Tony Wheeler

Posting all women’s free skate practice clips, in full, from the main rink. I have no idea where Feigin’s video went, but the 11 others who have skated are there.

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First person in the arena? Feels right!

I’ll be sharing as much as I can from Worlds both here and on the new Instagram account I set up- please follow!

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That was my favorite program of the season! So happy to hear that. It was beautiful. 😍

The Skating Session Welcome to The Skating Session, a home for figure skating video archives.

I have rebranded my Youtube as 'The Skating Session'. I still have hundreds of DVDs to go through, cut, and upload but I lost a significant amount of historical videos with a failed external hard drive. If you have DVDs or skating clips - let me know!

www.youtube.com/@TonyWheeler

Tony Wheeler A place for uploading historical figure skating videos. I've been a fan of the sport for over 30 years and am working as a historian on a massive skating project in my free time. I'm happy to share m...

I have put up nearly 200 new skating videos on Youtube in the last few days, into mid-2000s now. During holiday, I dropped my external hard drive and the literal 20,000+ videos I had stored there are sadly no more. If anyone has archives (DVDs, files) let me know!

www.youtube.com/channel/UCDd...

Thought Malinin's 4A of all jumps looked the cleanest today, and thought the 4Lz fall was definitely a << so it probably all balances out. I hate the safe 'q' calls though, because it protects base value on jumps and GOE, too.

And in no world is Malinin on the same PCS level as Aymoz.

#GPFigure

Telemaque & Coulon have the IT factor written all over them. Nice to see at the junior level, and nice to see them standing out so much within these rigid ISU rules we've come to. Shades of voidy 1990's and early 2000's French skating programs!

#GPFigure

Amber Glenn wins first GPFinal title for US women since Alissa Czisny in 2010. Mone Chiba wins Japanese Nationals part 1, Kaori Sakamoto finds her way back to the podium.

Good day of skating, and to the technical panel credit they seem to have.. somewhat but not completely.. woken up 😜

#GPFigure

Top two Grand Prix Final competitors is big bullet point for Japan in determining World team. Since a minimum of two Japanese skaters will be on the podium here, lots on the line. Only skater guaranteed a spot is the winner of Nationals, but the mini-battle standings here mean a lot!

#GPFigure

Grand Prix Final Schedule:

Saturday, December 7 (All Times EST)
7:30 AM - Women’s Free
8:45 AM - Junior Mens Free
9:55 AM - Junior Free Dance
12:20 PM - Junior Pairs Free
1:40 PM - Free Dance
3:00 PM - Mens Free Skate

#GPFigure #GPFinal

Hase & Volodin are going to make a strong argument for Olympic favorites I think. Miura & Kihara really off today, and I don't think their free skate works like their brilliant short. Special mention to Kam & O'Shea, who I thought should've quite possibly had highest composition PCS.

#GPFigure

No major opinions otherwise based on today. I think Guignard & Fabbri have the foundations, but the program loses me this year. Gilles & Poirier have my favorite choreography but something is really off with them this season.

#GPFigure

Ice dance judging makes me rage most, I think, as someone who has read the full rulebook and I have a pretty good idea of what to watch. Lajoie and Lagha having the 'worst' skating skills of the group based on PCS assigned is outlandish as hell. They shouldn't have to 'wait their turn'.

#GPFigure

Mao Shimada is just a dream. Not her best by any means, but she has such glorious carriage and use of her arms and hands. Wada and Nakai both wonderful and complete the 🇯🇵 🇯🇵 🇯🇵 sweep. Yihan Wang has such good jumping technique. So pure. All of the women should be proud of the skates today!

#GPFigure

Wada wiped out when she hit the ice yesterday, and today she almost wiped out in the leading steps before the ice 😂

Fantastic junior mens short program. Vaclavik opened so well, think his change-foot sit didn't count because hop on the first half of it lost balance & made him shift, which then stops the element. Yanhao is just fantastic! Jacob Sanchez has such a charm, and Rio Nakata had so much flair!

#GPFigure

Grand Prix Final Schedule:

Friday, December 6 (All Times EST)
10:15 AM - Junior Mens Short
11:20 AM - Junior Women’s Free
12:30 PM - Rhythm Dance
1:45 PM - Pairs Free
3:05 PM - Mens Short

#GPFigure #GPFinal

Not picking on Amber Glenn, especially as she seems full-aware that she got lucky today, but there were some awfully strange calls across the board (including others and their rotations and edges). But here’s a ‘clean’ 3Lo. Watch the ice fly up.

Great pairs competition at the #GPFinal. Miura and Kihara's program is 1000x better than anything else they've done. She was short on the 3T for sure, but it's pushing 80 points if clean. Hase and Volodin continue to deliver. She's always been so solid in SPs! As close as it can get!

#GPFigure

Biggest takeaway from junior rhythm dance is that seniors need to get the second pattern back. I love that each partner has to take lead once. You can see the difference in skating skills much more evidently than throwing a choreo sequence in where top skaters get ++++ GOE.

#GPFigure #GPFinal

The no-touch sequence and the twizzles are, as always, called separate levels for the man and woman. One technical specialist focuses on each partner.

Key points in the pattern sequences come in steps 11-12, 15-16 & both partners 18-22. These key points are the determination of the level for the element and where the Y/N lists come in the protocols. The number of 'Y' in the pattern correlates to the level. YYYY? L4. YNNN? L1.

Junior Rhythm Dance Required Elements:

Two paso doble pattern sequences. One in which man performs man's steps, and other reversed - the woman performs the man's steps of the pattern

Dance lift, up to 8 seconds in length

Midline or diagonal no-touch step sequence

Twizzle sequence (at least 2)

Mao Shimada is so fantastic. The charisma, the command of the skating and the presentation is off the charts for this level.

Dare I say Kaori Sakamoto is probably happy she's still stuck in juniors? 😀

#GPFigure #GPFinal

New fan of Kaoruko Wada, that's for sure 😂

#GPFigure #GPFinal

For clarification, the double Axel is the required Axel-type jump. However, just as it was at the senior level for many years, a skater could attempt a 3A as part of the combination.

#GPFigure #GPFinal

Required Elements - Junior Women's Short Program:

Double or triple flip
Jump combo: minimum of double+double jump, no quad allowed
Double Axel (no triple allowed here)
Flying camel spin
Spin in one position: sideways/layback spin or sit spin
Spin combination w/ 1 change of foot
Step sequence

Oh, and we get LED board rotating test-out here as well. Kudos to Ted Barton for clarifying that the boards would not be changing mid-performance 😂

#GPFigure #GPFinal

I see they've gone the gymnastics/swimming route of introductions for this event!

#GPFigure #GPFinal