What's Next for Alaine Chartrand?

[4everchan]

woot woot

I think she'll land a 3a in competition :yay:

Good for Alaine! I can say I saw a fully rotated 3A from a lady in international competition now!

 

[cheerknithanson]

Good for Alaine! I can say I saw a fully rotated 3A from a lady in international competition now!

Wait you're right! I was there so I can take away that I saw a ladies skater do a fully rotated 3A live! Fall or not.

 

[silverlake22]

I think Alaine's presentation and overall skating has actually improved a lot since last season. I like her SP a lot, but her not so great jump technique usually seems to catch up with her in the FS. For the most part she's pretty consistent (though she bombed her FS at SA), but her FS scores are not great because her jumps seem to be UR, 2 footed, or just not landed great more often than not. I'd like to see her work on cleaning up her technique and if she's able to do that I think she has a chance to become the top lady in Canada eventually. I love her speed, but she seems like one of those skaters who doesn't really have reliable technique on her flip and lutz so she just relies on all that speed to get the jumps around, which sometimes works but doesn't always make for a very consistent jump.

I felt bad seeing her so sad in the Kiss N Cry after her FS. That was a rough skate, but out of fairness to her, most of the first group did skate pretty well, so I think in a different field she may not have fallen all the way to last place. In any event, I hope she can skate well in Russia!

 

[chuckm]

Wait you're right! I was there so I can take away that I saw a ladies skater do a fully rotated 3A live! Fall or not.

If she fell on a fully rotated 3a and then went on to skate a great FS, that would be something to celebrate. But what good is a fully rotated 3a with a fall if nearly all the jumps after that were fallen on, stepped out of, double-footed or UR?

Anyway, we have already seen Liza Tuk land fully rotated 3As in international competition without falling, and within successfully completed winning programs.

I still think Alaine needs to clean up her basic skating before even thinking of trying again to include the 3A in her programs.

 

[sabinfire]

If she fell on a fully rotated 3a and then went on to skate a great FS, that would be something to celebrate. But what good is a fully rotated 3a with a fall if nearly all the jumps after that were fallen on, stepped out of, double-footed or UR?

Anyway, we have already seen Liza Tuk land fully rotated 3As in international competition without falling, and within successfully completed winning programs.

Hey chuck, we're talking about seeing the 3A with our own eyeballs at the rink during the competition. That's what we're celebrating.

 

[Sabrina]

I love Alaine, and I really hope she gets more competitions and improve her jumps. But I really don't know what's wrong with her jumping technique. In the 3Lz3T she generally has a nice Lz but, most often has a double foot/UR landing for the 3T. She rarely does this combination really perfect. I was amazed she tried the 3A. She looked OK in the air, but poor her she could't keep the landing position. I think training for such a difficult jump could lead to injuries/fatigue and hamper the rest of the jumps. This applies mostly to women. Some men may have a similar problem with quadruples.

 

[sabinfire]

Here's CBC HD coverage of Alaine's FS, with an interview! "I hope to be the first Canadian lady to do 3A this season, that's one of my goals."

https://youtu.be/imRtBLdwDhQ

 

[Jammers]

Alaine looks so much like Gracie it's scary. Especially when she takes her opening pose.

 

[Osmond4gold]

Thanks for the link sabinfire.

Alaine's 3Z has been her most consistent jump. After reviewing the clip and the falls on her 2 first jumps (3A, then 3Z), I am wondering if she hurt herself during the 3A attempt? This may explain what happened to the program.

 

[Osmond4gold]

Alaine looks so much like Gracie it's scary. Especially when she takes her opening pose.

I have said the same thing on here previously, Jammers...remarkable how similar their features are, isn't it.

 

[silverlake22]

Alaine looks so much like Gracie it's scary. Especially when she takes her opening pose.

The dresses are similar but I think they look nothing alike facially. Gracie is also like 6 inches taller and blonder. Not seeing the similarity, though both are cute girls.

Maybe slowing down would help Alaine's jumps? She seems to fly across the rink and maybe that makes the jumps harder to control?

 

[Osmond4gold]

Not even a hint silverlake22?

Here's a pic from a previous competition...perhaps it is just in the moment or in a pose, but for a brief second I need to ask myself which skater am I looking at.

https://www.bing.com/images/search?...96d8e80b7d0f0f0ae3f69e9ee5ada4eco0&ajaxhist=0

 

[blue_idealist]

I don't think Alaine looks like Gracie. She, Rajicova, and Wagner look alike. Gracie looks like Alexa Scimeca.

 

[chuckm]

I've always thought Gracie and Alexa look a lot alike, but never saw much of a resemblance between Alaine and Gracie.

 

[Osmond4gold]

I've always thought Gracie and Alexa look a lot alike, but never saw much of a resemblance between Alaine and Gracie.

I too see a resemblance, from the eyebrows up. I believe they have the same hairdresser.

Getting back to topic, I am thinking Alaine may have injured herself, attempting to land the 3A. She was unstable for the rest of the program including her 3Z which traditionally has been her go to jump...thoughts?

 

[chuckm]

Alaine sometimes two-foots the 3z, just as she does her other jumps. It's one habit she needs to break ASAP, because callers know she does this so they review all her jumps for two-footing and URs.

 

[Alex D]

Just going to repost from my column.

5.0 Tears don´t lie (Alaine and the triple Axel)

Last but not least, a few words about Alaine who finished 12th. While I am sure she didn't trash anything backstage, she surely had to wipe away quite a lot of tears and it is such a pity you know. The Canadian has one of the best short programs of the season, she just skates Pina so lovely and it is just amazing how naughty and sexy she can be there.
Her free on the other side, is always ambitious, full with difficulties like her triple Axel at the start. Unfortunately, seems exactly this to be the problem. Opening with the toughest jump for the ladies can work, but if it doesn´t, it can blow the rest of the program and leave you with nothing but insecurity and exactly this seemed to have happened with Alaine.

To me, what she does is exactly what I would expect her to do, she is a tough cookie and she want´s to show her full potential to the audience.
If I would be a skater, I would probably do the same, after all she is totally capable of doing that element. Then again, her "Gone With The Wind" program, has such a great flair and her attitude is absolutely gorgeous, that overdoing it, by adding too many difficulties might over-complicate things.

Kaetlyn said it right, if you just have the triple Axel and nothing else, then this won´t get you anywhere. In Alaine´s case, it´s all a learning process and with Brian Orser, she has a patient and a very skilled coach to help her through this. The talent is there, she is definitely one of the future stars, she just needs to be patient and especially look at her SP and see how beautiful her skating can be.

There is a reason why she is recognized by people and you can even say there is a reason why I type this down now and already did so during Nebelhorn. Skaters with attitude and charisma are important for the sport and let´s be honest, this little whirlwind has been so fun to watch and I am sure I wasn't the only one with a tear in his eyes, when she was sitting there, trying to hide her own behind the bouquet of flowers.

Alaine Chartrand, the 19 years old from Prescott, will go her way, I am sure of that and I can not wait to get an interview done with her, to get a few naughty replies for my silly questions.

So to sum up, she has the potential, but she does not need the element to shine. She is a very nice skater also without the 3A, yet it is understandable that she has the desire to show that element. Whatever she decides, I wish her the best of luck for it.

 

[chuckm]

Alaine was in 2nd place after the SP at CoR, and would you believe she went for the 3A AGAIN?

This time it was 3a<<↓ followed by two more falls, a ur and another dg. At least this time Alaine ended up 6th, not last.

Just before she skated, Sotnikova had scored 119.3 and Medvedeva 139. She would have needed a score of 118 to beat Sotnikova for bronze. IMO, if she skated her FS the way she skated her SP -- that is, cleanly, with no URs, stepouts or double-footing -- she could have earned the 118 points and the bronze medal.

But Alaine instead went down in flames once again.

You could see Orser in the KnC shaking his head and wondering Why, Why, Why.

How many times can this debacle be repeated before Alaine realizes that there IS NO EASY WAY TO BECOME A CHAMPION. It takes hard work and dedication to get basic skating to a point where clean performances are the norm, and medals are readily doable. Landing a 3a one time in 20 will get you a 3a one time in 20 and that is all.

 

[witcher]

It was the most absurd strategy you can imagine. She had a medal around her neck before the free skate basically and like 1% chance for gold.

She needs to build her reputation, take all these little chances, garner the medals, strenghten the confidence step by step and she is not 15-17 from some second-tier country with no good female skaters to have much time for errors...
Such a shame, she has this amazing energy, speed, jumps elevation alongside nice elegance - she reminds me a bit all those Russian junior girls with her quickness, it's a rare quality among seniors. My fave Canadiand lady by far.

 

[cheerknithanson]

I'm not going to mope and groan here. I'm going to say well done for breaking her PB for FP PCS and total competition score.

Yes it is a slight shame. But I'm not going to be on a bash-fest.