Planet Figure Skating

Not many people predicted that former World champion Elizaveta Tuktamysheva of Russia would reclaim her triple Axels and regain her former glory. However, that is exactly what she did in Laval, Quebec this weekend by closing out the win here at Skate Canada. She opened with a commanding lead in the short program, set to "Assassin's Tango" from Mr. and Mrs. Smith , which included a perfectly executed triple Axel. It was a jump that got her far in 2015, including to a European and World title. But a loss of form meant that Tuktamysheva was left off of the European, World, and Olympic teams in the last three years. It looks like she is ready to regain that form. Tuktamysheva fell on the jump when she attempted it again in the free skate, placing her third in that segment. But it was still enough for her to win the competition by a mere 0.26 points over Japan's Mako Yamashita. Yamashita, the newly-senior skater from Nagoya, Japan, may not have come into this compe...

Shoma Uno, the Olympic silver medalist from Japan, looked shaky in the short program after a bad landing on a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination and a fall on a triple Axel. Uno skated to "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin for his short program and "Moonlight Sonata" for his free skate. However, Uno came back to show his typical steady form in the free skate with four quadruple jumps. His only mistake in the first half of the program was an under-rotation on one attempt, the quadruple Salchow. Despite falling on a triple Axel combination and a triple Salchow-triple toe loop combination, Uno ran away with the victory in the free skate as well as the overall competition. In contrast, Canadian national silver medalist Keegan Messing was extremely solid in his short program, landing a beautiful quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, a triple Axel, and a triple Lutz. Every single element received positive grades of execution. He earned a pers...

American Nathan Chen, the reigning World champion, ran away with the competition at Skate America this weekend. He attempted only half of his usual number of quads: one in the short program and three in the free skate. At his peak, Chen's layout contained two quads in the short program and six in the free skate. However, he made no major mistakes in either program, save for an under-rotation of a quadruple flip in the short program and an unclear edge call in the free skate. On his way to the win, Chen took world records of the new scoring system in the free skate and in the combined total from Shoma Uno of Japan. Uno had earned 172.05 and 276.20, then the highest free skate and combined scores respectively, at the Lombardia Trophy earlier this year. Chen skated his short program to Caravan by Fanfare Ciocarlia and his free skate to Land of All  by Woodkid. Michal Brezina may be enjoying a comeback season after moving to Lakewood, California to train with Rafael Artunyan ear...

Satoko Miyahara of Japan defended her Skate America title in Everett, Washington this weekend in commanding fashion. The reigning World bronze medalist showed marked improvements in all aspects of her skating to win both segments of the competition and the gold medal. Miyahara skated her short program to "Song For the Little Sparrow" by Abel Korzeniowski and her free skate to "Adios Nonino" by Astor Piazzolla. Her only mistakes were two unclear edge calls on her triple flips. Kaori Sakamoto of Japan also defended her silver medal from last year's Skate America with two programs of gorgeous jumping and skating. She also made no visible mistakes except for an unclear edge call on a triple Lutz. She skated her short program to "From My First Moment" from Gymnopédie No. 1  and her free skate to The Piano  soundtrack. Her cheerful personality shone through in the Kiss and Cry when she received her scores, which were personal bests in both segments. So...