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Worlds 2017 (Men)

Though the other events had their fair share of exciting moments, the men’s event at this year’s World Championships was without a doubt the most anticipated events of the season. For the past several months, we’ve watched the world’s top men’s skaters continue to polish their programs and improve their technical content, and here we would finally get to see them all go head to head. With so much talent and technical content--and in turn, room for error--this event promised to be one of the most unpredictable ones in recent figure skating history.

The Podium

After two seasons of setting himself up to win the world championships and then letting it slip from his hands after a bungled free program, Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) finally claimed the gold medal for the first time since 2014. In contrast to the past couple ofy ears, Yuzu found himself in 5th in the SP after a putting a knee down on his quad combination (which invalidated his subsequent 2T) and receiving a deduction for a late start. However, despite a worrying disastrous warmup, he more than made up for it with a stunning free program that included four quads (two of them his eternal nemesis, the 4S) and shattered his previous world record FS score. No matter whether he’s on or off, Yuzu never fails to put on a good show, but it was great to finally see him in top form after another topsy-turvy season. Yuzu will no doubt go into the Olympic season as the hot favorite to defend the gold that catapulted him to fame in Sochi, and we hope that this wonderful performance at Worlds is just the start!

I’m sure all of us remember Shoma Uno’s (JPN) tears of frustration and disappointment in the kiss and cry at last season’s worlds after a bungled free program left him in 7th place--honestly, how could anyone forget? But this season was a complete turnaround: Shoma finished the competition with a triumphant smile as a perfect short, a near-perfect free, and three new personal bests catapulted him to a silver medal finish alongside his countryman and rival. His only mistakes were a stumble on his lutz and a turn out of his first quad in the free--and even then he still managed an enormous technical score of 120 points. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the lutz, he would have beaten Yuzuru for the gold--which we suppose is a bit of a blessing that he didn’t, because he probably doesn’t need the pressure of heading into the Olympic season as the defending world champion. In any case, we’re so incredibly proud of Shoma: it hasn’t been an easy season for him, but he’s still managed to medal at every single competition he’s been to. We’re sure the road from now on will only get harder, but we’re looking forward to seeing how far he can go.

When (friendly neighborhood hero legend icon etc) Boyang Jin (CHN) won the bronze medal at last year’s worlds, all we could really do was laugh in astonishment and chalk it up to his ability to hold it together while his fellow competitors slipped up. Who would have thought he would repeat his bronze medal finish this year in the exact same way--and in a deeper field, to boot? Thanks to two clean programs combined with mistakes from other big competitors like Javier Fernandez and Nathan Chen, Boyang once again found himself on the podium. And this time we’re a lot happier with the result, as Boyang has come a long way from the quad machine he was at last year’s competition. He still has quite a ways to go, granted, but we’ve grown to love him as a skater after seeing the personality his programs this season have brought out from him. We’re glad we got to see him perform them both cleanly at such an important competition, and we look forward to seeing further growth from him in the upcoming season.

The Others

In complete contrast to his training mate, Javier Fernandez (ESP) found himself off the worlds podium for the first time in 5 years after a perfect short and a not-so-perfect free. Javi looked to be in good shape after the short, sitting 5 points in the lead after a season’s-best performance of Malaguena. However, whether due to pressure or injuries, he fell apart in the free after he twofooted his first 4S attempt and fell on the second, and then doubled a flip and put his free leg down on the 3Lo shortly after. It wasn’t an absolute disaster, but even deductions from minor errors can build up; added to the fact that his quads were less technically complex than the other top men, Javi ended up having to settle for the potato medal here. At least he doesn’t seem too broken up about missing out on the podium, and we have faith that he will be rearing to make up for it heading into the Olympics next year.

After his victory over Yuzuru at Four Continents, all eyes were on Nathan Chen (USA) as one of the strongest contenders for the world podium. But although he does enjoy decent PCS marks, the fact remains that Nathan is still a first-time senior with a reputation to build, and as such, he still has to rely rather heavily on his technical scores to keep him afloat. Usually his sheer amount of quads and his relative consistency come through for him just fine, but at this competition they weren’t quite there for him. His eternal nemesis, the triple axel, tripped him up in the short, and though he managed a clean one in the free, only four of his six attempted quads were marked clean. He still managed a huge score of 290.72, but even that was only enough to net him 6th place overall--a testament to the ever-rising standard of men’s skating. Nathan’s list of accomplishments this season is nothing to sneeze at even without a world medal, but we’re sure he’ll be frustrated with the results he achieved here. We can only watch and wait in anticipation (and quite frankly, fear) to see how he’ll bounce back next season.

Self-proclaimed allergic-to-quads Patrick Chan (CAN) proved that once he puts his mind to it, he can have both quad jumps and wonderful artistry. He put on a stunningly clean short and was nearly clean in the free, minus a couple of small errors (he did, however, manage to land that elusive quad sal). With virtually nothing marring his performance, Patrick was able to show off the lovely musicality and lightness on ice that his years of experience have made him famous for. It’s not often that men’s routines look effortless these days, what with the insane technical content, but Patrick makes even the quads look like a walk in the park. The fact was, however, that without that same technical content as the rest of the top competitors, Patrick had to settle for 5th even with two nearly-clean performances--and even with an enormous overall score of nearly 300 points. Patrick will definitely have his work cut out for him defending his Olympic silver, but if nothing else, he’s proven that he has the ability to stay afloat and persist in the ever-changing landscape of men’s figure skating.

Fan favorite Misha Ge (UZB), who strongly hinted that this year’s Worlds was to be his final competition, placed in 12th after two virtually clean programs (only a couple of edge calls brought him down). Misha’s always been a fantastic performer, and perhaps the fact that it would be his last competition added an extra edge to Misha’s performances that made it almost impossible to look away. In the free, the crowd was cheering non-stop as he launched into the final choreo sequence--a lovely end to a wonderful season for Misha. Though he was never able to near his stunning 6th place finish from Worlds during his breakout season two years ago, we’re glad that, if this is indeed the end of his competitive career, he was able to put a strong and memorable finish to it indeed. And even if Misha won’t be competing next season, we’ll still be seeing much more of him around--it looks like he’s already busy choreographing for quite a few of the world’s top skaters!

It’s been a thrilling season for Keiji Tanaka (JPN), whose accomplishments in the first half of the season amounted to more than we had ever expected from him just a couple of years ago. However, after his silver medal finish at Japanese nationals, his momentum seems to have tapered off: he only ranked 13th at Four Continents (7 places down from last year), and here he just barely managed to make the top 20. That’s not to say that he was a complete disaster: Keiji’s been known for being a pop star, but here his only problem in that regard was doubling out on his first triple axel in the free. Though he fell once in each program and earned a deduction on his combination in the short, it was still overall a step up from the reliable disaster that he used to be. Unfortunately, it just so happens that men’s skating is no longer at a point where a skater can still edge into the top 10 with the kind of scores he achieved here. It’s a shame Keiji wasn’t able to follow up on his #success from the first half of the season, but we have faith that we haven’t seen the last of him yet.

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Worlds 2017 (Ladies)

After a long and topsy turvy road, we’ve finally made it to the culminating point of the season: the World Championships. Though Worlds is always one of the most--if not the most--important competitions of the season, this year’s Worlds held even more weight with the skaters competing, as their placements here would determine how many spots their respective countries would earn in the Olympics next season. For many skaters, this meant double the pressure, and it certainly made for an intense competition indeed. Let’s take a look at how the world’s top ladies fared in the biggest competition of the season.

The Podium

With her victory here at the World Championships, Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) officially completed her perfect winning streak for the season. And not only has she won every competition she’s been in this season, she also beat her own world record for the free skate and total score and became the first ladies’ skater since Michelle Kwan 16 years ago to win back to back world titles. The only thing missing from her collection now is the Olympic gold--and we have no doubt that, unless something absolutely drastic happens between now and next February, it won’t be missing for very long. We certainly don’t agree with her scores quite yet (and for goodness sakes get better programs), but as long as she can keep her famed consistency (which doesn’t seem likely to fail her any time soon), Evgenia won’t be giving up her spot at the top of ladies’ skating for quite some time.

Though she trailed Evgenia by a significant number of points, Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN) more than made up for her lackluster post-injury results by rocketing onto the podium and claiming the silver--Canada’s first ladies’ world medal since 2009. Kaetlyn has a tendency to perform jumps that look horrifyingly off-axis, but she managed to land most of them (except a doubled jump and a near fall in the free), a far cry from her shaky performances earlier this season at the 4CC. It seems that her inconsistency demons were but a temporary setback, and the audience was able to enjoy two on-point performances of both her lively Edith Piaf short and serene La Boheme free. Kaetlyn first started making waves right before Sochi, and perhaps her results here will give her the jump-start she needs for this upcoming Olympic season.

This year’s world championships was a triumphant one for Canadian ladies indeed, as they found themselves with not one but two medals, the second of which went to Gabrielle Daleman (CAN). Had you asked us this time last season, Gabby would definitely not have been someone we pegged for the world medal--but that just goes to show how far she’s improved in her performance and consistency. With only one minor GOE deduction in her free program, she put together two otherwise-clean programs and came away with the bronze, 14 points clear of fourth place. Though she missed out on the podium in both of her Grand Prix events, the second half of this season has been nothing short of stellar for Gabby. This bronze medal was the icing on the cake, and we’re sure it’ll be a great confidence booster for her as she heads into the Olympic season.

The Others

If there’s one thing we’ve learned about our Lord and Savior Karen Chen (USA), it’s that, though she may not be the most consistent skater, she always knows how pull through when it matters the most. She proved that when she skated away with the national title earlier this year, and she proved it again here with a beautiful and perfect short program that netted her a personal best of nearly 70 points. She wasn’t quite as perfect in the free and had to struggle through a couple of technical hiccups in the second half; however, it was enough to land her in 4th place overall in her first senior Worlds. Not only that, she quite literally became the Lord and Savior for US ladies, as her 4th place finish helped secure them three spots for the Olympics next season after Ashley Wagner’s disappointing performance. It hasn’t been an easy season for Karen, but it’s certainly had its triumphs, and we hope to see her achieve even more in the years to come.

Speaking of triumph, newest rising star Mai Mihara (JPN) capped off her incredible senior debut season with a top 5 finish at her first world championships. After her victory at Four Continents, we predicted that Mai had more than a small chance at finishing on the podium here; unfortunately, that chance slipped away after a costly mistake in the short. She doubled out on her flip at the very end of the program (already a risky placement in and of itself), an error that cost her nearly 6 points in base value and had her all the way down in 15th heading into the free. But the consistency she’s shown us all season wasn’t for nothing, and she came soaring back with a foot-perfect Cinderella free program that earned her, not only a personal best, but also one of the highest technical scores of the night, second only to Evgenia Medvedeva. It’s hard to believe how far Mai has come after everything she had been through last season. She has such a solid and reliable jump technique, and with more polish we know she’ll get better on the performance side of things as well. We’re sure that we’ll be seeing plenty more of Mai in the seasons to come, and we can’t wait to see what the future has in store for her.

Offsetting the stellar senior world debuts of the younger generation was oldie-but-goodie Carolina Kostner (ITA). We haven’t commented on her programs much this season, but while her SP music may not be for everyone, we commend her for making such an adventurous choice. Thanks to her long, decorated career--not the lowest of which being her bronze medal from the last Olympics--Caro enjoyed a significant PCS advantage over the rest of the field, even with her absence. However, her technical content was nowhere near that of the other top competitors--a disadvantage that did nothing to shield her score from the damage that various technical errors, including a botched spin in the short and popped jumps in the free, wrought. However, where Caro shines over and above her competitors is her years of experience, her ease on the ice, and the way in which she makes her skating look wonderfully light and effortless. Regardless of technical content, it is always relaxing to watch a skate by Caro, and we wish her the best of luck moving into the new season as she prepares to defend her Olympic bronze.

Defending silver medalist Ashley Wagner (USA) made herself one of the highlights of last year’s worlds when she ended the US ladies’ 10-year long medal drought. Unfortunately, her momentum ran her into a bit of a rut earlier this season when she was unable to qualify for the Grand Prix Final, a rut that she was unable to climb out of in this competition. Ashley’s short appeared perfectly clean and was an absolute joy to watch, as usual; however, anemic GOEs and a slew of underrotation calls dragged her down to 7th overall after the free. It's a pity, because Ashley’s Exogenesis free is one of the most gorgeous programs of the season, and we have had precious few chances to see it clean. We’re glad that the US ladies manage to save their 3 spots for the Olympics, but after this season, Ashley may find herself once again on the defending end of things. That is, however, where Ashley has thrived the most, and we have no doubt she’ll be filling one of those 3 spots, or at least go down trying.

After struggling with consistency and injury, Wakaba Higuchi (JPN)‘s senior debut culminated in a clean short but error-ridden free that carried her to an 11th place finish. We’ve mentioned before how glad we are that Wakaba is progressing from a jumping machine into a more artistic skater, and it is definitely to her credit that when she is on, her jumps are incredibly reassuring. Her step sequence and transitions in the short were a joy to watch as well. In the free, however, she turned a planned 3Lz combination into a solo 2Lz. Later she tried to add the missing 3T back to her final jump, a 2A, but ended up falling on the jump instead. It’s a pity, especially since she appeared to lose a lot of steam after doubling her lutz; we hope Wakaba won’t take it too hard, as she has still made plenty of strides to be proud of overall this past season. She will no doubt be facing a tremendous amount of pressure heading into the upcoming season, especially now that Japan only has two spots for ladies (their deepest field) in the upcoming Olympics, and we just hope she won’t let it get in the way of further growth as a skater.

Though this year’s Worlds was a rough competition for plenty of ladies, none had it quite so rough as defending bronze medalist Anna Pogorilaya (RUS). After the fantastic season she’s had and the incredible improvement we’ve seen in her skating, we thought Anna had finally put her disastrous days behind her. She certainly set herself up to win a medal for the second year in a row after a sizzling short program that left her less than a point shy of the top 3--lower than we had expected, admittedly, but a deservedly high score nonethless. Unfortunately, the disaster that had been holding itself back all season finally struck at the last minute during her free, where she popped her opening jump and then fell three times throughout the program, earning a total of 4 points in deductions. It seemed to be all she could do to bring herself to finish the program, a disheartening sight that we haven’t seen from Anna in a while. It’s a shame that her season had to end this way, especially now that we’ve grown to love her as a performer, but we hope she’ll come back fighting the way we know she can next season.

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Junior World Championships 2017

The season has officially (well, almost officially) drawn to a close, and we’re sure fans are still buzzing with the results of senior worlds. We promise our recap of this past exciting weekend will be coming soon, but first, let’s take a brief look at the results of the Junior World Championships. We’ve seen plenty of young up-and-coming talents achieve amazing things on the junior level, and this competition was the culmination of all their hard work. So without further ado, here’s a recap of what went down in Taipei as the 2016-2017 junior season came to an end.

Podium: Men

In possibly one of the most epic comebacks in junior skating history, Vincent Zhou (USA) came away with the gold in this year’s junior world championships. Down in 5th after the short thanks to anemic GOEs and PCS, it was clear that Vincent would need to up his technical game to have a good chance of fighting his way onto the podium. And up his game he did: with three quads in the free (including a +1.86GOE quad lutz, jesus), he finished 10 points clear of his competitors. Dmitri Aliev (RUS) finished the short program in first after a foot-perfect performance; however, a technical mishap on his only quad in the free brought him down to second--still an impressive improvement over his 6th place finish last season. Finally, placing third was last year’s potato medalist Alexander Samarin (RUS), who finished 3rd in the short and 4th in the free. He managed to place on the podium thanks to his relative consistency and two quads in the free.

Others: Men

A fan favorite since his novice days, Jun Hwan Cha (KOR) looked to be in a good position for the podium after finishing the program in 2nd. However, though he pulled off the first quad sal combination in his free without a hitch, a fall on his second attempt and a subsequent underrotation pulled him down to 5th overall. Nonetheless, Jun Hwan has been steadily building momentum since his junior debut last season, and we have no doubt he’ll be one of the biggest players in the men’s field in the years to come. Another junior who’s been turning heads is Daniel Samohin (ISR), who had to give up his spot at senior worlds after unfortunate circumstances at Euros kept him from advancing to the free skate. After a disastrous short program that left in him 16th, Daniel made an incredible comeback with a nearly-clean free that pulled him up to 6th overall.

Podium: Ladies

With Evgenia Medvedeva continuing to dominate on the senior level, fellow training mate Alina Zagitova (RUS) has truly shaped up into her junior counterpart. With two flaw-free programs, both of which had all the jumps pushed into the second half, Alina easily snatched up the gold to complete her almost-perfect collection. She did not, however, win by as large a margin as one would expect, as Marin Honda (JPN) trailed her by 7 points with her own clean programs and a full set of new personal record scores. Marin’s made leaps and bounds in consistency this season (fingers crossed that it’s not a temporary thing), and while we would have had her at the top of the podium, we’re proud of what she’s accomplished despite her setbacks in the first half of the season. Marin’s compatriot Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) has also come a long way this season, topping off her list of accomplishments with her first junior world medal. Like Marin, she pulled off two perfect programs and renewed her personal best scores in all three categories. It feels like we’ve been watching Kaori skate for ages, and we’re delighted to see how far she’s come.

Others: Ladies

Newly-crowned Korean national champion Eunsoo Lim (KOR) capped off her impressive international junior debut with a fourth place finish here. Eunsoo boasts technical content on par with other more experienced junior ladies in the field, but a couple of technical mistakes in the free and a comparative lack of PCS left her unable to close the gap. Coming in 6 points behind Eunsoo was Yuna Shiraiwa, who managed to end off her rocky season on a relatively good note. Yuna set a new personal best in the short, but her TES in the free took a heavy blow from a fall and 3 UR calls. We hope Yuna will be able to come out on top in her struggles with inconsistency and her current injury over the course of the off-season.

Aside from Alina, the Russian ladies found themselves struggling in this competition. National junior silver medalist Stanislava Konstantinova (RUS) had a stellar junior debut season, but she only managed a sixth place finish here thanks to popped jumps. After missing out on last year’s junior worlds and this season’s junior GPF, Polina Tsurskaya (RUS) was looking to reestablish her reputation here. Unfortunately, several popped jumps in the free and UR calls in both programs dragged her down to a devastating 10th place finish.

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Four Continents 2017 (Ladies)

With last year’s Four Continents ladies’ champion Satoko Miyahara out of the competition due to a hip injury (</3 get well soon Tiny Queen), this year’s title was wide open for grabs. And with a slew of upcoming new talents combined with veterans riding their own respective waves of momentum on the roster, that title could have gone to just about anybody. The results were pleasantly surprising, though we have no doubt most of the ladies would have liked to do the competition over again. Let’s take a look at how the last major ladies’ competition of the season before Worlds went down.

The Podium

Though we expected Mai Mihara (JPN) to be a strong contender for the podium here, we were delightfully surprised to see her skate away with the gold. As the only lady to skate two clean programs, Mai’s consistency pulled through for her yet again, and she rightfully claimed the top spot on the podium. Low PCS kept her short program score a couple of points off her personal best--and barely out of the top 3--but thanks to her impressive ability to hold it together while the rest of the competition fell apart, she set herself a new personal record with her perfectly-skated Cinderella free program. For her to be able to win Four Continents in her first season as a senior is an impressive feat indeed, and we’re ecstatic about everything she’s accomplished this season. She will be facing much tougher competition at worlds and won’t be nearly as strong a contender for the podium, but with her current momentum, in a year or two she certainly could be.

Gabrielle Daleman (CAN) has seen impressive improvement in both performance and consistency since last season, bringing her just shy of the podium during both of her Grand Prix events. And her uphill trend continued into this competition, where she won silver--her first time medaling at a major ISU competition. Though she suffered from a popped jump in her free (which ultimately cost her the gold) and a few minor deductions in GOE, Gabby overall put on two solid performances that have come to be the norm for her over the course of the season. She may have lost the Canadian national title to Kaetlyn Osmond earlier this year, but Gabby has proven with this victory that she’s not bowing out of the running for the top Canadian lady just yet. We hope this will give her confidence a boost as she heads into Worlds, where she will no doubt be looking to bring a satisfying end to her season.

Ending off her season on a high note was bronze medalist Mirai Nagasu (USA), who subbed in for Ashley Wagner and became the highest-placing American lady for the second season in a row. A dubious landing on her 3Lo in the short, which she two-footed and also under-rotated (sigh) had her down in 5th going into the free. However, a new peresonal best in her perfectly clean The Winner Takes it All free, combined with mistakes from her other competitors, boosted her onto the podium. She also set a new personal best total score, adding to her list of personal accomplishments this season. Mirai is lovely when she’s on, especially with triumphant performances like in her free program here, and we’re glad that she managed to become one of the saving graces of the ladies’ free. It seems she still has some ways to go until the USFSA recognizes her abilities, but if there’s anything we know about Mirai, it’s that she definitely has the grit to stay in the game until they finally do.

The Others

Despite an accomplished first half of the season, Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN) fell just short of the podium--literally, when she fell multiple times in both the short and free. Thanks to a slight PCS advantage, she managed to stay just behind first place after the short despite a fall on her 2A. However, she fell three times in the free (earning her a 4-point deduction thanks to the new rule regarding falls, RIP), and also popped an axel to boot. Though she managed to complete the program with a smile on her face, it was clear that her third fall, which she took some time to recover from, had sapped all her energy (we just hope it hasn’t resulted in any serious injury after all the time she spent recovering from the lastone). Kaetlyn still managed to put up wonderful performances, and we hope that she manages to redeem herself with cleaner skates at Worlds.

Though we are aware that the going is still a work in progress, as we saw in this competition, we are still exceedingly proud of Zijun Li (CHN) and the strides she has made over the course of the season. She struggled with her triple flip here (both triple-triple combination attempts were underrotated and her solo attempt received negative GOE), but otherwise she had no major errors in either program. Even her triple lutz, which has always been her problem jump and only made its way back into her repertoire this season, went over without a hitch and received no edge calls. She found herself in 7th overall thanks to low GOEs and it certainly didn’t seem to be an easy competition for her, but overall we feel she is still heading in the right direction. She certainly didn’t let it stop her from winning the silver medal at the Asian Winter Games a week later, which we hope will be a confidence booster for her heading into Worlds. We’ve spoken at length about how much we love Zijun’s programs this year, and we hope to see her give them the sendoff they deserve at Worlds later this month.

We were very excited when the delightful Elizabet Tursynbaeva (KAZ) came in third in the SP after a squeaky-clean performance and a new personal best. However, one too many technical errors in her free pulled her down to 8th overall. We’ve spoken at length before about the beauty of her Princess Mononoke program, but inconsistency once again rearing its ugly head meant that she had no way to close the gap with her competitors. A fall on her second lutz forced her to drop the second jump in the combination, and earned her a +REP deduction; she also fell on a subsequent 3S and popped a loop as well. The “Tano Everything” strategy didn’t work too well in Elizabet’s favor either, as she still ended up with rather anemic GOEs despite at least half her jumps being done with her arms above her head. We wish her better luck at Worlds and hope that she’ll be able to end her season on a good note.

After her fiery victory at US Nationals earlier this year, Karen Chen (USA) unfortunately once again fell victim to technical inconsistency. A fall on her triple loop in the short combined with low levels and lack of a triple-triple left her in 12th going into the free, where she fared no better. She only managed two combinations (neither of which was a triple-triple), and GOE deductions and an underrotation dealt further blows to her score. In the end, she was unable to pull herself out of 12th place--a disappointing contrast to her triumphant performances from nationals. Thankfully she will have one more chance at Worlds, and now that we know what Karen’s capable of at her best, we hope she’ll be able to shake off her technical demons for good--if not by Worlds, then at least by next season.

Despite the leaps and bounds she’s made in artistic interpretation this season, the technical inconsistency that has been haunting Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) all season once again struck here in Korea. Not a single jump in her short was clean: she stepped out of her 2A, fell on her combination, and (as usual) got a edge call on her flip. In the free, she lost points on three of her jumps--though to her credit, she still pulled off two 3Lz3Ts (an incredibly difficult combination) perfectly and with positive GOEs. We know that Wakaba’s frustrated with herself for her performance in this competition--and likely throughout the entire season as well. We just hope that she won’t let it get to her, and that she’ll come back with a strong finish to her senior debut season at Worlds.

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Four Continents 2017 (Men)

This year’s Four Continents--particularly the men’s event--easily proved to be one of the most highly-anticipated competitions of the year for many reasons. For one, it served as the test event for the Olympics next season, allowing the top skaters to get a taste of what to expect heading into Pyeongchang. For another, it featured one heck of a lineup: minus Javier Fernandez, pretty much every top skater in the men’s field--including Yuzuru Hanyu, who hasn’t competed in this event since 2013, and all three members of the #sQuad--would go head to head in what promised to be one of the most intense competitions ever. With such a talented field full of unbelievable technical content and unpredictability, this year’s men’s event will definitely go down as one of the most memorable of the season.

The Podium

After a spectacular victory at US nationals, doubtless the frontrunner for the 4CC podium was #slaythan Nathan Chen (USA). It’s certainly a credit to both Nathan’s newfound consistency and the depth of the top end of the men’s field that it was the mistakes of his competitors that helped Nathan to secure an edge and the win. Nathan started out strong by winning the SP, landing both his quads (a 4Lz3T and a 4F, just another day in the life) in short order..but then in typical Nathan style, skidded on the landing of his 3A. In the FS, he fumbled the landings for about half his jumps but fully rotated everything (thank god), though one of his 2Ts was invalidated). Ultimately it was his lead in the short combined with mistakes from the other men that helped him snatch the gold, and while it wasn’t a perfect victory, it was an impressive one nonetheless. Nathan is the epitome of the sheer force of nature that results from combining technical skill with artistry. His PCS are nowhere near other top men in the field, but once those start to pick up, he’ll be unstoppable--assuming, that is, that he can maintain his consistency.

Despite his endless list of achievements, 4CC is the one gold medal that has eluded Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) in his decorated senior career. No doubt he was looking complete his collection in his first 4CC appearance in 4 years, but unfortunately he had to settle for the silver after his eternal nemesis, the #4splat, took him down in both programs. In the short, he landed his 4Lo and 3A but doubled the 4S, which has been giving him issues since he first began including it in his programs. In the FS, Yuzu landed one of the best 4Los we’ve seen from him so far, followed by a clean 4S. Disaster struck, however, when he doubled his second 4S, prompting him to pull out an emergency 4T (in combination, because why not), bringing his total number of quad attempts in the free to 5. If that wasn’t enough, he also changed his final 3Lz into a 3A. These managed to help him narrow the TES gap, and his massive PCS cushion allowed him to finish first in the FS, but the doubled 4S in the short had dealt too big of a blow to make up for. Despite being unable to win the elusive gold, Yuzuru mentioned that this was one of the most fun silver medals he’s ever received. Knowing him, he’s probably beating himself up over his mistakes, but we’re glad he had fun at this competition and hope he can head into Worlds with a clear mind.

After missing out on the 4CC podium for the past two years thanks to bungled free programs, Shoma Uno (JPN) (also affectionately known by names like Shoma “+REP” Uno and Shoma “+COMBO” Uno) finally caught a break when mistakes from other competitors allowed him to run away with the bronze medal. That isn’t to say, however, that he didn’t suffer from his own share of mistakes. An unsteady landing on his quad flip in the short marred what would have otherwise been a clean program, though it was just barely enough to secure him a spot in the Over-100 Club alongside Yuzuru Hanyu, Javier Fernandez, and Nathan Chen. He then went on to land an incredible +2.43 GOE quad loop in the free despite it only being his first time attempting one in competition, following it up with a beautiful quad flip. But, in typical Shoma fashion, he then went on to fall on both of his triple axels, both of which had been planned in combination (COMBOS? WHO NEEDS ‘EM). It was only through luck on Shoma’s part that he managed to keep hold of the bronze--had Patrick or Boyang been clean, he would have found himself off the podium for the third year in a row. We just hope that between this competition and the Asian Winter Games (where he also fell twice), Shoma has gotten his bad performances out of him and that he can finally put two clean programs together at Worlds later this month.

The Others

The struggle for consistency continued for Patrick Chan (CAN), who found himself far off the podium after numerous mistakes in both programs. A fall on his quad toe in the short left him in 5th with 88 points (a low score for the top roster in this day and age), and two falls in the free (including on his attempt on the ever-elusive 4S) did his score no favors. It wasn’t the complete meltdown he had at the GPF, but he still only managed to finish a full 20 points behind third place; even his PCS, which has always been a notch above the rest of the field, didn’t give him the buoyancy he once used to enjoy. With only one quad and a fairly inconsistent season behind him, Patrick will likely find himself one of the underdogs in the race for the Worlds podium this season. His chances at a medal are certainly not slim, but he’ll have to be at his best to pose a threat to the rest of the top crop.

Just like his fellow crazy chill-less sQuad member Shoma, the Original (friendly neighborhood) Quadman Boyang Jin (CHN) decided to throw a quad loop into his free program for the first time in official competition, bringing his total number of quads up to 7. Unfortunately, he saw less success than Shoma (in the quad department anyway), as he both fell on and underrotated his attempt. In fact, nearly all of Boyang’s quads gave him trouble: he fell on his second 4T in the free, and even his signature quad lutz wasn’t entirely there for him in this competition. Combined with his as-yet lacking PCS, he was only able to manage a 5th place finish, just a few fractions of a point behind Patrick. However, while technical inconsistency has been an issue for Boyang all season, we continue to be thrilled with his development of his on-ice personality. While we imagine it’ll be a challenge for him to defend his bronze medal at Worlds, we’re very much looking forward to seeing what he’ll be able to put on the table there.

Earning himself a new personal best for total combined score was Misha Ge (UZB), whose 7th-place finish is his highest ever at 4CC. Misha had a couple of clean programs (bar a wobbly 3A in the free), but suffered from rather anaemic GOEs. Misha’s never been much of a technical skater, and in fact it’s pretty impressive that he finished 7th despite his most difficult jump being a 3A (and without the insane PCS cushions that Jason Brown gets). However, Misha has always been a performer, and his artistry certainly shone through, especially in his lovely Liebestraume short. It’s been a pretty decent season for Misha, but it’s clear that he will really need to work on getting a consistent quad or two in his arsenal before he can be considered a threat for any podium. Either way, he’s made impressive leaps in consistency while ever polishing his performance skills, and we hope he carries this momentum forward to shine at Worlds as well.

Credit for all images [x]

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European Championships 2017

It’s been a long time coming (a whole month, in fact), but we’re finally done with our coverage of this year’s European Championships! This year’s competition promised to be far more exciting than the last couple of seasons: Carolina Kostner’s return to competition foresaw a possible end to the Russian domination of the ladies’ podium, and while no one looked to be able to challenge Javier Fernandez for the men’s gold, the remaining two spots were wide open to just about anyone. It’s been a while now, but let’s take a look back at how this year’s Euros played out as the world’s top skaters turn their attention to preparing for worlds.

The Ladies

As we’re sure you all could have guessed, the gold medal in the ladies’ event went to Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS), who once again pulled out a pair of flaw-free programs. Trailing her was fellow Russian Anna Pogorilaya (RUS), who put on a fierce short program but had to settle for second after a couple of minor hiccups in the free. We mentioned before that Anna could be capable of lining up neck-and-neck with Evgenia. Judging from the scores in this competition, it looks like it’ll still be a while before that happens (the gap in PCS in particular will take time to bridge), but at the very least Anna looks to be a strong contender for the silver medal at Worlds late next month. Finally, Sochi Olympic bronze medalist Carolina Kostner (ITA) made her long-awaited major international comeback with a bronze medal here. She fielded less technically-complex content than her competitors, with no triple lutz in her roster, but her strong-as-ever performance skills more than made up for the difference, boosting her onto the podium 18 points ahead of fourth place.

The Men

Despite not really being at his best, Javier Fernandez (ESP) took home his 5th Euros gold in a row by a margin of 33 points. He suffered a particularly bad fall on his 3rd quad in the free (bad enough to keep him from skating in the exhibition --good call) and also turned out on a number of jumps. Nevertheless, his superior technical ability, reputation, and unparalleled charisma on ice ensured that he stayed far in the lead. Coming in second after skating two of the cleanest programs we’ve seen him do this season was Maxim Kovtun (RUS). He doubled a jump in the free--but miraculously that was his worst mistake of the competition. He would have taken the silver either way, but it’s great to see him finally put two solid programs together after such a rough season. Finally, everyone’s favorite pineapple Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) made it onto the European podium for the first time, clinching the bronze. Despite popping an axel in both his short and free, as well as falling on his 4Lz attempt in the free (props to him for trying though), higher PCS and mistakes from other men allowed him to squeeze onto the final spot on the podium.

Other notable skaters in this competition include Jorik Hendrickx (BEL), who was the only quad-less man in the top 5, and who has had a rough couple of seasons since finishing 16th in the Sochi Olympics. Jorik finished 4th at this competition, a full 5 places up from his previous best placing, and set himself new personal best scores for everything to boot. Alexei Bychenko (ISR), one of the resident European Uncles who won his first ever GP medal earlier this season, has also been having a great season. Unfortunately, a couple of technical mistakes and a roster of less technically-complex content kept him off the podium here, and he had to settle for 5th place. 

Two other up-and-coming skaters who caught our eye here (and who we’ll definitely be looking out for in future competitions) were Moris Kvitelashvili (GEO) and Deniss Vasiljevs (LAT), who finished 6th and 7th, respectively. This is Moris’ Euros debut and also his first year skating for Georgia (he used to represent Russia), while Deniss (who is now being coached by the legendary Stéphane Lambiel) made his senior GP debut this season. Both skated relatively clean programs (Moris with 3 quads in his free, even). Moris is wonderfully light and charismatic on the ice, and his free in particular was incredibly captivating--though nothing can beat his Iconic I Believe I Can Fly/What is Love mashup short program in our book. As for Deniss, we’ve mentioned before how much potential we see in him, and it’s great to see his technical consistency starting to come together as well.

Credit for all images [x]

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US Nationals 2017 (Men)

With last year’s champion Adam Rippon out with injury, the top spot on this year’s podium was wide open--though it was pretty clear by this point which of the US men would be standing on it. The rest of the spots, however, were a bit of a toss-up, with a number of talented but unpredictable skaters vying for the remaining medals. Ultimately the results proved to be quite an interesting look at how the next few years of US men’s figure skating might look. And so, without further ado, let’s take a look at what exactly that future might hold.

The Podium

No one had any real doubts that Nathan Chen would make--at the very least--the podium, and with 7 total quads ALL performed cleanly (in addition to two clean triple axels!!! amazing), no one stood even a ghost of a chance of beating him. With only one minor GOE deduction in the free, Nathan absolutely decimated the competition with over 100 points in the short, over 200 points in the free, and a whopping 318.47 overall--a full 55 points ahead of second place--breaking more national records than we can count in the process. And thanks to his injury-free performance at the gala (good on ya for learning your lesson after last year, kid), we’ll be able to see him go on to join the bloody battlefield at 4CC and Worlds later this season. With his sheer technical content alone, Nathan is a huge threat to the top spot on both podiums; adding his ever-improving artistry to the mix, it’s safe to say that, despite being on only his first year on the senior circuit, Nathan will certainly be giving the rest of the world’s top competitors a run for their money.

Blasting his way onto the podium was silver medalist Vincent Zhou, who placed 8th at nationals last season. He was unfortunately just short of making the JGP Final this season, but here he managed to redeem himself. His new specialty appears to be the 4S, which he landed once in the short and twice in the free (all clean). He also attempted a 4Lz in the free (because what is chill in men’s skating these days?), but alas was only able to manage a triple. We’ve always had our eye on Vincent not for his technical skill, however, but his lovely artistry and transitions, and he did not disappoint here. His lunge entries to elements, especially, are breathtaking to watch. He appears to be well on his way from recovering from the injury that forced him to withdraw from the Golden Spin earlier this season, and we wish him all the best at junior Worlds!

After a back injury dashed all his hopes of getting onto the Worlds team last season, Jason Brown muscled his way onto the podium despite not fielding a single quad jump, thanks entirely to his incredible PCS margins. For Jason, his hardest jump is currently the 3A, and it was his downfall in the short program where he fell and downgraded his attempt. Slightly better luck in the free saw him land two clean 3As, but at the very end of the program he doubled both the triples in his planned 1Lo combination, causing the salchow at the end to be invalidated. With Adam Rippon out for the season due to injury, Jason is without doubt the strongest in the men’s field in terms of PCS, and his marks certainly reflected it. His PCS was  the highest in both events, which helped significantly in boosting Jason onto the podium. However, in the current men’s field, even Jason’s monstrous PCS can only take him so far, and he will definitely need to work on mastering that elusive quad toe if he wants to replicate his success on an international level.

Grant Hochstein had a bit of a breakout last season when he took the pewter at Nationals after impressive results on the Grand Prix. Unfortunately, bouts of inconsistency at both his Grand Prix events this season kept him farther out of the spotlight than we had hoped. His struggles continued into this competition--mainly with his quads--but overall he was able to put together two solid programs and repeat his 4th place finish from last year. Grant’s strength definitely lies in his artistry and beautiful expression in his skating, which is only emphasized further when he backs it up with clean (or nearly clean) technical content like he did here. His results earned him a spot at this year’s 4CC, where we hope he’ll be able to put on another wonderful show and improve on his 8th place finish from last season.

The Others

All-American Uncle Ross Miner looked to be on track to re-establish his relevance in a field of increasingly younger competitors when he placed second in the short after a squeaky-clean (though quad-less) SP. However, jump troubles came back to haunt him in the free, where he popped his first axel attempt and fell on the second, and then proceeded to double both the planned triples in his 3Lz1Lo3S combination. He had to settle for 5th, which is the same position he finished in at last year’s nationals. Ross has had a long career on senior ice, and he seems to have been floundering this season after finishing 9th and 12th in his assigned GP events. We know what Ross is capable of (he even took the bronze at the Rostelecom a couple of seasons back) and hope that he will continue to fight his way through his bouts with inconsistency, as he is truly quite the enjoyable performer when he’s on.

Once considered one of the consistent top favorites for the national podium, Max Aaron found himself sitting in 9th place after technical issues in both programs. He received negative GOE on all of his jumps in the short--including penalties for two falls--and his persistent struggles with spin levels did him no favors, either. In the free he only managed to do one quad and two combinations, which forced him to leave points on the table despite otherwise managing a decent run through the program. He placed 6th in the segment, but it was only enough to barely pull him into the top 10. Max has never been known for his artistry, but it is clear that he will need to work on improving his technical consistency if he wants to retain his spot as one of the top American men.

4CC/Worlds: The two spots on the US world team will be filled by Nathan Chen and Jason Brown. It will only be Nathan’s first time at senior worlds, but we don’t doubt for a second that he will be a force to be reckoned with if he’s clean. He has a very real chance of making on the podium, but it will depend on how his other rivals in the fierce technical race for the gold fare. Jason will be looking to place within the top 10, which would give the US the best chance of getting back their three spots for next season. However, given his lack of a quad, in a field where even two quads is quickly becoming insufficient to compete at the top, he will really need to be absolutely clean to stand a good chance. Nathan and Jason will also be going to to 4CC, and they will be joined there by Grant Hochstein, who placed 8th at 4CC last year.

Credit for all images [x]

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US Nationals 2017 (Ladies)

The US Championships mark the last of the major national competitions of the season, and if there’s one thing we can expect, it’s that this competition always starts the transition into the second half of the figure skating season off with a bang. For the past couple of seasons we usually covered US Nationals in one post, but there was so much to say about this season’s results that we decided to split our coverage in half this time. In this post, we’ll take a look at the results of the ladies’ competition, which was overall one of the most satisfying US nationals events we’ve seen in the relatively short amount of time we’ve been skating fans. We’ll also take a brief look at the selected teams for the next major ISU competitions.

The Podium

Given her persistent boot problems that have been plaguing her since last season, most of us didn’t really peg Karen Chen for the gold medal, or even the podium at all. But, being our GREAT LORD AND SAVIOR OF ALL THINGS FIGURE SKATING, Karen managed to pull through when it really counted: after taking first in the short with a gorgeous short program, she followed up with a fiery and fierce rendition of her Tango Jalousie free. A couple of the elements looked a little dubious, but for once the judges were on her side, and she ran away with the gold by a margin of 2.5 points. Karen’s always had plenty of talent and charisma, and her skating has only been getting better. Consistency, unfortunately, has always been a problem, but we’re thrilled that she managed to perform to her full potential here. We’re looking forward to seeing Karen in the upcoming major competitions and hope she can continue her momentum there.

After a disappointing Grand Prix season where she was unable to make the Final for the first time in 5 years, Ashley Wagner moved a step up the national podium and claimed the silver medal. UR calls, her long-time nemesis, were the main culprit holding her back from recapturing the title, as the margin between her and Karen was small in both events. Nevertheless, Ashley gave us a great show in both events, opening with an SP performed with her usual dramatic flair. She stumbled a little in the free where she singled the toeloop on her final lutz combination (rip), but other than that it was a clean performance with no significant mishaps. We’re relieved that Ashley appears to be (hopefully) past the sudden bout of inconsistency that struck her at the NHK Trophy, and we wish her all the best heading into Worlds!

Mariah Bell has been turning heads since her last minute appearance at Skate America, where she surprised everyone by skating away with the silver medal. With her results this season, we knew that with her current momentum, she could definitely claim a spot on the national podium. And claim it she did: though she got off to a rocky start in the short with a fall on her opening combination, she came back with a fantastically-skated free program that pulled her up to third place. Gracie Gold’s struggle to find her mojo and Polina Edmunds’ absence due to injury has opened the door for other US ladies to take their place amongst the top, and Mariah has certainly been working hard to make the most of it. We’re glad for her and the success she’s had this season and hope she continues to capitalize on her opportunities at 4CC and Worlds.

Successfully defending her potato pewter medal from last year was Mirai Nagasu, who (despite speculation) did not debut her shiny new 3A in this competition. She appeared to be focusing more on getting her current roster of jumps right, though this did have repercussions in the free where she appeared to be too lost in getting her jumps right to deliver the full degree of artistry that she is often known for. Nevertheless, nationals was fairly clean for Mirai: a twofooted 3Lo in the short had her in second place going into the free after an otherwise-spectacular short program, but two UR calls and a stepout on her 3Lo, along with a resurgent Mariah, were enough to keep her from rising any higher. Though it wasn’t the triumphant result she and her fans were hoping for, it was definitely a progressive step in the right direction for Mirai, and we hope she will continue to show the world what she’s made of in the second half of the season.

The Others

Though she was one of America’s brightest rising stars circa 2006-2007, Caroline Zhang has dropped off the international radar and has been conspicuously absent from the national podium--and from the top 10--for the past few years. But even after missing all of last season due to surgery, Caroline made quite the impressive comeback at this year’s nationals, jumping up 12 places from her 17th place finish two years ago. She opened her nearly-perfect short with the rare and difficult triple loop-triple loop combination, which was squeaky clean. Only her skimpy PCS kept her down in 7th heading into the free, where she once again pulled off a beautifully-skated program to pull herself up into 5th overall. It’s always wonderful to watch struggling skaters make a comeback, and we’re thrilled about Caroline’s results in this competition. It’s too early to say for sure whether she’s truly back on her game, but we’re sure that her results here will be a great confidence boost in getting her there.

A new skater who piqued our interest was international junior Tessa Hong, whose phenomenal SP had her in 4th going into the free. However, a host of consistency problems placed her 14th in the free and dragged her down to 10th overall. Tessa appears to be a subscriber to the Russian-favored technique of Extreme Backloading™, with all her jumps in the short and almost all of them in the free pushed into the second half of the program. A risky strategy from the start, it seemed to backfire for her in the free, as she appeared to have lost quite a bit of energy by the time her jumps started: she popped the first three jumping passes in a row, a terrible blow to her technical score. Though she managed to nail most of her jumps after that, it wasn’t enough to make up for her mistakes. However, what Tessa does bring to the table is a wonderful artistry far beyond her years (she’s only 14!): her spin positions are lovely and her lines and transitions more graceful than some competitors much more senior than her. We’re sure that she’ll work on her consistency in following seasons and look forward to seeing more from her in the future.

We previously mentioned Gracie Gold and her struggle to regain her mojo, and she was definitely looking for redemption in front of the home crowd after a dismal Grand Prix season. Unfortunately, redemption is not what she found here. Pops, doubles, and invalidated jumps gave her trouble in both programs, and she ultimately found herself sitting in 6th place--her first time ever off the national podium. After the competition, Frank Carroll announced that he would no longer be coaching her--a decision that may (or so we hope) turn out to be the best for Gracie. Anyone who has been watching Gracie will agree that she has been entirely off her game this season, and perhaps a coaching change is just what she needs to get back on track. It has recently been revealed that she will now be training under Marina Zueva (who also coaches big names like Patrick Chan and the Shibutanis), which we hope will prove to be a promising environment for her. We may not be the biggest fans of Gracie, but we hope the upcoming months will help her to enjoy skating to the fullest again.

Worlds/4CC: In predictable USFSA fashion, the world team will consist of the top 3 podium finishers: Karen Chen, Ashley Wagner, and Mariah Bell. Ashley will definitely be looking to defend her historic silver medal from last season, while Karen and Mariah are making their Worlds debuts. All three have the potential to place in the top 10 if they skate clean, given their results this past season. Originally, the same lineup was slated to head to 4CC; however, Ashley has since withdrawn, and will be replaced by Mirai Nagasu. Mirai took the silver at last year’s 4CC, much to the delight of her fans, and we’ll be hoping for another triumphant performance from her this season.

Credit for all images [x]

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Korean/Chinese/Canadian Nationals

After the whirlwind that was Japanese and Russian nationals, Korea, China, and Canada soon followed suit with their own national competitions. None of these competitions are as major as Japanese and Russian nationals, so as with previous years, we will cover all three of them briefly in one post. We’ll also take a look at the teams each respective country will be sending to 4CC and Worlds, the two remaining major competitions of the year. (Belated coverage on US Nationals and Europeans will also be out soon, so be sure to check those out as well!)

Canadian Nationals: Ladies

Canadian nationals were both predictable and interesting: we knew which three ladies were going to end up on the podium, but the precise order would be up to fate. With three ex-national champions vying for the title here, it was really a battle of who had the best elements and who could skate the cleanest. Kaetlyn Osmond came out on top with the gold, continuing her momentous success this season by setting a brand-new national record with her overall score. Jumping powerhouse Gabrielle Daleman had to settle for silver, with her lower technical score setting her behind Kaetlyn. Defending champion Alaine Chartrand took the bronze after a disastrous free skate ended with half her jumps getting UR/edge calls.

Canadian Nationals: Men

The most predictable of all the nationals events covered in this post, literally nobody doubted that Patrick Chan would take the gold. It was also pretty much settled that as long as he didn’t headcase, Kevin Reynolds would continue on his comeback this season and take the silver. He fell on and underrotated a couple of quads, sure, but he’s in much better shape this season, and was a solid pick for the world team. The battle for the bronze bronze was a little more interesting, as Elladj Baldé and Nam Nguyen, both of whom have been on the Canadian Worlds team at some point, were both on the path to redemption this season. Though Elladj took 3rd after the short, his lack of quads and a downgraded jump allowed Nam Nguyen to claim the final spot on the podium after a (mostly) triumphant free skate.

4CC/Worlds:

Representing Canada at Worlds will be Kaetlyn Osmond and Gabrielle Daleman, both old hands at Worlds by now. Although neither of them will likely make the podium (though both could easily make the top 10), they do have a chance at winning back three world spots for Canadian ladies. The two of them will be joined by Alaine Chartrand for 4CC as well.

Similar to the ladies, the top two finishers, Patrick Chan and Kevin Reynolds, will be heading to Worlds this season. This will be the first time in 3 years that Nam Nguyen isn’t on the Worlds team (though he will be joining as the 3rd member for 4CC). Kevin has not been at Worlds for the past couple of seasons and will probably be looking to place within the top 10 (though, given his quad inconsistency, this is highly dependent on how clean he is). Patrick is certainly a contender in the race for the podium, but he’ll need to be as clean as possible in the face of the #sQuad and Yuzuru and Javi.

Korean Nationals: Ladies

With the exception of veteran Soyoun Park (who was absent from this year’s nationals due to injury), most of the Korean ladies are incredibly young, including this year’s national champion. Eunsoo Lim took home the gold after two perfect performances, adding another feather to her cap for her international junior debut season. Yerim Kim, another Korean skater who made her JGP debut this season, took the silver medal; Nahyun Kim, who made her senior GP debut at Skate Canada this season, improved by 8 places to take the bronze.

Besides Soyoun, two other relatively well-known names in the Korean ladies’ field were absent from the podium, one of them being defending silver medallst Da Bin Choi, who placed 4th. Because of how young all of these girls are, the national title has had a habit of changing hands since Yuna Kim’s retirement. Such was the case with last year’s surprise national champion (and the youngest ever winner of the Korean nationals), You Young, who struggled with consistency this season to finish down in 5th place.

Korean Nationals: Men

In retrospect, it was pretty easy to tell who would win gold: South Korea’s newest star Jun Hwan Cha easily skated away with the gold and a 22-point lead. Jinseo Kim, eternal Korean pop-star, took the silver after setting himself a new (unofficial) personal best by a mile. Si Hyeong Lee rounded off the podium with the bronze. A special mention goes out to Jinseo’s unofficial rival (for the senior Worlds spot, at least), June Hyoung Lee, whose perpetual struggle with consistency continued this season as he finished down in 5th overall.

Worlds/4CC: With Soyoun out for the season, newly-crowned bronze medalist Nahyun Kim will be representing South Korea for ladies, and silver medalist (and Worlds veteran) Jinseo Kim for men. This will be Nahyun’s Worlds debut. Both skaters will be joined at 4CC by their teammates Da Bin Choi and Seohyun Son for ladies, and June Hyoung Lee and Si Hyeong Lee for men.

On the junior level, the junior world team will be comprised of Eunsoo Lim and Yerim Kim for ladies and Jun Hwan Cha and Si Hyeong Lee for men. Jun-Hwan could likely be a threat for the podium with his current momentum; as the only non-Russian or Japanese with a JGP medal this season, Eunsoo could potentially break the top 5, depending on how she performs compared to the rest of the field.

Chinese Nationals: Ladies

With undisputed top senior Chinese lady Zijun Li skipping nationals again, Ziquan Zhao, who made her senior GP debut as a host country pick at the Cup of China, was able to defend her gold medal. Defending silver medalist Xiangning Li had a shot at the gold, but had to settle for 2nd again after technical inconsistency came back to haunt her. Taking bronze was Yixuan Zhang, who placed 6th last season.

Chinese Nationals: Men

Like with the ladies, senior veteran Han Yan did not participate in nationals, and without him there was no serious competitor to even try and prevent Boyangman Boyang Jin from grabbing the gold medal by a mile. He was 40 points ahead of silver medallist Yuhang Guan (who placed 5th last season). China’s current top junior Tangxu Li rounded off the podium with a bronze.

4CC: As the top 3 Chinese ladies for the past few years, Zijun Li, Ziquan Zhao, and Xiangning Li will once again be representing China at 4CC. Zijun has two great programs this season and we’re looking forward to seeing how much they can do for her at this competition. The men’s team only consists of two spots, which will naturally go to Boyang Jin and Han Yan. With his overwhelming technical content, Boyang will definitely be gunning for the podium; Han will more likely be looking to build up momentum for himself after a rough run on the Grand Prix this season.

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Russian Nationals 2017 (Men)

Much like current Japan, although Russia has an immensely talented ladies’ field, its men’s field has always fallen a bit short. Starting this season, however, that has begun to change, with a number of new young stars rising steadily in the ranks. As a result, this year’s men’s event promised to be a little less predictable and a little more exciting than the previous years--which turned out to be just the case. With new upcoming talents and a slow but steady shift in hierarchy, Russian men’s skating will certainly be a field to keep our eyes on in the seasons to come.

The Podium

With defending champion Maxim Kovtun stuck in a rut, newly-crowned pineapple king Mikhail Kolyada swooped in to easily snatch up the gold by a margin of 23 points. Minus a couple of problems with his quads in the free (including his quad lutz, which he fell on but got +2 GOE from one of the judges anyway #russiaplz), he skated two delightfully clean programs, putting on two of the best performances of the competition. Mikhail’s been on a roll since his breakout last season, and with a quad lutz slowly working its way into his repertoire (he has yet to land it successfully, though), he could be well on his way to further international success. It’ll still take some time and improvement before he can compete on the same level as the other top men in the world, but at the very least Mikhail has shown that he’s absolutely ready to stand at the top of Russian men’s skating, and that he plans to stay there for quite some time.

The Russian breakout star of the season, Alexander Samarin, continued his streak of success with a silver medal, his first ever podium finish at nationals. Alexander has one of the most engaging Russian programs of the season in his wonderfully energetic Come With Me Now short, which was overflowing with energy and strength. He was clean in the short (bar a turn out on his 4T), and that same momentum carried over to the free, where he backloaded a good number of his jumps. Although backloading is a technique employed by many Russian skaters, it tends to backfire in terms of program aesthetics: Alexander sacrificed choreographic and artistic elements for clean jumps in his second half, which mostly appeared to be jump after jump with not much transition in between. The final 2A of his program was two-footed, causing him to place 3rd in the free just 0.4 points behind Maxim Kovtun, though he remained comfortably in 2nd overall. Alexander has certainly proved he’s one to watch this season, and we do hope that he’ll begin to work on balancing artistry with technical ability as the season progresses.

Former numero uno defending champion Maxim Kovtun, who hasn’t really been the stellar competitor he used to be, had to relinquish his title this year and settle for bronze for the first time in four years. A step out of his 4S and subsequent doubling of his 4T (causing it to be invalidated) pushed Maxim all the way back down to 7th going into the free. Although his free was entirely clean, bar a doubled loop, the damage from his bungled short was too great for him to climb any higher up the podium (a pattern that seems to have been occuring rather often for him this season). We do, however, enjoy his Iron Sky free, as it suits him rather well (especially compared to his short programme), and mistakes notwithstanding, it was a lovely routine to watch. Maxim has been quite on and off these few seasons, but with the other Russian rising stars beginning to prove their mettle, Maxim will need to get it together if he wants to stay on the Russian team going into the Olympic season.

The Others

Reigning Russian junior national champion and JGP Final champion Dmitri Aliev took 5th at senior nationals, his best ever placing so far. It’s notable that he achieved this despite his programs being littered with technical errors. He popped his quad in the short (though, to his credit, everything else was clean); in the free, though he landed the quad, he slipped suddenly in the middle of his step sequence and then fell after stepping out of his 3Lo. Dmitri is a lovely skater and has challenging entries into his jumps (including the absolutely wonderful lunge entry into the flip in his free), and it was a joy to watch him skate even with the mistakes. If he can just work on his consistency, he will be a definite threat to the top Russian men in the near future.

Despite his success on the Grand Prix two seasons ago, Sergei Voronov has been on a steady decline since then. He seemed to be on the way to his old self after medaling at his second Grand Prix event this season, and a lot depended on how well he performed here at nationals. Unfortunately, he was unable to pull through where it counted. Despite finishing the short in 3rd after a clean performance, too many mistakes pulled him down to 7th overall, erasing any chances he had of making the European--and most likely World--team. With no major competitions coming up for Sergei and taking his age into account, it’s unclear what to expect from him now, but we hope he will be able to make a decision that he will ultimately be satisfied with.

Europeans

The Russian team heading into Europeans will be the podium finishers: Mikhail Kolyada, Alexander Samarin, and Maxim Kovtun. Maxim and Mikhail both have experience at Euros (this will be Maxim’s 5th year, and Mikhail’s 2nd), while Alexander will be making his debut debut. Despite Maxim’s recent struggles, he still stands a solid chance at the podium if he can skate clean, as does Mikhail at his current level. However, they face tough competition from Javier Fernandez, who has won Euros for the past 4 years (and will probably be making it 5), as well as Alexei Bychenko, who’s had surprisingly impressive results this season.

[axellings]

Russian Nationals 2017 (Ladies)

Due to what is no doubt some kind of twisted sense of humor from the skating gods, Russian nationals is always held at the same time as Japanese nationals every year. With two of the strongest countries in figure skating holding their most important domestic competitions simultaneously, it’s easy for skating fans to get overwhelmed by the hype surrounding both events. We saw a fierce battle between the ladies in Japan for the national podium, and the ladies’ event in Russia was no less of a bloodbath. All of the top competitors put up a great fight; now let’s take a look at who came out on top.

The Podium

Evgenia Medvedeva added yet another gold medal to her ever-expanding collection after winning this competition for the second year in a row. Error-free as ever, Evgenia smashed her own personal record in the short with an unheard-of 80.08 points (granted, inflation is particularly rampant at Russian nationals, but it’s not unlikely that we’ll be seeing her officially break the 80-point barrier in international competition some time in the near future). She surpassed her own world record in the free with similar ease--such ease, in fact, that she tacked an extra triple toe onto her 3S3T combination even though it wouldn’t count, just because she could. She does seem to have a persistent edge problem with her lutz, but with the scores she gets, it doesn’t even matter in the long run. You can never tell what will happen in figure skating, but barring injury or sudden illness, it seems safe to say that Evgenia is all set to add two more gold medals to her collection at Europeans and Worlds later this year.

Russia’s Next Top Backloader has been found, and her name is Alina Zagitova. Easily taking the silver medal in her Russian senior nationals debut, she boasted the most technically complicated content in the Russian ladies’ field. She challenged (and successfully landed) the 3Lz3Lo, a notoriously difficult combination, in both her short and free, in addition to landing every single other jump cleanly. Of particular note was her free, where she pushed all her jumps into the second half, and half of them with her arm over the head to boot. Artistically, she isn’t as complex as some of the other Russian girls, a fact made all the more obvious by the two minutes of emptiness in the first half of her free. Alina is still vulnerable to mistakes, as we saw on the Junior Grand Prix, but with her current consistency, we are certain that we will be hearing more from Alina in future seasons.

Rounding off the podium was first-time podium finisher Maria Sotskova, who’s had quite a stellar senior debut season so far. Maria was nearly neck-to-neck with Alina, and in fact finished ahead of her after the short. What made the different between the two of them, however, was ultimately a single mistake by Maria in the free, where she popped her axel in her final jumping pass. She managed to hold it together for the subsequent spin, which is a credit to the composure she’s no doubt developed through her relative experience in competition. This bronze medal is also her best finish at nationals thus far, and it’ll be interesting to see where she goes from here.

The Others

We’ve been waxing poetic all season about Anna Pogorilaya and the change in her skating, and we’ve been looking forward to seeing how well she could hold her own against Evgenia in this competition. However, it looks like it’ll be a little while longer until we get to see them compete against each other at their best, because Anna wasn’t quite there in this competition. She only made a few minor technical errors, but in a field as deep and competitive as the Russian ladies’, even a few minor errors can cost heavily in the long run. After a couple of underrotations, an edge call, and another few points left on the table from a couple of level 3 spins and a doubled 3T, Anna found herself in 4th place, four points shy of the podium. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get to see Anna at her full potential here, but she will have more chances to prove herself as the season goes on and hope to see her at her best then.

One skater who was less fortunate was Elena Radionova, whose 5th-place finish marked first time off the national podium in 4 years. Lena has been struggling with physical changes this since last season, and it certainly shows in her skating. Her short was blessedly clean (thank god) and was somewhat more lively than previous renditions of her program. In the free, however, a couple of botched landings were sufficient to dash any hope she had of clawing her way up to the podium. As a result, Lena has not been chosen for the European team and will likely not be at worlds either. It’s hard watching such a delightful skater struggle, but we hope this gives her plenty of time to catch up with her physical changes and prepare to come back fighting next season!

Speaking of struggling veterans, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva also had a rough time in this competition. Liza looked to be rebuilding momentum for herself after winning the bronze at Cup of China, but with comparatively simpler technical content thanks to the absence of her triple axel, she found herself buried under the ever-deepening pool of talent in the Russian ladies’ field. She had a decent run in the short, but with only a 3T3T, she only managed a 6th place finish, and two falls in the short brought her down to a repeat of her 8th place overall finish last season. While Liza hasn’t entirely lost the spark that won her a world title two seasons ago, it’s clear that she will really need to upgrade her technical content if she wants to survive in such a dynamic field.

Europeans

The spots on the European team went to the top three senior ladies in the competition, all of whom made waves on the Grand Prix this season: Evgenia Medvedeva, Anna Pogorilaya, and Maria Sotskova. Russians have been sweeping the ladies’ podium for the past couple of seasons; Carolina Kostner's return to competition may shake things up a little, but there is still a strong chance of seeing yet another podium sweep this year.

[axellings]

Japanese Nationals 2016 (Men)

In stark contrast to the ladies, the men’s pool in Japan seems to have grown shallower since the retirement of some of its most prominent skaters over the past couple of years. And with four-time champion Yuzuru Hanyu out with the flu (and rising star Sota Yamamoto missing the entire season so far due to injury), the absence of the depth Japan’s men have come to be known for was made all the more prominent. Still, this season’s event turned out to be quite exciting for some of Japan’s up and coming talents, and we’re overall very satisfied with the results.

The Podium

With Yuzuru out of the running, Shoma Uno became the overwhelming favorite to win what would be his first senior national title--a fact that no doubt placed enormous pressure on his young shoulders. He did eventually win as we expected, but not without his own share of difficulties. Though he theoretically would have finished the short in first miles ahead of the competition considering his planned technical content, in reality he found himself in second after struggling with both his quads and (once again) missing his combination (Combos? Who Needs ‘Em). He was once again unable to do any clean quads in the free, but this time he managed to turn his last three jumping passes into combinations (which is #loco in and of itself) and save his technical score. It wasn’t the roof-raising performance he would have been looking for, but it was still good enough to win under the heavy burden of everyone’s expectations--and his tears at the end of his program were a testament to both emotions. Though it has been another successful season for Shoma so far, it certainly hasn’t been an easy one, and we hope he will take care of himself going into the second half of the season.

Make way for the new prince, folks--Keiji Tanaka has been building up momentum for himself since last season (albeit with a couple of hiccups), and it finally cumulated in his first ever national medal. Silver medal, in fact, which means he would have been on the podium even if Yuzuru had competed, which is a lot more than we could have ever hoped to say for him when he first made his senior debut. He wasn’t 100% clean in either program--he messed up his quad sal in the short and tripled his second attempt in the free--but he still recovered to put on two brilliantly-performed programs and edged out veteran Takahito Mura for the silver. Keiji will really need to work on mastering his 4S--and adding another quad to his repertoire wouldn’t hurt either--before he can really start competing with the world’s best. But we’re absolutely thrilled to see how far he’s come and sincerely hope that he will be able to keep his momentum going as the season progresses.

Though a bout of headcasing cost him what would have most likely been the silver medal, resident uncle Takahito Mura showed us for a brief moment what he could be at his best and managed to hang on to his bronze medal from last year. Coming out of the short program in first place (a solid two points ahead of Shoma), Mura appeared to have found his skating mojo once more. Though flamenco pieces like his short program are always difficult to pull off, we must admit we are quite impressed of his step sequence, which was set to an energetic stretch of percussion-only music. This is to date the only clean rendition of this short Mura has put out, and boy, it was glorious. The same, however, could not be said for his free program. He was off to a good start in the first half, landing all his most difficult jumps, but he fell apart in the second half. He doubled a planned 3A, and then decided on the spot to replace his next jump with one more (slightly more successful) 3A attempt. However, a doublefooted landing on the subsequent 3F forced him to miss his combination, and he ended off with a doubled lutz. Nevertheless, we must admit that Mura is well-suited to this program (despite Rach2 being a horribly overworked war horse), and we hope he will be able to deliver a more consistent performance of it at his next competition.

The Others

Alongside his long-time comrade Keiji, Ryuju Hino is finally (albeit slowly) starting to make his way into the Japanese men’s spotlight. After making his (rather lukewarm) senior GP debut, Ryuju ended the first half of his season with his best-ever finish in Japanese Nationals, taking the potato medal behind Mura. A former Japanese junior champion, Ryuju has never really been on our radar since moving up to seniors due in no small part to his technical inconsistency and relative lack of artistry. However, he showed us a taste of his potential here, where he delivered two nearly flaw-free programs. Of particular note was his free program (in which he made his only mistake of the competition, a fall on his 3A), where he landed his jumps lightly and with ease. Ryuju’s always had a rather serious face, and we felt that the second half of his Quidam free, which was more majestic and set in a minor key, was a very good fit for his quietly intense on-ice persona. He will definitely need a quad to truly be considered competitive, but his results here appear to have made for a good confidence boost for him. Ryuju won’t be taking part in any more major competitions this season (though he is a substitute for Worlds and the Asian Winter Games), but we hope to see more of him in future seasons!

As the newly-crowned junior men’s champion, Kazuki Tomono was easily the highest-placing junior at this season’s senior nationals. Kazuki was unable to execute any triple-triple combinations and suffered from low levels on some of his spins, but otherwise he managed two solid performances. He even landed his 4S attempt, a jump that’s been rather elusive for him so far, in his free program. However, with only one quad of dubious success rate, it’s clear that there is a huge gap between junior and senior in current Japanese men’s skating--a fact that the difference in points between Mura in 3rd and Kazuki in 5th can attest to. As one of the top juniors, Kazuki will have plenty of work to do before he can bridge that gap, but hopefully his results here will give him the confidence he needs to do so.

Rising junior star Koshiro Shimada improved upon his performance last year to finish at an impressive 7th place, with a new artistic depth to his skating that we’re sure will only continue to improve as he gains experience. His short suffered a little when he stepped out of the landing on his 3Lz (which had been planned in combination), forcing him to tack on a toeloop after his 3Lo. As he could only manage a double, his TES suffered a little. (In fact, if he had landed the triple as planned, he could have placed above Shu Nakamura in the overall rankings.) It was, however, his free that showed us the depth of his potential. Set to the World’s Most Exhausted War Horse, Romeo & Juliet, Koshiro’s free was a major flashback to Yuzuru Hanyu’s breakout free program from the 2011-2012 season, when he won the bronze at Worlds. Koshiro used pretty much the same music cuts (though with an added #withvocals bonus) and delivered a gloriously clean and majestic performance. While Koshiro is unlikely to make the Japanese Olympic team next season, we have no doubt at all that, if he continues to remain consistent (a tall order maybe?) and work on his technical content, he will be one of the next rising stars in the next few years.

ISU Championships

As with the ladies, the Japanese men’s team is the same for both 4CC and Worlds: Yuzuru Hanyu, Shoma Uno, and Keiji Tanaka. Yuzuru and Shoma, as two of the most intense jumping hellions this season, will definitely be gunning hard for the Worlds podium: Yuzuru’s let the gold slip from his fingers for the past couple of years, and no doubt Shoma hasn’t forgotten his frustrating 7th place finish from last season (we certainly haven’t). If Yuzuru skates clean, he will be unbeatable--but if he falters, the abundance of technical talent in the current men’s field means that there are plenty of other skaters waiting to take his place at the top of the podium. Keiji is the only member of the team who is making his Worlds debut; he probably won’t be challenging for the podium, but it will no doubt be an invaluable experience for him. All three team members are no stranger to 4CC, and all three stand a chance at making the podium.

Flying the Japanese flag at Junior Worlds will be Kazuki Tomono and Koshiro Shimada. Kazuki placed 15th at last season’s Worlds and will be looking to improve upon his performance, while it will be Koshiro’s first time at this competition. Though it’s unlikely that either of them will be a threat for the podium, we do wish them all the best.

Takahito Mura and Shoma Uno will be heading to the Asian Winter Games. Like Satoko, Shoma will be competing in three competitions within a short span of time, and we hope it won’t take a toll on his stamina. Meanwhile, Mura will be looking to prove that he’s still got the mojo to be counted among Japan’s top skaters, and we’re excited to see what he can do.

Credit for all images [x]

[axellings]

Japanese Nationals 2016 (Ladies)

Happy new year from axellings! We’re kicking off the new year with (as usual) another delayed post covering the highy-anticipated ladies’ event from Japanese nationals. The Japanese ladies’ field has always been deep, and this year the competition was fiercer than it’s ever been before. Ultimately the results turned out almost the same as last season, but there were still plenty of memorable moments in store, and not just for those who made the podium. All in all, though, this season’s national championships proved that the future of Japanese ladies’ skating is going to be a bright one indeed.

The Podium

Honestly, what is there to say about Satoko Miyahara that hasn’t already been said? We all expected her to win this competition with her usual consistency, and of course, she pulled through once again. After setting a new (albeit unofficial) personal best with a flawless short program, Satoko went into the free 7 points ahead of second place. She did step out of her first combination and suffered from a couple of underrotations in her free, but without any other major errors, she still performed well enough to remain solidly in first place. As the first lady since Mao Asada to win nationals 3 years in a row, Satoko has firmly cemented her place as the undisputed queen of Japanese ladies’ skating (as if there was ever a doubt). We look forward to seeing what Satoko will achieve in the second half of the season and have no doubt that she will continue to be just as stellar as she was in the first half.

Successfully defending her silver medal from the past two years was Wakaba Higuchi, who officially made her international senior debut this season. Placing 3rd in the short and 4th in the free, her strong technical ability was instrumental in helping her edge in front of bronze medalist Mai Mihara. We’ve mentioned before that Wakaba’s fielding a set of lovely programs this season, and they really show how far she’s come in terms of performance skills--no longer is she just the jumping machine she was known for being the past couple of seasons. Her only mistake was a fall on the 3S in her free, but she recovered admirably to land the rest of her jumps perfectly, including a massive 3Lz3T in the second half of the program. We’re very happy that Wakaba’s had such a smooth first half of the season and look forward to watching her cement her role as a central pillar of the future of Japanese ladies’ skating.

If it wasn’t already clear that Japan is transitioning into a new era of skating, Mai Mihara drove it home with her first ever national podium finish. After struggling through the JGP Final and Japanese junior nationals last season due to injury, Mai has made an incredible comeback, and she finished off her stellar senior debut season with a bronze medal here. As one of the only competitors to put on two clean programs, she was only held back by her lower component scores--which are certain to go up with a little more polish and experience on the senior level. But despite her room for refinement, Mai skated with a lightness and joy and executed all of her elements with an air of certainty that made us confident that we can expect even more wonderful things for her in the near future. This was a well-deserved victory for Mai, and we’re looking forward to see what the rest of the season has in store for her.

The Others

After having to withdraw from the JGPF earlier this month due to the flu, it appeared that Marin Honda was back in top form as she took 4th place here, a full 5 places up from her ranking at last season’s nationals. Marin began Nationals with a lovely Smile program that suited her to a T, and was all smiles as she landed every jump cleanly (quite a departure from her usual tendency to dig herself in a hole after the short). She fumbled a bit in the free where she popped her flip, but she managed to pull it together and skate the strong free program she has come to be known for. Ultimately the flip made the difference between 4th place in the podium, and despite two overall excellent performances, Marin will no doubt be disappointed that the bronze slipped through her fingers. Nevertheless, her results made it clear that she will certainly be a strong central figure in Japanese ladies’ skating in the near future, and we hope that she’ll continue to stay in top form as we head into the second half of the season.

Down a spot from last season was Marin’s training-mate Yuna Shiraiwa, who has been battling with consistency issues this season. Those issues seemed to follow her into nationals: a popped axel in the short followed by an unfortunate costume malfunction where her glove got caught in her skate in the final spin threw Yuna’s game off entirely, earning her an additional one point deduction in addition to invalidating the spin. The mistakes pushed her all the way down to 17th going into the free: however, a squeaky-clean and delightfully-skated free program allowed her to make a comeback and sent her rocketing up to a 6th place finish. She appears to have gone back to her Send in the Clowns program from last season, but despite it being quite a tired piece in skating, we did enjoy her rendition. We hope to see her more performances of the same quality in the second half of the season!

Fresh off a bronze medal finish at the JGP Final, Kaori Sakamoto managed to build a solid case for herself here at nationals, though her consistency wasn’t quite where it’s generally been all season. She was most notably plagued with loop issues, as she made mistakes on her attempts in both the short and the free. Other than that and an edge call, though, she was on the whole error-free, and while her 7th place finish isn’t the highest she’s ever been at nationals, she still showed plenty of improvement since her best result (6th place) two years ago. She still has some work to do in terms of performance skills before she can be considered competitive against Japan’s top senior ladies, but there is no doubt that she is one of their strongest skaters on the junior level. We wish her the best of luck at junior worlds and hope to continue to see her grow as the season goes on.

Unlike Yuna, Rika Hongo was unable to successfully revive an old program and placed 5th overall, one spot down from her position last year. Rika started off strong by coming in 2nd in the short, with a fiercely-performed Carmina program that suited her powerful performance skills (and relative lack of artistic finesse) perfectly. Despite her simpler technical content, she managed a whopping 69.20, slotting into 2nd behind Satoko. We had high hopes for the free when we heard that Rika had switched back to her iconic Riverdance program last season. However, despite making only one technical mistake, she was noticeably lacking in the energy that the program hinges itself on. It was clear that Rika’s mind was elsewhere (perhaps focusing too hard on not making mistakes) and even the choreographic sequence at the end, usually the highlight of the program, fell a bit flat. If Rika is planning to continue using Riverdance in the later half of the season, we hope that she’ll be able to bring back the spirit that we missed here at Nationals.

Without a doubt, one of the most memorable moments of this competition came from Kanako Murakami. We all know it’s been a fierce uphill struggle for Kanako for the past few years: she hasn’t been on the national podium since 2013, and after placing near the bottom in both of her Grand Prix events this season, it was clear that we probably wouldn’t be seeing her back on it this year. And indeed, she got off to a dismal start in the short, where a popped flip brought her down to 12th place despite her skating and performance skills clearly being a notch above the rest (her step sequence at the end of the program in particular was stunning, although it only received a level 2). So it was an understandably emotional moment when she put on what was easily the best free program we’ve seen from her in a long time. It wasn’t 100% perfect and her technical content was nowhere close to being competitive, but from the tears of joy and relief from Kanako (and us) at the end of the program, it didn’t even matter. Though she may not be one of the top ladies anymore, Kanako reminded us with her free skate that her love for skating comes second to none, and we’re delighted that she was able to have such a memorable moment in this competition.

Speaking of veterans struggling, Mao Asada found herself on the other end of the spectrum from Kanako in this competition. Mao has been struggling all season with a knee injury that hampered her results in both her Grand Prix events. As a result, she hasn’t attempted her signature triple axel until this competition,where--no doubt realizing that she would need it to remain competitive in the current ladies’ field--she included it in both of her programs. Unfortunately, neither attempt worked out for her, as she popped it in the short and fell and downgraded it in the free. With her usual slew of carrots already wreaking havoc on her score, her mistakes brought her down to 12th--her first time finishing off the national podium since 2003 and her lowest placement yet. Mao’s career has had its ups and downs, and this is most definitely one of the downs. Now that her season is over, we hope Mao takes the time to rest and prepare for her next step, whatever it may be.

Special shoutout to Yuka Nagai, who wasn’t even aired on TV this season (RIP) but who we feel the need to mention anyway because who doesn’t love a good Tragic Fave™? Yuka’s never been very good with consistency, but this season her problems seem to be worse than ever, on top of her lowered technical content. Her free in particular was probably one of the most Pop Sensation-esque performances we’ve ever seen from her, with three popped jumps that left her unable to do any combinations, as well as several carrots. It’s hard seeing Yuka struggle so heavily when we know how incredible she can be when she’s on, and we hope that she’ll be able to get her jumps back and have a better run next season.

ISU Championships

For both Four Continents and the World Championships, Japan will be sending in the entire senior ladies’ podium: Satoko Miyahara, Wakaba Higuchi, and Mai Mihara. Satoko is the only Worlds veteran; Wakaba and Mai are both in their senior debut seasons, and Mai has never been to even Junior Worlds before. Satoko is the defending champion at Four Continents and will also be a strong contender for the podium at Worlds. Wakaba and Mai will probably be looking to build up experience before aiming for a world medal, but with the results they’ve produced so far this season, they both stand a very strong chance at making the podium at Four Continents.

The junior Worlds team consists of junior national champion Kaori Sakamoto, Marin Honda, and Yuna Shiraiwa. Marin goes into junior Worlds as the defending gold medalist, though she will no doubt face formidable competition from the junior Russian team, which will boast a strong lineup no matter who gets chosen. Yuna and Kaori have both been to junior Worlds once each, though neither have made the podium. Given their overall consistency this season, both of them stand a chance at making at least the top 5, but their placement will hinge quite heavily on how well the Russian ladies fare.

As for non-ISU competitions, Rika Hongo and Satoko Miyahara will be representing Japan at the Asian Winter Games. Without pressure from the USA and Russia, the two other powerhouses of ladies’ skating, Satoko will most likely take the gold, while Rika stands a strong chance for the podium if she skates clean. However, as the Asian Winter Games is quite near to both the 4CC and senior Worlds, we hope Satoko won’t wear herself too thin taking part in all three competitions.

Credit for all images [x]

[axellings]

Grand Prix Final 2016 (Ladies)

In contrast with the men (as usual), the ladies’ event at this year’s Grand Prix Final was quite a spectacular one, with some of the world’s top ladies going head to head--all with clean performances. GPF debuts were made, new personal bests were set, and even world records were renewed in one of the most exciting ladies’ events of the season.

The Podium (Seniors)

There appears to be no limit to how high Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) can climb, as she easily claimed the Grand Prix Final gold for second year in a row. She had a bit of a rocky start in free, but otherwise she pulled out yet another set of clean programs. She also set a new world record in the short, beating Mao Asada’s previous record by a little over half a point. Evgenia now holds two out of three world records, and at her rate, it’s only a matter of time before she adds the third one to her collection as well. Evgenia has proved that she’s not ready to step down from her number one spot in the world just yet, and it’ll be interesting to see how long her reign lasts.

Despite coming into the competition as something of an underdog with her tendency to be underscored, reliable-as-ever Satoko Miyahara (JPN) put on two clean programs to claim the silver in a repeat of her results last year. Her decision to replace her triple flip with a triple loop in the short proved to be a good one, as she set a new personal best of 74.64. She then went on to perform another fantastic rendition of her Planets program, featuring two clean triple lutz combinations, including a triple-triple. Her flip problems continued to plague her, but she was still able to renew personal bests in the free and total scores as well. Despite all the naysayers constantly criticizing her jumps, Satoko has consistently held her own and proved herself time and time again to be one of the most reliable competitors in the ladies’ field. She has continued to improve since her breakout season two years ago, and we have no doubt that she will continue to be one of the leading figures in ladies’ skating in the seasons to come.

This season has seen the rise of a brand new Anna Pogorilaya (RUS), whose newfound confidence carried her to her first ever Grand Prix Final medal. Anna has been impressively consistent all season, but she faltered just a bit in the short on her triple loop (which has always given her problems in the past). She still managed to pull it together and put on a clean free, but that loop (plus a doubled 3T) ultimately the made difference between silver and bronze, and she had to settle for 3rd just under two points behind Satoko. Though she did end up leaving a few points on the table, we’re still thoroughly impressed with how much Anna has improved and hope she can keep up her momentum in the second half of season.

As the oldest skater in the event, Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN) finished her first GPF just 4 points shy of the podium. She placed 2nd in the short with a gloriously clean program with a huge score of 75.54. However, Kaetlyn has a tendency to flub when it matters the most, and a couple of doubled combination jumps in the free dealt enough damage to push her off the podium. First-time senior Maria Sotskova (RUS), placed last in the short and 5th in the free; she was visually clean in both her programs, but a bountiful carrot harvest and comparatively low PCS crippled her score. 4-time GPF veteran Elena Radionova (RUS) had the roughest time at this event: a slew of technical errors and an unusual bout of inconsistency (particularly in the free) left her unable to defend her bronze medal from last season. Despite her success in her GP events, this season seems to have been an uphill battle for Lena, and we hope to see her pull it together as she heads into Russian nationals.

The Juniors

Skating’s newest Quen of Backloading Alina Zagitova (RUS) overcame her demons from her second JGP event and claimed the gold by a margin of 13 points. While her technical ability is impressive, we hope to see her grow into her own individual (and more interesting) style as she gains more experience. Anastasiia Gubanova (RUS) fell and missed her combination in the short but more than made up for it with a clean free. She is a lovely performer and we hope to see her jumps survive as she grows older and goes through puberty. Newly crowned Japanese junior national champion Kaori Sakamoto (JPN) seemed to be missing the general consistency she’s been enjoying all season, but she still managed to edge out compatriot Rika Kihira for the podium. It has overall been a successful season for Kaori, and we wish her the best of luck heading into Junior Worlds.

Despite achieving quick fame for her triple axel on the JGP circuit, Rika Kihira (JPN) was unable to make the podium thanks to injury that also kept her off the podium at Japanese junior nationals. After a couple of downgrades and falls in her programs, she settled for 4th place--not so bad for her JGP debut. Finishing in last (Marin Honda of Japan withdrew last minute due to the flu) was first-time junior, Elizaveta Nugumanova (RUS), substitute for Polina Tsurskaya. She managed to finish the short ahead of Rika, but a handful of errors in the free pulled her down to 5th overall.

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Grand Prix Final 2016 (Men)

With men’s skating advancing at such a fast rate, this year’s Grand Prix Final promised to be one of the most intense competitions of the season. Such dynamic technical ability being brought to the table always promises dynamic results (which is a nice way of saying people r gonna be Disasters), and that was definitely the case here in Marseilles. You can never truly call men’s skating today predictable--and no doubt these results were far from what most of us had predicted. So without further ado, let’s see how the competitors in this year’s Grand Prix Final fared in the season’s most exciting event yet! (We’ll also take a brief look at the results of the Junior Grand Prix Final.)

(Huge apologies for the delay in our GPF coverage posts! School has been insane for the both of us these past couple of weeks. Expect to see our coverage of the ladies’ events up soon!)

The Podium (Seniors)

Defending his GPF top spot for the fourth season running (the first man to ever do so) was Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN). Yuzuru started off with a bang in the short programme, where he barely hung on to his 4Lo attempt but went on right after to land a clean 4S (in combination too) and 3A. His short program this season is a magnificent foil to his usual style, and though we do wish he made less dubious costume choices, it was easily his best performance of the program this season. In the free, he again nailed his opening 4Lo and 4S; however, he fell on his second salchow attempt, followed quickly by a barely-there 4T and a popped lutz (his true nemesis). Thanks to his enormous component marks, however, he still managed stay 10 points ahead of the rest of the competition. However, with Nathan Chen and Shoma Uno hot on in his heels in terms of technical content, Yuzuru will really need to get his consistency back if he wants to reclaim the world title (which has slipped from his grasp the past two seasons) in March next year.. We hear he’s out of Japanese nationals due to influenza; we’re thankful he hasn’t chosen to push himself to compete, and we wish him a speedy recovery in time for his next competition!

Blazing past the rest of the competition in an incredible comeback finish, Nathan Chen (USA) placed 5th in the short and first in the free to clinch the silver at his first Grand Prix Final. Nathan is fielding the most difficult technical content out of all the senior men, with both a 4F and a 4Lz in his repertoire for both his programs. This does, however, give him huge room for error: he floundered in the short when he turned out of his 4F and then fell on the 4Lz, landing himself in 5th place. But in the free, he showed the world just how much of a threat the #sQuad can be when he landed every single jump, including his all four of his quad attempts (he even did a 3A). We are in awe of Nathan and his complete and utter lack of chill how he’s making history like its #nobigdeal, but he still lacks that little bit of maturity in his skating that’ll really bring him to the next level. But that will come with time, and we’re very excited to see how far Nathan can push the heights of figure skating this season!

Thanks to a heavy bout of jet lag and a resulting lack of rest, Shoma Uno (JPN) found himself in a bit of a rut after a big mistake in short program left him in 4th place. A harsh fall on what should have been a 4T combination took a huge chunk out of his score, and he left the rink limping and looking utterly exhausted. His prospects for a medal looked bleak, especially after reports of bad run-throughs during the free skate practice. So it was much to our delight (Relief? Surprise?) when he pulled out a near-perfect free program and (with the help of certain other podium favorites being complete disasters) secured the bronze medal for the second year in a row. He did leave some points—and ultimately the silver—on the table after missing his planned 3A3T (because apparently his motto for this season is Combos? Who Needs ‘Em), but we were relieved to see him pull himself together after such a rough start. With Yuzuru out of nationals, the expectations on Shoma to win will no doubt be a huge weight on his shoulders, and we hope he’ll be able to hold it together and perform at his best.

Despite being the heavy favorite to medal (and perhaps even win considering his track record so far this season), Javier Fernandez (ESP) unfortunately picked this competition to fall apart. He hung on to 3rd after the short even with only one clean jump, but further problems with his quads and triple axel in the free knocked him down to 4th overall. Patrick Chan (CAN) was also favored to make the podium after winning both of his GP events, and he seemed nearly guaranteed a spot after finishing the short in 2nd with nearly 100 points. However, his momentum came to a screeching halt after he messed up half the jumps in his free program (on the plus side, he did finally land a clean 4S) and had to settle for 5th, just behind Javi. Veteran Adam Rippon (USA) qualified for his first GPF at the ripe age of 27. With only one quad attempt in total, no one expected Adam to finish anywhere near the podium, but unfortunately the consistency he’s boasted all season fell flat after a massive headcase streak in the free left him miles behind the rest of the competition. We hope this isn’t the last we’ll see of the momentum he’s carried for the past year, as defending his national title this season will not be an easy feat.

The Juniors

Entering the JGPF as the lowest-ranked of six qualifiers, Dmitri Aliev (RUS) proved his mettle as a JGPF veteran by taking the gold, improving upon his silver medal finish from last season. Hot on his heels was compatriot Alexander Samarin (RUS), who set new personal best SP and combined scores in his JGPF debut. Rounding off the podium a good 10 points behind was the breakout star of this junior season Jun Hwan Cha (KOR), who had a rocky, season’s-worst SP but pulled it together in the free to earn himself a JGPF bronze in his junior debut season.

Roman Savosin (RUS) put on two solid programs, but deductions on both of his quads in the face of Jun Hwan’s near-perfect free were ultimately what kept him off the podium. Alexei Krasnozhon (USA) had a bit of a rougher time, especially in the free, where underrotations on several of his jumps (including, interestingly enough, a 4Lo attempt) were what really hurt his score. His low PCS also put him at a distinct disadvantage. Rounding off the Russian platoon was Ilia Skirda (RUS). Ilia had two decent skates, but low technical content compared to the rest of the competition kept him down in last place.

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NHK Trophy 2016 (Ladies)

The ladies’ event at NHK proved to be just as exciting as the men’s, with 4 competitors looking to fill one of the 3 remaining spots at the Final. The results overall were about what we’d expected, but it was still a great competition all the same. As the final Grand Prix event draws to a close, we’ll take a look at who managed to clinch a spot at the Final, as well as other noteworthy performances of the competition.

The Podium

Skating two almost-perfect programs to take the gold by a mile was Anna Pogorilaya (RUS), this season’s newest pogoReliable skater. Anna faced harsh defeat at this very competition last season after a horrifying meltdown, but here she showed that she’d let all her demons go. We really enjoy her short program this season (lovingly choreographed by the wonderful Misha Ge), and she paired her confident and sassy performance with fantastic jumps once again here. She could still use a little work in the free in terms of delving into the lovely emotions that have been worked into the choreography (though we must commend her on her great improvement in using her entire body to express: it’s a vast improvement from the Anna of old), but she was still virtually perfect on the technical side. Her only mistake was a hand down on the 2A, a jump she was apparently having issues with during practice as well. With two Grand Prix gold medals under her belt, Anna has claimed a spot at the Grand Prix Final once again, and we’re looking forward to seeing how she squares up against fellow Reliable Russian Evgenia Medvedeva!

Even the most consistent of skaters make mistakes sometimes (as we saw with Evgenia Medvedeva in her second event), and not even Tiny Queen Satoko Miyahara (JPN) is an exception to that rule. A rare fall on her triple lutz (which was later also slapped with an underrotation) combined with slightly lower base value (she replaced her problematic flip with a triple loop) brought her down to 3rd place with a score of 64.20--still a decent score, but the lowest she’s received in the short in a while. But if there’s anyone we can count on to keep her cool, it’s Satoko, and she answered our expectations with another wonderful rendition of her Planets free program. She did receive a handful of underrotations, but it was still enough to pull her up into 2nd overall, guaranteeing herself a spot at the Grand Prix Final for the second year in a row. Up against four Russians and Kaetlyn Osmond’s huge scores, Satoko will have her work cut out for her defending her silver medal (she will especially need to work on getting that triple-triple fully rotated), but we have no doubt that she will put up a tough fight.

In what’s been a wonderful breakout season, Maria Sotskova (RUS) took the bronze and locked in her spot at the Final in Marseilles. We’ve said before that we’re not entirely fans of her Butterflies are Free short, but here it was wonderfully clean. Hopefully she’ll continue to grow into this program as the season goes on. She put up a good fight in the free, but it seemed that she, too, was not immune to the mercies of the incredibly strict technical panel this season: a couple of URs and a downgrade were enough to pull her down behind Satoko Miyahara in both the free and the overall standings. Nevertheless, she’s more than proven that there’s a very real shot at an all-Russian podium this GPF--and the other contenders will have to fight hard in order to keep up.

The Others

Though she managed to podium at her previous GP, the technical field was too deep here in Sapporo, and first-time senior Wakaba Higuchi (JPN) had to settle for the potato medal (4th place), 10 points behind her fellow first-time senior Maria Sotskova. Wakaba’s really grown into her own this season, and though she was unable to top her personal best scores from the Trophée de France earlier this season, she did put up two lovely performances. A two-footed lutz and doubled toeloop in her short kept her down in 5th going into the free (but her opening 2A more than made up for it: it was breathtaking) and in the free a doubled loop killed any hopes she may have had for scraping onto the podium. We’re sure she’s frustrated that she missed out on a medal, but it’s still been a solid senior GP debut for her. It’s easy to forget that it’s Wakaba’s first time on senior ice: her choreography and expression are spot-on this season, and she skates with a calm and measured demeanour you wouldn’t expect from such a young skater. Like most of Japan, we’ve got high hopes for Wakaba, and though we won’t be seeing her at the Final, we look forward to seeing her at Japanese nationals!

Our eternal lord and savior Karen Chen (USA)’s ongoing battle with inconsistency continued here at NHK, where she popped her loop in the short program and found herself in 7th place. However, just like last week at Cup of China, she made a stellar comeback in the free, where she delighted the audience with a fierce performance of Tango Jalousie. Programs like this have always been Karen’s forte, and we’re delighted to see that she’s been performing it so well lately. Underrotations took a sizeable chunk out of her score, so she does still have plenty of work to do, but overall Karen seems to slwoly be regaining her footing. We hope to see her do even better at US nationals--at her current rate, it’s very possible that we could see her regain her spot on the podium from two seasons before.

The cutest skater ever to grace senior ice (probably), Elizabet Tursynbaeva (KAZ) struggled with her technical consistency, causing her to come in 8th here at the NHK Trophy. She opened her spirited short with a popped lutz, which plummeted her down all the way down to 9th. In the free, a fall on her flip and a couple of shaky landings proved enough to prevent her from rising any higher. Liza’s fielding two wonderful programs this season--the energy of her short and the beauty of her free really complement each other, and she’s growing into both--but she will need to work on her consistency if she wants to really challenge for the top. Nevertheless, we look forward to seeing her in future competitions and hope to see her continue to improve as the season goes on.

Yura Matsuda (JPN) impressed us with two solid programs at her senior GP debut event at the Rostelecom Cup a few weeks ago, and she managed to put on two matching performances on home ice. Perhaps she matched them a little too well, in fact, as the same underrotation problems plagued her here in Sapporo. Yura’s jumps are impressively reliable, including her enormous 3Lo3Lo and 2A3T3Lo combinations, but she will really have to work on getting them fully rotated if she wants to properly use them to her advantage. She was visibly clean in both programs (minus a rough landing on her 3F in the free), but her carrot harvest pulled her down to 7th overall, the same placement she received in Russia. Nevertheless, it’s been a solid senior debut for Yura, and if she can improve on what needs improving (gurl those spins are slow), we could definitely be seeing her climbing up the ranks in the near future.

After a rough 9th place finish at Skate Canada, Mirai Nagasu (USA) came into NHK Trophy looking for a repeat of the stellar performances that won her two pre-Grand Prix Challenger Series medals. Unfortunately, her long-time nemesis, underrotations, kept her from skating to her full potential. She wasn’t far off from the podium after the short, where she earned an underrotation on her 3F3T combination but still finished less than a point behind Satoko Miyahara. However, multiple underrotation calls in the free dragged her score down despite an otherwise-clean performance, keeping her down in 5th place overall (a repeat of last season). But Mirai is nothing if not a fighter, and we have faith in her as she heads into US nationals. Her programs this season are bound to be show-stoppers once skated clean (particularly her gorgeous The Winner Takes it All free), and we hope to see her do so in the near future.

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NHK Trophy 2016 (Men)

The last Grand Prix event of the season is always one of the most anticipated, as was the case with this year’s NHK. With Grand Prix Final spots at stake (and not necessarily just for those competing this week), the results of this event would determine the remaining half of the men’s lineup in Marseilles, France, next week. Though this competition itself turned out to be rather underwhelming, the resulting lineup for the GPF is one that we’re very excited for indeed. So without further ado, let’s take a look at this season’s final Grand Prix.

The Podium

Determined to do better than Skate Canada and put on a show for the home crowd, Yuzuru Hanyu (JPN) ran away with the gold medal and a 30-point lead despite being unable to live up to the groundbreaking performances from last year’s NHK. He landed his (new) signature 4Lo, which gave him problems in Mississiauga, in both the short and the free; In the free, he fell on the final of four quads (a 4S, his eternal nemesis) but otherwise had no major technical issues. Yuzuru is fielding a wonderful pair of programs this season, with an energetic rock-style short reminiscent of his Olympic Parisienne Walkways program, and a gorgeous Joe Hisaishi free. Our main gripe with him in this competition was his decision to replace his hideous SP costume with an even more hideous grape-colored version (and he didn’t even ditch the horrible vest). We do hope that he’ll take care of himself (especially since he still seemed a little tired at the end of his free), and be back in top shape in time to defend his GPF gold.

After missing out on a medal at the Trophee de France, we were certain that Nathan Chen (USA) would be back with a vengeance here a Sapporo--a frightening thought, considering his technical repertoire. Ultimately, mistakes in both programs kept him from putting on the perfect show-stopping performances we were hoping for (which, we suppose, is inevitable when you have 6 quads planned in both programs), but he did manage to claim both the silver and a spot at the Grand Prix Final in his senior debut season. He fell on his 4Lz attempts (which should have been in combination) in both the short and the free, but immediately made up for it by landing a 4F3T afterwards both times (because what is chill?)--something that no one (not even fellow sQuad member Shoma Uno) has been able to do thus far. He had to fight for all of his subsequent quads in the free and his ever-persistent triple axel problems continued to plague him, but overall he was still able to set a new season’s best for the free skate and overall scores. He’s also made great strides in the performance and musical interpretation departments, making his skating all the more enjoyable to watch. With Nathan joining the ranks of the world’s best in Marseilles, this year’s Grand Prix Final is shaping up to be one of the most exciting--and terrifying--ones yet.

Without a doubt, one of the most exciting parts of the men’s event was getting to see resident pop star Keiji Tanaka (JPN) earn his first ever Grand Prix medal with two decidedly pop-free programs. It’s been quite a struggle with consistency for Keiji since his senior debut two seasons ago; we saw visible improvement in his skating last season, and we’re thrilled that his efforts finally came to fruition here. His quad salchow gave him trouble as usual (though he did land a good one in combination in the free), but otherwise he was virtually error-free and was able to set personal bests in all three score categories. There are plenty of areas in his skating that could still use work (namely his spins and his expression). However, he’s already made vast improvements over the past couple of seasons, and we have no doubt that he will continue to work to go up from here. Though he is still prone to inconsistency, as we saw in Russia a few weeks ago, Keiji is slowly climbing his way to the top of the Japanese men’s pile. There is one wide-open spot on the national podium, and if Keiji can keep it up, he could easily challenge for not just that spot, but a spot on the 4CC and perhaps even the world team as well.

The Others

Resident Russian maverick Mikhail Kolyada (RUS) failed to improve upon his performance from the Rostelecom Cup, and once again came in one spot behind Alexei Bychenko. We’ve raved at length before about how much we love his spirited short, and he did not fail to deliver a good performance of it here in Sapporo. Unfortunately, a hand down on his opening 4T (which he still has issues with in terms of consistency) and a doubled jump in his combination took him down to 4th in the short amidst an incredibly deep men’s field. In the free, for whatever reason (perhaps emboldened by the presence of Yuzuru and Nathan), Mikhail, too, decided to pull a 4Lz out of nowhere. It didn’t go too well, though: he underrotated it and fell on both the 4Lz and his subsequent 4T. After also popping his second axel, Mikhail found himself down in 6th in the free. Unlike his short, this program was not as spirited, which was much more obvious after all the technical mistakes. That said, we do like Mikhail and see plenty of potential in him. Reigning Russian champion Maxim Kovtun has been struggling hard this season, but resident uncle Sergei Voronov has been making a comeback, and Mikhail is going to have to work hard to keep strides with him at Nationals this season.

Israeli veteran Alexei Bychenko (ISR) caused a bit of a stir when he claimed the bronze medal in Russia with two clean programs earlier this season and suddenly found himself in contention for a GPF spot. With a repeat performance, he could have easily challenged for the bronze here; unfortunately, low levels and a doubled 2T on top of a mistake on his quad left him in 7th after the short with only 75 points. With only a 5-point distance between him and 3rd place, he still had a shot at the podium with a clean free. However, no one aside from the top 3 seemed to have much luck with the free skate that night: Alexei himself tripled his first quad attempt and stepped out of what should have been a 3A3T combination, in addition to further struggles with his levels. He did manage to put on a cleaner program overall than most of the competition and pull himself up to 4th overall, but with a considerable point gap between him and 3rd place. With both Alexei and Daniel Samohin both packing the potential for great scores and both battling with inconsistency, it’ll be interesting to see which one comes out on top in the race for the spot on Israel’s world team.

After picking up a silver at Skate America, Jason Brown (USA) had a spot with his name on it at the GPF should he do well here. However, a litany of technical mistakes (led by his ever-persistent quad troubles) dragged him down into 7th place, his lowest GP placing ever. Though he stayed on his feet during his quad attempt in his short, it was later hit with a downgrade, and he also missed out on a few points due to a doubled 3T. Technical luck continued to evade him in the free, where the only successful jump with positive GOE he had was a 2A late in the program. After falling on his quad, he also turned out of both his 3A attempts (earning himself a slight REP deduction after being forced to drop the combination on the second 3A), and then doubled quite a few jumps as well. Jason is a great performer, and he managed to give us two wonderful performances in spite of all the technical errors, but we sincerely hope he’ll be able to get his technical consistency back up before US nationals!

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