Keegan Messing Cheer thread

Keegan was invited to skate in the Gala! Unfortunately this is the only video I can find, and the sound goes away part way through, but what a great thing for him. They must have recognized his performance skills, because other than host skaters, normally those that come 8th aren't invited to the Gala, unless they're either big names, crowd favourites, or hugely entertaining.
https://vk.com/videos-99627412?z=video-99627412_456239715/club99627412/pl_-99627412_-2
 
Even with the sound fading out, this is a delightful video of Keegan (his joy, speed, spins, Russian Split Jump, backflip, etc.). I'm sharing this with a friend who is a casual skating fan, but has enjoyed seeing Keegan @ the Philadelphia International Summer Competition (formerly known as "Liberty"), and always asks about him!
 
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That is his suit. I remember seeing it at Nats and commenting that Keegan needs to visit a tailor. His body needs custom made clothes.
 
Finding and posting more Olympics-related articles -- this one is by Dan Barnes of the National Post: Meet Keegan Messing: The next generation of Canadian Olympic figure skating
Excerpts:
“I looked at this little kid, how wild and aggressive he was, and I liked that,” said Ralph Burghart, who took over from Messing’s first coach and two decades later is still on the job. “We started with a couple lessons a week. By the time he was eight or nine, I really could see that he could be something special. By the time he was 10, he started doing double Axels. He was just a late bloomer, so you just have to be patient with him, and I always knew that.”
Messing is only now getting around to his first Olympics at age 26, which is decidedly late for a figure skater. And he might be a one-and-done Olympian, just as Burghart was for Austria in 1992.
“I’m definitely feeling the end of the skating career coming, but I’m not done this year. My goal right now is two more years. But I’m somewhere right now where I never thought my skating would take me, so I feel it would be a shame to quit things now. I should go with the flow, keep pushing for bigger, better things.
ETA relevant quotes from Lance Vipond about Keegan in the final section of this post-Worlds article: http://www.brantfordexpositor.ca/2018/03/26/osmond-is-perfection
When he was approached to coach the men's singles skater two years ago, Vipond wasn't sure the match would work.
"I had never really watched him," he said. "I knew who he was but I was never really drawn into his skating. It wasn't my esthetic. He was known as this really wild, crazy, fast, athletic guy who was rough around the edges. My kind of thing is a refined, nice tidy style."
But Vipond said yes and, after Messing came to Brantford for a couple of weeks, their relationship grew,
Messing, who turned 26 in January, made his first Olympics this year, finishing 12th in men's singles. And then at the world championships, he recorded a personal high score in his short program on his way to an eighth-place finish.
Vipond thinks Messing still has more to accomplish.
"There's still stuff that he hasn't tried out yet," he said.
"He's mastered the style that we've worked on the past two years but, I think with his attitude and his openness, he can take a few more steps up.
"He's just beginning his international career. This is the first year people have taken notice of him."
 
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"People filled Town Square Park in downtown Anchorage to celebrate Alaska's Olympians on Wednesday evening [April 4, 2018]. Cross-country skiers, a snowboarder and a figure skater took to the stage as the crowd cheered."
Keegan can be glimpsed in photo #6 in this gallery: https://www.adn.com/slideshow/sport...fellow-olympians-take-the-stage-in-anchorage/

"... Alaskan Keegan Messing, who competed in figure skating for Team Canada – he did a backflip on the stage." http://www.ktuu.com/content/sports/Alaskan-gold-medalist--478834893.html
:encore:
 
Keegan will perform in Juneau, Alaska tomorrow: http://juneauempire.com/sports/news/2018-04-13/olympic-figure-skater-coming-juneau-saturday
The 26-year-old will be performing with over 90 Juneau youth and adult skaters in the Juneau Skating Club’s “Beyond the Stars” shows on Saturday at Treadwell Arena. <snip>
Messing describes the [2018 Olympics] experience as “three weeks of dreamland.” In a phone interview Thursday with the Empire, he said he nearly teared up before stepping onto the ice for the first time in South Korea.
“I’m looking up at the (Olympic) rings and then it was like, ‘I’m about to skate in the Olympics,’” Messing said from Anchorage. “I almost just cried right then and there but I had to bring it back and center myself again right before I went out. But going out there, it was a dream come true, it was amazing.”
In Saturday’s two-hour productions, Messing will play the role of Professor Saul R. Flare (solar flare), a character that takes the skaters on a journey to space. JSC coach Pam Leary said the show will feature about 30 routines in total, all set to various space-themed music from artists like David Bowie and Elton John.
...
Messing said he’s been busily creating a program for Elton John’s Rocket Man to show off, “which is quite a stretch outside of what I normally skate to,” he said.
 
Reviving this thread before Keegan kicks off his Grand Prix season at Skate Canada International later today...

Two short video features by TSN:

Messing staying true to his roots in Alaska

Messing takes his adventure to the next level, skates on an iceberg

ICYMI, Keegan announced his engagement 4 days ago on his IG (her name is Lane): https://www.instagram.com/p/BpN8z_eBjon/?hl=en&taken-by=sk8erkeeg

He also won his first ISU Challenger for Canada, Nebelhorn Trophy, in late September.

ETA from the SCI practice reports thread in the Kiss & Cry section:
... just wanted to post that Keegan Messing quad Lutz looks really good. Not doing it in the short but hopefully we will see it tomorrow
 
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Did Keegan tear the butt out of his pants at his Rostelecom cup gala program? Or is that toilet paper stuck to his pants?
 
It is so sad he missed the GPF by 1 spot. I have a feeling someone will WD with an injury though (usually happens) and he gets to skate! I think he can redeem his last bad skate if that happens.
 
It is so sad he missed the GPF by 1 spot. I have a feeling someone will WD with an injury though (usually happens) and he gets to skate! I think he can redeem his last bad skate if that happens.
Though I won't be surprised if he pushes through, apparently Hanyu is receiving some medical treatment on his ankle and it's still TBD whether he'll have to withdraw. While I'd hate for injury to derail anyone, it would be great for Keegan to have this opportunity.
And if it happens, that means our first alternate junior (Gogolev) and first alternate senior male skaters would be there.
 
Though I won't be surprised if he pushes through, apparently Hanyu is receiving some medical treatment on his ankle and it's still TBD whether he'll have to withdraw. While I'd hate for injury to derail anyone, it would be great for Keegan to have this opportunity.
And if it happens, that means our first alternate junior (Gogolev) and first alternate senior male skaters would be there.

I will be surprised if Hanyu ends up WDing since he is such a trooper but you are right. I have a feeling it will wind up being someone else.
 
Though I won't be surprised if he pushes through, apparently Hanyu is receiving some medical treatment on his ankle and it's still TBD whether he'll have to withdraw. While I'd hate for injury to derail anyone, it would be great for Keegan to have this opportunity.
And if it happens, that means our first alternate junior (Gogolev) and first alternate senior male skaters would be there.

I will be surprised if Hanyu ends up WDing since he is such a trooper but you are right. I have a feeling it will wind up being someone else.

If Hanyu decides to rest his ankle and withdraw from the GPF, I hope he makes that announcement sooner rather than later.

At least being on the same coast and time zone in North America is a reasonable advantage for first alternate, Messing. So many skaters this season have been alerted at the last second when others have dropped out.

The ISU really needs to address that issue.
 
Keegan shared 3 news photos yesterday of the damage caused by the big earthquake near Anchorage yesterday with a message that he and his family are OK: https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq0TXyah-20/

Re-posting from the Canadian Men's thread in GSD:
Someone else tweeted that the first person who called them was Keegan and he help her turn off the gas lines

After a 7.0 earthquake, my first call was from Keegan Messing!!! He blessed me, I was home alone with my daughter. He walked me through security precautions and made sure we checked for gas leaks. What an amazing man. His parents really got it right,I’m grateful. Thanks Keeg!❤️?
 
My husband and I have not had time to watch the skating from last night. But I heard that Keegan landed a quad jump and is still in last place. Sounds to me like he was robbed!!
 
He landed everything, but in his 4T/3T combo the quad was marked < (IMO incorrectly), and on his 3A he put his hand down and also received < (and in super slow mo, I have to agree). He only got level 2 footwork, and his final combo spin also only hit level 2, because he was too low on the entry and didn't get into his first position quickly enough (per Liz Manley's commentary).
I still think his scores were lower than they should be.
 
I can't help but wonder if Keegan is injured, or has some problem. It is totally unlike him to lose focus. I have never seen him have a poor skate, let alone two at the same event. I am concerned.
 

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