2012 Skate America Ladies SP

[skfan]

Last years Nationals with a great free skate was the perfect time for Rachel to retirement. The crowd was literally giving her a retirement/thanks for a great 5 years ovation. She reacted as if she was recognizing that, perfect time to go to school full time and maybe do some show skating on the side. Then she comes back!?!? She apparently didnt get the memo but the judges are going to try their hardest now to drill it into her this season, and unfortunately she may have find herself being retired the way Suguri eventually was.

i thought her 3 loop looked good, her 2a ok, and she had (to me) her trademark fight and resilience, non-panic reaction to adversity. this has served her well, as outside of ashley wagner i would not characterize any of the other US lady as having steady nerves (yet--maybe gracie is getting there). i would not bury rachael's chances yet.

i was surprised tonia kwiatkowski (sp) spoke openly about her foot injury. i've read posts re: how she should withdraw from SKAM so mirai could have 2 GP's and /or can avoid entering china as a person of japanese descent. well, it's not like skating at worlds with next year's world's spot on the line, and probably quite a few skaters are nicked up in some way or other...

[Jammers]

Yeah no matter if she lands all her jumps is even more slow then she was in the past.

[kwanatic]

Ashley looked strong and had she not messed up the landing of that 3L she probably would have scored a 62-64...

Dammit Adelina! She nails the 3T-3T and then pops the flip! *facepalm* At least the rest of the program was strong. If she'd landed that flip her score would have been in the 62-65 range. Even with the mistake, she's right in it. Boy, do her jumps fly!

Christina had the program of the segment for me. It was absolutely lovely, she hit all of her jumps (including the 3T-3T) and the program itself was gorgeous! Maybe full-time school and skating will work for her this year...

Yay for Mae Berenice in 4th place...strong performance for her. Valentina's program and performance were very good as well...I really enjoy her skating.

Alena was patting her hip a lot in the warm up like it may have been bothering her. I wonder if that's why she did so horribly?

Rachael in last place again...you know, the end of her program was nice but the beginning was sloooooowww...the movement on the ice, the jumps, the spins--all of it was very slow.

I'd love the see the top 3 finish like they are: Ashley, Adelina, Christina. I really want to see Ashley continue her streak of good skating, I'd like to see Adelina perform well and stay focused, and I like to see Christina on a podium! Can't wait for tomorrow!

[pangtongfan]

i would not bury her chances yet.

Her chances for what? A top 10 finish at Nationals? Yes I agree she could continue making to Nationals without having to go through regional competition for atleast another year or two.

[Art&Sport]

Any vids available yet?

[janetfan]

I agree. I guess I should root for a skater from the U.S. but I like who I like and I've always liked Adelina.
I do wish that she different choreographers. I'm not in love with her programs these days.

I really like Adelina too. I liked Haruka today and haven't seen Christina yet but she must have skated well.
Not so sure about Ashley - maybe her new SP will grow on me.

[Macassar88]

Wow... One clean skate in the entire SP. Go Christina Gao!
Hopefully we won't see the same thing in the SD.

[lavender]

we're not at war (well, not technically) with most of the countries these skaters represent. i like who i like. adelina is uber gorgeous

LOL yes I know... no war. Besides Michelle Kwan the ultimate, Jeremy, D/W & very few others I tend to adore skaters like Buttle, Lambiel, Dai and many, many more from everywhere else.

[tulosai]

Last years Nationals with a great free skate was the perfect time for Rachel to retirement. The crowd was literally giving her a retirement/thanks for a great 5 years ovation. She reacted as if she was recognizing that, perfect time to go to school full time and maybe do some show skating on the side. Then she comes back!?!? She apparently didnt get the memo but the judges are going to try their hardest now to drill it into her this season, and unfortunately she may have to find herself being retired and shoved out the door by the seat of the pants the way Suguri eventually was if she isnt careful.

If Rachael wants to invest her time and her parent's money into continuing to skate, that's her choice (and to some degree theirs) to make. I actually really admire her for continuing. I do think she knows she is past her prime. I think she enjoys competition and skating. She was never one of my favorites. She isn't now. But if she continues to be invited to GP events and to qualify or get a bye to nationals, I don't see how one can think she should be forced into retirement.

[Art&Sport]

I found Christina's sp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TKHO4xNEZo

[bekalc]

we're not at war (well, not technically) with most of the countries these skaters represent. i like who i like. adelina is uber gorgeous

What I like about Adelina is she combines big skating with beautiful skating. With this girl to paraphrase Dick Button a jump is a jump. But she also has for the most part really lovely line and she's developing into a nice performer...A lot of skaters have some if not the other. I mean Julia is a pretty skater but I wouldn't say her jumps fly like that. And Grace Gold has big jumps but she doesn't have that kind of line/extension...

[FSGMT]

I really like Adelina too. I liked Haruka today and haven't seen Christina yet but she must have skated well.
Not so sure about Ashley - maybe her new SP will grow on me.

I agree: right now, ashley's SP doesn't look like a great one to me, I think 30 is a little bit too much for the PCS, but maybe it's the kind of program that you have to watch many times before loving it... Haruka had an off-day, she just didn't make me feel any emotion...

[gmyers]

Only two ladies attempted a triple Lutz, neither very successfully (Meite and Marchei).

Thank you Carolina! Lol. No it's cop of course.

[skfan]

meite, hecken, marchei also up. probably wagner's will be up soon


ETA: referring to #146

[Art&Sport]

I found Christina's sp:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TKHO4xNEZo

Wow, Christina was sooo lovely. Her 3/3 was fabulous and beautiful in the air with clean landings. It's great to see her having grown into her long legs and talent, and attending school at the same time. Boston must agree with her.

Loved that gorgeous leg position on her layback spin. That's how it should be done, Yu Na!