Ladies as it happened
Our Ladies were the first on ice and I felt they all did wonderful! Yes, sure, we had our unlucky kitten
Michaela Hanzlikova who just couldn´t show her full potential today just like
Emmi, the local hero, who missed the Free Skate as well after popping the loop, but overall it was a high class competition with huge scores and a couple of surprises.
Back at Boston, a total of 49.86 was more than enough to book your ticket into day II, this year however,
Nicole Schott needed 54.83! We are talking of about five more points than last year, which is a huge development among our Ladies and everyone has contributed to that great achievement!
Of course, there is always that one special moment to look forward to and this year it was once again a Russian skater who delivered exactly this to me.
While I have lost my heart a few times today,
Maria Sotskova was the one who took it with her off ice! Coming sixth with 69.76, she did absolutely wonderful, her skating is so special and touching, I can´t get enough of it and she has such beautiful eyes, doesn´t she?!
Something btw. that a so called media "FS expert" quoted as "boring", which made me wonder if the refreshments of this guy, were actually served as Vodka instead of water!
Anyways, Masha skates with so much heart and soul, it is so calm, very subtle and therefore incredible charming. She always paints her music on ice, not like a maniac with the chainsaw, but a young kitten with it´s paws. For me, she touched me just a bit more than everyone else today. :luv17:
Another, but much smaller athlete from Japan, also enchanted me today.
Wakaba Higuchi, who skated to music by Ennio Morricone, - showing great involvement with her program, it was soft and yet powerful, she found a great balance between grace and athleticism, my favorite lady from Japan in the short and the crowd was out of their socks too! The crowd in general, was very supportive, similar to those in Russia or Canada, where everyone get´s a round of applause and some fans brought a huge arsenal of flags, while one lady almost fell down the stairs when she tried to throw her flowers on ice.
The ice in general, seemed in better shape today, than back at Taiwan, where we had a little crash and go during competitions and my third big skate of the day, came from
Laurine Lecavelier, who actually started with a fall on her lutz – toe combination, finishing on 22th.
Said error did not hurt her too much though, as she was once again a true lady on ice. I so love her commitment, she always has a message for you and it all looks so easy and graceful! Did you see the "silence" on her dress and those beautiful eyes fully involved with her performance? It´s those small details that she has, it´s fantastic and defines a true lady on ice, for me.
Said lady feeling is what I am very addicted to, don´t get me wrong, it is nice to have the kids on ice, but once in a while the guy in me, loves to "check out" our beautiful ladies too. One of those is without a doubt
Kaety Osmond, who in my opinion has one of the best SP´s this year, a worthy follow up to Alaine, who sadly can´t be here!
In absence of Canadians number three, Gabby and Kaetlyn offered two amazing performances, it was right there on the money. Osmond always grabs me, with how she sells her programs, having all those difficult transitions, a very busy program and yet always a positive look on her face, with huge jumps!
Huge was also her outfit and again, I am not an expert but she absolutely nailed it this season with her SP dress. I love the piece of fabric around her neck, does this already classify as a scarf, I wonder?
Anyways, it was breathtaking what these two ladies did today and it makes me very happy and I hope they can keep it up and that the pressure from the Canadian press and the fans, will stay where it belongs, inside the garbage can!
Not at all garbage, but super entertaining was a lady who did not even skate today! Brian Orser, called her "funny mom" and I so agree with that. Said lady, was celebrating the 10th spot of her daughter, more than the young Kazakhstani herself and
Elizabet had to calm her mom down a few times, as she wanted to hug the whole world, out of sheer happiness!
Said world, witnessed a brilliant competition and was once again impressed by our Russian leader
Evgenia Medvedeva, who did skate lights out and is without a doubt the well deserved leader and right now, it seems very hard to kick her from the throne!
I believe, there has never been a king on the throne of America, but lot´s of skaters who won medals and became a queen, like
Ms Wagner last season. This year, however, our American Ladies have not yet checked in, something that they will try to change in two days time, with
Karen currently on five and Ashley on 7th, ,which Wagner commentated as "it´s so close!" and it surely is only a small margin and in theory, everyone of the top 10, can still win a medal, with just seven points between three and ten!
I am sure we can all expect a big fight from team USA and our former Bronze medalist
Anna, who currently resides on 4, with less than one point on Gabby, is definitely a hot favorite as well, even for gold, as she always delivers when it counts and if I am allowed to say that, she was absolutely stunning, how did that beauty not land on the podium, oh boy luckily I am not a judge!
Another beauty and we are now slowly coming to an end, is
Mariah Bell and she has two very good arguments to like her and no I am not talking of "those" two!
Yes her dresses are super hot, but whats inside is even hotter, as she brings so much joy with her. The choreographies have great depth, she attacks her elements and always with a positive attitude, a true American sunshine! :thumbsup:
From a personal aspect, I was a very big fan of
Helery Hälvin with her "you raise me up" performance, as this is exactly what figure skating does for me since about 18 months. Where would I be without these amazing skaters, I don´t know...
Anyways, my last few words go to
Anastasia Galustyan and
Dasa Grm, two of the early birds today. The Slovenian Lady, sadly missed the final, but she showed us her naughty side today, while still remembering that there is one German guy, who loves this lady and her grace, so she offered lot´s of that as well.
More success with her placement did Nastia have, as she came 23th and I bet she would be in the top 20 if it wasn´t for the early starting position. What I always like about her is the gracefulness and how she appreciates the support by the crowds, similar to our Latvian lady,
Angelina who also qualified and made her coach Jekaterina cry in the process.
As for Anastasia she did almost cry as well, but in my opinion, she had no reason to. Mistakes just happen and she has the ability to skate for everyone in the stands, even if you sit directly under the roof and only see a small dot on the ice. It´s an ability that matters a lot and while she was disappointed about the loss of her planned triple Lutz – triple Toe combination, she is someone for the future, just like Masha and did you see Lani, wow she made Australia proud and don´t even get me started on
Ivett Toth, oh boy what a gifted skater and great artist on ice, the leader of a whole Armada from huge talents of Hungarian Figure Skating.
Well,
that´s it for now about our wonderful Ladies, thanks for an amazing time and take a day off tomorrow and come visit the "Aleksi", you like shopping don´t ya?!
Yet, I can only hear compliments .... from most commentators, despite their nationality, who are much more professional than you guys, imo.
