Grand Prix Season Winners and Losers
by LauraS on Dec 8, 2009 7:52 AM EST
in 2009 Grand Prix
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PrintNow that the Grand Prix of figure skating final is over, here is a look at some of the major (and possibly surprising?)fortunes of this year's Grand Prix season.
Winners
Davis and White: Not only did they rack up great scores all season long, but they managed to beat their rivals and training mates, Canadians Virtue and Moir, in the Grand Prix Final. That was a major win for them. Tanith Belbin may get the photo spreads, but Davis and White are the number one U.S. ice dance team this season. And so far, their the number one team in the world, as well.
Akiko Suzuki: She's no longer just a fluke winner of a Grand Prix. She's now a medalist in the Grand Prix final, and it will be hard for Japan's skating federation to ignore that when they are selecting the Olympic team. And if she were to skate at the Olympics the way she skated in Tokyo at the GPF, she would be an absolute joy to watch.
Alena Leonova: She may have had a disastrous GPF, but I don't think that will take away all the progress she made leading up to that competition. She could easily be a medal factor in Vancouver, and now everyone knows it.
Jeremy Abbott: Sure, he has had a roller coaster season. But his programs have been well-received, he routinely receives the highest grade of execution points of all the American men, and he has landed the elusive quad. Additionally, the other potential competitors for the US men's Olympic team outside the big three of Evan Lysacek, Johnny Weir, and Abbott (Adam Rippon, Ryan Bradley, and Brandon Mroz) have not looked as good this season.
Shen and Zhao: At this point, I would not bet against them at the Olympics.
Rachael Flatt: The only lady to beat Yu-na Kim in the free skate this season. Granted, Kim skated the worst she's skated in years, but Flatt skated the program of her season. She also had the good sense to skate her best in the American Grand Prix on national television, which can't have hurt.
Losers
Skate Canada: This federation has very high hopes for medals in Vancouver. But things don't seem to be working out according to plan; Joannie Rochette has regressed to the skater of a few years ago rather than last season, Patrick Chan is currently a wild card, Dube and Davison haven't been very relevant on the pairs scene, and even Virtue and Moir lost at the GPF.
Caroline Zhang and Mirai Nagasu: The international judges have weighed in on these ladies and the verdict was not a positive one.
Belbin and Agosto: Although they won both of their events, they were not as impressive as rivals Virtue and Moir and Davis and White, and then had an unfortunate withdrawal from the GPF.
Takahiko Kozuka: Last year's fabulous Skate America winner. This year's "who?"
Savchenko and Szolkowy: What a difference two weeks makes. They broke records at Skate Canada but could not compete at the same level at GPF. Two disappointments overshadows the Skate Canada triumph, and have lost them gold medal momentum.
Broke Even
Evan Lysacek: He is skating great and you can't ask for much more than winning the GPF. However, he has left a lot of points on the table and has yet to skate his very best in the free skate. He's going to have to do that in order to have any chance against Plushenko.
Yu-na Kim: She came in unbeatable, she goes out unbeatable. But she's starting to show cracks, both emotional and physical. And there is always an excuse for her mistakes - she tightened her boots at the wrong time, she clanged her blades together and that damaged them. These may all very well be valid reasons for Kim's errors, but hearing excuses all the time can get really annoying. Just say she's human and leave it at that. Don't constantly try to tell us that if she makes any errors, there must be something to blame.
Miki Ando: She's had as successful a season as could have been expected. But at the GPF she had what could have been her best chance to beat Kim and she could not take advantage of it.
Sasha Cohen: Nobody's sure if her "comeback" is legit or not, but she probably has just about as good a chance now of making the Olympic team as she did before she withdrew from all the Grand Prix events.
Nobunari Oda: He started out so strong but lost some momentum in the Grand Prix Final. He is still formidable but he fizzled out before worlds last year and hopefully he will not do the same before the Olympics.
American Pairs: They performed pretty much as expected. Which is...not very well.
Some I have left out are Ashley Wagner, Alissa Czisny, Daisuke Takahashi, Plushenko...feel free to let me know what you think in the comments!
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Thank you for your posts, they are wonderful!
I got one thing to mention on your comment about
Kim though… I think she has been very clear about
that her nerves got to her in the recent competitions
and that was the reason she did not perform well,
and I didn’t see her attributing her relatively
poor outings to something other than low self-
confidence and mental pressure.
Ya, she did say about retying her boots but she
said in the context that she does that whenever
she is very nervous and you can tell her nervousness
whenever you see her doing so…
Here is an interview with her after SA.
by rythem on Dec 8, 2009 1:35 PM EST reply actions
Thanks for the comment and for pointing that link out.
I think I was hard on Kim; I more meant that others seem to be ready with excuses if she has an imperfect day. But she can’t really help what the media and fans speculate about, so I should keep that in mind.
by Laura on Dec 8, 2009 1:51 PM EST reply actions
Korean reporters asked her why she were touching her blades during the dress rehearsal… it might seem ridiculous to some people, but that’s how much media attention she gets in Korea nowadays. She does anything out of ordinary, she immediately gets avalanche of questions. I saw at least five separate interviews where reporters asked this same question… so that’s how her damaged blades story came out and got translated into foreign media. Although she emphasized to the reporters that it had nothing to do with her performance today, somehow that part was less emphasized than the incident itself. The same goes to retying her boots story before her long program at SA. In response to reporters’ questions, she said she tends to retie her boots when she feels very nervous and it’s a mental thing.
I think she is having a quite tough life nowadays in the middle of media frenzy. Being in the dead center of attention, she is obliged to answer questions from nagging Korean reporters that cover pretty much every minute detail of her life off and on the ice. She even half jokingly said to them “please leave me alone” in a couple of interviews. And on the other side, some people who don’t know the circumstances, say she gives too many details after her performances.
One thing that seems to be certain is that people will hear more stories in the same line as why Kim touched her blades before her performance than why Leonova or Akiko, or even Ando or Asada did so before theirs until the Olympics are over. And she will explain, as she has been doing so before, that it had nothing to do with her performance today, although that part will not be emphasized by the media.
by John on Dec 8, 2009 2:26 PM EST reply actions
Some to add:
Winners
US figure Skating Fans
Or at least those of us who get Universal Sports. The coverage of the GPF was awesome and now word is, we’ll get more through 2013! Thanks to NBC for the early Christmas present!
Johnny Weir
After not making the World Team last season and a rocky start at CoR, to win the bronze at the GPF is great for him. It keeps him in the game and helps him build momentum at the right time. I do wish he’s keep the "I’m so unappreciated in the US" comments to a minimum though.
Losers
Daisuke Takahaski
Undid a breathtaking SP with an erratic LP. Even the spins looked bad. Tied with Patrick Chan for most surprisingly bad performances of the season so far. Not sure if it’s nerves or conditioning with him but he has two months to fix it.
Tomas Verner – Given the string of poor performances, I was surprised to seven see him at the Final and he had more of the same here.
Broke Even
Ashley Wagner
Sketchy SP performance saved by a good LP but not enough to medal. Still fourth at the GP is better than the rest of the US ladies, who did not even make it there. She needs to pull herself together and lay down two great performances to stake her claim on an Oly spot.
by Pattie on Dec 9, 2009 3:47 PM EST reply actions
I’d nudge Evan Lysacek into the Loser catagory. Sure, he did well, but he brought a snake onto the ice!
by The Ice Queens on Dec 15, 2009 4:00 PM EST reply actions
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