Day three recap (focus on Juniors)
If you want to know what happened at the advanced, please look above. As a short summary, it was a Russian swipe, with
Varvara, Sofia and Evgenii winning gold and many hearts on the way.
If you see how proud Evgenii was on the podium, it meant the world for him and our girls, oh yes - they were twice on the podium now at our events in Germany and they still impress me every time they skate, not only because of their dominance, no - there is a lot more to discover with Russian athletes, it´s an amazing artistry, with beautiful choreographies and the jumps, like Evgenii´s triple Axel!
If you want to know more about these athletes, please check above, as I will now focus on our Junior Ladies and it was an absolute thrill to meet them off ice and see them skate.
Let´s start with the Junior Ladies I
Well, what a Drama on the ice, nasty falls and strong hearts, pretty dresses and outstanding choreographies, I was greatly entertained and i was very happy that we got a bit of everything. Our Party girl
Paula, coming 7th, made everyone move again, with an even better program than at NRW, fighting for every element, such a lion this girl is, never giving up and always cracking a smile while fighting with these nasty landings.
Then we had
Pauline Wanner, who came 5th in total. Oh boy, what a fabolous skater she is, the varius phrases of the music, perfectly aligned with her elements, like the huge layback at the end.
I remember this girl from NRW a few years back and I instantly loved her style, she just does it every time, a beautiful stepsequence, the whole audience was completely silenced, you could hear a needle drop, she grabbed everyone there, the mix of loud and quiet, perfectly used in her choreographie and choice of elements.
There is definately something about this girl, she is just super sympathetic and is giving it all, every time, while using the whole ice to show her elements, like the five triples ( Flip, Loop, Toe and two triple Sal´s one in combination with a double toe).
I love how confident she is and in general, the french ladies were really rocking today. It is such a joy to see, how they sell their programs, they are very proud to be on the ice and they have a strong heart like
Alizee Crozet who came 6th and she absolutely got me on both days, with her music choice.
In the Free, she was performing to "the immortal instrument" and I do not remember a skater, using it before, it´s just not something that you hear all day, which is always good - to bring something new to the table. The look in her face, so painful - great in character skating and nice attack on her elements, especially after the issues at the start with Flip and Lutz.
Third lady from France, is
Julie Froetscher, I did love her short, sadly the Free had several mistakes, but twice, a very solid double Axel.
Anastasiia Gozhva had a huge error in her program as well, the Ukrainien fell very awkwardly on the second loop, which was supposed to be a combination, but guess what? She just attacked her next elements like it was nothing, nailing triple Sal double toe and triple toe - double toe on the ice. She is such a fighter, who can sell programs amazingly well and that layback, is a beast!
Not exactly a "beast" but a beauty, is our winner
Alisa, who is once again coming from Russia, skating in her own league. amazing hands and full attack at all times and she has a great flexibility in her hips too, naughty and sexy, to please the crowds and very friendly off ice too!
She isnt just a jumper or a spinner, nah she is a great actor too! The way how she can go all out at the last thirty seconds of her program is something that I want to see from more skaters these days, as quite often the legs are a bit tired in the last minute, but not with this young lady here, a huge stepsequence and a gorgeous layback to finish a program, in which she attempted six triples, only losing the Flip, while nailing triple - double Loop combo and triple Flip - Loop - triple Sal.
That I had to learn some Japanese before the VC was because of
Yuna Aoki, the smiling sunrise from Japan. I so loved her positive and kind attitude, also off ice while in the "ballet room" where we hold our victory ceremonies.
Yuna had quite a few ups and downs, performing to Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninov. Her first Lutz and the second Sal, didnt work, however, she was still able to land a very solid triple Lutz - double toe combination and she never gave a jump away, no matter how messed up her position in the air, was. She is a very modest person and glides softly over the ice, very charming young lady she is.
Charming is of course also
Kalina who came 8th and again, that entry into her stepsequence, absolutely nailed and the choreography is really awesome, whoever made it, chapou! That said, she was super at the start, confident, clean landings, but she lost a bit of her punsh towards the end, when the former triples, now became doubles or singles.
Still, this girl, our Gracie Gold of Germany, has great potential and if I heard it right, then she said that this was her best performance of that program, so ya, this is something to build on and honestly, I would love to see her do this program again next season, as its one of the best free skates I saw this year, it just needs to be polished a bit more, but the potential is huge!
I also have some good news about the Fins,
Emma did a phenomenal layback - Bielman, that speed, she did not lose any at all! She is such a lion on the ice, the way she attacks her jumps is crazy, at times you think she wants to jump into the stands!
Full results,
http://eiskunstlauf.bev-eissport.de/BO2016/CAT006RS.HTM
Now let´s have a quick look at our Junior Ladies II FS, where I want to start with a Fin, who goes by the name of
Jade Rautiainen. Honestly, from the first moment on, that I saw her, I was having a little crush, you know the stuff that happens when you see someone and just feel that this person has something pretty charming, either about the way they talk, dress, or in our case, skate!
When she gets on the ice, a smile joins her and that smile, does not go away, before she leaves the ice and then, if you meet her off ice, like for our quick photo session, you see that smile again. You all know that I have a thing for the Fins, especially the ladies and it always makes me incredible happy if I see them at the entry list´s. She has a very beautiful way to skate and a super cute look as well.
Her performance today, was pretty solid, I did not see any major issues, except the Lutz, where she got an edge call. It almost seemed, like she wanted to show someone, what she is cappable off - let´s just assume "me" for a second *laughs*. But seriously, it´s not all about the medals for an athlete, you know what you do in training all day, so you want to do the same in competition and this is what the Fins usually struggle with, which is very sad, as I know they can do it and I still believe in these girls!
A strong believe, our winner must have,
Tyler Pierce! That girl is like dynamite, she has absolutely no fear going into her jumps, resulting in a huge height, I have honestly seldom seen a skater jumping that high on pretty much all of her jumps!
That triple Lutz at the start, wow... my jaw dropped down, I was speechless how this is even possible, as so many skaters, medalist´s for that matter, only do these tiny hops all the time and then came Tyler with that rocket! I said it before, her program is all about attacking the elements, also the stepsequence, she puts so much into her elements, I honestly have no other US girl on my radar, with that attitude right now - seriously, where have you guys been hiding this talent, and don´t tell me now, that you were at a football match while she did skate nationals, cmon! Or was it just me, being sloppy and not reading your reports?
Honestly, this is just ace - her speed, hight, attitude, glamour it´s all there, but at times I believe that US just like Canadian girls, perform maybe just better in Germany (Europe), than NA?!
I also want to quickly mention our two German girls,
Alissa and Jennifer. Alissa had an amazing short at Dortmund, but bombed in the free and i am so happy that this didnt happen again, she is really lovely on ice and so deserved to be on the podium, coming third - and when she did that single Sal, I was like - noo, not again and gladly, it did not happen again, as she continued with the double Axel - double toe, bringing that medal home. For me, she is very elegant and mature, I love her arms and the speed, soft gliding - effortless skating. As for Jennifer, I think she has immense power in her legs, nailing those three triples and she put´s a lot into her performances, a skater that is absolutely worth the money and very lovely in her spins.
Talking about lovely, there is one more I want to tell you about, our Brit who came second,
Danielle Harrison. Her smile got bigger with every element she did, huge facial expression and that stepsequence was a beast, so was her triple toe - double toe - double loop combination.
Full results,
http://eiskunstlauf.bev-eissport.de/BO2016/CAT007RS.HTM
You know, I am so happy that I can see those skaters live at the rink, it is something that I am hugely greateful for, as you always find new skaters amongst your favorites and my list is growing with every competition and I honestly already wonder, how I am supposed to be able, to mention all these beautiful skaters in my column, without leaving someone behind. The 25 pages at NRW, were huge - but who really is supposed to read all of that... Oh well, I just have a damn awesome job, dont I?
Thanks to all the skaters, sorry to those I could not fit in yet, figure skating is just a cool sport!
please stay focused during the entire program, not just for your 3A :sad21:
