U.S. Women [#1]: The Contenders Unmask Themselves

[Vagabond]

The excitement I feel watching Liu reminds me of the excitement I felt watching Chin and Yamaguchi. She herself, however, does not remind me of anyone in particular. She is sui generis.

 

[Karen-W]

The excitement I feel watching Liu reminds me of the excitement I felt watching Chin and Yamaguchi. She herself, however, does not remind me of anyone in particular. She is sui generis.

I agree. She is a unique skater and I appreciate her for who she is.

 

[Frau Muller]

I think they were talking about Tara Lipinski in 1998. Kwan was not skating around Nagano with joy and youthful energy. Almost the opposite.

Absolutely. I immediately thought of Tara-1998. Also...while it’s “ancient history,” Tenley Albright also conveyed that same quality of carefree joy while competing in Olympics & Worlds. Janet Lynn, too, most times. That’s a very special quality, rarely seen.

 

[ЭPiKUilyam]

I'm just comprehending that Alyssa was not born by the time Tara became Olympic champion. She is probably not even old enough to remember the end of Kwan's career.

Well, Karen Chen was not born by the time Tara became Olympic champion either. Bradie was born maybe one month before Tara's win. Tara OGM is nearing 24 years ago!

 

[Coco]

@ErikWilliam stop making me feel better, LOL.

 

[giselle23]

I'm just comprehending that Alyssa was not born by the time Tara became Olympic champion. She is probably not even old enough to remember the end of Kwan's career.

One YouTube, everyone's career lives on.

 

[olympic]

Absolutely. I immediately thought of Tara-1998. Also...while it’s “ancient history,” Tenley Albright also conveyed that same quality of carefree joy while competing in Olympics & Worlds. Janet Lynn, too, most times. That’s a very special quality, rarely seen.

From what I understand though, Janet was a mess while competing at figures. One book noted she broke down after a particularly bad tracing at Sapporo in 1972, but don't quote me ...

 

[Lacey]

Absolutely. I immediately thought of Tara-1998. Also...while it’s “ancient history,” Tenley Albright also conveyed that same quality of carefree joy while competing in Olympics & Worlds. Janet Lynn, too, most times. That’s a very special quality, rarely seen.

Yes on the Janet Lynn reminder,
Alyssa's skating really reminds me of Janet's sparkle.

To compete so happily is a gift.
I don't know if this can be taught or is born in one,
but Alyssa is doing it now and is having a great time!

Alyssa's musicality was also a HUGE part of her long program,
she enhanced her skating by putting elements right on the beat,
lifting her head & smiling, using her hands, arms, toes, feet & legs
while doing complicated artistic movements, jumps and spins,
to accentuate the skating and stretch it artistically.

Again, I don't know if someone taught her this
or if she was already doing it, if it's new choreographing or coaching,
but her skating at Nebelhorn was more complete than before.
To be able to jump and spin and not just do it, but to do it elegantly--
SHE'S A WHOLE PACKAGE NOW!

And no, I don't know whether she will make it onto the USA O Team.
Who knows if she can compete with other countries' skaters,
but Alyssa's got more now than she had before...
Good for her & her current coaches to keep improving everything!

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

Crazy to think that Lipinski will be 40 next year.

 

[Frau Muller]

Absolutely. I immediately thought of Tara-1998. Also...while it’s “ancient history,” Tenley Albright also conveyed that same quality of carefree joy while competing in Olympics & Worlds. Janet Lynn, too, most times. That’s a very special quality, rarely seen.

P.s. Who, besides Alysa Liu, consistently skates with non-stop carefree joy today? Hungary’s Vivien Papp. She’s just 13, though... Papp is promising for the “carefree joy” quality. Hope that this continues as she develops. She seems genuine...from the heart...not forced.

 

[Foolhardy Ham Lint]

P.s. Who, besides Alysa Liu, consistently skates with non-stop carefree joy today? Hungary’s Vivien Papp. She’s just 13, though... Papp is promising for the “carefree joy” quality. Hope that this continues as she develops. She seems genuine...from the heart...not forced.

I really liked Papp's skating from last weekend. For some reason she reminded me of Switzerland's Natalie Krieg, who was also a very showy skater.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

P.s. Who, besides Alysa Liu, consistently skates with non-stop carefree joy today? Hungary’s Vivien Papp. She’s just 13, though... Papp is promising for the “carefree joy” quality. Hope that this continues as she develops. She seems genuine...from the heart...not forced.

To me that’s what figure skating is all about, the complete joy Alysa has. It seems like a lost asset in figure skating the last 10/15 years

 

[Willin]

Other than obvious bias, it's why I've never liked the Eteri girls (minus Evgenia). All of them look some mix of focused during the program and terrified after they're done. There's no joy in it, no fun kiss and cry celebrations, no performance. It makes me sad to watch. Alysa reminds me of Mirai at her first senior nationals: a burst of energy and joy. I've felt she's more business the last two seasons, but there's still joy there, so it makes me happy. Skaters like her, Javi, and Jason remind me why I like watching skating.

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

There's no joy in it, no fun kiss and cry celebrations, no performance. It makes me sad to watch.

I know if you go back and look at videos of Janet Lynn or Dorothy Hamill you see such joy in figure skating. And I miss the days where you would hold a position or a spiral or would hold the position in a spin to really appreciate it. Now every layback is the same. Right up in to the Bielman. There’s nothing exciting about it anymore it’s just a formula everyone does. I wish for some return back to skating of yesteryear either limiting jumps to no more than four or five or something that puts the skating back in figure skating

 

[sk9tingfan]

Other than obvious bias, it's why I've never liked the Eteri girls (minus Evgenia). All of them look some mix of focused during the program and terrified after they're done. There's no joy in it, no fun kiss and cry celebrations, no performance. It makes me sad to watch. Alysa reminds me of Mirai at her first senior nationals: a burst of energy and joy. I've felt she's more business the last two seasons, but there's still joy there, so it makes me happy. Skaters like her, Javi, and Jason remind me why I like watching skating.

Post-Tuberidze Stress Syndrome.

 

[Yazmeen]

I know if you go back and look at videos of Janet Lynn or Dorothy Hamill you see such joy in figure skating. And I miss the days where you would hold a position or a spiral or would hold the position in a spin to really appreciate it. Now every layback is the same. Right up in to the Bielman. There’s nothing exciting about it anymore it’s just a formula everyone does. I wish for some return back to skating of yesteryear either limiting jumps to no more than four or five or something that puts the skating back in figure skating

Dorothy Hamill's delayed axel was always a thing of beauty.

 

[euterpe]

Watch Isabeau Levito skate----now there's a skater who exudes joy from head to toe and through every fingertip.

 

[giselle23]

On YouTube, everyone's career lives on.

 

[olympic]

Watch Isabeau Levito skate----now there's a skater who exudes joy from head to toe and through every fingertip.

I just really watched her for the 1st time. She looks like Sasha after being sent back to the lab and given better edges

 

[Lacey]

Watch Isabeau Levito skate----now there's a skater who exudes joy from head to toe and through every fingertip.

I agree, noticed her because she skates in NJ and I am in PA, so think that's why I got some coverage of her comps.

Don't want to jinx her, but she's lovely and a good jumper.

When will she become a Senior skater?

 

[Willin]

Yeah a lot of the younger US ladies are so great and joyful! Even a lot of our older ones - Mariah Bell's smile is beautiful and such a highlight of her programs. I love it when she nails a program and smiles through the end.

 

[Taso]

I agree, noticed her because she skates in NJ and I am in PA, so think that's why I got some coverage of her comps.

Don't want to jinx her, but she's lovely and a good jumper.

When will she become a Senior skater?

Looks like she could go senior next season, her birth is March 3, 2007.

She is really good! Her performances at JGP Courchevel 2 were excellent! Really rooting for her

 

[euterpe]

Isabeau will skate as a Senior at the upcoming Nationals, then next year she will be age-eligible for senior competitions. She's already won a gold medal in the JGP, and is scheduled for her 2nd event next week in Linz.

 

[Jammers]

Looks like she could go senior next season, her birth is March 3, 2007.

She is really good! Her performances at JGP Courchevel 2 were excellent! Really rooting for her

To get to the next level Isabeau really needs to improve her basic skating like Alysa did and work on her jump technique which is hard to watch sometimes with the way she lurches forward when she enters into a jump.

 

[olympic]

Other than obvious bias, it's why I've never liked the Eteri girls (minus Evgenia). All of them look some mix of focused during the program and terrified after they're done. There's no joy in it, no fun kiss and cry celebrations, no performance. It makes me sad to watch. Alysa reminds me of Mirai at her first senior nationals: a burst of energy and joy. I've felt she's more business the last two seasons, but there's still joy there, so it makes me happy. Skaters like her, Javi, and Jason remind me why I like watching skating.

Interesting take. Going back to Lipnitskaya, most of Eteri's skaters appear to muscle their jumps which takes away from the program. It is less about beauty and power, although there are exceptions such as Kostornaia generally and Shcherbakova (not the quads though). Trusova on a good day has nice jumps but still sacrifices a lot of the program components to get the job done

I rewatched Zagitova's Olympic LP. She weaves side-to-side at the entrance of her 3Z and it is a clever way to disguise a Flutz.

Eteri is really #1 at code-whoring, but she is playing by the ISU rules, so you can't really complain about it too much. I don't think though that Women's skating is as interesting as it could be though

 

[AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)]

Does anyone know, will Bradie’s first competition of the season be skate America?

 

[euterpe]

Does anyone know, will Bradie’s first competition of the season be skate America?

Yes. Her coach Tom Z confirmed it.

 

[giselle23]

Eteri's skaters sometimes seem to skate scared. Never do they show what Sandra Bezic called "the passion to skate." It is all very serious. Another skater whose skating embodied the joy of skating was Midori Ito.

 

[VGThuy]

Eteri's skaters sometimes seem to skate scared. Never do they show what Sandra Bezic called "the passion to skate." It is all very serious. Another skater whose skating embodied the joy of skating was Midori Ito.

They all went to the Tatiana Totmianina/Victoria Volchkova School of performance. Just like how half the American ladies went to the Sasha Cohen school of jump landings and the other half went to Sarah Hughes’.

 

[wickedwitch]

Other than obvious bias, it's why I've never liked the Eteri girls (minus Evgenia). All of them look some mix of focused during the program and terrified after they're done. There's no joy in it, no fun kiss and cry celebrations, no performance. It makes me sad to watch.

That's sometimes true, but what I loved about Anna's Firebird and Alena's Twillight program was specifically that both looked like they were having so much fun with those programs.