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Maximillian

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@Maximillian that is harsh to the point of being ridiculous.
Is it though? I find Kalin's skating in all aspects to be pretty much unwatchable at this point. I hope it improves, but the first time I saw her skate, I immediately thought of Neldina...I'm sorry if you think that's harsh.
 

Vagabond

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At this point, and things may and hopefully will change, Mia is the contemporary American equivalent of Ludmila Neldina...so, no...

Aren't you being just a little bit too harsh on Ludmila Nelidina?
 

Sylvia

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I feel like re-sharing a September 2022 article on Sonja Hilmer: https://figureskatersonline.com/new...r-competition-season-leads-to-team-usa-debut/
Excerpt re. how her 3S-reverse 2S combo came about:
Hilmer brings the deep knee bend and presentation of classical 6.0-style skating to her performances, while also being mindful of how to maximize points in the IJS. The salchow combination that is garnering so much attention counts as a two-jump combination and emerged as a solution to Hilmer wanting to avoid a double loop as the second jump in a combination. It’s that creativity that is getting her noticed, by fans and judges alike.
“It’s just kind of how I am. For the longest time, if I had an extra 10 minutes or had finished everything for the day, I would just go out and do random stuff,” Hilmer says. “And people would be like, ‘That’s so cool.’ And I’d be like, yeah, it doesn’t count for anything, though. And then I finally did the salchow in competition, because at that point, it was like, just see what happens. I’m all about reading the rules and figuring out what still matches what it says, but it’s not what they’re expecting.”
Sonja posted this video on Sept. 18:
 

Frau Muller

From Puerto Rico…With Love! Not LatinX!
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So does anyone think that Mia can get onto the podium at the last Grand Prix assignment?
Going against Yuseong Kim, Yihan Wang, Ami Nakai, J Hwang, Jo Kakagi, and her Georgian twin Inga Gurgenidze, I see Mia Kalin fighting with Gurgenidze for 6th place. Hana Bath could also be fighting with them for 6th or 7th, if she has a clean SP.
 

Sylvia

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... Sure her [Kalin's] PCS is still way lacking, but with the triple axels and quads hopefully she can fully rotate
AFAIK, Kalin has yet to land a 3A cleanly in competition? She already has landed clean 4Ts and has attempted 4S this season as seen in her Cactus Classic Senior FS protocol (July 20): https://ijs.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2024/34414/SEGM016.html

Oct. 7-8 in this thread:
Alysa Liu's SP score (+ Mia Kalin's) at The St. Moritz Open. She's not fully rotating her jumps. Will she be ready for the Grand Prix in six weeks?
... I have to say I'm happy with the US judges so far, not holding up either Levito or Liu in the summer competitions. This wouldn't have happened years ago.
I'm more bullish on Kalin than most. People hyperfocus on her weaknesses. She has that profile of skaters who fans love to hate, but I like her :respec:
 

Coco

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Aren't you being just a little bit too harsh on Ludmila Nelidina?
Well, no one is harsher than Dick and Peggy!
 

Sylvia

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Remember that one year she did like three quads, or something, and still couldn’t land on the podium.
I looked it up - two quads. Kalin placed 4th in her 2 JGPs in 2022 and her ISU PBs -- 177.71 total, 59.50 SP, 118.21 FS -- were all set in Gdansk (both 4Ts were called < in her FS and she landed her other jumps with one 'q' call: https://skatingscores.com/2223/jgppol2/jr/women/i/long/usa/mia_kalin/).
Both of her 4Ts were called clean in Ostrava (but she had 2 falls on 2 other < triples): https://skatingscores.com/2223/jgpcze/jr/women/i/long/usa/mia_kalin/

ETA:

FWIW, 4 of the 5 top medal contending women scheduled for Wuxi have scored higher in their first JGPs than Kalin's ISU PB from 2 years ago:

Yuseong Kim 198.63
Yihan Wang 194.71
Ami Nakai 191.61
Yo Takagi 188.54
Inga Gurgenidze 170.96
 
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AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

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FWIW, 4 of the 5 top medal contending women scheduled for Wuxi have scored higher in their first JGPs than Kalin's ISU PB from 2 years ago:

And what is shocking is I think it all comes down to her component Mark, her components are sometimes way more than 10 points less than others. It’s kind of surprising how low her component Mark is.
 

Sylvia

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Sophie Joline von Felten reportedly landed her 3A+3T combo :cheer: in her SP but none of us got to see it live :( - here's hoping her full SP video will be uploaded later by the ISU.

ETA: She then landed the required 2A & 3F. Coach Aleksey Letov is with her in Ljubljana.
 
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Coco

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Bradie short program

She looks way better than I would have thought, with all her recent physical issues. That's an ambitious program and if she can just stay healthy, Nationals is gonna be interesting!
 
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Sylvia

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Bradie’s mixed zone quotes via Golden Skate:
 

AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

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Sophie Joline von Felten reportedly landed her 3A+3T combo :cheer: in her SP but none of us got to see it live :( - here's hoping her full SP video will be uploaded later by the ISU.

ETA: She then landed the required 2A & 3F.

Waiting patiently for protocols because even for a junior program shouldn’t that be well over 70 points
 

Willin

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I feel like this is the most optimistic I've been about the US ladies in over a decade. Yes, the US ladies aren't up to the standard of Japan in overall quality of jumps and skating skills, but they're miles ahead on spins and they're at least good enough to be competitive. Instead of two clear cut Olympic/world team favorites, we have a whole group that could make the 2026 team - many of whom have an outside shot at the podium.
 

AngieNikodinovLove (ANL)

Get it Amber 😝
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I feel like this is the most optimistic I've been about the US ladies in over a decade. Yes, the US ladies aren't up to the standard of Japan in overall quality of jumps and skating skills, but they're miles ahead on spins and they're at least good enough to be competitive. Instead of two clear cut Olympic/world team favorites, we have a whole group that could make the 2026 team - many of whom have an outside shot at the podium.

Yes, if skaters like Sarah and Elice and Sherry are on the senior scene for a while, and then upcoming Sophie and Mia and see who else develops.
 

Sylvia

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