Gracie has never been at a major ISU event before-so yes, she may not know the protocol.
Nobody was arguing that Sasha had better jumps or consistency than Julia. The point was that she had more artistry even at an early age. And yes, star quality.
BUT - I just watched Julia's FS and it's the best I've seen from her by a long shot. She finishes everything off with such beautiful arm and hand movements. Hopefully soon she'll point her toes in the layback! Anybody want to bet she'll be doing Swan Lake next year?
Just watched the Top 4 in the free. I really enjoyed Lipnitskaya, she was a deserved winner. I like the use of her flexibility, I though the music and choreography worked well. I didn't realise Morozov was involved.
Gold has great jumps, high and powerfull but other aspects are a bit lacking yet but she has time to work on that. I did think she was a bit overmarked in the PCS elements. Sotnikova had a programme of two halves, first part very impressive and then she seemed to lose focus and then came the stumbles and fall. I like her as a skater, she has had a difficult season but she has come through it in one piece.
I like Shelpen, she does two 3/3 combos, and she went for it. She had a lot riding on this and it may have been enough to guarantee a spot for Senior Worlds. I think she was a bit undermarked compared to 2nd and 3rd. I definitely would not have Gold ahead of her on PCS.
All the skaters have been very well received by the crowd, which seemed fairly sizeable, they got behind all the skaters.
These were exactly my thoughts- that I felt she must have REALLY been working with someone on her arms between Russian Junior Nationals and now. I am a huge fan of Julia so I liked her program very much before but I think this is the first time I've seen her in a while where I was really WOWED by her now that I am kind of 'over' her flexibility.
Videos - Ladies Free Skate (Updated: Eurosport & Other TV Versions Where Available)
1. Julia LIPNITSKAYA - Long Program (RUS) (FS = 1st), LP - 2nd Copy and Short Program
2. Gracie GOLD - Long Program (USA) (FS = 2nd) and Short Program
3. Adelina SOTNIKOVA - Long Program (RUS) (FS = 3rd) and Short Program
4. Satoko MIYAHARA - Long Program (JPN) (FS = 6th) and Short Program
5. Zijun LI - Long Program (CHN) (FS = 5th) and Short Program
6. Polina SHELEPEN - Long Program (RUS) (FS = 4th) and Short Program
7. Christina GAO - Long Program (USA) (FS = 7th) and Short Program
8. Hae-Jin KIM - Long Program (KOR) (FS = 8th) and Short Program
10. Kaetlyn OSMOND - Long Program (CAN) (FS = 10th) and Short Program
12. Miu SATO - Long Program (JPN) (FS = 12th) and Short Program
20. Risa SHOJI - Long Program (JPN) (FS = 22nd) and Short Program
Christina Gao started beautifully with her 3F-3T but struggled in the second half of the program and ran out of steam after 2-footing the loop. She's matured a lot artistically but not quite enough to pull off this tango (which at the beginning of the season I thought would be fantastic). She's so striking with those endless limbs and that exotically beautiful face, but doesn't have much style yet. I wonder how she would do with a classical piece that has both beauty and some modern angularity, like Prokofiev's 1st violin concerto or the Franck violin sonata. I keep rooting for her.
I have not read all the comments with 17 pages long...but what happened to Risa???
I know Risa has problems to UR calls, flutz, slow spins, etc. but was surprised to see her as low as 20th at this particular competition.
She was so promising last season when she made a 'splash' to win her first Jr. Grand Prix event in Japan and then placed 5th at the Nationals.
According to Japanese TV broadcast, she was injured right foot.
I like her skating. I pray that her injury heal faster.:no:
CBC has the Junior Worlds on line. I don't know if it's geoblocked.
http://www.cbc.ca/sports/figureskating/video/#id=2205468834&tab=3