Graceful for Gold, Part 2

Japan and Russia are in a serious competition for the gold medal. Will experience or youth win the day?


  • Gabrielle Daleman has a lot of work ahead of her. Wearing a sparkling purple costume, the Canadian lands a dodgy triple Lutz, completely fails the triple Flip and the triple Salchow and ends with an over-rotated double Axel. The program doesn't say much artistically either, but Gabrielle can pull of some beautiful spins. She gets 92.00 points. Overall: 140.82.
  • Lenaelle Gilleron-Gorry's geisha costume is the only beautiful part of her program. Failing all the Flip jumps and a triple Toeloop makes her lose energy and brings her presentation grades down. Her score: 72.39. Overall: 121.80.
  • The distance between technical elements and presentation is huge today for Elizaveta Tuktamysheva. First she jumps a single Lutz, then she over-rotates the double Axel and falls on the triple Toeloop, and finally, she has a dodgy landing on the last double Toeloop. And yet, her presentation doesn't seem to notice all the mistakes, which proves what a mature young lady she is. She gets 102.22 points. Overall: 152.16.
  • Zijun Li is pretty and delicate, but a fighter, so Tchaikovski's Sleeping Beauty fits her like a glove. Although she struggles a bit in the beginning, the Chinese performs a clean routine with a choreography that is in perfect union with the music. Her score: 118.34. Overall: 171.50.
  • What a beautiful song did Kexin Zhang chose for her free skate, Valley of the Wind by Joe Hisaishi. Her only mistake is touching the ice with her hand on the triple Loop. She has a decent presentation, although at times she skated a bit too slow. She gets 100.52 points. Overall: 155.49.
  • Kaetlyn Osmond starts her program in a winning fashion, with seductive poses and great speed, but falls on the triple Toeloop right in the middle of it. Still, this is a great rendition of Carmen, that, with three different teams choosing it as their free-skate music, is the most popular suite of the season. Her score: 109.67. Overall: 174.85.
  • Mae Berenice Meite shows us a beautiful rendition of 1001 Nights; too bad she falls on the triple Lutz and has a couple of other small mistakes. She gets 101.20 points. Overall: 159.71.
  • The crowd goes wild during Mao Asada's performance, cheering and clapping along, proving that classic music (Tchaikovski's Swan Lake, to be more precise) is as good at driving fans mad as any rock band out there. But the real wow-factor here is Miss Asada, whose two tiny mistakes (a double-footed jump and a dodgy landing) barely matter when compared to the artistry of her program. Her score: 117.97. Overall: 177.36.
  • Ashley Wagner delivers the first perfect program of the night. Skating on Samson and Delilah, the American gets a standing ovation from both fans and fellow-athletes. Team USA's cheers almost blow the speakers out. She gets 128.83 points. Overall: 188.60.
  • It is a big night for team USA as both their girls did a fantastic job. Gracie Gold's life must be really beautiful after a flawless performance like that. Her score: 127.05. Overall: 188.03.
  • It is high time Akiko Suzuki got back in the game. Best costume, best music choice and best choreography of the season , in other words, best long program. She gets 133.02 points. Overall: 199.58.
  • Skating after Suzuki's program must not have been easy, but Adelina Sotnikova manages the situation pretty well. Although she lost the gold medal when falling on the triple Flip, you can't really blame the 16-year-old for anything, as her program was even more enjoyable to watch than before. Can't wait to see what she does next season. Her score: 115.97. Overall: 183.10.


This World Team Trophy, experience won the battle, but there will be a time when we'll be able to call Adelina Sotnikova an experienced skater too, and then, you'd better get ready to see some amazing skating competitions. For now, congratulations to Akiko Suzuki for what truly was the most beautiful LP of the season (and for the gold medal), congratulations to Ashley Wagner for her silver medal and congratulations to Gracie Gold for taking team USA to the highest step of the podium with her bronze medal.

For full results, go to: http://www.isuresults.com/results/wtt2013/
To see the competition, go to: http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/site/index.html

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