2022 Worlds: Pairs' FS - Thoughts?

[gsk8]

USA's Knierim and Frazier take gold in Worlds debut as a team

USA’s Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier maintained their overnight lead to win the Pairs event after the Free Skate at the 2022 World Figure Skating Championships on Thursday in Montpellier, France. […]

www.goldenskate.com

With the absence of strong pair teams from China and Russia, the three spots on the podium were up for grabs. China elected not to send any athletes to the event, while the Russians have been banned from competing. At the end of the day, the United States took its first gold in the Pairs event since Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner won in 1979.

In the meantime, I just hope Cain-Gribble has a quick recovery! She had a look of confusion on her face after her head hit the ice.

 

[el henry]

Prayers up for Ashley. That brief moment sure looked like the effects of a concussion (not that I am a medical expert and of course we need to hear from them) and she has had a serious concussion before.

 

[pearly]

It was terrible seeing her fall like that again. Same music, same program, same outfit... similar fall. Terrible. I'm so sorry, they worked so hard and I wish they'd gotten a medal.

 

[liv]

Prayers up for Ashley. That brief moment sure looked like the effects of a concussion (not that I am a medical expert and of course we need to hear from them) and she has had a serious concussion before.

Yeah. that was my impression too. She looked so utterly confused. I'm no medical expert either, but I've had a few concussions and that look of confusion was very familiar to me. From what I know, each concussion can be worse than the previous one, so I'm hoping she'll be ok. That chin banging on the ice was just awful to look at.

 

[Kitt]

How Alexa and Brandon were able to concentrate and pull off a win after Ashley is a miracle.

 

[macy]

I really hope Ashley is ok! She has had some bad luck with falls and it's so unfortunate it happened here, likely their only chance to win a world medal. I hope we get an update soon.

Alexa and Brandon showed some insane mental strength today. Not only did they have the pressure of being first after the short and skating last but also skating right after what happened with Ashley. Congratulations to them, amazing skate and well deserved world champions!!

 

[ladyjane]

Later......please. I'.m still worrying about Ashley......

 

[16Olympics]

Prayers for Ashley and that her condition is not serious. Kudos to Alexa and Brandon for performing so solidly after Ashley had to be taken off the ice.
I just couldn't breathe after Ashley fell the 2nd time. Please be okay.

 

[Ziotic]

So USA, Japan, and Canada all get 3 spots for 2023. Georgia, Germany, Austria, France, Netherlands, and UK get 2 spots.

 

[el henry]

Cross posting: we don't know anything yet, but she is being evaluated:

 

[mrrice]

It's hard to celebrate right now but, I am so happy for Alexa and Brandon. Chris K just tweeted "My Wife Is A World Champion" I thought that was very sweet

 

[ucrgirl]

I am so thrilled for Alexa and Brandon. I had been worried that they would tense up during the free skate after finding themselves in the lead. I wish that the other teams had skated better. I know the top American teams might be retiring but it would be exciting to see them stick around and continue to improve.

I am excited to watch the Japanese team continue to improve.

 

[Sai Bon]

gsk8, you need to correct the end of the first paragraph:

USA’s Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, who stood in a close second after the short, had to withdraw after Knierim hit her head during a fall.

 

[mrrice]

gsk8, you need to correct the end of the first paragraph:

USA’s Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy LeDuc, who stood in a close second after the short, had to withdraw after Knierim hit her head during a fall.

According to the reports I've read, this is backwards. Ashley is the one who hit her head, and she and her partner were the couple who withdrew. Brandon Alexa are the World Champions.

 

[noskates]

gsk8 just made a little error. I'm sure she knows who fell and who won.

Very happy for Alexa and Brandon. Thought it was cute that Todd had a facetime going with Chris Scimeca so he and Alexa could talk. I hope Ashley recovers quickly from this setback. It's so awful that it happened but to have it happen when they were almost assured a World Medal just makes it even worse.

 

[moonvine]

I forced myself to watch again and I’m concerned Ashley has multiple injuries. The first two times she fell she definitely did not hit her head. The third time she fell she definitely did - but why did she fall 3x in succession? That’s not normal

 

[TontoK]

Alexa and Brandon: PBs in the Short Program, Long Program, and Total Score.

There is nothing more you can ask of athletes. Really well done.

I am very concerned about Ashley. It seems at least possible that this is another concussion... and like my friend @el henry I am not a medical expert... and if so, I hope they will retire. I know former athletes that have suffered multiple concussions, and it's not a good longterm outlook.

Prayers for her and her family.

 

[Ladskater]

Terrible fall for Ashley, hope she is okay. I'm happy for Radford/James winning the Bronze, it was a tough year for them and all the Canadian team. Congrats to the other team for their Gold.

 

[rain]

James/Radford should have won the silver. The Japanese team (who seem like lovely people and a pairs team that is improving quickly) didn't have a single clean jumping element in that entire skate (in spite of the ridiculous positive GOE on their first throw where she pitched so far forward I had to watch the replay to see if she touched the ice). That's four whole botched elements. Even given their lead after the short it shouldn't have been enough, not by a long shot.

K/F had the most inspiring performance of the event, no doubt, and deservedly won.

Hope Ashley Cain-Gribble is alright going forward.

 

[nickp91]

Tai Babilonia and Randy Gardner won worlds in 1979 That's 43 years ago The only other time US won world pairs was in 1950 when Karol and Peter Kennedy won