her times and one of the few black figure skaters and was judged harshly. I hadn't thought of her for 20 years but with the backflips this week, was thinking of her.