2021 Skate America: Women's Short Program

[TontoK]

A lot of fine skating. Johnny Weir favored Usacheva over Trusova on the basis iof basic skating skills. But Trusova commanded the ice. I am OK with the result.

Some skaters left technical points on the table, but even Starr Andrews, who finished at the bottom, has improved her overall skating this year.

I agree, and Trusova is not a favorite skater of mine. It was a close call. Coud have gone either way. I've had been fine with both outcomes. It's not like it matters - tomorrow is the key segment, not today.

 

[Lutzedge]

I agree, and Trusova is not a favorite skater of mine. It was a close call. Coud have gone either way. I've had been fine with both outcomes. It's not like it matters - tomorrow is the key segment, not today.

Agreed. Their may have been some problems with the judging, but the FS will tell a lot more.

 

[readernick]

They should bring in the Tech caller from Budapest, lol. I can live with a lenient or strict tech caller as long as its consistent among everyo

I loved that calling. Strict for everyone is fair for everyone. Lenient calling is never fair calling because some skaters don't have edge or rotation issues, but is very common so

 

[Lutzedge]

I loved that calling. Strict for everyone is fair for everyone. Lenient calling is never fair calling because some skaters don't have edge of rotation issues, but is very common so

Shcherbakova was called for not always fully rotating there, and a bunch of rotations problems were not called here. But not every event gets the correct calls.

 

[Joekaz]

I loved that calling. Strict for everyone is fair for everyone. Lenient calling is never fair calling because some skaters don't have edge or rotation issues, but is very common so

Strict? If Im not mistaken, not a single edge call was made on anyone.

 

[Joekaz]

Like it or not and I don't like it it is a fact that is how skating is scored. I feel like separate panels for PCS and TES would improve on this a lot but the ISU doesn't seem inclined to do so...so??? I love skating and I continue to watch and I accept that PCS and GOE are judged the way they are... Inaccurately

Judge no. 9 gave Kaori 9.50 SS, and Satoko 7.50! Lol

 

[LiamForeman]

I think this might have been one of the strongest SPs at SkAm ever. Nearly everyone skated to their level and were clean(ish). It's tough to see the Americans in 7, 9, and 10, but Bradie and Alysa weren't there to anchor the team. Thank goodness Isabeau will (hopefully) be at SkAm next year.

 

[readernick]

[

Strict? If Im not mistaken, not a single edge call was made on anyone.

I wasn't talking about this competition. I was talking about Budapest trophy. The panel at this competition was very lenient.

 

[Lutzedge]

I think this might have been one of the strongest SPs at SkAm ever. Nearly everyone skated to their level and were clean(ish). It's tough to see the Americans in 7, 9, and 10, but Bradie and Alysa weren't there to anchor the team. Thank goodness Isabeau will (hopefully) be at SkAm next year.

I don't understand why Alysa wasn't sent here.

 

[BlissfulSynergy]

So, did U.S. fed want to give Alysa Liu a rest? Is Bradie Tennell injured? Granted that Mariah doesn't seem ready. I guess Karen was assigned elsewhere on the GP. And U.S. fed, along with NBC, desired to fete the vaunted Russian ladies for dollars and viewership clicks. LOL! It's looking like those feisty, ubiquitous Russian darlings will sweep the podium at every event this season.

Meanwhile, Starr Andrews has a beautiful sp. She even scored 71 with this sp perfectly skated at a recent minor event with no real competition. She was so excited, she had trouble relaxing and backing up that score in her fp at that event. Here, she looked slightly nervous. There was no need for the mistake on the second jump in the 3/3 jump combo. That 61+ score though is a huge takedown from 71, with only that one mistake. This is just one highlight of the vast fakakta covefe of the scoring system.

In any case, Amber, Starr, and Audrey are the U.S. women's second tier for all intents and purposes. U.S. fed really can't act like they are giving Amber anything here when they completely robbed her of momentum and confidence after she'd proved herself with the 3-axel jump at 2021 U.S. Nationals. There was absolutely no reason for U.S. fed to send Karen Chen to WTT. Give Karen a rest. Karen went there and didn't perform well after her 4th place showing at Worlds. WTT was a perfect opportunity to show some support, and send Amber! Another example of U.S. fed's boneheaded incompetence.

 

[rollerblade]

So, did U.S. fed want to give Alysa Liu a rest? Is Bradie Tennell injured?

Alysa is assigned to Skate Canada & NHK.
Bradie was assigned here, but she's injured and is replaced by Starr.

 

[Lutzedge]

Why did Yelim Kim score so low on her stunning triple lutz/triple toe combo? She had no +5, and only one judge gave her +4!

 

[effervescentpenguin]

Hello everyone! (I've finally decided to create an account)
Just watched Trusova's short and I'm sooo happy to see her working on her artistry! Her movements were so much nicer, and during the step sequence, there were moments where she had facial expressions! I really like her programs this year, and I hope she will be as good in the free tomorrow!

 

[[email protected]]

Why did Yelim Kim score so low on her stunning triple lutz/triple toe combo? She had no +5, and only one judge gave her +4!

I am sure the reason is the lack of transitions. The entry was telegraphed, the flow out was simple. You can't expect +5 now when you are crossing backwards a half of the rink. The rest was very good - hence, +2 +3 is fair.

 

[Tolstoj]

With the components and GOE I thought there was a lot of reputation-based judging.

Looking at the top 3 Sinitsyna had the best showcase of multidirectional skating in the steps sequence and deeper edges while skating with the music and yet only level 3 with lower GOE.

I can understand maybe Usacheva being higher for speed and command but Trusova had some weak turn and steps sequence as a whole was a bit overmarked for her.

Not just that for example look at Trusova's combination spin, it was a bit slow, and not a great transition in the change of foot and yet got almost the same GOE or Sinitsyna's combo spin which was definitely faster.

I also had Usacheva first and Sinitsyna closer to Trusova at 72-73, but overall great performances from the Russians, definitely a step above the rest here.

 

[[email protected]]

Looking at the top 3 Sinitsyna had the best showcase of multidirectional skating in the steps sequence and deeper edges while skating with the music and yet only level 3 with lower GOE.

I can understand maybe Usacheva being higher for speed and command but Trusova had some weak turn and steps sequence as a whole was a bit overmarked for her.

I can't understand why you singled out Sasha? Out of 9 top skaters here only Ksenia received level 3 for her step sequence - every one else got level 4. And some of those stsq were uninspiring for the lack of the better word. I would say it for the 100th time that step sequence is the most vague element in singles FS when talking about levels. Russian women are the best jumpers and arguably the best spinners. And even regular folks can see it. But when we go to steps they frequently receive lower levels than other top skaters. So, Eteri and Co. can teach her students to jump quads but getting level 4 for step sequence is often an insurmountable obstacle? And why is that? Sure, because in general Russian skaters "have weak skating skills". We all heard that also 100s of times. I am glad that the weight of 1 level of StSq is not that high and I just hope that it will stay like that.

 

[rollerblade]

ISU Technical Panel Handbook - Step Sequence stuff on page 3 & 4.

Someone explain it to us common folks, with visual aids. I think they only have one chance at certain things (clusters?).... miss it or sloppy execution? No soup level 4 for you!

 

[[email protected]]

ISU Technical Panel Handbook - Step Sequence stuff on page 3 & 4.

Someone explain it to us common folks, with visual aids. I think they only have one chance at certain things (clusters?).... miss it or sloppy execution? No soup level 4 for you!

Well, I could understand that Satoko has higher level st sq than Ksenia but Amber Glenn and Audrey Shin? Of course, judges can see something that I don't see but I doubt it. Ksenia had a difficult elaborate St Sq without visible missteps.

 

[LadyB]

After catching up:
Dasha Usacheva: She was absolutely spectacular - what a star in the making! Just the dress looked rather like lingerie to me...
Sasha Trusova: Oh yes, my girl Sasha! She's ab fab! What a skater! Loved the dress, very apt for the occassion, reminded me a bit of Simon Biles's outfit. Onwards and upwards, girl, we're right behind you.

Super happy that all three Russian girls are in top spot at the mo and I'm looking forward to FS!

 

[LiamForeman]

What's interesting is I dragged my husband to the tv to watch the event. He now loves Daria Us-A-chyova. He's only been hearing me gush about 20 Russian skaters for the past six years so now he knows who Daria is. His favorite is still Anna (probably because she's my fave too, lol) but he's all into the Russia/Eteri/World domination thing. lol. Interestingly, he REALLY didn't like Sasha's skating and thought it was too rough and unrefined and not at Daria's level. He almost was repelled by it. I just said "I know, I know, but when she hits her quads you forget about all that...."