2025 Worlds: Women's thoughts and comments

[noskates]

I think Amber has been skating a charmed life the last couple of years. She never has been a consistent skater and seems to always feel pressure from somewhere - changes with the event! Also - I have watched Juniors for years so to say nobody watches them is a broad statement. I remember sitting in a practice rink in San Jose with Alysa's father when she was only 12 years old. That same year I watched a teenage Camden Pulkinen skate lights out to win Junior Men. Not sure what happened to that skater as the years went on. I really dislike Isabeau's jumping technique but she manages to make it work for her. I think her presentation skills have improved measurably. I think the only skater that doesn't feel pressure - regardless of their age - is the skater that goes into a competition knowing they probably won't win or place - but somehow miraculously pulls out a medal. THEN the pressure hits them.

 

[lariko]

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.

How's it negative that young adults compete in junior sport, particularly young adult women. Seniors are there for seniors.

 

[Mathman]

^ I was just speculating that once the word gets out about how much better the juniors are,, no one will want to watch senior ladies any more.

Buit it's hard to foretell the future. I am a very casual fan of gymnastics, for instance, but I have noticed that there are cycles where all the champions are fifteen, then other periods where the oldies but goodies take center stage on national teams and the Olympic. One thing that has happened recently (at least for me) is that the collegiate version of the sport has become more popular, The collegians are more entertaining and more "dancy. On floor routines especially they seem to put more thought and effort into choreography, maybe because they can't limp fifteen feet in the air on their tumbling passes like Sinone Biles.

I don't know what direction ladies figure skating will take. A lot depends on what happens with the Russia situation.

 

[el henry]

^ I was just speculating that once the word gets out about how much better the juniors are,, no one will want to watch senior ladies any more.

But what is "better"?

For some years we have heard, oh, if we don't let the 15 year old jumpers compete as seniors, no will watch seniors. Everyone will flock to juniors.

You could have every tween jumper in Russia competing in ISU juniors right now, and non-cognoscenti will not flock to juniors (of course, what is the non-cognoscenti? More questions )

Kaori versus Alysa in an electric atmosphere that loves both ladies: to me, that is "better". And will bring more people to the sport.

But hey, that's just me

 

[Mathman]

Kaori versus Alysa in an electric atmosphere that loves both ladies: to me, that is "better". And will bring more people to the sport.

I hope so. It seems like there ought to be an opportunity in the fall season next year to whip up some publicity about this exciting head-to-head in the Olympic year, especially if both of these popular and charismatic performers make the Grand Prix Final. (And maybe this will take some of the pressure off Amber Glenn.)

As for what "better" means, the question was about who would score the most IJS points, 14-year-old Alysa or now-Alysa. I looked it up.

InTES (LP) at 2025 Wolds, Alysa got 78.27. At 2019 Junior Grand Prix Poland she scored 83.94.

But wait! PCS: baby Alysa 50.05, now Alysa 70.12.

(By the way, in men's at that 2019 junior event the silver medalist was Yuma Kagiyama, with bronze going to Danial Grassl.)

 

[Azikin]

InTES (LP) at 2025 Wolds, Alysa got 78.27. At 2019 Junior Grand Prix Poland she scored 83.94.

But wait! PCS: baby Alysa 50.05, now Alysa 70.12.

It's a good example of "how much better the juniors are", right?
If they are attempting or even landing ultra-c, that doesn't mean they are better..
I much more enjoy watching Russian senior nationals with skaters like Frolova and Sinitsyna over Russian junior nationals full of quad jumping little girls who are overworked and their carreer will be probably over before they even reach senior age..

 

[TontoK]

I've been watching figure skating for nearly 50 years now... I often rewatch my "baptism" performances... Dorothy Hamill and John Curry and Toller Cranston at Innsbruck.

I've given junior skating a try every now and then. It's just not for me, but to be fair, when you spend 50 years chasing that first high, the performance has to be really special to even make it into the "rewatch pile." It has to be technically brilliant (not just hard... but with elements done smooth as silk and with amplitude) and emotionally engaging on some level. Juniors tend to hit the first criteria fairly often, but almost never the second - it's just a matter of maturity. Occasionally, a fellow GSer might alert me to a specific junior skater who has potential... something to anticipate. For me, that's the value of juniors - a preview of what is possible, not the main event.

 

[Jeanie19]

I've been watching figure skating for nearly 50 years now... I often rewatch my "baptism" performances... Dorothy Hamill and John Curry and Toller Cranston at Innsbruck.

I've given junior skating a try every now and then. It's just not for me, but to be fair, when you spend 50 years chasing that first high, the performance has to be really special to even make it into the "rewatch pile." It has to be technically brilliant (not just hard... but with elements done smooth as silk and with amplitude) and emotionally engaging on some level. Juniors tend to hit the first criteria fairly often, but almost never the second - it's just a matter of maturity. Occasionally, a fellow GSer might alert me to a specific junior skater who has potential... something to anticipate. For me, that's the value of juniors - a preview of what is possible, not the main event.

I like watching juniors. The scoring seems more correct. But mostly I watch, because I never want to miss the beginning of a skater who I love, I missed Deniss and Evgenia in juniors. That will never happen again.

 

[Mathman]

My all-time favorite juniors: Jamie Silverstein and Justin Pekarek (world junior champions in ice dance, 1999). Favorite novice: Nathan Chen, US National novice champion 2010 and 2011.

 

[Skatingcat]

Alyssa Liu deserved the win, but she leaves me cold, even when I see her joy and jumps. Part of me feels like she came back for an olympic medal, and will retire the second she wins one. It's not a bad thing, of course, but for me it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

 

[macy]

Alyssa Liu deserved the win, but she leaves me cold, even when I see her joy and jumps. Part of me feels like she came back for an olympic medal, and will retire the second she wins one. It's not a bad thing, of course, but for me it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

that is certainly a hot take.

 

[el henry]

The joy Alysa shows is not manufactured. Because she is skating for herself, and not medals, the emotion comes through.

“ What the hell” will remain forever etched in my memory, and it still brings a smile to my face.

 

[noskates]

Well heck - how many skaters stay in the sport for an Olympic medal? Thought that was kind of a harsh statement to make about Alysa. I personally feel her reason for coming back was a genuine love of the sport as evidenced by her utmost joy during her program and after. Have to give her credit for taking that time off and coming back stronger than ever. I look forward to watching her this coming season. To me she's been a breath of fresh air and certainly a detraction from the angst and ever-present disappointment from some other skaters when they don't do well.

 

[Mathman]

Well heck - how many skaters stay in the sport for an Olympic medal? ... I personally feel her reason for coming back was a genuine love of the sport as evidenced by her utmost joy during her program and after.

I look at it this way. These skaters do not owe me anything. They are the ones that get up at 4 in the morning every day and toil at the rink to master the craft that they have dedicated themselves to. All I can do is say, "thank you."

 

[Joekaz]

Allysa definitely deserved to finish in front of Kaori every bit as much as Karen Chen did the last time a pre Olympics World's was held. Coincidence?

 

[Mathman]

Allysa definitely deserved to finish in front of Kaori every bit as much as Karen Chen did the last time a pre Olympics World's was held. Coincidence?

I don't know about a coincidence, but it was certainly a nail-biter for 4th through 6th place, with Chen, Henrickx and Sakamoto within a point of each other. Karen Chen won the short program by a pretty good margin (as she often did), and the others couldn't quite make up the difference in the free skate despite some LP mistakes by Chen.

In the grand scheme of things I don't think it mattered very much, except in terms of earning Oylmpic spots. The podium was Shcherbakova, Tuktamysheva and Trusova, but I don't think there was any wuzrobbing or suspicions of conspiracies. The three Russians skated the best. They won.

 

[Joekaz]

I don't know about a coincidence, but it was certainly a nail-biter for 4th through 6th place, with Chen, Henrickx and Sakamoto within a point of each other. Karen Chen won the short program by a pretty good margin (as she often did), and the others couldn't quite make up the difference in the free skate despite some LP mistakes by Chen.

In the grand scheme of things I don't think it mattered very much, except in terms of earning Oylmpic spots. The podium was Shcherbakova, Tuktamysheva and Trusova, but I don't think there was any wuzrobbing or suspicions of conspiracies. The three Russians skated the best. They won.

You're right, the ISU couldn't care less if the Americans get 3 spots for the Olympics. Of course, Karen was just better than Kaori and suddenly started rotating her jumps for a change, kinda sounds familiar. And figure skating has such a long history of fairness and honesty, who could possibly be skeptical? Lol

 

[Blades of Passion]

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST - KAREN CHEN.

I don't know how she entered the discussion but she was the last bastion of potentially great women's skating. Huge jumps, great spins and spirals, artistry. Nobody even tries anymore to skate this way. Also, she should have won silver at 2021 worlds, the russians were not great at that competition.

 

[Joekaz]

OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST - KAREN CHEN.

I don't know how she entered the discussion but she was the last bastion of potentially great women's skating. Huge jumps, great spins and spirals, artistry. Nobody even tries anymore to skate this way. Also, she should have won silver at 2021 worlds, the russians were not great at that competition.

Because she got away with obvious URs to finish ahead of Kaori in a pre Olympic World's.Sound familiar? Karen does good 3/2s, but 3/3s? No! I'm personally not a big Sakamoto fan, but its odd that Kaori seems to be scored much higher when Olympic spots for the US aren't at stake. I would just like a little consistency in scoring. Who wasn't expecting Kaori to get over 150 when her FS ended, unless you haven't been watching skating the last few years?

 

[Mathman]

You're right, the ISU couldn't care less if the Americans get 3 spots for the Olympics. Of course, Karen was just better than Kaori and suddenly started rotating her jumps for a change, kinda sounds familiar. And figure skating has such a long history of fairness and honesty, who could possibly be skeptical? Lol

It is so wearying to see post after post after post strumming on the same one-string guitar: Poor me, poor, me, poor me, everybody;s picking on me, everybody's picking on me.

Karen Chen? Now there's a blast from the past! Evberybody's picking on (three-time world champion) Kaori Sakamoto. Everybody's picking on the (world and Olympic champions) Russian ladies. Poor babies.

If we must reach back to Karen Chen of all people on this thread about 2025 worlds -- Chen was a lovely, graceful and emotive skater with fine skating skills and strong presentation qualities who delivered quite a few excellent short programs in her career. She lacked consistency on her jumps and was challenged to get through long programs error-free, which held her back internationally. The same pattern occurred at 2017 worlds -- she was way ahead of Mai Mihara in the SP, finished behind Mihara in the LP, but Mihara couldn't quite make up the ten-point deficit and finished fifth with Chen 4th. This is not a vast conspiracy by the Illuminati.