Bradie Tennell is the 2018 U.S. Champion for figure skating. She steps foot on the ice again this year, in the hopes that she can win that title back once again. She represents the Smokey Mountains figure skating club and is skating to a piece in which she has to hit musical notes and deliver facial expressions to match in order to receive more of a component score. This strategy of having music to match for her in particular works a lot better than in her past. In prior years Bradie Tennell would have the element score present in her programs but not the component score. A lot of people critiqued her skating because of this. In the past, she was more focused on landing her jumps and did not feel comfortable to let go and show the audience her personality through her skating. In previous competitions, individuals would love to watch her on the ice, but she looked tense and stiff. However, this program changed that for her.
From the moment she stepped foot on the ice, she had a relaxed look and smile on her face. She finally looked like she was out there to have a great time and to show her personality through her skating. Throughout this program, her smile never left her face, which was refreshing to see. Her artistry came through each step and connection she made to the music. Her opening jump was a triple lutz, triple toe combination, which was landed with ease and flow coming out of her jump. She also received a GOE of 2.19 on this jump combination, which boosts her total points for this jump. Her next element was a double axel coming out of a spread eagle, which is considered a difficult entry. This was also landed effortlessly and received .99 of a bonus on the element in GOE. Bradie does a couple intricate steps going into a lovely level 4 layback spin, which received a GOE of 1.04. She does steps going into a triple flip, which also gave her a bonus of 1.89 points added to the base element score of 5.83. Immediately after this jump, she seemed even happier that she landed all of her jump passes, and now all she has left is the step sequence and the two last spins. The step sequence she completed received a level 4 with a GOE of 1.56. She has high speed coming out of her step sequence and going into her flying sit spin. The first position in the spin was extremely fast, as she got all 8 rotations for a bonus level in within 2 seconds. She received a level 4 and a GOE of 1.32. Her final spin was her combination spin, in which the entire spin was held to each count of the music. Every beat that she needed to hit for a change in position was met. This added to her total artistry points. The combination spin received a level 4 with bonus 1.7 GOE.
It was pleasing to watch someone who smiled and had a great time throughout their program. She said in an interview that her breakthrough now is because she does feel as though it is all about her from the moment she steps foot on the ice. This clicked with her, which caused for her to finally feel open to show her true emotions through her skating. She has found a new direction for herself and now knows what to do for future performances. Her technical element score was 43.11, and her program component score was 35.85 points. After being more relaxed and confident throughout this fun short program, she received a total of 78.96 points, which put her in first place after the short program at Nationals!
