2020-21 US Women's Figure Skating

[askaterfan]

Bradie is in the same position as last year. Leading after the short. I am really rooting for her to have a solid free program even if she doesn't win the gold. I just really want her to make the Olympic Team.

Fun fact: Bradie has won the last four US nationals short programs. Hope she will do a good free!

 

[Lzbee]

It's it too much to hope for a bronze medal for Karen?

Good luck to all the skaters for the FP

 

[macy]

It's it too much to hope for a bronze medal for Karen?

Good luck to all the skaters for the FP

i don't think it's out of the question, but if Mariah is clean they will for sure keep her above Karen.

 

[beepboop]

It's it too much to hope for a bronze medal for Karen?

Good luck to all the skaters for the FP

I really hope so too but I think anything short of a disastrous skate by Mariah will see her shoed into bronze... there is nothing I want more than for Bradie and Karen to get the Worlds assignment, but I think USFS is concerned about Karen's consistency.

 

[mrrice]

I really hope so too but I think anything short of a disastrous skate by Mariah will see her shoed into bronze... there is nothing I want more than for Bradie and Karen to get the Worlds assignment, but I think USFS is concerned about Karen's consistency.

Isn't Karen's 4th place finish the last time we had a lady do well at Worlds?

 

[NAOTMAA]

Isn't Karen's 4th place finish the last time we had a lady do well at Worlds?

It’s definitely the highest finish since Ashley’s silver

the last two championships Bradie was the highest finishing 7th and 6th respectively.

Edit: Gracie finished 4th in 2016 the year before Karen

 

[brakes]

I've been watching Karen Chen for so many years already and nobody in US skates like her nor jumps as high as her.
It's really sad she can't get it all going with her talent.

 

[Scott512]

Bradie is in the same position as last year. Leading after the short. I am really rooting for her to have a solid free program even if she doesn't win the gold. I just really want her to make the Olympic Team.

Who's going to make the Olympic team besides the 3 we know?

I'm glad Alysa skated well this is a great opportunity with her big weapons put to the side for now to show improved skating skills and speed and interpretation.

 

[kwanatic]

Man, this shows how out of touch I am with skating! I totally thought nationals were next week, lol I was on YouTube scrolling and a thumbnail for Bradie's program popped up and I was like, "Wait a minute..." and then saw one for Alysa too and realized I'd missed the SP. Just finished watching so my quick thoughts:

Bradie: It was a such a good performance! I still feel like she's missing just a touch of zazz or sass but it was still a dynamite performance. She broke her own record. Strong jumps, spins were great and she sold the performance well. Hopefully she'll keep it together in the FS and not make any silly mistakes. If she's clean I think she will win.

Alysa: When I first saw her on the warm up I didn't know who she was. I had to look a little harder before I realized it was Alysa. There's makeup now lol. She looks much more adjusted to her body and it shows in her skating. She's noticeably faster across the ice, jumps were solid (that 3F was lovely), spins were A+, steps were easy and flowing, and she brought energy and personality to the performance. Even without the 3A there was nothing lacking which is proof she's not a one-trick pony. She has a good shot at a 3-peat here if she can deliver.

Mariah: Solid performance but not her best. She's got a lot of ground to make up if she wants to place top 2 and she can't back off if she wants to stay in 3rd. I'm probably more worried about her in the FS than I am anyone else. Something about her skating doesn't feel very solid this season--a bit shakier than last year which is understandable of course. Still, she's not too far back and can definitely move up assuming she hasn't scaled back her content and is able to nail it.

Karen: Lovely performance. She's always great to watch and when she can manage the jumps well she's rewarded for it. Not perfect here but she's put herself in a great position to challenge for the top 3. Excited to see what she can do. I wouldn't be surprised if she manages to finish top 3...

Amber: So happy to see her go for that 3A. She's gotta keep putting it out there as much as she can. That will help her get used to it and hopefully result in her starting to land it in competition. Great job on the rest of the program too. The FS is her real test; it's her nemesis. She can nail a strong SP but she tends to make several errors in the FS. This is an opportunity for her to get into the top 3. She's less than 2 points off the podium and if she can nail that 3A and her other jumps, she could make the top 3.

Lindsay: Impressed with her. Lovely jumps, gorgeous spins. She needs more in the performance department but I'm hoping she can skate well in the FS and make the top 5 or 6. There's definitely talent there.

Gracie: So sorry for her. She looked really good on the warmup but it just didn't come together. Hopefully she can put together a decent FS.

Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

 

[beepboop]

Isn't Karen's 4th place finish the last time we had a lady do well at Worlds?

Yep it was the last time we had a lady in the top 5, although Bradie has come decently close in 2019 and 2018, and Ashley and Gracie were 2nd and 4th in 2016.

Idk Karen is probably my favorite US lady to watch so maybe I'm just trying to make excuses for USFS (her PCS last night were... a choice), but her performance has admittedly been a little unpredictable and she certainly hasn't delivered as much as everyone expected her to when she made her senior debut.

 

[Bluediamonds09]

Alysa's "Hi, father!" in the kiss and cry, cute!

 

[mrrice]

Man, this shows how out of touch I am with skating! I totally thought nationals were next week, lol I was on YouTube scrolling and a thumbnail for Bradie's program popped up and I was like, "Wait a minute..." and then saw one for Alysa too and realized I'd missed the SP. Just finished watching so my quick thoughts:

Bradie: It was a such a good performance! I still feel like she's missing just a touch of zazz or sass but it was still a dynamite performance. She broke her own record. Strong jumps, spins were great and she sold the performance well. Hopefully she'll keep it together in the FS and not make any silly mistakes. If she's clean I think she will win.

Alysa: When I first saw her on the warm up I didn't know who she was. I had to look a little harder before I realized it was Alysa. There's makeup now lol. She looks much more adjusted to her body and it shows in her skating. She's noticeably faster across the ice, jumps were solid (that 3F was lovely), spins were A+, steps were easy and flowing, and she brought energy and personality to the performance. Even without the 3A there was nothing lacking which is proof she's not a one-trick pony. She has a good shot at a 3-peat here if she can deliver.

Mariah: Solid performance but not her best. She's got a lot of ground to make up if she wants to place top 2 and she can't back off if she wants to stay in 3rd. I'm probably more worried about her in the FS than I am anyone else. Something about her skating doesn't feel very solid this season--a bit shakier than last year which is understandable of course. Still, she's not too far back and can definitely move up assuming she hasn't scaled back her content and is able to nail it.

Karen: Lovely performance. She's always great to watch and when she can manage the jumps well she's rewarded for it. Not perfect here but she's put herself in a great position to challenge for the top 3. Excited to see what she can do. I wouldn't be surprised if she manages to finish top 3...

Amber: So happy to see her go for that 3A. She's gotta keep putting it out there as much as she can. That will help her get used to it and hopefully result in her starting to land it in competition. Great job on the rest of the program too. The FS is her real test; it's her nemesis. She can nail a strong SP but she tends to make several errors in the FS. This is an opportunity for her to get into the top 3. She's less than 2 points off the podium and if she can nail that 3A and her other jumps, she could make the top 3.

Lindsay: Impressed with her. Lovely jumps, gorgeous spins. She needs more in the performance department but I'm hoping she can skate well in the FS and make the top 5 or 6. There's definitely talent there.

Gracie: So sorry for her. She looked really good on the warmup but it just didn't come together. Hopefully she can put together a decent FS.

Can't wait to see how this one turns out!

I really hope Gracie can pull it together for the Free Program. After seeing her land 3/3's on Youtube, I have to believe this is all in her head. I hope her coaches can get her excited for the FP but, this had to be deflating for her.

 

[NAOTMAA]

I really hope Gracie can pull it together for the Free Program. After seeing her land 3/3's on Youtube, I have to believe this is all in her head. I hope her coaches can get her excited for the FP but, this had to be deflating for her.

I do think she's still having trouble with the mental aspect. In the free skate she kept failing to properly check out on her landings. They looked fine and then she suddenly fell out or made a bigger mistake when she didn't have to.

 

[brightphoton]

Social media is talking about how funny-sad it is that a weight loss company, Noom, is a sponsor for the national championships.

 

[moonvine]

I really hope Gracie can pull it together for the Free Program. After seeing her land 3/3's on Youtube, I have to believe this is all in her head. I hope her coaches can get her excited for the FP but, this had to be deflating for her.

She landed her triple triple! Not perfectly but..

 

[moonvine]

Social media is talking about how funny-sad it is that a weight loss company, Noom, is a sponsor for the national championships.

It’s awful. Last year Gracies choreography had her ending pose kneeling of course. And the way the rink happened to be laid out, she ended up kneeling in front of the Noom sign

 

[Amei]

It’s awful. Last year Gracies choreography had her ending pose kneeling of course. And the way the rink happened to be laid out, she ended up kneeling in front of the Noom sign

Based on what I've heard (and now Googled) Noom is not a fad weight loss company like Slimfast where you drink shakes for 2 meals but about educating people to make smart choices with their food. Not sure why it's 'awful' though that they are sponsoring an event? The US has an obesity issue (that IMO is going to get worse with the "body positivity" campaign of celebrating the bodies of severely obese people) and skating usually involves some level of dieting to maintain weight, if Noom is what it says it is then it's an ideal company to target both the US audience and figure skaters. And frankly US figure skating can't be picky about their sponsors, they need cash.

 

[moonvine]

Based on what I've heard (and now Googled) Noom is not a fad weight loss company like Slimfast where you drink shakes for 2 meals but about educating people to make smart choices with their food. Not sure why it's 'awful' though that they are sponsoring an event? The US has an obesity issue (that IMO is going to get worse with the "body positivity" campaign of celebrating the bodies of severely obese people) and skating usually involves some level of dieting to maintain weight, if Noom is what it says it is then it's an ideal company to target both the US audience and figure skaters. And frankly US figure skating can't be picky about their sponsors, they need cash.

Yes. The US has an obesity issue. Figure skating does not and is rife with eating disorders. Going back at least to Tai Babilonia and probably before. Just going by what skaters themselves have said. Not including rumors. Gracie has said she weighed something perfectly normal like 110 lbs and was told “that’s an awfully big number.” She was praised for losing weight even though her skating was getting worse because she lacked strength to land her jumps. And it scares me to know how close we came to losing her not just from skating but from this earth. I know at least Ashley Wagner shares my opinion of this sponsorship.

 

[Amei]

Yes. The US has an obesity issue. Figure skating does not and is rife with eating disorders. Going back at least to Tai Babilonia and probably before. Just going by what skaters themselves have said. Not including rumors. Gracie has said she weighed something perfectly normal like 110 lbs and was told “that’s an awfully big number.” She was praised for losing weight even though her skating was getting worse because she lacked strength to land her jumps. And it scares me to know how close we came to losing her not just from skating but from this earth. I know at least Ashley Wagner shares my opinion of this sponsorship.

Per my comment, Noom advertises that they aren't a 'fad diet' but strives to educate people to make smart choices, figure skaters could certainly still get a positive impact from that type of education.

I know at least Ashley Wagner shares my opinion of this sponsorship.

Well then Ashley Wagner should try to find some sponsors for her sport, she'll likely find that in the US that its quite difficult because figure skating is a very small market.

 

[moonvine]

Per my comment, Noom advertises that they aren't a 'fad diet' but strives to educate people to make smart choices, figure skaters could certainly still get a positive impact from that type of education.



Well then Ashley Wagner should try to find some sponsors for her sport, she'll likely find that in the US that its quite difficult because figure skating is a very small market.

Of course they advertise that.