I'll Be The Judge of That: 2013 World Championships - Ladies Short Program

As with every competition, there’s going to be some controversy after the scores come up. True, the bigger controversy in this year’s world championships was the outcome of the men’s event…but, loving the ladies as I do, I decided to focus my efforts on what I know best. I felt some skaters were held up, others were held down, and some got what they deserved.

Is this the correct order of the podium?

Last time I scored the top 7 ladies from the US nationals. This time, I’m going to look at the top 10 finishers from worlds. I’ll start with the ladies SP and then post the FS and final scores later, that way we’ll end up with two long exhausting posts instead of one gigantically long exhausting post. Like last time, I’ll give my scores and my explanation as to how I came to them.


Note: Unlike the actual judging where GOEs and component scores from each judge are averaged, I calculated these scores based on a single grade of execution score and a single component score. Therefore the scores may be a tad higher or lower than they would be if a range of scores were calculated instead of one. If my score is within 1.0-1.5 points of the actual score, that means the judges and I were on the same page... 


My results after the SP:

No surprise here. I had Yu-Na Kim in the lead with a slightly higher score than what she actually got (71.13 vs 69.97). I do feel as though the e on her flip was bogus so I decided to disregard it completely. I gave all three of Yu-Na’s jumps +2 in GOE, +2 on the StSq and +1 for everything else. My PCS came out slightly lower than what she actually received but I did agree with the PCS she received here. I think they were fair. What I didn’t completely agree with was her TES. The program was clean and solid and I felt that she deserved a little bit more than what the judges gave her.


My scores for Kanako Murakami were right in line with what she received (66.15 vs 66.64) but instead of placing 3rd in the SP, she places 2nd. I felt as though the judges were very fair to her here and that her score was right on the money. She maxed out all of her elements and executed her jumps cleanly. Her performance was lovely and I was thrilled to see them finally give her the PCS she deserves.


Kaetlyn Osmond’s scores for me were similar to what she got as well (65.93 vs 64.73) and she hangs on to 3rd in the SP. Again, I thought Kaetlyn was scored fairly in the SP. She brought a lot of energy to the ice, executed her elements well and really sold her program and the judges rewarded her for that.


Ashley Wagner places 4th in the SP for me with a slightly higher score (64.74 vs 63.98). Even though the program didn’t sing the way it has in the past, Ashley did what she needed to do and delivered a clean performance.

Down she goes...

Here’s the first major difference in the scoring: Carolina Kostner is in 5th place after the SP with 62.63 instead of 2nd with the 66.86 the judges gave her. I am one who believes the judges were a little too generous with her scores and that calls that should have been made were overlooked. I felt Carolina’s 3T-3T came up short of the quarter turn mark and that the second jump should have received <. The caller overlooked this (the world champion look-the-other-way bonus) and gave her the full value for the combo. Additionally, even though she fell, not all of the judges gave her -3…four judges gave her -2 which means she didn’t lose the full 2.10 points that are usually lost on a fall. So I counted the combo as < and adjusted the base value which reduced it by 1.2 points. Then I applied the customary -3 that accompanies a fall. So instead of 6.50 for the combo, she only earned 4.9.

The only other difference in my scoring is that I didn’t go +2 and +3 crazy like some of the judges did. I gave Carolina +2 on her StSq and +1 on everything else except her camel spin (0). In terms of PCS, I thought they were fair. Combo aside, the program was lovely. Carolina skated with speed and energy and delivered her program beautifully. PCS is where Carolina rarely puts a foot wrong. Even when the jumps aren’t working she never drops the program. I agree with the judges on her PCS.


Mao Asada retains her 6th place finish in the SP. My score for her was less than half a point higher (62.45 vs 62.10) so I agree with what the judges gave her. I didn’t find Mao’s 2-footed landing of her 3A as egregious as some did. I actually thought it was clean when she landed it! Mao lands most of her jumps with her ankles crossed which delays her free leg in checking the landing. From my angle on the computer, it looked like a normal delayed landing so I gave it +1 in GOE. Obviously the judges were just as split on their take of the jump as everyone else. The GOEs ranged from +2 to -2 which means no one knew what to make of it. Mao went for it, she landed it, it looked mostly clean to me…that’s a +1 in my book. The other jump errors were obvious (-1 on the flip and -3 on the popped loop) so those were no brainers. The rest of the program was good and the footwork was the best of the segment in my opinion (+3 on that) and her scores reflected that. Again, a fair score.

Very solid but under-appreciated program

I had Adelina Sotnikova move from 8th the 7th in the SP. I scored her higher than the judges did (62.10 vs 59.62). Adelina’s 3T-3T was judged < and that’s fair because it was; however, that first 3T was massive and the combo was still landed upright. Rather than give it a -1 for the <, I gave it 0 because of the quality of the first jump and the fact she landed the combo cleanly aside from the <. Her flip and axel were both nice (+1) and her camel spin, combination spin and footwork were all excellent (+2). Adelina had trouble with her layback so I gave it a -1. My PCS score for Adelina is a tad higher (29.20 vs 28.65) so that was fine, but the main difference is in her TES (32.90 vs 30.97). I don’t think the judges rewarded her enough for her difficult spins (sans the layback) and her footwork.


Akiko Suzuki scored 61.17 which placed her 8th. (She didn't place top 10 overall so I did not calculate her score. However, her scores from the judges are factored into my placements.)

Rough start but lovely finish

Zijun Li moves from 13th to 9th in the SP with my scores (58.73 vs 56.31). The main difference here is in the PCS. I feel like Zijun got lowballed here. My TES for her were less than a point higher (31.53 vs 30.76) but the PCS were 1.65 higher (28.20 vs 26.55). Her program was very nicely done and even though she went down on her opening combo, she finished out the rest of the program well. Her PCS ranged from 6.3 to 6.8; I feel as though Zijun is a high 6s, low 7s skater and that some of her marks (particularly PE, CH and IN) should have been higher.


Gracie Gold’s score was fair. I had her a hair lower (58.40 vs 58.85) but with Zijun’s increase, she drops a spot to 10th in the SP. The two jump mistakes (< on the combo, e on the flip) as well as the mistake on the spin hurt her the most because she has to rely on her TES to make up for weaknesses in the PCS areas of her skating. I scored her slightly higher than in the past in PCS because even with the mistakes I thought she showed a little more life in terms of performing her program here.


Viktoria Helgesson (58.36) and Mae Berenice Meite (56.90) end up in 11th and 12th place.


I gave Elizaveta Tuktamysheva 56.30 vs the 54.72 she got from the judges. 56.30 ties her with Alena Leonova in the SP but, if I’m not mistaken, the tiebreaker goes to the person with the higher TES which is Elizaveta (28.50 vs 26.47 for Alena) so she ends up 13th instead of 14th. I thought Elizaveta opened her program very well with the combo and 3L. After she missed her spin, nearly everything else went downhill. I thought she gave a lot of energy and attitude to her StSq (+2) but the big mistakes on the spin and axel really hurt her. Still, I had her nearly one point higher in both TES and PCS.


Overall, I thought the SP was judged well with the exception of a few skaters, namely Carolina who I felt was held up a little too much. I also felt the judges didn’t appreciate a few skaters (Adelina and Zijun) and that they deserved slightly better than what they got.

I’ll post the FS scores and final results soon!