Skate America took place over the weekend in Las Vegas, Nevada and here is what stood out for us at the first Grand Prix event of the 2019/2020 season.
Total Domi-Nathan
Two-time and reigning World champion Nathan Chen began this season where he left off in March and cruised to victory with a 44-point margin over second place finisher Jason Brown. There were minor points to fix in both of his programmes, but the Quad King is very much on course for another stellar year.
Quad Queen
Anna Shcherbakova is just one of a new generation of Russian wunderkind making their senior debuts this season and she left quite an impression on the skating world at Skate America. Even though she trailed in fourth place after a somewhat lacklustre short programme, she rallied back with two quadruple Lutzes (and a mid-routine costume change) in the free skating to secure the title.
Far From The Shallow
It is hard to remember there was a time when American ice dancers used to be also-rans on the world stage. American teams now are on an 11 year winning streak at Skate America with Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue retaining their title from last year, despite losing the free dance marginally to Russia’s Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.
Nothing But A Number
Embed from Getty ImagesWe have to give massive respect to British skater Zoe Jones who competed this weekend with partner Christopher Boyadji in the pairs event. A mother to three children, Jones at the age of 39 has been skating longer internationally than the Grand Prix of Figure Skating has existed. That is what we call impressive!
If you missed Skate America, you can catch up on the ISU YouTube channel (geographic restrictions apply).
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