Most Improved Skaters for the 2018-19 Season. | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Most Improved Skaters for the 2018-19 Season.

LynsJ

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Liza t
medvedeva for the turnaround
Fear Gibson
James cipres
Stepanova Bukin
Chock Bates
Guignard fabri
Mariah bell
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Men: Vincent, Matteo, Kevin A. :yes2:

Pairs: Natalia Zabiiako :love: Cheng Peng. :thumbsup: Cain/LeDuc, both. :cool: Also Italian DellaMonica/Guarise. Their improvements in this season may not be something 'drastic', however their steady one-step-at-a-time improvements over the last 5-6 years, esp since they started working with Oleg Vasiliev then with Nina Mozer is so obvious/remarkable even to the eyes of a non-expert fan like me. :yes: And Zoe/Boyadji!!! :rock:

Dance: Natalia Kaliszek, Charlene Guignard, Lilah Fear, Turkkila/Versluis, both :thumbsup: Sinitsina/Kstsalapov for their unison, finally. :yes:

Ladies: Li'l Elizabet, Kaori Sakamoto, Bradie :points:
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Not skaters, but I can't help mentioning: Benoit Richard and Charlie White as choreographer.:thumbsup: Team Zimmerman! :luv17:
 

ruga

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 20, 2017
Ladies: Sofia Samodurova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Elizabet Tursynbaeva, Viveca Lindfors, Rika Kihira, Kaori Sakamoto
Men: Jason Brown, Vincent Zhou, Kevin Aymoz, Matteo Rizzo, Michal Brezina
Pairs: Boiikova/Kozlovskii, James/Cipres
Dance: Sinitsina/Katsalapov, Guignard/Fabbri
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2018
For me, definitely Vincent Zhou. I was not really a fan at the beginning of this season, but I agree that the changes he's made by the end of this season are very impressive. Jumps and artistry, both. Especially artistry, actually! Other skaters also improved but he certainly takes the prize, for being a skater that I had a mostly negative opinion of but now have a positive opinion. I suspect that some of this is him growing as a person, mentally and emotionally as well as physically.
 

TA91

Rinkside
Joined
Dec 29, 2018
lol, just no :drama:
You can't call HUGE REGRESS from her previous season's form - as "improvement". Even if she was better at the end of the season - it's not improvement. It's just saving her reputation (mostly by judges, btw) and nothing more. I am stiil very surprised by change of local narrative concerning Medvedeva - if you compare it to previous seasons. She was getting so much hate here (and love in Russia) then - when she was strong. Now it's a complete reverse - just by changing her couch to a canadian. She is getting so much praise here (and hate in Russia) - when she is much weaker.
I wonder why is that? :scratch3: Doesn't it seem somewhat unnatural? :unsure:

I wonder who you think you are to tell someone what the definition of improvement is. If that's the way DanseMacabre sees it than they are entitled to that opinion. Evgenia improved this season because in my opinion, she's been on a gradual decline from her best form in 2017 and the only thing holding her together was will power during the 17-18 season. This season has obviously been a struggle but after Worlds, it seems like she's getting back to that form and will hopefully continue to improve with her team in Toronto.
 

VenusHalley

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 6, 2018
Did people forget her because she missed Worlds? Viveca.

Definitelly Viveca. I hope she is healthy and fit next season.

And Emmi Peltonen and Alexia Paganini actually gotten quite good too, despite their inconsistencies.
 

DSQ

Record Breaker
Joined
Apr 14, 2018
Country
United-Kingdom
Fear & Gibson; they’ve really shown that they are to be reckoned with this season and found their own style.

Vincent Zhou; his continued development warms my heart! You can see how much hard work he’s putting in and that he’s really pushing himself and taking risks! His FS at WTT was another step in the right direction. I hope to see him working more with Coach Hamada and continue with Tom Z and Tammy. I’m excited to him compete next season!
 

Autumn Leaves

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 22, 2018
The obvious answer is Tursunbaeva. She had the most spectacular turnaround - from an average skater with no significant achievements for years to Silver World medalist and the 1st senior lady to land a quad in competition.
 

Orlov

Medalist
Joined
Jun 19, 2018
Bradie Tennell

And I am glad that this is my opinion coincides with the opinion of TAT (she is certainly unbearable as a commentator, but she is a great specialist)
 

WeakAnkles

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 1, 2011
I'm just going to talk about ID here. And iI also think you need to distinguish good teams who finally got programs that really highlighted their talents (yes, S/K and G/F I'm thinking of you), from teams that really just upped their games considerably. Keeping that in mind, two teams really stood out for me as "Most Improved": Turkkila/Versluis (they were frankly a team I never could remember before this season) and Fear/Gibson.

Two junior teams also should be considered here: Nguyen/Kolesnik and the Greens.

And one choreographer, who I think is a real find: Karine Arribert-Narce. Trust me, after doing PBPs of dozens and dozens of ID programs, her choreography was a delightful surprise specifically because she kept upending my expectations with quirky and unpredictable steps. I'm all for having my expectations upended!
 

figurefan0726

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 21, 2016
I would like to add Rika Kihira. Her confidence levels shot up this season! Last season, she would falter after one mistake (ex: 2018 Jr Worlds) but now she forgets about it and does her other elements like nothing happened! Her psychologist or coach is amazing.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Did people forget her because she missed Worlds? Viveca.

Definitelly Viveca. I hope she is healthy and fit next season.

:hslap::palmf: Right... How could I forget her?! She was a pure joy to watch at the Euro! During her free skate, my husband and I were like :love::dance::dance3::rock::clap: the whole time!

ETA Thus, we very much looked forward to seeing her in person at the Worlds in Saitama, but didn't, we were very sad;;; was she injured? Wishing her get well soon.
 

gonewiththewind25

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 4, 2017
lol, just no :drama:
You can't call HUGE REGRESS from her previous season's form - as "improvement". Even if she was better at the end of the season - it's not improvement. It's just saving her reputation (mostly by judges, btw) and nothing more. I am stiil very surprised by change of local narrative concerning Medvedeva - if you compare it to previous seasons. She was getting so much hate here (and love in Russia) then - when she was strong. Now it's a complete reverse - just by changing her couch to a canadian. She is getting so much praise here (and hate in Russia) - when she is much weaker.
I wonder why is that? Doesn't it seem somewhat unnatural?

Well, her Skating Skills look better than they have been before, she gets much more amplitude on a lot of her jumps than before, so yes it is possible to say that there has been an improvement because evidently there is. Additionally, improvement doesn't always mean getting better placements and scores, but rather about what she is showing on the ice and in her technique (that so far seems more suited towards the body of a grown up as a it doesn't rely as much on rotating with the upper body). Evgenia doesn't look weaker at all, she looks stronger (literally) and she looks up for a fight as always. The love for her, also has nothing to do with her changing to a Canadian coach, but is rather an appreciation of the fact that even though she was at the top (according to placements), she still knew that she had a lot to improve upon and that is respectable and can cause a lot of love.
 

deedee1

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Chinese ice dance Wang/Liu, esp Shiyue Wang. :clap: I had always thought their strength was on tech-side. But their free dance at Saitama Worlds blew me away. It was as if I was watching a different team. Since when could they express their emotions so nicely and out-perform to the audience! :points:
 

Jetta

Rinkside
Joined
Sep 13, 2018
I definitely agree about Kaori. I really enjoyed watching her programs this season- she looks like she’s feeling and connecting to the music more.

Tursynbaeva is another that made huge strides.
 

SkateSkates

Medalist
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
For me chock and bates and Stepanova and Bukin really stepped it up this season. Although neither medaled at worlds, they both made huge steps forward IMO
 
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