U.S. Pairs 2021-22 season - News & Updates, Part X

[SDoesNotKnow]

Miura/Kihara we’re electric and incredibly smooth in person. There’s a reason they received an impromptu standing ovation.

 

[Sylvia]

We have a Pairs discussion thread I'm trying to get going here : https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/pairs-discussion-thread-2021-22.108538/

Be sure and check out @clairecloutier's comprehensive pairs preview for the season that's linked in that thread (ETA): https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/pairs-discussion-thread-2021-22.108538/page-3#post-6082345

Re. this sentence in Claire's blog:

While it’s great to see U.S. senior pairs improving, the lack of U.S. junior teams who are prepared to make the jump to seniors is concerning.

Smirnova/Siianytsia plan to compete senior at Nationals and I think their pair elements are coming along very nicely. Hopefully they will continue to progress on their sbs triple(s).

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Congratulations to Alexa and Brandon coming in second in the free skate at skate America and just about tied with T/M for the technical portion. Well done

 

[Willin]

C/J have been my US fave since I first saw them at 2019 Nationals.

I think what judges and others see in them is a US pair with strong edges and speed (which frankly is a rarity). On the elements, their twist and throws are high, probably the best twist and lifts in the US right now. Their score would've been over 70 if they had just gotten levels 4 and / or she kept her foot up after the throw. That is what an intl. judging panel sees. I think they are capable of catching JPN team if they are clean

Still, interesting that intl. judges are putting K/F only 2.5 points behind them, with a more glaring error and also missed levels. Maybe US pairs are interchangeable in the bottom half of the World top 10 in the eyes of the ISU

I really hope between what I've seen in Finlandia and the SkAm SP, they are conquering their issues w/ the SBS jumps.

ETA - Also can't stand their SP music, though

Seriously though if this competition did anything for me it was remind me of how godawful pairs' skating skills are. Really only the Russian and Canadian teams had anything resembling twizzles. No one in the field but the top three should've gotten a L3 step sequence.

 

[yeslek]

Did anyone else think C/J and L/O were underscored? I thought both teams should’ve been one spot higher in the standings. In particular, in still scratching my head as to how C/J scored behind the Japanese team in musical interpretation. They owned that performance! It’s entirely possible that I missed something, so this is is an honest question.

Not really for CJ. That was a great score in the free considering the jumps and falls.

 

[yeslek]

C/J have been my US fave since I first saw them at 2019 Nationals.

I think what judges and others see in them is a US pair with strong edges and speed (which frankly is a rarity). On the elements, their twist and throws are high, probably the best twist and lifts in the US right now. Their score would've been over 70 if they had just gotten levels 4 and / or she kept her foot up after the throw. That is what an intl. judging panel sees. I think they are capable of catching JPN team if they are clean

Still, interesting that intl. judges are putting K/F only 2.5 points behind them, with a more glaring error and also missed levels. Maybe US pairs are interchangeable in the bottom half of the World top 10 in the eyes of the ISU

I really hope between what I've seen in Finlandia and the SkAm SP, they are conquering their issues w/ the SBS jumps.

ETA - Also can't stand their SP music, though

I feel like CJ skate very tentatively. She always looks scared to me but she shouldn’t be because they are very good!!

 

[SorrySkater]

Not really for CJ. That was a great score in the free considering the jumps and falls.

This question was with regard to the short program. The scoring for the long program was reasonable.

 

[yeslek]

This question was with regard to the short program. The scoring for the long program was reasonable.

Got it! That makes sense. I thought the long was too high.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

For those of you who have ever wondered what accommodations are like for figure skaters when they’re at hotels for competitions Ashley Cain Gribble has videos of her room in Canada right now. One of her stories also shows the volcano from up in the airplane

Ashley Cain (@icegirlash) • Instagram photos and videos

87K Followers, 1,776 Following, 2,223 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Ashley Cain (@icegirlash)

instagram.com

Because of CV restrictions she has three queen beds all to herself… I mean she can at least share with ANL

 

[Karen-W]

For those of you who have ever wondered what accommodations are like for figure skaters when they’re at hotels for competitions Ashley Cain Gribble has videos of her room in Canada right now. One of her stories also shows the volcano from up in the airplane

Ashley Cain (@icegirlash) • Instagram photos and videos

87K Followers, 1,776 Following, 2,223 Posts - See Instagram photos and videos from Ashley Cain (@icegirlash)

instagram.com

Because of CV restrictions she has three queen beds all to herself… I mean she can at least share with ANL

LOL. I wonder if she'll take a picture of Mt Fuji from the plane when she goes to NHK - give us a view of the western Pacific ring of fire now that we've seen one on the eastern Pacific side.

I'm amused that she took a photo of a volcano from the plane but I guess it's easy to forget how novel and majestic these mountains are, especially from the air, when I live so close to them.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

LOL. I wonder if she'll take a picture of Mt Fuji from the plane when she goes to NHK - give us a view of the western Pacific ring of fire now that we've seen one on the eastern Pacific side.

I'm amused that she took a photo of a volcano from the plane but I guess it's easy to forget how novel and majestic these mountains are, especially from the air, when I live so close to them.

Dems some nice accommodations and VIEWS. My guess the competitors at the Orleans didn’t have them like this…

 

[Sylvia]

Just noticed the October 2021 SKATING magazine cover story by Kama Stigall can be read in the Fan Zone:

In The Cards: Knierim and Frazier Excited to Play Hand They've Been Dealt - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

Editor's note: This story was originally published in the October issue of SKATING magazine.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

Photos from their cover shoot: https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/galleries/figure-skating/skating-oct-2021-knierim-and-frazier/69

After Skate America, ISU Season Best Total Scores list ranked #5-7:

5	Alexa KNIERIM / Brandon FRAZIER	USA	ISU GP Guaranteed Rate Skate America 2021	24/10/2021	202.97	S
6	Jessica CALALANG / Brian JOHNSON	USA	ISU GP Guaranteed Rate Skate America 2021	24/10/2021	197.42	S
7	Ashley CAIN-GRIBBLE / Timothy LEDUC	USA	ISU CS Finlandia Trophy 2021	08/10/2021	193.00	S

Jedidiah Isbell, 19, is listed on IPS (he will be 20 in January so has one more season of ISU Junior age elibility in 2022-23): http://icepartnersearch.com/showbio.php?i=7041
This season he had teamed up with Laiken Lockley, who turned 19 in July, and they qualified for the ISP (after Cranberry Open, IIRC) but were not assigned to an international this fall.

 

[Wyliefan]

Oh shoot, Lockley's partnerless again?

 

[Sylvia]

How exciting for Audrey Lu & Misha Mitrofanov to have been invited to appear with a group of Olympic hopefuls on the TODAY show (outside of Rockefeller Center in NYC) this morning - Audrey's photos/clips: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVl3cDILdD3/

You can see them in this TODAY video as part of the group though they don't speak:

Olympic hopefuls talk about their preparations for Beijing Games

With 100 days until the start of the Winter Games in Beijing, the TODAY plaza is filled with Olympic hopefuls, including Sylvia Hoffman, a bobsledder from Arlington, Texas, and Kali Flanagan, a gold medal winner from the U.S. women’s hockey team, who talk about their preparations for the Games.

www.today.com

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

How exciting for Audrey Lu & Misha Mitrofanov to have been invited to appear with a group of Olympic hopefuls on the TODAY show (outside of Rockefeller Center in NYC) this morning - Audrey's photos/clips: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVl3cDILdD3/

You can see them in this TODAY video as part of the group though they don't speak:

Olympic hopefuls talk about their preparations for Beijing Games

With 100 days until the start of the Winter Games in Beijing, the TODAY plaza is filled with Olympic hopefuls, including Sylvia Hoffman, a bobsledder from Arlington, Texas, and Kali Flanagan, a gold medal winner from the U.S. women’s hockey team, who talk about their preparations for the Games.

www.today.com

Can’t wait to see them on the GP this year, I think they’ve improved a lot and their jumps are gangbusters

 

[VGThuy]

Judging from their LP scores, would it be safe to say that Calalang/Johnson would have been pushing in the high 130s to early 140s with a clean program?

 

[olympic]

Judging from their LP scores, would it be safe to say that Calalang/Johnson would have been pushing in the high 130s to early 140s with a clean program?

They are my faves and IMO have the strongest SS of all US pairs. They move fast across the ice with few strokes. I agree that skating clean, they would be score that high and be US #1. I appreciate that she is working on her triples with a Raf Acolyte but it really needs to come together, and I think it's 99% mental

 

[Spiralgraph]

They are my faves and IMO have the strongest SS of all US pairs. They move fast across the ice with few strokes. I agree that skating clean, they would be score that high and be US #1. I appreciate that she is working on her triples with a Raf Acolyte but it really needs to come together, and I think it's 99% mental

I can appreciate the quality of C/J's skating. However, the top USA pairs have had trouble with their triple jumps or throw jumps in international competition for the longest time. Potential is all well and good but at some point the if onlys ( that is, if only they had skated clean...etc ) are downright disappointing. The fact is all our top pairs now no matter how good they might be in practice, skate with significant errors when it counts.
I've come to accept that fact and I'm not going to magically predict any of our pairs will suddenly make the podium or the final flight at Worlds or the Olympics. I'm tempering my hopes and I'm trying to just enjoy the teams for what they are. If they surprise me and succeed by skating error free I'll be overjoyed, but I'm not going to expect it. That's too hard on my heart. Just keep trying to improve, that's all I'll ask.

 

[RoseRed]

Judging from their LP scores, would it be safe to say that Calalang/Johnson would have been pushing in the high 130s to early 140s with a clean program?

At SA, they did 3Tq+Combo fall and 2S fall.

For the tech score

• Clean 3T-2T and 3S would be +4.3 points in BV
• Zeros in GOE would be +2.75
• No fall deductions would be +2

So that's 9.05 points added to the score, taking them to 137.6 points. They'd gain some PCS for not having the falls as well.

They could get more in GOE on the sbs jumps of course. But since they struggle with them, I'm going more for 'basically clean'. Like maybe a step out or a Q on one, and +GOE on the other.

 

[yeslek]

They are my faves and IMO have the strongest SS of all US pairs. They move fast across the ice with few strokes. I agree that skating clean, they would be score that high and be US #1. I appreciate that she is working on her triples with a Raf Acolyte but it really needs to come together, and I think it's 99% mental

See I feel like her skating looks sooo tentative all around. But their twist and lifts are fantastic

 

[olympic]

See I feel like her skating looks sooo tentative all around. But their twist and lifts are fantastic

I wouldn't say tentative all around - Look at the confidence on the exit of the twist, and most of the time she powers thru the landings of some big throws w/ a high leg. Then there are those moves in the field that are high quality,

-----

Umm. No spoilers, but after seeing the results of the SP at SC, I would say the #2 US pair (if between C/J and CG/L) selected to the Olympic team will be the team that falls the least on the SBS jumps.

 

[Karen-W]

I wouldn't say tentative all around - Look at the confidence on the exit of the twist, and most of the time she powers thru the landings of some big throws w/ a high leg. Then there are those moves in the field that are high quality,

-----

Umm. No spoilers, but after seeing the results of the SP at SC, I would say the #2 US pair (if between C/J and CG/L) selected to the Olympic team will be the team that falls the least on the SBS jumps.

I suspect you are correct in this regard.

 

[olympic]

I suspect you are correct in this regard.

I just get so frustrated as an FS fan: These top teams are so top level on so many different elements. C/J have great SS all around and speed. They are much better on the SBS spins. CG/L have developed a lovely style together and improved so much on the twist and even throws.

Yet, the SBS jumps are lacking for both teams. It makes me wanna bang my head against the wall.

K/F don’t yet have a distinct style but technically they are most likely to put everything together and win Nationals.

Lu / Mitrofanov are quite the opposite in that the SBS jumps are one of their strengths

 

[yeslek]

I wouldn't say tentative all around - Look at the confidence on the exit of the twist, and most of the time she powers thru the landings of some big throws w/ a high leg. Then there are those moves in the field that are high quality,

-----

Umm. No spoilers, but after seeing the results of the SP at SC, I would say the #2 US pair (if between C/J and CG/L) selected to the Olympic team will be the team that falls the least on the SBS jumps.

I said her skating not her twist…

 

[Willin]

I think the second spot will go to C-G/L or C/J. I'm leaning C/J at this point as they're the better overall team - especially given Ashley's illness taking away training time - but the race is heating up. C/J have the higher score on the GP so far but C-G/L have the higher placement. Their FS scores were similar with both having room to improve: C/J on the falls and C-G/L on at least one lift. I think this is probably the most interesting race for the Olympic team right now given that the ladies is just pure chaos.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

I just want to see Audrey and Misha because for what they lack in PCS they have gangbuster elements

 

[peibeck]

I just want to see Audrey and Misha because for what they lack in PCS they have gangbuster elements

They are young and have time to gel their second mark scoring. For a team like CG/L this is surely their last chance to get to the games.

 

[AxelAnnie]

I just get so frustrated as an FS fan: These top teams are so top level on so many different elements. C/J have great SS all around and speed. They are much better on the SBS spins. CG/L have developed a lovely style together and improved so much on the twist and even throws.

Yet, the SBS jumps are lacking for both teams. It makes me wanna bang my head against the wall.

K/F don’t yet have a distinct style but technically they are most likely to put everything together and win Nationals.

Lu / Mitrofanov are quite the opposite in that the SBS jumps are one of their strengths

That IMO the USFS let's skaters slide up the ranks without triples. It is a real. Shame. I say that if they get a 0 for botched SBS jumps, the issue would be solved int 1-two years.

And how to Senior Pairs keep getting allowed to go without that element?

 

[VGThuy]

That IMO the USFS let's skaters slide up the ranks without triples. It is a real. Shame. I say that if they get a 0 for botched SBS jumps, the issue would be solved int 1-two years.

And how to Senior Pairs keep getting allowed to go without that element?

Sui/Han won skate Canada with a major splat on her triple Sal which isn’t unusual for her. Internationally, a lot of pairs fall. What hurts US pairs is that we don’t tend to have the skating skills, basics, and pairs skills to truly take us to the next level. Landing the triples of course is of the utmost importance but I notice many other teams from other countries can afford falls more because of their pairs skills.

 

[olympic]

I said her skating not her twist…

Landings of difficult elements after being tossed in the air are tough and are a part of skating