Rachael Flatt (USA) won the free skate at
Skate America over a sloppy Yu-Na Kim
but could not catch her for the gold medal.
Photo: AP/Mike Groll
No one at the Olympic Center in Lake Placid would have ever expected World champion Yu-Na Kim to skate the way that she did today. Perhaps it was because no one believed she could make a mistake after such a strong start to the season. She imploded, by her astronomical standards, receiving multiple downgrades on her jumps in addition to having a fall. Her mistakes made way for the star of the afternoon, U.S. silver medalist Rachael Flatt, who won the free skate but remained in second place after skating a near-flawless seven-triple program.
Flatt was in a class all by herself in the free skate, and her performance was the strongest of all of the American ladies so far this year. With the American ladies, it is almost expected that the downgrade arrow would show up on the scoring protocol sheets. But there were none of those for Flatt, who landed a triple flip-triple toe on her way to a personal best score of 116.11. The great news for her is that there is still room to improve, with her final change-of-direction spin being invalidated due to a technicality in the spin itself. Her two performances at Skate America far outshone those at Cup of China, and they bode well for her going into the second half of the season.
For Kim, however, the free skate did not go nearly as smoothly. Known for her consistency, she rarely falls on jumps other than the triple loop in competition. But it was a different story today, as she fell on her triple flip, which has always been one of her most secure jumps. She and coach Brian Orser noted after the free skate that she has been having trouble with the flip on and off this season. But in addition to the mistake on the flip, she botched the back end of her opening triple lutz-triple toe combination and her second triple lutz. Her 111.70 would be a personal best score for most female skaters, but it is over 20 points below her personal best.
The common reaction to her performance, though, was that it was better now than at the Olympics. Even with the mistakes, she was able to capture the title thanks to her almost 20-point lead after the short program. And she will now have time to regroup for the Grand Prix Final in three weeks. However, her free skate mistakes here at Skate America must be giving some of her closest rivals a glimmer of hope that they may have a chance come February in Vancouver.
A resurgent Julia Sebestyen, looking to be in great shape after her injury last season, had an improved free skate from her effort at Rostelecom Cup and finished with the bronze medal, her first Grand Prix medal since 2006. At 28, she will be one of the oldest competitors at the Olympic Games, but the 2004 European champion is showing that she still has the goods to compete with the best in the world. Her 100.49 in the free skate was her best effort of the season.
Three-time World silver medalist Fumie Suguri barely snuck ahead of Estonia’s Elena Glebova for fourth place. Suguri has yet to put together two solid programs in a competition this season, and it will be important for her to do so at the Japanese Nationals in December in order to have any chance of getting on her third Olympic team. Glebova landed five-triples in her free skate, but without the flip or the lutz in the program, she was relegated to a fifth place finish.
2007 U.S. silver medalist Emily Hughes, competing for the first time in international competition in over a year, pulled up to seventh after a so-so free skate. But she is building from her effort earlier this season at North Atlantic Regionals, and will figure into the Olympic picture at U.S. Nationals. The third American, Alexe Gilles, finished in tenth after an uneven free skate.
LADIES (final standings)
1. Yu-Na Kim KOR – 187.98
2. Rachael Flatt USA – 174.91
3. Julia Sebestyen HUN – 159.03
4. Fumie Suguri JPN – 148.99
5. Elena Glebova EST – 148.71
6. Elene Gedevanishvili GEO – 144.19
7. Emily Hughes USA – 135.31
8. Sarah Hecken GER – 131.10
9. Joshi Helgesson SWE – 129.91
10. Alexe Gilles USA – 129.01
11. Susanna Poykio FIN – 124.22
12. Tugba Karademir TUR – 122.40
Comments
it's about time yuna came down to earth. she's overrated, overscored, overhyped, overevrything!!! i hope she falls again at the olypmcs.
Geez Queen is Down, bitter much?
Moving on, Rachel and Ashley seem to be the front-runners for the two slots for the Olympics (if we don't count Sasha). Good for them! (: I had predicted Caroline and Mirai, but that doesn't seem to be the case SO FAR. I had hoped that Caroline's switch to Charlene Wong would've helped her a lot more with her speed, but it hasn't really. Judging from CoC, Mirai needs to work on the rotations of her jumps.
Then again, I'm not a HARDCORE fan, just one that reads the forums. Hahah.
It's really something that people would just revel in the one time that such a fantastic skater skates poorly. There's just so much malice in that first post.
On another note, I agree with Wheetwoo about the Amreicans. But I'm losing hope about Sasha having too much of a chance. It would be a big shame if she came back, skated two mediocre programs and then made the team becauae of her PCS scores.
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