#there's a visceral pleasure in watching skaters with great skating skills

[sunskate]

Hi! If you don’t mind I have a few questions after the RD.

1. I read somewhere that Caroline and Michael had the highest base value of any team but obviously sit in 5th. So is it all GOE from there that they’re not getting?

2. Why do you think Marjo and Zak have trouble with their levels? They seem to skate confidently and consistently, but then miss out on base value and levels.

3. Madi Chock I think gets a lot of flak from the inter web about her skating skills and I was wondering what you thought of her level 4 today? Do you think her skills have improved since moving to IAM? What could she be doing better? I know it’s about delivering good programs for judges, not the internet, but sometimes it seems like nothing she does will ever satisfy anybody.

4. Not a question but hope you enjoyed today! So glad figure skating is back! Maybe a quick fun question - what was your favorite dance of the day?

aww thank you! hope you did too - i was happy watching LaLa yesterday- the commitment, intensity and how much they changed in just 3 weeks, i just enjoy them as a team so much

C/B and Gr/Pa both had base value of 31.7 and L/B had 31.69. so it was essentially a 3-way tie for highest BV. C/B are getting GOE on another level from literally everyone else here, so Gr/Pa weren't going to catch them. but where they were lower than the other top teams across the board in GOE was in the Choreo RS and their twizzles

Marjo and Zak missed levels on their Midline and PSt in the RD. i would chalk that up in part to them being less trained because of his injuries this summer. plus maybe that performing to the rafters with speed can make you less precise. and mistakes happen- i'm sure they'll be focusing on levels on steps

ever since the judges looked the other way at Madi falling at Worlds, you're right, the criticisms online can make it seem like she can do no right. i'm against telling anyone they should retire, but that had gotten louder since Beijing. and there's the common observation that her skating skills aren't the best - Romain!! even said so in the IAM web series 😬

in person, CB's blades sound high and wispy on the ice - where skaters like HB or Olivia have this deeper consistent rasp/hum as they carve into the ice. you can see the difference in knee action in CB vs HB or HD. but yes she has improved - Evan used to move her around the ice more. she's a stronger skater and athlete than she was. they do skate well in unison, she's a beautiful performer who understands how to use her body and face to project and create pictures. their packaging and programs have improved since the move to IAM - they're also a more mature team in every way. but her biggest strengths aren't in her skating itself

when judging seems to reward a team across the board rather than giving them high marks for what they do well and lower ones for what they don't, it's disappointing. CB and FG get sky high PCS in skating skills, or FG get high marks in Composition when they seem to be getting the message bts that the program needs fixing. anyway, when a team seems favored to the point that their mistakes and weaknesses aren't counted against them as they are for everyone else, people can direct their frustration at the skaters