Well, who would’ve expected this? The Russians are beatable after all! After the ladies short program, American Gracie Gold (71.26) sits in a surprising first place after throwing down a clean short program, a feat she’s only managed one other time this season. She went back to the red costume from last year, and apparently the costume karma works for her. She posted her season’s best score as well as the highest SP score by any American woman ever. Gracie current style is not my favorite, but my god, she is good when she is on. The jumps were huge and I think I even caught a facial expression or two in there! She was slightly second in TES and PCS to Tuktamysheva, both deserved in my opinion, but has placed first overall with no jump deductions. Current World Champion Elizaveta Tutktamysheva (70.93) sits in second place after falling on her triple axel attempt. The attempt paid off, though; she got full credit for the rotations and managed to stay only 0.33 points behind Gracie. After the 6,000 competitions she’s been in this year, you gotta give the girl props for having only one fall this season- on a triple axel, for goodness sake. She recovered well and I think she’s still performing at her highest level at this late point in the season, so kudos to her. She slightly bested Gold in TES and PCS, so without the 1 point fall deduction, she’d be in first. She still has an incredibly good shot to win here. Elena Radionova (68.77) from Russia sits in third place after a clean short program skate. She looked sharp and like she had a bit more spark than she did at Worlds a few weeks ago. Her short program -for me- just lacks the sophistication that the other competitors bring to the table and the GOE on her jumps are not as high as those of Gold and Tuktamysheva. This was a good start for her and I feel like she can easily move up in the long program. She is 2.16 points out of second and 2.49 out of first. American Ashley Wagner (64.55) also scored a season’s best short program score to place fourth. She got one under rotation call on her triple flip after but the rest of the program was solid. For Ashley, this was a good performance: she got level 4s on her spins as well as getting her first 3Lz-3T combo ratified by international judging. It’s nice to see that she recovered from her Worlds SP and it’s good news that the 3-3 is getting more consistent. She’s 3.22 points from the podium, so there’s a shot she can get that bronze medal spot, but she’d need a great LP and a mistake from above her. Japanese skaters Kanako Murakami (62.39) and Satoko Miyahara (60.52) are fifth and sixth respectively, after each getting an underrotation call. Satoko only did a double on the end of her 3F combo, but she managed to hold her program together. Kanako had a good skate and it’s nice to see her season ending well. China’s Zijun Li had a consistent skate to land in 7th, with one jump under rotation. Canada’s Gabrielle Daleman recovered nicely from her disappointing Worlds to have a clean skate in 8th place. Her teammate Alaine Chartrand had her 3-3 downgraded and suffered a jump deduction to finish 9th. France’s Laurine Lecavelier and Mae Berenice Meite sit 10th and 11th ahead of China’s Ziquan Zhao. I’ll be back in a bit to preview the long program and the final team results after the first three events!
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November 2017
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