Alicia Pineault: "Everyone is behind me"

Last year, Alicia Pineault watched the National Championships in a wheelchair after spraining her left ankle in two places. This year, in Mississauga, Ontario, the animated performer finds herself on top of the standings after a provocative and punchy short program set to “Back to Black” by Amy Winehouse.

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What are your thoughts on the Ladies' SP at #CTNSC20?

Ugh, the music choices! Too many of the ladies were skating to angsty pop ballads. After a while, they all tended to sound the same.

Emily Bausback had the only fully rotated 3/3 in the competition, but got low PCS.

I was surprised that Aurora Cotop went ahead and skated the SP with a bad back. She's in 12th place.

Sigh! Gabby is still struggling....

The ladies SP was a bit of a hot mess.

LOL at the double-entendre thread title... I get that she's happy to have support, but I guess since she's in first, everyone is currently behind her.

Hoping for a much better from all the ladies tomorrow. It's really anyone's title to take at this point.

Alicia Pineault definitely had the best skate. I'm a little worried about Gabby, she does not seem to be back on track, her nerves and health are getting the better of her. Oh well, time will tell.

I really enjoyed Alicia. I had only heard of her a little but I hope we get to see her more this season! I also really enjoyed Madeline, who got second. I'd never heard of her but she did really well!

I haven't seen much of Alicia before ... it's wonderful to see her expression and movement. Very enjoyable! I also loved reading Alicia's quotes about the support she has from her family and team. Going it alone is hard, especially in this sport. Really in any endeavour. It's great that she has support behind her, appreciates them, and acknowledges them when given a chance. She's a very charming girl, off and on ice.

I've only been able to watch 4 or 5 of the skates. Of those I've seen, Alicia's is the standout. I haven't yet seen a video of Madeline's skate, but I'm looking forward to it.

ETA: I really wasn't surprised at Gabby's skate. After-effects of pneumonia are lingering, and then there's the adrenaline of competition. It's probably good to get angry, but if she's still not up to her practice level in the FS I hope she won't be too hard on herself.