Skate Canada Recap: Standout Performances, Bizarre Judging, and Difficulties Watching Skating on Streaming
Hey figure skating fans, welcome to the second episode of Scoreography! This time, Wendy and Adron give their thoughts on Skate Canada International, the second event in the 2022 Grand Prix series, held October 28-29 in Mississauga, ON, Canada.
Watching this competition was certainly a ride for us: Some huge, gorgeous performances! A lot of incredibly tragic failures! Weird, WEIRD scoring on the women’s short program! And, through it all, the absolute annoyance of watching it on Peacock, with no commentary, no replay after the event ended, and big dropouts that forced us to miss entire portions of the event.
We put most of our focus on the best and most delightfully shocking performances from Skate Canada, including:
Rinka Watanabe * — the Japanese women’s skater definitively earned the top of the podium with two beautiful performances. Her long program was Wendy’s pick from this event.
Starr Andrews — the underdog American skater SHOWED UP for the long program, delivering one of the best performances we’ve ever seen from her. Starr’s meme-able kiss’n’cry reaction to the huge score is a highlight of the broadcast.
Young You — the South Korean skater’s artistic and athletic growth was on display, particularly with her long program. She’s also gloriously goofy off the ice.
Shoma Uno — our reigning world champion and Japanese powerhouse, Shoma debuted two surprisingly mature and sophisticated programs that won him the top spot in the men’s competition. Still a bit rough around the edges, we expect these two routines to be extraordinary by end of season.
Kao Miura — the Japanese up-and-comer is only 19, but he just won silver in back to back Grand Prix events. His artistry doesn’t yet rival Shoma’s, but his jumps are gorgeous and his abilities are evolving rapidly. Definitely one to watch.
Miura & Kihara * — in an otherwise unexceptional Pairs competition, Japan’s Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara delivered outstanding routines. Their free skate was impressively lyrical and emotional alongside huge throws and lifts, making it Adron’s pick from event.
Fear & Gibson — we didn’t get to see much of the ice dance competition (thanks to Peacock problems), but we did enjoy short from Britain’s Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson. We should expect a big growth year from this pairing, though we remain concerned about their uneven talent level.
