Skaters whose improvement this quad cycle delights you the most

[Anna K.]

There already is a thread about cacti; so, how about a thread about good things happening?

"Delightful" is subjective. Accordingly, this is one of those "subjective and personal" threads where to share your subjective and personal evaluations, impressions, and feelings. Please, don't start to discuss who has the biggest... progress or whatever

Apparently all skaters, pairs, and teams have big plans at the beginning of the quadrennium and their supporters and fans have equally big hopes. Now, the Olympic cycle has come to its end. Whose progress has been most delightful for you? Which debut lived up to the promise? Who surprised you with unexpected improvement?

Please, share!

 

[Amyshka]

Amber Glenn. I am so happy she got her nerves under control and skates mostly clean even if there was a mistake in some element. And her 3A is crazy consistent! I hope she gets the olympic gold.

 

[Anna K.]

The creation of Adam

 

[museksk8r]

I immediately thought of Amber Glenn. I was in attendance at US Nationals in 2020 when she skated a clean SP and placed 4th (with many thinking she should have placed ahead of Mariah Bell, who had a fall in the step sequence, yet Amber was still placed .06 behind her). This would be the 2nd straight Nationals where Glenn would go into the FS in 4th after a strong SP. She opens her program and doubles 2 planned triples, then a fall on the 3Lutz, and she would go on to double 2 more planned triples to finish 9th in the FS and 5th overall. It was the 2nd straight year that she would skate strong in the SP only to implode in the FS. Once again, one mistake had resulted in another and then snowballed into 5 mistakes. I had lost count of the number of times I had seen her do this in competition over the years. She had a knack of skating clean practices only to self-destruct in competition.

The Amber Glenn of 2024 to the present has seemingly mastered the ability to not only skate without mistakes on occasion, but now when she makes a mistake, she can easily forget it, move on and skate the rest of the program cleanly. Plus, let’s not make light of the stellar achievement it is to acquire a consistent 3Axel in your arsenal at what figure skating sees as the senior citizen age of 24. Amber now has what I see as the most consistent 3Axel of any woman I have witnessed in the history of the sport in my 34 years of viewership; her hit rate is insane!

While she has become somewhat of a punching bag to some people who watch skating and are not fans of her late career success or her skating style or whatever, I am more than thrilled to cheer on her successes and to be in awe of her perseverance and endurance. The storyline of her career is a huge testament to never give up! Like Joannie Rochette and Carolina Kostner before her, she is truly an inspiration for skaters to continue to improve and fight amidst adversity, and that you aren’t past your expiration date in this sport when you reach the age of 23. She competes against many skaters who are much younger, shorter and smaller in frame than her, yet she holds her own at 26 years of age and is highly competitive.

Believe and breathe, baby!

 

[DizzyFrenchie]

While watching Amber Glenn does delight me this season, the most delightful and unexpected surprise for me was the transformation of "jumping bean" Shun Sato into a complete skater, with flow, easy complex steps, expressing his musicality... It was with his 2023-2024 Short Program Libertango. When I read that he was skating to a Tango I thought, no, not him, even for Kazuki Tomono a (Solo) Tango would be unreachable.. Well, Shun Sato did it. I won't pretend that he was the incarnation of Tango, but he did hit the rhythm, the essence of the moves... I was completely stunned. And how pleased, you can imagine. (Except for the Components, with low 8s in Composition and Presentation!)
I hope that he was clean in this one:

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

Here's a comment by coach and choreographer Kenji Miyamoto:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qof6Znj8ZlE


(Both Kenji Miyamoto and Guillaume Cizeron, who choreographed his programs of this year, have been students of Muriel Boucher-Zazoui in Lyon.)

 

[4everchan]

Amber and Adam are very good choices indeed.
I am tempted to include Deanna and Max. When their partnership started gelling they went from mid of the pack to world champions in 2024. Quite impressive, especially considering the many years they were skating with other partners without getting much traction.

 

[Anna K.]

Amber and Adam are very good choices indeed.
I am tempted to include Deanna and Max. When their partnership starting gelling they went from mid of the pack to world champions in 2024. Quite impressive, especially considering the many years they were skating with other partners without getting much traction.

Do it! Include them
They are always creative. They keep improving their programs and trying new things like Deanna's backflip this season. Their journey has been a delight to watch for me, too!

 

[lariko]

Samodelkina. I knew the girl had a lot of talent, but it is the pure joy she brings in that just makes me happy for her and just happy
Malinin's growth never stops to amaze me and that he participates in the creative process to express his individuality is a new level
Pavlova/Svyatchenko really starting to bring in some of their personality into their competitive performances and I am waiting to see if they have even more to offer
Boykova/Kozlovskii seems to never give up. Wow. Quad throw and fighting on.
Reitan/Majorov impressed me to no end. I honestly didn't expect that much progress.

 

[ladyjane]

Deanna and Max (in pairs) to me. I expected them to grow, but really being contenders? Even World Champions. Well done!!!!

I must look to Emilea and Vadym as well...Vadym being the real ID'er and Emilea a single's skater...going to the GPF now. Wow!

I would also include Shun, Adam and Amber in the list. See posts above.

 

[Lamente Ariane]

I genuinely still tear up sometimes watching Amber skate clean with a 3A, because I remember watching her struggling through free skates season after season.

 

[4everchan]

I genuinely still tear up sometimes watching Amber skate clean with a 3A, because I remember watching her struggling through free skates season after season.

Yup

 

[Anna K.]

Not to forget... The magic makeover of Yuma Kagiyama