So finally awake enough to actually share my thoughts in this thread. I was really tired while watching it live last night and wasn´t able to keep up with the thread, but it was worth staying awake for!
I have to go back and rewatch some of the skates. Thanks to Olympic Channel streaming it and make it possible to watch with both such high quality.
So first of all, I wanted to say something about Jill Heiner because she impressed me. Boy does she have great jumps and such a joy of a personality! Kate Wang was another highlight for me, so clean and nice skate.
I don´t know what to say about Amber but that was really heartbreaking. Even with the mistakes I did not think the judges would give her that low score, that was really harsh. All though, she has nothing to loose so I hope she at least will have the FS of her life. I have a feeling she will land the 3A now that the pressure is kinda off. But anyways, it won´t make up for the mistakes from the SP so unless something odd happens she will not be going to Beijing
Gracie Gold clean skate was the best thing off the SP for me, it really was a one of those magic moment which I have been waiting and dreaming off. Her smile, the audience giving standing O. Well in my mind I had perhaps pictured a full audience, but I take what we get in this pandemic days. I wish though the judges would have given her 1-2 points more and more close to the 70, her performance was better then in Alpharetta but the scores didn´t reflect that. But judges was stingy with others so i´m not surprised either. Most important thing is Gracie will skate in the last group in the FS and it was just enough to push her into that final group!!! This might boost her score more in the FS if she can pull off a similar performance.
Levito was lovely as always. It´s nice to see the 3Lz-3Lo combo. She pulls it off and she looks so confident and i´m sure she will skate a clean FS and set the standard for the final group. She has no fear in skating, it´s like she flies over the ice and that is so nice to watch. I can see how she is inspired by Zhenya.
Mariah put on such a lovely performance. She really delivers and she looked fast and sharp. IMO she was a bit overscored on some of the elements. She got over 8 points for her lutz, which I think was quite generous. All though I have to say I agree with the standings so i´m not going to argue about scores and I was kinda expecting it.
I think Karens performance was the second best for me after Gracie. The new SP was just lovely to watch, such an outstanding performance, and that dress was absolute stunning and fitted the program so well. This is one of those programs that screams of Olympic. Something to remember. I think it´s rightly that she placed just second after Mariah because of her combo and she deserved the highest PCS mark. I´m glad both Mariah and Karen landed the triple triple.
Lindsay came out there and skated the life out of her. She is so strong and confident. Her combo looked better now and her spins and all is rock solid. She actually reminds me a lot of Bradie with her technical strengths, it´s superb. All though, I have to say I disagree with you that Lindsay was robbed and should place higher. I actually think her score was pretty decent for her skate. She does not have the same natural ability of performance like Mariah and Karen, I find her movements to be rather stiff and a bit slow. But she is still young and can improve her PCS marks, it will be better eventually. If Lindsay should have placed higher she must had pulled out a clean 3A.
I´m not sure what I feel about Alysas performance. First of all she looked completely different with the bangs and all and I also felt she was even taller then a few weeks ago. It´s quite obvious she is going trough a rather big change in her life, not just by the looks but mentally also. It´s something about her presence on ice that is different. When that said, with all that it´s kinda impressive that she still can pull out such a strong skate, she must be very hardworking. But there is something that is maybe a bit off. It´s difficult to tell if the coaching change is good for her or not. But i´m not sure why she went for the 3A in the SP, I don´t think it was a wise move, but I guess her spot on the Olympic Team is safe.....
I´m actually not sure anymore what the podium will be, I think the National Champion could be anyone now. The FS is going to be so exciting. Anyways, the ladies pulled off a lot of strong clean skates, i´m really impressed!
