Lutz Talk About Skating Episode 2: Skate Canada Recap

Skate Canada2024! The second competition of the 2024-2025 Grand Prix was filled with programs that had us on the edge of our seats! On this episode of the Lutz Talk About Skating podcast, our hosts discuss their favorite moments from the Senior Women's event at the Skate Canada International competition. Covering everything from Rino Matsuike's absolutely breathtaking Freeskate to the return of our favorite athletes. Our last episode covered the first of six events in the 2024-2025 Grand Prix series that took place in Allen, Texas. This week we share our thoughts and opinions regarding the Skate Canada event that took place in Halifax, Nova Scotia. At each competition in the Grand Prix series, 12 athletes in the women's event compete for a spot on the podium and a chance to compete at the Grand Prix Finals. Last week we discussed the overall top 6 consisting of Elyce Lin-Gracey, Bradie Tennell, Nina Pinzarrone, Isabeau Levito, Rinka Watanabe, and Wakaba Higuchi. This week we expanded our discussion to the top 9-8 women in the Senior Ladies event. Starting off the episode by briefly discussing our favorite Canadian figure skaters like Kurt Browning, Kate Charbonneau Shurts, Tessa Virtue, and Scott Moir. Following that with talking about Ilia Malinin's win that secured him a spot at the GP Final. He was one of two Americans that competed back to back weekends. Elyce Lin-Gracey also competed this weekend, sliding into 6th place overall after making a few mistakes. Ekaterina Kurakova wowed us with her Cats themed Freeskate program. A quick change dress, rhinestoned cat ears in her hair, and a flawless comeback from the short program left us speechless. The new rising star for senior women in Canada Kaiya Ruiter caught our eye with two strong programs. Alysa Liu makes a fabulous comeback to skating with a Freeskate like no other! Her Donna Summer tribute program was golden, giving us the creative spark we've been waiting to see during this GP season. One of Canada's favorite skaters Madeline Schizas gave us a powerful performance with her Lion King themed short program. Her genuine reaction at the very end said it all. Madeline delivered two fantastic programs! Another skater that made us jump for joy was the return of Kimmy Repond. Battling injuries all of last season, she came back with a bang taking 3rd after the short. She unfortunately fell to 4th after the Freeskate due to a time violation that cost her the Bronze medal. Of course we had to mention the costumes at this GP event. Hana Yoshida always gives us the best looks on the GP circuit. She gives us creative programs and costumes that are extremely unique. With a 0.07 lead, Hana takes home the Bronze medal at the Skate Canada event. The completely unexpected turn of events was when Rino Matsuike's STUNNING Freeskate took her from 10th after the short to 2nd overall. Her program is being regarded as an example of perfection. A combination of perfect jumps, spins, and skating skills that never skipped a beat gave her a well deserved win for the Freeskate event. This program certainly loves rent free in most skaters and skating fans minds. Finally the current world champion Kaori Sakamoto took home the gold at this GP event. Her win was no surprise to us but the uncharacteristic mistakes in the Freeskate shocked us. Kauri's short program gave her a 10 point lead which ultimately saved her after a couple falls and what looked to be a constant fight with her jumps throughout the program. Overall this Grand Prix competition was a rollercoaster of dramatic events that kept us on the edge of our seats! We are so excited to see what the Grand Prix De France brings.