This and That: 2019 Skate Canada (Yuzuru Hanyu, Evgenia Medvedeva, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier)

[@claudsk33]

TIMESTAMPS: 00:35 - Meghan Duhamel’s new baby! Congratulations! 01:59 - Vincent Zhou’s GP announcement 09:55 - Kiira Korpi’s statement about Skate America ft. Japanese skating culture, Lucinda Ruh’s book 14:01 - Alexei Yagudin’s controversial comments on Jason Brown SKATE CANADA LADIES 16:39 - Evgenia Medvedeva + media criticism ft. Ted Barton, John Coughlin + Tracy Wilson about Evgenia and jumping technique (22:00) 34:01 - Young You 37:08 - Tom Z ft. Tammy Gambill 40:32 - Bradie Tennell ft. Rachael Flatt, Kimmie Meissner 44:49 - Dave phones a friend (Dorothy Hamill! Katia Gordeeva!) - Step sequences! 51:55 - back to Bradie Tennell 53:11 - Marin Honda 57:14 - Gabby Daleman ft. Satoko Miyahara 1:03:27 - Alexandra Trusova 1:12:02 - Rika Kihira SC MEN 1:16:10 - Matteo Rizzo 1:16:54 - Camden Pulkinen 1:23:39 - Keiji Tanaka 1:25:30 - Nam Nguyen ft. Emily Hughes 1:28:53 - Yuzuru Hanyu ft. Nathan Chen SC DANCE 1:36:11 - Piper Gilles & Paul Poirier vs. Madison Hubbell & Zach Donohue + Judging and Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson (1:40:46) ft. where do the Russian dance teams fit in/think (1:46:03) 1:47:26 - Hubbell & Donohue doing back to back GPs + what changes could H&D make? who should they go to? 1:53:44 - Piper & Paul’s creativity 1:56:23 - Lilah Fear & Lewis Gibson 1:57:03 - Kaitlin Hawayek & Jean-luc Baker 1:59:35 - Sara Hurtado & Kirill Khalivin 2:01:17 - Olivia Smart & Adrian Diaz SC PAIRS 2:02:12 - Lyubov Ilyushechkina & Charlie Bilodeau 2:04:03 - Alexa Scimeca-Knierim & Chris Knierim 2:09:12 - Evgenia Tarasova & Vladimir Morozov 2:13:51 - Kirsten Moore-Towers & Michael Mariano 2:17:55 - Aleksandra Boikova & Dmitrii Kozlovskii ft. Ksenia Stolbova, Tamara Moskvina OTHERS 2:21:28 - ISU Awards Show 2:22:58 - ‘Elton John’’s choreography & Candyman love 2:23:18 - dressing Boikova & Kozlovskii 2:23:29 - Michael Mariano’s faux tux? 2:24:37 - Katia Gordeeva on Battle of the Blades 2:25:00 - Moments of the Week

[@sophiezhang396]

Thank you!!

[@loveyunakim]

Tyyyyy

[@AllHailAkemi]

@TheSkatingLesson Please pin this!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

LadyChopin done

[@gofigures9]

Thanks so much!

[@anacampos5112]

I loved that Hanyu brought Parisienne Walkways back as the gala program!!!

[@fashionmwah]

Evgenia: I feel for her because as you said, she has a mental game going on with her entire situation. I actually want her to keep going. I relate to her mindset. If I quit in something, no matter how hard, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I won’t regret the failure, but I’ll regret the quitting. Evgenia seems to be similar, so we might as well keep supporting her because she probably doesn’t want to quit anyway. She might just peak with solid technique when 2022 arrives, and like we’ve established before, we never know what will happen between now and then.

[@ursula9275]

She is a grown women she is going to be okay.

[@ursula9275]

@@lfmesquite4548 so true

[@user-dw9rf3tm8q]

Lfmesquite People in this sport like longevity. It’s one of the reasons Hanyu is so big. It’s not that hard to understand - some people don’t want to see skaters kicked aside after a few short years. Evgenia isn’t even 20 yet and everyone wants her to retire. There’s no way she’s making the worlds team anyways.

[@ursula9275]

@@user-dw9rf3tm8q of course, but Evgenia had very successful seasons now she kind is going to be nothing because she doesn't score well so one way or another she is going to kicked off this sport wanted or not.

[@ursula9275]

@R J russian is the country that made her popular in Canada she is nothing

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

My apologies to Yuzuru ... last year I though he was done but again my apologies ... he was phenomenal ... he really is the 🐐 I hope he can land that 4A to be in piece with himself

[@stevebruier8497]

Don't worry, it's a favorite sport in this community to talk about skaters that they are done.

[@yunilius7193]

@@stevebruier8497 Evgenia is done, Hanyu is done, Alina is done, who else is done?

[@nenavujicin7882]

Watching Skate Canada, i was all for Yuzuru and his "Origin" .He puts so much emotions into that program -it thrilled me. Respect Nathan ,also and cannot wait the battle of two Titans that reminds me of Plushenko vs Yagudin's era. Male figure skating, finally, becomes more exciting with Yuzuru & Nathan.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

I agree! I hope for an epic GPF!

[@lauragarciajuarez3446]

I do not think so. they fought for glory and their fight was defined in the Olympics. Yuzuru is a double Olympic champion and only skates for pleasure.

[@rhap]

Piper and Paul winning, GURL!!!!! You RARELY get moments like that in the Kiss and Cry these days with the IJS. Not only do they have to win, but they have to skate AT THE END or at the very least after their main “competition”. That was so wonderful.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Such a moment!

[@grisgris6908]

I was so excited for them!! they should've won the rhythm dance as well.

[@dinchik19]

Rika was my mum’s moment of the week. My mum was saying she had the most beautiful dresses and she was flying on ice and was fascinating.

[@goldburnm]

I love Rika's short. That footwork is stunning and the moves completely go with the music. If she could just give a little face it would stand out more.

[@freeradical3592]

@Nicole Churulich Her age doesn't negate the observation. It's still an area of development.

[@ahorita1103]

I suppose Rika is kinda introverted and shy. And it seems like it takes more efforts for her to express a bit overly in order to create the mood, or to steal the moment. Perhaps it's to do with the cultural background of Japan, where the majority of people are told to behave calmly without letting it all hang out in their faces. Like Satoko for example, she has some great performing skills, yet not so much facial expressions. This would be a disadvantage on the ice obviously, Rika needs to work on getting out of her shell so that she can be even more high-flying.

[@Julia-js7bs]

Ugh, I can't help but root for Zhenya. It doesn't look like she has a chance this season, but I hope she'll skate clean at least. I love seeing her perform. I gotta say tho that there seems to be a double-standard when it comes to her. She has a (bad) fall on one jump and everybody pretty much calls it quits and how her career is over (yes her SP was rough). Shcherbakova fell on her step-sequence for crying out loud and noone even flinched. It just seems that people look at everything Zhenya does through a microscope, analyzing everything, whereas other skaters get away with more mistakes without their career being questioned. Yes Russian media, I'm looking at you. Not saying that Zhenya might not be in trouble but I feel like she gets the most comments.

[@AT-jm4dl]

Shcerbadova's fall on the step was a silly lapse of concentration that's highly unlikely to occur again. She can do quad lutzes cleanly and a bunch of other 3-3 cleanly. And her 2axel is never in doubt. She's also just starting out her Senior career, so a mistake in her first senior GP competition means nothing. Zhenya has been on the Senior level for a couple of years. Her jumps, especially the 2axel, are not consistent since she moved to Brian, and she has fallen a couple of times already in various competitions, so the chance of Zhenya messing up on a jump again in future competitions is quite high. I'm not saying that people should call for Zhenya to quit or to switch to coaching - she should do what she wants - but it's silly to compare Shcherbakova's fall in the SP with that of Zhenya's.

[@danicaz1163]

I was watching the video of Trusova's practice and I was so amazed by how muscular she was! She has gorgeous abs! You are right, she's a pure athlete. She seems like the kind of person who will wrestle get growth hormones to go with what she wants. You just know that she came to win.

[@RakuRadio]

Congratulations to Ms Duhamel on the safe delivery of her daughter. Beautifully timed indeed. The stars were aligned! Excellent SC, very much enjoyed it.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Congrats to Meagan and Bruno!

[@itsmylife9421]

y'all have no idea how badly I want c/b to beat h/d at nationals and to be the top american ice dance team again, it would truly make my season

[@TheSkatingLesson]

It could happen.

[@makingmycloset]

I was able to go to all the free events and I have so many thoughts haha. The British dance pair that came third are ones to watch they were so dynamic and the crowd favourite. I had never seen Medvedeva skate live before and never completely got why people loved her so much but you could feel the emotion in her skating, and she had a standing ovation from the whole arena which no other woman had, people are really rooting for her. Trusovas quads were incredible as expected but I was shocked at the stark difference between the strength of her skating compared to the other competitors, her ice coverage was terrible... Rika was amazing to watch and again quite a difference in skating quality with Trusova but without the quads doesn't seem to matter! Hanyu fans are wild, it was almost scary how hyped they got, girls were crying. As a Canadian watching Nam was pretty amazing he was feeling his program and had to go after Hanyu which is a feat in itself! Most of the pairs teams really need to work on their side by side elements which was interesting, but still amazing to watch of course. Overall it was such an amazing competition and thanks for posting such a long video!!!!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

We love Fear and Gibson!

[@kak7440]

I think Fear and Gibson could medal at the Olympics.I look foward to seeing them everytime. They to me are a breath of fresh air. No challenge to the French but very enjoyable.

[@NicoleLetawskyShultz]

Evan Perilstein I agree! They’re awesome and have so much potential but aren’t quite there yet. Lewis has really strong skating skills and they need to work a bit to be one of the top teams skating wise. But there are teams that have made a huge leap in the standings at Gabois! 😉

[@johnhenrybussey]

So I ran the numbers on what Trusova's numbers would be with lower PCS (between 6-7 since that was the range put forward in the video) and she'd be surprisingly vulnerable. Her FS would still be very high. If she got 6's and still fell on the 4S she'd have scored just over 147 but clean and with 7s would be around 164 so yes those scores are still huge...but those lower PCS would presumably hit her SP too which was clean here and if her PCS dropped to just 7s she'd only be scoring about a 69. With 6s it would only be 65. I'm not going to weigh in on what her PCS SHOULD be but I just want to point out that with those lower PCS (lets say 7s) her total clean would be about 233 and with 6s 221 and Rika scored 230 at this very event so I would argue that there ARE competitive implications to how Trusova's PCS are scored. I bring it up cause you guys seemed to say that it wouldn't make a difference to score her PCS lower anyways so why not do it. I tend to agree that her PCS should be lower but to my eye that change could hypothetically make a real difference (not that thats ever gonna happen).

[@TayronBerlanga]

I literally have been waiting for this to be posted today, :P you are giving us all the coverage and goodies of the season, thanks for the hard work

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Hope you enjoy it!

[@TayronBerlanga]

@@TheSkatingLesson I truly did guys, thank you :)

[@fashionmwah]

Young You: My gosh, that girl has loads of potential. You can tell that with the right coaches/right team, she can go so far and be a powerhouse. I also don’t like it when people are saying “Oh a Yuna-bot”. No! It’s palpable how different the two are. Young You has her own style. I’m just excited how far she’ll go because she has also trained quads in the past. Tom Z once posted a video of her doing a 4Lz (or Flip? I forgot.). It goes to show that there’s still a lot under her sleeves! Her talent is very obvious! I’m definitely excited about her.

[@grisgris6908]

I was so impressed with her, I think she'll have an amazing season

[@andradamarites8579]

Ahhhh its so hard to catch up with Hanyu. His mind set and physics are out of this world.

[@Cami_2006.]

Evgenia Medvedeva looked STUNNING at the gala and Piper and Paul stole the show, even with Hanyu there I feel like it was totally their night, they were beautiful to watch!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

[@annfotlyan8655]

@@TheSkatingLesson I agree....Evgenia's ex really showed her improved ss and flow over the ice...beautiful

[@dinchik19]

Yes Evgenia looked stunning with the program and dress from Eteri’s time. I wish she will wear this dress in her SP this season instead of her current one.

[@Cami_2006.]

Dinara Simon not this same dress, but I think a similar, delicate style would really suit her sp, but I doubt she’s changing it, she said she likes both her costumes this year.

[@dinchik19]

Cami_2006 is it not the same dress as kzbin.info/www/bejne/aWOamJ6lhremaqc ?

[@userbunny14]

I get so much hate for talking about Sasha's skating skills. They call me a hater even though I say I still think she's amazing and is the clear winner almost always. People are now trolling me all over youtube and Instagram. I'm apparently many peoples most hated. But I keep saying I'm not the only one, and its not that we hate her, its just that she doesn't actually skate, she jumps and spins.

[@biscuitcase83]

No you are a hater because she really is not that bad, she's not surya bonaly ffs. Sasha's SS are decent, she's improving her performance skills while also increasing her technical difficulty, its very impressive. Besides it doesn't really matter, her incredible jumping ability deserves rewarding she deserves every gold she gets

[@leratomonethi4265]

You are not a hater but a realistically sighted and emotional being. Ignore the trolls

[@biscuitcase83]

Nope still a hater because you focus on the negatives and clearly do so constantly to the point where other people get annoyed by it. Sasha skates Maybe not as well as some but to say all she does is jump and spin is not true. She's working hard to improve all aspects of her skating To constantly be negative and say she cant skate is disrespectful

[@jcaslove1]

This event was really good and worthy of a 2 hour discussion. Hanyu was incredible, Camden looked better than he ever has, and it was a great moment for Nam and Piper & Paul. The Knierims looked great in the free skate, and given how the other top pairs skated, could have been as high as 2nd had their throws not been that off. Their throws are huge and almost always rack up many points. They at least should have been 3rd in the free. I wouldn't have their death spiral that early in the program. But they have to be pleased with their upward trajectory. Boikova & Kozlovskii have some fantastic quality elements and were at their best here.

[@rahelhorvat1471]

I think that the mental game going on Med's head you talked about is definitely there, and must be hard for her, but this season, she is in a similar position to Tuktamisheva, although I think Tukt got bronze in her event, but then this event was super competitive, probably the most competitive of all gp events. Still, she did have two solid programs, minus falls in short, however, judges really inflate her and help still, trying to give her an advantage to have her keep going. She might have better chances in the following seasons when the quad girls go through puberty, under the condition that no new young skaters appear, but there we already have Valieva, Usacheva, Eteri's group is merciless, constantly producing new, younger and better skaters.

[@nenavujicin7882]

not to mention Alysa Liu ,as a new coming star....

[@birdtiredoflife5360]

No joke. This Grand Prix has been amazing thus far. So many clean programs, the ladies SP's especially have been so intense since so many have been nailing it. This is only the second event! Favourites already include Bradie, Anna, Keegan, Yuzuru, Young, Rika, Jason, Marin, Nathen, Ice dance has never really been my cup of tea but I'm enjoying this season for some reason. Just cant wait for Satoko and Kostornaia's Grand Prix skates now!

[@SaintHaHaLOLZ]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the literal only good thing about the Hubbell/Donohue SP is that we'll never have to see it again until the GPF. It's so terrible.

[@SaintHaHaLOLZ]

@twistxbow Of course they want to keep the tacky music. Ugh.

[@evelynwashere13]

Wow 😂😂

[@yingyingseah3294]

It felt like gabby was throwing herself a pity party for one in the kiss and cry and it was just hard to watch. Yes she can be a great skater but the need for media spin seems just self pitying and almost like she relishes it. I don’t even think it’s helping her at all.

[@JackAShepherd]

I also think the nails could be causing problems... I am NOT saying this is the main problem when the main problem is clearly, like, training and mentality. But anyone who’s worn fake nails and/or shellac tips knows that slamming those guys on anything, let alone against the ice to chat your body weight, sends a *shock* through your body. I dunno how or why she continues with those

[@susanfield3680]

I also find the long nails distracting. They take away from the overall look. I never thought about what it would feel like to fall with those! Yikes! However, gold medal Olympian Gail Devers seemed to make the long nails work; although, her sport wasn’t an artistic one and was judged by the stopwatch, not by subjective humans! 🤷‍♀️

[@susanfield3680]

Gail Devers was a track & field athlete who won the 100-meters in the 1992 and 1996 Olympics.

[@JackAShepherd]

Susan Field But you’re not slamming into ice in Track & Field :-) Ya know how much it hurts just to gently hit your fingers against something when you’re wearing artificial nails/tips? It’s gotta knock the wind outta you to fall on them on ice. She’s either taking the blows or expending mental energy guarding her hands when she falls.

[@sarahjames7646]

If the Australian judge isn't hanging her head in shame then I'm doing it for her. Apologies from Australia.

[@zb6070]

Evgenia falls in the sp: Everyone in the audience: Jill: Can my Kendall now have a solo?

[@TheSkatingLesson]

So true! Jill would be all over Brian Orser about that!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Shant Arakelian I miss Kelly. But I do love Brady!

[@zb6070]

@Shant Arakelian Christi is Chloe's mom, not Christy.

[@jabinabaker-booth1422]

This is a great opportunity for my little Kendall!

[@avg18]

Loooooved this recap so much! Thank you for bringing Dorothy and Katia as well. Those PCS were...really something. I appreciate the tenacity of Trusova for pushing the technical jump aspect of fs, it is awesome!, but definitely the PCS were waaaaay too high.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Alejandra Vasquez 💯

[@PeiwenTanbassoon821]

Imagine if DannyG wins Choreographer of the Season at that "award show" which is a lot likely to happen when one of the Eteri girls win worlds...😱

[@arthurtheaardvark13]

PwT I would start a revolution if that happens

[@Olga___864]

Anna Scherbakova's free program made by Daniil has 850000 views in one week, second only Hanyu with 100000

[@PeiwenTanbassoon821]

When ppl need the number of views to decide if a program is good or not they don't have a taste to begin with.

[@Olga___864]

The number of views tell the only thing, that the program is discussed outside the figure skating fans community. Some people discuss Anna's quads and health, some people discuss her dress, some people discuss how he put Stravinski and Satie in one program, some people try to find allusions to ballets Firebird and Three gnosian. It is a smart work and it is not only beautiful skating under music.

[@Olga___864]

If you are not interested only in hatred, but you want to expense your mind, i advise you to watch the videos from this article about Alina's Cleopatra program also www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/internetfsstat/2608373.html?sl=1

[@burythecastle97]

Seeing Rika's short program live made me fall in love with it. I was really on the fence about it at Autumn Classic. Just like last year, her programs really grow the more times she performs it and the more people view it. Plus the tech content is only going to get better as well 😉

[@yohanes2034]

Better camera definitely helps!

[@kyokosumoto7593]

And I agreed. All that 9s and positive GOEs for Evgenia is just too much. I mean her SP was a mess , she messed up her jumps, definitely affected her performance and yet judges can give her high PCS. Can’t believed she was actually scored higher than Yelim & Marin in the SP. kudos to her for coming back in the FP, she improved and it was clean and then again it’s wasn’t Like fantastic that she deserved so high PCS scores.

[@rahelhorvat1471]

agree, her free was clean, but nothing spectacular, and she gets 146, which just sounds too much.

[@Olga___864]

I think the judges just decided not to knockdown her by scoring under 60. With all her titles severe scoring could lead her to the hospital but not to free skating. I was so thankful to judges in that moment

[@Lily0713]

Omg I was thinking the same thing as Jonathan about Evegenia being a couch. I really hope she becomes a couch at some point in her career because she trained in both Eteri team and Orser team. It will be a great gain for Russia to have someone who experienced training outside of Russia. Russian ladies skating, specifically Eteri team, seems to have all similar styles just like what is happening in Korean ladies in that everybody, except Young You, seemed to be heavily influenced by Yuna. I love Yuna but I don't wanna see 10-20 Yuna styled skaters in one competition in Korea. I just wish to see more skaters with their own skating styles/characteristics.

[@brianr.3085]

I agree but I can't decide whether Evgenia should become an Ottoman, an armchair or a loveseat.

[@Lily0713]

@Lucky gem maybe I am but I feel like I am seeing more of Yuna in their skatings than their own like arm movements and Yuna's signiture techniques like ena bauer then right up into double axel (I've seen other skaters do this too but particularly more in Korean ladies). I noticed Yelim changed it to a little hop or something like that before double axel this season though and I like it. And this was awhile back but Eunsoo's part of ss in her miss Saigon program (in her first JGP season I believe) was pretty much identical to Yuna's. I mean as much as I love all these skaters, I would like to see them develop their uniqueness. They are still young and still developing their skills so I will have to wait and see but at this point, their skatings remind me alot of Yuna.

[@dinchik19]

Muse Matt Bellamy congratulated Trusova on her win at Skate Canada in his Instagram account. I didn’t know he wrote that piece of music 😀

[@Rochacha100]

Me neither. But I love the music and it is perfect for Trusova.

[@Julia-js7bs]

Trusova said in an interview after Skate Canda that her 3A is getting better and once it is consistent she'll add it into her programm....God help all of the other female skaters. Only puberty may stop her if she gets a 3A.

[@kezblu]

Great stuff about Trusova. I love her to bits and I want her to win win win and I think she’s the best thing to happen to female FS. But you have to tell the truth about these things. Giving her 8s and 8.5s in PCS just undermines the whole judging system. I don't see the problem with acknowledging that she's probably the best female jumper ever but her skating and performance are terrible. She still deserves to win because how could you not when you land three quads, but just be more real.

[@missevacantu]

Piper’s reaction to winning was heart warming. I really want that showdown between Hanyu and Nathan. Is the plan for Hanyu to go for Olympic gold #3?

[@danicaz1163]

No, I don't think so, even Hanyu thinks that would be near impossible himself. But I heard that if he manages the 4A, his team would reconsider.

[@ColonelGreen]

I believe Hanyu said that he would only go to Beijing if he thinks he could win, so that's very much a TBD.

[@ColonelGreen]

@Sally Vee I don't disagree, but if he thought it was a done deal, I imagine he'd say so. My point being that he hasn't committed to anything yet.

[@iris7484]

@@ColonelGreen if he gets a 4A, I can't see him passing up an opportunity to show it off at the Olympics, can you? Even if he can't beat Nathan, I mean. I think a lot of the rest of his career is going to be tied to chasing the 4A more than anything else

[@b2uty4u15]

@Sally Vee I already see him as skating Jesus😂

[@Helen-me1vn]

Sasha has a very ideal body type for jumping. Very strong and muscular, but lean, allowing her to jump high and rotate fast. That's a huge advantage for her, and unfortunately is something Anna will never have given her body type. Anna is very thin, which allows her to rotate fast but she can't jump as high. And then Alena is strong and jumps high, but she's not lean enough to rotate as quickly. On the other side of things, however, Sasha is not flexible and no matter why she'd never be able to hit Anna's positions.

[@ravanne3746]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens when these girls mature a bit and see if they are able to hang onto that jumping ability. It seems like the Russian girls are stellar at 16 and then nearly washed up by the time they're 19. I think that the discussion about the technique using the arms to jump more than the legs is telling about the longevity of the careers that we're seeing.

[@fazdoll]

What about Kamila Valieva, still down in juniors? She has a quad toe like Sasha and is still flexible like Anna.

[@Helen-me1vn]

@@ravanne3746 Many said puberty will ruin Alina's jumps but she had one season of adjusting and her jumps now are even better than they were pre-puberty. So we won't know until they get there. But I'd bet on Sasha keeping her quads because she is very strong. She did a SBS 4T with Yuzuru at the gala and you can tell it's just as high if not higher than Yuzuru so she definitely jumps from her legs to get that height. It's huge.

[@oceanle]

Trusova PCS should be in the 6's

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Certainly

[@coletterobichaud3465]

Especially for interpretation

[@coletterobichaud3465]

@@evanperilstein5308 literally zero

[@SergejKrolik]

Oh, really? Then transition and Interpretation score for.. let's say Wakaba Higuchi's SP at SkAm should be in 5s. There isn't any program - just set of elements with some music which have nothing to do with each other. The same moves could be done with any music as long as it's steady enough. Well, she did couple of arm swings during preparing for jumps and that's it - so interpretation is at least not zero, of course. Still it's straight up skating style from 80s years if not earlier. Why noone is complaining about it instead, I wonder? ) On other hand, Trusova's interpretation is good enough for those who watched GoT movie - it's actually showing some scenes from the movie. Her transitions are very good too. The program is divided in three distinct parts - each of them with completely different mood corresponding to various Game of Thrones periods - which look more interesting and should add to composition score. Performance part should be enhanced greatly by her quads alone - they are entertaining to watch for people whether you liked it or not. Oh yes, Higuchi's SS is better than Trusova, of course (mostly in gliding criteria - I can't say it for one-foot skating though). Still, SS is only one-fifth of PCS - you should remember that.

[@coletterobichaud3465]

@@SergejKrolik whataboutism isn't a way to make an argument. You're entitled to your opinion!

[@mjdecoteau5246]

You guys have really been taking care of all our content needs! Thank you!!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

MJ DeCoteau you’re welcome!

[@amyg4115]

The look on Zhenya’s face and your comment about what Eteri’s planted in her, reminds me of that look and expression on Alina’s face after she won World’s. Where it was initially just such a relief-she just exhaled, looked up like a prayer and a “thank God, I did it, I can hold my head up now, I proved myself, I proved everyone who has been degrading me and questioning my accomplishments on the basis of three bad skates (2018 Worlds, last season’s Russian Nationals and last season’s Euros) and all but snatching my Olympic gold and giving it to Eugenia, who they have built up while tearing me down, and I did it, I can face my coaches and my country and I can BREATHE!” You could just literally see the soul crushing weight lifted off her shoulders like she finally felt worthy of what she had a;ready earned that the Russian skating community and the media and all of Zhenya’s fans had deprived her of enjoying and being proud of. The stress you could see on her face when she had bad competitions (and my God, that girl went through a massive growth spurt into a young woman with new body parts and a significant height increase that continued through the season as she matured physically, and the after she won World’s the photo of her very raw, painful looking chemical burn on her ankle from an improperly diluted salve/compress used after an minor ankle sprain from the GPF, that she was skating with at Nationals-stuffing that burned ankle in a boot and having to skate through the pain of that-the stumble in her choreo out of that spiral when she grabbed her ankle behind her head, and her landings-it made so much sense after the fact, and I think you could see the tension between her and Eteri in the kiss and cry, like you know they made her skate because they knew she would not get to go to Euros or World’s, even with her success prior to Nationals and her Olympic gold, because she was not Evgenia), the stress you could see on her face in the warm ups and practices at World’s when Eteri was harsh with her....the fact that she said she felt like she didn’t have the right to lose and that her failures made her a disappointment to her country tells you everything you need to know bout the stress these Russian ladies are under when they start to lose their pre-pubescent body and easy, light jumping and are faced with the latest and greatest demoting them to the butt of Russian media and skating community jokes and gossip, as if their accomplishments and successes that they won not only for the,selves, but for their country, is just mind blowing the kind of psychological warfare they go through on a daily basis, that is impossible to shake even after leaving Eteri, if they leave on bad terms as opposed to retiring with flowers or , I believe in Alina’s case, willingly graciously accept their demotion and continue with less pressure to win and less tension and expectation from Eteri. I don’t know, I do think that what Eteri instills in them is impossible to shake no matter what if they don’t end their student coach relationship (or willingly accept the dynamics change ) with Eteri. I also think Zhenya’s body is protesting and her mindset/psychology and stress isn’t helping. She hasn’t had a win since Nov 2017, and while,she did earn a World bronze, which was good for her, it wasn’t gold and I can see that she does still have the Eteri mindset of first place on;y as she left before she hit the point where the dynamics had a chance to change with the realization that she had been dethroned from the top of the podium, and because of that, I think she will have unfinished business with Eteri and herself and country of a first place finish in a major competition, like Alina had with her win at World’s and collection of the one title she was missing, but Zhenya will not have the chance of getting her missing title (and the one she wanted and worked for the most)-Olympic gold. Now that’s a few years away, but in the meantime, I do think she really wants to prove that she is so,etching without Eteri, that it isn’t just Eteri that made her and she is nothing without her, but that she is still a winner on her own without Eteri. I just don’t see that happening, and I truly think it is going to get harder and more stressful for her and she is going to have a Yulia or Gracie breakdown when it doesn’t happen. Her reaction after the short showed that the talk she’s been giving about World bronze helping her become a more confident Zhenya and she will come back a happier, healthier, more successful Zhenya wasn’t renewed confidence but trying to speak it into existence, and that fall in the short and the other mistake at a competition that Sasha was skating in was just devastating and that anger was at herself and at the situation she finds herself in where getting to the top of the podium will be like climbing Everest with emphysema. It’s impossible for your heart not to break for her. I do think it will be easier for Alina to accept the new shakeup on the top of the podium with the new juniors this season than for Zhenya, because she was able to accomplish the one win and title she was lacking that she was expected to win before the new group moved up, and doesn’t have anything to prove (no matter how much Tatiana Tarasova minimizes and degrades her successes as Zhenya’s, because who has the medals? Those titles are forever). I see a serious mental fragility in Zhenya that everyone wants to pretend isn’t there by talking about how strong and fierce a competitor she is. I don’t think her strength and confidence is reliable with her new situation, and I think her support system needs to surround her and help build her up and make sure she is truly ok and if not, not ignore it or allow her to ignore it. Sorry for the rambling....it’s 3 am and I can’t sleep, and just typing as I think, plus brevity isn’t my strong point.

[@Olga___864]

I understand what are you talking about, i had the same feelings about this longest day after Zhenya's short program. I disrespect people who took Julia and Zhenya from Eteri without giving them proper psychological help and smart advices. But i appreciate that Zhenya switched to Canada. Eteri is a person from full family and loving parents and she is still young, so may be she couldn't really understand Julia and Zhenya. But i dont really think that she has to, because if she will be constantly involving in psychological problems, she will not have time to her family and other students. She is healthy person, from healthy family background and she goes with this healthy background through all her life. And now she has an opportunity to choose families with the same kind of mind and values. I think Tracy is good for her now, because she older, she is more experienced and they have their Hanyu, who as i understood also was bullied in Japan

[@rahelhorvat1471]

I also think there is a mental breakdown coming for Zenia, unless someone is willing to acknowledge her issues, she needs psychotherapy, because she might be developing a serious personality disorder.

[@Olga___864]

And actually i agree with not ignoring and allowing her not to ignore it. I think Canada is good for her. But i find myself in a very strange situation observing two videos "One day with Zhenya" and "One day with Sasha". I think that Canadian school is good, but for me it looks like they will help her to quit out from sport in the most unhurtful way. But for making results, living with all her potential and receiving happiness from her places on podium or not, may be she has to come back to Georgian school and go to America to Rafael Arutyunyan. Because she has to realize the thing that she can do her best with all her potential, but there are also another people who do their best, and it doesn't mean that they are better than her and shit like injures and bad days sometimes happen

[@Olga___864]

And i found myself in a very strange situation to see some comments there where people tell that Tracy still continue to talk about Eteri's technique. But i cant say for sure, because i didnt see her commenting by my own eyes. Speaking bad about previous patners or people, without explanations and proves and without paying attention to their merits is a narcissism sign, which makes me think that Cricket Club is still in Karpman drama triangle circle concerning situation with Zhenya and they shoud go out from it

[@claudsk33]

Timestamping atm 😊 - Y'ALL THIS EP IS LONNNNGGGG but I'm not complaining :P

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Claudia 🥇🥇🥇🥇

[@rhap]

Claudia, BLESS!!!!

[@rachaelramsay4555]

@@rhap my big brother/survivor and figure skating news crossover ?! never expected this one!

[@bettybleu12]

Claudia. You’re the best!

[@karmakaikee]

Rob Has a Podcast Love what you do for big brother!! Couldn’t survive the season otherwise :)

[@Eeyora1]

I totally agree about Hubbell and Donahue losing their edge. We all fell in love with their uniqueness. These program need to be flushed down the turlet.

[@yosily]

did anyone else have trouble trying to watch the competition through youtube? youtube seems to be aggressively taking down videos this year, wondering what would be a good alternative way to watch figure skating...

[@L.Spencer]

I haven't been able to watch hardly any. I don't know what VPN is, but I'll look into it because buying a years NBC subscription isn't possible right now. I feel like I'm missing all the action!

[@SeabassFishbrains]

I set my VPN to Brazil and I was easily able to watch the whole comp and gala on the Skating ISU channel. You can watch live or you can watch the full replay of the live stream.

[@laudese]

Like you, I was extremely frustrated over this but I found this website that helped me a little bit to find some live streamed skating: soyouwanttowatchfs.com/tagged/how-to-watch They update it for each grand prix competition with links and info about where you can watch it live (my favorite was the Russian Channel 1, stream 3). Hope this helps!

[@goldburnm]

Over 2 hours? I feel blessed.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Enjoy!

[@fashionmwah]

Wow... I clicked in less than 1 minute it posted! (I know. It’s not a big deal, but it’s instinct to immediately click on their video. I’m just excited to hear the commentary.)

[@doorkeys]

over 2 hrs?! bless your souls! i can listen to you guys talk all day!!!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

[@EM-rm2xh]

One of my biggest pet peeves with the women's quads are the GOEs. Sometimes the judges give them better GOEs than Hanyu and I'm just like........what? Also, Nathan's lutz is much purer/cleaner technique-wise (no pre-rotation/no full blade takeoff) than Scherbakova's. I DO applaud these young women for these fetes, but the judges need to be consistent with GOEs. The components bumping up b/c of quads is one thing, but they're getting a TON of points in the GOEs area that I don't think they deserved.

[@Sayu277]

This.

[@Ninchennase]

It's like women automatically get double GOE just because it's a quad.

[@Olga___864]

Because girls are not men. And all these girls, not only Russians developing female figure skating. Everybody is mainly concerned with female skating now, because it is more interesting to discuss and female Grand Prix feels like a soccer league, not figure skating

[@Ninchennase]

@@Olga___864 But isn't the scoring system supposed to create comparable scores? If women get scored higher for being women, it's totally contrary to what the scoring system is supposed to do.

[@Olga___864]

@@Ninchennase there are two different disciplines male and female figure skating. And compare any female to male is strange, until we have different bodies.

[@82gioccia]

Those barbies are super cute! Bring more next time. I agree with you on PCS score, they were weird in Canada. But if they reward let’s say Medvedeva with generous pcs, we might see another Kostner falling or missing jumps and still winning a medal over someone who has given a clean performance. The balance doesn’t always happen. Rika’s programs are growing on me, but the dress and hair accessories are awful. I like the technical panel this year calling edges and under rotations. Finally!

[@sashafan2]

I am really happy that Piper and Paul finally got the recognition they deserved, even though their programs are their least creative to date.

[@letitiakearney2423]

Hi it’s great to have company at 2.36 am as I’m ill and having terrible insomnia and you two really cheer me up.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Hope you get some sleep!

[@mademsoisellerhapsody1868]

same

[@grisgris6908]

The H/D "Shallow" free dance is so messy, I pray they at least completely overhaul it, if not change is completely. A well deserved win by Piper and Paul, they looked much crisper in the RD and FD

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Agreed

[@Eeyora1]

Bradie’s red dress: “it’s the Radio City Christmas Show!” Great point Jonathan about Evgenia as possibly being a great coach. Seeing that short program was painful. It reminded me so much of a Nancy Kerrigan at 93 worlds. I love watching her so much. One interesting observation, I think she is going through an emo phase, dressing in all black but I will take it any day over the American Emo Singer Song Writer Programs. One interesting observation from the eyes of an outsider. My fiancé while extremely impressed by Alexandra. He really feels Evgenia takes him on an emotional journey. On another note I think we need a toilet flushing sound effect for H/D programs.

[@moondim7]

SO while people here and everywhere are complaining about Sasha and her team mates, HANYU in an interview of Olympic channel said that SASHA is a VERY SPECIAL SKATER, AMAZING, and like the other girls too, he wants to learn more about their work because he feels like them... Watch it please , his comments are much more serious than a lot of "experts" here 😂 Oh and by his comments he's subtly complimenting Eteri LOL 😁

[@jesuisleslie8509]

Thanx!.. Yuzuru is a real gentleman! I haven't heard him trashing somebody else's skating. Not even Nathan's, his main contestant.

[@moondim7]

@@jesuisleslie8509 👀 A LOT of people in the skating community should take his example... But oh well !

[@brian4084]

I really hope another proposition and vote to have separate judging panels for PCS and TES happens in 2022, which if passed would help prevent automatic PCS inflation when TES is high. I remember when Alla Shekhovtsova argued to shoot this idea down, which pissed me off.

[@Sayu277]

This!

[@brian4084]

@mish098aimer yes

[@yohanes2034]

What were her arguments for going against it? The idea is sound and could potentially stop score fixing & selective inflation because different judges are responsible for different score.

[@brian4084]

@@evanperilstein5308 They did. What a travesty.

[@brian4084]

@@yohanes2034 You can check out her argument starting at the 2 minute mark. She said that the proposal would be detrimental to the calculation of GOE of each element, which is stupid because the aim of the proposal is exactly the opposite: have separate judging for TES (which is calculated from GOE) and PCS. She also had some bogus reason for the unique scenario where a judge becomes sick (get a replacement then). kzbin.info/www/bejne/sKGUYqqlbpZ4f9k

[@newmakeuplover81]

What is your take on what will happen at Gadbois? When i saw Kaitlin's face, my first thought was that Gadbois made a mistake taking too many teams who are in the same middle tier. This was bound to happen. I have always gotten the impression that there is a pecking order that everyone knows, but doesn't talk about. For a team like Kaitlin and Jean-Luc, it would be pretty easy to become low priority when your coaching team has US #1 and 2. They just seem overwhelmed this season and quite a few of their teams have some bad programs.

[@tb4522]

Got to agree, I just don't understand the Bradie costume issues. She's got the perfect figure for a skater (long legs, etc.) it seems to take effort to make her look bad. Although, the LP dress is pretty. Any dress off the rack from Lisa McKinnon or Brad Griffes would look better on her! Seriously, can we crowd fund buying her a Lisa dress? If we all gave $10, we could get her something Ashley would be jealous over! Lol.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Doesn't Brad go her costumes?

[@tb4522]

@@TheSkatingLesson Ugh. I hope not. I mean, her Cinderella looked like one of his off the rack dresses. But since then, doesn't look like his stuff from my untrained eye! (I have no data or info backing up my opinion, LOL.) Everytime I see one of those pretty dresses on Lisa's IG, I want to tag Bradie! Lol. BTW, regarding her hair and makeup, can we get whoever on Frank's team gave Gracie her princess look? I know, but it would be better!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

TB it looks like Brad to me.

[@comment6864]

I really like her costume and think it goes very well with the program. Don't quite get whey so many people criticize her

[@tb4522]

@@comment6864 Not criticizing her, criticizing her dresses. You really like that red dress? Really? What do you like about it? If you like the red color, just imagine how much better she'd look even in this off the rack dress! www.bradgriffies.com/b1835.html

[@len-ru5uv]

Yuzuru keeping his programs could be for reasons such as: 1. testing them out for next Olympics 2. strategy not to waste effort on developing new programs, concentrating on elements instead 3. actually paying best possible tribute to his idols as he says. he is on a mission here, be it place in history or other. gotta love him

[@Trixy98]

My moment of the week was Fear/Gibson's first GP medal! also, love how Jonathan's ootd gives off some strong retired ice-dancer vibe. The justifiably judgy kind.

[@lexinara-yoshimura7792]

All I'm going to say is Thank You Canada.

[@elccollins99]

Dave, Where can I find the Evgenia documentary you referenced? Also thank you to both you and Jonathan for the excellent content. I could listen to you both all day.

[@ElenaVid279]

Yagudin said that it is his personal preference - he prefers programs where male skaters jump quads because TO HIM this is a man skating. Why is he not allowed to have his personal preference? He didn’t trash Brown, he actually praised him many times.

[@Ninchennase]

He is allowed to say it, and people are allowed to criticize him for being chauvinistic. Freedom of speech works both ways. ;)

[@ElenaVid279]

Nicole Churulich he didn’t sound rude in Russian

[@ElenaVid279]

Nicole Churulich he never said that. Wtf? He said sth like sorry but I have my own preference and I want to see quads.

[@ElenaVid279]

Nicole Churulich “you can’t say that Brown has nothing about his program, it’s not true, his skating skills are incredible, his positions, spins, they way how he’s in full control of his body. Really good. But contemporary man skating is about quads, many quads. You cannot compete without quads. I don’t really want to go back in time to our junior worlds with Plushenko in 1996 but that’s when we had same technical elements as he does right now. It was ok for 1996 but it’s not enough today. He’ll get his pcs though”

[@elzakun]

@@Ninchennase he is allowed to say whatever when he's sitting in his own kitchen not he's commentating on national tv with a huge audience. Commentators should behave professionally. Being chauvinistic and saying an athletes performance doesn't deserve attention is definitely not it.

[@patriciaann7330]

First. Can Maddie and Zach just go back to Caught out in the rain and save their season?

[@TheSkatingLesson]

It would help!

[@justynazokiewska8223]

TheSkatingLesson it would be such a relief for all

[@mcslog]

Agreed. I also said the same thing last season.

[@patriciaann7330]

I just don’t get how Gadbois is approving all of this.

[@justynazokiewska8223]

@@patriciaann7330 Asking myself this same question

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

I get the feeling if last week was not in USA Stepanova/bukin would have won. H/D are just no this season and I think judges have made sure to tell them twice.

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

twistxbow actually all the coaches from Russia last year were saying that S/B were deserving 3rd place and it was politics. So if they continue like this they will move lower and I think it’s already happening.

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

BTW I hate the style of Madison. She can not be Tessa. She really looks tacky ... tessa was on a line and Madison crosses that line

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

twistxbow sure they were supporting sinitsina katsalapov they have zhulin but now since they have a steady second place they are moaning how French are the same and how fresh are sinitsina katsalapov. So while they wanna move them ahead of French they also try to push second team on the podium. I doubt they can do the first but second can happen quite easily

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

twistxbow bukin is my absolute favorite for some reason as well ... they can be the same but they are still better than people competing now so ...

[@valeriehilen2875]

Mariam Rus I have to say this is not something which is true this year. Even as unfinished , their two programs this year are sooooo interesting, original and risky. I can’t wait to see them at the French National to see the evolution.

[@vncntd3962]

After I watched Gilles and Poirier's FD at Skate Canada, I went back and watched their performance to the same music at Autumn Classic. Now this is the reason why ice dancers in particular should be taking the opportunity to skate at Senior B events (or, at least, spacing out their Grand Prix assignments), because the "Both Sides Now" routine was tinkered with/transformed over the course of a few weeks; most striking for me was the change they made to their straight line lift near the end of the program when Gilles balances herself on Poirier's back while he has his arms extended out from his body. Not only is this a much more interesting/dramatic lift than the one they did at the Autumn Classic but it it also beautifully integrated with the other lifts they do throughout the routine. At Skate Canada, a previously blah routine came together with new clarity and strength. The results were quite lovely - and certainly deserving of a win over Hubbell and Donohue, who took a gamble by skipping the Senior Bs and lost. (But speaking of which: I think the first thing Hubbell and Donohue need to do is ditch the "My Heart Belongs to Daddy" number that begins their RD. It has a cringe factor that ruins everything that comes after it. The FD can stay with A Star is Born, but they need a better music selection and edit; and substantially revised choreography.)

[@JessieBanana]

That's sad. To have a child so talented and smart, to have gotten into an Ivy League school, but still be upset and potentially emotionally abusive because they don't want to skate is disgusting. It's just a sport, you're his mother.

[@rop888]

That's why I don't see him not skating. His mother has dreams of him going to Beijing (where she is from) and getting an OGM. And Vincent almost gave up skating before and then came back. There's a lot of things that are just really off with Vincent and his mother being like that explains most of it.

[@JackAShepherd]

I know it’s not really his fault but all I think of when I think of Vincent is Trump with his arm on his shoulder :-o

[@nt.2549]

@@JackAShepherd people can change and regardless of his political alignment, no one deserves such venom thrown at them by their own parent. He hasnt done anything harmful to another person and I have seen people laughing and amused by his moms behavior and saying he deserves it just because of his political side...which I find appaling. Of course I know you arent...but I just...I dont like it and I wouldnt wish that kind of stage parent on anyone.

[@NatashaEstrada]

Yeah. But at least now at college he'll be around people who can give him a different perspective and support.

[@breadsummiko4862]

Asian kid same age as vincent at big boi college grew up in similar region here, and yeah asian parents are nuts. especially asian American parents. I pursued industrial design and my mom went around church yelling I was mentally ill and that it was sin that I wasn't pursuing life science or something that contributes to society. Apparently the world doesn't need entertainment or arts, it's just sin and Satan's temptation that makes us want entertainment and fun. My mom is actually quite nice compared to the methods my friends endured to get straight 98-100%s in all their APs and multiple acceptances to Ivy's. Well now I'm like basically excommunicated from the Chinese church but I'm GODDAMN happy. Hope Vincent and Nathan feel the same! I wish them the best!

[@biari8599]

Totally agree that Evgenia's PCS was way too high, I could not believe the scores she got. It's always been this way, but at least she was consistent and clean back then and had that reputation, and her skating, even though her skating skills weren't that great, still had more of a lightness and energy to it because she was just a kid basically, twirling across the ice.

[@ColonelGreen]

The SCI ice dance event ironically highlights how rigid most ice dance events tend to be, because there were a *ton* of ordinal shifts between the RD and the FD here; the only team that had the same in both were Hurtado/Khaliavin (5 and 5), and even then that's only because Lajoie/Lagha got a point deduction for an extended lift that kept them from taking fifth in the free. And both the 1-2 and 3-4 teams in the RD switched places after the free. While Liubov and Charlie's performance here wasn't on the whole as clean as at Finlandia, I came away extremely impressed because Liubov did a clean 3S, which I wasn't expecting to see anytime soon. The 3T weren't as successful this time around, and I'd guess that's partly because they've been putting more work on the Salchow. But their side-by-side jumps, as a whole, are coming together pretty well.

[@lisa-lisa-lisa]

I didnt realize those videos were blocked, they were so informative

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Lisa Critzer it frustrated me to no end!

[@toniannhorvath6745]

I loved the Barbie dolls and the thorough pairs discussion. It was odd how all the pairs were getting Level 2 on the death spiral. The field here was stacked with at least 4 pairs that could be top 6 or 7 at Worlds. Lubov & Charlie are formidable as well. The Knierims should definitely have been top 3 in the free skate. Tarasova & Morozov had some stunning elements, but that completely missed lift should have knocked them down. They somehow got the fraction of a point needed to be 3rd there. Alexa & Chris are in a significantly better place than last season and I agree about their twist being the best. Good pairs discussion!

[@dreybella5309]

that segment with the dolls was gold 😂 hope to see more of them in the future ⛸️

[@TheSkatingLesson]

[@dreybella5309]

@@TheSkatingLesson ps. Thank you for explaining the step sequence part. The rules really confuses me.

[@nvadqs]

The thing with H/D for me it's that look "uncontrolled". It's like their speed and power is out of hand and it doesn't pay off

[@dinchik19]

Trusova is not exactly my cup of tea , I love watching Zagitova and Kostornaya more but I was kind of worried about TSL being too mean to Trusova this week as I can’t help but admire Trusova’s athleticism, courage and fighting spirit. How can you not respect her? To my relief, I think both Jonathan and Dave were quite fair praising Sasha’s jumps , he strong sides and giving criticism on her artistry. We all have different tastes and Sasha has a lot of fans who started watching figure skating because of her as she brought so much excitement to the sport. My husband is not FS fan but watches it sometimes with me and to him she is the best and the most interesting to watch. Thank you , TSL for being fair and appreciating Sasha’s strong sides as well.

[@ixar23]

"she brought excitement to the sport" really ?!.......

[@klarissaoh1133]

@@evanperilstein5308 totally agree. Alexandra reminds me Nathan Chen. The same athleticism without grace and flexibility. They look a bit 'wooden'

[@iris7484]

@@ixar23 she drew me in to the women's event, but that's just me. I wasn't invested at all in the whole prevalent ice princess schtick, so I was really excited to see Trusova pushing the technical content and bringing raw energy to her programs. Some of that excitement has worn off and I would like to see her start developing her personal style, but at the same time, her drawing me in to the juniors events a few years ago introduced me to Kostornaia, who I absolutely love. So, idk

[@moonlightstripess]

For me whenever I watch trusova all I see are her jumps. When I watch figure skating I want to be moved by the skate like Yulia with schindler's list, Alena Kostornaia's the departure, yuna kim's danse Macabre or Evgenia's Muse exogenesis. For me you can jump all you want (and quads really are impressive) but if you can't move the soul then it ain't figure skating.

[@moonlightstripess]

@mish098aimer ikr. If only they judged correctly I'm sure we could get something more from trusova. I feel like she needs a rival on par technical wise but also more on the artistry so that she can bs forced or motivated to improve that component. Also those psc for alena at france was horrible.

[@foreverTwilight1993]

On Gabby, I don’t think this rewriting the narrative l/weird kiss and cry stuff started just since the Olympics, ever since she won the bronze medal at worlds and then struggled a bit the next season when everyone else in the world really steeped up for the Olympic year she was doing the same stuff, and it seemed to me very suprised abd thought she should be much higher when she made multiple errors against really stiff competition. I think she can be a fantastic skater

[@bettybleu12]

Emily Carter Gabby’s technique is so off with her spins and jumps. You would think her coach would really try to refine that. Same with Karen Chen’s coach on her Triple Lutz. The last time I saw a successful one was at the 2017 nationals.

[@Melissa-yr7fm]

adriana lee I’ve seen Karen’s coaches work on the lutz. From coaching at a rink where Karen skated, I can tell you that I was shocked she pulled out the performance she did at her winning nationals. She’s a head case even in practices. Very delayed, Lu Chen style jumps. When she missed, she would drill and drill them, continually falling. She’s a super sweet girl though. She was very nice to me the few times she taught skating school with me. She just really needs a good sport psychologist.

[@iris7484]

ooh an actual lesson in The Skating Lesson today, I loved it!

[@RAMSIL882]

I watched a documentary on Rika being extremely cautious on her costumes, so that they contain the least amount of air resistance. She is also very meticulous about her blade. I find her personality to be highly sensitive.

[@kwoodruff227]

I honestly could not be happier with the results of ice dance. Hubbell & Donohue have become way too stuck up and full of themselves for my liking, they needed to be knocked down a peg. But seriously, I know it's only October, but they've already lost to two of their biggest competitors (only in the free dance with Stepanova & Bukin, but still) plus the judges have made it very clear that their free dance is a miss. I'd be really concerned about the rest of the season if I were them 😬

[@laudese]

Things are looking good for Chock and Bates to be national champs again....

[@anaksimandran]

What music would you use for Trusova to counteract all the shortcommings of her skating, but bring out all her power qualities?

[@olgafedorova3448]

Rock

[@yohanes2034]

I must give credit when it's due. Trusova is an amazing athlete (she has tone abs! and her body in the jumpsuit... I wish I had that kind of physique when I was 15) and she should be awarded for her jumps. Except the 4 lutz, her 4 toe and 4 sal look very good and I can support that. Imagine if she can really perform or if she has Patrick Chan skating skill? She will be unbeatable. But judges giving her 8.5 (average) for her PCS is just dumb. It actually alienates her from many skating fans who are not yet warming to her skating styles. If you watch most videos of her Skate Canada, you'll find undeserving PCS comments everywhere. I disagree about Jonathan comment about Rika not covering much ice in her skating. I watched a video of her FS performance taken by a fan and I can say that she covered a lot of ice. Her edge quality and flow is undeniable, she skates fast from videos (but one can measure speed better watching the performance live). I hope she gives more facial expressions in the performance. I can see a bit here and there but it's not consistent throughout, so I guess she is trying at least. Young you is the unexpected variable as I predicted. I am happy that she got another GP assignment. Great that Hanyu can live up to his name. He almost broke FP and combined score record. But I always get this anxiety watching him live. It's this feeling of whether he can he land the quads or whether he can perform the program clean. It's different with Nathan. I am sad for Mateo, he is the other skater that I anticipated to watch in Skate Canada. Well I guess gpf is out of his reach...

[@carterwilson4605]

Remember to put in the euler alert at the beginning of the video, in case people are sensitive to them.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Carter Wilson 💯

[@nataliaivanova1035]

Just to put a bit of perspective on Yagudin’s words about Jason. From Yagudin’s point of view, a man has to work on a quad even if he cannot successfully land it (at least that’s how it sounded). His problem with Jason is that he does not even try to make a quad. There was an outcry against Yagudin on Russian forums regarding his words, so he backpedaled during FS and said how much he admires Brown’s skating.

[@bettybleu12]

Natalia Ivanova Good point. But why is Jason getting such crazy PCS and GOEs without quads to keep him medaling while on the ladies side, no other artistic skater can come close to the Eteri girls?

[@Olga___864]

And he has the right to do it. Because he spent his health for jumping culture and overscoring pcs nullifies his merits to this sport

[@seanl2403]

The dolls, my goodness I love this show haha. From the Kostner Candle lighting, the lavender spraying and now the dolls. So much camp I am dying! Love it. I need Dorothy Hamill to judge my life lol.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

[@SavannahRidout]

"I don't know why I would need two Dorothy Hamill Barbie dolls -" is a quote I rephrase and say to myself many times every Sunday at estate sales. "I don't know why I would need two rusted broken typewriters -"

[@littlebachmonster]

44:47 - “Let me get a friend”... I knew the barbies were coming :). Great explanation of step sequence levels though.

[@selenity08]

I appreciate you guys so much for the recaps and also the viewer that does the time stamps. I’m here for the Dorothy barbie 🙌

[@annfotlyan8655]

T/M have great programs this season. Once they put it all together I think they will have great success. Hoping they win worlds finally

[@dinchik19]

Ann Fotlyan me too! I was a bit upset with their performance on skate canada but I know they are capable of being the best in the world.

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

Guess who is winning the best coach and the best newcomer 🤦‍♀️

[@rachelguapa11]

WCh is in Montreal so when it comes to coach award the only question is if Marie-France will wear Jimmy Choo or Louboutin stilettos 👠

[@mariamrusishvili1724]

@@rachelguapa11 ahahahaha I love her ... she is getting fancier and prettier as time goes by :D but if eteris girls will sweep the podium I do not think Marie-France has a chance ... so it will be more about which new channel coat will eteri be wearing :D

[@rachelguapa11]

@@mariamrusishvili1724 Gadbois team will definitely win the Worlds + they will have at least 4 teams in top ten. I would say the chances are pretty equal :)

[@Becca3232]

2.5 hours!! Dam boys, good work. I'm going to have to split this into 2 viewings, which is great bc Monday's suck and I will need something fun to watch when I get home 😀👍❤🤣

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Enjoy!

[@lauriebrewer4724]

Yes!! Me too!

[@rekacsermely7020]

I appreciate the way you two talked about how you could enjoy watching both Yuzu and Nathan (or Mao and Yuna) at the same time. We need more skating fans like you guys!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

Réka Csermely 💯

[@benbailey159bb]

How trie

[@lauragarciajuarez3446]

Mao and Yuna same age, Nathan and Yuzuru no. Yuzuru is fighting in the third Olympic cycle, Nathan in the second. Yuzuru is a double Olympic champion, Nathan no. Yuzuru has nothing but the motivation to grow his legend even more, Nathan to become one.

[@lauragarciajuarez3446]

@mish098aimer Nathan Chen legend?? Why??

[@aflautist]

"Right down the throat like a Colorado potato" I'm dead..but her skating DOES feel like getting potatoes stuck in your throat

[@maymurakami2334]

I am tired of only reading and listening about Trusova’ s abilitities to jump and her strong body. She is more artistic this year and she has impressed her transitions. She is an amazing figure skater period. I do believe that people get somewhat envíos and scared of seeing a young woman with so many skills. If she were Canadian or American, could you imagine the comments or long list of incredible adjectives? Trusova is a fantastic figure skater who can be potentially unstoppable if she adds a 3A. Regarding Evgenia she should leave Orser, why? All excuses, all her problems are Tutberidze’s team problems.

[@iris7484]

idk. if she were American or Canadian, you're basically talking about Nathan Chen, who *does* catch a ton of flack on the internet even still, for his skating skills. I think people just want to see her develop the full package - or that's how I feel, anyway. I really love Trusova, and what she's doing is super exciting, to me. I would LOVE to see her push her performance further, along the lines of top male skaters.

[@ixar23]

Trusova might be a great jumper, not a great skater PERIOD.

[@iris7484]

@@evanperilstein5308 no you're totally right and I realized this wasn't going to be a clear comparison after I posted it. Nathan has really stepped up his game-performance wise and his skating skills were never atrocious, so what I meant more was like, he has been known more as a jumping bean than a full-package skater, even continuing to this day. (I don't agree with that but the opinion is still out there - it hasn't evolved along with his performance skills, with some people.) Likewise, i don't find Trusova's skating skills to be entirely atrocious, and her transition..exist, you know? She gets a difficult job done, with middling quality and focus on the jumps, as Chen did when he started adding more and more quads to his programs; his performances became kind of perfunctory and technical for awhile. Chen isn't the American Trusova, but Trusova is like the Russian (early) Nathan Chen. For both, some people are/were tripping over themselves to heap praises on them, while others are like "wtf they only deliver one thing."

[@annarabin7683]

oh dear lord, whenever Evgenia has problems Brian and Tracy blame Eteri for it, whenever she's doing well, they pat themselves on the back. How convenient. She's been there for 1,5 years, exactly the time Brian said would require to turn her from the victim who miraculously survived the concentration camp torturing, into a quad jumping Carolina Kostner. And it's about time HER coaches Brian and Tracy start owning their words and taking responsibility for their student, instead of shifting the blame on whomever they can. So far, it's only playing the "I don't know what to say" game, with a surprised pikachu face in K&C. She just looked undertrained. Even in the free her jumps were looking like she could fall on most of them. Her spins are horrendous, I'm surprised they gave GOE that generous for some of them. The narrative of "Oh maybe she saw Trusova and got pressured" or 'maybe Eteri dared to breathe and Evgenia got traumatized by it' is kind of annoying by now. It's anything but psychological issue, she's just not the same level of athlete she was with Eteri.

[@kirasamson3163]

Maybe she's undertrained because she spent much of her off season doing shows. And will be doing the same thing in December. Can't blame her for cashing in while she can, but it does take time away from training.

[@ColonelGreen]

Brian and Tracy have never blamed Eteri for anything.

[@LeggieroBoi]

Yeassss!! I’ve been waiting. Was not able to see any of this competition live. 🙌🏾❤️

[@karmablue]

Ok, the Barbie segment... loved it 😅

[@Sayu277]

Just because you mentioned Nathan being in college when comparing him and Hanyu I would like to say so is Hanyu! He is studying at waseda one of the most prestigeous japanese Universities out there.

[@rop888]

I mean no offense to him, but he's not living on campus and he's nearly 25 years old. He's obviously not taking a full load of classes. Isn't it an online thing anyway?

[@Sayu277]

@@rop888 from what I read it's a research heavy heavily scientific subject. And let me tell you writing papers with doing all the research etc is very time consuming and in my experience more difficult than just having a exam at the end of the course. And we also don't know how heavy a courseload Nathan has do we.. I just brought up Yuzuru attending Waseda because it's always conveniently forgotten. Especially when people (mostly north Americans) compare Yuzuru and Nathan they bring up Nathan attending Yale and how Nathan is oh so amazing for going to University while continuing to skate at a high level. This whole fabricated rivalry thing is one of the reasons I can't really watch any north american commentary/media these days. Yuzuru and Nathan are two very successful skaters who respect the hell out of each other and who strive to be their personal best selves.

[@rop888]

@Sally Vee Obviously he is very very busy with training and endorsements and in general being a God to most of Japan, but his schooling isn't something he has to personally walk into a classroom for and can't really be compared to what Nathan, Karen or Vincent are doing.

[@leratomonethi4265]

@@rop888 In the same manner that Nathan is a God to everyone North American!

[@origamis9477]

I'm sorry. Waseda does not have good impression to me. I know somebody who was getting lower grades than me in Canadian high school and she easily made it to Waseda. It is also famously known for protecting rapist groups as well. Not to take anything from GOOD students of Waseda, it is not as strong as more well known university and certainly not in match of Yales.

[@kittyslinxalott7815]

Yes in Blades of Glory the brother-sister pairs team did a JFK / Marilyn program complete with pill popping and a pearl necklace that she then tore off her neck so the pearls fell on the ice to nobble their competitors. As soon as HD took the ice for the RD I thought of this. I truly hope that HD go back to the drawing board. They are amazing skaters but both programs leave me cold.

[@optimalrefundable]

Tracy clearly loves Evgenia, she mentioned what a kind girl she is and how hard she trains during the commentary. Honestly, I think Brian might make her nervous with how wound up he is during and before skates. She looks so much better in practice, compared to how competition goes.

[@TheSkatingLesson]

He does seem to have taken on the intensity of the situation, which is likely something that the other side is playing up.

[@skaterboy-cz9wj]

I thought Tracy was one of Evgenia's coaches. Evgenia needs to work on her spins and levels for spins; ensure no UR's and work on nice clean crisp jumps axel, lutz with right edge etc. It is too bad if she skated for Canada she would be national champion.

[@rop888]

Tracy really should have been there after her SP. The atmosphere between Evgenia and Brian was the most awkward thing I've seen in awhile with Brian's, idk what to say. Then don't say anything man. I wanted Tracy stop doing commentary and go save her.

[@L.Spencer]

Somehow that video wasn't blocked on KZbin, and it was hard to watch.

[@rahelhorvat1471]

@@rop888 the disconnection between Brian and Evg has actually been visible since the start, they just don't work well together, like mentally speaking, Tracey much better, but these two are both her coaches, so as long as she is around him, there won't be any spectacular results, and perhaps she alone started being aware of it.

[@yosily]

I’m surprised Dave didn’t mention anything about Evgenia’s spins! I was frustrated watching her practice cuz she was leaving out all her spins, then she got level 3’s and V’s in the competition :( She seems to be going the Ashley route...

[@TheSkatingLesson]

I could've sworn I said Zagitova has better spins!

[@TheSkatingLesson]

You are correct!

[@bettybleu12]

Which spin got a V? I saw she got a positive GOE on all her spins. But IMHO, girl needs to practice those. She never had the fastest or prettiest positions even as a youngster like Alina. Didn’t Don say during the Russian Test Skate that spins can be practiced and learned. Jumps are more natural talent. These Eteri Girls have have such crazy flexibility if not the fastest spins like Karen Chen.

[@vistaprime]

Evgenia is theJill Trenary of our time. World champion then a year or two later the sport has, on a technical level, moved way passed her.

[@kuklakid]

Excellent analogy except Eugenia is better - still

[@inzie23]

Jonathan: “She has transitions, I would give her transitions.” *Dave’s face journey*

[@structuralengineering3406]

Hanyu is best at 3A, 4S, 4T. Nathan is good at 4Lz, 4F which have higher based value.

[@meltemt0245]

I saw a comment that says that Trusova’s quads are better than Hanyu’s ( he calls Flopyu) 😤 I just...just can’t understand some fs fans mentality.