U.S. Women [#8]: Meet Me in St. Louis

[Spiralgraph]

That again.. Why didn't the USA select Alysa for the team competition. How soon some posters forget. Alysa was recovering from CoVid19 after Nationals when she wasn't at her best and arrived later for the Beijing Olympics. Her father was not held in high esteem by China and Alysa herself was followed by someone within the Olympic Village. It's a possiblity that Alysa herself or her father declined the opprtunity to skate in the team event,because it was potentially dangerous to stay that extra time at the Olympics. She was still only 16 years old at the last Games.

 

[Vagabond]

Didn't Karen Chen get to choose whether to participate in the Team Event and, if so, whether to do one program or two, because she was the highest placed woman in the previous season's World Championship? Liu didn't go to Worlds in 2021.

 

[Debbie S]

Didn't Karen Chen get to choose whether to participate in the Team Event and, if so, whether to do one program or two, because she was the highest placed woman in the previous season's World Championship? Liu didn't go to Worlds in 2021.

In terms of choice options, disciplines are (or at least were in 2022) ranked based on finish at the previous Worlds. Our top 2 disciplines were men and dance and they had first dibs on whether to split. Both Nathan and H/D opted to split, so women could not be split whether Karen wanted to or not.

And yes, Alysa was recovering from Covid and as we now know, was threatened by Chinese agents and didn't even arrive until after the OC. And had not yet been to Senior Worlds whereas Karen was the highest-ranked U.S. woman. Choosing her for the TE made sense.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The two strongest disciplines were Men (Chen, World Champion, Bron-7th) and Dance (Hubbell/Donohue, with Chock/Bates in 4th), and both split, with Zhou getting the second Men’s spot, so Chenwould never have had a choice to split.

 

[Karen-W]

So, apparently, Lady Gaga is still in play - maybe for Nationals???

ISU World Champion Alysa Liu soars to gold in ISU Grand Prix Final debut

2025 ISU World Champion Alysa Liu (USA) took the gold medal on Saturday following an exciting Women’s Free Skating as competition wrapped up at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Nagoya. The Women delivered a fascinating battle for the medals in front of 10,000 fans at the sold-out IG Arena.

isu-skating.com

She is preparing to reveal her new Lady Gaga Free Skating at the US Nationals in January.

“I already have it, it’s already done. Just haven’t shown it,” Liu revealed. “Now I’m keeping it a secret. I’m waiting for the dress and the competition to do it!”

 

[honey]

Her gala program at the GPF ended with what looked like to me the revamped final minute or so of the Gaga free skate. I assume this was all a bit she was doing in the gala? Pretending the wrong music was on part way through, before enthusiastically performing what clearly looked like the end of a free skate. If she could do the step sequence and choreo step with that much speed and gusto in a competition, it would be great. She unfortunately is usually pretty slow during that point in a program though. But what she did at the gala to Bad Romance looked great. You can tell it’s being worked on. The music edit was strong in the part that was played.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

Alysa is clearly the best bet under extreme pressure. For that same reason I thought USFS should have selected her for the Team event last Olympics instead of Karen Chen. Isabeau is also very good with pressure. Amber to me is the one most susceptible to pressure unfortunately. And her triple axel advantage is negated by shaky skates and others now also doing consistent triple axels. And as pointed out the judges are stingy with GOE for her..which I haven’t figured out why relative to others, except she often projects fear.

Crazy to think that Amber won Japanese Nationals last year and now Alysa won it this year. Alysa just keeps doing her thing, really not improving from last year and it’s working for her. But with lower base value she kind of has to depend on others mistakes. I’m constantly amazed at her head for competition.

Alysa did make one improvement to her SP compared to last season. She moved her combo to the bonus and upgraded it from a 3L-3T to a 3L-3R. On one of his videos, Jackie Wong said that this is good strategy for Alysa. If she's going to get called on the second jump of her combo, better that it's on a harder combo in the bonus, than on the easier one early on in the program. In fact, she's been getting called on her 3L-3T in her FS too. Imo, she should upgrade that combo as well to a 3L-3R. And if she has the stamina, she should try doing BOTH her Lutz combo, and her Lutz Sequence in the second half of her FS!

I do agree that without an Ultra C jump Alysa's individual medal chances are out of her control, and dependant on others making costly mistakes (especially in the SP). Lightning struck twice for her in the year 2025 but not sure it's going to happen at the 2026 Olympics, the every four years Crown Jewel International Festival of Sports!

Speaking of Ultra C jumps, apart from her 3A, I wonder if Alysa might try to get her Quads back after the Games?

As to Adeliia Petrosian, I think that she absolutely could be a podium threat if the Olympic judges don't bury her in the SP, and especially if she can get her 3A back, as well as her quad. She did land at least one at a recent competition (and cried tears of happiness afterwards!).

I think that Amber doesn't get the PCS that she deserves! Imo, her performance quality is superior to Ami and Mone's! The only drawback I suppose is her long entry into her HUGE 3A. Some are insisting that she's telegraphing the jump but this is a HARD jump and even several men struggle with the 3A!

 

[skatfan]

That shows why it’s silly! You can’t just pull a quad or triple axel out of nowhere. It must be done all season. And now that’s she’s winning without one it will certainly never be tried

There’s a video of Brian Boitano saying that Alysa, once she masters a jump, she can just put it into a program. She doesn’t need a long time of working it in the way most skaters do.

 

[skatfan]

Her gala program at the GPF ended with what looked like to me the revamped final minute or so of the Gaga free skate. I assume this was all a bit she was doing in the gala? Pretending the wrong music was on part way through, before enthusiastically performing what clearly looked like the end of a free skate.

It was about a minute and a half and totally looked like the end of a free skate. A cheeky way to test out a bit of the program!

 

[Bulletsdad]

It was about a minute and a half and totally looked like the end of a free skate. A cheeky way to test out a bit of the program!

The knee spin works well with Bad Romance. The back slide would've also been great, but been there, done that!

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

Keep posting please. I will be at “Urgent” Care possibly until Nepala starts tomorrow.

Hope all is okay!

4th stage, "Golden skate of Moscow"

MOSCOW

Women

Final position

1. Adelia Petrosyan - 230.05

2. Alina Gorbacheva - 209.28

3. Ksenia Gushchina - 200.51

4. Ksenia Sinitsyna - 199.04

5. Veronika Yametova - 193.38

6. Arina Kudlay - 183.41

7. Maria Mazur - 171.77

8. Maria Pulina - 169.10

9. Daria Tretyakova - 164.60

10. Taisiya Lepikhina - 144.11

11. Ekaterina Tsypukhina - 134.36

Ekaterina Anisimova withdrew from the free program.

Free program

1. Adelia Petrosyan - 151.22

2. Alina Gorbacheva - 140.42

3. Ksenia Gushchina - 132.44

4. Ksenia Sinitsyna - 131.50

5. Veronika Yametova - 127.31

6. Arina Kudlay - 120.24

7. Maria Mazur - 115.05

8. Maria Pulina - 110.72

9. Daria Tretyakova - 107.80

10. Taisiya Lepikhina - 93.40

11. Ekaterina Tsipukhina - 85.86

Thank you!

I haven't seen The Mission, do people get run over with monster trucks?

No. Iirc it's about the conquered Indigenous Peoples of centuries ago, and Catholic priests trying to convert them to Christianity - or else. The lyrics in "The Mission" song "Vita Nostra" (Our Life) are heartbreaking. It's sung in Latin from the point of view of the conquered Natives. Over and over again they hauntingly chant "Et la vita nostra, tellus nostra, vita nostra!" '(This is our life! Our land! Our life!). There are a few other words to the song, but you get the jist. Basically, the film is about the ultimate genocide of a people, their culture, their faith, their beliefs. Their lives.

With Schizas manic fake smile she should be doing a "Joker" program, not "Butterly Lovers."

You know, I realize that the classic story of Romeo & Juliet is set in Renaissance Italy, but when you're skating to the Baz Luhrmann movie soundtrack, maybe at least recognize that the setting has been moved to 1990s southern California and design a costume that fits THAT setting instead?

I would have loved them wearing such relatively modern (90s) costumes!

Yes and no. Hopefully Ilia learned at the GPF, trying a new jump or combo is not wise in an important competition.

Ilia has already mentioned in post GPF SP interviews that he won't be trying the 4A-3T in the SP at the Olympics.
Thank you Skate G0ds and G0ddesses of Mount Olympus!

I'm thinking it's time to start a 2026 Olympic Team Event specific discussion thread where we can ruminate about all the options for each of the countries in all 4 disciplines. Thoughts?

Excellent idea!

Her gala program at the GPF ended with what looked like to me the revamped final minute or so of the Gaga free skate. I assume this was all a bit she was doing in the gala? Pretending the wrong music was on part way through, before enthusiastically performing what clearly looked like the end of a free skate. If she could do the step sequence and choreo step with that much speed and gusto in a competition, it would be great. She unfortunately is usually pretty slow during that point in a program though. But what she did at the gala to Bad Romance looked great. You can tell it’s being worked on. The music edit was strong in the part that was played.

It was about a minute and a half and totally looked like the end of a free skate. A cheeky way to test out a bit of the program!

YAY!! If so, then I feel vindicated! Some folks here shut me down when I voiced my hope that Alysa might try her Lady Gaga FS at the GPF Exhibition or the Philly ice show! Not the whole thing of course, but just a bit of it so Alysa could try it out on ice in front of a crowd before Nationals! I even thought that she might give it a spin at Four Continents until I remembered that USFS won't send any Olympic team members to that competition as it's too close to the Games itself!

ETA does anyone know what inspired Alysa's early season Gaga costume? I've watched the Lady Gaga videos to each of the songs that Alysa used as cuts in her initial Gaga FS and I couldn't find any video with the Lady herself wearing a red outfit similar to Alysa's. I think that particular dress on Alysa was too busy/cut wrong for Alysa's petite but strong frame. It might work better on a taller skater. I think that Alysa's MacArthur Park dress drapes beautifully on her. I hope that the new Gaga FS dress is similarly styled in that it won't be too embellished with shoulder pads, and dangly things...

 

[Allskate]

While she is getting the jumps done, the judges are not rating the quality of her elements or (especially) the program as highly as others. With one called jump each, Liu had a 2 point advantage on GOEs and 3.5 point advantage on PCS. She closed the triple axel gap right there.

I don't think Glenn will get the marks to win even with two clean programs.

Fair points.Thanks for quanitifying them but after I posted, I pondered the emotional impact of Amber having the skates of her life and what that would do to the judges re GOE and PCS.

I think a significant part of the reason she doesn't get the best PCS and GOE is that she gets so nervous that she gets tight, which affects her jumps and skating, and she doesn't perform as much. You can see the difference just watching her in an exhibition. She said yesterday that she wants to work on the performance part of her skating.

Plus, she rarely expresses happiness with her skate when she finishes her program. If she doesn't look particularly happy with how well she skated, she's not leaving an impression with the judges that she skated well. She said she felt like she had a difficult time breathing during yesterday's free program but she landed the jumps despite feeling like it was difficult. She didn't look particularly happy at the end. For her own sake and happiness, I wish she could give herself more credit for what she accomplishes.

I would really love to see her skate two clean programs where she really did breathe and believe and let loose, so she could relax and perform her best.

I'm thinking it's time to start a 2026 Olympic Team Event specific discussion thread where we can ruminate about all the options for each of the countries in all 4 disciplines. Thoughts?

Sure. Do you already have a spreadsheet to share? The Japanese women's situation is probably more interesting than the American women. (I think Alysa is likely going to do both the SP and LP.)

 

[clairecloutier]

Plus, she rarely expresses happiness with her skate when she finishes her program. If she doesn't look particularly happy with how well she skated, she's not leaving an impression with the judges that she skated well. …. For her own sake and happiness, I wish she could give herself more credit …

Amber should sign up for an acting class to see if she can make this happen! I know it might seem like a small detail, but I agree it could help. If she can’t celebrate her own skating, it does send a subliminal message to everyone else that maybe it wasn’t that good. (Which isn’t, objectively, correct.)

 

[Karen-W]

Sure. Do you already have a spreadsheet to share? The Japanese women's situation is probably more interesting than the American women. (I think Alysa is likely going to do both the SP and LP.)

Agree with everything you said about Amber.

And, of course I have a spreadsheet, but I haven't really dug into the Japanese women's situation for the TE. There are a lot of intriguing decisions to be made - which Japanese man in each segment, Adam or Kevin for FRA, will FBCiz do the RD & how that impacts which countries make the FS/FD segment, etc.

 

[Miezekatze]

Considering how inconsistent Amber was in the past, I do find it a bit fascinating that she doesn’t seem to realize/emote how good she’s now.

 

[PRlady]

Considering how inconsistent Amber was in the past, I do find it a bit fascinating that she doesn’t seem to realize/emote how good she’s now.

Oh, I totally understand that. When I look back on my career, the first thing I think of are the mistakes and screwups.

 

[SkateFanBerlin]

Considering how inconsistent Amber was in the past, I do find it a bit fascinating that she doesn’t seem to realize/emote how good she’s now.

She`s made it happen and seems to project that it`s difficult, perhaps unpleasant, work. This is in no way a criticism. She just doesn`t seem to enjoy it, even when it`s good. She`s been at this a long time; much of it was spent in frustration. No one could fault her for dropping competitive skating. (Of course she could set a PB at nationals and I`ll say "never mind")

 

[Vagabond]

Considering how inconsistent Amber was in the past, I do find it a bit fascinating that she doesn’t seem to realize/emote how good she’s now.

At least not on the ice, which is probably why she receives the PCS that she does.

 

[Coco]

Bradie mentioned in an interview that she's not portraying anything about the movie. Her FS is about her mission to get back to the Olympics. I'm paraphrasing.

 

[Karen-W]

Bradie mentioned in an interview that she's not portraying anything about the movie. Her FS is about her mission to get back to the Olympics. I'm paraphrasing.

Bradie must think people are really dumb then, because her dress looks like she took a tumble in a muddy Paraguayan river, was rescued & taken in by the native Guarani & then adopted their tribal body painting customs.

 

[Vagabond]

Bradie must think people are really dumb then, because her dress looks like she took a tumble in a muddy Paraguayan river, was rescued & taken in by the native Guarani & then adopted their tribal body painting customs.

How dare you?

 

[Allskate]

She`s made it happen and seems to project that it`s difficult, perhaps unpleasant, work. This is in no way a criticism. She just doesn`t seem to enjoy it, even when it`s good. She`s been at this a long time; much of it was spent in frustration. No one could fault her for dropping competitive skating. (Of course she could set a PB at nationals and I`ll say "never mind")

I'm sure she likes skating. She just deals with anxiety and confidence issues. Those issues probably would follow her to whatever she did. If you follow her for just a little bit on Instagram, you can see that she is trying to deal with these issues. And I think she has improved. I'd just love to see her happy and confident on and off the ice.

 

[SidelineSkater]

I'm sure she likes skating. She just deals with anxiety and confidence issues. Those issues probably would follow her to whatever she did. If you follow her for just a little bit on Instagram, you can see that she is trying to deal with these issues. And I think she has improved. I'd just love to see her happy and confident on and off the ice.

Agree. As the unofficial VP of the Amber Fan Club (we all know what title goes to @AngieNikodinovLove (ANL) )...he and I talk often how she looks defeated after almost every performance, no matter how strong it was, and how we want to her sell it as the best thing ever to dare the judges not to give her all the points!

Allskate reminded us of something important. No matter how much armchair coaches think we know best, we need to remember each skate Amber does is a victory for herself because of all the things she battles with. She's grown so much to hold things together, and that in itself, is incredible.

It's probably not something you can just change overnight. While some may criticize her for not having a champion's mentality, she is a champion for overcoming so many issues to put the pieces together.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Bradie mentioned in an interview that she's not portraying anything about the movie. Her FS is about her mission to get back to the Olympics. I'm paraphrasing.

I’d love to hear her explain her costume, then…

 

[Maximillian]

No. Iirc it's about the conquered Indigenous Peoples of centuries ago, and Catholic priests trying to convert them to Christianity - or else. The lyrics in "The Mission" song "Vita Nostra" (Our Life) are heartbreaking. It's sung in Latin from the point of view of the conquered Natives. Over and over again they hauntingly chant "Et la vita nostra, tellus nostra, vita nostra!" '(This is our life! Our land! Our life!). There are a few other words to the song, but you get the jist. Basically, the film is about the ultimate genocide of a people, their culture, their faith, their beliefs. Their lives.

No, this is not what the film is about. The film is about the Jesuit Reductions in Latin America and the Jesuit priests attempt to protect the native people from enslavement by the Portugese who had been fighting with the Spanish over control over the area. It's definitely a 'white savior' film, and you can definitely question the role of the Catholic Missioionary work in Latin America, but your summary is way off base.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

No, this is not what the film is about. The film is about the Jesuit Reductions in Latin America and the Jesuit priests attempt to protect the native people from enslavement by the Portugese who had been fighting with the Spanish over control over the area. It's definitely a 'white savior' film, and you can definitely question the role of the Catholic Missioionary work in Latin America, but your summary is way off base.

It's been years since I watched the film. I do remember some priest trying to be kind to them (but still obviously attempting to convert them). I could SWEAR the Spaniard soldiers and nobles were ANYTHING but kind to the Indigenous Peoples but perhaps I'm mixing it up with another film? Just the same, I'm right about the lyrics of that song, and ultimately they WERE conquered and their lifestyle, culture, beliefs, etc destroyed, no thanks to Christianity and the Conquerors!

 

[skatfan]

No, this is not what the film is about. The film is about the Jesuit Reductions in Latin America and the Jesuit priests attempt to protect the native people from enslavement by the Portugese who had been fighting with the Spanish over control over the area. It's definitely a 'white savior' film, and you can definitely question the role of the Catholic Missioionary work in Latin America, but your summary is way off base.

Agree. The Jesuits wanted to protect the culture and land of the people, not eliminate them. The Catholic faith had many different groups so they often disagreed.

 

[Sasha'sSpins]

No, this is not what the film is about. The film is about the Jesuit Reductions in Latin America and the Jesuit priests attempt to protect the native people from enslavement by the Portugese who had been fighting with the Spanish over control over the area. It's definitely a 'white savior' film, and you can definitely question the role of the Catholic Missioionary work in Latin America, but your summary is way off base.

It's been years since I watched the film. I did add 'Iirc', so I suppose that I didn't, at least for parts of it. I do remember some priest trying to be kind to them (but still obviously attempting to convert them). I could SWEAR the Spaniard soldiers and nobles were ANYTHING but kind to the Indigenous Peoples but perhaps I'm mixing it up with another film? Just the same, I'm right about the lyrics of that song, and ultimately they WERE conquered and their lifestyle, culture, beliefs, etc destroyed, no thanks to the Conquistadores and their Christianity. I also vaguely remember Robert De Niro tossing aside his priestly collar and picking up arms against the soldiers or something. White man as savior after the damage was done and all that...

 

[Maximillian]

Wrong thread

 

[Allskate]

She's grown so much to hold things together, and that in itself, is incredible.

It's probably not something you can just change overnight. While some may criticize her for not having a champion's mentality, she is a champion for overcoming so many issues to put the pieces together.

ITA. I also think her ADHD may enter into this. It's really hard for some people with ADHD to shut off their brains and just do. It's not just about being distracted. The ADHD might help her to some degree by giving her some hyperfocus in training, but she has to control it so that she doesn't get too anxious, expend too much energy, and overdo it and dwell on what she just did. It is clear that she has worked really hard on this. In addition to being so great to watch as a skater, I think she also is an inspiration and comfort to a lot of people who follow her. I think it's partly because she really is so beloved that her fans would love to see her happy.