2025 World Championships Women's Free Skate

[BlissfulSynergy]

No.
This is the 3T on the 3Lz-3T combo. It's underrotated, but they couldn't even bring themselves to give it a q.

Then this is the 3Lz on the sequence. This one is even more blatant. A generous tech panel would give both of these a q, but again clean even though there was a clear hook to the naked eye on all these landings.

I'll go through the rest later.

LOL. During the replay, I thought several of Alysa's landings were close. Probably one or two close enough to call Q. The one in the sp should def have been at least called Q. The ones in the fp were quite close, but frankly up to the judges' discretion. Not as blatant URs as being claimed by those fans who are looking for Alysa to be dinged and downgraded. She gave a delightful, impressive, joyful, and nerve-free performance, and she was highly rewarded in her home country. To be rewarded well in your home country when you skate confidently with no blatant, visible to the naked eye errors, is not unusual in figure skating.

Seriously, there have been some real questionable calls this season. At NHK, judges robbed Andrew Torgashev of a cleanly landed quad in the fp. Andrew's clean skates were unfairly behind newbie youngster Tatsuya Tsuboi in both sp and fp at NHK. The NHK judges also favored a messy Matteo Rizzo over a clean Andrew in the fp! BTW, Tsuboi barely squeaked by to make the cut at this Boston World championships.

Also at NHK, Yuma Kagiyama made uncharacteristic technical errors. Yuma stepped out on one of his quad landings. The judges took off GOE, but they DID NOT check the replay for form and thus did not call Yuma's clear as day egregious UR on that jump, which is what caused his step-out error in the first place. Yuma was going to win NHK no matter what due to the high qualities he possesses, and the numbers he received in the sp. So, the obvious UR in the fp should have been called. It wasn't. But the world didn't come to an end.

I am pissed about a lot of the judging at this 2025 Worlds event, as usual, particularly in pairs at the top. But the world is not ending as a result. This sport generally sucks in how it operates, so when skaters give us something delightful, confident and inspired, I'm all in, even if said skaters are not my faves.

 

[reneerose]

I loved both Alyssa's and Kaori's skates. I still believe Kaori has better technique, power, and speed. Anyway I really loved at the end of Alyssa's program when Kaori went over to hug her before the final result. Who even does that? (ETA: I am aware though the seating at Worlds made it easier to do it). And offering a box of tissue to Alyssa after the official scoring was over, so sweet and funny. Jealous of everyone who got to watch live in that rink! Some day I will make it to a Worlds.

 

[CopyCat]

These scores are a travesty.

 

[Vicky458]

22. Isabeau LEVITO
FS: "Liebestraum (Reve d'amour)" by Franz Liszt; choreo by Julia Kuznetsova; Otar Japaridze

3F+3T< (falls)
3Lo
3S
2A
CCoSp4
3F+2A+SEQ
3Lz!+2T+2Lo
3Lz!q
LSp4
ChSq1 +2.00
StSq4 (struggles on a few of the turns - just can't quite hold the edge)
CCoSp4

SP: 73.33 (3rd)
FS: 136.51 (3rd)
TOT: 209.84 (2nd)

Isabeau doing Isabeau things - gorgeous skating, awkward jumps, always a clutch skater. She just looked a little off on the flip and chose to fight for the 3T, unfortunately with a resulting fall. Her spins are so gorgeous, and she skates so lightly across the ice, but I think the time off the ice really her stamina as well, she seemed a bit winded by the end of this program, but what a great effort after missing most of the season with injury.

I think Isabeau needs a different coach..besides her awkward jump technique this is the second time I’ve seen her coach reprimand Isabeau in the Kiss and Cry area..

 

[Magill]

I loved both Alyssa's and Kaori's skates. I still believe Kaori has better technique, power, and speed. Anyway I really loved at the end of Alyssa's program when Kaori went over to hug her before the final result. Who even does that?

Off my head, Yuzuru and Javier used to exchange Japanese style deep bows across all the space between Kiss & Cry and the green room, which were quite separate then, before the scores, not to mention hugs afterwards, quite a few times, whichever way the victory went any given time. Similarly, three Japanese girls bowed to Amber Glenn when she won recent Japanese Nationals disguised as GPF. Not much chance for hugs when these spaces were separate. And yes, I also loved Kaori and Alysa' interaction, it was great and lovely, but this is not like nobody ever done anything similar in nature, though in a way allowed for by spatial arrangements of the times. It is true the physical closeness of K&C and the "throne" made it possible in a way it was not possible before but IMHO no need to make it into something unique in history. It is not. Which does not take an ounce of its loveliness.

 

[jenaj]

Chiba should have had a 3 point lead over Liu going into the free skate, instead she had a 1 point deficit. That's a 4 point turnaround.

Then they pecked away at Chiba's score in the free skate with q's and underrotations which were there, but Liu despite almost every landing in both the SP and FS having a pronounced hook, not one q or underrotation for the entire event, high PCS, high GOE on everything. 3Lz-3T combo the 3T is a clear < a definite q anyway with 270 degree prerotation, 3Lz in sequence a <, 3F in combo was a clear q if not <. Everything ticked off by the tech panel, some of the judges giving a 4 for these jumps. In the short program the 3T was a clear < but it's given as clean. This is wrong.

Chiba should have won, they kind of held Sakamoto back on PCS with 72 when Liu is getting 70, Glenn and Levito receiving nearly 68 (Haein Lee is getting 61 and Samo is getting 59 for a seamless program). Liu still would have got a bronze if the obvious q's and underrotations were given, which is a great result.

Levito's scoring was some what absurd as well no q on her 3F in the sequence (could have been a <) and the following 2A is a definite q instead two 4's and six 3's, 3Lz in the 3 jump combo was a clear q but not given, her single 2A comes to almost sudden stop and gets 2's and 3's, PCS of nearly 68 for a program that was so slow across the ice.

Samodelkina was so seamless from one element to the next, such a cohesive program, just the one error, whacked her for a hook on the landing of the 3Lz which was no different to the majority of most of the winner's landings but hit poor Samo with an underrotation. Not a q, but an underrotation. Then a downgrade on the 3Lz she fell on which was not there at all. That was a <. Then just 59 PCS. I'd have her PCS up closer to Levito, or Levito needs to be brought back down to Samodelkina. Also, 7 of the top 8 women couldn't do a 3-3 in the second half but Samo did. Well done!

With correct scoring we would have
1. Chiba (not that she was amazing in the free skate but it was enough)
2. Sakamoto
3. Liu

Bad day for the legitimacy of the sport.

That result would have been about as popular (and correct) as Baiul over Kerrigan or Adelina over Yuna.

 

[Joekaz]

That result would have been about as popular (and correct) as Baiul over Kerrigan or Adelina over Yuna.

The fact that Higuchi was clean in the SP too, but was over 2.5 points behind Liu showed that it wasn't a level playing field. Then Sakamoto's much lower PCS gap than she usually gets in the FS confirmed the fix was in. The reality is that the ISU desperately wants American eyes on skating during the Olympics. The last pre Olympic World's, Karen Chen finished in front of Sakamoto too, with her URs ignored as well. Liu doesn't usually fall or make big mistakes, and has alot of charisma, so it wasn't a surprise that her usual mistakes were ignored this time.

 

[jenaj]

The fact that Higuchi was clean in the SP too, but was over 2.5 points behind Liu showed that it wasn't a level playing field. Then Sakamoto's much lower PCS gap than she usually gets in the FS confirmed the fix was in. The reality is that the ISU desperately wants American eyes on skating during the Olympics. The last pre Olympic World's, Karen Chen finished in front of Sakamoto too, with her URs ignored as well. Liu doesn't usually fall or make big mistakes, and has alot of charisma, so it wasn't a surprise that her usual mistakes were ignored this time.

How does Higuchi vs. Liu figure in here? Do you think Mone Chiba should have been World Champion?

 

[Joekaz]

How does Higuchi vs. Liu figure in here? Do you think Mone Chiba should have been World Champion?

Higuchi and Liu were the only ones who were scored clean in the short. If both are clean Higuchi should be ahead of Liu, and definitely no way 2.5 points behind. Im just using that to illustrate that there was obvious favoritism. Actually Higuchi being behind Chiba and Levito with errors is wrong as well. The judging was too flawed for me to go through all the mistakes to rescore it. But the Japanese clearly should have been at least the top 2, if not a sweep. Too many ignored errors and inflated GOE and PCS for the Americans to even count.

 

[Skating91]

Higuchi and Liu were the only ones who were scored clean in the short. If both are clean Higuchi should be ahead of Liu, and definitely no way 2.5 points behind. Im just using that to illustrate that there was obvious favoritism. Actually Higuchi being behind Chiba and Levito with errors is wrong as well. The judging was too flawed for me to go through all the mistakes to rescore it. But the Japanese clearly should have been at least the top 2, if not a sweep. Too many ignored errors and inflated GOE and PCS for the Americans to even count.

Liu got away with another underrotation that wasn't called in the WTT SP. It really affects the scoring when they overlook these things. It taking a lot of enjoyment away from me when skaters aren't judged by the same standards.

 

[Silevril Ilumire]

I think the US team is actually one of the simpler ones. Levito + Liu + either Glenn or Tennel. The US Fed have never really seemed to like Sarah Everhardt and she is coached by Ilia's mam, who he doesn't like to go to competitions. Elyce-Lin Gracey isn't ready yet. She has a tendency to freeze at major events and underperform.

Some of the other Feds have much tougher choices to make with Olympic selections.

Ilia is not against Tatiana going to competitions; Tatiana does not want to go to competitions with Ilia because it stresses her out so much and she cannot do her job properly when that stressed out. She does not even watch Ilia’s performances live when at home. Sarah works equally well with Roman. She went to competitions with both Roman and Tatiana at different times this season and did well with either of them.

 

[Silevril Ilumire]

Did Alysa back whe she was winning the U.S. championships have a triple axel or quad?

Alysa did two 3A and two 4Lz in her free skate back then. Later on she was working on restoring her 3A. She actually attempted the 3A in the practice before Nationals this year.

 

[jenaj]

Liu got away with another underrotation that wasn't called in the WTT SP. It really affects the scoring when they overlook these things. It taking a lot of enjoyment away from me when skaters aren't judged by the same standards.

i think it takes enjoyment away when people engage in after-the-fact scrutinizing of rotations and claiming someone "got away" with something. The technical panel views these things in a minute or two and calls them as they see them. And even now, not everyone agrees with your assessment.