Men
After an incredible pair of performances at NHK Trophy, Yuzuru Hanyu broke the world record in both programs again at the Grand Prix Final. I am just in complete awe and have to bow down to this god among men. How long can he keep this streak going? I don't care. I just feel privileged to be watching this level of absolutely incredible skating. How much higher can he go? Yuzu was less than 2 points away from the maximum program components score in the long program. He does have a quad loop in his back pocket, presumably ready to throw into competition at some point in time. But the International Skating Union faces the very real possibility of a skater maxing out under the current system, and discussions about adjusting the scoring criteria are currently underway. Technical accomplishments aside, Yuzu has incredible performance quality. The "Seimei" long program is powerful and exciting, and he gives it 110%. The choreographic step sequence at the end is just so thrilling to watch that it makes you forget it's part of a competitive program. Yuzu has deservedly entered the "greatest of all time" conversation after two incredible showings. I'm not prepared to bestow that title upon him just yet, but he certainly is a once-in-a-generation talent.
In the shadow of Hanyu's mind boggling achievement, it's easy to overlook just how remarkably well-skated this men's event was, especially the long programs. Reigning World Champion Javier Fernandez was a remarkably good sport about his training mate blowing him out of the water in front of a home crowd on a day when Javi skated the best long program of his career. It proves my earlier point that Javi, while very gifted, is still a cut below his rival and probably can't ever hope to defeat a clean Hanyu. I do find Javi to be a more engaging performer. Both of his programs this year are well suited to his strengths, and he sells them. He did get some home ice Christmas gifts. I love Javi, but he's not somebody who should be scoring 10's in program components. Still, it's clear that amazing things are happening in the Brian Orser camp. I would probably send my overachieving adopted child to him if I wanted to raise an Olympic Champion.
Shoma Uno continues to impress and overachieve in his first season on the senior Grand Prix. The quality of his skating is still out of this world for someone so young. Despite a fall on a quad toe in the short program, I even see improvement in Shoma's terrifying jump technique (though I still hold my breath on every jump takeoff). There are so many magical moments in that Turandot long program, particularly the cantilever on the crescendo of "Nessun Dorma." It's rare to see that kind of attention to detail from a first-year senior. I'm a bit perplexed over his program components compared to the other top men. He may not be as naturally charismatic as Javier Fernandez, but he has superior skating skills and detailed, intricate, and difficult program composition. I suppose the scores will rise as he gets older. Either way, I'm obsessed and am rooting for him.
The Grand Prix Final was a bit of a wake up call for Patrick Chan. He is now 0/3 on short programs this season. This was his worst bomb yet. The 3X World Champion found himself a whopping 40 points behind Yuzuru Hanyu, which is frankly embarrassing for someone with his resume. Like at Skate Canada, he came back with a brilliant long program performance, but the writing is on the wall. The technical content is not enough to battle with what his top rivals are presenting. Gone are the days when Patrick could get the quad toe and triple axel out of the way at the beginning of the free skate and call it a day. He needs to repeat one or both jumps in the second half of the program to have a chance. For the first time in his career, Patrick isn't even able to beat Yuzuru Hanyu on program components. Patrick didn't come back to not win Worlds and the Olympics. I'm sure he didn't fathom that he would finish off the podium here. Taking into account Denis Ten's superb performances a couple of weeks ago at a cupcake contest in Croatia (seriously, when will he get it together for a Grand Prix season???), Patrick's path to the Worlds podium is looking dicey.
Jumping wonder Jin Boyang came terrifyingly close to a medal at this event, and he didn't even have clean programs. The base value of his technical content is so high that he can get away with not executing it very well. His program components were crazy high here for what he presented. Judges need to feel comfortable awarding 5's and 6's to skaters who are in the Grand Prix Final and can do a quad lutz. If the skating skills and performance quality aren't there, then the scores should reflect it. The top men should be (and probably are) sweating about this kid heading into the World Championships. I respect the technical ability, but come on. We all have to learn how to actually skate sometime.
Poor Daisuke Murakami was woefully outclassed here. Frank Carroll was looking very over it. Dice has the quads, but there's nothing remarkable to his skating. His long program is like watching paint dry. The music sounds like it was selected from a royalty free catalog. I was perturbed by how ecstatic he was in a short program where he popped the back half of his combination. Gurl, if you aren't going to give me the performance, at least rotate everything. With only two spots to spare at Worlds for the Japanese men, I don't really see Dice faring well against Hanyu, Uno, or a number of other Japanese men.
Ladies
The tyranny of the Russian teenagers continues, though I do like Evgenia Medvedeva more than the rest of them. She deserved to win here, but as usual with these Russian girls, the judges are really embarrassing themselves. Evgenia has good skating skills for her age, but I cannot even begin to justify program component scores in the 9's for her. There is just a frenetic quality to her skating. She has a nice body line (at least compared to some of the other Russian horrors), but she doesn't hold out her movements. I'm missing the maturity and sophistication that I saw from the top American and Japanese ladies in this event, and that was not reflected in the scores. When these girls get such crazy program components so young, they don't improve as they get older. What incentive do they have? However, the girl can jump. No arguing against that one. I trust her jump technique, though Eteri Tutberidze also taught Yulia Lipnitskaya her non-technique, and we all know how that turned out. Evgenia is a competitor, and I think she's been set off on a winning streak that will last through Worlds.
Satoko Miyahara ended 2015 much like she began it: winning a medal no one really expected her to. Despite being the reigning World Silver Medalist, Satoko is never really considered a favorite and tends to fly under the radar. There are many qualities to admire about her skating, but there isn't a lot of "wow" factor. It's easy for her to get lost in the shuffle. However, the girl is consistent, and she was one of few skaters in this event to put together two good programs. Satoko is a perfect little robot who does her run-throughs in practice and knows how to compete. It doesn't matter that her jumps barely leave the ice when she lands everything. I do admire her gorgeous spins, her perfect posture, and her attention to detail - a stark contrast to the dominant young Russians. She'll continue to be a major contender through Worlds.
Elena Radionova.....bless her. Part of me admires the extent to which she fully embraces her own tackiness. That Titanic long program is a camp masterpiece like we haven't seen since the days of Maria Butyrskaya. I also admire the girl's competitive grit. After missing the back half of her opening lutz + toe combo in the short program, she tacked on a triple toe to her triple loop through sheer willpower. It wasn't pretty, but it was rotated. Our American ladies would not be capable of something like that on the fly (Ashley Wagner tried and failed miserably). The quality is just not where it should be for a lady competing on this level. All of her jumps are terrifying in the air, and the landings are not good. I get that she's struggling with a growth spurt, but there is no technique. Her shoulders are always hunched over, and she needs a million crossovers per minute to generate speed. Elena has spunk and a flair for performance, but the lack of refinement is unforgivable. Again, the judges should be ashamed of themselves for showering her with program components in the 9's. At the end of the day, I trust Elena to get the job done, and she will be in the medal hunt at Worlds.
Ashley Wagner has been trying to paint her performance in the Grand Prix Final as a huge personal victory, but she's having a crisis of confidence. Her comfort zone appears to be bombing the short program and fighting back in the long. She was so bad in the short here that she had virtually no chance at a medal, even after she posted a career-best long program score. Ashley is good enough to win medals in this field. She had the second highest program components of the event in the long program even skating first, which is very impressive. She is the most natural performer of the top ladies, and she's really improved her skating skills and transitions over the years. Jump rotations are still a problem. I don't know what it's going to take for her to fully rotate that triple loop + half loop + triple salchow combo. It's never been clean. The judges are ready to put her on the podium if she can ever put together two clean programs at a major international event. It's up to her.
Gracie Gold....ugh. I don't know what to say. By all accounts, she was having great practices heading into the Grand Prix Final. Even after doubling her triple flip (again) in the short, she was realistically still in it for the silver medal with a good long program. What is it going to take to teach this girl how to compete? Frank Carroll is an amazing coach who has done wonders for Gracie, but he doesn't do well with those who can't motivate themselves (see: Mirai Nagasu). Gracie is the only person keeping herself from becoming a World Champion. The talent is there, and she has the programs to do it. Can she get it together? Nationals in January will be telling.
Mao Asada's competitive comeback is quickly veering into nightmare territory. She looked so amazing late in the summer at the Japan Open, and she hasn't come close to replicating that performance. In terms on raw talent, she should be wiping the floor with the current international ladies' field. None of these girls are anywhere close to Yuna Kim or Carolina Kostner, who were really the only skaters capable of beating Mao at her best. Mao skated a killer short program until she singled the lutz at the end. She was still in bronze medal position with that mistake, but the long program was a bit of a disaster. Mao is in great physical shape, and she's proven that she has the jumps back. What's keeping her from putting it all together under pressure? Is she working too hard? I hope she can take a nice spa day after Japanese Nationals.
In the shadow of Hanyu's mind boggling achievement, it's easy to overlook just how remarkably well-skated this men's event was, especially the long programs. Reigning World Champion Javier Fernandez was a remarkably good sport about his training mate blowing him out of the water in front of a home crowd on a day when Javi skated the best long program of his career. It proves my earlier point that Javi, while very gifted, is still a cut below his rival and probably can't ever hope to defeat a clean Hanyu. I do find Javi to be a more engaging performer. Both of his programs this year are well suited to his strengths, and he sells them. He did get some home ice Christmas gifts. I love Javi, but he's not somebody who should be scoring 10's in program components. Still, it's clear that amazing things are happening in the Brian Orser camp. I would probably send my overachieving adopted child to him if I wanted to raise an Olympic Champion.
Shoma Uno continues to impress and overachieve in his first season on the senior Grand Prix. The quality of his skating is still out of this world for someone so young. Despite a fall on a quad toe in the short program, I even see improvement in Shoma's terrifying jump technique (though I still hold my breath on every jump takeoff). There are so many magical moments in that Turandot long program, particularly the cantilever on the crescendo of "Nessun Dorma." It's rare to see that kind of attention to detail from a first-year senior. I'm a bit perplexed over his program components compared to the other top men. He may not be as naturally charismatic as Javier Fernandez, but he has superior skating skills and detailed, intricate, and difficult program composition. I suppose the scores will rise as he gets older. Either way, I'm obsessed and am rooting for him.
The Grand Prix Final was a bit of a wake up call for Patrick Chan. He is now 0/3 on short programs this season. This was his worst bomb yet. The 3X World Champion found himself a whopping 40 points behind Yuzuru Hanyu, which is frankly embarrassing for someone with his resume. Like at Skate Canada, he came back with a brilliant long program performance, but the writing is on the wall. The technical content is not enough to battle with what his top rivals are presenting. Gone are the days when Patrick could get the quad toe and triple axel out of the way at the beginning of the free skate and call it a day. He needs to repeat one or both jumps in the second half of the program to have a chance. For the first time in his career, Patrick isn't even able to beat Yuzuru Hanyu on program components. Patrick didn't come back to not win Worlds and the Olympics. I'm sure he didn't fathom that he would finish off the podium here. Taking into account Denis Ten's superb performances a couple of weeks ago at a cupcake contest in Croatia (seriously, when will he get it together for a Grand Prix season???), Patrick's path to the Worlds podium is looking dicey.
Jumping wonder Jin Boyang came terrifyingly close to a medal at this event, and he didn't even have clean programs. The base value of his technical content is so high that he can get away with not executing it very well. His program components were crazy high here for what he presented. Judges need to feel comfortable awarding 5's and 6's to skaters who are in the Grand Prix Final and can do a quad lutz. If the skating skills and performance quality aren't there, then the scores should reflect it. The top men should be (and probably are) sweating about this kid heading into the World Championships. I respect the technical ability, but come on. We all have to learn how to actually skate sometime.
Poor Daisuke Murakami was woefully outclassed here. Frank Carroll was looking very over it. Dice has the quads, but there's nothing remarkable to his skating. His long program is like watching paint dry. The music sounds like it was selected from a royalty free catalog. I was perturbed by how ecstatic he was in a short program where he popped the back half of his combination. Gurl, if you aren't going to give me the performance, at least rotate everything. With only two spots to spare at Worlds for the Japanese men, I don't really see Dice faring well against Hanyu, Uno, or a number of other Japanese men.
Ladies
The tyranny of the Russian teenagers continues, though I do like Evgenia Medvedeva more than the rest of them. She deserved to win here, but as usual with these Russian girls, the judges are really embarrassing themselves. Evgenia has good skating skills for her age, but I cannot even begin to justify program component scores in the 9's for her. There is just a frenetic quality to her skating. She has a nice body line (at least compared to some of the other Russian horrors), but she doesn't hold out her movements. I'm missing the maturity and sophistication that I saw from the top American and Japanese ladies in this event, and that was not reflected in the scores. When these girls get such crazy program components so young, they don't improve as they get older. What incentive do they have? However, the girl can jump. No arguing against that one. I trust her jump technique, though Eteri Tutberidze also taught Yulia Lipnitskaya her non-technique, and we all know how that turned out. Evgenia is a competitor, and I think she's been set off on a winning streak that will last through Worlds.
Satoko Miyahara ended 2015 much like she began it: winning a medal no one really expected her to. Despite being the reigning World Silver Medalist, Satoko is never really considered a favorite and tends to fly under the radar. There are many qualities to admire about her skating, but there isn't a lot of "wow" factor. It's easy for her to get lost in the shuffle. However, the girl is consistent, and she was one of few skaters in this event to put together two good programs. Satoko is a perfect little robot who does her run-throughs in practice and knows how to compete. It doesn't matter that her jumps barely leave the ice when she lands everything. I do admire her gorgeous spins, her perfect posture, and her attention to detail - a stark contrast to the dominant young Russians. She'll continue to be a major contender through Worlds.
Elena Radionova.....bless her. Part of me admires the extent to which she fully embraces her own tackiness. That Titanic long program is a camp masterpiece like we haven't seen since the days of Maria Butyrskaya. I also admire the girl's competitive grit. After missing the back half of her opening lutz + toe combo in the short program, she tacked on a triple toe to her triple loop through sheer willpower. It wasn't pretty, but it was rotated. Our American ladies would not be capable of something like that on the fly (Ashley Wagner tried and failed miserably). The quality is just not where it should be for a lady competing on this level. All of her jumps are terrifying in the air, and the landings are not good. I get that she's struggling with a growth spurt, but there is no technique. Her shoulders are always hunched over, and she needs a million crossovers per minute to generate speed. Elena has spunk and a flair for performance, but the lack of refinement is unforgivable. Again, the judges should be ashamed of themselves for showering her with program components in the 9's. At the end of the day, I trust Elena to get the job done, and she will be in the medal hunt at Worlds.
Ashley Wagner has been trying to paint her performance in the Grand Prix Final as a huge personal victory, but she's having a crisis of confidence. Her comfort zone appears to be bombing the short program and fighting back in the long. She was so bad in the short here that she had virtually no chance at a medal, even after she posted a career-best long program score. Ashley is good enough to win medals in this field. She had the second highest program components of the event in the long program even skating first, which is very impressive. She is the most natural performer of the top ladies, and she's really improved her skating skills and transitions over the years. Jump rotations are still a problem. I don't know what it's going to take for her to fully rotate that triple loop + half loop + triple salchow combo. It's never been clean. The judges are ready to put her on the podium if she can ever put together two clean programs at a major international event. It's up to her.
Gracie Gold....ugh. I don't know what to say. By all accounts, she was having great practices heading into the Grand Prix Final. Even after doubling her triple flip (again) in the short, she was realistically still in it for the silver medal with a good long program. What is it going to take to teach this girl how to compete? Frank Carroll is an amazing coach who has done wonders for Gracie, but he doesn't do well with those who can't motivate themselves (see: Mirai Nagasu). Gracie is the only person keeping herself from becoming a World Champion. The talent is there, and she has the programs to do it. Can she get it together? Nationals in January will be telling.
Mao Asada's competitive comeback is quickly veering into nightmare territory. She looked so amazing late in the summer at the Japan Open, and she hasn't come close to replicating that performance. In terms on raw talent, she should be wiping the floor with the current international ladies' field. None of these girls are anywhere close to Yuna Kim or Carolina Kostner, who were really the only skaters capable of beating Mao at her best. Mao skated a killer short program until she singled the lutz at the end. She was still in bronze medal position with that mistake, but the long program was a bit of a disaster. Mao is in great physical shape, and she's proven that she has the jumps back. What's keeping her from putting it all together under pressure? Is she working too hard? I hope she can take a nice spa day after Japanese Nationals.
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