2019-20 U.S. Ladies Figure Skating
- Thread starter MarinHondas
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2016
Well her fs at SKAm was just.. disastrous
I too would love to see her come out strong at NHK. She needs to be strong to put herself back in the conversation for nationals. Podium will be extremely difficult, but top 5 would be enough :agree: I love her skating and wish her the best of luck this week!!!
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2019
I think her skating is wonderful, and really hope she does well, too
- Joined
- May 19, 2011
It's just always something with Karen. People want to see her succeed but there always seems to be some kind of roadblock in her way. Boot issues for years and then she was very sick at her first GP and completely tanked.
A quick average of Karen's total scores over the course of her senior career comes out to 175. She's never cleared the 200 point mark internationally (she came close at worlds in 2017 - 199.29) and all of her stronger scores come nationals. It's rare that she's on but when she is she can get good scores. For her sake, I'd like to see her do well at NHK, perhaps posting a total score of 190+. That's 100% doable for her if she skates decently; around 65 in the SP and 125 in the FS. She has the content and she gets strong PCS when she's clean. It's totally doable if she can stay focused...
I SO want her to stay focused...:sad46:
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I'm surprised she's never topped 200 internationally. Her best score wouldn't have even placed in the top 10 at Worlds earlier this year. As a comparison, Bradie has score 200+ twice this season and Mariah three times (and both surpassed the mark at Worlds). It's hard to see any of the US women breaking into the top two with the success Bradie and Mariah have had in 2019 (aside from junior-eligible Alysa).
To be honest Karen has been a bit of a disappointment with her results in big international events with the exception of Worlds in 2017. She has very few medals to show for someone of her talent and promise and hasn't even come close to winning a GP medal yet. Of course Gabby Daleman hasn't either but she did at least peak at the right time two years ago even though she's looking like one of those fluke World medalists too who hasn't really been a top 5 skater before or since who just had things fall the right way for her at the right time.
Karen has enormous talent and potential but outside of 2017 nationals (her only senior title) and worlds (scored 199) Karen's results as a senior are pretty mediocre. Her best results on the GP are two 5th place finishes from Skate America and Cup of China in 2015 (her debut senior season). Every other GP competition she usually finishes around 6th-8th and is never a factor in the medal picture. She's got 3 bronze medals (2016-17 US classic, 2015 Zagreb) and 1 silver (2019 Philadelphia) from the challengers. So it shouldn't be that surprising she never topped 200. She's never been consistent enough to gain a solid reputation for her scores to go up. Still even with all the mistakes she does tend to score decently in the PCS marks. So its clear the judges like her skating but she's not giving them a chance to go higher due to poor skates.
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2018
Her best score DID place her 4th at Worlds which helped the US have 3 spots for the Olympics, though
Two things both Mariah and Bradie haven't done (yet... hopefully!) I don't think their scores are comparable as scores in general continue to become more and more inflated, but alas, Mariah and Bradie are certainly more stable than Karen ever was. Karen will probably always be the #1 US lady in my heart, but it's true, there's always something up with her. It's unfortunate, really. Mariah and Bradie are both just now finding their consistency and improving their tech into their 20s. Karen certainly still has time, but she needs stability in her life, in her training environment, with her health for an extended amount of time. I hope she can do that one day and get the results I believe would be possible, but time will tell.
It's going to be tough for Karen to make a big improvement in her skating (performance and marks) now that she's a full-time college student. At least Nathan was already at the top of his game when he started college. It's a different story for Karen, who had two subpar seasons in a row.
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2019
Though I don’t want to speculate about someone I’ve never met, it almost seems to me like there’s just been something... missing from her skating. I think even she’s acknowledged herself that there’s an internal pressure from knowing you’re capable of skating clean but experiencing disappointment on several occasions for various reasons. I think that it’s probably possible to balance university, even on a pre-med track, even if you aren’t Nathan Chen, but something seems missing? I really hope that things work out for her.
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2016
i wish karen all the best at nhk. i know this is her first season after injury, but i don’t feel the spark i felt with her skating 2-3 years ago. she still has her signature spins and spiral, but her jumps look a bit more hesitant. nevertheless, her skating is truly beautiful and i wish for her to find her groove again.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2011
not sure if this article from January has been shared previously somewhere here (i shared it in her FF yesterday), but it's a really deep view into what Gracie was/is going through with her depression & eating disorder, where some of her issues began and how elite skating eventually lit a match to it. it also gives perspective into all the hard work she's put in to even get herself to regionals...to have now made it to nationals, she must be over the moon. i have more respect and admiration for her than ever after reading this. what a badass human.
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/sports/gracie-gold-figure-skating-.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/25/sports/gracie-gold-figure-skating-.html
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
Her best score DID place her 4th at Worlds which helped the US have 3 spots for the Olympics, though
Karen did great to place 4th at Worlds, but the field is much deeper now, especially internationally. There is a very good chance that the last three world champions not named Kaetlyn will be watching Worlds from home.
Even if Karen were to edge ahead of Bradie or Mariah at Nationals, I'm not sure if I'd send her to Worlds because we've got to have two women there who can top 200 to have any shot of the placements needed to get back three spots.
- Joined
- Mar 4, 2018
It's not certain that we will see Tursynbaeva this year. I really wouldn't put Young You or Eunsoo Lim ahead of either Bradie or Mariah. I think 4+5 and 5+6 might be more reasonable to expect. Though I'm still not sure that Russia will send it's 3 BEST ladies. They often seem to send their top two then one extra. That's the problem with having too many choices.
Eun Soo seems behind both Bradie and Mariah this season, You Young though if she lands her 3As could be ahead of both.
On Russia we'll see the team, it's also worth noting that next year Worlds is set in Canada, historically Worlds in Canada haven't been the greatest for the russians, half due to not favourable scoring (for them) and half due to weak performances. That said that was pre-Eteri era.
- Joined
- Feb 13, 2018
Quads going crazy
- Joined
- Sep 8, 2016
Some random thoughts I’m thinking about the US ladies:
Gabriella Izzo is really good on the pcs side of figure skating. If she can just land her difficult jumps and the judges give her the correct components scores, she could be a threat at nationals.
Starr Andrews really needs to skate to Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime next season. Very mature and emotional.
Hannah Harrell..... I think her sp really suits her and the lp is too princess-y for her style. This might hold her pcs back a bit. But of course none of this’ll matter if she keeps doing the rippon features, which I believe throws off her technique.
Gabriella Izzo is really good on the pcs side of figure skating. If she can just land her difficult jumps and the judges give her the correct components scores, she could be a threat at nationals.
Starr Andrews really needs to skate to Your Daddy’s Son from Ragtime next season. Very mature and emotional.
Hannah Harrell..... I think her sp really suits her and the lp is too princess-y for her style. This might hold her pcs back a bit. But of course none of this’ll matter if she keeps doing the rippon features, which I believe throws off her technique.
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2019
About Karen Chen— it seems like, too me, there’s this “oh what could have been” talk about her, and she’s had difficulty after difficulty for the past while, but I believe in her to skate well and again wish her the best of luck at NHK and then US Nationals.
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2014
This is a great post. Karen reminds me a bit of Alissa Czisny. When she was on, she was amazing but, you just never knew what to expect when she took the ice. I still watch Karen's On Golden Pond SP and think it's her best program ever.
