Karen is a rock star. She had those boot problems for years. She hadn’t been on competitive ice in quite some time and had been forgotten about by some. All of a sudden she showed up at Philly International looking GREAT and we were all shocked. I always admire athletes who battle back like that. In a cold rink, every day, mostly forgotten. Never giving up.
I’m so sad that a rightfully earned Olympic team medal is being held hostage. I hope Karen will get her medal soon! She’s really had an unbelievable career being a 2x Olympian, 5x national medalist, and making it to fourth in the world TWICE in two slightly different eras of women’s skating. It’s especially incredible for her when you consider the many injuries, time away from skating, and the comebacks she’s mounted!
Yes. Poor Bradie. She worked so hard and pushed herself to extremes. I remember when she kept trying the 3Lz 3Lo to add 3-4 points to her PB. But, it was too inconsistent. The Triple Axel was the one ultra-c jump she was close to landing and I think ultimately led to her injury. She was the top American and along with the top Japanese Lady, Rika, they were the two non-Russians that made the Grand Prix Finals with four Russian girls. When they came 4th and 5th, you could see that they both knew they had to push it technically if they wanted to podium. To see both of them injured now because they pushed themselves to extremes to compete against the top Russians is heartbreaking.
So happy to see Alysa skate clean and she seems like having lots of fun! 2A strategy works the best for her. She is still adjusting growth spurt and her 3A is not consistent this season. I really hope Alysa can stick around and go for Olympics in 2026. By that time, her artistry will be more mature and more used to her fully grown body.
Karen has a really obvious lip which is called a lot (one of the costs of having a gorgeous lutz). If you just look at her record of flips on skatingscores, her flip has been called clean at only three international competitions in her entire career. Since the loop hasn't been working in practice, it may have been smarter to just concede the base value to do a triple salchow instead.
skatingscores.com
Thanks for the correction!
Puberty hit her hard but she's come out of it so well and with a big future. Good luck to Alysa in the free skate.
Given the circumstances, I understand. May as well just…enjoy….the experience. Glad to hear she skated well.
I never gave mine excuses but “emergency” should cover it.How do I tell my professor tomorrow that I missed class to watch a figure skater who isn’t even Italian?
