Skate America 2016 - The New Generation (Ladies' Final)
The Grand Prix Series have started! Hooray, woohoo, finally! Taking place in Chicago, Illinois, Skate America has already begun and given us the first potential winner. After an amazing performance at the World Championships, Ashley Wagner secured the best spot for winning the first Grand Prix event of the season. Mai Mihara, of Japan, is on second despite this being her first Senior Grand Prix event ever, ahead of Gracie Gold and Mao Asada.
Kanako Murakami's disappointing performance in the short means she gets to start the final. She skates to E lucevan le stelle, a piece of music that starts softly and ends grandly. She double-foots the landing of the triple Flip and altogether looks a little disheartened. Really feeling for her, so I hope her season goes only up from here. Her score: 97.16. Overall: 145.03.
We change the musical style with Angelina Kuchvalska's Carmina Burana. This is more dramatic than Kanako's programme, and I can see the potential of the routine, but her presentation is not quite as intense as the music. She falls twice, steps out of the triple Toeloop, stumbles during the step sequence and singles out of the double Axel. She has good speed in the beginning, but it fades towards the end. She gets 87.17 points. Overall: 134.97.
Russia's Serafima Sakhanovich skates to a soundtrack already made famous in figure skating by her co-national ice dancers, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev. She pairs The Man with the Harmonica with the soundtrack of Amelie. Not sure how I feel about this musical combination yet, but I do like her triple Loop with the arms aloft. No obvious mistakes, but a shakier performance than we'd expect from other Russian ladies. Her score: 107.32. Overall: 163.84.
Roberta Rodeghiero's trademark style seems to be simple, but modern and elegant. I find her routines easy to connect with because they feel quite relevant to the times we live in. This season the music is a medley of Natalie Cole songs. Unfortunately, she puts a hand down on the triple Flip, doubles out of the triple Loop, falls on the second triple Flip and finally double-foots the landing of the double Axel. She gets 96.51 points. Overall: 149.13.
Maybe it's because I've seen this song used many times before, but So Youn Park's Aranjuez Mon Amour just doesn't stand out to me. She doubles out of two triples and falls on the triple Flip. Her score: 103.20. Overall: 161.36.
Gabrielle Daleman's routine is filled with ups and downs. The way she uses expansive movements to present Rhapsody in Blue is just beautiful, but she falls quite badly on the triple Flip and double-foots the landing of the triple Loop. She gets 122.14 points. Overall: 186.63.
Mao Asada's El amor brujo was supposed to be a fiery display of power, but with a handful of technical mistakes in the second half, it falls short of what it could have been. I'm also a bit worried about the fact she's taken the triple Axel out intentionally. Her score: 112.31. Overall: 176.78.
Having nothing to lose surely pays off as Mariah Bell's discovering. Her East of Eden routine is sweet and peaceful, but, more importantly in a competition which has seen too many mistakes already, clean. Everybody is loving it. She gets 130.67 points. Overall: 191.59.
Mai Mihara does not disappoint me. Cinderella's soundtrack is magical and it seems to work very well with her skating style. There are errors however - the landing of the triple Toeloop and doubling out of the triple Salchow. Her score: 123.53. Overall: 189.28.
Nothing sums up Ashley Wagner's performance better than Rafael's "Good girl," clearly heard over the music. This is another amazing performance even though she has to fight for a couple of jumps. I really love her choice of costumes this season and the vibe of strength she emanates. I'm really excited about her season. She gets 126.94 points. Overall: 196.44.
Oh my! Gracie Gold's Daphnis and Chloe is quite painful to watch. She falls on both the triple Loop and triple Salchow and those are only at the top of the error list. Her score: 119.35. Overall: 184.22.
And there you have it! Ashley Wagner wins her second gold medal at Skate America after delivering my favourite routine of the night. Mariah Bell takes Chicago by storm and goes home with a silver medal, while debutante Mai Mihara gets the bronze. Looks like a new generation of stars has been born here tonight.
Kanako Murakami's disappointing performance in the short means she gets to start the final. She skates to E lucevan le stelle, a piece of music that starts softly and ends grandly. She double-foots the landing of the triple Flip and altogether looks a little disheartened. Really feeling for her, so I hope her season goes only up from here. Her score: 97.16. Overall: 145.03.
We change the musical style with Angelina Kuchvalska's Carmina Burana. This is more dramatic than Kanako's programme, and I can see the potential of the routine, but her presentation is not quite as intense as the music. She falls twice, steps out of the triple Toeloop, stumbles during the step sequence and singles out of the double Axel. She has good speed in the beginning, but it fades towards the end. She gets 87.17 points. Overall: 134.97.
Russia's Serafima Sakhanovich skates to a soundtrack already made famous in figure skating by her co-national ice dancers, Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev. She pairs The Man with the Harmonica with the soundtrack of Amelie. Not sure how I feel about this musical combination yet, but I do like her triple Loop with the arms aloft. No obvious mistakes, but a shakier performance than we'd expect from other Russian ladies. Her score: 107.32. Overall: 163.84.
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| The big surprise of Skate America 2016 has been Japan's Mai Mihara Photograph: Tasos Katopodis / Getty Images North America |
Maybe it's because I've seen this song used many times before, but So Youn Park's Aranjuez Mon Amour just doesn't stand out to me. She doubles out of two triples and falls on the triple Flip. Her score: 103.20. Overall: 161.36.
Gabrielle Daleman's routine is filled with ups and downs. The way she uses expansive movements to present Rhapsody in Blue is just beautiful, but she falls quite badly on the triple Flip and double-foots the landing of the triple Loop. She gets 122.14 points. Overall: 186.63.
Mao Asada's El amor brujo was supposed to be a fiery display of power, but with a handful of technical mistakes in the second half, it falls short of what it could have been. I'm also a bit worried about the fact she's taken the triple Axel out intentionally. Her score: 112.31. Overall: 176.78.
Having nothing to lose surely pays off as Mariah Bell's discovering. Her East of Eden routine is sweet and peaceful, but, more importantly in a competition which has seen too many mistakes already, clean. Everybody is loving it. She gets 130.67 points. Overall: 191.59.
Mai Mihara does not disappoint me. Cinderella's soundtrack is magical and it seems to work very well with her skating style. There are errors however - the landing of the triple Toeloop and doubling out of the triple Salchow. Her score: 123.53. Overall: 189.28.
Nothing sums up Ashley Wagner's performance better than Rafael's "Good girl," clearly heard over the music. This is another amazing performance even though she has to fight for a couple of jumps. I really love her choice of costumes this season and the vibe of strength she emanates. I'm really excited about her season. She gets 126.94 points. Overall: 196.44.
Oh my! Gracie Gold's Daphnis and Chloe is quite painful to watch. She falls on both the triple Loop and triple Salchow and those are only at the top of the error list. Her score: 119.35. Overall: 184.22.
And there you have it! Ashley Wagner wins her second gold medal at Skate America after delivering my favourite routine of the night. Mariah Bell takes Chicago by storm and goes home with a silver medal, while debutante Mai Mihara gets the bronze. Looks like a new generation of stars has been born here tonight.
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