Isabeau Levito Fan Thread!

[Frau Muller]

Isabeau Levito of the USA just won her first senior Grand Prix medal - the silver at 2022 Skate America! I think it’s time for a Fan Thread.

How can we get Isabeau to the Senior G-P final in Turin? Could she win or place 2nd at her next G-P assignment, the Sheffield, UK trophy? Tough entries include Mihara, You and, if ready, Tennell.

https://isu.org/docman-documents-links/isu-files/event-documents/figure-skating-4/2022-23-4/grand-prix-3/entries-7/29098-entries-women-2022-23/file

 

[Evgeniafan]

Isabeau Levito of the USA just won her first senior Grand Prix medal - the silver at 2022 Skate America! I think it’s time for a Fan Thread.

How can we get Isabeau to the Senior G-P final in Turin? Could she win or place 2nd at her next G-P assignment, the Sheffield, UK trophy? Tough entries include Mihara, You and, if ready, Tennell.

https://isu.org/docman-documents-links/isu-files/event-documents/figure-skating-4/2022-23-4/grand-prix-3/entries-7/29098-entries-women-2022-23/file

I think Isabeau will medal there. Which color is th question.

 

[mtnskater]

Definitely count me in as an Isabeau fan! I love her beautiful style and she is only getting started at 15. Can’t wait to watch her evolve and develop in the sport. Would love to see her at the Grand Prix Final. I think she has a good chance to make it after her first senior international winning the silver at Skate America. She doesn’t usually make big mistakes and is a really reliable competitor so far. Not completing her first combo was really unusual for her. So if she skates a bit better with her combos she will be in great shape to get gold or silver.

 

[mtnskater]

Canadian figure skater and figure skating analyst Asher Hill just said in his review of Skate America for CBC that Isabeau has the best forward cross cuts (crossovers) of any skater he has ever seen. Interesting!

 

[DreamSkates]

I think Isabeau will medal there. Which color is th question.

NHK: I think she would probablly beat Tenell, given the latter has yet to skate competitively this season (or in a long time). Isabeau has momentum and positive nods from the judges so far. So, a bronze? Of course the ice is slippery, etc.

 

[Frau Muller]

So what can Isabeau do between now and Sheffield to raise her points? More respectable jump tech, eg, show off the take-offs and landings more easily? Keep moving as she approaches each jump?

 

[mtnskater]

Isabeau needs to work on fully rotating her combos and she will be fine. Tough to do while going through a growth spurt and under pressure, but Isabeau has a good head for competition already. Can’t remember when I’ve seen her fall.

 

[DreamSkates]

Isabeau needs to work on fully rotating her combos and she will be fine. Tough to do while going through a growth spurt and under pressure, but Isabeau has a good head for competition already. Can’t remember when I’ve seen her fall.
Uh oh hope no jinx.

 

[mtnskater]

Uh oh hope no jinx.

I said the same thing about Alysa Liu too and I don’t remember her falling much during her short senior career. Didn’t jinx her, so hopefully the same with Isabeau

 

[Allskate]

IMO, Isabeau just keeps getting better, and she is a great competitor. Here is her short program from today:

Isabeau LEVITO USA SP 2022 Grand Prix Sheffield Raisport

Isabeau LEVITO USA SP 2022 Grand Prix Sheffield Raisport

www.youtube.com

 

[DreamSkates]

She looked mighty fine at JW GP long program. I enjoy her fluid arm movements. She doesn't appear to be skating from one end of the rink to the next jump but includes meaningful movements of varied types especially in finishing a jump. She doesn't just land and she's done. Great job! If I just started watching skating, I wouldn't have a clue that this is her first senior year.

 

[Wyliefan]

Isabeau posted some great pictures from Sheffield. #6 is my favorite.

Isabeau Levito on Instagram: "MK John Wilson Trophy! I loved this event and experience so much! ❤️⭐️🇺🇸"

Isabeau Levito shared a post on Instagram: "MK John Wilson Trophy! I loved this event and experience so much! ❤️⭐️🇺🇸". Follow their account to see 38 posts.

www.instagram.com

 

[Allskate]

Isabeau posted some great pictures from Sheffield. #6 is my favorite.

Not #7?

 

[cholla]

Interview of Isabeau Levito on French website Skate Info Glace (in English)

 

[Yuri]

Here is a lengthy, Google-translated article from sports.ru with Isabeau and her coach Yulia Kuznetsova. Lots of wonderful pictures, including one with Isabeau and the legendary Oleg Protopopov, as well as another with both of them and Evgeny Platov in NJ. It appears that Isabeau temporarily is focusing on her Italian versus her Russian as learning both simultaneously is a bit difficult.

«Знаю много слов по-русски: «лошади едят яблоки», «девочки едят яйца». Лучшая фигуристка США любит Россию

Интервью с Изабо Левито.

www.sports.ru

 

[airgelaal]

This interview is so... terrifying
It's terrible to tell a girl that figure skating is her ticket to life. why hang such a burden of responsibility on a child? Without figure skating, will her life end?

 

[bladesofgorey]

Ugh. Also the puberty question and her saying as an example to stave this off and get through it she's careful to only put only the slight smear of butter on a piece of toast instead of a whole pad. Unless the translation changes things to sound worse than they are this is very troubling to say the least.

 

[Sylvia]

Phil Hersh's Isabeau article for NBC Sports (Dec. 7):

'Her eyes would obliterate you': Bold Isabeau Levito faces skating idol at Grand Prix Final

The highlight of Isabeau Levito’s season so far came at Skate America in October.

olympics.nbcsports.com

I was able to skim this Philadelphia Inquirer article by Ellen Dunkel (who wrote about Isabeau after witnessing her senior debut at the Philadelphia Summer International) before the paywall popped up:

South Jersey figure skater Isabeau Levito is the only American to qualify for the women’s event of the Grand Prix Final

When figure skating's Grand Prix Final takes place this weekend in Torino, Italy, there will only be one American in the women’s event: Isabeau Levito of Mount Holly, N.J.

www.inquirer.com

 

[Allskate]

Ugh. Also the puberty question and her saying as an example to stave this off and get through it she's careful to only put only the slight smear of butter on a piece of toast instead of a whole pad. Unless the translation changes things to sound worse than they are this is very troubling to say the least.

It's hard to tell from the google translation, but I think this was a metaphor and she seems not to be very worried about puberty. It was a very rude and unhealthy question, though.

OTOH, it does seem like a lot of pressure is being placed on her. But, I also get the sense that she herself is very driven on her own.

 

[Allskate]

Congratulations to Isabeau on her GP Final silver medal! It wasn't her best performance and she looked slower and more tentative than in her GP events earlier in the season, but it was very valuable experience.

 

[Frau Muller]

CONGRATULATIONS, ISABEAU - SENIOR GRAND PRIX SILVER MEDALIST!!!!!

 

[shan]

Way to go Isabeau!! She's quite a competitor! I love her determination even when things aren't perfect. Wow!

 

[coppertop1]

Congratulations, Isabeau! What a great senior debut she had this season! She should be a front runner for the World Team

 

[Sylvia]

Fan Zone article by Darci Miller (Jan. 16, 2023):

After Dream Season, Levito Eyes Further Success in 2023 - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Isabeau Levito is comfortable on a podium.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

"I was putting my makeup on, preparing to go to the rink for the long program, and I was so nervous, and I was like, 'I need to skate clean,'" Levito said. "Before an event, I'm always thinking everyone else is going to skate clean. It's like my brain goes by default that everyone else will be perfect and I'm the only one that could potentially mess up. So in that moment, I was kind of accepting the fact that, most likely, especially if I don't skate clean, that I may not podium."
But then she did, completing a stunning comeback to vault from fifth to second overall, behind only Mai Mihara of Japan.
"When I did podium, I was just like, 'Nah. Nah. This can't be real,'" Levito said. "So when I was actually on the podium, when I think back to it now, I had the exact same feeling as my Grand Prix stages. I think, in the moment, my brain must've just thought, 'Yeah, it's just another Grand Prix stage. It's not the Grand Prix Final.' But now, looking back on it, I'm like, damn, that was the Grand Prix Final."

ICYMI, Isabeau was on Polina Edmunds' podcast (June 15, 2022) before she debuted her programs at the Philadelphia Summer International in early August:

The Iron Butterfly: Fresh on the Scene (ft. Isabeau Levito)

I sit down with 2022 US Bronze Medalist and Junior World Champion Isabeau Levito to chat about her career thus far! We talk about her start in skating, her coaching team, her timeline of learning jumps, her artistry and the dance classes she takes, competing on the JGP circuit last season, her...

bleav.com

 

[Private Citizen]

I love Isabeau, but I do not love her use of "podium" as a verb .

 

[Allskate]

Isabeau continues to impress me. When she came into the arena tonight and Andrea asked her how it felt to come into the competition as the favorite to win, I wanted to tell Andrea to shut up. That would have stressed me out. I loved Isabeau's response: "No thoughts. Just vibes." I'd love to be able to get into that void Isabeau talked about. I would have been so stressed in her position. I also love that she doesn't hesitate to express her confidence without being cocky.

 

[Scott512]

Isabeau for nationals gold! But Bradie is back in form! Yikes.

 

[DreamSkates]

Isabeau for nationals gold! But Bradie is back in form! Yikes.

We’ve got a competition!!!

 

[DreamSkates]

We’ve got a competition!!!

And she won with a stellar free skate!

 

[BlueRidge]

Congratulations to Isabeau! What a treat to see such a free skate!!