U.S. Women [#4]: How Dare You

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Sylvia said:
Not yet confirmed on USFS' Assignment page but a change was made in the ISU's entries for JGP #5 in Budapest on Sept. 8 - Sherry Zhang has replaced Soho Lee (moved to the subs list).

Sherry has the highest NQS score (182.44) among the Junior women to date and also won her most recent NQS comp. last weekend at Golden West with the highest score (178.57) of the 2 Junior groups. Soho won the Senior SP at Golden West (58.94) but had a tough FS (many singled jumps) and ended up 3rd overall (122.42) behind Nicole Park (143.96; scored 150.07 at Glacier Falls) and Sonia Baram 141.70 (her first NQS).
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Confirmed now on the USFS international assignments page :)
 
The contrast between the reviews of Elyce-Lin Gracey’s skating at Istanbul by Polina Edmunds and Dave Lease/Jonathan Byers (TSL) are in a completely different universe. As usual Dave thinks she is terrible with no skating skills and bad jumps, while Polina says she skates with great speed and ice coverage with excellent jumping technique and beautiful presentation. Polina thought she should have medaled and explained why. I remember why I stopped listening to Dave, but had tuned in to understand what was going on with Grassl and the doping tests. Back to not listening again. 🙄
 
mtnskater said:
The contrast between the reviews of Elyce-Lin Gracey’s skating at Istanbul by Polina Edmunds and Dave Lease/Jonathan Byers (TSL) are in a completely different universe. As usual Dave thinks she is terrible with no skating skills and bad jumps, while Polina says she skates with great speed and ice coverage with excellent jumping technique and beautiful presentation. Polina thought she should have medaled and explained why. I remember why I stopped listening to Dave, but had tuned in to understand what was going on with Grassl and the doping tests. Back to not listening again. 🙄
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I enjoy Polina’s analyses because she provides detailed technical critiques that are rooted in actual facts, and she does it in a healthy helpful way.
 
mtnskater said:
... Polina [Edmunds] says she [Lin-Gracey] skates with great speed and ice coverage with excellent jumping technique and beautiful presentation. Polina thought she should have medaled and explained why.
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TanithandBenFan said:
I enjoy Polina’s analyses because she provides detailed technical critiques that are rooted in actual facts, and she does it in a healthy helpful way.
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Thanks for reminding me to create a thread for Polina's recently re-named podcast:

"The Iron Butterfly" podcast by Polina Edmunds

Polina Edmunds has rebranded her podcast and it's now called "The Iron Butterfly" - her IG post (August 28, 2023): https://www.instagram.com/p/CwgK6PMSziU/ THRILLED to announce my podcast rebrand: The Iron Butterfly Podcast🥹 With over 190,000 downloads and counting, I'm SO grateful for the...
www.fsuniverse.net

ETA that I just noticed that Polina's August 8th podcast episode with Bradie [recorded on June 5] was not posted here:
bleav.com

The Iron Butterfly: The Highs, Lows, and Ongoing Journey with Bradie Tennell

I chat with Olympian Bradie Tennell about her inspiring career.
bleav.com
 
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mtnskater said:
The contrast between the reviews of Elyce-Lin Gracey’s skating at Istanbul by Polina Edmunds and Dave Lease/Jonathan Byers (TSL) are in a completely different universe. As usual Dave thinks she is terrible with no skating skills and bad jumps, while Polina says she skates with great speed and ice coverage with excellent jumping technique and beautiful presentation. Polina thought she should have medaled and explained why. I remember why I stopped listening to Dave, but had tuned in to understand what was going on with Grassl and the doping tests. Back to not listening again. 🙄
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The lady who does These Are the Blades of Our Lives follows Dave & Jonathan, pointing out Elyce’s problems/falls.

- 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 www.youtube.com

Polina even failed to mention the Georgian pair, who won spectacularly. You’d think that Flores/Wang won.
 
Frau Muller said:
The lady who does These Are the Blades of Our Lives follows Dave & Jonathan, pointing out Elyce’s problems/falls.

- 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 www.youtube.com

Polina even failed to mention the Georgian pair, who won spectacularly. You’d think that Flores/Wang won.
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Except that, no, she clearly stated that Flores/Wang won silver, so, no, there was no confusion - just no mention or discussion of ANY of the other teams. But, why the chagrin over the omission of the Georgian pair yet none for the omission of the Ukrainian ice dancers who won?
 
Frau Muller said:
Daphne & Gina’s analysis is up…correctly mentioning the Georgians’ huge pairs win in JGP Istanbul, by over 20 pts above #2:

redcircle.com

This Week in Skating Podcast

Listen to This Week in Skating Podcast on RedCircle
redcircle.com redcircle.com
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There was nothing incorrectly mentioned in Polina's recap or her description of the event. Her focus was on different skaters. Really not the end of the world.
 
Sylvia said:
It's her podcast and the caption clearly states: "I recap the top 6 women, top 3 men, and all USA skaters at the 2023 JSP Istanbul in Turkey."

Feel free to bump up the podcast thread you started: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/“these-are-the-blades-of-our-lives”-podcast-on-youtube.110529/
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I agree that it’s her podcast, her choice what to cover. Polina’s is also one of the few sources of analyses that include knowledge-based opinions on both the strengths and weaknesses of skaters — delivered with the respect that these young, hard-working and committed athletes deserve.

I’d like to point out, also, that TSL (like many observers) often confuse “skating skills” with performance quality. There’s connection between the two, of course, but usually there’s a lot more at play, especially for developing juniors, that can render even very skilled skaters like Elyce stiff and flat at times, as they’re working on putting it all together. In this way, TSL can be very shallow in evaluating skaters.

This is a long way of saying that I think there should be more skater analyses out there that have the general substance and spirit that Polina offers.
 
Having read the article @Sylvia posted on Ava Ziegler earlier this week I was so excited to see her programs this year.

I have to say I think she has my favorite short program of any woman I’ve seen so far this year but the contrast one of the worst free programs I’ve seen this year. Did the same person choreograph both of these?

That short program to me is everything but the free program…
 
AngieNikodinovLove said:
Having read the article @Sylvia posted on Ava Ziegler earlier this week I was so excited to see her programs this year.

I have to say I think she has my favorite short program of any woman I’ve seen so far this year but the contrast one of the worst free programs I’ve seen this year. Did the same person choreograph both of these?
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According to Anna's conversation with Ava at last month's Cranberry Cup: https://anythinggoe.com/ava-ziegler-my-favorite-thing-is-the-work/
This season, Ava worked with choreographers Jamie Isley (SP) and Nikolai Morozov (FS). For the short program, Ava is skating to “Jazz Man” by Beth Hart and Juan Carlos. It’s a fun program with a lot of opportunities to appeal to the audience and the judges. “I just connected with it really well,” Ava shared. “So as long as I connect with my programs, I love them.”
The light-hearted short program contrasts with a more emotional Free Skate to “Liberation” and “Bound to You” by Christina Aguilera. “My Free Skate is a lyrical piece – it’s kind of like a mix of lyrical and dark and I love it. It’s so pretty. I had a couple of options and we kind of just choreographed it to fit both and then at the end, we decided which piece we wanted to use and which like I connected best with.”
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Sylvia said:
According to Anna's conversation with Ava at last month's Cranberry Cup: https://anythinggoe.com/ava-ziegler-my-favorite-thing-is-the-work/
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oh my gosh, she worked with Nikolai for the free program? How did that come to be? Yeah, I do not like it at all. Right down to the music And costume.

But that short program deserves awards.

her PCS for the short program is still too low. She skates with so much speed, and that short program is choreographed right down to the fingernails. Don’t understand why it’s still too low.
 
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Jammers said:
Why would Lindsay give up a Challenger event to compete at a smaller competition?
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Well, seeing as they're 3 weeks apart, I don't presume she "gave up" her Challenger assignment on a whim. There is probably a valid reason, not that any of us need to know what that reason is. Let's just hope whatever the reason is doesn't turn out to be anything serious that derails the rest of her season.
 
Apologies for having issue with quotes and copy/pasting...I had a couple of options and we kind of just choreographed it to fit both and then at the end, we decided which piece we wanted to use and which like I connected best with

When I saw Ava's FS, I thought, I want to like the choreo, but it feels like she could be skating to anything, because it didn't necessarily fit the music. With her saying that just kind of choreographed it to fit both (two different pieces of music), it makes sense why it gave me that feeling.

Agreed with @AngieNikodinovLove, the SP is great, the FS isn't my favorite.
 
Just watched Mia Kalin’s short program in Osaka. Props to her because she has really improved the components. Too bad about the fall on the combo. The hard work with Massimo Scali is paying off, even while she has grown quite a bit. I didn’t find her watchable before. But she is now!
 
Will Isabeau be debuting her competitive season this week, at Nebelhorn? Very exciting.

UPDATE: Yes, she is on the entries list, in our Kiss & Cry forum.
 
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David Baden just tweeted that something big is happening next week. I wonder if Alysia Liu emerging on social media has anything to do with it? Pure speculation....
 
mtnskater said:
Just watched Mia Kalin’s short program in Osaka. Props to her because she has really improved the components. Too bad about the fall on the combo. The hard work with Massimo Scali is paying off, even while she has grown quite a bit. I didn’t find her watchable before. But she is now!
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Just checked and Massimo Scali is not listed in the coaches line of her ISU bio but his name has been added in her 2023-24 Team USA bio, along with Evgenyia Chernyshova (coached Nathan before he moved to California), who also choreographed Mia's programs this season: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/sports/figure-skating/roster/mia-kalin/824
 
Stephanie said:
It’s a real shame that USFS didn’t name any subs 😢
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Looking at summer comp. scores and technical content, Hannah Herrera (currently has the 6th highest NQS Senior score of 176.20, 5th at Glacier Falls, 1st in the FS - link to her protocol) could have been listed as a sub for Nepela. Maybe she will be considered for a later Challenger or Senior B? Herrera is still ISU Junior age-eligible in 2023-24 (final season; will be 19 in December) although she elected(?) not to compete at the US Junior Team Cup in Milwaukee.

Starr Andrews is scheduled to make her season debut at the Kings Cup International (new name for the senior/junior singles international at the U.S. Autumn Classic NQS in El Segundo, CA in early October). I can't copy-and-paste her part from Golden Skate's "Evening with Champions" review but will post the article link in the EWC show thread.
 
Sylvia said:
Looking at summer comp. scores and technical content, Hannah Herrera (currently has the 6th highest NQS Senior score of 176.20, 5th at Glacier Falls, 1st in the FS - link to her protocol) could have been listed as a sub for Nepela. Maybe she will be considered for a later Challenger or Senior B? Herrera is still ISU Junior age-eligible in 2023-24 (final season; will be 19 in December) although she elected(?) not to compete at the US Junior Team Cup in Milwaukee.

Starr Andrews is scheduled to make her season debut at the Kings Cup International (new name for the senior/junior singles international at the U.S. Autumn Classic NQS in El Segundo, CA in early October). I can't copy-and-paste her part from Golden Skate's "Evening with Champions" review but will post the article link in the EWC show thread.
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It's strange with Herrera - she's listed as a sub for the JGPs and was listed as a sub for Lombardia, but hasn't been listed as a sub for any further Challengers.
 
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