Crystal Skate

Bradie Tennell took home a surprising bronze medal The ladies' competition in Grenoble started as most do these days - with Japanese and Russian skaters going against each other for the top three positions. At the end of the short programme, Japan was winning (by less than a point), but the possibility to see Russia on the podium in the form of Evgenia Medvedeva was very much real. Stanislava Konstantinova  began the event with a flawless performance of Anna Karenina . I loved the costume, the way her hair matched the era the story is from and the neckline detail that made her look as if she was wearing a pearl necklace. Score: 134.76  -> 189.67 . Laurine Lecavelier  followed with a sexier routine, set to I'll Take Care of You . Her performance was for the most part alright despite doubling out of both the 3Flip and Salchow, but then at the very end, she fell on the 3Loop. Score: 105.58  -> 157.24 Laurine Lecavelier of France I thought Matilda Al...

Gilles and Poirier's spectacular curve lift The biggest news of the Internationaux de France was without a doubt that Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron were participating. The French couple had to withdraw from the NHK Trophy due to an injury, which scared a lot of their fans. Hopefully, their presence here meant that Guillaume is feeling much better. The rhythmic dance saw Victoria Sinitsina/Nikita Katsalapov and Piper Gilles/Paul Poirier behind the French in podium placements, something that didn't seem likely to change at the start of the final. The first couple was French - Adelina Galyavieva/Louis Thauron  - and told us a French tale - Amelie . The choreography played a lot on the idea of getting lost and found. She was super expressive, stealing the attention from him, which might have been planned, given that this was the story of one of the most famous French female characters. Score: 90.84  -> 146.05 . The next skaters were Allison Reed/Saulius A...

The winner, after a shaky short programme, was Nathan Chen The results of the men's short programme left a lot of figure skater fans baffled, particularly those like me, who didn't watch it. The standings at the start of the final had Jason Brown first, Alexander Samarin second, Nathan Chen third, Boyang Jin seventh and Dmitri Aliev ninth. There might be others who surprised you, but these were the names that stood out to me the most. The final therefore started with all possibilities widely open. We were off to a rocky start with Daniel Samohin 's rendition of Once Upon a Time in Mexico . The Israeli fell on a 3Salchow and both 3Axels before losing control of the change combination spin. He couldn't find it in him to mask the disappointment, so the presentation got worse the more errors he made. Score: 133.66  -> 205.99 . Keiji Tanaka  followed in Daniel's footsteps - he stepped out of three jumps (4Salchow, 3Axel and 3Lutz) as well as tripled out of th...

Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-Luc Baker took the gold for USA The ice dance competition was the land of opportunity in Hiroshima. All the skaters were couples that had never really been in the spotlight before. The short ended with Russia and USA in podium positions, but so close to one another, no one was safe. The event started with the host's Misato Komatsubara/Tim Koleto . The two skated to Une histoire d'amour  and made no errors. My favourite thing about their choreography was how it put each of them individually in the spotlight, particularly in the mid-line step sequence - you don't often see this in ice dance. Score: 94.87  -> 154.27 . Alexandra Nazarova/Maxim Nikitin  followed with a crazy balance on their curve lift, but the first positions of the twizzles not in sync. They wore very glitzy costumes that matched the Charlie Chaplin theme, but I found her boots too chunky-looking. Score: 93.02  -> 153.22 . Troubles with the twizzles continued ...

Italy's Matteo Rizzo was the underdog of the night The men's final might not have been the main event of the competition in Hiroshima (see the ladies' for that), but there were still some amazing skaters - rising stars, solid veterans or established prodigies - to look forward to. June Hyoung Lee  started the event with a couple of big mistakes - a fall on the 3Axel, another on the 2Loop and a hand down on the 3Salchow. The music was Piano Concerto Number 2  by Rachmaninoff. Score: 122.10  -> 188.26 . Kevin Reynolds  has a lot of fans in Japan, and they cheered him on, despite his doubling out of the 3Axel and 4Toeloop, as well as stepping out of the 3Lutz. Kevin has had a bad Grand Prix experience all season long, and the performance in Hiroshima was unfortunately not an exception. Score: 121.53  -> 182.67 . Hiroaki Sato  received loads of support as well, but he would have also probably liked to do much better. He doubled out of a 3Toeloo...

The winner: Rika Kihira Japan's greatest stakes were in the ladies' competition, where they knew they had the power to even take all the steps of the podium. However, there were some pretty strong rivals to defeat in order to get there. Australia's Kailani Craine  was not one of said rivals. She fell on the 3Lutz, but otherwise held herself together despite looking exhausted and nervous. Loved the showgirl attitude which shone throughout the choreography and her presentation. Score: 96.01  -> 154.22 . Mae Berenice Meite  had had a nightmare in the short programme, but picked herself up in the final. Her only mistake was a fall on a 2Loop. I'm not sure the music she chose fits her - she's a very powerful skater and the music just didn't seem to match her style. Score: 112.09  -> 162.58 . Courtney Hicks  had reasons to be proud of herself. Her only mistakes were doubling out of a 3Salchow and 3Lutz, but she kept the distraught facial expression on...

Alexa Scimeca Knierim & Chris Knierim were the biggest fighters of the day The pairs' final showcased a lot of strong couples and complex, difficult routines. Unlike the ice dance, some of the skaters we expect to compete for some of the most important titles at the end of the season were present. Natalia Zabiiako/Alexander Enbert  fit into this category. One of the most interesting battles, which we might see at the Grand Prix Final, will be between them and their co-nationals, Tarasova/Morozov. Until then though, they won the NHK Trophy with a sad love story and a single mistake of not jumping the 3Salchows in sync. Their score was 140.66  for the free and 214.14  in total. I am still surprised by the silver medalists, Cheng Peng/Yang Jin . I remember when they were first paired up and they were so awkward many people didn't give them much time together. Well, those people were wrong! Their relationship has grown a lot and her confidence is glowing these da...

Kaitlin Hawayek and Jean-Luc Baker's Tango Romantica The biggest news about the NHK Trophy this season was the withdrawal of superstars Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, due to his having injured his back. As sad as this left all figure skating fans, the media immediately filled headlines with the opportunities their absence brought for other couples. Boy, were they right! With none of the big names attending, the rhythmic dance left the ice rink wide open for up and coming skaters. Tiffani Zagorski/Jonathan Guerreiro  had the most to gain from the absence of the French, Although I personally think they still have a lot to learn about presenting anxious music, they were super fast throughout the routine and displayed great basic skating skills. They took the lead with 75.49  points, which was a season's best for them. Right after, with 70.71  points, came Kaitlin Hawayek/Jean-Luc Baker . The two had the tinniest trouble when he stumbled during the first ...

Who says you can't wear fake armour on ice? Not Natalia Zabjiako and Alexander Enbert If you ask me what my favourite Grand Prix event is, I will say without a doubt that it's the NHK Trophy. Why? It's easy! The atmosphere in the ice rink is second to none. Japanese fans can appreciate great figure skating louder and more energetically than any other nation. That energy is felt even by far away viewers like me. So although it is always being held nine hours ahead of my timezone, I never fail to catch up on it. Hosted by Hiroshima, this season's NHK Trophy was as exciting as ever, particularly in the ladies and men's events. Despite the fact Elizaveta Tuktamysheva  was the main rival of all their best skaters (and indeed finished first with 76.17 points), the Japanese crowd rained gifts on her as soon as she finished her brilliant performance. She reminded me of Mao Asada, the last skater who got the crowd on their feet because of perfectly executed 3Axels. It...

The men's short programme was without a doubt the most thrilling in Helsinki. Not only did we watch top skaters compete against each other, but we also saw how easy the leader can change at this level. It all culminated of course with Yuzuru Hanyu being first at a very comfortable distance from Michal Brezina, who is on second with also quite a gap between himself and Boyang Jin, who is third. I'm sure the final will provide some equally exciting action. We're not off to a good start, I'm afraid. Philip Harris  doubles out of the 3Toeloop, Flip and Loop, puts a hand down on the second 3Axel and falls on the 3Toeloop. The song he skates to, Coldplay's Fix You , is one we've often seen in figure skating lately. Score: 123.67  -> 182.66 . Valtter Virtanen  is a slight improvement both from the Brit and from his own performance yesterday. He steps out of the 4Toeloop and singles the 3Axel. Choreography-wise, I really like the storytelling approach to La Strad...

The Rhythmic Dance was the only event I knew what to expect of. At the end of it, I got exactly what I expected: Stepanova & Bukin are first, Guignard & Fabbri are second and McNamara & Carpenter are third. The situation is not likely to be changed by the end of the final, but we'll see. Regardless of the standings, we're likely to see some solid performances tonight. Shari Koch/Christian Nuchtern  are the first to go on the ice. I love their costumes, which are really authentic, but they are a bit slow throughout the routine. She also wobbles during the dance sequence. Score: 86.91  -> 143.62 . Katarina Muller/Tim Dieck 's choreography is much more innovative and complex than that of their co-nationals. This is the second time I see this programme and I have to say, it's better this time around. She does fall during a step sequence though. Score: 87.00  -> 143.59 . Betina Popovici/Sergey Mozgov  truly impress me. Their spin is one of the most...

The biggest surprise of the short programme was seeing Kaori Sakamoto end on seventh place. At almost the opposite end of the rankings, Alina Zagitova finished right where everyone put her: first position. How are these two ladies going to fare in the final? The Russian is bound to keep her place, but how high can the Japanese rise? These are the main questions swarming in my head before this final. Rika Honko  goes first, which is a position she must not be used to - we normally see her in the last group of the Grand Prix events. I didn't see her skate yesterday, but I imagine this is miles away from that. The choreography of Child of Nazareth  is intense and energetic, just as we are used to seeing from her. She makes no mistakes. Score: 105.48  -> 156.59 . Viveca Lindfors  comes out wearing a gorgeous costume which you could easily turn into a gown fit for the Oscars, so I am a bit surprised to see the routine is set to Les Miserables . That being said, the...

The winners of the day, Russia's Natalia Zabijako & Alexander Enbert The level of difficulty is not very high in the pairs competition in Helsinki, but like I said yesterday, this is a chance for some of the pairs we usually see around the podium to have a taste of being top contenders. It's going to be a great lesson for all of them, I'm sure. Laura Barquero/Aritz Maestu  start off with an improved performance since yesterday, despite a few mistakes still creeping in: the side-by-side combination is way out of sync and the Axel lasso lift is very shaky. That being said, all the other lifts are breathtaking - they make great use of her unbelievable flexibility. Score: 98.63  -> 149.54 . Miu Suzaki/Ryuichi Kihara  begin with a dodgy 3Twist lift, after which she double-foots the 3Flip and falls on the throw version of the same jump. So, today is not a day for the Flip. I really like the very last part of the choreography, when everything seems faster because...