My first post of the season! Yay! This past weekend certainly wasn't the first skating of the season, since small international competitions and the Junior Grand Prix have been up and running for the past month. But I think that the excitement of the season certainly started this weekend with Russian Test Skates, since it's likely that the olympic champion, or perhaps the whole olympic podium, will be coming from this crop of skaters, particularly the women.
#3: I'm sorry for all the bad things I said about Alysa Liu last year!
My #3 moment of the week is Alysa Liu's performance at Lombardia, particularly the long program. Last year, as most skating fans know, Alysa's skating certainly took a turn for the worst due to puberty and strange COVID coaching changes. I mean, at the Skate America gala she was only doing doubles! Her nationals performance was better, but still left much to be desired, since the triple axel still wasn't being trained and the program choices were still slightly childish. But this year it's become clear that the new coaching team (shout out to Massimo and Jeremy) has truly strived to improve her skating quality. I think this was especially clear in her new free skate- her stroking looks stronger, her ice coverage looks better, and I actually think the choice of the Tchaikovsky concerto is a perfect fit- not too mature to be overwhelming, but has potential to create a real moment at nationals and the olympics. I was also impressed (obviously) with the triple axel attempt- not fully rotated but VERY CLOSE! Call me shocked, call me impressed....
#2: Cruella with the Quads
The only thing most people, including me, could say after Sasha Trusova's free program at Russian test skates was "WOW". I know that this program obviously lacks improvement in stroking and content, and is mostly just a jump drill, but a woman performing 5 clean quads in a long program deserves a WOW! It's astonishing how her quads have just gotten better and stronger as she's grown, which is such a testament to her athleticism, and obviously the coaching switch back to Eteri has improved the consistency for her going into the olympic season. And even though this performance was a sort of jump drill, I think that the cruella music choice is rather fitting- it doesn't demand artistry that she is lacking, and with a little more performance and appropriate costuming it could be quite exciting amongst other program this year that, from my view, are mostly a snooze. Go Sasha!
#1: I'm a Kostobot
Yes, I know that Aliona Kostornaia's skating isn't immensely strong right now. Yes, I know she isn't performing these programs to the fullest extent. But still, seeing Aliona in a consistent mode just gave me life. It cleared my skin, it cured my depression. And the triple axel landing in the free program just made my heart sing! I know that Eteri's training is borderline cruel, but seeing Aliona happy with her performances after the sad outings last year made me feel much more optimistic about the coming season, and I'm excited to see how her olympic hopes evolve throughout the fall, since she's certainly in the top 4 or 5 options for the Russian team. Praying for her and fellow kostobots <3
Jailable moment of the week:
Not so much a "Jailable moment", but I will say that eventually the ISU will have to face God regarding their decision to make the hip-hop pattern the theme during an olympic year. Having (white) ice dancers try to dance to rap music is just awful and I have yet to see a dance that isn't just embarrassing. I feel so sorry for the broad public that is going to have to watch these on NBC in February...
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