2007 Worlds: Miki Ando, Mao Asada, Yuna Kim, and Kimmie Meissner
Miki Ando in 2007
I think I reviewed the 2007 Worlds already, but this time, I will focus on jumps and average PCS only, as I did for the past Worlds.
It will be fun because it will give you another opportunity to assess my own judging consistency or variation.
As I mentioned Miki Ando is not winner if judged correctly. But I am not sure how I judge the competition in light of other Worlds or how accurate or inaccurate it will be compared to my previous assessment.
I am too curious.
Okay, Ando's free program. You know what? You have just seen how ruinous a skating can be without a single fall.
Ando was never a skater of elegance, but this is too much. Her awkward posture throughout the program is an eyesore.
This is an ugly skating to be blunt. Musicality was butchered; balance was slaughtered.
Her jumps are -1,-1,-2,-2,-1,-1 and -1. Her average PCS is 6.75.
Miki Ando in 2007
What I notice from her free and short program is that Ando seems to have problem in spin.
I mean she is unable to make spins look spin.
I doubt the two commentators' expertise. Though generally complimenting on skaters is a part of their jobs, but sensational? incredible? fantastic? Please give me a break.
Although Ando's short is far better than her free, Ando in 2007 Worlds is not in her elements.
Her jumps are here 0, +1 and 0. Her PCS is 7.0.
Mao Asada in 2007
What a performance!
However, there is a few critical flaws in Asada's performance above. Although judges' protocols didn't reflect on them at the time, they can't be glossed over.
Her kicking habit is subject to -2 penalty. In this program, Asada loses points in combination jumps. While her first jumps tend to garner +GOE , she loses points on second jumps.
Her jumps are +2,(-1),-2, 0, -2,-2, and (-1). Her PCS is 8.0.
The first (-1) is that her first jump earns +2 but second does -3 for two footed. the last (-1) is that first jump earns -2 due to kiking the second and third are okay, so I alleviated the penalty.
You will see in my protocol, Asada's technical points are significantly lower than the judges' while PCS is a bit higher than theirs.
In her short program, her jumps are -2,-2 and +1. Her PCS is 8.0.
Mao Asada in 2007
Yuna Kim in 2007
This is a monumental piece by Yuna Kim.
Her jumps are +2,+1 and +2. Her PCS is 8.0.
Kim's musicality is impressive and her towering jump technique seems second to none.
But as her age may speak for itself, her moves are a bit premature. About this time, Mao Asada appears a step ahead of Kim in terms of expression, how marginal the two's difference might be.
Yuna Kim in 2007
Such a beautiful program!
Kim's talent can't be hidden despite her falls.
Her jumps are +1, +2,+2,-3,-3,-2 and 0. Her PCS is 7.75.
If you compare the judges' protocol at the time with mine, you shall find a few differences. While I am a bit generous in performance merit, I am strict in GOE. That may indicate the judges at the time wasn't competent in controlling technical qualities.
That means it's likely that they compensated by adjusting PCS while they are lenient to jumps. That's not completely wrong per se, but that resulted in Ando's win, and that's not excusable.
In the 2007 Worlds, judges were either incompetent or committed a fraud. I'd like to believe it's just a collective incompetence of judges. Then I will have to ask how far the boundary of judging incompetence can stretch without being criminal.
Kimmie Meissner in 2007
Her jumps are -3,+1,-2,0,-2,-2 and 0. Her PCS is 7.25.
As you see, Kimmie's jumping technique is much weaker than her peers such as Asada or Kim.
You may think Kimmie didn't fall unlike Kim, then how can we say that Kimmie's jumping ability is far more deficient than Kim's?
The point is that there are various reasons why you fall. What is more important is not how you fall but what kind of quality your succeeded jumps have. Your succeeded jump quality reflects on your overall jumping technique.
So as you see in my protocols, Kim commands far more +GOE than other skaters.
