Preview: Shcherbakova, Kihira lead ladies battle into free skate at world championships
Anna Shchberkova is the short program leader at worlds, but anything can happen in the long program. Here, five things to know for Friday night’s showdown.
Figure Skating
Ladies’ figure skating under Friday night lights – just the way that it should be.
The best of the best will go head-to-head on Friday in Stockholm, as the ladies’ free skate takes centre stage at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships.
Anna Shcherbakova leads by the slimmest of margins, a 1.92-point lead over Kihira Rika, 81.00 to 79.08. That sort of advantage can evaporate quickly in the free skate, as figure skating fans know.
The top five are as follows: Shcherbakova, Kihira, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva (78.86), Karen Chen (74.40) and Kim Yelim (73.63).
So the question is, who delivers when it matters the most? Here, five things to watch for ahead of the ladies’ free skate at worlds.
MORE: Follow along on our Day 3 LIVE Blog | Ladies' short program wrap-up
Can Shcherbakova hold her advantage?
The Russian will celebrate her 17th birthday on Sunday and is already a three-time national champion for the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSR), but this will be her biggest challenge yet.
At Russian nationals in December, Shcherbakova landed two quads – a flip and a Lutz – and will need the same sort of steely, athletic prowess that she showed there to come away with her first title.
The lingering question: Is her health 100 percent? She was visibly winded at nationals, having had a bout with the coronavirus late last year. One thing that could help her? Stockholm is at sea level, meaning skaters can get up off the ice more easily.
Jackie Wong of Rocker Skating reported on Friday that Shcherbaokva fell three times in her practice session. Whether or not this will play into her free skate will come to be seen.
Quad watch: Kihira and her Salchow
Shcherbakova will skate last, and just after Kihira, who has added a quad of her own in the quadruple Salchow – to go along with her triple Axel.
Both those jumps were strong at Japanese nationals in December, and – like Shcherbakova – she’ll need them in the free skate if she wants to be Japan’s first gold medallist in ladies singles skating since Asada Mao in 2014.
Experience could help Kihira here: After a dismal short program in 2019 in front of home fans in Saitama, she was nails in the free skate, scoring a 152.59 to move from seventh to fourth.
Olympic Channel’s Meryl Davis, the 2014 Olympic champion in ice dance, weighs in.
“If we think back to the last figure skating world championships in 2019, Rika narrowly missed the podium due to a deficient in points coming out of the short program – not so here. Rika is such a brilliant skater and has set herself up really nicely heading into the long. Expect her to incorporate a quad Salchow into her free, so the goal for Rika will be to maintain focus and composure as she pushes herself technically to challenge for that top spot on the podium.”
Don’t count out Liza – or Sasha
Let’s be clear: There is no outright frontrunner for the ladies’ title. That means that the likes of Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, in third place with a score of 78.86 is in the running – as is the quad-jumping Alexandra Trusova, who had a shocker of a short and sits 12th at 64.82.
There will not be a quad for Tuktamysheva, the 24-year-old who is making her first worlds appearance since winning the title in 2015. She said she’ll instead focus on hitting two triple Axels.
"I will not do the quad toe in the free program, because I just want to show a good performance. I think with two triple Axels it's already good content for me. So no surprises, I think.
"I've already won by being here, and I'm already so happy about it." - Elizaveta Tuktamysheva on her first worlds appearance in six years
Trusova, however, isn’t happy about her short program, though could try as many as five (five!) quads in the free skate. She did as many in practice earlier this week.
Trusova’s 166.62 free skate score at Skate Canada in 2019 remains a world record.
The rest of the field: Olympic spots at play
Shcherbakova, Kihira, Tuktamysheva and Trusova will play leading roles in the free skate, but there is still plenty at stake, including Olympic spots for respective nations at Beijing 2022.
Watch closely if 2018 Olympians Karen Chen (4th after the short) and Bradie Tennell (7th) can keep their total below 13 combined. If so they earn a third sport for Team USA. The same goes for the Republic of Korea’s Kim Yelim and Lee Haein, who are in 5th and 8th, respectively.
While Kihira leads team Japan, Olympians Sakamoto Kaori (6th) and Miyahara Satoko (16th) will look for stronger free skates.
Canadian teen Madeline Schizas was a surprise delight in the short, finishing 9th. She’s skating in just her second senior international event.
Davis: This has been a ‘particularly trying year’
Already the figure skaters have shown incredible mettle as this year’s worlds, after many didn’t see competitive ice for months – if not an entire year at the international level.
Meryl Davis wants us all to remember that.
“I was so impressed with the ladies in the short program,” she said. “It's all too easy to forget how difficult getting here has been for each of these athletes in this particularly trying year. While we saw a few mistakes scattered through the short, it's incredible to witness the resilience and determination of these skaters. To be in Stockholm delivering such excellent and technically difficult performances is amazing regardless of the obstacles they've faced to get here, but considering the circumstances, it's almost superhuman. They are to be commended.”