- Joined
- Mar 28, 2016
commenting on TGee's and Skatergal101's posts about Gabby and Canadian women.
The way I see the competition if I play shrink with Gabby : She was ecstatic after the SP ... even BEFORE the huge score came up. She seemed even surprised to finally get BOTH recognition TES and PCS wise... It is not a small feat to manage such high GOE on all her jumping passes and no longer being labeled as a jumper only. As I said, I change favourite every competition about our Canadian ladies, but if I were to give a "most improved" award, it would be to Gabby's PCS. This year, she's worked really well and I think Lori Nichol understands what kind of programs Gabby can do well. Her programs by the way, to my untrained eye, look PACKED with difficult steps and transitions, and tons of them are while she is also building speed for her huge jumps.
Now... the LP... well. She knew the ice was a mess. I am sure she skated near the puddle in the warm up and thought, "how in the world am I going to land a 3-3 in there...." she went for it but the way she landed and fell flat almost on her face tells me she had one instant of panic in the air.... and couldn't control the exit of the jump...
Then, well she fought... but quickly realized that she shouldn't have rippon that 3LZ.... she could have tagged a 3T in the end of it.... but since she never misses the 3t-3t, she probably didn't have that thought until the jump was over.
Went to the flip, not exactly in the same spot as the puddle but in the same direction, not sure what happened there??? Did she think about adding a 3t there??? I have no clue...
The rest of the program, Gabby fought really hard... but it was too late. She had lost about 15 points on the pop and the combo (the combo gives her 10 points + she got 2 points - 1 for the fall on that attempt, 1 point there... OUCH)
I think Gabby is not used to be at the top after the SP, and her lead over 4th place was considerable. I think that's why she cried and said "4th again". If I could talk to her I would tell her that it's not a tragedy to mess up in those conditions, considering her OWN strength in speed and ice coverage and especially considering that she is not used to be in command of her own destiny after the short. I think the pain was being so close to the podium after messing up so much.... she knows that the silver/bronze were at reach... She knows she could have done it any other day. She feels she deserves an accolade because she does indeed work so hard. It seems to me they change the choreo from Skate America here... i was surprised with the flip placement (perhaps that's also why she popped it)
Looking at numbers: she got 119 points for the long.... her best score is worlds 128....
her best total score is 195 at worlds... she got 192 here...
actually, all things considered, to get on the podium she needed above 194.... so her best total world's score was needed. of course, add those 15 points she lost, and wow.. she could get to 207... and that's assuming pcs would remain more or less the same...
HUGE potential Gabby! Things will come in time. Do not focus on the results, just on the process! You will get the results when it's time! (perhaps it stings more because Alaine has won a grand prix medal and Kaetlyn a couple)
Re Kaetlyn and Alaine...
The 3 Canadian ladies this year are not in the dark.... if anyone doubted one of them last year, nobody does this year.... so all of them know that they need a big season, and a great showing at nationals. Otherwise, the season might end at 4CC.
So far, and of course, it's hard to tell as we have seen the best of Kaetlyn this year, some highs and lows from Alaine, and some HUGE highs and lows from Gabby, being able to nail only one of her two programs in her grand prix outing... I wish we could have gotten TDF's SP + SA's LP for Gabby in one competition... watch out! When she does it, it will be up there!!!!
So, what will Kaetlyn bring this coming weekend at COC? Will Alaine do better than at SC???
I HOPE they both will do well.... but if I had to make a Canadian ranking right now : I'd say that even with her misfortune yesterday, Gabby has found the perfect SP to keep her in the top 6 at worlds... Final flight is mandatory for any chance of a good result.... especially in the ladies field at worlds.. Kaetlyn is just as strong and we will see if her big 3f-3t remains consistent. I think that's key. Alaine has had difficulties with elevation in her jumps at SC. A couple UR calls and you're done. The tech panel have been stricter this year and I am happy about that. However, it gives an advantage to big jumpers like Gabby and Kaetlyn. I am in no way saying that Alaine jumps small. Her lutz can be huge! It's more the combos that will give her issues. The 3lz-3t is often two-footed and the 2a-1/2l-3S is so hard to rotate fully. I am hoping that she is addressing this right now as when she has enough speed and elevation, she is amazing in her control.
So, if I had to rank them right now, I'd put Alaine in 3rd. But, and that's the beauty of the sport, we certainly won't know until it's over
Exciting! Any other comments or rankings? My analysis is subjective or course and may change in two weeks
excellent analysis! I think Gabby has to learn to control the nerves after having a great short program. Osmond definitely has an advantage psychologically, she has dealt with many set backs and failures over the past couple years, which has helped her 100%.
Those tears were for another fourth place. Another fourth to two newly senior ladies. It's an improvement on last year, where she was 5th and 6th. Now she's 4th twice, with marks close to what she got at the end of the season. A PB in SP. Higher PCS. These are all positives. All things she can use for the 2nd half of this season, and for the next, the Olympic season. With better scores comes more pressure. She's going to train her mind to deal with it as she's trained her body to deal with the demands of skating. There is no guarantee she can beat any of the newly senior ladies, but she can try her best with the skills she has.
but watch out for Kaetlyn! She is going for it!