Grand Prix Final 2015 - When the Difference is One Moment (Ladies' SP)

Figure skating used to be a sport safe for bets. The few extremely talented would get to the top and stay there for as long as they wanted. That was then, and this is now, and I wouldn't go back for the world. Because now we have enough excellent skaters to fill every inch of the ice were they all crammed together. Now, it's a jungle out there in the best of ways, because tough competition makes legends. Nowhere is this as obvious as in the ladies' discipline. Stay tuned for the best of Japan, Russia and the USA tonight in Barcelona.

We start in great style with Ashley Wagner. Love the sparkling black outfit looking like the perfect little dress to wear to a party. Unfortunately, she steps out of the triple Flip, falls on the triple Toeloop and likely under-rotates the triple Loop. Her score: 60.04.
Elena Radionova skating to Je T'aime by Lara Fabian

Elena Radionova has matured so much since last season, I forgot she's still only 16. This short programme is definitely fit for a young woman. She touches the ice with the free leg on the triple Lutz despite trying her best to control it. She gets 69.43 points.

We're back on the dance floor with Mao Asada. It's superstar quality from the Japanese for half the routine. Then she singles the Lutz and the atmosphere loses some of its electricity. Her elegance is unparalleled though. Her score: 69.13.

The dance vibes are still in the air as Satoko Miyahara does the flamenco on Firedance. She makes no mistake whatsoever tonight. Lovely to see how many Japanese fans traveled to Spain to support their skaters. She gets 68.76 points. I agree with the crowd: she deserves more!

Evgenia Medvedeva changes the mood with a sad, melancholic, but inspiring song. There is an awkward moment during a transition right at the beginning of the programme, when she seems to struggle with the position, but all the actual elements are flawless. Her score: 74.58.

Gracie Gold tries her best to catch the top three ladies, but she is not quite there. Unluckily, she jumps a double Flip on its own, which is not allowed in the short programme. This is another minuscule moment that ruins an entire performance, I'm afraid. She gets 66.52 points.

The crowd is not too pleased about that last score. If you are wondering why, I would imagine some people might not know double jumps on their own in the short programme are not taken into consideration. Therefore Gracie got nothing for the Flip. But that's what happens when you have nothing but greatness in a competition: the tiniest loss of concentration can bring everything tumbling down. Don't miss the final when Evgenia, Elena and Mao will have their final say about who gets which medal.

Comments

  1. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 21:57

    Go, Elena, go Evgenia!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 21:58

    I conceed on gracie, Checking my ISU rule book Diana you are correct on this. and I came into the preformance half way, I will not conceed on Satoko. The PCS scores on Satoko were way too low.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Daiana Damacus11 December 2015 at 21:59

      I don't know what happened there. The crowd got really mad, started booing and for good reason. She was splendid.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 22:06

      Diana, Satoko got hit for using the wrong edge on her flip. Olunya Ryznoff dug it up. It is documented in her scoring. We didn't see the slo mo from our persepctive.

      Delete
    3. Daiana Damacus11 December 2015 at 22:06

      Ok, that makes a bit more sense for the technical part.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 22:07

      Case in point, this is why you need a lot of skating bloggers, its not like American NFLfootball and you can stop play. It is good to question if something isn't right, do a little investigation and have a discussion. Skating rules are a bit complicated, and some of us know them very well, they are changed and someone catches something someone else misses, and sometimes the slow motion catch something we do not see.

      Delete
  3. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 22:10

    Single flutz by Mao Asada and double flip by Gracie, such a pity for a silly mistake which costs a lot.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 22:11

    wrong edge on Flip would be Flutz, e.g. using outside edge to do a flip (supposed to be inside edge). Some skaters make it very hard to see the pronounced J or C as they jump until you see it in slow mo.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11 December 2015 at 22:12

      As per new rules, e costs a fortune in the short ...

      Delete

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