The ladies long program at World Team Trophy ended a lot like the podium at the World Championships, with Tuktamysheva, Radionova and Saktoko Miyahara finishing 1-2-3.
Elizaveta Tuktamysheva opened her free skate with a STUNNINGLY GORGEOUS triple axel... I mean, it looked really great, guys. This was the first time she added the 3A in her free program and I could see how spending all of that energy on the axel in the front of her program really hurt the rest of her skating. She jumped fine for the most part, but she did pop a triple loop later in the program. Overall, Liza understandably looked very tired, and her performance was really lacking for me. The 3A swayed the judges into giving her incredible PCS anyways, and she walked away with another win under her belt. Her Russian teammate, Elena Radionova skated well in the free skate to place second. I could tell that Elena had improved her performance from Worlds when she was sick, but I don't know, something about her skating has really lost its luster for me. I think she needs some smoother edges and jump landings, as everything just seemed really scratchy to me. What she will always have going for her is her impressive technical consistency and that is what carries her to the podium at every event. Hopefully she matures and smoothes out next season. Japan's Satoko Miyahara proved she very well deserved her Worlds silver medal with a fantastic free skate in Tokyo. The entire performance was light, airy, and she only got one under rotation call on her triple flip. I love this free skate for Miyahara and there is just something aesthetically pleasing about her skating quality. What a wonderful season she had and I can't wait to see what programs she puts out next year. PS- watch her exhibition performance- it's beautiful! Ashley Wagner skated well in the free skate to stay in fourth place overall. Her jumps looked good on first glance, but she got several under rotations and edge calls, which have plagued her all season. If you add her SP and LP scores together, his was actually her best overall competition of the season- due to her season's best score in the short program. It's nice to see she didn't entirely run out steam through this long season and- for her- she truly made great progress this year. Fellow American Gracie Gold ended her hot-and-cold season in exactly that fashion- hot, then cold. She surprisingly won the short program and then made mistakes in the long program, falling on her first triple lutz and falling out of other jumps to end in fifth. It's so frustrating to watch Gracie compete! She could medal at every single competition she enters, but she's always a hot mess mentally and dead performance-wise. The judges continue to give her high PCS, though, (too high, IMO) so you can tell they WANT to put her at the top. She has the green light but can't ever seem to take it! If you add the SP and LP scores together, Gracie would hang on to third place due to her strong short and Satoko wouldn't have been able to take over Ashley for fourth. Elizaveta Tuktamysheva: 70.93 + 134.21= 205.14 Elena Radionova: 68.77 + 129.73= 198.5 Gracie Gold: 71.26 + 124.29= 195.55 Ashley Wagner: 64.55 + 126.46= 191.01 Satoko Miyahara: 60.52 + 129.12= 189.64 Even though this season is sadly at the end, I will be passing the time by blogging my thoughts on the season as a whole and previewing next season as well. Keep your eye out for my First Annual Figuratively Speaking Awards- I will be asking you to vote with me for the bests and worsts of the season!
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November 2017
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