2026 U.S.Nationals Senior Women Free Skate

[moonvine]

Cool that Sonja made her dress.

She choreographs her programs, makes her dresses, and is lowballed on her scores. She barely made it to Nationals. It’s crazy.

 

[labgoat]

I love that this is a tribute program to Shizuka Arakawa by a US skater. I loved Shizuka too.

 

[Karoltyna]

Ohhhh, this ina bauer, my soul is melted, my spine hurts...

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Erica's Ina Bauer in this program is *chef's kiss*, they should be really proud of their US Nationals debut. This was a super solid free program, I love their landing position and the jumps were much more confident than in the short program. It's especially impressive because they got their triples just a few years ago, that's crazy fast progress.

 

[elektra blue]

this program is turning into a Turandon't

 

[Jeanie19]

Erica. Beautiful dress. Great program. Wonderful skate for her.

 

[labgoat]

Ohhhh, this ina bauer, my soul is melted, my spine hurts...

It actually doesn't hurt - it was one of my best moves. It feels like a really good back stretch. I used to do mine straight down the middle and look at the boards on the opposite side to stay lined up.

 

[midori green]

Interesting hearing Ashley arms over the head on jumps doesn't affect scoring when Tara and Johnny constantly say it's for higher GOE.

 

[Karoltyna]

It actually doesn't hurt - it was one of my best moves. It feels like a really good back stretch. I used to do mine straight down the middle and look at the boards on the opposite side to stay lined up.

I'm 41 in 8 days, it hurts when I try it

 

[labgoat]

I love Erica's haircut

 

[yelyoh]

Why is Erica a they?

 

[labgoat]

I'm 41 in 8 days, it hurts when I try it

I'm nearing retirement and I can still do it.

 

[elektra blue]

I love Erica's haircut

she looks great

 

[elektra blue]

oh no a cactus spin, she was doing so well

 

[shan22044]

Ohhhh, this ina bauer, my soul is melted, my spine hurts...

God it was so beautiful. I’m thrilled they showed the correct angle in the replay.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Why is Erica a they?

short answer: they're nonbinary and use they/them pronouns

long answer: a lot of people feel like the whole man/woman binary doesn't really apply to them. For a lot of people, you just kind of know that you're a man or a woman, but some people feel different and express their gender differently. Nonbinary is kind of a catchall term to say that you're not really a man or woman and that you feel like the sex you were assigned at birth doesn't match how you feel on the inside.

 

[shan22044]

Why is Erica a they?

Nonbinary according to the internet.

 

[Karoltyna]

I'm nearing retirement and I can still do it.

(but I'm the one with one part of body hypermobile and other stiff as @&$$#! and still amazed I can do a decent ina bauer)

Meanwhile this was a nice stsq.

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Wow, Katie had a really amazing redemption skate outside of that one completely bobbled spin! She was splatting a lot in practice so I'm so happy she was able to put together this great program. Her jumps are really nice when they're done cleanly and she has great speed across the ice.

 

[Jeanie19]

Katie. Beautiful dress. Great program and a great skate.