U.S. Women [#3]: Skating Clean

[Karen-W]

Isabeau needs to move up she has nothing more to prove in Juniors and needs to get a head start for 2026. With the US ladies field as it is right now she has a chance to make some noise with so many retirements and a weak field.

There's no way they're going to keep her in Juniors.

Well, that depends on what happens to the age min increase at the ISU Congress. It could be that they decide to bump the min up to 16 or 17 next season and make the current 15-yr olds stay in juniors another season or two.

Isabeau needs to correct some of her technical flaws and, personally, I think she would be better off doing that down in juniors next season, but I will be shocked if she stays in juniors unless forced to by a change to the age min because this is the USFS we're talking about and our women's senior field is looking pretty thin when it comes to skaters with reliable 3-3 combos (Levito, Thorngren, maybe Bradie if she's healthy, and ????).

 

[Maximillian]

Well, that depends on what happens to the age min increase at the ISU Congress. It could be that they decide to bump the min up to 16 or 17 next season and make the current 15-yr olds stay in juniors another season or two.

Isabeau needs to correct some of her technical flaws and, personally, I think she would be better off doing that down in juniors next season, but I will be shocked if she stays in juniors unless forced to by a change to the age min because this is the USFS we're talking about and our women's senior field is looking pretty thin when it comes to skaters with reliable 3-3 combos (Levito, Thorngren, maybe Bradie if she's healthy, and ????).

But at the end of the day it's her choice if she wants to stay in juniors and not the USFS', I know we love to portray USFS as a singular autocratic despot in the tradition of Inspector Gadget's Dr. Claw, and they might voice their preference but if Isabeau and her team want to stay in juniors next season, she/they can.

 

[euterpe]

When a skater has won JW on her first try, staying in juniors seems like sandbagging.

 

[Marco]

When a skater has won JW on her first try, staying in juniors seems like sandbagging.

Esp since the other women who shared the US national podium with her this year are either retired or waiting to announce retirement or no longer competitive. USFS needs her and Lindsay to set themselves up for the next quad. I also really like Claire.

 

[Karen-W]

When a skater has won JW on her first try, staying in juniors seems like sandbagging.

And the girl who finished 2nd is only going to get better next year. I don't think winning again is a guarantee by any stretch.

Esp since the other women who shared the US national podium with her this year are either retired or waiting to announce retirement or no longer competitive. USFS needs her and Lindsay to set themselves up for the next quad. I also really like Claire.

Well, I don't know that I think I'd characterize the current National Champ, who DID finish 4th at Worlds, as no longer competitive. But, she doesn't have a consistent 3-3 combo and it's only going to be tougher to stay ahead of the rest of the field next season.
Clare has some pre-rotation issues that she got dinged on at Jr Worlds and another season on the JGP probably wouldn't hurt, especially since she's going to be pretty far down the USFS' priority list for GP assignments - Isabeau, Lindsay, Mariah (I think she's likely to stick around at least one more season), Audrey, and Amber are all going to be ahead of Clare, plus Bradie (if she's healthy) and/or Karen (if she doesn't 'unofficially' retire to Cornell). And then there's Starr and Gabby Izzo, Kate Wang who are also on the SB Top 75, not to mention skaters like Hanna Harrell, Jill Heiner and Gracie Gold who are likely to be in the mix for the host SA spot.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

I think it’s pretty obvious they are hedging because they don’t know if she can move up.

 

[Deleted member 221]

Senior or junior, the only thing that matters is getting one or more clean quads or triple axels in competition (while at least maintaining the same consistency on triple-triple combinations). Results next season are nearly irrelevant.

Levito and Thorngren should be bold in what they attempt and not worry about medals. Clean programs with triple-triple combinations may win next season, but they won't win in '26 with or without the Russians.

 

[concorde]

Well, that depends on what happens to the age min increase at the ISU Congress. It could be that they decide to bump the min up to 16 or 17 next season and make the current 15-yr olds stay in juniors another season or two.

Do you know when that is held? I assume prior to July 1 since that starts the new season.

 

[Sylvia]

Do you know when that is held? I assume prior to July 1 since that starts the new season.

June 6-10, 2022 - the age raising proposal is linked in this post (#46) of the ISU Congress thread:

ISU Congress & elections 2022

Jae-Youl Kim nominated for President by Korean Skating Union. https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20220422009500315

www.fsuniverse.net

 

[clairecloutier]

"We're going live this Monday [May 9] at 6 p.m. ET to celebrate #AAPIMonth!⁠
⁠
Join us as @coachmichellehong talks with @poojamkalyan, a #TeamUSA athlete and freshman at Brown University." https://www.instagram.com/p/CdTjU8nuhca/
Michelle Hong on Pooja's accomplishments (studying neuroscience at Brown U.): https://www.instagram.com/reel/CdWLLrXp7Wx/

I saw the first few minutes of this talk last night with Pooja Kalyan.

Pooja confirmed that she has put competitive skating on the back burner right now. However, she plans to do collegiate skating while at Brown and will be captain of their figure skating team next year. Also, she has started working on some of the credentialing to be a judge and/or technical specialist.

 

[Sylvia]

I saw the first few minutes of this talk last night with Pooja Kalyan.

Pooja confirmed that she has put competitive skating on the back burner right now. However, she plans to do collegiate skating while at Brown and will be captain of their figure skating team next year. Also, she has started working on some of the credentialing to be a judge and/or technical specialist.

Replay video (under 20 mins.): https://www.instagram.com/tv/CdWtsEtpY1r/

 

[ice coverage]

I saw the first few minutes of this talk last night with Pooja Kalyan.

Pooja confirmed that she has put competitive skating on the back burner right now. However, she plans to do collegiate skating while at Brown and will be captain of their figure skating team next year. Also, she has started working on some of the credentialing to be a judge and/or technical specialist.

Pooja also spoke about serving on the USFS Athletes Advisory Committee -- IIRC, she said that she is AAC's vice-chair or vice-president or something like that.

 

[Jayar]

FWIW, I am the writer of the Levito article, and it is typical for athletes in the US to wait for their assignments to go public on the US Figure Skating website before sharing them with the world. That coupled with the age discussion makes Isabeau's comments about her assignments for next season make sense to me. She was not trying to be crafty or evasive... it's just a transition season.

 

[Belsornia]

I saw the first few minutes of this talk last night with Pooja Kalyan.

Pooja confirmed that she has put competitive skating on the back burner right now. However, she plans to do collegiate skating while at Brown and will be captain of their figure skating team next year. Also, she has started working on some of the credentialing to be a judge and/or technical specialist.

Pooja was my favourite of the second string US ladies of the last cycle, so I'm happy to hear that she's staying involved in skating. I'm glad she had the chance to compete at the pandemic SA before moving on to her academic career. Her Celine Dion SP brought some excellent melodrama for the cardboard cutouts!

 

[Wyliefan]

New interview with Karen Chen, cross-posted in her fan thread:

Stars on Ice coming to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse

We chat with skater Karen Chen about her career and being part of Stars on Ice, which is coming to Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse this week.

www.cleveland.com

Chen, who has had several leg injuries, has kept a positive focus to get through rehabilitation.

“It’s for sure very frustrating,” she said. “Yeah, I did go through different types of injuries. I think at the end of the day, during the times I am away from the ice, it just makes me crave being back on ice again. I truly discovered that I love skating and I love training; that’s what I want to be doing. Although it’s really frustrating and has its moments, it kind of fuels this fire that I want to continue skating and accomplish all these goals I have for myself.”

Those goals include striving for the Olympics in 2026 in Italy.

“I hope so,” she said. “I’m just really focused and enjoying the moments that I have now, and the future is undecided.”

 

[Coco]

Wow, surprised to hear she's continuing. I think she needs to take a year or 2 off to rebuild jumps.

 

[Karen-W]

Well, I guess it's nice if she wants to continue and aim for 2026. She's no MK, so I can't see her making a 3rd Olympic team, but who knows?

 

[VGThuy]

If Karen somehow makes it and even does well at her third try, she really is the US’s answer to Kostner.

 

[Baby Yoda On Skates]

Frankly there aren't a lot of names coming to mind when I think about the US women. If Karen wants to try another 4 years, go for it.

 

[Marco]

I love Karen's skating and especially love her Butterfly Lovers. But it is evident that her triples have deserted her. She hasn't done much clean flips, sals and loops in a while and most of her 3/3s also get calls. And the way she skated at the Olympics Team Event, I wonder how much more trust USFS can have in her. She does have a good axel (on a good day) if perhaps the new sequence rule can be to her advantage. If she continues, I will support her but my guess is she will have a hard time making it out of Nationals.

Mariah was also struggling with the 3/3 all season and even dropped the sal by Worlds. but without the Russians, the new sequence rule can probably allow someone with her basics and spins quality with 6 triples and 2 2axels to be in the middle of top ten.

 

[toddlj]

A few quick thoughts while we ponder a "growth year" for US ladies. Even leaving out Chen and Bell, I'm optimistic.

1. Isabeau Levito is 15, just won Jr Worlds, and despite all the talk on this board about her jump issues, she's shockingly consistent and undeniably special.
2. Lindsey Thorngren is 16, just medaled at Jr Worlds, and has very secure jumps and amazing spins. She's shy but gradually coming out of her shell, and I'm keen to see it!
3. Audrey Shin is 18 and was a breakout star at 4 continents, scoring over 200 points with two lovely programs.
4. Amber Glenn is 22 and though she battles nerves, she has some of the best jumps and spins in the business.
5. Gabby Izzo is 20 and when she is "on" she is something to watch... really quite speedy and athletic.
6. Claire Seo is 15 and has some growing to do but is an absolutely gorgeous skater.

ETA: This is not a definitive list! Harrell, Andrews, Wang, etc.

 

[Wyliefan]

And I expect Bradie will be raring to go!

 

[Jarrett]

I have seen Karen land a few beautiful loops on SOI clips so maybe that jump is back at least.

 

[Willin]

I don't think Karen's struggles have anything to do with technique beyond the UR issue and starting her rotation late causing them. Rather I think it's always been clear that Karen has confidence issues and mental blocks on certain jumps. She'll land beautiful jumps in practice and then flub them in the competition. With swag she could be a real threat. Without it she's inconsistent and that hurts her scores big time.

 

[Jammers]

If Karen somehow makes it and even does well at her third try, she really is the US’s answer to Kostner.

No more likely it will say how bad US Ladies have become if someone like Karen makes another Olympic team. It's not like she's improving every season to stay relevant. Plus even Caroline didn't bomb in 3 straight Olympics which is what would most likely happen if Karen made another Olympic team.

 

[VGThuy]

No more likely it will say how bad US Ladies have become if someone like Karen makes another Olympic team. It's not like she's improving every season to stay relevant. Plus even Caroline didn't bomb in 3 straight Olympics which is what would most likely happen if Karen made another Olympic team.

Which is why I wrote "if she does well." Carolina bombed two Olympics (9th and 16th) on her way to her bronze medal winning one, and had uneven results all throughout her career, with Worlds results ranging from 12th (which she managed to do twice from 2003-2010) to third and second before she gained consistency after her second Olympic season where she worked to rebuild her jumps and ended up medaling at every worlds and then even won one (at the time criticized with winning with the least amount of triples for a ladies World Champ in a long time but after Miki Ando's 2011 win, I don't know how anyone can really criticize Kostner's beautiful skate in 2012).

 

[On My Own]

at the time criticized with winning with the least amount of triples for a ladies World Champ in a long time but after Miki Ando's 2011 win, I don't know how anyone can really criticize Kostner's beautiful skate in 2012

You mean you didn't love Ando's blueprint of a backloaded and empty program that would start winning repeated world titles and olympic medals just a quad later?

 

[Trillian]

I have seen Karen land a few beautiful loops on SOI clips so maybe that jump is back at least.

She landed one in the Chicago show last night. I was on the wrong end to say for sure, but from where I was sitting, it looked like her cleanest triple of the night.

 

[Vagabond]

Plus even Caroline didn't bomb in 3 straight Olympics which is what would most likely happen if Karen made another Olympic team.

Caroline? Caroline Zhang? She never even made an Olympic Team. Karen Chen is much the better skater of the two.

 

[Sylvia]

Congrats to Paige Rydberg on her graduation from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs this past Friday: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdOg7uZrwlx/

Growing up I was always under the impression that I had to choose between skating or school and that doing both was not a choice. When I graduated high school four years ago, I decided I was going to make the commitment to be a full time college student as well as a national/international level athlete. I wanted to prove to myself that doing both was possible. Now, I am here to say it IS possible! It was by no means a cakewalk, but this experience has taught me self-discipline to be successful in both my sport and my education. Closing my chapter on school is bittersweet, but the new opportunities ahead of me are even more exciting! Let’s goooo!

Hannah Miller has received her Master of Science in Kinesiology from Michigan State University ("In the fall, I will begin the Sport, Exercise and Performance Psychology Ph.D. program at West Virginia University."): https://www.instagram.com/p/CdjhgBHp_TM/
Miller also has been coaching at the Lansing Skating Club and the MSU School of Journalism recently published an article about the club and quoted her: https://news.jrn.msu.edu/2022/05/lansing-skating-club-developing-the-next-generation-of-skaters/

Hannah Miller took up coaching after stepping away from competitions at 22. Some of her favorite memories as a competitor include a second-place finish at the 2012 Junior Grand Prix Final in Sochi, Russia, and her final competition at the 2019 U.S. Championships in Detroit.
“They were my last U.S. championships,” Miller said. “A bunch of my family and friends were able to come, which hadn’t happened previously.
“I didn’t end up on the podium or anything like that, but it was just such a fulfilling event because I had the opportunity to have all my supporters there.”

Miller said it takes physical and mental strength to reach the highest levels.
“You invest so much, and then you go to competition, and you have a short program and a long program,” she said. “Together, those add up to about seven minutes. So you get seven minutes to basically show everything that you’ve been training for.”
Miller said she tries to pass down her own experience from skating to her students, while still allowing them independence in the sport and their training.
“I let them choose how hard they want to push themselves because I think autonomy is really important,” Miller said. “No matter who it is, no matter what level they’re at, I want them to enjoy their skating.”