Ok, it’s been a week since the World Championships and now that everyone seems to have finally calmed down from the ruckus of the competition, I think it’s time for some reflection. Now obviously, from a health and safety standpoint, it was extremely irresponsible of the ISU to host the championships. There were multiple issues with COVID at the event (two individuals were denied entry into “the bubble” due to positive tests, and a positive test inside the bible from an ice dancer prior to the free dance). However, I haven’t seen any reports thus far of diagnoses post-competition- we can only hope that everyone from the bubble remains healthy.
That being said, it was incredibly clear just by watching practice sessions, k&c moments, interviews, and the gala which countries and athletes took COVID seriously, and which ones didn’t. Yuzuru Hanyu should not stick out in pictures for being the only person wearing a mask. Quite frankly, the entire Russian team, who took home 6 medals from Stockholm, should have been sent right back to their country and been denied entry from the start with due to their unbelievable flouting of health guidelines.
But let’s look back on some brighter points from the competition.
Ladies
The last two groups of the ladies free skate were…traumatic for many. When Sasha Trusova, a medal candidate, is skating first in the second-to-last group, you know the rankings are going to be a discombobulation until the end. Landing in 12th after the short program, Sasha held onto her first place spot through 8 skaters, falling into second, and then third, after Tuktamysheva and Shcherbakova. While some skaters had triumphant skates (Mikutina, Hendrickx, Chen), others had some truly tragic skates. I am such a fan of Japanese and Korean skating, but unfortunately both Koreans (Kim, Lee) had falls in their long programs, preventing them from securing a 3rd spot for their ladies in Beijing (Although, Yelim Kim had one of the best 3Lz3ts I’ve ever seen in her SP (at 0:50)). While Kaori Sakamoto had two great skates here in Stockholm, she was doused by the judges, unfairly, in her PCS scores, and Rika Kihira, the hope of Japan against the Russians, fell completely flat, both literally and figuratively, and landed in 7th place just behind Kaori. Karen and Bradie from the United States somehow managed to secure the US a third spot for Beijing, but oddly enough it was Karen (with her superior PCS and programs), rather than Bradie, who won out. Bradie spent both programs struggling with under rotations, while Karen ended up 4th, and arguably should have been a medal winner here in Sweden. Maddie Schizas from Canada, a new skater here at worlds, had one of the most surprising short programs, but fell into 13th after the long, preventing Canada from gaining a third spot. Not to mention the greatest tragedy of all from Satoko Miyahara….we wish her and her skating skills all the love in the world.
Overall, I think there were two important conclusions from this World Championships. One- the judges are more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to Russian skaters. The Russian ladies swept the podium here, but not necessarily because they fully deserved to. Tuktamysheva and Trusova have some of the sloppiest skating skills and choreography in this group and yet were awarded huge scores from the judges, getting high 8s and 9s in every PCS category. And Anna Shcherbakova performed a clean short program, without a triple axel, and was somehow awarded an 81 while Rika, with her triple axel, was left in 2nd place with a 79 and lower PCS scores. And from that, the second clear conclusion is that the IJS needs an overhaul in how the judges award PCS scores. Just because a skater lands their jumps and skills, doesn’t mean they have good interpretation or skating skills or composition or performance. PCS rankings should not follow TES rankings or global reputations, and it’s going to make for a sad olympics if this trend continues so strongly into next season.
But here are my top 3 performances:
#3: Liza Tuktamysheva’s Emotional Free Skate
Does Liza have great choreography or skating skills? No. But I think her jumps here made her stand out versus the other two Russians in their strength. And for her to land both of her triple axels in the free program was quite outstanding. Most of all, this program and her k&c reaction was a highlight because of her absolute resilience in this sport. She last won the World Championships in 2015, and has outlasted multiple cycles of young Russian girls to come back this year and medal. Her success isn’t the result of a tiny body or overly-done transitions or politics- it’s based on her athleticism and perseverance. I cried along with her here, and I truly hope she continues to strive for a spot on the olympic team.
#2: Loena Hendrickx
Loena Hendrickx is a dark horse at every competition she’s at. I love the energy that she puts into her modern programs, and her jump landings continue to get stronger and stronger. I was over the moon to see her do so well at this World Championships after struggling with injuries the last two seasons. Excited to see her programs for the olympic season!
#1: Karen Chen
Yep, Karen Chen was my highlight at this World Championship. I’ve said before, I think that Karen Chen is the best ~skater~ that the United States has- she has gorgeous extensions and spins and spirals, but has just struggled since 2017 to rotate her jumps and stay on her feet. I don’t know what change she’s made in the last 18 months, but this was certainly the culmination of that change- to end up 4th and gain the US ladies another spot for Beijing. If PCS had been judged correctly, she would have won a silver or bronze medal. Beautiful program, beautiful performance- thank you for your skating, Karen!
3 Questions from the Ladies Competition:
Will Anna Shcherbakova, the champion, even be competing at this level next year? Will Trusova? Both of these girls, based on Tutberidze patterns, are nearing the end of their careers. Sasha’s quads weren’t any more consistent here than earlier in the season, and she’s clearly abandoned efforts to improve the skating skills and artistry in favor of the jumps. And Anna included only one quad here, which she fell on, and still looked sick as hell 5 months out from her COVID illness. Neither of these girls are guaranteed an olympic spot considering the juniors coming up behind them.
Who will the 3rd US lady be? With Karen and Bradie gaining us a 3rd spot, will it be Amber Glenn? Or Mariah Bell? Or will Alysa Liu turn out to be an olympian after all?
Will the Japanese and Korean federations finally start helping their skaters after this competition? The Japanese and Korean federations have taken on a habit of underscoring their skaters at nationals (compared to other countries that overscore their own), and the Korean federation forced their skaters into two national competitions just weeks before the World Championships, which was likely part of the reason both of their ladies faltered here in Stockholm. Maybe this will finally be a kick in the butt for them (probably not though, lol).
Mens
Wow- the mens competition at this World Championships was one for the books. The last two groups of skaters were incredible, and unlike the ladies competition, the battle truly lied in the skating and performance, versus in the judges’ scoring (well, except for some low PCS marks given to Mikhail Kolyada which pissed me tf off- SP judges 1 and 2 should be fired for that, that just means you’re bad at your job).
#3: Quite Simply? The depth of mens’ skating.
Trying to come up with a top 3 here was impossible. Jason Brown, Shoma Uno, Mikhail Kolyada, and of course Yuzuru Hanyu are all such different skaters, and bring their own artistic take to every single program they perform. Every one of these men gave great performances (although Yuzuru’s long program performance was a tad unfortunate and landed him in 3rd place after a 6 point lead…but we can ignore that because he’s an icon and just had a BAD DAY). All of these programs are ones to rewatch and enjoy!
2# Yuma Kagiyama
This year was Yuma’s first senior season, and he managed to win NHK Trophy, place 3rd at Japanese Nationals, and win a SILVER medal here at his first senior World Championship. Yuma’s skating is so textbook Japanese- smooth, clean, with deep knee bend. It’s beautiful, and what always makes me laugh is how he reacts to his huge scores. His reaction to his silver medal was PRICELESS. He’s the next big thing…scratch that, he’s already a big thing. Yuma is one to watch for at the Beijing games, FOR SURE!
#1 Nathan Nathan Nathan
Nathan fell on the quad lutz in his short program, and since he so rarely falls, I think the rest of the entire world and I let out the biggest gasp of our lives when he did. When he falls, it elicits the feelings from his 2018 olympic short program, which was such a disaster. But he picked himself back up for the combo and axel and ended up in 3rd place, 8 points behind Yuzuru Hanyu. At that point, it seemed like he might struggle to win…but that was clearly a stupid thought because, just like at the Olympics, Nathan proved that he is a king at performing a lights-out long program.
I truly believe this is the best performance Nathan has ever done. There’s a huge debate in the skating community about whether Nathan has enough artistry to compete with Yuzuru Hanyu in the PCS category, and Yuzuru’s TES score can be incredibly high from his GOE…but really I just think Nathan has a different style of skating than Yuzuru. Not worse, just different, and you can support both skaters just the same. Nathan deserves his wins. It’s also relevant to note that Nathan Chen has not lost a single competition since 2018 Worlds. It will be exciting to see if he can maintain that streak through next season and even the Olympics.
3 Comments from the Mens Competition:
Who will China send to their home olympics? Unfortunately for them, Boyang Jin had a disastrous competition and ended up in 22nd place, losing China one of their mens spots. Will China still send Boyang because of his quad capabilities, even when he can fall so far down in the rankings? Or will Han Yan (my personal favorite), with his beautiful skating skills and ICONIC triple axel, be the choice for consistency? Would not want to be a member of the Chinese federation right now…
A big congrats to Italy and Canada! With Matteo Rizzo and Keegan Messing ending up in the top 10, Italy held onto both of their olympic spots and Keegan gained a spot for Canada, likely giving Roman Sadovsky a ride to Beijing.
While Nathan and Jason had a great WC, Vincent Zhou…did not. Vincent, who won the world bronze medal in 2019, failed to even make the free skate. Meaning that if the US is to keep their 3rd olympic mens spot, we have to send a skater to quality at Nebelhorn in the fall. It’ll be interesting to see 1) who the US sends to do that and 2) if Vincent can regain his consistency and trust from the USFS to go to Beijing in February, bc right now it’s not looking so good for him :(
Pairs
The final group of the pairs discipline was an edge-of-the-seat kind of event. The side-by-side jumps here in Stockholm must have been cursed, because I think that out of the last two groups, a maybe two teams actually landed theirs? Tarasova and Morozov had a few unfortunate mistakes, leaving them out of the medals, and Boikova and Kozlovskii, who likely would have been world champions last year if the competition hadn’t been cancelled, were plagued by mistakes from Boikova in the long program and ended up in 3rd. And Sui/Han, arguably the best team in the world, made just enough small mistakes to lose out on gold to the other Moskvina pair from Russia- Mishina and Galliamov.
#3: Rika and Ryuichi!
Watching the Japanese pair team gives me so much joy because they are always so joyful in their performances. Because there aren’t any other prominent Japanese pair teams, these two are really in their own world and focused on their own improvement and success, which is so refreshing. And their 10th place finish here actually qualified another Japanese pair for the olympics (although there may not be a pair to take advantage?). But anyway, love watching them, wishing them the best going forward.
#2: B/K Howl’s Moving Castle
It was shocking to see Boikova and Kozlovskii switch to a new short program so soon before the World Championships, but I thought this music and this program was really lovely and the judges clearly agreed because this put them in first place after the short. And it was nice to just see something new after most teams have kept everything from the 2019 season, ya know?
#1: Sui and Han SUPREMACY
Was that too dramatic? I love everything Sui and Han do, and these programs are some of their best. I could watch them over and over and never get tired of them. Yes, they were a little slower and not as clean as they have been in the past, due to injuries and a lack of competing this season, but still…such a wow, every time.
3 Questions from the Pairs Competition:
Who will the 2nd US pair be in 2022? Alexa and Brandon and Ashley and Tim maintained the US’s 2 spots for Beijing, but the question is whether these two teams will be the ones competing there. Jessica and Brian were chosen for worlds, but dropped out due to personal reasons. Honestly, I don’t see much difference in potential between Ashley/Tim and Jessica/Brian- they’ll be fairly good and fall on one of the side by side jump passes…should make for some national excitement though!
Can Sui/Han come back to win their olympic gold? This season’s injury and lack of experience certainly did not help them here, but I do wonder if they’ll be able to bounce back for their home olympics…my heart hopes so.
Why do Tarasova and Morozov skate like they’re depressed?
Ice Dance
My only takeaway from the ice dance competition was that it was kinda boring. The absence of Papadakis/Cizeron was glaring. Plus it was clear from the start that the judges wanted Victoria and Nikita to win (unfortunately), and when politics are so clearly at play it just makes all the performances seem wasteful. But there were still a couple of good moments.
#3: Hubbell and Donohue’s Hallelujah program
Hubbell and Donohue are such strong skaters, and I think that in the past couple months they’ve grown into this program well. It was pretty, clean, and powerful, and they honestly deserved to win this competition.
#2: PIPER AND PAUL WORLD MEDALISTS
Piper and Paul are my favorite dance team, other than Papadakis/Cizeron, because they always have such creative dances compared to the rest of the field. Their Vincent Van Gogh free dance never fails to make me cry, and this Joni Mitchell program fits them so so well. I almost screamed on the metro when I saw they were going to medal. YES YES YES!!!
#1: The fact that we never have to watch these rhythm dances ever again.
3 Comments from the Ice Dance Competition:
When will we see Papadakis/Cizeron again? My skin is drying, my mood is dropping, I NEED to see them skate.
Is Ice Dance better with better commentating? I think this certainly proved so. Tanith tries on NBC but is ultimately hindered by the network and her cohosts. Mark Hanretty’s commentating was so insightful and really made the rankings so much more clear to the viewer. Thanks, Mark!
Did I mention we never have to see this rhythm dance again?
Best Surprises?
There were some great, surprise performances at this competition and I think I would be remiss to not include them in this review!
#3: Maddie Schizas’ short program
Last year, despite having the highest international scores out of all the Canadian women, Schizas was left off the worlds team. But this year, she really came to prove herself as Canada’s number one woman. Her long program was not what she wanted, but her short program was a true gem here in Stockholm.
#2: Evgeni Semenenko
As much as the world and I rave about Kolyada, the rest of the Russian mens field leaves much to be desired. And this season, throughout all of Russian’s internal competition circuits, there proved to be no obvious second male skater for Russia to send internationally. Aliev, Samarin, Ignatov, Kondratiuk, Mozalev, Gumennik…the list goes on, but the point is everyone had good and bad moments and no one was consistent. And even though Semenenko ranked 11th at their nationals, he won the ranking competition in February and was sent here. For a skater just coming out of the junior ranks to put out such clean programs at the World Championships was really quite amazing.
#1 Olga Mikutina
Olga was my favorite surprise at this World Championship. Beautiful classic skating, beautiful classic jump technique, and great programs to match. I love when new, unknowns make big breaks like this! So excited to see more of her next season :)
Other great things about the World Championships?
#3: Jordan OnIcePerspectives at the Gala
Anyone who watches and engages in the figure skating community, or has friends who send them figure skating videos, knows OnIcePerspectives. Jordan Cowan has made himself indispensable in the community for his On-Ice videos, and when I found out he was doing the gala here I actually considered watching the gala (which is new for me)! There were some really great moments from his videography, and I think this video style is entertaining especially for people who might not usually watch skating. Good on the ISU for taking advantage of his skillset!
#2: The Small, but Mighty, Crowd
While no external spectators were allowed at this worlds, there was something really wholesome about having the audience be the other team skaters. It meant that cheers arose at the right moments, since skaters know which skills are the most difficult, and it meant that the cheers were so much more personal. I don’t know, I thought it was nice :)
#1 Mark Hanretty
Mark, Mark, Mark, you are a gift to us all. I usually HATE commentary, but Mark’s commentating on the ISU stream was FANTASTIC. He was honest, explained why certain skaters would rank above others, questioned scores when they were questionable, and was able to insert information tidbits about programs and athletes, like inspirations behind the music, or influences from certain coaching teams. I think the ISU ought to hire Mark permanently- he and the skating community deserve it!
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