Skate America 2024: Wakaba Higuchi Takes Gold Amid Controversy in Women’s Singles Skating

Denial of women’s singles at Skate America 2024.

At Skate America 2024, there has been a rejection in women’s singles skating. After short programs, none of the skaters, including the intermediate leader, had a significant reserve in points. Izabo Levitoit wasn’t. Any mistake in this position could result in the removal of one of the three medals. And so it happened.

One of the best free skates in Texas Allen showed Nina Pinzaronne from Belgium. On the first day she finished in 5th place, so it was difficult to fight for medals. The weak point of the athlete is that she is under-rounded. The situation with them has not changed during the off-season. The referees correctly noted the reversal of the triple lutz – triple toe loop and triple loop – double toe loop bans. At the same time, the skater performed the non-jumping elements with high quality – all rotations and the step sequence to the 4th level. Result: 130.76 points in the free program, but only 4th place overall.

After Pinzaronne, she went to the ice A look at Hygutawho after the short one was just over two points behind the leader. In the realities of figure skating, this is almost nothing. To qualify for a medal, you had to skate clean. The Japanese woman coped with the task, although not quite. There were some big mistakes: a unclear edge on a triple flip, a step out on the way out of a triple Lutz and, as a result, the loss of one of the falls.

Unlike other participants in the competition, Wakaba was one of the few who managed to make jumps without being tripped. Women’s singles have lowered the bar of expectations so much that this is also seen as a success. Thanks to her relatively clean skating, she won the free program with 130.81 points – a total of 196.93 points was enough for the final gold. For Wakaba, this is the first victory at this stage in his career. The Japanese woman is already 23 years old, she can be considered a veteran by the standards of a female figure. I have a lot of injuries behind me, I almost missed the 2022/23 season completely. And this is the long awaited success at the Grand Prix. Although Higuchi has money at the 2018 World Cup: after the Olympics in Pyeongchang, she unexpectedly climbed to the podium, losing only to Caitlyn Osmond. Anyway, 6 years ago she got 14 more points than she is now.

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“Last season I was just happy to be back. I wasn’t sure what results I wanted. I just wanted to complete both programs at every tournament. This season I skated both programs cleanly and confidently from start to finish. I think I won today because, even though I made mistakes, I didn’t let them go. But maybe 70% luck? – the Skate America 2024 champion mentioned the skates.

Another representative of the Japanese team Rinka Watanabe I promised to try the trixel in the free program, but I decided not to risk it. This was the right technique: the 22-year-old skater entered the 2024/25 season far from the best shape; the height and range of the jump is not always enough even for a snipe, let alone an ultra-sea.

In the free program at Skate America 2024, Rinka avoided serious mistakes, except for under-rotations on the three-toe loop in the cascade and the triple solo lutz. In the end, it became obvious how the athlete had difficulty keeping up with the fast music, but this was not necessary for the perception of the performance as a whole. Result: 128.68 points in the free program and 195.22 points in total (2nd place).

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Brady Tennell the USA had a chance to get on the podium: second place in a short time, home ice and support from the stands. She started her free program confident and clean. Problems with stability after a long non-competitive period became apparent when the triple Lutz cascade turned into a butterfly. The American made up for the element by adding a double-black loop to the last triple loop, but the loss in basic value was too high. Result: 6th place free (125.05 points) and 5th overall (192.04 points).

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At Skate America 2024, of course, Americans were expected on the podium. However, according to the results of the free skates, not only Tennell, but also Isabelau Levito could be outside the top three. It’s a shame the athlete didn’t manage to present her new free routine adequately for the second competition in a row – especially as Franz Liszt’s brilliant music undoubtedly suits her.

Big mistakes in the second half (an underhand on the Salchow and a flip in cascades, an underhand in two versions and a wrong edge on the Lutz, and in addition – a fall) decided the fate of the gold – and not for Isabeau, with that there was no refuge after the short program as it was. Result: 126.40 points in the free program and only bronze of the competition with a total of 194.83 points.

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Therefore, not a single skater broke the 200 point mark. You can celebrate the early season failure all you want, but what we saw at Skate America 2024 is the best proof that women’s singles sculls are now unstoppable. This is at least unimpressive, and at least disturbing…

Skateboarding America. Women. Free program

1. Wakaba Higuchi (Japan) – 130.81

2. Nina Pinzaronne (Belgium) – 130.76

3. Rinka Watanabe (Japan) – 128.68

4. Yuna Aoki (Japan) – 126.52

5. Isabeau Levito (USA) – 126.40

6. Brady Tennell (USA) – 125.05

7. Alice Lyn-Gracie (United States) – 123.72.

Skateboarding America. Women. The final situation

1. Wakaba Hyguty (United States) – 196.93

2. Rinka Watanabe (Japan) – 195.22

3. Isabeau Levito (USA) – 194.83

4. Nina Pinzaronne (Belgium) – 193.61

5. Brady Tennell (USA) – 192.04

6. Alice Lyn-Gracie (United States) – 183.94

7. Yuna Aoki (Japan) – 183.03.