So finally after a months long wait, the figure skating season has started again. Joy of joys, figure skating is back in all its floaty, sparkly, ridiculous glory. And the whole shebang kicked off good and proper at Skate America.
Unfortunately thanks to Eurosport's inexplicable decision to screen about seventeen hours of snooker, I only got to see the men's free and pairs free. So I did miss Yuzuru's world record short program which I will havde to catch up on somehow. But I still got my figure skating fix, so I can't complain. The men's contest was very interestign and did not go as I expected. Poor Michal Brezina had a nightmare in the short program with some very uncharacteristic falls on his jumps so unfortunately finished sixth. Another skater I predicted would finish highly also had a bit of a disaster, with Jeremy Abbott falling more than once in his FP. The podium ended up as a Japanese clean sweep with Tatsuki Machida, Yuzuru Hanyu and Takahiko Kozuka taking the honours. I was very impressed with Takahiko Kozuka who really upped his game (and very pleased that I predicted he might do well.) His routine was excellent and he performed it very well, its a brilliant start to the season for him and hopefully one he can build on. Then there was Yuzuru. Poor little Yuzuru. Oh his free skate just broke my heart. He fell on about three of his jumps and pulled out of another and by the end he just looked so exhausted and disheartened. He kept going like a little trouper but I don't know how because he looked so so tired, he looked like he could barely keep going. For what its worth, the choreography sections looked really lovely and I loved his Johnny Weir style pretty pink and white outifit. He somehow managed to still get to second place and for that I take my hat off to him. As harsh and heartrending and horrble an experience it must have been, its also very useful as sometimes in figure skating it happens. You have an absolute nightmare of a skate and you have to keep going, you have to finish it off. Its very useful to learn how to deal with this early as you can't let it floor you when you're in an important contest. So hopefully he can take something away from that. I felt so bad for him when he was just sitting all deflated in the kiss and cry, I just kept yelling "Come on Brian for God's sake give the boy a hug" at my TV and hoping his coach would listen. The top two in pairs weren't flawless either, but once again plenty of potential was displayed. Pang Qing and Tong Jian took second place and despite some mistakes, I genuinely think they can do well this season as their new routine is really beautiful. It has lovely flow and lovley atmosphere, its very classy and I enjoyed it very much. And speaking of very classy new routines, Maxim and Tatiana have a new FP too. Its a lot softer than last year's 'Black Swan' with violin based music and floaty pastel outfits. I adored their programs last year with their dark and edgy themes but I think this year's more classicist approach could pay diividends for them. Much like Smirnov and Kavaguti's 'Zarathustra' routine its a routine that I think has 'champions' written all over it, it just looks right. So watch this space figure skating fans.
Oh and see you for Skate Canada.
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