2017-2018 Grand Prix Final
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| A new Russian takes the crown |
The final results:
Alina Zagitova (RUS): 223.30 - 1st
This competition was not Alina's best in terms of her execution. She stepped out of her solo triple in the SP and stepped out of two jumps in the FS as well. Even with the mistakes Alina managed to top her season's best total score by about 10 points. Again, I feel as though she was grossly over-scored in PCS in both the SP and FS; however, it's probably better to just give up that argument because it doesn't appear as though anything will change. Still, had she been scored fairly in PCS this would have been a much much tighter race, which it should have been. Alina finished 1st in the FS and pulled up to finish 1st overall, winning the gold medal in her first appearance at the Final.
With Evgenia Medvedeva out, Alina rose to the occasion and was able to capitalize on this opportunity. That should give her some momentum and confidence going into nationals next week.
Maria Sotskova (RUS): 216.28 - 2nd
Maria has been a rock at all of her competitions this season, consistently delivering her programs and medaling at every event. That rock steadiness continued here. Maria hit all of her elements in both segements and performed her programs beautifully with maturity and poise. Given how over-scored Alina was in components, I actually think Maria could have had a case for gold at this event. I'd have had her higher than Alina in PCS which could have helped her to edge out Alina for gold...or at least made it a closer competition. Maria finished 2nd in the FS and 2nd overall to take home her first GPF medal.
Maria is a mile ahead of every other Russian woman competing for that 3rd spot to the Olympics. If she can keep it together and nail her programs at nationals that spot should be hers.
Kaetlyn Osmond (CAN): 215.16 - 3rd
Kaetlyn started off amazingly by blowing her SP out of the water. She scored a personal best 77.04 and went into the FS with a very small lead over Alina. Kaetlyn had a chance to win here. If she'd nailed all of her jumps in the FS, I honestly think she'd have beaten Alina for gold. However, Kaetlyn wasn't able to make it happen. She hit all of her big elements but a doubled loop and under-rotation/fall cost her silver. Had she not under-rotated that salchow, she'd have edged out Maria for silver.
This was the second opportunity Kaetlyn had to beat the #2 and #3 Russians in the field and, again, she ended up behind both of them. She has a lot of work to do next year to get where she needs to be.
As for the rest...
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| Don't count grandma out yet |
Carolina Kostner (ITA; 214.65, 4th): Carolina impressed me here. Even though she had some issues in the SP (doubled her 3-3 combo), she came back very strong in the FS. The majority of her jumps are looking strong and steady, and the rest of her elements were superb as well. She has that respect and admiration from the judges, so when she skates well she scores very well. Carolina finished 6th in the SP but her 3rd place finish in the FS was enough to pull her up to an extremely close 4th overall.
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| No favors this time around |
Satoko Miyahara (JPN; 213.49, 5th): Satoko started off beautifully in the SP. All of her elements were strong and her performance thrilled the home crowd. She skated last in the FS and managed to turn in a lovely performance. Some feel that the technical caller at Skate America was a bit lenient on Satoko's jumps and that she got away with a couple of no-calls on a few under-rotations. Well if that was the case, it was back to business as usual at this event. The callers did not hesitate to hand out the carrots here...Satoko's performance was gorgeous but three under-rotations lost her a ton of points and knocked her down to a close 5th place finish overall.
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| Now's not the time to drop the ball! |
Wakaba Higuchi (JPN; 202.11, 6th): Wakaba was excellent in the SP. Everything was clean and easy and she brought a lot of energy and fun to her performance. Unfortunately, that calmness and focus that has carried her so far this season fell away in the FS. Her old habit of bailing on jumps came back to haunt her. Wakaba doubled two triple jumps which cost her far too many points. She placed 6th in the FS and finished a distant 6th overall.
That officially wraps up the Grand Prix season. Overall I was very happy with the level of skating at this competition. Everyone scored at least 200 points, and 5 out of 6 skaters scored 210+. I do feel as though the gap between 1st place and the rest of the field was far too much, but this was a good event. Congrats to the medalists!
On to the juniors!
2017 Junior Grand Prix Final
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| A |
Alexandra Trusova (RUS): 205.61 - 1st
Alexandra is a little firecracker and I love her. She's got spunk and fire when she skates and it makes her very entertaining to watch. She set the world junior record with her SP score (73.25) and took the lead heading into the FS. Alexandra opened her program with an attempt at a 4S but under-rotated and fell. She rebounded well and went on to hit 7 triple jumps including two 3Lz combos (3Lz-3L, 3Lz-3T). It was a close race between her and Alena, but in the end Alexandra was able to hold onto the lead and finish in 1st place overall.
Alena Kostornaia (RUS): 204.58 - 2nd
Alena brought her A-game to this event in both programs. Her SP was mature, polished and beautifully skated. She set the world junior record with her SP score of 71.65 (Trusova broke it moments later). Alena finished the segment right on Alexandra's heels and guaranteed a fight in the FS. Alena was perfect, nailing all of her 7 triple jumps in the bonus and earning the highest PCS of the segment. She finished 1st in the FS but it wasn't enough to pull her ahead of Alexandra. She finished a very close 2nd and earned the silver medal.
Anastasia Tarakanova (RUS): 199.64 - 3rd
Like her other teammates, Anastasia turned in her best at this competition as well. She hit all of her elements in the SP but found herself nearly 4 points behind the top two heading into the FS due in large part to her PCS. She skates with a lot of energy and emotion but there's a wildness and unrefined quality to her skating that isn't always pleasant to watch, especially compared to Alexandra and Alena. Anastasia didn't go down without a fight in the FS. She hit all of her elements and posted a very strong score, finishing a close 3rd in the FS. Unfortunately she wasn't able to move up in the standings and finished 3rd overall.
As for the rest...
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| The future of Japanese women's skating |
Rika Kihira (JPN; 192.45, 4th): Rika Kihira hit an amazing 3A-3T combination in her FS. It was perfection! She earned 14.66 points for that single element. She planned to do a second 3A but popped it into a single which lost her a ton of points. Other than one under-rotation, she managed to finish out the rest of the program cleanly. Sadly, she needed the points from that axel to medal. Had she landed it cleanly, she'd have beaten out Tarakanova for bronze.
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| Still needs some work |
Daria Panenkova (RUS; 191.16, 5th): Daria skated two clean programs as well. She's taller and more mature looking than most of the girls which is a plus. Daria's jumps are more powerful as well which is great, but she is still quite a ways behind the rest of the pack when it comes to her PCS. Even with the lower components she was able to finish a very close 5th here.
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| I enjoyed her quite a bit |
Sofia Samodurova (RUS; 187.74, 6th): Sofia was the only Russian at this event not coached by Eteri Tutberidze. She was able to deliver two strong programs as well, though she did lose points on her lutzes. All three she completed in the competition were dinged and received -GOE. She wasn't able to compete at the top here but I really enjoyed her skating, especially her SP.
The senior event was well-skated but this junior event was immaculately skated. So many skaters turned in pristine programs and the scores were much closer together, as they should have been. This was an excellent competition. Congrats to the medalists!
It's time for nationals! These competitions are going to be immensely fierce and competitive. It all kicks off with the two main events: Russian nationals and Japanese nationals. The Russian National Championships will take place December 19-24 in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The Japanese National Championships will take place December 20-24 in Tokyo, Japan. Spots to the 2018 Olympic Games are on the line. It's finally go time! I'm so excited to watch all of this take place. But before I do, I have to give my End of Grand Prix Power Rankings. Check back for those on Sunday!
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