Senior Ladies' Free Skate

[jennylovskt]

Congratulations to Mirai, Flatt, and Wagner! Three new faces for the senior ladies podium. Not too bad for Caroline for being fourth. I am not a Kimmie fan, but I feel so bad for her. Poor girl!

Thank you so so much for everybody for the descriptions and pbp!

 

[pista04]

Smartest thing right now, in my opinion: send an empty third spot to the ISU, send Meissner, Hacker and Czisny (whoevers behind Meissner) to 4CC, and the top girl there goes. And that depends on how close Czisny is to Meissner.

 

[emma]

wow ...very interesting intense comp. In the end, I feel for Kimmie, but also Alyssa and even Bebe....but there were so many ups and great performances too...


anyway, I'm off to bed....

 

[feraina]

Looks to me national judges are harsher to Caroline Zhang than international judges. Maybe they are holding grudge towards media's hype against her.

Yeah, I was thinking that Caroline's program was the best that she did all season. The jumps were not worse in quality, and she landed all her jumps cleanly for the first time, plus she had better footwork. I feel like 119 is what she would've gotten from the int'l judges, but everyone else got scores inflated relative to int'l scores.

I also thought that Caroline's program had the best sense of that "intangible" artistic quality, and got the loudest ovation from the crowd. But I bet her PCS weren't marked high, even though I haven't seen the actual scores across skaters.

Just now they showed replay of Mirai's jumps at the very end of the broadcast, and everyone of them looked under-rotated. Yet she beat Caroline's LP despite a fall on the 2A (which was also under-rotated). Plus she didn't have any spark to her program until the very end. I'm not picking on Mirai, I just feel like the US judges seem to be wanting to hold Caroline back... And there was no need, really, because she was never going to make up that 17-pt deficit behind Mirai after the SP. At least let her have what she is due in the LP...

 

[gold12345]

What was the final point difference between Kimmie and Katrina? Less than a point? Virtually tied. Hmm, I know what I would do, but the USFSA tends to just go with the top 3 eligible skaters. They are seriously risking not having 3 spots for 2009 Worlds (which are in the U.S) if they take a skater with an extremely weak planned jump content. It wouldn't be a big deal, but we're also sending Bebe, who has been very bad internationally. So a decent competition from that 3rd skater may turn out to be extremely important. It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[pista04]

And as I stated earlier: Nagasu/Zhang/Wagner/Flatt are the power group to watch for Vancouver, and I can completely see an American Sweep. Asada/Kim, I believe, will have too much pressure on them: being pointed out for Vancouver for so long, and being pushed by the American Teens.

Congrats Nagasu, Flatt and Wagner!! MY GIRL WAGNERR!! YEAAH BOOYY!

 

[tae04]

Well USFSA will finally have to quit following National order and send Kimmie to Worlds regardless. Hacker barely beat Kimmie being a total mess, Hacker won't be in any World top 10. The focus is 3 spots next year, Hacker isn't good enough to help secure that at her best. At least have Kimmie and others go to 4cc to battle for the spot.

 

[Phobiamaster856]

My heart goes out to kimmie. No matter what your still national and world champ.
GAH MY HEART BROKE when i saw that it was a repeat of the gpf and after the second lutz u could tell she just gave up omg i felt sick to my stomach afterwards. She looked nervous before and not doing the 3f/3l i think kinda shooken her gah kimmie Still luv u i feel bad for her its like reliving a nightmare going through the gpf twice and skating second again. I also thing Kimmies a bit unlucky with Asada and Kim rising and now this with flatt wagner nagasu and zhang i think its a lot to focus on right now and also fixing the lip and just regaining confidence uh LUV U KIMMIE

Otherwise im very happy for mirai ashley and bebe especially bebe wow her jumps were great tonite

 

[shanm]

I hope the officials take the fact that Hacker has less difficulty in her programs and less experience. I will be furious if we only have 2 spots for L.A. I'd rather take the risk by putting Meissner on the team rather than have a skater who has little difficulty and someone who has an inconsistent history throughout her entire career.

 

[carolinefan177]

Looks to me national judges are harsher to Caroline Zhang than international judges. Maybe they are holding grudge towards media's hype against her.

Poor Caroline...

I kind of think so to. I just find it hard to believe that Caroline got 114 for a fall and downgrade at the GPF but only 119 here at nats...the 3Lz is worth 5 (+bonus) and with the usual -1.60 (or maybe less) for the wrong edge...it's worth 3.74 for her...which means that she would probably gotten 119 at the GPF, and since nationals are known for inflation...I would have expected Caroline to make it into the 120s (especially considering her not having a fall would have given her more points in the PCS at the GPF because like it or not, falls do detract from the program)

Oh well....time to celebrate the depth in American skating

 

[megsy]

Yeah, I was thinking that Caroline's program was the best that she did all season. The jumps were not worse in quality, and she landed all her jumps cleanly for the first time, plus she had better footwork. I feel like 119 is what she would've gotten from the int'l judges, but everyone else got scores inflated relative to int'l scores.

I also thought that Caroline's program had the best sense of that "intangible" artistic quality, and got the loudest ovation from the crowd. But I bet her PCS weren't marked high, even though I haven't seen the actual scores across skaters.

Just now they showed replay of Mirai's jumps at the very end of the broadcast, and everyone of them looked under-rotated. Yet she beat Caroline's LP despite a fall on the 2A (which was also under-rotated). Plus she didn't have any spark to her program until the very end. I'm not picking on Mirai, I just feel like the US judges seem to be wanting to hold Caroline back... And there was no need, really, because she was never going to make up that 17-pt deficit behind Mirai after the SP. At least let her have what she is due in the LP...

Urgh, if this is the case, then it's just ridiculous. Caroline did a great programme and deserves full credit for it - compared to the scores of Ashley/Mirai/Rachael, she was just undermarked...

 

[tae04]

I thought Rachell Flatt was overmarked. Caroline Zhang components too low in the SP and LP. Good future for the US women but I feel all they did was jump jump jump nothing really exciting to me. I like Wagner, I think she has great potential.

 

[Wrlmy]

I'm just dying to see the protocol. Congrats to all the podium ladies, but something doesn't seem right. I agree with the placement though.

 

[gold12345]

Just now they showed replay of Mirai's jumps at the very end of the broadcast, and everyone of them looked under-rotated. Yet she beat Caroline's LP despite a fall on the 2A (which was also under-rotated). Plus she didn't have any spark to her program until the very end. I'm not picking on Mirai, I just feel like the US judges seem to be wanting to hold Caroline back... And there was no need, really, because she was never going to make up that 17-pt deficit behind Mirai after the SP. At least let her have what she is due in the LP...

I will agree with you there that Caroline outskated Mirai tonight. It wasn't reflected in the scores, unfortunately. But maybe this is better for Caroline to not have that target on her back. As we're seeing with Kimmie, it's a tremendous amount of pressure to be the hunted instead of the hunter. With that said, it may be a blessing for Mirai to be ineligible for Worlds.

 

[krenseby]

I kind of think so to. I just find it hard to believe that Caroline got 114 for a fall and downgrade at the GPF but only 119 here at nats...the 3Lz is worth 5 (+bonus) and with the usual -1.60 (or maybe less) for the wrong edge...it's worth 3.74 for her...which means that she would probably gotten 119 at the GPF, and since nationals are known for inflation...I would have expected Caroline to make it into the 120s (especially considering her not having a fall would have given her more points in the PCS at the GPF because like it or not, falls do detract from the program)

Oh well....time to celebrate the depth in American skating

Well... if Caroline gets lowballed even when she skates at her best, that means that she might not even have a chance of getting either gold or sliver even at her very best. Perhaps, her speed is such a serious issue that it makes it impossible for her to be one of the top skaters.

 

[pista04]

Im DYING to see the international team anouncements. I remember last year they waited til after the mens competition.....I hope they choose not to this time....=[

 

[megsy]

Looks to me national judges are harsher to Caroline Zhang than international judges. Maybe they are holding grudge towards media's hype against her.

Poor Caroline...

Mirai is a better postergirl for Champion though - she seems a genuinely sweet and nice girl. And Caroline does have signs of being a diva a la Sasha, however, that's why we love her!

 

[Wrlmy]

We need to export some of our underage ladies. It's a shame that some of them will not get to skate at the worlds.

 

[mylastduchess]

And as I stated earlier: Nagasu/Zhang/Wagner/Flatt are the power group to watch for Vancouver, and I can completely see an American Sweep. Asada/Kim, I believe, will have too much pressure on them: being pointed out for Vancouver for so long, and being pushed by the American Teens.

Wooh! Don't go overbaord there Kim and Asada has superior jump difficulty and presentation than either of those girls.

 

[feraina]

Well, I really don't understand the judging anymore. Rachael's LP over Ashley's, Mirai's over Caroline's. I don't know how they came up with these results...