As a fan of Andrew and his skating, I am so grateful for what he showed us at Nationals. I'm grateful that I could experience it through technology. This year, I actually enjoyed both commentaries on his free skate. I'm still at a loss for words to describe how amazing both programs were. It wasn't only that they were clean, without mistakes. It was the matter-of-fact way they were delivered. His expression after both programs said, "I'm happy, but I expected to do a clean program." And yet, the choreography had all of the "Andrew passion" we love him for. In fact, everything seemed more crisp because he was jumping so confidently. I have never seen him jump so well in my life. His jumps are now some of my favorites to watch; so straight, so much height, such good air position, such flow on the landing edges. He maintains the flow between his 3A and 2A, and his euler actually looks pretty. In 2023 it seemed like he was surprised to land everything in the free skate, in 2024 it was a valiant struggle due to injury, and in 2025 he matter-of-factly landed everything. What a great progression. Incredible. His success rate on 4Ts this season is much higher than I would have predicted before the season started.
It's challenging to pick out favorite moments in this particular outing because everything flowed so seamlessly. But, I'll have to go with the head nod to the judges after the choreo sequence.
The choreo sequence and last spin were especially exhilerating for me here, knowing he had done a clean free skate, with two quads no less.
I loved the interactions between Andrew and Brandon. Brandon brings out a joy in Andrew that I haven't noticed before. (Granted, Andrew is also skating better than he ever has, so that helps). They've been friends for a long time and it shows. Brandon seems so amazed watching Andrew skate and jump. Andrew got off the ice and Brandon said, "Dude, do you realize what you just did?" To which Andrew said, "Oh yeah, [bleep] crushed it."
I'm happy that Andrew skated so well, won the silver medal and is going to Worlds, but it definitely hits a bit differently with the plane crash and the loss of Dick Button. That terrible week in figure skating reminded me that every performance we get to witness from our favorite skaters is a gift, not to be taken lightly. Even the ones where they don't land their jumps. For me, the tragedy put "landing your jumps" into perspective yet again. Yes, jumps matter for the competition, scores and placements, but just watching someone glide and move and do spins and footwork is a miraculous gift. The gift is made even sweeter when a skater like Andrew lands his jumps, but even being able to skate is incredible. Things can change so quickly, so let's savor this right now.
I hope Andrew is doing okay. I can't imagine listening to "L'Enfer" every day, given the recent tragedy. Same with Alisa and Misha listening to "Je Suis Malade." But that's just me wondering, as a very unimportant outsider.
My next post here will have all the Andrew videos from Nationals, except the gala, which has not been shown. It will be fun to relive Andrew's 2025 Nationals with you all!!!
. Maybe it's a sign of confidence that Andrew doesn't think he needs it, although world ranking points are a help.
No wonder he didn't seem surprised by his clean programs.
