2024 Skate America Women's SP

[Lamente Ariane]

Well… it’s the start of the season so I’ll say this the one time, as usual, and then try to hold my peace. I think Isabeau is a lovely, musical skater but every time I see her go into a toe jump I wince. It frustrates me that she gets high GOE on such bad, clumsy technique when others do not. This is not her fault, but it saddens me that if judges ever choose to score her jumps accordingly it will almost certainly be when it is too late for her to fix it. I wish above all for fair, unbiased judging across the board… which I realize is rather like saying I wish for it to rain daisies and unicorns in this sport, but I might as well get it off my chest. There, now I’ll go back to letting the Isabeau fans celebrate in peace

 

[Minz]

Skate America | Women's Short Program

1. Isabeau Levito - 68.43
2. Bradie Tennell - 66.99
3. Rinka Watanabe - 66.54
4. Wakaba Higuchi - 66.12
5. Nina Pinzarrone - 62.85
6. Minchae Kim - 60.66
7. Elyce Lin-Gracey - 60.22
8. Livia Kaiser - 58.72
9. Olga Mikutina - 56.81
10. Yuna Aoki - 56.51
11. Sofia Stepčenko - 44.56
12. Léa Serna - 42.85

 

[Dawn825]

I think Isabeau should be further ahead. Her program was far superior to the 3 behind her.

 

[skylark]

Isabeau was simply exquisite tonight. Her performance was plus-perfect. I love the joy and confidence with which she skates that program. She has her figure skating priorities right .... her skills, jumps, etc. are a support to the performing, the music, the emotion.

I am still thrilled through all of my being.

 

[Joekaz]

Beautiful, light performance from Isabeau. Also surprised she didn't score 70+.
Wow was that technical caller strict with the URs. So many < when seemed q at most for many of the skaters.
On the other hand, 60 was a major gift for Elyse with those jump errors. Not sure how that 3Lz-3T didn't count as a fall.

Where are they skating again?

 

[Joekaz]

Well… it’s the start of the season so I’ll say this the one time, as usual, and then try to hold my peace. I think Isabeau is a lovely, musical skater but every time I see her go into a toe jump I wince. It frustrates me that she gets high GOE on such bad, clumsy technique when others do not. This is not her fault, but it saddens me that if judges ever choose to score her jumps accordingly it will almost certainly be when it is too late for her to fix it. I wish above all for fair, unbiased judging across the board… which I realize is rather like saying I wish for it to rain daisies and unicorns in this sport, but I might as well get it off my chest. There, now I’ll go back to letting the Isabeau fans celebrate in peace

Doesn't her 10 second windup into the jump build anticipation? Lol

 

[TontoK]

I'm always happy with a strict caller, so long as that caller is consistent.

This one was both, not only in jumps but in steps and spin levels. No gifts for anyone that I could see.

Judging aside, the performances I enjoyed most were Isabeau and Nina. A shame about ELG, the inexperience showed, but I look forward to better in the future.

 

[RatedPG]

I love a strict caller.
I thought the judging was fair.
Again, USA is 1-2
Loved the fact that 3A able two Japanese girls went safe here. This puts them in a better position where they can attain higher PCS scores.
My fave was Yuna Aoki

 

[Mathman]

Isabeau Levito deserved her placement, but my favorite was Wakaba Higuchi.

 

[cailuj365]

I don't dislike universal strict calling. I just disagreed at the strict calls themselves tonight.
With how close 1-4 are, this will be a great fight for all the medals.

 

[Moxiejan]

I don't dislike universal strict calling. I just disagreed at the strict calls themselves tonight.
With how close 1-4 are, this will be a great fight for all the medals.

Really, anyone in the top 7 could medal.

 

[TwinnerA]

Great and entertaining skate from Isabeau. Loved the sass in the stsq. Beautiful dress that perfectly captures Audrey Hepburn's elegant style.

Even Isabeau only got a level 2 for her step sequence. Hard to tell from watching it on TV but maybe it didn’t cover enough ice.

 

[LazyFuzai]

Well,we all agree it was such a low level no?One Stsq4 for those ladies?We need to start focus on foots not hands...Kinda disappointed.Anyway,

I'm still obssesed with this Moonlight version of Rinka.Perfect choreo and dress plus there is room to improve on quality of the jumps.

Issabeu was super fun,but sometimes watching her jumps technic is painful even for me.Marvelous dress for her.

Sad to see Yuna fail jumps,because program is amzing overall.Hope to see better version of her.

Bradie being in front of Rinka and Wakaba is a joke,but we are at Skate America

Wakaba solid performance overall.Stsq need a lot work.

Hearing Lara Fabian when someone is falling on the ice is also dramatic and too sad to watch.Still manage to get 60 from Elyce.Can comeback.

Nina really shocked me with her low quality on jumps.She was the most stable one last year.

First performances,but really waiting to see better skating in Free.

 

[Jontor]

I love a strict caller.
I thought the judging was fair.
Again, USA is 1-2
Loved the fact that 3A able two Japanese girls went safe here. This puts them in a better position where they can attain higher PCS scores.
My fave was Yuna Aoki

I'm the opposite. Strict calling ruins it for me. The PCS tends to go down as well which means the scores ends up not corresponding to what you see.

 

[gsk8]

 

[gsk8]

 

[Bluediamonds09]

I have a question about the step sequences here. Why were the levels so low for some of the ladies? All I understand about the rules of step sequences is that they must cover a lot of ice and you must be deep in your edges. It's incredibly hard to spot a level 4 step sequence in the moment . Ho× can you tell if the judges are being fair? How can you tell if someone's edges are deep enough?

 

[readernick]

I have a question about the step sequences here. Why were the levels so low for some of the ladies? All I understand about the rules of step sequences is that they must cover a lot of ice and you must be deep in your edges. It's incredibly hard to spot a level 4 step sequence in the moment . Ho× can you tell if the judges are being fair? How can you tell if someone's edges are deep enough?

My guess is that the turns weren't performed correctly. Every high level skater choreographs a level 4 step sequence but if they "jump" a difficult turn that turn will not be counted. Some technical callers are just stricter about this. Ice dance generally has much stricter calling for turns but , maybe, this technical caller was just being "honest" in his calling of his turns. Very few singles skaters do all the turns well.

 

[TontoK]

I imagine a good chunk of the levels issue can be attributed to the time of the season. Some of these skaters delivered their short programs for the very first time. It would seem logical to me that the priority would be to credibly deliver the required elements within the choreography and try to get the basic performance out there while fighting the nerves. Fine tuning of levels will come later.

It wasn't just the ladies with a strict caller. The Hungarian pair team, a very good team, received "Basic" level for their death spiral. Not even L1.

 

[moonvine]

Can we send as Christmas present to TS and commentator a new eyeglasses or a bigger magnifier for help them to see better, lol

I’ve often wished to do that. As well as I put them on fire and shoved them off a mountain in Colorado Springs. But it’s flat here. Plus they resurrected the next day.