2024-25 ISU Grand Prix Assignments & projected alternates

[skatfan]

Loena (expected) and Isabeau have WD from Finlandia Trophy: https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...type/eventtypedocuments/GP_Women_24-11-04.pdf

Great opportunity for Rino to win now. Do we know what’s up with Isabeau?

 

[victorskid]

Does anyone know anything about why Stephen WD from NHK?

I understood that he was not fully recovered from some sort of injury when he competed at SCI and, given his placement there, I suspect it was not deemed advisable to try another competition rather than focus on healing/recovery, ie. looking at the longer term situation. [I believe he was the only CDN skater assigned to the NHK at this point.]

 

[Alilou]

I understood that he was not fully recovered from some sort of injury when he competed at SCI and, given his placement there, it was not deemed advisable to try another competition rather than focus on healing/recovery, ie. looking at the longer term situation. [I believe he was the only CDN skater assigned to the NHK at this point.]

Thanks so much. That poor guy never seems to get beyond injuries

 

[Private Citizen]

I am hoping Isabeau withdrew to give herself two months to rework her free skate and clean up her flutz. She may not be able to fully fix it in a few months, but she needs to get it to the point where she's somewhere between no call and ! in a worst case. I remain "unsold" on Liebestraum: don't hate it, but don't love it.

 

[TAHbKA]

So Levito is also out of the GPF for sure.
Who is replacing her? Do we have a list of Tallinn trophy participants?

 

[Sylvia]

Do we have a list of Tallinn trophy participants?

Today’s updated list is at this link (ETA my updated list):https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/2024-25-challenger-series.111881/page-7#post-6679705

 

[Wyliefan]

Hopefully Isabeau is not injured.

I hope so as well, but I can't imagine another reason why she would withdraw.

 

[Lutzes&Loops]

I am hoping Isabeau withdrew to give herself two months to rework her free skate and clean up her flutz. She may not be able to fully fix it in a few months, but she needs to get it to the point where she's somewhere between no call and ! in a worst case. I remain "unsold" on Liebestraum: don't hate it, but don't love it.

Genuine question, is it possible to fix the flutz in 2 months? And if so, why don’t all skaters who have one just do it in a couple of months? And is there anyone who has done it?

 

[Sylvia]

Genuine question, is it possible to fix the flutz in 2 months?

Not really.

And is there anyone who has done it?

Joannie Rochette is often cited - how long did it take for her?

 

[Sylvia]

Who is replacing her? [Loena & Isabeau]

Gutmann and Yun to replace (as based on last ISU GP alternates list).

As of Oct. 28: https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...GP2024-25_Alternate_list_website_24-10-28.pdf

 

[Rukia]

The other thing you have to realize about fixing a flutz is that you can do as many outside edge drills as you want, but once the nerves take over the odds of switching back to that inside edge are pretty high. So it's really a long-term work in progress.

 

[Private Citizen]

Levito didn't get any calls in the 2022-23 season or seasons prior, IIRC (certainly nothing beyond !). She needs to rediscover that technique. And/or adopt some type of "Sakamoto" (or Kaetlyn Osmond) entry where the judges just ignore the flutz even though the jump never gets on an outside edge.

 

[honey]

Not really.

Joannie Rochette is often cited - how long did it take for her?

She still had a flutz at 2002 nationals and junior worlds. She did not compete the fall of 2002 due to injury. When she returned at nationals 2003, the flutz was gone but the jump extremely inconsistent. And remained inconsistent for the better part of the next two seasons. She didn’t reallly get it working well for her until the 2004/2005 season.

So in short, I would say they took the summer of 2002 to fix it. But it took her several years from that point before it was a reliable jump for her.

Just my opinion, but no one is fixing a flutz in a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months in the middle of a season.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Off topic here but whom do you think are the best skaters to have a clean outside edge on the lutz these days?

 

[Lutzes&Loops]

She still had a flutz at 2002 nationals and junior worlds. She did not compete the fall of 2002 due to injury. When she returned at nationals 2003, the flutz was gone but the jump extremely inconsistent. And remained inconsistent for the better part of the next two seasons. She didn’t reallly get it working well for her until the 2004/2005 season.

So in short, I would say they took the summer of 2002 to fix it. But it took her several years from that point before it was a reliable jump for her.

Just my opinion, but no one is fixing a flutz in a couple of weeks, or even a couple of months in the middle of a season.

That makes sense. If it was that easy, everyone would have correct edges on both flips and lutzes.
In my opinion, everyone (or the vast majority) has an edge on either flip or lutz and the best I am seeing skaters are able to do is make it into a flat edge on their “problem” jump.
Well, there is also a category of skaters have a flat edge on both…
Now whether and how they called is a different story and in my opinion, has nothing to do with the actual edge.

Sorry for going off topic

 

[Sylvia]

Speaking of "notorious flutzers" ... I noticed this season that Starr Andrews has been practicing the Lutz again (have seen an occasional triple attempt in practice in her Instagram stories) - just checked SkatingScores.com and she was credited with landing 2Lz (no edge call or warning) at both the NQS comp. in Pasadena this Sept. as well as the CS Denis Ten Memorial last month.

 

[bladesofgorey]

Off topic here but whom do you think are the best skaters to have a clean outside edge on the lutz these days?

All the ones getting edge calls on their flips.

 

[PRlady]

Great opportunity for Rino to win now. Do we know what’s up with Isabeau?

Actually it’s an opportunity for several young skaters, including Sarah, Yoshida, Lindsay and Petrokina. I’ll be rooting for Rino to make the GPF!

 

[skatfan]

Actually it’s an opportunity for several young skaters, including Sarah, Yoshida, Lindsay and Petrokina. I’ll be rooting for Rino to make the GPF!

gosh, you're right. Kind of an open field GP.

 

[farahfan]

What a crazy GP season. I need to adopt two or three more favorites so that if one conks out, I still have someone else to root for.

 

[honey]

Was thinking about how just yesterday Isabeau posted a picture of herself at the airport on Instagram. Makes me wonder about the timing of pulling out of a gp today. Hopefully nothing catastrophic happened, but it is interesting that she posted that photo yesterday.

Loena’s scratch is not surprising and probably best for her long term. Take the time now to regroup and come back for euros.

 

[kwanfan1818]

That's an interesting idea. But if the skaters aren't assigned, would some countries approve visa applications?

Some might. Others would not, because they either need the return ticket to be issued, like @farahfan stated, they need a fixed plan/invitation, they might need pre-paid accommodations or letters from their hosts guaranteeing that they have a place to stay, etc. Conditional doesn't cut it always. And it would be hugely expensive for the ISU to take on, especially if expedited. And that's not including travel costs to an embassy or consulate, where required, if the host country would allow it. Plus if the skaters were minors, they might be required to have the same thing for their official chaperones.

As someone with a strong passport I've never had to get a tourist visa, but I know many countries require you to have a plane ticket as proof that you are leaving the country.

Not really.

Joannie Rochette is often cited - how long did it take for her?

A few years before it was reliable.

 

[skategal]

Not really.

Joannie Rochette is often cited - how long did it take for her?

Her coach was quoted as saying 2 years + at the time they reworked it.

 

[Karen-W]

Sooooooooooo... Looking over the current SB standings, if we were to project those scores/rankings onto the last three GPs, here's what we'd have for results:

NHK -
1 - Sakamoto
2 - Chiba
3 - Tennell
4 - Gutmann
5 - Petrokina
6 - Liu
7 - Aoki
8 - Thorngren
9 - Mikutina
10 - Kurakova
11 - Wi
12 - Ye Kim

Finlandia -
1 - Everhardt
2 - Yoshida
3 - Matsuike
4 - Gutmann
5 - Petrokina
6 - Yun
7 - Schild
8 - Thorngren
9 - Mihara
10 - Jyrkinen
11 - Lisko
no score - Pelkonen (also she WD from SCI, so she may wind up WDing from this, next highest FIN on SB list is Ceder)

CoC -
1 - Glenn
2 - C Kim
3 - Sumiyoshi
4 - Gubanova
5 - Watanabe
6 - Chiba
7 - Repond
8 - Schizas
9 - M Kim
10-12 - An, Chen, Zhu

If (huge IF) those are the results, here's how the GPF points would look -

GPF Qualifiers
Glenn - 15+15 = 30
Sakamoto - 15+15 = 30
Higuchi - 15+13 = 28
Matsuike - 13+11 = 24
Yoshida - 11+13 = 24
Everhardt - 7+15 = 22

GPF Alternates
C Kim - 9+13 = 22
Sumiyoshi - 11+11 = 22
Watanabe - 13+7 = 20

Do I necessarily expect the results to play out EXACTLY this way? No - there are a LOT of women in both the NHK & Finlandia fields who have PBs over 195 and if they skate closer to that level than they have already this season then the results are going to be scrambled.

On paper, Amber & Kaori are in, easily, the strongest position to qualify.

Handicapping it... I think Chaeyeon is in the best position to have a surprise win and sneak her way into the GPF followed by Matsuike. Yoshida could knock herself out by finishing behind Everhardt & Matsuike in that order at Finlandia.

CoC has the field most likely to really mess with the chances of Sumiyoshi, Watanabe & Chiba in making the GPF because Gubanova, Repond & Schizas are capable of beating them - plus, especially Sumiyoshi & Watanabe are capable of beating themselves.

 

[Aceon6]

Off topic here but whom do you think are the best skaters to have a clean outside edge on the lutz these days?

None currently. The lutz was designed with curves in and out. It’s best when performed with what I would describe as a lazy river… swoop, jump, swoop. Look at Donald Jackson videos on YouTube to see what I mean. A competent skater can deliver a clean 2z 90% of the time, but going for rotation with modern jump technique means lessening the curve and making it really easy to flat or flutz. I’d have to dig into the way back machine, but I always thought Kerrigan’s was good.

 

[Coco]

Would love for Katerina Witt's 2z3t combo to make a comeback.

Kristi Yamaguichi also did a 2f3t towards the end of her FS in the season before she consistently attempted 3z3t.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Sooooooooooo... Looking over the current SB standings, if we were to project those scores/rankings onto the last three GPs, here's what we'd have for results:

NHK -
1 - Sakamoto
2 - Chiba
3 - Tennell
4 - Gutmann
5 - Petrokina
6 - Liu
7 - Aoki
8 - Thorngren
9 - Mikutina
10 - Kurakova
11 - Wi
12 - Ye Kim

Finlandia -
1 - Everhardt
2 - Yoshida
3 - Matsuike
4 - Gutmann
5 - Petrokina
6 - Yun
7 - Schild
8 - Thorngren
9 - Mihara
10 - Jyrkinen
11 - Lisko
no score - Pelkonen (also she WD from SCI, so she may wind up WDing from this, next highest FIN on SB list is Ceder)

CoC -
1 - Glenn
2 - C Kim
3 - Sumiyoshi
4 - Gubanova
5 - Watanabe
6 - Chiba
7 - Repond
8 - Schizas
9 - M Kim
10-12 - An, Chen, Zhu

If (huge IF) those are the results, here's how the GPF points would look -

GPF Qualifiers
Glenn - 15+15 = 30
Sakamoto - 15+15 = 30
Higuchi - 15+13 = 28
Matsuike - 13+11 = 24
Yoshida - 11+13 = 24
Everhardt - 7+15 = 22

GPF Alternates
C Kim - 9+13 = 22
Sumiyoshi - 11+11 = 22
Watanabe - 13+7 = 20

Do I necessarily expect the results to play out EXACTLY this way? No - there are a LOT of women in both the NHK & Finlandia fields who have PBs over 195 and if they skate closer to that level than they have already this season then the results are going to be scrambled.

On paper, Amber & Kaori are in, easily, the strongest position to qualify.

Handicapping it... I think Chaeyeon is in the best position to have a surprise win and sneak her way into the GPF followed by Matsuike. Yoshida could knock herself out by finishing behind Everhardt & Matsuike in that order at Finlandia.

CoC has the field most likely to really mess with the chances of Sumiyoshi, Watanabe & Chiba in making the GPF because Gubanova, Repond & Schizas are capable of beating them - plus, especially Sumiyoshi & Watanabe are capable of beating themselves.

Well, this really was interesting. I think I need to make myself a nice hot chocolate, and reread it in greater detail.

 

[Karen-W]

Women's grid has been updated - as expected, Lara Naki Gutmann was assigned to Finlandia. Still no replacement for the 2nd spot yet.

https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.azurefd.net/isuproduction/uploads/images/eventtype/eventtypedocuments/GP_Women_24-11-05.pdf

 

[Sylvia]

I just posted a Google translated article about Loena's planned return to competition at CS Golden Spin in her fan thread: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/th...ppreciation-thread.108172/page-4#post-6680004

 

[Karen-W]

Yun has been added to the Finlandia roster as projected - https://isu-d8g8b4b7ece7aphs.a03.az...type/eventtypedocuments/GP_Women_24-11-06.pdf

Still no updated GP Alternates List. We're getting close to the end though, so the ISU may not feel like it's necessary to publicly share the updated list.