U.S. Ladies [#27]: A Time to Reboot

[Sylvia]

Isabeau's Free Skate starts around 2:10:00 --> https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/watch/?Archive=763&type=Live

Elsa Cheng (142.99 total, 92.93 FS with 5 clean triples incl. 2 3Lz) is also worth watching, IMO. Her Somewhere in Time FS starts around 2:04, right before Isabeau Levito's Malaguena. She qualified for USFS' ISP earlier this summer with a Novice score.

 

[bytheriver]

I wouldn’t consider Poland to be a biased location. Eastern European, yes, but they didn’t go overboard with the Russians PCS, and certainly not with their own Kurakova, who was frankly underscored in PCS.

I think Alysa has a good chance at the JGPF, but keep in mind that her weaknesses in skating skills will only be exaggerated when she skates around the other top 5 ladies (particularly Valieva and Sinitsyna if she makes it). Alysa has a significant TES advantage, as Kamila and some of the top Koreans (Haein and Jeon) and other Russians (Sinitsyna, Valieva, Usacheva) have in PCS. We’ll just need to see how it all shakes out on the day.

 

[feraina]

Yeah i thought wtf that looked like a quad to me but they listed it as a 3 lutz. She's getting good height on it now.

Yeah, it scared me watching it live, that maybe she not only popped it into a triple, but then zayaked too! She looked so subdued too, that I thought maybe she really did mess it all up. I was a little confused by her fist pump at the end, because she didn't seem bummed, but not so excited either. I mean, come on, a beautiful 4Z that the even the caller thought it was a triple, and a second 3A that was a total beauty, then two 3-3's in the second half, and no ! on the 3F. She did amazingly well! Maybe the jetlag got to her and she's just a bit tired.

Her response to her LP score was a shrug and "it's okay" -- and her coach patted her reassuringly on her shoulder to say, yeah, it was okay. She seemed disappointed that her score wasn't much higher than what she got in Lake Placid (even though it was a SB). I love her (and her coach's) high expectations for herself! I don't think any pressure will get to her any time soon, because she's holding herself to much higher standards than anyone else possibly can.

I haven't been so excited about an American girl since... Caroline Zhang! Well, I know nobody at FSU likes Caroline, but she had lovely lines and musicality, and did crush all competition on the junior circuit like no other American girl has done in recent memory. Heck I lost all interest in skating after Kwan & Cohen retired, and Caroline was the one that got me hooked on FS again, and I haven't looked back since, so I definitely have that to thank her for.

Sure Alysa still has a lot to work on, but she seems to know exactly what she needs to work on, and I like it that she doesn't have a spindly prepubescent figure -- hopefully that means her jumping will survive puberty well. So far, even though she has grown (mostly in height I think) since National's, her jumping and skating only seem to have gotten stronger. Plus, it's true, unlike the Russian girls, and the Japanese girls, she doesn't have anyone else in the U.S. breathing down her neck in the foreseeable future, so even if she does have a couple of difficult years as she grows, I think she can still come back extremely strong as long as her heart's in it.

 

[Bulletsdad]

I wouldn’t consider Poland to be a biased location. Eastern European, yes, but they didn’t go overboard with the Russians PCS, and certainly not with their own Kurakova, who was frankly underscored in PCS.

I think Alysa has a good chance at the JGPF, but keep in mind that her weaknesses in skating skills will only be exaggerated when she skates around the other top 5 ladies (particularly Valieva and Sinitsyna if she makes it). Alysa has a significant TES advantage, as Kamila and some of the top Koreans (Haein and Jeon) and other Russians (Sinitsyna, Valieva, Usacheva) have in PCS. We’ll just need to see how it all shakes out on the day.

How do you explain Tarakanova eclipsing Alysa in PCS? She was clean, but quite wooden and stoic. I could see her getting higher SS than Alysa, but not besting her in the other four PCS categories. Kurakova was defintely underscored in PE and IT, likely because she was in penultimate group and represents a weak fed.

 

[bytheriver]

Seeing Tarakonova in person is a very different story than zoomed in video. She skates HUGE in person and projects well from a distance. And she didn’t eclipse Alysa by any means - they were about a point, a point and a half difference apart. And given the difference in speed and skating skills (and yes, I’ve seen both in person), it seems valid. PCS isn’t all skating skills, but it isn’t all performance either. Judges typically keep scores about even across all the categories - that’s a flaw in the system, but it isn’t a sign of Eastern bloc judging (especially since the judges were all over the place with their rankings on PCS).

 

[Teamgracie]

Does anyone know if there is any free live streaming of us classic ladies? Want to see Amber Glenn....

 

[zoe111]

Seeing Tarakonova in person is a very different story than zoomed in video. She skates HUGE in person and projects well from a distance. And she didn’t eclipse Alysa by any means - they were about a point, a point and a half difference apart. And given the difference in speed and skating skills (and yes, I’ve seen both in person), it seems valid. PCS isn’t all skating skills, but it isn’t all performance either. Judges typically keep scores about even across all the categories - that’s a flaw in the system, but it isn’t a sign of Eastern bloc judging (especially since the judges were all over the place with their rankings on PCS).

Totally agree. Tarakanova’s speed is incredible and she does have an energy on the ice. I worry Alyssa is painfully slow still and I noticed outside the quad and 2nd 3A that her goe was less than one on the rest of her jumps.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I worry Alyssa is painfully slow still and I noticed outside the quad and 2nd 3A that her goe was less than one on the rest of her jumps.

I aint worried about single thing with Alysa Liu. She just took 2 golds on the circuit... first time... since.... well, ever? 2 golds?

If I was gonna be worried about a US woman I could rattle off a bunch of names. Liu would not be one in the slightest.

 

[Willin]

Every time I see Amber Glenn skate I love her skating more.

 

[bytheriver]

I aint worried about single thing with Alysa Liu. She just took 2 golds on the circuit... first time... since.... well, ever? 2 golds?

If I was gonna be worried about a US woman I could rattle off a bunch of names. Liu would not be one in the slightest.

Can’t forget about Polina! “Spicy Pol” took home two golds in the Olympic season, went to the JGPF and got sufficient clout to get a bid to the Olympics.

Speaking of Polina - does anyone know how she is doing? I wonder if she’s going to compete at Regionals this year.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Every time I see Amber Glenn skate I love her skating more.

66+ points in the SP!!

 

[Sylvia]

Speaking of Polina - does anyone know how she is doing? I wonder if she’s going to compete at Regionals this year.

Edmunds competed in 2 SF Bay area club competitions this summer (as mentioned earlier in this thread, more recently here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/u-s-ladies-27-a-time-to-reboot.105854/page-11#post-5633490 ) so I assume she plans to compete at Central Pacifics.

Amber skated very well.

 

[natsulian]

Edmunds competed in 2 SF Bay area club competitions this summer (as mentioned earlier in this thread, more recently here: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/u-s-ladies-27-a-time-to-reboot.105854/page-11#post-5633490 ) so I assume she plans to compete at Central Pacifics.

Amber skated very well.

And Ting as well. Ting landed the most beautiful 3Lz+3T during warm ups, but good save on the 3Lz and smart for adding the 2T onto the 3F. Had this been a year ago, she would've melted down after the bobble on the 3Lz. She's becoming a better competitor. Cannot wait for the Free tomorrow.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Congratulations to Amber Glenn Realness and Ting Cui going 2-3 at SP, just behind Satoko.

Amazing!!!!




Ting Cui https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JM3y0BIMdxs I adore this program. Such maturity. Even demonstrated in the combo by knowing not to go for it.

 

[Teamgracie]

Every time I see Amber Glenn skate I love her skating more.

Love her too. Waiting to see if rocker skating puts up video. Hope she does well this season!

 

[Dobre]

Yay, Alysa!

She is a competitor. Yes, this is a different experience this year competing against these international junior ladies in international tournament-style competitions and in front of ISU judging panels. And last year competing at the senior national level and chasing a medal at Senior Nationals was a different experience. And the year before, competing for a Junior National title and trying to win Junior Nationals was a different experience. But she has been a competitor throughout. Alysa is learning, and it's great experience.

It's crazy to think that the triple axel - triple toe combination is only worth 2.1 BV points more than one featuring the triple lutz.

But the triple axel is worth a ton in the short among the senior ladies because there you can do the lutz in your combo as well and use the triple axel to replace the double. Running the axel in a high-pressure SP situation is a good skill to develop for competition in the long run. Also gutsy.

How is that "upping her game"?

She had never done a triple axel triple toe combo last season. She had a triple axel double toe. (Plus, all that wonderful junior technical stuff others explained previously).

Work on her skating skills. Valieva beat her in PCS by 10 points (though scoring across events is not necessarily comparable) , and frankly, has her beat in speed, flow and power.

Also, Alysa could do the LP she debuted this summer with the two lutzes. (I'm not saying she will. I'm saying it is one of her options and would not be out of character. On the one hand, if she goes to the Final with these two programs, then she goes in with that confidence of having run them previously. On the other hand, if she is hoping to upgrade for Nationals/Junior Worlds, then putting in any more plausible difficulty at the JGPF would be a stepping stone). I don't know what they'll do. I'm excited we will get to see her there!

 

[sk9tingfan]

Given that Alysa's program is 3.5 minutes long, what will a 4 minute senior program look like?

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Given that Alysa's program is 3.5 minutes long, what will a 4 minute senior program look like?

30 more seconds of fabulousness!!!!

 

[natsulian]

Given that Alysa's program is 3.5 minutes long, what will a 4 minute senior program look like?

Basically the same, but with moves held for a longer period of time and with a choreographic sequence added in. You can search up her summer competitions to get a rough idea of her senior Free.

 

[Dobre]

Given that Alysa's program is 3.5 minutes long, what will a 4 minute senior program look like?

At the Broadmoor Open, the senior version of her program looked like this. What the senior program will look like by January, we'll find out when we get there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8M2tJRSueU

 

[sk9tingfan]

I saw her at the Aurora Games and then several days later in LP. I'm not sure if the former was four minutes long,

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

I would go easy with Alysa. She's shown to be a competitor and can stand under pressure. Finish out this year working on the deficiency areas (PCS) and stay healthy. (Let Trusova wear herself out with all these competitions, test skates, etc.) Alysa be 15 next year and can move up to seniors. Then put pressure on field leading up to Olys.

 

[Messalina]

I have to say I totally surprised myself and teared up when the prospect of Alysa going into the JGPF with 15+15 became fact. I don't love all aspects of her skating yet, but I keep reminding myself that it's the ones who start as "artistes" and need to develop their teknik who always break my heart, not the jumping wunderkinder. With time and luck and work and good fortune, the wunderkinder can blossom into artistes. This girl has made a great start.

 

[Japanfan]

I have to say I totally surprised myself and teared up when the prospect of Alysa going into the JGPF with 15+15 became fact. I don't love all aspects of her skating yet, but I keep reminding myself that it's the ones who start as artistes and need to develop their teknik who always break my heart, not the jumping wunderkinder. With time and luck and work and good fortune, the wunderkinder can blossom into artistes. This girl has made a great start.

ITA.

 

[layman]

Kamila Valieva is looking forward to facing off against Alysa Liu in the JGP Finals:

https://fs-gossips.com/kamila-valiev...ith-alysa-liu/

What does Alysa need to do to beat Kamila?

Speed, stretch, turnout, musical awareness but most importantly speed. As good as Alysa is on the technical side, her overall score at both her Grand Prix was still 20 points lower than Valieva's (rightfully so).

 

[oleada]

Alysa be 15 next year and can move up to seniors. Then put pressure on field leading up to Olys.

She cannot move up to seniors next season, she had to wait until the Olympic season

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Speed, stretch, turnout, musical awareness but most importantly speed. As good as Alysa is on the technical side, her overall score at both her Grand Prix was still 20 points lower than Valieva's (rightfully so).

Sat what?????

KV has 422 points, AL has 411 (both have 30 points for wining 2 events)

I see 11 points difference... 20 points????

I see them being very competitive with each other by December. (even now)

Had AL completed that 3 loop in the sp yesterday.. there would only be a 6 point difference between them.

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting here from the Kiss & Cry section... Amber Glenn was quoted about her programs (SP to "Scars" by Madilyn Bailey and FS to Sara Bareilles' "Gravity) in this USFS Fan Zone article:

"This year's programs really mean a lot to me because they tell a story," explained Glenn. "[My short] is originally a song by Papa Roach which is funny because that is a very punk song and I listened to it a lot when I was 13 and 14-years-old and I was having struggles with my mental health. Now being past all of that and being where I am today, getting to skate to something like that is really important to me. Then [my free skate is] about letting go and finally putting yourself first."

She and choreographer Cordero Zuckerman turned her last season's SP into a FS.

 

[Sylvia]

JUNIOR
Alena Budko 158.85 P Sherwood Invitational

Budko recently was added to the ISP. She, Calista Choi and Mia Kalin are among those scheduled to compete in the U.S. Challenge Skate Junior Ladies SP that's about to start in SLC (info/links here for those who don't have Kiss & Cry access): https://twitter.com/SylviaUnseen/status/1175439377742405632

 

[sk9tingfan]

On a lighter, more humorous note, Alysa Liu has been posting her carb-loading reward meals starting with a delicious pepperoni pizza and a humongous swirled soft serve cone! She's so normal!