2018 European Championships
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| The Queen has been dethroned! |
Final results:
Alina Zagitova (RUS): 238.24 - 1st
It took Alina an entire season to get herself together but she finally managed to pull off two clean performances at an event...and it couldn't have happened at a better time. She was clean in both programs and earned insane scores in both segments (over 80 in the SP, over 157 in the FS). I take nothing away from Alina in terms of her technical score but I will forever be scratching my head trying to suss the reasoning behind the impossibly high PCS she receives. I don't feel she should be anywhere near the CH, IN or PE that Carolina or Evgenia receive...she actually beat Carolina in PCS here. I could argue about that and give perfect examples as to why that is utter crap....but why bother? This is the climate we are in right now. Alina is a new favorite and that comes with scoring perks that override the objective side of things. It is what it is. She won both segments and the gold medal in her first trip to the European Championships.
Alina is now the youngest European champion ever. I feel as though her dethroning of Evgenia has shifted the tides in her favor as we head into Pyeongchang. When she's perfect she is capable of posting nearly untouchable scores...things just got very interesting for next month.
Evgenia Medvedeva: 232.86 - 2nd
Evgenia has been away from competition for quite a while recovering from an injury. She was mostly on form at this event, albeit a little rusty at times. A step out on her 2A in the SP cost her a bit and left her in 2nd place behind Alina. Evgenia skated after Alina in the FS and I had a sneaky suspicion that no matter what she did, she didn't have a chance to catch up to Alina's scores. Evgenia had a wonky landing on her first 3F and didn't complete the combo but was able to add it to the second half of the program. The rest of her jumps were clean but nowhere near as easy and effortless-looking as they usually are. She usually lands softly and smoothly; most of her landings here were somewhat stiff. Stiff or not, she landed all of her planned content and she definitely gets the nod for performance, especially over Alina who is still rather juniorish in her overall performance. Unfortunately it wasn't enough for Evgenia to pull ahead. She finished 2nd in the FS and 2nd overall for the first time since November of 2015.
I feel like this loss will add some fire to Evgenia. She hasn't really had anyone on her competitive level in two years. With Alina in the mix, Evgenia can't afford the slightest mistake. Overall I feel like having Alina around is going to push Evgenia to become an even fiercer competitor...which is kinda scary when you think about it...
Carolina Kostner: 204.25 - 3rd
It really seems as if she's been competing forever. Carolina's first time competing at this event was back in 2003...yet she's still here and still landing on podiums. I will give her props for the SP. I love the program and I love that she's upping her technical content again as we head into the Olympics. Carolina's 3T-3T has been upgraded to a 3F-3T. It was a solid combo but landed tightly. The rest of the jumps and performance were amazing and she went into the FS in 3rd place. Let me just say that Carolina is the only person who can wear a sparkly lime green unitard and I'd be okay with it. She always looks beautiful in unitards because they accentuate her gorgeous body lines. I thought she looked fabulous. As for her FS, this wasn't what she wanted heading into Pyeongchang next month. She fell on her opening 3Lz, under-rotated and nearly fell on her 2A and doubled an intended triple as well. In the end she earned only 51.86 in TES. Carolina finished 4th in the FS but thanks to her SP lead and higher PCS she was able to hold on to 3rd place for her 11th European medal.
Carolina still has a chance at medaling in Pyeongchang but she has no room for error. Hopefully she'll be able to turn it on like she did in Sochi and pull out two clean performances.
As for the rest...
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| Get your shit together Maria! |
Maria Sotksova (RUS; 200.81, 4th): For the second season in a row Maria appears to be losing steam after nationals. She makes it through the first half of the season without problems but she starts to lag behind once the new year starts. Maria had issues in both programs (bad landing on the lutz in the SP and under-rotation/fall in the FS) but none of them were that disastrous. In all fairness she should have come in 3rd ahead of Carolina. But of course PCS blah blah blah... I'm hoping Maria can refocus and get her mind right for the Olympics. She's not expected to contend for a medal but a top 5 finish is very possible for her if she can deliver cleanly.
Other Competition Notes: Mae Berenice Meite (FRA; 159.70, 8th) won the Battle of the French and should be heading to the Olympics. She won the French national title but this event was the audition to make it to Pyeongchang. She struggled in the SP and fell behind her teammate Laurine Lecavalier but was able to make up ground in the FS and finish ahead of her in the end. Laurine placed 11th (154.11).
Moving on...
2018 Canadian National Championships
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| Happy Birthday Gabby! |
Final results:
Gabrielle Daleman: 229.78 - 1st
After her amazing performances at Worlds last year, Gabby struggled this season to make anything happen on the Grand Prix. That confidence was there but something else was missing. The focus she developed last season was nowhere to be found. Luckily she seemed to find it here. Her "Carmen" SP was strong and fierce (I love the new dress!). She didn't go for that quad toe she was rumored to be working on, but she did hit all of her intended content and won the segment. Thankfully Gabby has gone back to her "Rhapsody in Blue" FS for the remainder of the season...I didn't like that "Gladiator" program at all. Gabby was calm and confident and she really let the performance shine in the footwork. It was great to see her bring the program back in such grand fashion, and on her birthday too! She won the FS as well and is now the 2018 Canadian champion.
Gabby has a hill to climb when it comes to Pyeongchang. Internationally Katelyn still has the edge on her in scoring. Gabby will need to replicate these performances and give it her all if she hopes to have a shot at the podium.
Kaetlyn Osmond: 218.73 - 2nd
Kaetlyn came in as the defending national champion and needed to put forth her best to hang on to her title. Unfortunately that didn't happen. Kaetlyn fell on her opening 3F in the SP which hurt the overall impression of the program and took a bit of the wind out of her sails. She's usually very solid in the SP so it was weird to see her mess up. She finished 2nd in the SP with a decent amount of room to make up if she was going to keep her title. In the FS Kaetlyn started off very well. She hit her first three jumping passes and looked to be on track, but the second half of the program is where she usually loses it. That's pretty much what happened. She fell out of the landing on her 3L, fell on the 3F, and singled a loop in her 3-jump combo. It just wasn't enough to catch Gabby and she had to settle for silver.
Kaetlyn is still a podium favorite for Pyeongchang but she cannot afford to trip out of the gate like she did here. When she's on, she's among the best in the world...but she struggles so much with inconsistency she may end up taking herself out of the running. Those two perfect performances are out there somewhere. Hopefully Kaetlyn will find them when she needs them most.
Larkyn Austman: 169.62 - 3rd
I'd been saying it all season long. I kept wondering what would happen if someone else other than Alaine decided to step up at nationals. Well, that someone was Larkyn. Her SP performance wasn't good (issues on two of her jumping passes) but she finished 6th in the segment. Finishing 6th seems like a long way down the standings but Larkyn was only 0.38 out of 3rd place. The Canadian women's field is mega weak...there's no nice way to put it. In the FS Larkyn still had issues but she was able to post the 3rd highest score of the FS which was enough to move her ahead of everyone else into 3rd place, the bronze medal, and a trip to Pyeongchang.
I'm happy for Larkyn. No one expects her to do a thing at the Olympics so she can go there, enjoy the experience and have fun. Good for her for stepping up when she needed to.
As for the rest...
Alaine Chartrand (164.21, 4th): After Worlds last year most felt Alaine Chartrand had the 3rd and final spot to Pyeongchang locked up. She isn't the strongest skater but she often did enough to separate herself from the rest of the field at nationals. Unfortunately Alaine's jumps declined quite a bit this season. I figured she may be able to "turn it on" at this event but alas, no. Alaine missed the podium for the first time in 4 years and missed her shot at the Olympic team.
Only one event left to go before the Olympics. Four Continents will take place January 22-27 in Taipei City, Taipei. Even though it's close to the Olympics, a few of the Olympians we'll see in Pyeongchang will be there, namely Satoko Miyahara and Kaori Sakamoto of Japan. We'll also see Mai Mihara (JPN), Starr Andrews (USA), Mariah Bell (USA), Angela Wang (USA), Dabin Choi (KOR), So Youn Park (KOR), Kailani Craine (AUS), Brooklee Han (AUS) and Alaine Chartrand (CAN).
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