2019 World Championships Ladies Free Skate

[Baron Vladimir]

Think the problem was Rika skated before Evgenia and Lilbet. I think if she skated after she probably would’ve gotten the bump. Hard to save someone and help them out with PCS and GOE and scoring if you don’t know what score you’re targeting.

Yes, if she skated on Kaori place, they would give her Kaori's PCS and put her in 3rd. She had bad starting position prior the FP and judges could not control her placement, but that was her fault after all (because the mistake in SP). But more important thing is that she still managed to produce very good skate and 4th placement in a competetion where most of the ladies skated clean is still a success. Both American ladies placement is also a success looking from that point of view (after all to win a medal or securing those three spots is not the most important thing, it's much more important to give everything you can and most of the ladies did that).

 

[Roo87]

Did Lil Bet miss a combo?

 

[yume]

I'm ready for next worlds where to medal you will have to get 230+. Since this year you can't medal with 223....

 

[yume]

Did Lil Bet miss a combo?

Yes. A 2A-3T was planned but she stepped out of the 2A. Could have 153-154 points with that.

 

[Roo87]

Yes. A 2A-3T was planned but she stepped out of the 2A. Could have 153-154 points with that.

wild. Next season will be exciting.

 

[Jammers]

Rika's missing the 3axel in the SP finally came back to bite her as all season she has been able to come back in the LP and win or at least medal. A good 2axel would have put her on the podium and i find her skating much more enjoyable and superior then Zhenya's but she learned a valuable lesson. Why she can land the 3axel in the LP but not in the SP is As for Lil Bet she's the perfect skater for Eteri in that it doesn't look like she ever went through puberty even though she's almost 20 so Eteri's dodgy technique works.

 

[rain]

Forgot to mention Mariah Bell! Her jumps weren't the best of the night, though kudos to her for a clean skate. But her programs this season are everything I love and want to watch in figure skating. I thought she was actually a little lowballed on a few things here. Stunning program. I'm thrilled that there's this version out there now, skated clean, that I can go back to watch in years to come.

 

[MUALover]

So sick of Eteri skaters. The same frenetic choreography, the arm flapping, dodgy technique in pre-puberlescent women. The sport should be changed to "Girls Figure Skating". I'd like to see a real woman on top of the podium for once.

I keep on comparing Zagitova's Carmen to Katerina Witt's and Katerina's was so much better - even 30 years earlier.

 

[msteach3]

So sick of Eteri skaters. The same frenetic choreography, the arm flapping, dodgy technique in pre-puberlescent women. The sport should be changed to "Girls Figure Skating". I'd like to see a real woman on top of the podium for once.

I couldn't agree more. Also, if I hear hear one more tango I'm going to vomit. Enough! :noshake:

 

[SarahSynchro]

I’ve been floating around on cloud nine all day, because I’m still absolutely elated for our three medalists! Alina, Lil Bet, and Zhenya, all at different stages in their skating careers, all dealing with individual challenges, successes, triumphs, and setbacks within the last twelve months. What an amazing feat for these three young women to cumulate their season together on the world podium. It was most definitely a result that nobody in their wildest dreams would have expected only a few short weeks ago.

All the arguments and bickering going on in here can’t destroy what some of you may facetiously refer to as the thick pair of rose coloured glasses I’m currently wearing, as I reflect on this wholesome content that occurred this week.

Also, I mustn’t forget to send a shoutout to Gabby Daleman! While her two programs were far from perfect, I’m so very proud of her for going out there on that ice and showing us that she’s nowhere near being “done” anytime soon. I loved seeing her beautiful smile, genuine contentment, and overall love for the sport as a whole shining through. Onwards and upwards, darling! While you are a talented athlete, you are also human, just like the rest of us. Thank you for being so open and honest with your struggles, both off the ice and on the ice. Such an inspiration for your fans, young and old.

Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that 3T-3T, it’s still the best in the business.

 

[Scott512]

So sick of Eteri skaters. The same frenetic choreography, the arm flapping, dodgy technique in pre-puberlescent women. The sport should be changed to "Girls Figure Skating". I'd like to see a real woman on top of the podium for once.

I keep on comparing Zagitova's Carmen to Katerina Witt's and Katerina's was so much better - even 30 years earlier.

Get ready for more Eteri domination in the coming years. What will happen next season when her prize three Juniors turn senior will make this season look like a warm up.

 

[SarahSynchro]

So sick of Eteri skaters. The same frenetic choreography, the arm flapping, dodgy technique in pre-puberlescent women. The sport should be changed to "Girls Figure Skating". I'd like to see a real woman on top of the podium for once.

I keep on comparing Zagitova's Carmen to Katerina Witt's and Katerina's was so much better - even 30 years earlier.

Ummm, a real woman, you say? Her name is Kaetlyn Osmond, she was up there on top of the world podium last season.

I feel must point out that I’m saying this without any sort of ill will towards 16 year old Alina. She is also a woman, albeit a young one. Elizabet is 19; her youthful looks and tiny stature doesn’t negate the fact that she’s a legal adult. Zhenya is also 19. Anyway, you’re specifically referring to the gold medalist, not all three medalists, so I digress.

Pray tell, at what exact age does a female skater cross this mythical, magical, girl-to-woman threshold, anyway? Have we ever been able to quantify it?

 

[SarahSynchro]

Get ready for more Eteri domination in the coming years. What will happen next season when her prize three Juniors turn senior will make this season look like a warm up.

While I do love and respect the three exceptionally talented Sambo 70 juniors you are referring to, I’ll refrain from putting the cart before the horse and won’t automatically assume they’ll be winning every single event next season.

Ask me again in Montreal, next year. Oooh, that reminds me, are tickets on sale yet? I’m determined to attend, come hell, high water, or crappy Canadian weather.

 

[Seruleane]

Thrilled with all the medialists, esp for Alina who fought so many demons this year esp with her Carmen FS. You could see she was nervous but she fought every step of the way. Evgenia also had an uphill battle this year dealing with changes to her technique, new coaching, new style, and handled everything wonderfully. Elisabet was a dark horse contender, and I'm thrilled she could make history by landing the 4S and getting the first World's medal in Ladies FS for Kazakhstan. I will also say that the Japanese ladies performed very admirably (their skating skills are just sublime and a cut above the rest), and I was heartbroken they made small mistakes that kept them off the podium. I'm not going get into the judging details, because I think the placements were overall correct, though I wish Kaori and Rika could have gotten medals too, and I think in general the Japanese ladies are underscored. I hope this means they will have fire in their belly for next year, and win lots of medals :yes:

I keep on comparing Zagitova's Carmen to Katerina Witt's and Katerina's was so much better - even 30 years earlier.

I just want to point out that it's not really fair to be comparing skaters from completely different eras. Katarina's Carmen was largely effective simply because she could afford to do a lot of dramatic posing and flirting with the judges. There was no need for complex transitions, jump elements, etc. I think even Katareina has said herself that her type of Carmen would not be possible today. I get that you don't like Alina's Carmen, but everyone has different opinions. The guys at BESP, for instance, exclaimed that Alina's Carmen was the best interpretation that they had ever seen (I know they like to gush, but just putting it out there since many of you seem to think there is some sort of consensus that Alina's Carmen is terrible). I myself can't think of another Carmen in ladies recently that I enjoyed more than Alina's. But YMMV.

 

[Jaana]

Zagitova´s lack of flow really disturbs me... Tursynbaeva´s skating looks still way too juniorish to please the eye and she should not have been on the podium, IMO. I really loved Medvedeva´s program and her skating, WOW! She is coming back!!!

Feeling very sad for Kaori, Satoko and Rika...

 

[Scott512]

While I do love and respect the three exceptionally talented Sambo 70 juniors you refer to, I’ll refrain from putting the cart before the horse and won’t automatically assume they’ll be winning every single event next season.

PAsk me again in Montreal, next year. Oooh, that reminds me, are tickets on sale yet? I’m determined to attend, come hell, high water, or crappy Canadian weather.

Never assume. But 3a will certainly make the already deep field of Russinas even deeper.

I am also against posts of body shaming like I see against Lilbet,. Yes she is even petite even for figure skating and I have the feeling Alysa Liu the brilliant American junior is about 4l6' tall and weighs about 70 pounds. I fear the body shaming she will receive. But she wont grow much from what I can tell. There are major advantages to being small in figure skating.

 

[lzxnl]

Next season, for GP events, you're going to have 4 Eteri girls and 6 GP events. Mathematically, they're going to clash during at least two GPs, or three Eteri girls at the one GP. That will be amusing.

As for this season's Worlds, I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty sad about the men and the ladies. This is the ladies' thread so I'll stick to talking about the women.

Alina Zagitova, deserved to win by skating clean with those Lz-Lo combos and those transitions, probably not by this margin because her program is, still, far too frantic. Her posture has improved, but the hunching during crossovers is still a huge eyesore. I also don't see any musical interpretation and I can't understand her PCS at all; with Nathan Chen, for instance, his programs are a little bland, but I see more musicality than with Zagitova, because his choreo and step sequences really were magnificent. I reckon she was about 10 points overscored overall, to be honest, with GOEs and PCS taken into account. She deserves every mark she gets in transitions and in jump entry difficulty GOE. Everything else is questionable. (who the hell is giving her a 10 in performance!!??) However, I am majorly impressed at her comeback given her, frankly, disastrous performances at Nationals and Euros, and at how rejuvenated she appeared at Worlds. I must give Eteri's team credit for that.

Elizabet Tursynbaeva, major kudos for going after the 4S. I didn't feel much for the rest of her free skate tbh, and her skating still looks a little childish, especially that ending pose (please change it). She deserved to be on the podium, however, given the lack of major errors. She really surprised me this season, so I never got to pay too much attention to her, tbh.

Evgenia Medvedeva, I admire her resilience and how she managed to skate without falling. Her step sequence in the free skate was very well choreographed and executed, and I like the 3S-3Lo. Her jumping posture has improved slightly too, and her skating is generally much more mature than before. However, my praise stops there. Her flutz needed to be called, seriously, and her lack of connection to the music in the first half of the FS didn't warrant such insane PCS. I don't have any politically correct explanations for why her PCS is so high after one competition without a fall. Which brings me to...

Rika Kihira. This girl gave me so much stress, and so much disappointment, every time, bar GPF, she skated her short. I admire how she still plans the 3A each time in the short, but for heaven's sake, please ACTUALLY jump it!!!! A fall on a 3A would have won her a silver too, not just a clean 2A. I hope, with a new short, she'll overcome this fear of a SP 3A. I miss her Kung Pu Piano SP. Her free skate this season is to die for. The choreography is amazingly intricate, her overall jump quality is commendable, and her consistency with anything not facing forwards is impressive given she's almost always skating from behind. Unfortunately, the fall on the 3A makes higher PCS slightly harder to give, but I still thought her PCS was robbed. Did anything forget that Rika made mistakes only on an element that no one else even tries, and was perfectly clean on everything else? I'll be mad for a long time that she missed out on a bronze because of a lack of a blatant edge call, or that she missed out on a silver because she didn't jump the 3A in the short. There's always WTT and next season though. Bring it. Let's see that elusive 240.

Kaori Sakamoto. Initially, I didn't get the hype with this girl. When I saw her skate, however, I saw how amazingly smooth her skating is. She really does float on the ice and her motions are sooooo fluid. However, she always seems to mess up a jump that she knows how to do. You can see how frustrated she was at her 4CC performance by how many 2As she decided to train, which paid off; no 2A mistakes, or 2A-3T-2T mistakes (GPF makes me lol sometimes, no matter how unfortunate). However, that flip.......given her lack of extra technical difficulty, that was always going to bite her.

 

[Skater Boy]

So sick of Eteri skaters. The same frenetic choreography, the arm flapping, dodgy technique in pre-puberlescent women. The sport should be changed to "Girls Figure Skating". I'd like to see a real woman on top of the podium for once.

I keep on comparing Zagitova's Carmen to Katerina Witt's and Katerina's was so much better - even 30 years earlier.

Well you can't' compare. Witt would be killed with today's scoring. She would be pound in the ground jumps, spins, footwork. Even skating skills.

 

[Skater Boy]

Rewatched some of the programs. I didn't love Alina's Carmen but the girl has grit. And she pulled it off against all odds.

ET - great quad but I have to say I have no idea how she gets her pcs. her skating is still a bit juniorish. Evgenia - wow didn't think the woman had so much fight in her. She has a lot to work on but really amazing skate. With quads being worth so much as well as triple axels good or bad landing them will be the difference. I think her build is a huge advantage unlike most Eteri girls whose bodies change a lot ET seems lucky to be very child like small unlike Alina, Evgenia, Julia et al.

A quick comment on Bradie Tennell she really brought it but she a bit ho hum or flat. An on Ashley Wagner or Gracie Gold are far more interesting, powerful and explosive.

 

[Skater Boy]

Yes. A 2A-3T was planned but she stepped out of the 2A. Could have 153-154 points with that.

But she may have lost some points for her pcs. She does not have the maturity or interpretaton of skating skills of others. ET has the quad which is huge.