Loved Zagitova's SP for the first time. It has been growing on me all season, and I'm so glad she was able to perform it cleanly here! No, she isn't giving face during the whole program, but her movements are very expressive and suit the music quite well. She deserved to be in front of Evgenia who had a small mistake on the axel. Evgenia's skating also looked a bit more tentative here. It's harder to skate to slow music, you have to pour your soul into it, and I think Evgenia could not do that today. However, I'm not worried about her- I'm sure she will be better by the Olympics. I am sure that even losing the SP segment to Alina will motivate her more.
I think they are both favorites for Olympic Gold at this point. Alina has the superior technical content, and I just LOVE her spins and jumps, they are beautiful. Evgenia has the polish, grace, consistency and deserves higher PCS, but I don't think it is that big of a difference. Alina may not be as graceful, but she has a magnetic quality. I prefer Alina's SP, and her FS is charming, so she may have the edge on program appeal. I liked Evgenia's Anna Karenina FS and think it has great potential, but honestly haven't seen it enough times to decide which FS I prefer. It will really depend on the SP, who leads by what margin, and who gives the best FS performance of the night. I thought ladies would be so boring this Olympics, but I'm glad to be wrong.
I think they are both favorites for Olympic Gold at this point. Alina has the superior technical content, and I just LOVE her spins and jumps, they are beautiful. Evgenia has the polish, grace, consistency and deserves higher PCS, but I don't think it is that big of a difference. Alina may not be as graceful, but she has a magnetic quality. I prefer Alina's SP, and her FS is charming, so she may have the edge on program appeal. I liked Evgenia's Anna Karenina FS and think it has great potential, but honestly haven't seen it enough times to decide which FS I prefer. It will really depend on the SP, who leads by what margin, and who gives the best FS performance of the night. I thought ladies would be so boring this Olympics, but I'm glad to be wrong.
:dance:
