Official Figure Skating Thread

[fallingslowly]

I hope she does but I also don’t think people should expect so much from her. It takes time to undo years of terrible technique so I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t make it this year. I hope once she clicks with Orser, she’ll be back on top. Alina will eventually tap out since those Russian girls are in and out within 3-4 years.

 

The Russian fed is very quick to give up, though, and I worry that she needs their financial support. :/ I think part of her current mental block has to do with that — constantly worrying about who's coming to replace her. I don't want her to grow impatient with Orser. He's doing good work with her; before her FS, her 2A looked much improved after being her worst jump for years.

 

Alina is already on her way out, imo. Her growth spurt has visibly affected her and I think her score boosts will die out if Rika beats her in the GPF. Rika consciously went for a 2A in her FS combo, but she'll bring out all the stops in the Final.

[jennaayy]

So annoying seeing Bradie Tennell fans gloat over her beating Evgenia twice this season. It’s almost as if Evgenia has gotten a new coach and has to relearn jumps! Bradie is still boring to watch and is so overrated by American broadcasters.

[jennaayy]

The Russian fed is very quick to give up, though, and I worry that she needs their financial support. :/ I think part of her current mental block has to do with that — constantly worrying about who's coming to replace her. I don't want her to grow impatient with Orser. He's doing good work with her; before her FS, her 2A looked much improved after being her worst jump for years.

 

Alina is already on her way out, imo. Her growth spurt has visibly affected her and I think her score boosts will die out if Rika beats her in the GPF. Rika consciously went for a 2A in her FS combo, but she'll bring out all the stops in the Final.

Ah this is true...they might throw her out if they don’t see any value in her anymore, and they love their Eteri girls. I thought Alina grew taller—was watching her skate and noticed how much taller she got. Her programs this year are awful though...

[fallingslowly]

So annoying seeing Bradie Tennell fans gloat over her beating Evgenia twice this season. It’s almost as if Evgenia has gotten a new coach and has to relearn jumps! Bradie is still boring to watch and is so overrated by American broadcasters.

 

Her FS is awful. She's stiff as a board. I get that she's working on components, but...she's almost 21. How long are we supposed to wait?

 

She's hyped up by us because a) we're incredibly annoying and refuse to admit we have no impressive ladies and b) there is literally no one else. Ashley and Mirai are pretty much done and Gracie has a long way to come back, if she ever does. Our best skater is twelve. Internationally a novice but qualified for senior nationals. In first place.

 

I need Mariah to gain some consistency!!!!!! I love her so much. :(

 

Ah this is true...they might throw her out if they don’t see any value in her anymore, and they love their Eteri girls. I thought Alina grew taller—was watching her skate and noticed how much taller she got. Her programs this year are awful though...

 

5-7 cm, according to the Russian press.

 

Her FS is bad, but that SP...why. Can anyone even count the number of transitions? What's the point of an Ina Bauer IF YOU DON'T STAY IN THE POSITION FOR MORE THAN TWO SECONDS?????

[jennaayy]

Her FS is awful. She's stiff as a board. I get that she's working on components, but...she's almost 21. How long are we supposed to wait?

 

She's hyped up by us because a) we're incredibly annoying and refuse to admit we have no impressive ladies and b) there is literally no one else. Ashley and Mirai are pretty much done and Gracie has a long way to come back, if she ever does. Our best skater is twelve. Internationally a novice but qualified for senior nationals. In first place.

 

I need Mariah to gain some consistency!!!!!! I love her so much. :(

 

 

5-7 cm, according to the Russian press.

 

Her FS is bad, but that SP...why. Can anyone even count the number of transitions? What's the point of an Ina Bauer IF YOU DON'T STAY IN THE POSITION FOR MORE THAN TWO SECONDS?????

Mariah’s FS is gorgeous!! She’s such a beautiful skater to watch. Puts all her emotion into it and that’s what makes it so lovely.

 

Bradie and even Karen can go suck it. I’m not a fan of Karen tbh. Her behavior this year of withdrawing from competitions extremely last minute is so offputting and demonstrates a lack of courtesy. When I met her after a show earlier this year, she looked like she didn’t even want to be there.

 

Alina’s gorgeous but I hate how she’s skating such terrible programs. These Russian girls have the same formula, and we can expect them to crank out wins every time. I’m glad Rika is giving Alina a run for her money though. It’s refreshing to see someone actually put up a challenge.

[fallingslowly]

Mariah’s FS is gorgeous!! She’s such a beautiful skater to watch. Puts all her emotion into it and that’s what makes it so lovely.

 

Bradie and even Karen can go suck it. I’m not a fan of Karen tbh. Her behavior this year of withdrawing from competitions extremely last minute is so offputting and demonstrates a lack of courtesy. When I met her after a show earlier this year, she looked like she didn’t even want to be there.

 

Alina’s gorgeous but I hate how she’s skating such terrible programs. These Russian girls have the same formula, and we can expect them to crank out wins every time. I’m glad Rika is giving Alina a run for her money though. It’s refreshing to see someone actually put up a challenge.

 

She looks like she really enjoys skating, which you unfortunately don't find in the US all that often, lol. I find it hilarious that she's so bubbly and yet is coached by a complete hardass. She also looks a little like Sasha Cohen, which has always endeared me to her.

 

Karen has had a really hard time since breaking her foot the first time, and horrible coaching has only exacerbated that. They didn't advise her to stay off her foot long enough, and so she reinjured it and the bone grew back jutting out — which means that no boot ever fits her correctly. I just wonder where the hell her parents were in all of this. Someone should have intervened on her behalf, because she's a beautiful skater and deserved better. On Golden Pond is one of my favorite SPs of all time. I just wonder if she even loves skating anymore, because she's gaining a reputation as a flake. I agree about the way she pulled out of Rostelecom. Madison Chock did the same thing. They both have byes to nationals, so they didn't need to compete in the GP; let someone who's able to compete have the spot.

 

That's why I want Rika to beat her; I think it will reestablish the importance of components in a world of Daniil's terrible choreo. -.-

[DC3]

Thoughts: 

 

Compared to SKAM, im happy with how Marin did. She seemed happy in the K&C but she deserved better. Also, lol @ raf being a total softie for her

 

Evgenia   im  not a fan but it sucks what happened. She's adjusting, better now in the post olympic season than after. Im scared tho cause the baby russians are coming and if she doesn't improve fast she will get overlooked

 

Rika did THAT! She's coming for everyone. Every senior and junior should fear her cause she has it all imo.

 

Bradie , like no comment. I don't want to be mean, but she's so boring and I can't connect with her at all. I need Mariah Bell to rise at Nationals, and the usfed needs to do to Alysa what they did for Nathan and not have her win. 

 

JASON DID THAT! He's such a sweet bean, im so proud.

 

Junhwan is going to the final, thank you skating gods! 

 

P/C, not a fan and im over ice dance. 

 

 

Mariah’s FS is gorgeous!! She’s such a beautiful skater to watch. Puts all her emotion into it and that’s what makes it so lovely.

Bradie and even Karen can go suck it. I’m not a fan of Karen tbh. Her behavior this year of withdrawing from competitions extremely last minute is so offputting and demonstrates a lack of courtesy. When I met her after a show earlier this year, she looked like she didn’t even want to be there.

Alina’s gorgeous but I hate how she’s skating such terrible programs. These Russian girls have the same formula, and we can expect them to crank out wins every time. I’m glad Rika is giving Alina a run for her money though. It’s refreshing to see someone actually put up a challenge.

Thank god im not the only one who feels this way. Im not a fan of Karen's skating and she's so inconsistent with her jumps you never know whats going to happen. She's not a good basket to put all your eggs in, which makes the usfed pushing Bradie make more sense

 

Mariah >>> Karen>>>>>>> > Bradie for me. Tho there's Starr Andrews who might surprise, I can see her placing at Nationals. She's not up to the international level but for the US she's good. 

 

Alina's programs are so tragic, like how is the Olympic Gold medalists skating to  that. Someone on twitter wrote the Rika might need 3 triple axels to combat Alina's inflated scores and I lowkey agree. 

Edited November 24, 2018 by DC3

[fallingslowly]

Compared to SKAM, im happy with how Marin did. She seemed happy in the K&C but she deserved better. Also, lol @ raf being a total softie for her

 

Bradie , like no comment. I don't want to be mean, but she's so boring and I can't connect with her at all. I need Mariah Bell to rise at Nationals, and the usfed needs to do to Alysa what they did for Nathan and not have her win. 

 

Thank god im not the only one who feels this way. Im not a fan of Karen's skating and she's so inconsistent with her jumps you never know whats going to happen. She's not a good basket to put all your eggs in, which makes the usfed pushing Bradie make more sense

 

Mariah >>> Karen>>>>>>> > Bradie for me. Tho there's Starr Andrews who might surprise, I can see her placing at Nationals. She's not up to the international level but for the US she's good. 

 

Alina's programs are so tragic, like how is the Olympic Gold medalists skating to  that. Someone on twitter wrote the Rika might need 3 triple axels to combat Alina's inflated scores and I lowkey agree. 

 

LOL, Marin was so happy with her score and looked at Raf who was being critical, so she calmed down. But eventually he caved a little bit. He's not even that congenial with Eunsoo, and she's younger than her. There's just something about Marin. She's a lil cherub.

 

Yeah, I don't see Alysa winning nationals being a positive for her at all. She has the jumps, but she has a long way to go with components. I don't want her to feel the pressure and end up stagnating.

 

Starr needs better coaches. They're not fixing her jump technique at all. I just see the same issues with her presenting themselves, over and over again.

 

It's almost like she shouldn't be the OGM but lemme not start a fight, lmao. If Rika places in the top 3 in the short and skates after Alina in the free, they won't be able to properly overscore Alina. That's the hope I'm sticking to.

[fallingslowly]

Poor North Korean chicken nuggets thought they medaled and then missed 3rd by 2 points. :( I'm so sad for them. They were devastated.

 

Ice dance qualifications:

 

1 Madison HUBBELL / Zachary DONOHUE

2 Alexandra STEPANOVA / Ivan BUKIN

3 Victoria SINITSINA / Nikita KATSALAPOV 

4 Charlene GUIGNARD / Marco FABBRI

5 Kaitlin HAWAYEK / Jean-Luc BAKER

6 Tiffani ZAGORSKI / Jonathan GUERREIRO

 

Subs:

 

7 Sara HURTADO / Kirill KHALIAVIN

8 Piper GILLES / Paul POIRIER

9 Lorraine MCNAMARA / Quinn CARPENTER

Edited November 24, 2018 by fallingslowly

[Riserise]

So, Jason Brown's SP is Skate of the Week
 

I also changed the OP and included the skaters who made it to the Grand Prix Final.

[sakurahanabira]

Yeah, Rika will about have to go on a jump-strike to not make the GPF by now ;)

 

I'm rooting for Evgenia to get to the GPF. She showed a flash of greatness in her FP at Canada, and I want to see her battle it out with the other stars. I really hope she will do well.

 

It would be good for Mai to medal as well, to keep her in the conversation as spots will be handed out next month. If she does reasonably well at nationals, but doesn't medal, she might get a Four Continents spot, like last year. I like that they gave both Kaori and Wakaba a chance to shine at Olympics and Worlds last year. Even though there's no Olympics, it would be nice to see some distribution of spots.

 

Don't know what to say about pairs and dance as I haven't seen any good quality clips of their performances.

wait but Olympics was early this year though, not last year? It's still 2018 and Olympics was held February 2018. Worlds was also held March 2018 and was where Wakaba did her Skyfall program and placed 2nd. At the 2017 World Championships she placed 11th.

[Riserise]

wait but Olympics was early this year though, not last year? It's still 2018 and Olympics was held February 2018. Worlds was also held March 2018 and was where Wakaba did her Skyfall program and placed 2nd. At the 2017 World Championships she placed 11th.

I meant last season, sorry. In figure skating there's often talk about seasons that run from autumn-early spring, which is why I made that mistake. So, we're in the 2018-2019 season now and I was talking about the 2017-2018 season.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Riserise

[Riserise]

Any Gala of the Week ideas? (I think it's best to mostly do a different discipline and a different country from the one who is Skate of the Week).

 

Since there is no Gala next week, I'd like to do a Throwback of the Week, with an awesome skate from years past. It can be anything from last season (2017-2018) to old footage from 1910 if you like. Suggestions are welcome.

 

EDIT: there are no good quality gala videos, so it's become Free Dance of the week instead. And that's no other than Papadakis/Cizeron with their new WR.

 

Stanislava's FS doesn't suit her at all. I loved the opening to her SP. Just give her something intense! She looks bored out there.

 

I'm sure Evgenia's also thinking about all the juniors coming up and how they'll affect her standing and ability to be invited to larger competitions, but I wish she'd just skate for the right now and worry about that later. We really have no idea how Trusova and co. will do in the long run.

 

The pairs competition here is seven couples, I think, which just seems so small. And no one comes close to Savchenko/Massot, though I do really enjoy James/Cipres.

 

What worries me about Alysa is that she may very well win nationals this year, which doesn't bode well for her in the long term. We have so many skaters who won/medaled at nationals before they were even senior eligible internationally (for Alysa, she's not even junior eligible) who did next to nothing on the international circuit once they became seniors — Rachael Flatt, Caroline Zhang. Mirai is obviously the best of the group, but she always struggled at worlds and rarely ever medaled internationally. It's just a lot of pressure to put on a twelve year old when we don't even know if she'll be skating like this at sixteen. I just wish Ting Cui had some sort of consistency, because she really did seem promising.

Was still planning to reply

 

Savchenko/Massot is one for the ages. People will be watching that decades from now, on whatever 4D devices exist then.

 

It seems people are looking a lot more at juniors now than before. Not long ago, juniors were mostly not as good as seniors with an exceptional star here and there. Lately, juniors are much more talked about, maybe partly because we have much better access to watching their competitions. Junior Grand Prix is often easier to watch than Seniors, as it's all livestreamed on Youtube and there is no such thing as being blocked in countries. This coupled with there being a lot of juniors doing things that are exceptional like quads or Rika Kihira with her 3A-3T last year, means they are known to ever more people. My guess is that even very casual skater fans in Russia know Alexandra Trusova. Young You also got a lot of attention when she won Korean Nationals at 11. So, I think the junior and even pre juniors will become more and more famous. It can be sad though, as you say, since some never reach the heights as seniors as they did as juniors. I hope this will be different for Alysa.

Edited November 26, 2018 by Riserise

[fallingslowly]

Karen Chen just made her season debut at Tallin Trophy and it didn't go well. 52.93, eighth place. She's clearly not in top form yet; she muffed her opening combo and fell on her last jump. Let's hope she has a better showing tomorrow in preparation for nationals. Quite frankly, given the field at Tallin, she really had no excuse not to medal here.

[Riserise]

Karen Chen just made her season debut at Tallin Trophy and it didn't go well. 52.93, eighth place. She's clearly not in top form yet; she muffed her opening combo and fell on her last jump. Let's hope she has a better showing tomorrow in preparation for nationals. Quite frankly, given the field at Tallin, she really had no excuse not to medal here.

Am rooting for Karen. Going from 4th at Worlds to not doing much at all last year was a disappointment.

 

Ting Cui did really well, though.

And also glad to see Viveca in the top 3. Serafima being back like this surprised me. I thought that her changing coaches so quickly in succession was not a good sign, but maybe she was looking for a good fit. I don't know Turenko well as a coach, but she used to coach Gubanova as well. I guess this was during Gubanova's JGPF silver medal time?

 

EDIT:

 

 

Yes, that's her in the K&C. That was one of the performances that made me pay more attention to junior skaters. A recommended watch.

Edited November 29, 2018 by Riserise

[fallingslowly]

Am rooting for Karen. Going from 4th at Worlds to not doing much at all last year was a disappointment.

 

Ting Cui did really well, though.

And also glad to see Viveca in the top 3. Serafima being back like this surprised me. I thought that her changing coaches so quickly in succession was not a good sign, but maybe she was looking for a good fit. I don't know Turenko well as a coach, but she used to coach Gubanova as well. I guess this was during Gubanova's JGPF silver medal time?

 

EDIT:

 

 

Yes, that's her in the K&C. That was one of the performances that made me pay more attention to junior skaters. A recommended watch.

 

Karen withdrew from the FS with no reason given. I hope she hasn't reaggravated her injury, but I also hope she wouldn't just pull out because of her performance in the SP...

 

Ting's FS was beautiful as well! One fall on her opening combo, but she didn't fall apart afterwards. A 132.23! She nearly broke 200. Excellent TES, over 72.

 

Viveca will be a real threat at Euros. Hope they're ready for her. Interesting to see the marked difference between Serafima and Gubanova. I get that one is three years older than the other, but you would think Gubanova is the 18 year old with how seriously she takes things. Her reaction to her score (a little over 120) was rather dramatic. She was a full 10 points behind first place to begin with. 

 

I worry that she peaked on the JGP circuit. I thought she'd be a real threat as a senior when I was watching her during that season. I hope I'm wrong, though. 

[Riserise]

Karen withdrew from the FS with no reason given. I hope she hasn't reaggravated her injury, but I also hope she wouldn't just pull out because of her performance in the SP...

 

Ting's FS was beautiful as well! One fall on her opening combo, but she didn't fall apart afterwards. A 132.23! She nearly broke 200. Excellent TES, over 72.

 

Viveca will be a real threat at Euros. Hope they're ready for her. Interesting to see the marked difference between Serafima and Gubanova. I get that one is three years older than the other, but you would think Gubanova is the 18 year old with how seriously she takes things. Her reaction to her score (a little over 120) was rather dramatic. She was a full 10 points behind first place to begin with. 

 

I worry that she peaked on the JGP circuit. I thought she'd be a real threat as a senior when I was watching her during that season. I hope I'm wrong, though. 

Yes, in the 2016-2017 season, I thought Gubanova would be ready to slay by this season. She only lost to Zagitova in the Grand Prix. Unfortunately, she's not even getting GP spots. I'm glad she was in a Challenger at least, so she had an opportunity to make an International SB.

 

I haven't watched much of the competition for Talinn yet. If you have a recommendation for Skate of the Week, let me know

 

Sorry to hear Karen dropped out. Things are not going well with her.

 

Viveca was amazing at Finlandia. It would be nice if she gets a medal at Europeans. I am going to watch Ting's FP now

[Riserise]

The Grand Prix Final and Junior Grand Prix Final are almost upon us.

Here is a page with info about schedules and results.

[fallingslowly]

tbh there were no worthy skates at Tallin that I saw but Rika once again came through as a Skate of the Week candidate!

 

I think Alina's overscoring days are coming to an end now that the judges have seen that a clean Rika can beat her. The poor girl looks like she's hanging on by a thread. :( I despise Eteri, I really do.

[Riserise]

tbh there were no worthy skates at Tallin that I saw but Rika once again came through as a Skate of the Week candidate!

 

I think Alina's overscoring days are coming to an end now that the judges have seen that a clean Rika can beat her. The poor girl looks like she's hanging on by a thread. :( I despise Eteri, I really do.

 

Well, Alina grew by quite a lot over the summer and still did very well. Rika just did better. To be honest, I'm not surprised if Rika beats her this weekend now that she is far more consistent than when she was a junior. If she is cleanish with 3A three times (and she landed them lots of times during practice, so here's hoping), then she'll become untouchable.

Same with Alina vs Evgenia last year. Alina's base value was higher, so even though Evgenia is my fave, I wasn't so sure she would win the Olympics even in the year when Alina was still a junior but already beating her on tech.

 

Rika is also great in PCS, even though she just entered seniors. She's the complete picture and grew a lot from last year. Mie Hameda can be proud.

 

In juniors, I feel sorry for Anna Shcherbakova, but was impressed that it didn't break the rest of the performance. Alena Kanysheva was really solid. Impressive as she is the youngest there. And Alena Kostornaia was an absolute star. If she brings out a 3A next year, she will be a major force.

Edited December 7, 2018 by Riserise

[DC3]

Both Yelim and Jun are in  4th interesting

 

Im just so proud of Rika

 

Alena Kostornia was amazing, I remember being just in awe by her performance

I was watching it during my chem lecture and the girl sitting behind me said that she looked amazing, so Alena's impact 

 

 

tbh there were no worthy skates at Tallin that I saw but Rika once again came through as a Skate of the Week candidate!

 

I think Alina's overscoring days are coming to an end now that the judges have seen that a clean Rika can beat her. The poor girl looks like she's hanging on by a thread. :( I despise Eteri, I really do.

Yup, they even asked alina if she was feeling the pressure, but she passed on the question. 

 

As harsh as this sound we always knew it was going to happen whether it be Rika or one of the bby russsians going to seniors next year. I hope she doesn't lose confidence tho, she doesn't need to win every competition 

[Riserise]

Jun Hwan Cha was the first Korean man to reach the Grand Prix Final, and he medalled

 

It was a delight it was to watch the junior men as well. So many of them were positive and joyful, even if they got in last. Petr did his first quad. It was great to see Stephen deliver it after what happened in Richmond. When he starts landing that quad lutz, I can't even imagine what his score will be. The alternate won, though I don't think that was too big a surprise as we all know what he can do technically. And he was struggling to step onto the podium, as he's so small. Reminded me of Shoma having trouble sitting on a chair

 

 

As for Camden, I really don't know how he managed to land his first triple lutz, but he did. He really didn't have a good day, didn't expect that, but I respect him a lot for staying in his performance and trying to gather whatever point he could.

 

And a medal for Koshiro! Stephane must be pleased.

 

 

 

Both Yelim and Jun are in  4th interesting

 

Im just so proud of Rika

 

Alena Kostornia was amazing, I remember being just in awe by her performance

I was watching it during my chem lecture and the girl sitting behind me said that she looked amazing, so Alena's impact 

 

 

Alena was ready to throw it down and did such a great job.

Edited December 8, 2018 by Riserise

[SeoMania]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFiM9Fitdtg

Edited December 17, 2018 by SeoMania

[fallingslowly]

Junhwan made history! What an adorable smol. Hope to see many great seasons to come from him.

 

Gogolev winning after making the final as an alternate was A+.

 

Rika and Alena winning gold is the dream. I could not be happier. Eteri is still a twat 2k18.

[DC3]

JUNLIEEEEETTTTT!!!!!

 

God I'm so happy for him, he started off with 1 gp assignment and ended up getting bronze in the final. He trended on daum for while.

 

I knew there was going to be discourse with no matter who won btw nathan and shoma, i didn't rly like either of their programs so i didn't care all that much

 

Rika bby im so proud. God she is a star and is only going more up from here. 

 

S/B got 4th and im sad, they had the best programs this season. And I just don't like H/D tbh ugh but I guess ill endure them

 

To juniors:

Ok Stephen I see you. Im not a fan of his skating but he's 13, he'll grow and mature so I don't really hold it against him

 

ALENA !!!!! Finally got the gold she deserved. I think Ted summed it up the best, I don't see her as a junior but as a senior. She has so much poise and grace for someone her age. 

 

Yelim   i hope she's proud of what she did. The only non russian in the final is a feat in it of itself. 

 

Alena won and Jun medalled but Yelim came in last 

Edited December 9, 2018 by DC3