2016 Four Continents Ladies Free Skate

[skylark]

It's just a figure is speech. No one is really laughing at anyone.

Different strokes, I suppose.

 

[deedee1]

Congrats to Satoko to go clean for two days in spte of under pressure. :yes:

What happened to Gracie? Is she injured or sick/ill? The worlds is in Boston, it would have been hers to lose if she's clean... I mean, the tech panel would/could be a little more harsh on Satoko's jumps if Gracie would go clean back to back in SP and FS.
Such a shame because Gracie has two excellent programs that are wolrd champion-worthy this season imo.

My hi-lights for me tonight
Mirai! No pops and no UR calls at all. You good girl! We knew you can do it.
SoYoung She did attack the programs till the end, though one fall. My tiny complaint but hopefully she changes the color of her free program in Boston. Too pink looks juniorish.
Rika She was a bit slow/hesitant in SP, but here she attacked thruout the free like SoYoun, and sold the program to the audience. Loved her choreo Sq.

 

[jenaj]

I don´t think that is an excuse, the equipment should be in good enough condition for an important competition like the US Nationals is for Mirai and other American skaters. She should have remembered the Murphy´s law :roll9:

It's not an excuse, just a fact. What do you think she should have done, worn new boots, "just in case?" Taped up perfectly good boots? Where has it been said the "equipment" wasn't in good condition? Things happen. The heel on Michelle Kwan's boot broke right before the QR at Worlds in 2001. This was no different in terms of preparation.

 

[arewhyaen]

And a question to North Americans: who do you think should go to worlds? Ashley, Polina and Gracie or Mirai Ashley and somebody else?

Ashley, Polina and Gracie should be on the team this year. I think what will be interesting is what happens next year. I think momentum is shifting in Mirai's favor. If Ashley fails to win a medal at worlds next year, I wouldn't be surprised if Gracie, Polina, and Mirai become the "big 3" in American skating for 2017 through the 2018 olympics.

I hope that Mirai has better music choices next year. God help us if she comes out with a Jurassic Word-Star Wars medley long program.

 

[hippomoomin]

It makes me feel that Mao's chances are almost over. Even if she gets her jumps back, she cannot be more "consistent" than Satoko and will not be #1 Japanese lady. Her scores in all other categories will likely to do down. Akiko teat Mao a number of times domestically, but I was convinced Akiko was better.

I like Satoko but the fact that some skaters get questionable UR calls and neutral GOE while her pre-rotated jumps can get big GOE is not right. If I were a skater like Mao I'd be ticked. The scoring is out of control.

 

[frida80]

Ashley, Polina and Gracie should be on the team this year. I think what will be interesting is what happens next year. I think momentum is shifting in Mirai's favor. If Ashley fails to win a medal at worlds next year, I wouldn't be surprised if Gracie, Polina, and Mirai become the "big 3" in American skating for 2017 through the 2018 olympics.

I hope that Mirai has better music choices next year. God help us if she comes out with a Jurassic Word-Star Wars medley long program.

Ashley's a fighter. So she's not going down without a fight. Mirai will definitely be in the mix, it's just a question if both Ashley, Gracie, and Polina can stay ahead of her.

 

[skylark]

There's no rule against repeating a combo... just because nobody else does it doesn't mean it's wrong

Satoko has been skating this layout since last season to maximize scoring potential. If it were up to her she would be doing a triple triple, according to this: http://ohlovesosweet.tumblr.com/post/131265468016/note-again-for-context-its-from-patinage-2015

Thank you for the link, that was very interesting. It reminds me of what people always said about Evan Lysacek, that his main asset was that he was such a hard worker. And, people accused him of "working the system" in the way that Satoko's coach says they're doing. Even the compliment, though, which Frank Carroll always said about Evan and Satoko's coach says here, "not the most talented but the hardest worker" is a bit back-handed, to me. Actually, another thing in that interview reminds me of Evan. Satoko's coach says she is the most humble spirit ... not usual in a skater!

One thing I liked even before I read this article, is the way Satoko and her coach rest foreheads against each other just before she goes out to skate. Sometimes the best thing is a calming non-verbal communication.

 

[Krunchii]

Awww congrats to Satoko, she's a sweetheart and I love this tiny queen, the win is deservedly her but those jump GOEs are much too high, if her rotations are getting ratified I'd like all of Mao's 3-3s ratified too please :hopelessness: She got better GOEs than the best jumpers in the field. I love her arms though, they move wonderfully with the music.

I'm so happy So Youn got 4th but I hope she'll become more hungry and more competitive after this competition, she was one fall off from an ISU Championship medal, I see so much potential in her, I just want to see her successful:hopelessness: Her R&J program was a lovely way to end off the competition, her Red Violin program is still gorgeous though, I'd love to see her bring it back when she is more developed artistically.

Kaetlyn!! I'm glad she managed to have a clean-ish LP to bring herself back up to what should be 5th and not 6th. Just like So Youn, so much potential! She's really such a wonderful performer, one of the best in the world, what a gorgeous program. It was great to see her land that 3Lo since she didn't have it for a few years, she gets such a great running edge out of her jumps. It was really smart of her to not zayak herself by doing a 3S-1T-2Lo since she already did 3F-2T and 2A-2T, that turnout was probably because she caught herself at the last second.

Mirai though, wow I'm so happy for her, she's worked so hard these past few years, people were so dismissive of her when they found out she worked with Mishin for a bit but everything she has done has paid off fantastically. I still don't like the music in her LP but she's been getting great results and I'm just so happy for her, who knew she would be the #1 American here with a silver medal to boot? Ahhhh, she better get 2 GPs next season or else I'm going to march up to the ISU and give them a piece of my mind.

 

[mrrice]

It's not an excuse, just a fact. What do you think she should have done, worn new boots, "just in case?" Taped up perfectly good boots? Where has it been said the "equipment" wasn't in good condition? Things happen. The heel on Michelle Kwan's boot broke right before the QR at Worlds in 2001. This was no different in terms of preparation.

I totally remember that happening in 2001. I remember seeing Michelle fall and then she got up and looked at her boot, looked up at her Father, looked over at Frank, and then skated over to the judges. It was weird. Clearly the difference between Michelle and Mirai is that Michelle's boot broke during her warm up and not her actual program. I don't think Michelle had another pair of boots. I think her father repaired them for her. Is that correct???

 

[koatcue]

Ashley, Polina and Gracie should be on the team this year. I think what will be interesting is what happens next year. I think momentum is shifting in Mirai's favor. If Ashley fails to win a medal at worlds next year, I wouldn't be surprised if Gracie, Polina, and Mirai become the "big 3" in American skating for 2017 through the 2018 olympics.

I hope that Mirai has better music choices next year. God help us if she comes out with a Jurassic Word-Star Wars medley long program.

Really? And here I considered Ashley to be a safer option and bet to be at worlds I think this year Gracie is a huge hit or miss, more miss than hit, even. Polina is also a super DARK horse, imo..

 

[Shayuki]

Missed this but checking the videos and judges' scores afterwards, I'm surprisingly pleased. Gold got e calls on her flips both times. She still gets mindbogglingly high PCS for her complete lack of artistry and sense of music and shouldn't even have been in the top 10, but at least she didn't unjustly medal this time. Mirai Nagasu's far more pleasant both aesthetically and as a performer so I really would like if they finally realized who actually is the better skater. The fact that Gold keeps putting her e flip in her SP just proves that she and her coaching staff are so used to the judges unjustly not calling it as e that oh oh, when they decide to be fair this happens. Either that or a complete lack of coaching ability as an e flip isn't worth more than even a salchow and she always e's the flip, it's just a matter of being justfully called for it or not.

Yes she fell of course but those are pretty difficult to judge incorrectly so that's not really worth mentioning, business as usual for Gold.

 

[begin]

Damn, I was so close to having my dream podium!

Satoko is so consistent. Her scores here were a bit excessive but given how excessive things were for the Euros winner, I'm not surprised the judges tried balancing the field.

Sooo happy for Mirai!

 

[hippomoomin]

Disappointed at Zijun again. I thought Lori did some wonders on her LP but what she did was to get rid of the 3-3 and try a tacky 2A-1lo-3T

 

[MsLiinaLii]

I was never a big fan of Gracie. However, I always admitted that she is good when goes clean. Good, not great. She does not perform, end of the story. Her face is the same through the whole routine. I feel nothing watching her programs and that, is dissappointing. I am always shocked at her high PE and IN marks when, really, compared to some other ladies she is just slightly above average in these areas.

Today was even worse for me, I almost fell asleep watching the routine.
I get it, she is USA Champion, blah blah blah... But she does not skate like one, there is no confidence, no feeling of the music, no emotions. If the jumps are not perfect, then it is just a girl who has decent SS, speed and well put elements. If I watched her for the first time, I would have never guessed she is a contender for the Worlds title.

I do not mean to bash anyone, I just wanted to share my thoughts after watching FS online.

As for Satoko, I do not agree with high GOE on her jumps. They are indeed pre-rotated. Maximum would be 0-1 GOE for me. But... she has confidence, that chamoion's mentality and nice precence.
Mirai. I was happy for her as much as I was happy for Tuk at last GPF and Euros. However, she seemed slow for me and heavy(I mean feeling of skating).

 

[Tolstoj]

What about #FearTheMyahara now

#FearTheInflatedScores

Always.

 

[Jammers]

Missed this but checking the videos and judges' scores afterwards, I'm surprisingly pleased. Gold got e calls on her flips both times. She still gets mindbogglingly high PCS for her complete lack of artistry and sense of music and shouldn't even have been in the top 10, but at least she didn't unjustly medal this time. Mirai Nagasu's far more pleasant both aesthetically and as a performer so I really would like if they finally realized who actually is the better skater. The fact that Gold keeps putting her e flip in her SP just proves that she and her coaching staff are so used to the judges unjustly not calling it as e that oh oh, when they decide to be fair this happens. Either that or a complete lack of coaching ability as an e flip isn't worth more than even a salchow and she always e's the flip, it's just a matter of being justfully called for it or not.

Yes she fell of course but those are pretty difficult to judge incorrectly so that's not really worth mentioning, business as usual for Gold.

And how many times has Mirai proved she's the better skater then Gracie? Seems before 4CC Mirai never came close to beating Gracie. And it took a disaster of a competition for Mirai to beat her.

 

[mrrice]

Ashley's a fighter. So she's not going down without a fight. Mirai will definitely be in the mix, it's just a question if both Ashley, Gracie, and Polina can stay ahead of her.

As I watch this event, I'm still feeling a little disappointed from Nationals. I am happy that Mirai has this skate to build on but I'm not a fan of her program. I was really hoping Mariah Bell would be at least a Pewter Medalist after her strong showing last year. IMO, Worlds will be a very telling event. Ashley is like the US version of Maria Butyrskaya and I wouldn't be shocked if she wins a Medal. Of course, I still have ALL my eggs in Medvedeva's basket.

 

[Meoima]

And how many times has Mirai proved she's the better skater then Gracie? Seems before 4CC Mirai never came close to beating Gracie. And it took a disaster of a competition for Mirai to beat her.

Agree, and let's be real. Gracie has been the highest US lady in the biggest competitions recently. She placed highest among all US ladies at Sochi, then Saitama, then Shanghai. She is super inconsistent and a headcase. But it's not like other US girls have done better than her at the biggest events for about 3 years.

 

[RABID]

Honestly, I it were me I would send Mirai, she is more reliable than Gracie and Polina now

I don't think that is going to happen but can you imagine how Polina"s camp would react to that? Rest her for Worlds only to have her place given to someone else. Talk about controversy....

 

[mrrice]

Agree, and let's be real. Gracie has been the highest US lady in the biggest competitions recently. She placed highest among all US ladies at Sochi, then Saitama, then Shanghai. She is super inconsistent and a headcase. But it's not like other US girls have done better than her at the biggest events for about 3 years.

Correct!! In every way, Shape, and Form. Gracie has been the Top US lady internationally for the last couple of seasons and until a US Lady beats her at Worlds. She deserves her position as the #1 US Lady.