2017 World Ladies FS

[da96103]

I'm so gutted for Anya. That was the reaction of someone who knew she just blew her chance to go to the Olympics. The Russian federation is not going to let her go after that performance. And they have the depth to bury her at Nationals if needed. Heartbreaking.

My Zhenya. I've run out of superlatives to describe how fabulous she is. I love that she does not rest on her laurels and incorporated new variations on her jumping here. It's so cool how she introduced Tano and Rippon toe loops and a stunning Rippon salchow here! I also like that she didn't do any extra 3toes here so no one can accuse her of showing off. She was also extremely dialed-in to her performance here until even after the music ended. It's almost like she keeps up with criticisms of her skating and works hard to improve them! People have gone from just flatly saying she is overscored to now saying "she is overscored, BUT..." Progress! :luv17:

My beautiful, intelligent Masha. The good news is she skated better than at Euros. The bad news is with Zagitova and Tsurskaya moving up next year, her position is very much in jeopardy. She's going to have to kill it every time next season.

I'm overjoyed with Karen's performances here. I was one of the nay-sayers but she proved me wrong. Not only that, but she posted personal best scores IIRC. So impressive!! Very pleasantly surprised we held onto three spots with room to spare. Karen should be in like Flynn if she skates anywhere like this at Nationals. And she'll have earned it!

I was also proved wrong when I said the Canadians would falter in the long program. I do think Osmond tends to be overscored and would have given Gabby Daleman the silver, but there's no question this is the best Katelyn has skated and she totally earned her spot on the podium.

Very disappointed for Japan, but Mai came through huge today. The fight for Japan's Olympic team is going to be one compelling bloodbath!

Why is everyone promoting Tsurskara. Didn't she do a Pogo at Junior Worlds?

 

[da96103]

Yes, because I know nothing about loving more than one skater

There was even a whole thread dedicated to arguing that Chen should be kicked off the team for Mirai. Someone even wrote an article here to be put in their local newspaper about it. Maybe you weren't one of them, but there were a truckload of Mirai fans calling for Chen to be kicked off and Mirai to go, because if Chen and Bell went it was surefire guaranteed the US ladies would only get two spots...

Really ? I thought it was between Mariah and Mirai.

 

[NAOTMAA]

Not sure if its been mentioned or not but Evgenia is the first back to back world champ in 16 years! The last to do it was Michelle in 2000-2001 :agree:

 

[Alexz]

Time to go pay my health insurance premium during the break!

I see what you did there.

 

[Chemistry66]

I see what you did there.

No, I legit meant I had to go pay it before I forgot since it was due today. No comedy intended.

 

[SarahSynchro]

Julia :

Cartoon of Leningrad dress

Awwww. I miss Julia.

 

[jenaj]

Maybe the Mirai fans would be piss off, but I think Mirai herself would be pleased. She gets a second chance to go to the Olympics and she may even push Ashley off as revenge for 2014.

It doesn't p--- this Mirai fan off. Au contraire--I am thrilled! I would love to see both Mirai and Karen on the Olympic team.

 

[largeman]

Karen IS talent. There wasn't a doubt in my mind that she wouldn't come back strong at worlds. It was a good thing for her to go to 4CC and bomb. It never stopped Gracie from rebounding at worlds. It helped Karen deal with the pressure of being US champ and how to focus on delivering. Also how to finally get past her foot pain. She could've done better with those last jumps, but that's something to think about later.

I had a feeling she would have her act together when I read this quote in the "on-ice collision article"

Chen also recently had a chance to talk with mentor Kristi Yamaguchi, who also grew up in Fremont while becoming an Olympic and world champion.

“The one thought was funny: she told me to skate dumb,” Chen recalled. “Your body knows what to do. When you’re out there you just want to let your body do what it knows best and things will happen the way you want to.”

It proved to be excellent advice! I think Karen just let her body take over and not her mind. (Until she fell... then it probably got to her head a little bit and caused her to mess up the 2A.) I hope she will always remember how to skate like this, even when in the future the pressure gets inevitably and overwhelmingly high.

 

[jaylee]

Delighted for the Canadian ladies. Amazing job holding it together. Both Gabby and Kaetlyn have gone through so much, and success after adversity is all the sweeter!

I will admit that I was disappointed in Kaetlyn for her 4CCs performances and her overall inconsistency, but I am truly happy for her here. Her performance seemed tighter in the free; I could see she was worried about making mistakes. The program ends on kind of a downer, too, and in general doesn't play to her strengths -- just goes against Kaetlyn's natural effervescence. But her SP was one for the ages and to finish the competition with a world medal is simply amazing.

Extremely happy for Karen Chen and two solid performances, and for the US getting 3 spots!!! Wish she'd been able to sneak onto the podium but the fall on the second lutz meant no. But 4th in your first senior worlds is an amazing accomplishment!

Ashley didn't skate well, but she didn't seem to skate all that terribly, either? She got dinged on URs (deserved) and edge calls (but I find it very curious that few others got an edge call--why did Medvedeva's flutz call disappear from Euros?). Here's the thing: Ashley's interpretation and projection abilities are her strongest assets. Without her usual spark and energy, there was nothing.

I applaud Carolina for enduring and delivering a better performance in the FS. I also think she's been trying to up the difficulty of her programs in subtle ways. Attempting the flip out of footwork in the SP was one. Including the 3/3 in the FS and attempting to repeat the loop was another (she had no 3/3 in her Sochi FS, and only repeated the salchow and the toeloop then). It didn't all succeed, but to keep trying to add difficulty at this stage in her career is admirable. Still a bit overmarked, and the program was a bit of a snooze (SP was more interesting).

Delighted for Mai Mihara's comeback--that's character. Mariah Bell fought for the jumps but the performance got backburnered a bit. She's capable of magic and I hope to see her prove it next season.

Congrats to Elizabet (did wearing a copycat of Yu-Na Kim's Gershwin dress help?) and Da Bin Choi for securing two spots for their countries for the Olympics. Very impressive.

Very sorry for Anna and her disaster of a skate. She has a very challenging layout and I respect her for tackling it as well as her commitment to her choreography. Her reaction after the skate was really sad, and it was a bit unnerving to see her unravel like that. This is a brutal, unforgiving sport sometimes. For every happy victor, there are many more skaters left in tears. I can only wish that skaters take the good from their accomplishments and not beat themselves up so much after mistakes.

Medvedeva was Medvedeva. It's kind of telling/interesting that her secret surprise for Worlds was more tanos and Rippons. A rippon toeloop and a tano salchow. Because there weren't enough in the program already? There were no changes/improvements in choreography or interpretation. A weird consequence of her consistency and her programs being similar in style is that I feel like if I've seen one Medvedeva performance, I've seen them all. Kudos to her for skating cleanly and winning back-to-back titles, but her programs are not my cup of tea.

In the end, scores are immaterial. It's really the programs & performances that will be remembered. My faves from the ladies were Kaetlyn Osmond's SP and Karen Chen's SP.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

It doesn't p--- this Mirai fan off. Au contraire--I am thrilled! I would love to see both Mirai and Karen on the Olympic team.

So would I!

 

[chz]

Where can i watch the videos?

 

[CoyoteChris]

This is a really good thread to read from the start of the last two groups on!
Thanks to INW for actually working so I could see it live and thanks to my local NBC affiliate for not cutting the FS out tomarrow so I can listen to Tara and Johnny.

Be Happy for the winners...hurt for those that had bad skates....

Its the thrill of victory, and the agony of da' feet.

Just remember...all glory is fleeting.....
Soon we shall return to that great void of almost no skating to watch.....
But oh next season!

 

[KatGrace1925]

My box didn't record the ladies long, which makes me sad but I caught up!

I had no doubt Karen Chen had what it took to do well here. There were people saying she needed to be removed from the team and she proved them wrong big time by finishing fourth which is very good for a first worlds, even better than Gracie did at her first worlds. Thinking back to the worlds before the olympics last year, the field was so deep and incredible, it's sad how far we've come.

Overall watching the event its a bit sad to see the state of women's figure skating. I felt like so many programs lacked spark. What Medvedeva has done is amazing but 154 was really too high for what she has put out, she really hasn't gotten better than she was at the beginning of the season. The way the scoring system is being handled it has been so boring to watch the competitions this year, no one has a chance of beating Medvedeva if she is clean no matter how good they skate. Kaetlyn didn't have a chance. Seriously, Tanos should stop being an interesting variation in the air after the first few jumps when they are on every single jump. Medvedeva's jumps are good solid jumps but they're really not outstanding enough to warrant such high GOEs. I don't want to take away from her accomplishments, because she has been such a rock in the sport which is rare and wonderful to see but Medvedeva should not be so untouchable. It's just kinda hard to watch.

On a fun note I was so thrilled for Dabin Choi! She has had a few good competitions in a row now, and 10th get's her two spots for Korea in their home olympics right? I was so thrilled this morning when I saw her skate well!

 

[skatenewbie]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C8Rd2CSWsAA8nLj.jpg

based on this it was really weird that some judge have such a super high and some of them a super low. i think this proven that figure skating judge is not so good, since it is WAY too subjective. some of the judges give ridiculous high score for such bad performances (74 PCS for kostner?!, and other pcs are so inflated) if the judging is not so subjective you wouldnt see 10 point different like here, in protocols we see judges giving 6 in PCS while other judges giving 8..

 

[jeff goldblum]

So are there really no videos of this besides the top three? How is Fuji TV blocking everything?

 

[rain]

I'm so thrilled for Osmond and Daleman!

Not only did they put out world-class, thrilling performances, they did it in the pressure cooker that shows they have figured out how to compete at the top level. They had the toughest spots to skate and they both not only held it together, but delivered their very best. They've set themselves up well for Olympic medal consideration. So proud of them!

 

[wolkenschloss]

For me Osmond was the best. Her LP was sparkling and so glorious. Mede. is as always technically perfect, but it let my heart cold. The Canadian ladies were inspiring. I loved Caren too.
Besides PCS is working absurdly. Mede. got the highst PCS ever and how could that happen? At transistion she is excellent but at Choreo. und Int. she looks like juniorish. But the medals were givens correctly. Congrat for winner!

 

[KatGrace1925]

I'm so thrilled for Osmond and Daleman!

Not only did they put out world-class, thrilling performances, they did it in the pressure cooker that shows they have figured out how to compete at the top level. They had the toughest spots to skate and they both not only held it together, but delivered their very best. They've set themselves up well for Olympic medal consideration. So proud of them!

I have a soft spot for skaters with the talent and potential to be great who struggle putting it all together through the years. I was thrilled to see both Osmond and Daleman putting it together in the same competition! I can not wait to see what they put out next season!

 

[largeman]

So are there really no videos of this besides the top three? How is Fuji TV blocking everything?

Hi Jeff Goldblum, you can find the videos here on Dailymotion. Enjoy!

ETA: by the way I'm a fan of your work, most recently in the Grand Budapest Hotel and Portlandia :luv17:

 

[Sabrina]

I will admit that I was disappointed in Kaetlyn for her 4CCs performances and her overall inconsistency, but I am truly happy for her here. Her performance seemed tighter in the free; I could see she was worried about making mistakes. The program ends on kind of a downer, too, and in general doesn't play to her strengths -- just goes against Kaetlyn's natural effervescence. But her SP was one for the ages and to finish the competition with a world medal is simply amazing. .

Kaetlyn skates on music from Bohema. The story is sad, as it's about poverty, love and death. She can't end on an exuberant note. Did you notice her face in the step sequence, as she tries to express desperation and sadness. Puccini's music is very powerful and she acts quite appropriate to the character portrayed. I really liked this dramatic theme as it's quite different from La vie en rose