Kite: And he couldn't go to the gym obviously so he was using chainsaws as weights-
Evie: and car batteries. Chainsaws and car batteries.
Kite: Never change, Keegan. Also, Keegan in a cowboy hat with that giant Canadian flag during the dance event was probably like the best thing that happened this weekend.
Kite: This is an episode about the four big national [championships] - Russian, Japanese, US, and Canadian. We're going to be focusing on the Russian and Japanese Nationals in particular but we are not going to be following our usual format of discussing the performances and the results and instead, we're going to be devoting this episode to assessing how these events coped with the COVID restrictions and the impact their actions, or inaction had on the skaters and the rest of the season.
Niamh: When someone lands their jump, you expect to see some snow, but you're not supposed to see liquid water.
Kite: Like this is advanced snow.
Niamh: I was [talking] to the ones sitting beside me, I was like “We might as well be watching synchronized swimming.”
Evie: Polar ice cap synchronized swimming - coming to an Olympics near you!
Kite: Alysa actually has quite a bit of an edge on base value, so combined base value for both programs is a 109 for Alyssa currently, and 103.12 for Kamila, but Kamila can definitely make up that difference because she gets the superior GOE and PCS rightfully so if both are clean - this is all if both are clean.
Evie: Is Alysa's technical content, that 109, includes if she does the triple axel in the short or no?
Kite: Yeah. This is with the triple Axel-triple toe in the short. [Evie: Okay] That's what she did in Poland.
Evie: Yeah, so that is the heart attack number. The 109 is the heart attack number.
Kite: Yes, absolutely the heart attack number.
In advance of his Senior Grand Prix debut, 2018 US Junior Men’s champion and two-time Junior Grand Prix Final competitor Camden Pulkinen took the time to chat with us after An Evening With Champions, an annual Harvard University-run ice show that benefits The Jimmy Fund. Read all about Camden’s perspective on the upcoming season, what he hopes to convey with his skating, and his friendships with skaters from all over the world in the interview below!
After a season away from competition, 2017 US champion and 2018 Olympian Karen Chen is returning to the international stage with her first Grand Prix assignment, Skate America, in just two weeks. We sat down with her to discuss the changes she’s made in the past year -- including enrolling as a full-time student at Cornell University -- and what she hopes to take from her early-season competition experience heading into the Grand Prix series. Read all about it in the interview below!
Kite: …When I heard he was skating to Andrew Lloyd Webber, I was like oh, here we go again, and then it wasn't Phantom of the Opera. [Evie laughs.] I was so pleasantly surprised. I was like wow I almost forgot he had other music, that wasn't Phantom of the Opera [Hosts laugh.] because that's all that skaters ever skate to.
Evie: Skaters are finally delving into the extended catalog of Andrew Lloyd Webber [Sam laughs.]
Sam: We get Phantom. We get “Memories” from Cats.
Evie: Honestly, where is the Andrew Lloyd Webber School of Rock program already.
Sam: Give us some Jesus Christ Superstar, bring that back.
Kite: Only if there's the bright yellow pants. It has to be skated to in like banana pants.
Sam: Yes. Yellow pants are required.
Yogeeta: Even in post-Olympic seasons, they are basically only showing people who are about to retire or like someone who's still young and fresh and plans to keep competing. People can get to know them here in this space and then follow them into figure skating.
Karly: You know who I want to see on Dancing With the Stars? Jimmy Ma.
Maryam: Oh my god, he would be amazing.
Yogeeta: Jimmy Ma would be my favorite person to see on Dancing With the Stars.
