There were only 2 clean free programs, from Nicole Rajicova and Gracie Gold. That is not to say though, that they were exceptional.
Gracie skated clean, but skated over her music. She was very clearly off her music at more than one point in the free. She was so focused on landing the jumps that she neglected the rest of the program. Her programs this year are better than last year, but they're still not my favourite, I'm still not sure this style is the best choice for her. Gracie won the free, but finished second overall, with a total score of 202.80.
The overall winner of the event was Evgenia Medvedeva. She finished behind Gracie in the free, which seems a little crazy to me. Even though Medvedeva had a fall in the free, her PCS should have been significantly higher than Gracie's. Gracie seemed to have inflated PCSs with the home ice advantage, I really don't think she earned the PCSs she got this weekend. It's not that she's incapable of getting those scores, but she was so obviously focused on everything but the PCS that it seemed a little crazy for her PCSs to be as high as they were.
Medvedeva is a new senior, and she was especially exceptional in the short program. She had all the jumps in the second half, they were all clean, every element in her short received a positive GOE. I'm not always crazy about the arm over the head on the jumps, I think Medvedeva can tend to overuse that bonus on her jumps. That said, there is no denying the quality of her jumps. I would like to see the arm little neater if she is going to use it so often. It ends up looking a little too bent over her head, it would be nice to have a better line on that arm.
Elizabet Tursynbaeva had a less than stellar short program. She was in 7th after the short. She made a good comeback in the free. She had some small mistakes, but nothing like the rest of the ladies in this event. The only mistake of note in the free was the fall on the triple flip. Because so many of the skaters had such terrible freeskates, she was able to move up from 7th to 4th after the free.
Satoko Miyahara also had a pretty good set of programs, she finished in third in each program and third overall. I like her programs, but I don't love them. She has a lot of potential, but I would love to see some more height on her jumps. If I were her coach, I would be focusing on improving the height above almost anything else. That would help to improve her GOEs and if any lady is going to be doing quads, it would be Miyahara if she could only get a little more height.
We also need to talk about Alaine Chartrand of Canada. As per usual, she had a very strong short, and then fell apart completely in the free. She attempted a triple axel, but it was not good. Her jumps are not nearly consistent enough for her to be trying to introduce a triple axel. She got a downgrade on her double axel, a downgrade on her triple lutz triple toe, an edge call on the triple flip, and an underrotation call on the first triple lutz. She really fell apart in the free, but she did very well in the short. If she and Brian can just maintain the jumps in the free, she'll be a lady to watch out for, but she's trying to jump ahead of herself.
The ladies freeskate was beyond pathetic, and we can only hope it's going to get a whole lot better as time goes on.
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