2025 World Championships Practice Reports | Page 5 | Golden Skate

2025 World Championships Practice Reports

Livia KAISER SUI skating her FS marking her early jumps as she is first to skate. She cleanly lands her jumps starting mid -program - again very good for skating so early. The Debussy program is lovely.
 
Kimmy REPOND SUI skating her FS is attempting all her jumps to Gladiator early. She looks very ready and takes a break mid-program. She is very striking on the ice. Attempting all the jumps and footwork solidly.
 
Amber GLENN USA skating her FS tries to squeeze in her opening 3A in traffic and falls. Lands the next combo. She seems unconcerned and regroups attacking the next few jumps successfully. She has some of the best centered spins.
 
Isabeau LEVITO USA skates her FS. She looks very in shape. She lands an opening 3F with wide leg swing but looked rotated to me. Nice 3Loop and 2A. Spins looked stable and lovely. Second 3F looks better than the first one. A 3LZ combo with less mule kick than before and landed well. Vast improvement from her last outing. She seems over her center as she skates. If she skates like that she should do well.
 
Alysa LIU USA skating her FS moves with a lot of speed and opens with a clean 3F. She is smiling and enjoying herself as she takes a short break and skates the second pat of her run through with nice 3LZ and 2A. She looks settled and ready.
 
Amber GLENN USA skating her FS tries to squeeze in her opening 3A in traffic and falls. Lands the next combo. She seems unconcerned and regroups attacking the next few jumps successfully. She has some of the best centered spins.
Attempted another 3A at end of practice, and stepped out. That’s OK, Amber, get those nerves out now, you’ve got this!!
 
Here are my practice notes compiled throughout the day from the women - I couldn't watch the entire time, but here are some of the things I noticed.

Wow, I am not reading that essay! Can you give me the TLDR in regards to my predictions?

Absolutely! I think the Japanese women are looking okay - I'm giving them grace due to the travel impacts but none of them are at 100% energy yet. Wakaba's 3+3 still has some rotation issues, which could be a huge factor in where she places. The Korean women look strong overall - Ahsun had the jumps but she struggles with PCS - and Haein had a couple pop concerns. Chaeyeon looks solid. I think Maddie Schizas and Niina Petrokina are going to have great Worlds, both of them are on fire. I am less confident about Nina Pinzarrone, she had a lot of under jumps and just looked tight the entire practice. Kimmy Repond looks to be a solid top-10 bet - she had a good practice session. Amber really seemed to be a bit off - she is battling some injury issues and had a tough past few months - but I will note that a home crowd could be a huge boost for her, so I wouldn't count her out. She's just a little hot-and-cold with some of the jumps. Isabeau looks solid - she lost some speed and confidence in her elements, but everything seems to be back, with the exception of her 3+3. Alysa looks really strong - based on how her 3+3 rotation is looking, she could definitely be top 5 (she didn't attempt a 3+3 in this practice)

Notes from the Main Rink (from the Internet)

Dance

The dancers are apparently quite brave - almost all of them showed up for MR practice at 6:00, with the only exception being Piper & Paul. Dance practices will be sparsely attended outside of the MR due to odd practice times and the fact that they don't compete until Friday. Expect a lot of pattern marking in the MR for the dancers - this is an oddly-sized NHL rink with LED boards, so the spacing is different than in their home rink and the practice rink. Apparently the LED boards are heavy-duty, which is good because I expect a few collisions. Smart/Dieck got a good reception from the crowd, and apparently the Mrazeks and Demogeot / Le Mercier are looking strong

Women

G1
This group was quite low-key - a lot of marked jumps, probably because this practice started at 6:30 in the morning and most of these women will have been up for hours off of a travel day and jet lag. Olga Mikutina was not at this practice, but Mia Risa Gomez had a strong jump run-through considering the time.

G2

This was a very stacked group. Maddie Schizas marks her opening jumps, but seems to be enjoying this program, and the jumps she lands are very nicely done. The arena is so tiny I can spot Chaeyeon Kim warming up :LOL:. Mone Chiba starts with a very nice 3F+3T but after that has two wonky pops. She seems to be struggling with the edge jumps, but her toe jumps are lovely, although she had some unders creep in at the end of the program - I wonder if it's the ice or the jet lag, or something else. This program has really grown over the course of the season. Wakaba looks very relaxed during her FS runthrough, although she is still struggling with rotation on her 3+3, which could really affect her placement in the SP. This program could really be a moment in Boston if she's clean - even in practice, it's so engaging. Kaori is up next with her FS - her speed is remarkable. The edge on her 3Lz looks better, and this program has so much transitional content - I'm exhausted just watching her run this program. She is skating well in the first half, but pops her 3F into a 2F on the combo and steps out of the 3Lz - I wonder if the travel fatigue set in, she just seemed a little tired. It's a 13-hour time difference from Japan, and just as long a flight, so I'm not surprised all of the Japanese skaters were a bit out of sorts today.

G3

Lorine Schild continues the theme of marking jumps, and Anastasiia Gubanova is not on the practice rink. Sofia Samodelkina is solid - lovely jumps, nice transitions out, but a lot of crossovers for the rest of the program. She has a couple pops and scrappy landings creep in at the end of the program, but otherwise looks well-trained. Chaeyeon looks solid as well, perhaps a teeny bit tight throughout the program but overall is skating well. She seemed a little shocked by the fall. Haein also seemed quite dejected after a flurry of pops, but her opening 3+3 was lovely.

G4

Lots more marking - Niina Petrokina purposefully marked her triples, but overall seems to be riding the success of her Euros win. I personally think she could finish top-5 if she continues to skate like this - she rarely gets calls, she has great spins, and has two dynamic programs. Mariia Seniuk and Katya Kurakova both seem to be struggling with underrotations - depending on the tech panel, they might struggle a lot with their scores.

G5

Nina Pinzarrone struggles with the jumps - lots of tight, underrotated landings - but her free program is still gorgeous. Normally, she is strong in practice and this problem is amplified in competition, so I worry that she is already struggling with nerves. No Xiangyi An, but a solid skate from Kristen Spours - she has a lot of energy in her choreo sequence, and she slowly got her feet under her for her jumps. Lara Naki Gutmann looks strong as well - the few jumps she attempts in her free program runthrough are nicely done. Sofja Stepcenko and Julia Sauter both largely mark their programs - I love Julia's skating but I find it quite funny that she merged two warhorses together for her free program - To Build a Home and RIYBE. I really hope Julia can qualify for the Olympics.

G6

I am quite curious about this group - how is Isabeau looking? Has Alysa improved the rotation on her 3+3? Livia Kaiser marked her opening few jumping passes, and looked a little tight on her second-half jumps - she's definitely more in shape than at the beginning of the season but I still think she has some UR issues. Kimmy was a bit off-axis with some of her jumps, but managed to save a lot of them - they look a bit bigger than in the past, and she skated a basically clean runthrough. Amber opens with a fall on the 3A - normally a money element for her - but comes back with a solid 3F+3T. She took a hard fall on a 3S before her music - she just went totally off-axis and popped open. Her jumps are a bit hot-and-cold - some are really strong, like both of her 3Fs, and some are a little tight, like the sal. Normally, she is very consistent in practice, so this is a bit worrying, but she is also a fighter and I think the audience will be behind her all the way during the competition. Isabeau seems quite slow compared to Amber - she did a lot to improve her speed last season and I fear that got lost with her time off with injury. The jumps are there, but they don't look the most confident - she is really fighting for the lutzes and flips. She is also avoiding the 3+3 during her free program runthrough, and the one she attempted outside of the music was under. Alysa looks sharp - she's not doing a full runthrough, so I can't really gauge where her stamina is at, but she seems relaxed and seemed to be feeling good through the step sequence at the end of the program. Of all the US women, she might be in the best position - she's handled being in medal position at Worlds, the stress of the Olympics, and I think an energetic crowd with this program could help push her through the last-minute fatigue. Her big question is the 3+3 rotation - she needs it to be clean to get a good SP score and stay in medal contention.
 
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For first day of practice after travel - that is encouraging for the skaters.
No real worrisome skates for anyone.

Not worried about Amber or Alysa - 3 East coast trips in a short time - give them a dayto get settled and the next skates should be better.
 
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Wednesday 26-Mar-25
Men SP or FS
Group 1 10:30-11:05

Kevin AYMOZ FRA
Adam SIAO HIM FA FRA
Aleksandr VLASENKO HUN
Donovan CARRILLO MEX
Andreas NORDEBACK SWE
 
All skaters present on ice
Kevin AYMOZ FRA skates his SP - a new one that he marks all the jumps as the first skater. Hobbies Drinking coffee and dreaming. Not sure about the music - it is not grabbing me. I believe he changed it to acknowledge the plane crash.
 
Adam SIAO HIM FA FRA skates his FS and also marks his jumps. He skated very well at the recent Sonja Henie Trophy and those skates are in that thread. Not a full run through for Adam.
 
All skaters present on ice
Kevin AYMOZ FRA skates his SP - a new one that he marks all the jumps as the first skater. Hobbies Drinking coffee and dreaming. Not sure about the music - it is not grabbing me. I believe he changed it to acknowledge the plane crash.
It's his last season short. He got in last night from his flight from Germany, so probably really tired.
 
Donovan CARRILLO MEX skates his FS and barely gets to his start position and the music starts early. He rushes to catch up and underrotates his quad attempt. Beautiful 3A and smooth 3F. Short on the 3Lz and falls - still one of the most beautiful skaters and jumpers. So much charisma. He seems disappointed with that skate.
 
Here are my practice notes compiled throughout the day from the women - I couldn't watch the entire time, but here are some of the things I noticed.
...

Women

G1
This group was quite low-key - a lot of marked jumps, probably because this practice started at 6:30 in the morning and most of these women will have been up for hours off of a travel day and jet lag. Olga Mikutina was not at this practice, but Mia Risa Gomez had a strong jump run-through considering the time.
Mia already arrived on Saturday, and had a practice session both on Sunday and yesterday. So she is probably not as jet lagged anymore as others who arrived yesterday. I´m a bit confused why Olga isn´t already there. She posted she was on a plane 16 hours ago - from NJ? But then she reposted a picture that Galit Chait posted on her story 3 hours ago, that they are sitting on the plane on their way to Boston. The picture could be from yesterday, just posted later though 🤔 Ah well, I guess she will be om the evening practice. I´m hoping Olga is doing allright, I have been a little worried since she seemed to be out of training for a long time around Euros. But she did post a story last week doing a 3lz-3T combo, so it seems she is back in shape.
 
Andreas NORDEBACK SWE skates his FS. His hobbies are stocks and daytrading. I feel the rink announcer is rushing these men to their starts. Very nice skate for Andreas - the somewhat voidy music and slow and fast parts suit his style of skating and make him more interesting.
 
Men SP or FS
Group 2 11:05-11:40

Semen DANILIANTS ARM
Jari KESSLER CRO
Nikita STAROSTIN GER
Junhwan CHA KOR
Hyungyeom KIM KOR
Vladimir SAMOILOV POL
 
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