It is hard because the 3 top skaters were deficient in different ways. Sotnikova had all those jumps but the skating is coarse. Kim has those perfect positions and extension but was a little flat. Carolina got through it, it was beautiful but cautious like Kim. And, not so much athletic skill as S. So, all feels a little muttled.
Kim was 9 points lower than Vancouver. No one can expect to stay on the top when their scores are coming down.
As for Gracie and Americans. Davis and White have shown the way. You must have passion about improving yourself and the sport. And, tolerance for highly detailed work - day in day out. Just trying to squeeze a few more points out of your program won´t work. The skating 4 years from now will be totally evolved. If half the field now has 3-3 combination the winners in 2018 will have to have quads and multiple 3-3´s. Like Davis and White they will have to study the forms - dance styles, esthetics - of the material they persent. A few Egyptian hand movements and eyeliner won´t cut it (sorry Kaitlan



).