2017-18 State of U.S. Ladies Skating

Congratulations to Christina Gao, who graduated from Harvard today .

She posted a nice photo of herself in cap and gown with her new diploma .

And her sister posted this cute one:

ice coverage said:

Congratulations to Christina Gao, who graduated from Harvard today .

She posted a nice photo of herself in cap and gown with her new diploma .

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhlpyajv23/?taken-by=gao_christina (May 25)​

And her sister posted this cute one:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BUhh3fCANRt/?taken-by=ladygaogao_​

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Wow, they both went (or go in the case of her sister if she is still attending) to great schools! Congratulations to Christina! I enjoyed her skating and always thought she was a class act. Anyone know what she was studying? For some reason, I'm thinking it was something scientific/medical.

Weathergal said:

Wow, they both went (or go in the case of her sister if she is still attending) to great schools! Congratulations to Christina! I enjoyed her skating and always thought she was a class act. Anyone know what she was studying? For some reason, I'm thinking it was something scientific/medical.

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Per Christina's page on LinkedIn (which looks up to date at least as of summer 2016, if not more recently):


(For the last three summers, her jobs have been in the business/financial sector.)

So, Polina Edmunds...I really want to like her. I'm no technical expert, but I've heard good comments about her technically. But, she has no stage presence. Does anyone else feel this way?

Grand Prix Assignments: http://static.isu.org/media/516604/gp_ladies.pdf

Rostelecom Cup: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
Skate Canada: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner
Cup of China: Gracie Gold
NHK Trophy: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
International de France: Polina Edmunds, Gracie Gold
Skate America: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner, TBD.

The TBD slot will be a tough one -- Polina Edmunds or Caroline Zhang (who finished 5th at Nationals?). Or maybe even Courtney Hicks (I'm surprised she didn't get one, honestly).

Mrs. P said:

Grand Prix Assignments: http://static.isu.org/media/516604/gp_ladies.pdf

Rostelecom Cup: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
Skate Canada: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner
Cup of China: Gracie Gold
NHK Trophy: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
International de France: Polina Edmunds, Gracie Gold
Skate America: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner, TBD.

The TBD slot will be a tough one -- Polina Edmunds or Caroline Zhang (who finished 5th at Nationals?). Or maybe even Courtney Hicks (I'm surprised she didn't get one, honestly).

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Very interested by the two Karen versus Ashley setups.

CoC usually tends to be one of the easier fields - good thing they're sending Gracie there.

I'd like to see Caroline get the TBD.

Rostelecom Cup and NHK Trophy repeat match ups: Carolina Kostner, Soyoun Park, Evgenia Medvedeva, Mariah Bell and Mirai Nagasu
I hope the Americans can muster out a bronze in both events

Also, Gracie has be far the easiest draw of the American ladies

Also also, Karen Chen and Ashley Wagner go head to head twice too


It's like the GPs are deciding factor for the Olympic selection: one of Karen or Ashley, one of Mirai or Mariah, and one of Gracie or Polina

I was hoping Courtney would get at least one for her bronze in Russia last season but the ladies field is stacked now...

I expect Courtney Hicks, Polina Edmunds, Angela Wang, Caroline Zhang, and maybe Amber Glenn to get CS

Has anyone heard anything about Tyler Pierce and Hannah Miller?

Wow, anyone know why the assignments came out so early?

Anyway, I'm wondering: why do the Canadian ladies have so few GP slots?

With all these newbies, is anyone really worried about the US ladies?

Bluediamonds09 said:

Anyway, I'm wondering: why do the Canadian ladies have so few GP slots?

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GP slots, unlike World's slots, are awarded based on the individual skater's merit. So while CAN and RUS have the same number of Worlds/Olympics slots based on the combined skaters' results at Worlds, Russia has a far deeper field of skaters who qualify based on their own results.

drivingmissdaisy said:

GP slots, unlike World's slots, are awarded based on the individual skater's merit. So while CAN and RUS have the same number of Worlds/Olympics slots based on the combined skaters' results at Worlds, Russia has a far deeper field of skaters who qualify based on their own results.

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Sorry, Im not following.... what do you mean? What about "season's best"?

icellist said:

I expect Courtney Hicks, Polina Edmunds, Angela Wang, Caroline Zhang, and maybe Amber Glenn to get CS

Has anyone heard anything about Tyler Pierce and Hannah Miller?

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I know Hannah is still recovering from an injury. I think she switched coaches to tammy gambill from raf but has been back in MI the past few months. not sure if she's still here or not. I saw on instagram she is getting new programs choreographed.

Bluediamonds09 said:

Sorry, Im not following.... what do you mean? What about "season's best"?

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Seasons best is their own results. In the top 24 on the seasons best list, which guarantees one GP spot AFAIR, there are two Canadian ladies, Gabby and Kaetlyn. Alaine (30th SB) also got two spots. There are nine Russian ladies in the top 24 (8 in senior), so they are going to get way more spots. The next Canadian lady, Sarah Tamura, is 81st on the SB list.

Wait a minute aren't the GP assignments supposed to be out in late June?

Bluediamonds09 said:

Sorry, Im not following.... what do you mean? What about "season's best"?

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SnowWhite said:

Seasons best is their own results. In the top 24 on the seasons best list, which guarantees one GP spot AFAIR, there are two Canadian ladies, Gabby and Kaetlyn. Alaine (30th SB) also got two spots. There are nine Russian ladies in the top 24 (8 in senior), so they are going to get way more spots. The next Canadian lady, Sarah Tamura, is 81st on the SB list.

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Just to add to what SnowWhite said, this is the Season's best list for ladies:

http://www.isuresults.com/isujsstat/sb2016-17/sbtslto.htm

Bluediamonds09 said:

Wow, anyone know why the assignments came out so early?

Anyway, I'm wondering: why do the Canadian ladies have so few GP slots?

With all these newbies, is anyone really worried about the US ladies?

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The newbies are Alina Zagitova, Polina Tsurskaya, Marin Honda, Kaori Sakamoto, and Yuna Shiraiwa.

The SB list isn't everything, but Alina is above all American ladies, Marin Honda is one spot behind Ashley (who's score is from WTT which a lot of people say has very inflated scoring) and ahead of all the others, Kaori is one spot behind Karen Chen and one ahead of Mirai, Polina (who was hampered by injury, so if healthy would be further up) is behind Ashley, Karen and Mirai, and Yuna is behind all the US ladies currently with GP spots, except Polina who doesn't have a SB from last season, so I would say that while anything is possible she isn't a big threat.

At COR, Mariah and Mirai have to deal with only one of the newbies, Kaori, who could definitely beat both of them. But with Radionova, Medvedeva and Kostner there, not to mention Elizabet and Wakaba who can also beat both of them, she's not the biggest thing between them and a medal.

At SC, Ashley and Karen have Marin Honda, who again is capable of beating both of them (doesn't mean she will obvs), as well as Kaetlyn, Anna and Maria Sotskova. No guarantees again, but you'd predict that Kaetlyn would probably beat both, and I would have said the same about Anna until Worlds, but who knows what she'll bring. So here, Marin could cost one or both medals potentially, but there are of course a lot of factors.

At COC, Gracie is the only US lady there, and she's joined by Alina and Marin, along with Radionova and Gabby Daleman. Who knows what form Gracie will be in, though I suppose it's possible she could be in decent but not perfect form and miss out on the podium due to the two newbies.

At NHK, Mariah and Mirai have Polina T. and Yuna, but also Kostner, Medvedeva and Miyahara, so even without Polina there (and how big a threat she is depends on her health), they weren't podium favourites, though I guess if Satoko isn't in great shape after her injury, but Polina is, Polina could keep them off the podium.

At IdF, Gracie and Polina E. have Alina and Yuna, as well as Kaetlyn, Mai, Elizabet and Maria. Again here Kaetlyn is probably the favourite and both Gracie and Polina are ? right now for different reasons. Alina beating one of them out for a podium spot with say Kaetlyn and Mai is a plausible scenario, but who knows if they would podium even without Alina.

At SA, Ashley and Karen take on Kaori and Polina T., along with Gabby, Satoko, and Anna. One of Ashley or Karen could win, but all those girls are probably also capable of beating one or both of them, so who knows.

I think the new senior girls make things tougher, but none of the US ladies were podium guarantees even without them, especially since no one is that consistent except Medvedeva.

Mrs. P said:

Grand Prix Assignments: http://static.isu.org/media/516604/gp_ladies.pdf

Rostelecom Cup: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
Skate Canada: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner
Cup of China: Gracie Gold
NHK Trophy: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
International de France: Polina Edmunds, Gracie Gold
Skate America: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner, TBD.

The TBD slot will be a tough one -- Polina Edmunds or Caroline Zhang (who finished 5th at Nationals?). Or maybe even Courtney Hicks (I'm surprised she didn't get one, honestly).

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Must say, Gold lucked out with the China draw - that should help ease her back into things. Then in France, hopefully she can step it up a bit.

Wagner and Chen, facing off twice, will be fighting it out for that GPF spot. I see one of them potentially making it, but likely not both. It'll depend on their consistency, Chen's probably more so.

Edmunds with just one event...but with her college schedule, maybe that's for the better. I'd like to see her make a good impression, although I'm tempering my expectations based on what we've seen with Flatt, Gao, etc.

Finally, Bell and Nagasu also facing off twice. Both have the toughest path to the GPF of all the US girls (w/2 events).

bevybean said:

So, Polina Edmunds...I really want to like her. I'm no technical expert, but I've heard good comments about her technically. But, she has no stage presence. Does anyone else feel this way?

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Have not seen her in person so can't speak to her LIVE stage presence, but watching on TV/video I tend to agree. Although she wasn't bad in 2015-16 just before she got injured

icellist said:

Has anyone heard anything about Tyler Pierce and Hannah Miller?

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Pierce, no idea. Miller is on the upswing however. Posted some stuff on social media about returning to training after a long recovery period.

Mrs. P said:

Grand Prix Assignments: http://static.isu.org/media/516604/gp_ladies.pdf

Rostelecom Cup: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
Skate Canada: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner
Cup of China: Gracie Gold
NHK Trophy: Mariah Bell, Mirai Nagasu
International de France: Polina Edmunds, Gracie Gold
Skate America: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner, TBD.

The TBD slot will be a tough one -- Polina Edmunds or Caroline Zhang (who finished 5th at Nationals?). Or maybe even Courtney Hicks (I'm surprised she didn't get one, honestly).

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Sorry for being too pessimistic, but the scary part of this list is
who will be on the list for the next year.
Most likely Ashley, Mirai and possibly Gracie will be gone after the Olympic games,
and we do not know if Polina will stay or not,
which means that we will see only Mariah and Karen, with some possibility of Courtney, Tyler and Amber.

On the other hand, since both Russia and Japan have young top skaters, with the exception of Leonova maybe,
most of them will stay, and they also got a plenty of top junior skaters as well to fill the spots if any of them are vacated.
I know people have been talking about this subject for a while,
but now it has become more realistic to see only a few U.S. ladies on the GPS, without any possibility to make the final,
unless someone, at least two or three of them, step up.

For the JGP starting in August, Russia will send the strongest team ever,
and with Japanese and Korean ladies, it takes almost a miracle to see any American junior ladies on the podium.
Or do you know any new & upcoming talents who can beat Russian, Japanese and Korean juniors?

I certainly hope not, but I think this will cause the further decline of the popularity in U.S.
since the ladies is the most popular one in general. hwell:

The federation might beg Ashley, Mirai and Gracie to stay for a few more years.

bluelutz said:

Sorry for being too pessimistic, but the scary part of this list is
who are on the list for the next year.
Most likely Ashley, Mirai and possibly Gracie will be gone after the Olympic games,
and we do not know if Polina will stay or not,
which means that we will see only Mariah and Karen, with some possibility of Courtney, Tyler and Amber.

On the other hand, since both Russia and Japan have young top skaters, with the exception of Leonova maybe,
most of them will stay, and they also got a plenty of top junior skaters as well to fill the spots if any of them are vacated.
I know people have been talking about this subject for a while,
but now it has become more realistic to see only a few U.S. ladies on the GPS, without any possibility to make the final,
unless someone, at least two or three of them, step up.

For the JGP starting in August, Russia will send the strongest team ever,
and with Japanese and Korean ladies, it takes almost a miracle to see any American junior ladies on the podium.
Or do you know any new & upcoming talents who can beat Russian, Japanese and Korean juniors?

I certainly hope not, but I think this will cause the further decline of the popularity in U.S.
since the ladies is the most popular one in general. hwell:

The federation might beg Ashley, Mirai and Gracie to stay for a few more years.

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I think all three of those ladies will retire. But Mirai is not going to make the final next season or afterwards and neither is Gracie without a super strong bounce back (I think it's very unlikely for next season, could happen after if she was in better form for a while, but she seems like she's done after this year). Gracie is probably must popular with the non-skating crowd, but Ashley would be the biggest loss in terms of results. But don't forget about Karen. She's very inconsistent, but she was just 4th at Worlds and she's still young. She could certainly make the final in the future.
Isn't there Tessa Hong who has lots of potential? She's with Frank Carroll now I believe. And I think some people are excited about Kaitlyn Nguyen, who's the Junior National Champ. Don't think she's junior eligible yet internationally.

I hope they don't all retire after this year. Any of them could have an "I'm-not-ready-to-quit-yet" moment.

I quite like it that opportunities are open for all three, regardless of setbacks and challenges, of which Ashley, Mirai and Gracie have had plenty. They, along with Mariah Bell who's 21 and recently coming into her own, are holding their own and holding the fort for women figure skaters who have maturity and experience. Plus of course Carolina, Alena, and until recently, Mao. In America we also have Caroline and Courtney who keep having more to give.

I also love Karen, her lutz! and her artistry. It's funny how easy it is to forget that she's only 17. I think it's because of her artistry. And Tessa Hong was fabulous in the SP at Nationals, in technique and expression. It'll be interesting to see how she develops with Frank Carroll. I don't follow juniors, so I can't speak to Kaitlyn.