Replay Lounge 2025 Skate America

[Mathman]

was nothing for me in this.

At Skate America, for men and pairs, the problem was that they not only flubbed their big elements but also did not offer much of anything else either. I did enjoy the ladies, though. Especially Gutmann, Gubamova and Andrews.

Alysa Liu, to me, did enough to win, but it was a little bit "been there, seen that."

Some people thought that Wataabe should have won, but for me,the huge loss in point potential for the mistake on the triple Axel put her, rightly, only third in that segment, plus there were times when she seemed not to be in full control of her choreography. Snappy rotations on the jumps generally, thpugh.

 

[lariko]

At Skate America, for men and pairs, the problem was that they not only flubbed their big elements but also did not offer much of anything else either. I did enjoy the ladies, though. Especially Gutmann, Gubamova and Andrews.

Alysa Liu, to me, did enough to win, but it was a little bit "been there, seen that."

Some people thought that Wataabe should have won, but for me,the huge loss in point potential for the mistake in the triple Axel put her, rightly, only third in that segment, plus there were times when she seemed not to be in full control of her choreography. Snappy rotations on the jumps generally, thpugh.

And?

What do you expect me to say except 'bring Russians back'? Did you see alternative GP that same week? Kondratyuk won it on artistic merit/PCSs that week. There were ultra c-s in every program. Some ups, some downs, and it was watchable. Just like every other stage. Add them to the pool, and we are actually watching something worth watching for everyone. Aliev already has enough mental problems to take a season off. I want to see Mozalev and Kondratyuk and Dikidzi and Lazarev and Kolesnikov live. Like, not each and every one of them gonna be a cup of tea but it will boost the level. Ditto pairs. We don't want pair skaters who jump lutzes and do quad throws with a lovely artistic component, speed and grace or what? There is still enough women to go around, but I can't see how adding Russian women would hurt. If Samodelkina and Gubanova are fine, then Frolova, Gorbacheva and Sinitzina will be perfectly okay too. Tbh, the international dance can use a bit of fresh faces too and I don't really see Kaganovskaya/Nekrasov or Zhdanova/Babaev-Smirnov exactly threatening the French or C/B. But, like, they are fun.

In conclusion, I don't see any other alternatives

 

[Seven Sisters]

I would have gone if Skate America was at Norwood, MA, again where all the seats sold.

And I would have gone to Lake Placid if it were the first event of the season, as it usually is. I don't want to walk or drive in the snow these days, and it does sometimes snow in mid November in Lake Placid.

I was there, and the weather—it snowed every day—did put a damper on things. I would not hesitate to return here for Skate America if it were the first event of the series, but I don’t think I would do it again in mid-November.

Also, I was in the arena for the Women’s final, and I felt that Rinka had done enough to win. I was not exactly surprised that Alysa was placed first, however, as she had had a number of close technical calls in her favor in both programs.

 

[Mathman]

What do you expect me to say except 'bring Russians back'?

I do not have any expectations. As for bringing the Russians back, this is not in our hands, nor in the hands of the ISU.

 

[lariko]

I do not have any expectations. As for bringing the Russians back, this is not in our hands, nor in the hands of the ISU.

It is in ISU's hands. They are a self-governing body. There are limited provisions for athletes to compete without representing a particular country, and it was under this umbrella that the ISU had qualified the AIN participants for 2026 Olympics. Given the complexity and the long term impacts of the ban, this definition could further expand to allow AIN representation through the two national federations but without representing Russia and Belorussia as countries with symbology associated with nationalism. 4CC (as per regulations) would be the AIN's entry rather than EuC or exclude them from either which would guarantee lower rankings and would address European concerns. Obviously, holding any competitions in Russia is out of the question, but participation by the neutral athletes is not. Anyone over the voting age could complete the statements of neutral position and their social media can be audited on request. This is possible within the existing framework and addresses every reason for the ban provided within the ISU documentation. In addition, the appropriate term would have been served by the identified athlete in contravention of the rules by January 2026.

 

[noskates]

I wish we had access to that "beating a dead horse" emoticon!! This topic has been discussed over and over and over again.

 

[Louby]

I wish we had access to that "beating a dead horse" emoticon!! This topic has been discussed over and over and over again.

Here, here. Let's focus on the skaters who compete in the Grand Prix rather than those who don't. That is what this thread is for.

 

[TallyT]

It is in ISU's hands.

And unless things are going on behind the scenes the ISU are still not in a forgiving mood: the clips of Russian skaters online don't exactly suggest to cynical me that there are any great or appealing enough to make it worth whatever they see as their while. Your own description of the Russian competitions as 'watchable' also does not inspire enthusiasm.

 

[TallyT]

Here, here. Let's focus on the skaters who compete in the Grand Prix rather than those who don't. That is what this thread is for.

Kevin and Starr and Lara (I want her Jaws to podium everywhere it can, it is easily the most memorable and viral-worthy of the year) for me.

 

[Mathman]

I want [Lara's] Jaws to podium everywhere it can, it is easily the most memorable and viral-worthy of the year, for me.

Me. too.

 

[moonvine]

I wish we had access to that "beating a dead horse" emoticon!! This topic has been discussed over and over and over again.

Yes that was a good one.

 

[moonvine]

I must say it cracked me up when the intro was a Subway and a traffic light and Ted saying “welcome to Downtown Lake Placid.”

 

[Arigato]

I wish we had access to that "beating a dead horse" emoticon!! This topic has been discussed over and over and over again.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

I am not so sure that there is not enough good skaters... Now that I am looking at things... there was enough talent in men to have a great event. In women, the final group was great... the problem came from some of the former stars being injured or not quite fit this season yet, Wakaba, Haein, Chaeyeon and Hana for instance. In men, the quadsters just didn't do well (Daniel, Misha and Memola) .. If these skaters had performed better, we would have a different discourse.
In pairs, well, I was expecting that. I have mentioned it earlier in this thread but the American pairs are in some sort of a phase where landing things is not consistent. Thus, when you have a field with 8 teams, three of which are American (including one team coming back from injury and one just out of juniors team) it's bound to happen that there is less depth. So in that, sense, the pairs field was weak indeed but bring in the competitors from the other circuit and still, it wouldn't have changed the field entirely. You'd still have 3 American teams, and a couple teams not from that circuit . ...

There's also the perception brought by scoring. Our perception of Chaeyeon Kim's skate may be lowered by this call on her shallow-edged Triple Flip, while our perception of Alysa Liu's skate may be upped by the absence of call on her wrong-edged one:
https://x.com/pplppIpp/status/1989913595463991785?ref_url=


Chaeyeon Kim is maybe fitter than we think at this stage?

 

[Mathman]

^ I admire and envy the eyesight of anyone who can tell the difference between those two jumps.

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

^ I admire and envy the eyesight of anyone who can tell the difference between those two jumps.

It's really fortunate that we had the same angle and slow-motion, certainly.

 

[Arigato]

Funny.

 

[Arigato]

3F is fine. Takes off from inside edge, left foot. This is not difficult to see here. At all.
3Lz is fine. Takes off from outside edge, left foot. This is not difficult to see here. At all.



If you can't see the clear difference between an inside edge on a flip and outside edge on a lutz and which way the foot is bent when doing it correctly, then commenting is probably best left to someone else so people new to skating are not misled. Furthermore, there are plenty of videos online that teach the difference between an inside edge and outside edge. This is not rocket science, after all. Posting blurry gifs, still photos and edited video has no business here. And if you have to sloooooooow down something to a near crawl, which may actually make it worse, you probably shouldn't be commenting either. The NBC Sports video needs no speed change, other than what they do at every event, to see the inside and outside edge used on the flip and lutz respectively.

 

[apgold]

Since I didn’t get to post during Skate America my experiences, I wanted to post some thoughts and observations being in Lake Placid this past weekend. Hope this is the right thread to do it!

I traveled there on Thursday and returned last evening via Amtrak to Westport and back down to Penn Station. My friend and I split a cab to and from the train station, which we reserved in advance. I miss the guy with the van whom my friend nicknamed “Papa Smurf” but our drivers coming and going knew the roads and how to drive in the crazy changing weather up the mountain. Our driver going back even gave us doughnuts to enjoy on the train. That would never happen in Manhattan, where I live, lol.

I attended two practice sessions on Friday for Men and Women. What stayed with me was Alysa’s smile as she took to the ice to practice and by contrast, how stressed and in pain Wakaba looked. I really hoped she would withdraw but you have to admire her grit. And her beautiful costumes.

Most of the event was a hot mess, to be honest. I enjoyed the Men’s SP, Free Dance and Women’s Free the best. The other events were take it or leave it for me.

Highlights for me were seeing the Browns’ Godfather program in person. Just wow. I have seen Oona and Gage skate live many times the past few years and they have always been so talented but they are next level. I doubt they will make the team this year, but watch out in 2030 if they can keep going. Chock and Bates “Paint it Black” looked better with the new costumes but I’m not wowed by compared to their better known programs. I loved seeing LaLa win silver – they are so fast and elegant. I’m not a fan of the RD, but they seem to enjoy it.

Kevin Aymoz was so fun to watch, especially his SP. Bolero was flawed but I still enjoyed his passion and commitment. Really happy for his surprise win here. I also loved seeing Jason Brown’s Riverdance 2.0 but he seemed stressed before the free skate and made a few errors. He still could’ve gotten on the podium with one or two less mistakes, so a missed opp for Jason. Kazuki was amazing too in the SP but his FS is a snooze. Bring back LaLa Land.

The last flight for Women was exciting. Starr Andrews was really such a pleasant surprise. I suppose with this being her last season as a singles skater has given her freedom to perform to her potential. She even brought back her lutz, which was given an edge call but good for her. Rinka’s 3A/3T was magnificent and she looked amazing in practice, she has her eyes on that Olympic team. I loved seeing Shark Naki in person and her jumps were so clean, too. Alysa was fun to watch doing Donna Summer again, but that program had its moment at Worlds and now feels old. I know she wants to bring out her Gaga program soon. I also enjoyed Gubanova’s Ghost program – cheesy voiceovers and all. She loves to skate to that music and I like her costume as well. Did Alysa deserve the win? Probably not but I’m not debating that here.

When I wasn’t at the arena, I attended three Run-through podcast tapings which were a lot of fun. I also got to say hello to Adam and Sarah at the Pickled Pig after the final taping to thank them for the podcast. Coincidentally, I met Adam in the same restaurant 8 years ago after his infamous freeskate with the popped shoulder and the bugs on the ice. I mentioned that to him and he said he thinks he remembers and how time flies.

My friends and I ate dinner at Generations a couple of times and that was the place where the skaters and coaches gathered. I saw Anastasiia Gubanova eating with her coaches Friday night, and when she got up to leave, I saw just how tiny she is. On Sunday, the restaurant hosted Ted Barton and Lee Barkell who ate burgers and had drinks at the bar. We also saw Christina and Anthony walking through and we gave them some deserved applause and Christina gave us a big smile. We also said hello to Starr and her bf Luke and congratulated them on their performances. Massimo Scali was also there with some people I didn’t recognize.

Despite the challenging weather and less than ideal travel, I had an amazing time in that tiny town in the Adirondacks. Everyone was friendly and I met a lot of other fans, mostly from the northeast, especially the Boston area.

I took some videos of the Browns, Kevin, Alysa, Lara and Jason from my seat - you can see my channel here.

 

[noskates]

"Posting blurry gifs, still photos and edited video has no business here. And if you have to sloooooooow down something to a near crawl, which may actually make it worse, you probably shouldn't be commenting either. "

YES to every word in this quote. While it might be fun and entertaining to nitpick every move and criticize the judges vehemently for not having hours and days to look at replays (in slo-motion no less) before they assign points, to use that to project or predict is really harmful. I think the judges have a difficult time because they have to make almost split second decisions unless the infraction is so obvious it can't be missed. But the amateur 'judges' that come in here and act like they know more than the real judges really gets terribly annoying and detracts from the enjoyment of the sport. It seems to me like this year has been the worst for that behavior. Do the judges always get it right? Probably not, but as long as there are humans judging figure skating there will always be detractors and second-guessers.