Thoughts on 2025 Four Continents?

[gsk8]

Here are some recaps with comments. What are your thoughts on the event? Which programs stood out to you and why? Who do you feel has improved the most since the first half of the season?

Chaeyeon Kim wins Four Continents title on home ice

2025 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Women Chaeyeon Kim of the Republic of Korea dominated the Women's event at the 2025 Four Continents

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Canada's Gilles and Poirier defend Four Continents gold

2025 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Ice Dance Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier of Canada defended their title at the Four Continents on

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Mikhail Shaidorov clinches Four Continents title in breakthrough season

2025 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Men Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan clinched the Men's title at the Four Continents on Saturday,

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Miura and Kihara reclaim Four Continents title in Seoul

2025 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships: Pairs Japan's Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara maintained their lead to reclaim the Pair's title at the

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[ladyjane]

I've allready written a piece about the men's in the FS competition thread, which I will crosspost below.

Pairs:
I was pleased to see both Lia/Trennt and Diana/Maxime doing well. I felt sorry for Ellie/Danny who had hoped for more (obviously), but I did like the podium as it eventually turned out. Riku and Ryuichi as such a fun pair to watch. Lovely to see Meagan there as part of the team (with the other Japanes team as well). I thought Elisa and Misha did well, especially for a debut (together as a pair, both have lots of earlier experiences), unlike Audrey and Balash who also debuted but had a rougher outing (and have been together less long, with someone new to pairs as well). I had hoped for more from Kelly Ann and Loucas, but it was not to be. Good preparation for Worlds. I love the Australians, and was glad to see them back, if not yet at their best. Still a good effort.

Men (cross-post)
I had a great time watching the men, who obviously were menning, but not in a bad way. Both the second and the last group were really exciting to watch, with some nice ones in the third group too. Matthew Newman was a revelation in the SP, but needs some more experience to keep that up in the FS. The guy from Chinese Taipei got me really excited, I've never seen a guy from that country do so well. I liked his reaction in the KnC too, his PB rose 30 points or something. Donovan had a pretty good skate (but he did better last week), but he is always watchable. I was happy for Camden and Tomoki who both did a lot better than in the SP. Both Korean men did well, one to get a well-deserved silver medal, the other showed winning the Youth Olympics is not the only thing he can do. Wonderful skate. I felt a bit sorry for Kazuki who did quite well. In fact the Japanese overall quite good, just nog good enough this time round. Jimmy, what shall I say, I am so pleased for him to finally medal, and his reaction in the KnC when he realised that was pretty priceless. Mikhail had his best skate ever, and got the gold. I love Ivan Righini at the boarding. Happy for Mikhail too.

Ice Dance:
ID is always fun to watch, whether I understand the points or not - I do recognise more than before, like the One Foot sequence not holding each other, the types of lift, obviously the twizzles, the various sliding moves. I felt sorry for Alicia and Paul because of the fluke fall in the RD, but happy to see them rebounding in the FD. Happy for the two top Canadian teams, also happy it was tight between nrs. one and two. That's always exciting. I like that kind of rivalry, and Madison/Evan and Piper/Paul are showing that for quite some time now. I felt Hannah and Ye did Korea proud. I rather like Emilea and Vadym, so I was pleased they showed some lovely dances. So did Christina and Anthony. Good to see the Australians getting better too.

I did not watch the women, but I must say I was happy for Brady who has had so many injuries and now had a great FS.

 

[SubRosa]

I enjoyed seeing skaters from countries we don't typically associate with ice skating (India, South Africa). Am also looking forward to the time, a year or two from now, when the junior skaters from New Zealand, Australia, China, Taiwan, Thailand, move up to seniors and enrich 4CC competition even more.

 

[4everchan]

I loved seeing Piper and Paul win gold. This was a fabulous moment for me as I love these two and they have been through so much.

My other special skater is Max with his legendary partner Deanna. After the SP, and considering her injury, I never expected them to skate the way they did in the LP. That was epic ! Bravo.

I thought American women brought their A game and it was interesting to see them get the upper hand on the Japanese skaters. Chaeyeon Kim is just spectacular. She did very well. A special mention to Sara-Maude Dupuis who once again edges Maddie as top Canadian. It seems like she know how to peak as that was probably her last (serious) event of the season.

Misha's win wasn't my favourite of the event but he was the best skater out there and to commemorate Denis Ten's last win at 4CC, ten years ago was something special.

Jun is my favourite 4CC skater so it was nice to see him do well, though not perfect. Jimmy winning a medal here was very special considering the recent and tragic circumstances. I was rooting for him very hard.

Interesting to note that
1) the 4 titles were won by 4 different countries.
2) Canada placed first in the medal table with 1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze.
3) No Japanese single skaters won a medal, a first in 18 years, yet Japan won gold in pairs, something that back then would never had been conceivable.
4) I think Chinese women are on the way back. It will be fun to see them develop over the years, with juniors pushing too.
5) I love events in Asia because I can stay up to watch them unlike events in Europe so I got to see most of the events live.

 

[cailuj365]

1) I'm also surprised by the lack of medal for the Japanese men and women. I know Mone was ill, which was unfortunate, but her competitors also left her and Higuchi no room. I thought Tsuboi was good earlier in the season but was unimpressed here.

2) Meanwhile, the US ladies and men, none of whom are named to the Worlds team, were surprisingly strong and collected three medals among them. Even Camden and Tomoki, who bombed in the SP, pulled themselves together for top 10 finishes. Levito better have one heck of a training period this next month, because Sarah and Bradie are in terrific shape. Jimmy's medal has to be my favorite of the whole competition.

3) I haven't followed ice dance in years, but I caught Harris/Chan and now I love them, haha.

4) I'm happy that Deanna/Max found a bit of mojo in their FS here. I'd love a strong battle between them and the top teams at Worlds.

5) I believe that Misha and Jun are stronger contenders for the Worlds men's podium, along with Ilia and Yuma, compared to any of the European men or other contenders. I wouldn't assume they're fighting for just bronze either. These two look like they're in the best shape based on recent competitions. Misha has a very high tech ceiling, and I see improvements in his PCS - still not great, but no longer poor, which I thought earlier in the season.

 

[lariko]

Shaidorov and Samodelkina did great in 4CC this year and I am happy, particularly with Samodelkina who is so much on such a right track that I can't express how happy I am for her joyful skating and steady gains this season without any drama (no matter how much Zhulin and Co tries), martyrdom or handouts. Girl, you're the queen!

 

[skylark]

Somewhere in the last week or so, I read a snippet of an interview of Riku and Ryuichi where one of them said that they've been working a lot on their unison recently. Aha moment! I now feel like that's one of the answers to the inkling I had while watching 4CC ... I kept thinking that "something is different" about them, and now I think that attention to unison in training really played a part in their fine performances here. It gave their skating an extra bit of beauty and solidity. This is the kind of thing I love ... when simply inching day by day toward something to advance their skating bears fruit. I really felt a difference, and I've always loved them since their first GP in 2019. I think that unison helped their connection with each other and with their audiences ... both in the arena and via the video camera.

Ryuichi Kihara:
"[Five years ago] we were talking that this would be a dream to come back here and be among the top teams. We are elated that we made our dream come true and going forward for tomorrow, we're going to hold on to that gratefulness and happiness."

Isn't this marvelous? It's my favorite kind of quote from skaters or any performers.

Deanna and Max really rose from the orchestra pit to soar onto the stage. So to speak. I really felt the love and the passion from Deanna during this free skate. It was wonderful, and for me it was rare to feel anything from her besides a sort of thrill at her beautiful lift positions and overall posture. I do feel more passion from Max, but so much attention goes to Deanna that I want to feel it from her too. I really "got" the connection with their water program and music this time. I think the reason is what Max stated so well:

"yesterday, we had a really rough program, but it was actually the best thing that could have happened to us .... So, we were just able to go out there today and just skate free and have fun and attack everything."

That FS from them was really a breakthrough and just the confidence going forward that they needed. But I especially love that Max identified skating free and having fun as part of what liberated them and allowed them to give that performance.

My opinion is that Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov out-skated Elle Kam and Danny O'Shea. So I'll leave it at that for now. Judges have to see skaters for a while in order to build up trust in them.

I really enjoyed the Australians, Hektor and Anastasia, especially in their FS to "If It Takes Forever." A warhorse I will always love, and they skated it beautifully and with feeling.

Lia and Trennt were breathtaking, especially in their tango FS, which is exquisite. I could relive the movie "Scent of a Woman" while I watched them. Considering that they had a somewhat tricky "sophomore" year last year, it is really heartening to see how that year contributed to their foundation and has made them more beautiful together.

 

[Tutto]

Somewhere in the last week or so, I read a snippet of an interview of Riku and Ryuichi where one of them said that they've been working a lot on their unison recently. Aha moment! I now feel like that's one of the answers to the inkling I had while watching 4CC ... I kept thinking that "something is different" about them, and now I think that attention to unison in training really played a part in their fine performances here. It gave their skating an extra bit of beauty and solidity. This is the kind of thing I love ... when simply inching day by day toward something to advance their skating bears fruit. I really felt a difference, and I've always loved them since their first GP in 2019. I think that unison helped their connection with each other and with their audiences ... both in the arena and via the video camera.


Deanna and Max really rose from the orchestra pit to soar onto the stage. So to speak. I really felt the love and the passion from Deanna during this free skate. It was wonderful, and for me it was rare to feel anything from her besides a sort of thrill at her beautiful lift positions and overall posture. I do feel more passion from Max, but so much attention goes to Deanna that I want to feel it from her too. I really "got" the connection with their water program and music this time. I think the reason is what Max stated so well:


My opinion is that Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov out-skated Elle Kam and Danny O'Shea. So I'll leave it at that for now. Judges have to see skaters for a while in order to build up trust in them.

I really enjoyed the Australians, Hektor and Anastasia, especially in their FS to "If It Takes Forever." A warhorse I will always love, and they skated it beautifully and with feeling.

Lia and Trennt were breathtaking, especially in their tango FS, which is exquisite. I could relive the movie "Scent of a Woman" while I watched them. Considering that they had a somewhat tricky "sophomore" year last year, it is really heartening to see how that year contributed to their foundation and has made them more beautiful together.

Yes, the judges gave a lot of 'help' to Kam/O'Shea for obvious reasons. However, it will be interesting to see if this trend of side lining Efimova/Mitrofanov continues at Worlds where the Olympic spots are decided and every point might make a big difference. I reckon, the absence of citizenship might be suddenly forgotten (albeit temporarily)
Regarding Riku and Ryuichi I was once again reminded how subjective FS is really, I watched the same skaters but saw different things apparently - lack of unison was the main thing I noticed about their skating - great speed and power but chaotic.

 

[aroundtheworld778]

Yes, the judges gave a lot of 'help' to Kam/O'Shea for obvious reasons. However, it will be interesting to see if this trend of side lining Efimova/Mitrofanov continues at Worlds where the Olympic spots are decided and every point might make a big difference. I reckon, the absence of citizenship might be suddenly forgotten (albeit temporarily)

Why would the citizenship status make any difference, if the Olympic spots are won for the fed? honest question.

 

[moonvine]

My fiancé won a medal. It is the best thing to ever happen in the history of men’s skating.