2025 Worlds: Women's thoughts and comments

[CanadianSkaterGuy]

ISU Championships have always been judged with boosts here and there. This year all the women champions got home boosts. Niina at Europeans, Chaeyeon at 4CC, and Alysa at Worlds.
I have loved Alysa's programs all season, and she has also been fairly clean all season. But somehow she scored +20 points at Worlds.
I'm not complaining though, I thought throughout the season she would have scored better. It is just how the judges work. They still use PCS for placement like in the old judging system.

Alysa (and many other American skaters) definitely got a home boost and really should have been called on UR issues in her SP and FS. The result was okay though, because she did skate the cleanest (save for the imperceptibles like q and < that should have been called). Even if it hadn't been at her home Worlds the result would have been the same (though I think she would have just edged Kaori out not beat her by 5+ points). IMO, It would have felt off for Kaori to win though, given how lights out Alysa skated. Kaori doubled her flip in the SP (still got the highest PCS) and had iffy jumps in the FS, and pulled 217, so she wasn't exactly held down either.

 

[Mathman]

I think back to Biles and Chiles bowing down to Andrade at the Olympics.

Andrade really did perform wonderfully, and plus she charmed fans, judges and competitors alike.

 

[mayiko]

My betting interests (if I had any) were never on Amber. If anyone, I thought it would be Kim, especially after doing so well at 4CC. She seemed to be rolling into outstanding form at exactly the right moment. In contrast,

I thought Kim did really well at 4CC but something was really off. She looked upset the whole time and I just thought it was strange

 

[ramurphy2005]

I thought Kim did really well at 4CC but something was really off. She looked upset the whole time and I just thought it was strange

She was in a car accident before Worlds, and I think was dealing with back issues as a result of it.

 

[Jeanie19]

She was in a car accident before Worlds, and I think was dealing with back issues as a result of it.

That is so sad. I hope she is okay now.

 

[mayiko]

She was in a car accident before Worlds, and I think was dealing with back issues as a result of it.

I’m talking about 4cc when her leg was hurting. Did she have the accident before 4cc?

 

[ramurphy2005]

I’m talking about 4cc when her leg was hurting. Did she have the accident before 4cc?

The car accident was 3 days before she left for Boston.

 

[mayiko]

The car accident was 3 days before she left for Boston.

So her leg hurting at 4cc was unrelated.

 

[Jontor]

My betting interests (if I had any) were never on Amber. If anyone, I thought it would be Kim, especially after doing so well at 4CC. She seemed to be rolling into outstanding form at exactly the right moment. In contrast, I thought at US Nationals that Amber was fading at exactly the wrong time. Still, that was almost 3 months ago, and she could have righted the ship. It wasn't just about the missed 3A in the short - I thought she looked flat, but that could have been a product of falling on her first element of the comp. That said, 5th is not a poor result.

I also think Alysa may have gotten a favorable rotation call or two, but that seemed to be pretty fairly applied across the board. It seemed this panel wanted it to be really obvious to the naked eye before a call was made.

I agree. US nationals made me doubt Amber. Alysa would have won that title if she had delivered that last spin. My bets were on Kaori, Chaeyeon and Mone for medals, then Wakaba, then Amber. I should have known Alysa would come from behind. She showed that at nationals...

 

[lariko]

ISU Championships have always been judged with boosts here and there. This year all the women champions got home boosts. Niina at Europeans, Chaeyeon at 4CC, and Alysa at Worlds.
I have loved Alysa's programs all season, and she has also been fairly clean all season. But somehow she scored +20 points at Worlds.
I'm not complaining though, I thought throughout the season she would have scored better. It is just how the judges work. They still use PCS for placement like in the old judging system.

I didn't really have anything specific skaters that I favored save for Glenn, and she successfully took herself out of the podium position anyway, since she doesn't have that ability to deliver once and when needed. The internationals here validated Russian scoring in terms of absolute numbers, but it still doesn't mean an individual athlete would score equivalently across Rus and international events.

 

[mayiko]

I agree. US nationals made me doubt Amber. Alysa would have won that title if she had delivered that last spin. My bets were on Kaori, Chaeyeon and Mone for medals, then Wakaba, then Amber. I should have known Alysa would come from behind. She showed that at nationals...

Worlds is the end of an endurance race.

 

[labgoat]

I’m not sure where Liu is going to go from here. She came in as a sort of underdog and stepped up to the plate; she was clearly enjoying herself…I don’t know if folks watching on TV got to see the warmup intros or the post-skate K&C interviews with Wagner/Ben Agosto, but she really is a character - I’ll say that much. But now she is World Champ. Will that joy persist, or will the pressure that pushed her into initial retirement return?

I think Alysa is thrilled with her win and would love to continue. I don't see her as one to feel the pressure as her goals seem to be personal ones and she values those above winning. As for whether she will continue - she has been attempting 3A on most later practices this season - not something you would see if a one year return was the only goal. I think that with what she has already restored, she has room to grow with the possibility of landing that jump. I still think she has the opportunity to improve the cleanness of her other jumps and maximize her points in other areas. I look forward to see what she brings next year. She was a bundle of joy all year.

 

[labgoat]

I thought Kim did really well at 4CC but something was really off. She looked upset the whole time and I just thought it was strange

I think Kim had an undisclosed injury because she kept missing the same jumps at practice and seemed just very down in spirits at the event. I still enjoyed her skating, but could sense something was not right.

 

[labgoat]

I want to give credit to Kaori for really making All that Jazz really work in Boston. She put in a lot of time on developing the quickness she needed for the speedy and fabulous footwork which does not come naturally to her. She is now a better skater as a result of these new skills. I'm sure the endurance needed to do that took its toll on the rhythm of some of her jumps and their consistency. I honestly thought she had done enough to win. From those in the arena, I am told Alysa's skate was just a bit more impressive.

I'd also like to acknowledge the beautiful skates of Mone, Haein, Laura, Maddie, Nina and Niina which were beautiful and completely enjoyable.

Regarding Amber, I think she was feeling a lot of pressure as the favorite, as the result of several personal losses (dog, grandma), as one who mentors younger skaters the plane crash and melding of her losses with those of others from the plane crash and as an LGBTQ person in the new America. The weight of these pressure was just a bit too much for her right now. I would like to see her go home and choose new programs that make her inspired and happy to get over this hurdle. I still think she has a great chance to make a berth on the Olympic team if she decides that she is going to skate for her dream and ignore all the naysayers much like Alysa did. I think seeing how Alyssa handled herself is what she should try for - skate for herself and choose to be her best self and share it with the rest of us. I KNOW she is capable of getting there.

 

[Mathman]

I agree. US nationals made me doubt Amber.

Setting aside the intangibles, I think that Amber's situation going forward is perfectly straightforward. Except for the triple Axel her skating is not superior to what the orther best skaaters in the world can do (Kaori Sakamoto, Mona Chiba, etc.) But if everything else is equal and she hits a triple Axel in the short and also in the long, compared to a double Axel, that gives her a cushion of 9.4 points to work with. If she skates clean otherwise, she will be in a good position even if others beat her by 4 points overall in GOE and another 4 in PCS.

Here, just considering th LP,, she hit on the triple Axel (gaining 4.7 base value points over a double Axel), but gave back 3.5 points by doubling the triple flip. This was good enough for 4th -- a placement that no one need be ashamed of in any case.

Moral of the story -- skate clean and put the pressure on the other girls. (Easier said than done, of course.)

 

[nguyhm]

I love Katya

I was fortunate to talk and have a picture with her when she was doing a promotion for Chique Sport. She was super super nice. I love her bubbly personality.

 

[TontoK]

NBC has put up Alysa's 2020 Nationals free skate, in which she won her second national title at age 14. Two takeaways from that video:

1. Raising the age for senior participation internationally is a GOOD thing. 14 year old Alysa was a technical marvel, but was nothing compared to the mature skater she is today. Today's Alysa should clobber 2020 Alysa in the standings, but I'm not sure she would.

2. The pressure this girl was under to be the Next Big American Superstar was immense. The commentary discusses her as the future World and Olympic champion... the usual blather. That's a lot to put on a 14 year old.

Here's the video if you're interested:

14-year-old Alysa Liu makes history again at 2020 Nationals I NBC Sports

Alysa Liu once again attempted a historic set of jumps en route to taking the top spot at the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Nationals. Not only is she the first l...

www.youtube.com

 

[Mathman]

1. Today's Alysa should clobber 2020 Alysa in the standings, but I'm not sure she would.

2. The pressure this girl was under to be the Next Big American Superstar was immense.

1. I think that 14 year old technical marvel Alisa would win handily. Just like 14 year old Trusova, 14 year old Shcherbakova, 14 year old Valieva would. The danger is that the juniors are perceived as so much better than the seniors on the tech side, why watch senior ladies at all?

2. About pressure, though, there is a theory that young children do not feel it in the same way as older children do because they don't know any better. The world is my oyster. Olympics? Haha, of course I'm headed for the Olympics. What's the big deal? (it affects different individuals differently, of course.)

 

[lariko]

1. I think that 14 year old technical marvel Alisa would win handily. Just like 14 year old Trusova, 14 year old Shcherbakova, 14 year old Valieva would. The danger is that the juniors are perceived as so much better than the seniors on the tech side, why watch senior ladies at all?

2. About pressure, though, there is a theory that young children do not feel it in the same way as older children do because they don't know any better. The world is my oyster. Olympics? Haha, of course I'm headed for the Olympics. What's the big deal? (it affects different individuals differently, of course.)

Nobody watches juniors, but I hope the shift in age would change that, because despite the dismissive attitude, juniors deliver what seniors can't, both technically and for the spirit and ardor.

 

[Mathman]

Nobody watches juniors, but I hope the shift in age would change that, because despite the dismissive attitude, juniors deliver what seniors can't, both technically and for the spirit and ardor.

The only negative would be that it reinforces the common believe that figure skating is a sport for children, specifically for little girls. Of course children are more high-spirited than adults. Also. young girls are more flexible, more likely to have a favorable strength to weight ratio, etc. , than grown women.