Men:
The Men’s event did not go as I expected, but I am happy
Adam Rippon proved himself as a real contender for the Olympic Team. His Qual
Lutz attempt in the short was impressive, and although he took a big fall on it
in the long, it did not affect the rest of his program whatsoever – I honestly
forgot about it until the slo-mo replay while waiting for his scores! He has to
make sure he rotates and lands both his Triple Axels, though, if he wants to be
competitive with the likes of Chan, Hanyu, Fernandez, and the other Japanese
men when they aren’t bombing. The Men’s event also showed the importance of
non-jumping elements. When comparing Aaron with Rippon, Brown, and the
Japanese, there is just no comparison. The difference in skating skills,
transitions, choreography, interpretation, performance, execution, etc is HUGE
and obvious. I understand he is never going to be a Takahashi or a Chan,
however, he needs to at least add some interesting transitions or something to
cover up his basic skating (too many pumps). It was not a good event for
Takahashi or Kozuka. Hopefully they can get their acts together before Japanese
Nationals, as it would be unfortunate to not see them in Sochi. Machida was the
clear winner of the event and he did prove himself, like Rippon, as a contender
for a place on Japan’s Olympic team…however, he just doesn’t do it for me.
Dance:
Davis and White are on the right track for an Olympic Gold,
however, I do think their program has room to grow. Once Marina made the
comment on D/W’s speed in their free dance, I realized that was what was
missing. For me, D/W’s most impressive asset is their power and speed across
the ice, allowing their transitions, footwork, and lifts to seem like they’re
in a class of their own. Without that speed, the door is open for Tessa and
Scott, especially with their beautiful free dance this season. I think that if
D/W can add their signature power back and clean up a few of their bobbles, the
title is theirs to lose. The Italians had two great skates here as well and I
look forward to seeing how their free dance progresses as the season goes on. I
love love love their short dance, but their free dance needs a bit more work
(understandably – its October!). Unfortunately, I don’t know if they will be on
the podium in Sochi, even if they deserve it, because they are so close to the Russians
in world standing. Oh well – I could definitely see them snagging a bronze at
worlds. Also interesting was the Shibutanis grabbing the bronze here. A lot has
been said about their fall in the world rankings, however, I think this
placement puts them in a solid position, assuming they keep improving, for that
3rd spot in Sochi.
Pairs:
V/T were technically amazing, obviously. Their gold in Sochi
is, in my opinion, the only locked in gold medal in the figure skating
competition. It really is theirs to lose, and it seems as if they have at least
a 2 mistake margin above the entire field. The interesting battle in the Pairs
event in Sochi will be between the Germans and the 2 Canadian teams for silver
and bronze. If the Canadians keep on skating as well as they have been thus far
this season, and the Germans continue to make mistakes, there could very well
be 2 Canadian teams on the podium. The American pairs performed as expected.
Ladies:
Two of my favorite ladies, Mao and Ashley, started off their
seasons well here at Skate America. Mao’s short was a delight to watch! When
comparing this to her 2007 version, you can see how much she has grown as an
artist. And the Triple Axel was impressive! Yes, it was two-footed, but to the
naked eye it wasn’t that obvious so it didn’t detract from the overall
performance for me. The long was unfortunate. If only she had skated it as she
did at the Japan Open 2 weeks ago…that would have been a personal best free
skate and total score for her. I really do love this program, but that hard
fall she took at the beginning of the program knocked the wind out of her and
affected the rest of her performance. It almost looked like she injured herself, and also looked in pain during the gala...I hope she is okay! I was shocked by how high her score was
immediately after she skated, but once I re-watched her performance, it didn’t
seem as bad. I think the skating community was expecting more from her after
her wonderful LP at the Japan Open and Short Program as SKAM, which is why
there was a lot of public outcry over her scores. I think the TES was right
when you look at the protocol, and the PCS was right relative to the other
competitors. She is 10 points in PCS above Radionova, IMO, and 3 points above
Ashley. I would have judges Radionova at a 55, Ashley at a 62, and Mao at a 65,
which would have made her score 127 - a reasonable number for what she performed
this time. She has grown so much as a performer and shows wonderful nuances in
her difficult choreography, however, her SS and P/E should have been lower last
night with her tight skating.
I love that Ashley is going for the triple-triple, but now
that she has it down she REALLY needs to work on those spin levels! I think she
lost about 10 points to Mao overall on spins and steps, and she truly has the
ability to spin just as well as Mao. No, Ashley’s edge quality and footwork
will never be as good as Mao’s, but she has the flexibility to get level 4’s on
all her spins. In her LP, she should change the death drop (L3) to an Arabian flying
camel (1), twisted back sit (2), catch-foot upright position (3), so she hits
all the basic positions on one foot, making it a level 4 flying combination
spin. Her layback should be a level 4 with 8 revolutions (1), side leaning (2),
haircutter (3), beillman (4). Her final combination spin should be a back entry
camel (1), layover back camel (2), steps forward (NOT HOP) into broken leg sit
(3), tuck behind sit (4), and upright spin held for 3 turns to hit all basic
positions. The hops mid-spin don’t work for her and need to go. She also needs
a few more transitions in the middle section of her program, however I already
noticed some new moves to hopefully some more are in the works.
Radionova’s SP was delightful to watch, unfortunately, her
costume was vomit-inducing. Someone please burn all of her dresses ASAP and
send her to Vera Wang or someone who can make a simple and elegant dress that
works with the music. Her jumps were off in the LP, and her 2A is a little
scary, but I love her spunk. She’s very rough around the edges, but I am
interested to see where she will be in the next couple of years. Sotnikova and
Lipnitskaia are light years ahead of Radionova in terms of PCS for me, however,
the judges will do what they will do. Tuktamysheva’s SP demons continue to
plague her…she should talk to Ashley Wagner about getting over them because
whatever Ashley has done is working. Her LP works for me – I love her fire, and
it doesn’t seem repetitive when she skates to it. I’d like to see her lutz-toe
combination out in competition, because when she lands it, it really is a WOW
element for her. I love that she is reaching out to the audience more, and she
has clearly made an effort to improve her spins. The layback looks great!
Samantha Cesario had a break out performance as well, but I
am mad NBC didn’t show it. This is an up-and-coming American girl who usually
delivers and projects strongly to the audience. I would have liked to have seen
her during the ladies warm-up or one of the 5 minute commercial breaks about an
animal that is suffering. I would love to see her on the Olympic team – she has
the consistency and maturity that many of the other American ladies don’t have.
Although she doesn’t have the highest BV or scoring potential, she is the type
of skater who could help USFS gain more fans. We need to be promoting engaging
skaters like her! It will be interesting to see how she does in Paris.
