Wakaba Higuchi shakes it up in Texas
2024 Skate America | Women
Japan’s Wakaba Higuchi found herself in a surprising first place at 2024 Skate America on Saturday night top skaters faltered in the free skate. Americans Isabeau Levito and Bradie Tennell were in first and second, respectively, after the short program. In the end, Rinka Watanabe of Japan finished second overall behind her teammate for the silver, while Levito settled for silver. Tennell slipped to fifth overall.
Wakaba Higuchi
Higuchi showed good power and speed in her short program to music from Dune. The 2018 World silver medalist opened with a strong double Axel, but underrotated the back end of a triple Lutz-triple toe. She later received an edge call on a triple flip, but all four spins were graded a level four. She posted 66.12 for fourth place in this segment.
“I felt very nervous during the six-minute warm up,” admitted the 23-year-old, “and there, my jumps were a bit shaky. Thanks to my training, I was able to get it together when the skate started. I thought that maybe there were some underrotations during the skate.”
“I got two Grand Prix assignments, so my motivation is very high,” she added. “The training was good, and I think my skate reflected that. My goal was to score around 70; 66 is ‘just okay.'”
The 2022 Olympian turned out an expressive program to “Nature Boy” and “Running Up that Hill,” but there were no triple-triple jumps. She landed five triple jumps in all, but stepped out of the Lutz and received an edge call on the flip. Still, it was a respectable return for the skater who has been plagued with injuries since 2018, and most recently, a stress fracture that caused her to miss the entire 2022-23 season.
She placed first in the free skate after the top skaters faltered, scoring 130.81. With a total score of 196.93, she rose from fourth to first overall.
While the skater was not satisfied with the program, she was “super happy” and “surprised” with the outcome.
“I felt the strongest back then at the beginning of my Grand Prix career,” said Higuchi. “Back then, I was aiming for golds and never won an event, so I really wasn’t expecting to win this event. I did make some mistakes today, but the score was much higher than I anticipated, so this is what I take from this competition.”
“If this competition would have been the last of the season, I might have looked forward to the Olympics,” she ventured. “But this was the first one of the season, and the season is still long! So, I won’t think of next season yet.”
Higuchi added that she still practices the triple Axel sometimes but feels she should do clean programs with a double Axel instead for now. She will compete next at Grand Prix de France.
Rinka Watanabe
Japan’s Rinka Watanabe posted 66.54 points for third place in the short program. The 2024 Four Continents bronze medalist had a had an excellent skate to Moonlight Sonata which featured a triple Lutz, triple loop-triple toe and double Axel. Two spins were graded a level four, and she showed good edges and full commitment throughout the performance.
“There are two different feelings inside of me,” she offered. “One side is very satisfied, but I also think I could have done more. But considering I felt quite a bit nervous ahead of the skate I think I put out a good performance.”
The skater said she changed the program content after Lombardia Trophy where she finished eighth.
“I took out the triple Axel to be a little bit more safe,” she pointed it out. “It was planned the way I skated it today, no combination on the Lutz. I thought of either going for a triple flip-triple toe or triple loop-triple toe, and I went with the triple loop-triple toe because I often get a (call) on the flip. I think this plan worked out well for me.”
The two-time Grand Prix medalist delivered a good performance in her free skate to “Maria de Buenos Aires” by Astor Piazzolla. She landed seven triple jumps overall, but the back end of a triple loop-triple toe was underrotated, as was a solo triple Lutz. All spins and footwork were graded a level three, and she placed third in the free skate and overall (128.68/195.22).
Watanabe dropped to her knees after the performance, clearly gratified with her efforts.
“I am very happy about winning a medal here,” she later told the press. “I still think I could have done a bit better. I decided last night that I preferred to play it safe and not risk the triple Axel here. My main goal here was to place high to set myself up for a chance to go to the Final. The final is very important in Japan in order to make the World team. “
“The next competition, Cup of China, will hopefully be a good one for me,” she summed up. “I had good results in China last year, and at the Four Continents, so I hope it will be good for me again.”
Isabeau Levito
USA’s Isabeau Levito delivered a near-solid short to “Moon River”— a nod to the opening scene of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, placing first with a season’s best of 68.43.
Displaying lots of playful character, the 2024 World silver medalist landed a triple Lutz-triple toe, but the Lutz received an edge call, and the toe was deemed underrotated. All other elements received high grades of execution (GOE), but the footwork was only graded a level two.
“I felt pretty satisfied with my performance today,” said the 17-year-old. “I really like this program and it’s one of the first times I’m competing it for the season. I can’t wait to show it more over the season. I really enjoy performing as Audrey Hepburn and dressing up and feeling like a movie star!”
The 2024 CS Nebelhorn silver medalist looked mature in her beautiful free skate to Liebesträume by Liszt, but made costly errors. She received an edge call on her opening triple Lutz-triple toe while the latter jump was landed on the quarter. She later underrotated the last jump in a triple flip-Euler-triple Salchow before falling on an underrotated triple Lutz. On her final jumping pass, she landed the first jump of a triple flip-double toe on the quarter. All three spins were graded a level four, and she finished fifth in the free skate with 126.40 points. With a total score of 194.83, she slipped to third overall.
“I think I could have done better today, but I am glad for the elements that worked out and I am happy I am on the podium,” said Levito. “I felt quite grounded and confident during my performance despite quite a lot of pressure.”
“I feel prepared for Finland having a great team and training plan around me, and I know I will be able to do better there,” the teen added.”
Nina Pinzarrone
Belgium’s Nina Pinzarrone performed a well-delivered short to Swan Lake by Tchaikovski. The 2024 European bronze medalist landed a double Axel and triple loop, but the back end of a triple Lutz-triple toe was underrotated. The footwork was very good and graded a level four as was her layback spin. She scored 62.86 for fifth place in this segment.
The 2023-24 Grand Prix Finalist captivated the crowd with a dramatic free skate to “Escapes Within” and “Nocturne in D-Flat Major ‘Un rêve.'” Once again, she underrotated the triple toe on the back end of a triple Lutz and later underrotated the first jump in a triple loop-double toe. Her second triple Lutz was also landed on the quarter, but she displayed detailed choreography with level-four spins and footwork throughout. She placed second in the free skate and rose to fourth overall (130.76/ 193.61).
“I am pretty pleased with the skate today,” said the 17-year-old. “I got all my levels on my spins today and also stayed on my feet. I knew the second loop wasn’t clean. But for the first competition of the season, I think it was okay.”
“The story we created to this program with Benoît is that I portrait a girl whose boat sank, and she died,” explained Pinzarrone of her free skate. “She gets one last opportunity to see the world and say goodbye to her friends and family. And towards the end she knows though that she has to leave. I try to transmit this story to the audience, but I think it will be even better as the season progresses.”
The national champion also said that she received many compliments on the red dress she wore at Worlds last year. That red suited her.
Her next event will be Grand Prix de France next month followed by a challenger event in Estonia.
Bradie Tennell
USA’s Bradie Tennell was thrilled with her short program to Lord of the Dance, giving a fist-pump at the end of her short program. She fought for the landing of the triple Lutz-triple toe, the latter being deemed as underrotated. However, the double Axel had good flow, and the triple loop was solid. The two-time U.S. national champion earned high marks for her combination spin (1.40 GOE) which had good changes of position and scored 66.99 points for third place.
The skater, who broke her ankle last year, just made a return to competition earlier this month at 2024 Shanghai Trophy where she took silver. This is her first Grand Prix since 2022 Grand Prix Espoo after missing the majority of the 2023-24 season.
“At the end of my performance, I felt like it was worth every doubt, every difficult moment, just to come out with a skate like today,” said the 26-year-old. “Five months off and two surgeries were definitely serious. It was a long road of recovery and of course I was not always sure if I would make it back. I am proud of myself, and so grateful of my support system.”
Tennell placed sixth (125.05) after her passionate free skate to Turandot. She landed a total of five clean triple jumps, but underrotated the back end of a double Axel-triple toe and popped a Lutz. She also left points on the table after her footwork and a spin was graded a level two. The 2018 Olympic team event bronze medalist slipped to fifth overall (192.04).
“I am pretty disappointed,” admitted the skater. “This is not how I wanted to end this competition. I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather. And additionally, it was the wrong cut of the music. That really threw me off, I was really off the music throughout. I don’t know who’s mistake it was, probably my own as I should have double-checked it. In practices I have a lot of clean run-throughs.”
Tennell will compete next at NHK Trophy.
Teammate Elyce Lin-Gracey, finished sixth (183.94) in her debut, followed by Japan’s Yuna Aoki (183.03).
Lin-Gracey felt that this event was a “huge learning experience” going into Skate Canada next week.
“The pressure really got to me,” admitted the 17-year-old. “I focused so much on landing these triple-triple combinations that I can land easily in practices. In practices I have regularly clean run-throughs. People were talking a lot about Nebelhorn and that got to me a bit too much. I need to learn how to handle my nerves better.”
This was Aoki’s first overseas Grand Prix, and she was very surprised at the number of fans supporting her.
“I will tell at home that there were so many Japanese flags out there and that made me very happy,” she said. “It was great to go to my rink-mate Rinka and also with Wakaba. Overall, this was a very enjoyable experience!”
Aoki will compete next at NHK Trophy.
Livia Kaiser of Switzerland finished eighth overall (177.67), followed by Austria’s Olga Mikutina (166.77) and Minchae Kim of the Republic of Korea (165.57).
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