Skaters you saw who impressed you but never made it on NBC

[Bijoux]

HMMMMMMMM.....well, I must say I like Makarova's SP and Leonova needs much work but she reminds me of Slutskaya. I also thought the Chinese woman was lovely-far from Chen Lu but did two good programs. I liked Kira as she's a Grace Kelly on skates, and did well.

I was poorly impressed with the Polish Gal. My God, she was the most unfit, poorest skater I've seen and I feel bad for Polish skating. Who did you all wish to see more of?

I liked KWAK but cannot stand seeing such a stick-eating disorder came to mind. I hope they feed her now!

[Tinymavy15]

It was a crime that they dis not show Akikko's Free. Ok, it wasn't perfect, but that program is just magical. She skates it with the
most heart of any of the ladies there.

[DesertRoad]

NBC showed about 4 skaters in total. It'd be easier to just ask "which skaters impressed you at the Olympics".

[SkateSkates]

I was disappointed that they didn't show laura lepisto. She had one of the best skates of her career and placed 4th in the long- ahead of rachel, mirai, and miki who nbc showed. NBC also randomly showed the skater who finished last (tugba) and elene who bombed...it just doesn't make sense to me. No wonder skating is losing fans !

[silverlake22]

I liked KWAK but cannot stand seeing such a stick-eating disorder came to mind. I hope they feed her now!

I loved Kwak too! I'm hoping she's just naturally thin and not underfed, a lot of other skaters her age are built just like her, Christina Gao and Polina Shelepen come to mind. Anyways, she's definitely one to watch in the future, and apparently Brian Orser was impressed by her and wants to work with her! Hope that happens

There was this little Austrian girl, Mariam Ziegler, struggled with the jumps so didn't make the final but she was very flexible and elegant.

Cheltzie Lee is a good jumper, and Ksenia really impressed me, she's improved a lot since her JGP events. It was also nice that Kiira and Laura finally skated up to their potential .

Oh and I liked Sarah Hecken too. She needs to work on flexibility but she has a really nice 3t-3t and had much better packaging than when I saw her at Skate America, she is only 16 too and is the only good skater in Germany right now, so she's one to watch too.

[blue_idealist]

Speaking of Sarah Hecken being the only good skater in Germany, what happened to Annette Dytrt or however you spell her last name?

[Nadia01]

I don't know who NBC bothered to show, but I liked Cheltzie Lee, Min-Jung Kwak, and Akiko Suzuki from the earlier groups.

[Ren]

Ksenia and Akiko. Fortunately for me, my country picked up the BBC feed with Robin Cousins commentating. I found him FAR better than Scott Hamilton.

[DesertRoad]

Fine, I will catalog my finds:

Men:

Adrian Schultheiss. Well, his SP was forgettable and flawed, but his FS was delightful, and he had a Skate of a Lifetime, landing every jump and doing every planned element perfectly, quad and all. No, his skating is lacking here and there in the basics, in the spins, but the originality of his program was full of win. He skated as a mental patient in a strait jacket to a medley of everything from Massive Attack to Prodigy to Cypress Hill to Nintendo game music, and it worked! A performance that made you stop and go WHOA!

Stephane Lambiel. Well neither his SP nor FS were up to even his scaled back quality this year, but his exhibition to Ne Me Quitte Pas remains a masterpiece. It has the best exhibition choreography I've seen, and it takes a dance of Lambiel's musicality and emotional sensitivity to realize it. Of course, NBC chacked it, along with most of the gala performances. Just one of the many examples of how NBC sucks. I'd like to strangle that peacock. >:[

Ladies:

Akiko Suzuki goes without saying. Depriving the US audience of her FS straight line footwork is criminal, it's the most rousing and exciting part of any skating performance this season.

Thankfully, I was watching a pirated live feed, and didn't miss a thing. But still, I would happily sell my soul to Satan to keep NBC from getting the rights to Sochi.

[Ren]

Akiko Suzuki goes without saying. Depriving the US audience of her FS straight line footwork is criminal, it's the most rousing and exciting part of any skating performance this season.

Oh, yes, I quite agree. That footwork sequence is utter WIN.

[iluvtodd]

free skates of Laura Lepisto, Akiko Suzuki, Alena Leonova, Sarah Maier (even though I know she struggled with injuries this season)

[silverlake22]

Speaking of Sarah Hecken being the only good skater in Germany, what happened to Annette Dytrt or however you spell her last name?

Injury I think. I know she lost a lot of weight and kept falling a lot, she might have gotten sick or something. I know Sarah Hecken is the German Ladies Champion this year, I don't know if Dytrt is done for good or not though.

[Wicked]

NBC showed almost nothing of the gala. I went online and watched some of the performances and just loved Dai's and Pang and Tong's ex skates. Shame they weren't shown. I also really liked Mirai's. I thought they'd show her since she's American and they had such an American bias but no. Also surprised they didn't show Tanith and Ben for the same reason.

[Blades of Passion]

The coverage was simply ridiculous. There isn't much more to say about it then that.

Adrian Schultheiss. Well, his SP was forgettable and flawed, but his FS was delightful, and he had a Skate of a Lifetime, landing every jump and doing every planned element perfectly, quad and all. No, his skating is lacking here and there in the basics, in the spins, but the originality of his program was full of win. He skated as a mental patient in a strait jacket to a medley of everything from Massive Attack to Prodigy to Cypress Hill to Nintendo game music, and it worked! A performance that made you stop and go WHOA!

I like the idea of his program, it worked and felt organic rather than a checklist of moves. However, his weak skating skills definitely take away from the effect. Also, he didn't do all of the jumps. He turned the 3Lutz-3Toe into a 3Lutz-2Toe and he doubled out on the second Triple Axel (a bit sloppy on the final jump combination as well). It was a good skate, though.

[chronos13]

I was so disappointed NBC didn't show so many of the skaters. I thought ladies figure skating was the marquee event? Wouldn't actually showing these skaters draw more viewers? I was actually flipping between American Idol and the Olympics, but to the point...

I really liked Kwak Min-Jung. I think that she has a bright future, and I love her spirals and spins so much. She's really flexible and makes the most unattractive (fan spiral) spirals look so pretty. Girls in Korea tend to be really skinny due to the fact that Korean food is really healthy, and she may look skinnier than most others because she also exercises a lot.

As the GPF bronze medalist, Akiko should have definitely gotten some tv coverage. That was so disappointing. And as others have pointed out, I loved her footwork sequence.