2024 GP France: Women's Thoughts?

[gsk8]

Amber Glenn pockets first Grand Prix gold in France

2024 Grand Prix de France | Women USA's Amber Glenn pocketed her first Grand Prix gold medal in the Women's competition at 2024 Grand Prix de France on

www.goldenskate.com

It was so nice to see Glenn win her first GP gold!

What are your thoughts on the women's event? Favorite programs?
Who do you think has improved the most since last season?

 

[4everchan]

Amber Glenn's SP and reaction in the KnC. That's what I will remember from this event. WOW

 

[rabidline]

I just love, love, love Wakaba's focus. It's been steadily building throughout the local shows and comps but just another level for the GPs, which allows her to stay in contention and capitalize on the opportunities even with the rotation calls and lack of faith from the judges. If she can maintain this, 2026 will be very interesting.

 

[Joekaz]

I just love, love, love Wakaba's focus. It's been steadily building throughout the local shows and comps but just another level for the GPs, which allows her to stay in contention and capitalize on the opportunities even with the rotation calls and lack of faith from the judges. If she can maintain this, 2026 will be very interesting.

Many of the rotation calls she gets are ridiculous. Then you see others do worse and get nothing. Amber didn't even get a q today after stumbling all over the ice. I knew the judges would do everything they could to get an American into GPF, but today was ridiculous the way they bailed Amber out after they gave her an inflated cushion from the short. Wakaba should have been mid 140s with that skate today.

 

[Mathman]

So this puts Wakaba in the GP Final, yes?

 

[Zora]

So many bland programs, really what happened to figure skating. Especially Glenn and Gubanova, also Higuchi (until the final minute or so), Kim, Mihara. Rion Sumiyoshi had like 2-3 moments in her step sequence where she was actually interpretating the music, that was interesting.

 

[lariko]

Loved that Amber won. Great 3As!

 

[readernick]

I like Amber, Chaeyeon, and Wakaba. They are all great skaters. I enjoyed Amber and Chaeyeon's SPs. Nice skating skills and great programs. I enjoyed the second half of Wakaba's FS. Wakaba's StepSeq is great. Sarah is very steady but really needs to work on her basic skating to improve her scores. Rion has made progress artistically this season. She has the most beautiful dresses. I like her SP. The LP is okay. Nina's basic skating is hard for me. But, I love her dresses and her spins. On the whole, it was okay.

 

[Idiote]

SO happy for Wakaba !!! I adore her programs this year, I'm elated she's skating to my absolute beloved AURORA. I was tear-eyed during the entire skate, it was so powerful. I would have given her the win but I can't be mad that Amber took it, her short was amazing and she had one of her best free skates in years (in terms of jumps landed I mean, musically it's as blend and bad as non-French bread). Love them both, and hope Amber manages her next assignment well so I can see them both again in Grenoble !

I'm most gutted for Chaeyeon, I love her so much. She was so solid but then she took a really hard fall I hoped that the little lead she had from the short would suffice to maintain a podium spot, but sadly it wasn't. I hope she's not too tired and disappointed, she still has an outside shot at the Final, and even if she doesn't get there that didn't stop her from winning a Worlds medal.

I understand that Rion has smoother skating, but she was messier than Chaeyeon overall and should have been fourth, imo. Even her 4T last year was much better. I do like her program though.

Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun is one of my all-time favourite classical pieces, so I really liked Livia's program despite the mistakes.

I really, really love Nina's programs this year. Hated Spartacus last season so even though "The Handmaid's Tale B E N O I T-ified" is controversial it's a huge improvement in my book. The music is so gorgeous, as is the dress ; and when she's on, Nina can be really ethereal, strong and polished. I actually hope she keeps the program for the Olympics. Saw her in the stands but I got too shy to tell her I love her skating

Sarah had an amazing Grand Prix debut, congrats to her !! Story time, I ran across her in the arena after the pairs, I didn't have any paper on my so I asked her to sign one of my playing cards (I always carry a deck of cards with me, I shuffle them when I need to stim), she asked "... why don't you just steal a piece of paper?" lol she was so confused x') Love getting roasted by a teen x') I like her real, no-nonsense attitude so I'm not mad. Plus I have a Queen of Hearts with Sarah's signature and a funny anecdote that exposes me for the clown I am so it's great ^^" Can't wait to see how she develops, she has a bright future.


Wish I could say more about all the other skaters but I barely got home and even though I had a blast, this weekend was a lot for my autistic brain and I need some rest. I did enjoy this event a lot more than last year. Congrats to all the ladies they are amazing !

 

[Rebecca Moose]

Happy for Miss Amber Glenn to win gold here, but her long program lacks highs or lows and the jumps were messy. Luckily her basic skating and high degree of difficulty saves her somewhat.

Higuchi was good, but I find her slightly overrated here. I'm only seeing spurts of interpretation...the program is fine, but not stunning. Second place was correct.

Sarah Everhardt's bargain bin "Firebird" program is a detriment. She could have medaled with a proper program and packaging.

I thought Chaeyeon Kim and Nina Pinzaronne had lovely long programs. Some very nice choreography in both.

 

[ramurphy2005]

I enjoyed the second half of Wakaba's FS. Wakaba's StepSeq is great.

I've realized why I have trouble getting into the first half of Wakaba's FS. That song opens Moulin Rouge, and even though I know this program is anything but a Moulin Rouge program, I still associate it with the movie.

 

[RobinA]

Amber didn't even get a q today after stumbling all over the ice. I knew the judges would do everything they could to get an American into GPF, but today was ridiculous the way they bailed Amber out after they gave her an inflated cushion from the short. Wakaba should have been mid 140s with that skate today.

I watched a replay and I heard Amber won, so when she went out on the ice I figured she had finally put together a decent long. Nope. So then I thought maybe I had misheard that she won. Nope. I couldn't figure out how in the world she had won and figured maybe she was just so far ahead from the short. I guess your explanation is as good as any, because her win did not make any sense.

 

[Joekaz]

I watched a replay and I heard Amber won, so when she went out on the ice I figured she had finally put together a decent long. Nope. So then I thought maybe I had misheard that she won. Nope. I couldn't figure out how in the world she had won and figured maybe she was just so far ahead from the short. I guess your explanation is as good as any, because her win did not make any sense.

Fugure Skating politics are very predictable unfortunately.

 

[Mathman]

I couldn't figure out how in the world [Amber] had won and figured maybe she was just so far ahead from the short.

That explanation is supported by the protocols. In the SP (thanks to a fine triple Axel and positive GOE across the board, Amber outpointed Wakaba by ten points in TES. That cushion prevailed despite a subpar LP.

 

[Sai Bon]

Finally caught up last night. Terrific win for Amber. Although she made mistakes in the FP, she didn't fall apart and just kept on going, which is an achievement in itself. So happy for Wakaba - is it the first time she's done a clean FP in a major event in recent years? She looked focused, confident, and stable. I love that she and Amber have each won a GP after so many years on the circuit. Rion did well too, but she looked more smooth and flowy in the SP. Feel bad for Chaeyon - it was a nasty-looking fall. She is so talented, but sometimes she looks a bit robotic. Maybe she's not feeling the FP music?

 

[Joekaz]

That explanation is supported by the protocols. In the SP (thanks to a fine triple Axel and positive GOE across the board, Amber outpointed Wakaba by ten points in TES. That cushion prevailed despite a subpar LP.

If it wasn't supported by the protocols she couldn't win. You could say that about any competition no matter how poor the judging. The question is always how fair was the judging? Without arguing over individual calls, I think it is fair to say that the tech calls were pretty strict to everyone, except Amber. Coincidentally, she also was generously scored in PCS as well. Lol

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Amber clearly earned the gold , that short was just brilliant and rightly gave her a massive lead. Even though she made mistakes in the free, she was tenacious and didn't let the title slip away.


It's great Wakaba Higuchi made the final.
But unfortunately she's one of those skaters that seems to have attracted an extremely unhealthy fanbase. They can't celebrate her qualifying for the final- youtube was awash with nasty, homophobic comments about Amber Glenn and truly deranged conspiracy theories. I'm sure I wasn't the only one to report those comments, so hopefully they've been deleted and neither skater is aware of them. I'm kinda mad that the biggest impression I got about her in this competition was poor fan behaviour as she's clearly very talented

I thought Rion Sumiyoshi, while not flawless in the free, was incredible, and I hope she can make the final. I think Nina Pinzaronne has the potential to win the European title this year. Anastasia Gubanova has finally gotten some choreography that does her justice in this judging system- yay!

 

[throw_triple_flip]

If it wasn't supported by the protocols she couldn't win. You could say that about any competition no matter how poor the judging. The question is always how fair was the judging? Without arguing over individual calls, I think it is fair to say that the tech calls were pretty strict to everyone, except Amber. Coincidentally, she also was generously scored in PCS as well. Lol

So, you're biased toward one particular skater. Isn't it possible that's what is swaying your feelings about the scoring?

Glenn, even with mistakes, is clearly a strong component skater.

 

[throw_triple_flip]

Fugure Skating politics are very predictable unfortunately.

I find your certainty regarding this interesting. Have you any actual personal experience of this?

Plenty of fan conspiracy theories are contradictory or don't end up reflecting the reality of the results. But they're getting treated like they're factual.

I'm not saying that political machinations are impossible in sport. But the assumptions that are made about the nature of that, how do you know these are accurate? I doubt many of the people making these assertions online have much real experience of judging or even competing at an elite level.

 

[Joekaz]

So, you're biased toward one particular skater. Isn't it possible that's what is swaying your feelings about the scoring?

Glenn, even with mistakes, is clearly a strong component skater.

But she is certainly not superior to Higuchi. And I said ALL the other skaters were judged harshly by the tech panel except Amber. Don't you agree?