I felt terrible for Kaetlyn today. She did her best to hold it together and strangely enough I think it could have been worse and while I'm one of the ones who thinks the judges should have scored her pcs in the 7's.......don't think that doesn't mean that I don't think she fought hard to keep the performance to that level. Just my take and I mean no disrespect to the girl, I understand her story and have followed her since Sochi, but my beef is with the judging. I think she stayed strong and in spite of some obvious disruptions kept fighting. The smile on the third fall was like a coming to terms with the moment right there on the ice type of thing. Cute but not really good for scores
They hosed Alaine today on PCS and it stunk but she can't keep opening the door for the judges to do so. I feel like her errors are written on her face and those errors are affecting TR, CH, P/E. Her interpretation is pretty solid and her FS is one of my favorites. Clean it up girl.
I don't remember anything about a Gabby today. I think I was awake while I was sleeping or something. Seems like she had something blue/green on.
my falling asleep comments ...
I was mostly awake for Alaine... it was early in the night... yah girl... you CANNOT afford to mess up your SP and get yourself in such an awkward ranking.
a couple carrots... very expected... DITCH the half loop combo my dear... It's not looking good on you.
the second lutz was carroted but it didn't disturb me as I am not always able to see them....
Still Alaine left the KnC with a close to 60 TES which was very good.... and would hold up quite high... if her PCS had been marked better. In general judges kept everyone low here....I feel that Alaine's low scores may have served as a comparison point with the next girls as not too many of them managed to get much higher.... so it seems to me, and I may be wrong, that after Alaine's skate, judges followed me on Alaine's SLAY bandwagon and didn't bring PCS too high for most skaters.
Kaetlyn : after the two combos, i thought, if she nails the lutz, she will bring this home... and BOOM.... it was a weird fall... it's like the jump happened before she wanted it to happen, like she went on automatic pilot there and didn't check in properly.... I thought... OMG... the loop is coming, her nemesis.... and wow!!! she managed it... I was so relieved.... She had the flip... but somehow on her running edge she fell... I wasn't happy with how this went... was it a fall on the landing affecting the jump or a freak fall.... In the end, I think the judges assigned the fall to the element... making it costly.... but yeah... she was definitely, after that, no longer there. Falling on the salchow seemed very painful... she took forever to wake up, as if she had resigned. She knew it was over for her as not only she had fallen on the 3S but couldn't add the two other jumps of the combo... and with being behind, she didn't have time to set up and even single the axel.
Kaetlyn went to the "top 3 room" with a big smile and an ice pack. I hope she is not seriously injured. I think it was a great experience for her to be considered the favourite of a competition. The W/D of Satoko happened too late for her to really deal with that idea IMHO... so I think nerves got to her... After the SP, she was pretty much in the driving seat. Especially after the two big combos in the LP. I think something didn't stay there in her focus... ice is dangerous my dear and it doesn't forgive. Be strong and come back with peace, poise and fight for worlds!
Gabby : I was tired but adrenaline came to me as I had flashbacks of TDF where the bad ice conditions and Gabby's performance didn't allow her on the podium... I could hear her saying "4th again" and that's the last thing I wanted to happen for her. I was pretty impressed with her. Combo was very nicely controlled. Then the lutz... good job... the flip with that crazy entrance into it... WOW... everything was great until she popped the loop... then stepped out of the axel... i got worried... but you could see her refocus and she took her time for the last sequence (3s-2a) and it was done properly. What I enjoyed the most is to see her damage control. She seemed extremely nervous to me.... and that's probably why she looked devastated in the KnC.... she could have taken first, but IMHO, she didn't need first... she needed the kind of skate where she could have easily fallen off to 4th or 5th but fought and held it together. She had the best PCS of the night...a bit low IMHO if we compare to the other girls because truly, she has improved tons in all aspects of PCS and delivered her performance well. My only little and it's tiny, issue with her programs is that they are very traditional. I would like her to find a choreographer who works FOR HER, understands her style.... I felt the same in the first years with Joannie Rochette... the girl could do wonders on the ice, but there wasn't yet a personal style... I think Gabby has so much spark and power, speed and refinement (at this point in time!!! YAY!) that a different approach may set her up differently and give her some more flair.
I was hoping for two medals... but Gabby's silver is certainly something she had awaited for a long time and I am so happy for her. I hope it helps her at WC next month... I really imagine that since the Japanese girls may be a bit injured, and that the American girls are quite fresh in international competitions that Canada could place two girls within the 13 points and bring 3 spots for next year. That would be very positive to see all our ladies pushing themselves yes for Nationals next year, but with a bit less pressure.
I have mentioned it before but if this trend continues... I would put Kaetlyn doing the SP at the team event, and Gabby in the LP.... another story though
PS Sam : i quoted you just to say that Gabby was indeed skating to rhapsody in blue
in blue !
