2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

klutzy · Oct 19, 2018

I don't have a good feeling about Karen at this point--she did such a mental number on herself last season and there doesn't seem to be anyone on her team who gets her out of her head. Really talented, but technically she kind of plateaued and seem to waste her energy and time last season going back and forth trying to find the "perfect" program instead of sticking to a program, delving into it and learning to skate it really, really well.

A lot of its immaturity, but skating's a young sport--will Karen have time to develop and get her head together--particular with injuries this season? I look at what a hard time Polina E. has had coming back and she's been far more grounded than Karen.

Karen makes me wish that the professional skating circuit were still around because she's really more of an artist than a stone-cold competitor.

Sam-Skwantch · Oct 19, 2018

First time I noticed Bradie was at skate Detroit (2015 ??) I was glued to that event because I knew a few skaters and coaches competing there. Bradie caught my eye after the SP and a few GS posters recommended I check out this SP performance from her.

https://youtu.be/TbrA599C_u4

You can see she has an excellent combination of grace and power. Her spins hit excellent positions and there is an obvious power and tidiness that catches your attention. Her skating skills and cool little Walley entrances showed me she had the potential to challenge the US field with interesting skating. Her jumps have a nice running edge on the landings when she hits and she hits a lot.. On top of all that it was really just a great performance.

I’ve always thought she had a nice presence but this years programscare her best yet. I’m not in the least bit surprised by her success. Not even a little and there are very few US ladies I’d put on the same level of performance (PCS) as her.

I don’t think she’s peaked yet either and I thought she had a shot at stealing the Olympics had she gone clean which would have been all sorts of epic

SnowWhite · Oct 19, 2018

Sam-Skwantch said:
First time I noticed Bradie was at skate Detroit (2015 ??) I was glued to that event because I knew a few skaters and coaches competing there. Bradie caught my eye after the SP and a few GS posters recommended I check out this SP performance from her.

https://youtu.be/TbrA599C_u4

You can see she has an excellent combination of grace and power. Her spins hit excellent positions and there is an obvious power that catches your attention. Her skating skills and cool little Walley entrances showed me she had the potential to challenge the US field. Her jumps have a nice runningbedge on the landings when she hits. It’s s great performance.

I’ve always thought she had a nice presence but this years programscare her best yet. I’m not in the least bit surprised by her success. Not even a little and there are very few US ladies I’d put on the same level of performance (PCS) as her.

I don’t think she’s peaked yet either and I thought she had a shot at stealing the Olympics hadcshe gone clean which would have been all sorts of epic

You don't mean medaling, do you?

Sam-Skwantch · Oct 19, 2018

SnowWhite said:
You don't mean medaling, :cool14:do you?

I’m talking Gold medal. I think she had a slim chance with a clean performance depending on how a few others did.

macy · Oct 19, 2018

Sam-Skwantch said:
I’m talking Gold medal. I think she had a slim chance with a clean performance depending on how a few others did.

with zagitova and medvedeva already a lock for gold and silver, there was no way. even with those two making mistakes, they most likely still would have scored higher than bradie with a clean skate. it was a battle for the bronze, and i don't think a clean bradie could have beaten a clean osmond at all, not with osmond already having a world medal under her belt and having a higher quality of skating. she could have maybe snuck into the top 5 if she was lights out clean.

now that things are changing in the world of ladies FS and bradie's hard work over the summer is paying off, i really do think she can be a world medal threat this year if she keeps up her momentum. who knows what will happen in 4 years, but she's a totally different skater now than she was in February.

andromache · Oct 19, 2018

Since Sam-Skwantch has gone into how they've been a Bradie fan for years, I'll just be up-front and say I wasn't! Early last season I was like "lol it doesn't matter who they give that SkAm host spot to since it's not like whoever it is will somehow make the Olympics or anything." To me, Bradie was never going to be a factor because she was 18/19 years old without any record to speak of, other than losing to much younger girls at Junior Worlds more than once. But I was 100% wrong and she's won me over!

Sure, if the US had the kind of depth of Russia or Japan, Bradie might not be a major factor. But we don't so she is, and hey, good for Bradie. It's great to have a lady near the top who is so gritty and so determined to improve, on top of not having to fret about what could happen to her jumps when she has a growth spurt.

I remember amid all the drama and backlash Karen and Mirai got for their post-Olympics performance interviews, I was most impressed by Bradie just saying she wanted to improve going forward and represent the US ladies the best that she can, and it seems like that's what she's doing.

The rest of the world just has to catch up...I can't speak for everybody, but for me, I'm sticking around and I'm going to work as hard as I possibly can to bring us up in the rankings.

Imagine · Oct 19, 2018

Sam-Skwantch said:
https://youtu.be/TbrA599C_u4

Is that...did they take Gracie's Olympic season dress and re-dye it a horrible shade of purple?

macy · Oct 19, 2018

Imagine said:
Is that...did they take Gracie's Olympic season dress and re-dye it a horrible shade of purple?

does anyone know who does her dresses? they've never done her any justice...a lot of them don't look mature enough for a 20 year old woman.

edit- just read on her fanzone bio her dresses in 2014-2015 were designed by Sandi Delfs and her coach Denise Myers.

princessalica · Oct 19, 2018

I think it’s more difficult to design costumes for Bradie. She’s got really long limbs and has such a slim build without a lot of hourglass. Gracie is slim too, but she’s got more variation between hips, waist, and bust and so costume naturally look better on her. I mean that’s all on body type. (This coming from a professional seamstress). There are design tricks they could employ to seem like she’s got a more womanly figure, but she just has a slim build, and that’s just going to be an issue when costuming her. Really has nothing to do with weight, just natural body type.

jenaj · Oct 19, 2018

macy said:
with zagitova and medvedeva already a lock for gold and silver, there was no way. even with those two making mistakes, they most likely still would have scored higher than bradie with a clean skate. it was a battle for the bronze, and i don't think a clean bradie could have beaten a clean osmond at all, not with osmond already having a world medal under her belt and having a higher quality of skating. she could have maybe snuck into the top 5 if she was lights out clean.

now that things are changing in the world of ladies FS and bradie's hard work over the summer is paying off, i really do think she can be a world medal threat this year if she keeps up her momentum. who knows what will happen in 4 years, but she's a totally different skater now than she was in February.

I'm not disagreeing about Bradie, but Zag and Med are not necessarily locks for gold and silver. Look what happened to Zag at World's this year. I agree they are heavy favorites.

narcissa · Oct 19, 2018

jenaj said:
I'm not disagreeing about Bradie, but Zag and Med are not necessarily locks for gold and silver. Look what happened to Zag at World's this year. I agree they are heavy favorites.

Well ice is slippery and anything could happen, but gosh it would have had to be a terrible event.

drivingmissdaisy · Oct 19, 2018

andromache said:
I think the Karen hype (which I have previously engaged in...but kind of given up on sadly) is all about that raw talent. She's not as polished as Satoko or Kaori, but she has an it factor. More of a natural performance ability than Satoko or Kaori, I think. She's musical and emotes well. But she hasn't polished it, and natural charisma can only get you so far.

Karen does have great performance skills. Her OGP SP was one of my favorites in recent years, and it highlighted her best qualities.

drivingmissdaisy · Oct 19, 2018

narcissa said:
Well ice is slippery and anything could happen, but gosh it would have had to be a terrible event.

Bradie's PCS was surprisingly close to Evgenia's at the Autumn Classic. Obviously a lot of factors were at play there, but if Bradie can keep those PCS scores somewhat close, Alina and Evgenia will have to skate well (not necessarily perfect) to come out on top. The important thing for Bradie is to continue skating clean programs and maintaining her place at the top of the US field.

frida80 · Oct 19, 2018

drivingmissdaisy said:
Bradie's PCS was surprisingly close to Evgenia's at the Autumn Classic. Obviously a lot of factors were at play there, but if Bradie can keep those PCS scores somewhat close, Alina and Evgenia will have to skate well (not necessarily perfect) to come out on top. The important thing for Bradie is to continue skating clean programs and maintaining her place at the top of the US field.

In previous years all you had to do to increase your PCS scores was win. The more you win, they higher your score would go. You'd have to consistently win and skate clean or cleanish. But something about those medals made judges pump up the PCS score. There were other things like higher a famous coach or be represented by a powerful federation. But if Bradie wins SA and can medal at her next event, her PCS scores will follow.

Bluediamonds09 · Oct 19, 2018

How many more regional competitions before sectionals? Is there a link where I can view the results?

concorde · Oct 19, 2018

Bluediamonds09 said:
How many more regional competitions before sectionals? Is there a link where I can view the results?

6 were completed over the last two weekends.
The final 3 are this weekend.

Scores are posted on the USFS website, fan zone. Then look for competitions.

skylark · Oct 19, 2018

kwanatic said:
Karen has wonderful skating skills IMO. Best out of the the US women for sure and, at her best, she can pull good scores internationally due in large part to how fast she is. She skates with a ton of speed and that helps the overall impression she leaves on the ice from her basic stroking to her jumps. Her spins are top 5 (or even 3) in the world. She has amazing speed, beautiful positions and strong centering. Karen understands music and character and is a strong performer, plus she's able to project energy and emotion when she skates. I've never seen her live but, at least on TV, she appears to fill the rink.

Girlfriend is an incredible talent. If only the the mental focus were there...

Good post. All this is true. After seeing her as a tiny 15-year-old at Nationals, I said that Karen filled the rink to an incredible degree.

The truth is, Bradie, Karen and Mirai were given boosts at 2018 Nationals, while Ashley was held down with low PCS. International judges had rightly maintained Ashley's PCS, at both events in season 2017-18, at which her skating was arguably not as good at at Nationals 2018, and at one event she was skating injured (SP at SA). Ashley was right to speak out about it. I remember a poster saying about Ashley, after seeing her live at either SC or SA, that people who said she was past her peak were mistaken. She had the drive that we needed at the Olympics.

It isn't surprising that USFS pushes skaters. It's just that they seem to have some enormous blind spots about it. It would have been a no-brainer to push Ashley last year through Olympic and world season. She was, and still is, the only ladies' World Medalist that US has.

hippomoomin · Oct 19, 2018

Ashely suffered from concussions that affected her cognition and ability to remember new programs, the reason why she decided to reuse an old SP last season. That might be a red flag for the officials to think she cannot compete at her full capacity any more.

Not making the Olympics team has more consequences: Mirai and Adam were both invited to Dance with the Stars. She was not, mostly likey because she was not an Olympian this time (arguably she dances better than Mirai). Adam takes a step further and becomes a judge for Dance with the Starts Junior, a position Ashely would probably love to have. If she received similar offers, not making the team may not be that a big deal, and she can happily retire.

drivingmissdaisy · Oct 19, 2018

skylark said:
The truth is, Bradie, Karen and Mirai were given boosts at 2018 Nationals, while Ashley was held down with low PCS. International judges had rightly maintained Ashley's PCS, at both events in season 2017-18, at which her skating was arguably not as good at at Nationals 2018, and at one event she was skating injured (SP at SA). Ashley was right to speak out about it. I remember a poster saying about Ashley, after seeing her live at either SC or SA, that people who said she was past her peak were mistaken. She had the drive that we needed at the Olympics.

It isn't surprising that USFS pushes skaters. It's just that they seem to have some enormous blind spots about it. It would have been a no-brainer to push Ashley last year through Olympic and world season. She was, and still is, the only ladies' World Medalist that US has.

I was fully on Team Ashley until Skate America. I think she was either in no shape to compete, in which case she could have given up her spot, or could have fought through the LP. It seems she didn't feel well enough to challenge for the podium, and a fear of a lower-than-expected placement is not a good enough excuse to withdraw IMO. She was two years removed from that WSM and her form the whole 2017-18 season was nothing like it was before. Karen was the previous National Champion and 4th at Worlds, so there was no reason to push Ashley ahead of her. Ashley is a good competitor, but her jumps weren't good enough last season.

oatmella · Oct 19, 2018

Karen didn’t have a great last season either. This season might also not be super - kinda have the feeling she may withdraw from Rostelecom Cup too. I think she has withdrawn from her last 4 competitions.

I think she’s sort of in a transition period. She moved to a new location and I believe she is applying for colleges for next school year.

2018-19 U.S. Ladies' figure skating

klutzy

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

SnowWhite

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”

macy

andromache

Imagine

macy

princessalica

jenaj

narcissa

drivingmissdaisy

drivingmissdaisy

frida80

Bluediamonds09

concorde

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Gazing at a Glorious Great Lakes sunset

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drivingmissdaisy

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