I don’t really have anything new to add about the pairs and
dance events at Internationaux de France last weekend—though I’m sure I’ll come
up with something cohesive to say about the latest extraordinary work of Papadakis/Cizeron
at some point—so I’ll just focus on the most memorable parts of the singles’
events…
MEN
It occurs to me that some of these guys must have studied
the GP assignments to figure out if they had any chance at gold… that is to
say, is (Nathan) Chen at this event? How about (Yuzuru) Hanyu? As we know, Chen was at
SkAM and at last weekend’s Internationaux de France. Hanyu was at SkCAN, and
will be at NHK Trophy (I can’t believe I actually just checked that; DUH, when
he’s healthy I’m not sure NHK can function without him). SO… Cup of China (this
weekend) and Rostelecom Cup (next weekend) are the ones to be at this year if
you’re an elite man on the GP circuit looking to make the biggest of statements
about your place on skating’s map.
As it was, here on the third stop, the news wasn’t so much
who was on top (Chen, of course, continuing a winning streak that
started right after Pyeong Chang), but who was near the bottom (Shoma Uno)… as
well as who seemed to think he was at the bottom until he had a bronze
medal in his hands. In the case of the latter (home country fave Kevin Aymoz),
it was a big miss on a triple lutz that led him to tears after the SP. But it
was one of those events where everyone in the SP made significant
mistakes—including Chen, who resurrected his messy triple axel—so when the dust
settled, Aymoz was already in third. Then, when Uno faltered badly*, Aymoz lit
up the arena despite a few stumbles. And found himself crying for a whole new
reason.
*Uno won Finlandia Trophy earlier in the season (with a
total score around 255), which seemed a very positive sign for the guy who
currently has no full-time coach (just a “jump coach” in Takeshi Honda). But if
you saw either of his performances in France
LADIES
I did better on my GP France predictions than I thought I
would (for once!). But while I got the podium placement of the Russian ladies
correct—helped along, of course, by Alena Kostornaia’s stellar triple axels and
Alina Zagitova’s occasional jump errors—but I wasn’t sure Mariah Bell would be
able to triumph over the ever-powerful Kaori Sakamoto. But look what happened! Bell
went clean on both programs (Even outscoring Zags in the free skate!), and
while Sakamoto delivered another strong edition of her Matrix free
skate, a fall on the double axel in the short helped ensure it wasn’t even a
close call… bronze for Bell
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