NESET / MARKELOV (USA) | Ice Dance Rhythm Dance | Grand Prix de France 2024 | #GPFigure

So to the newly married team of Lea Nesette and Artem Markolov. Their coach described them as having different temperaments. Artem energetic, Lea gentle like water and over the years they've learned to combine their energies in an effective entry into the rotational lift. The crowd is excited about the kiss shared at the end of the program as some of the difficult transitional content performed by Lea Nesette and Artem Markolov. It's really so difficult to differentiate the brilliance of the American Ice Dance teams, but for this team the complexity, difficulty and intricacy of some of the transitions to me was the strongest. Really appreciated some of the content in the opening non-touch step sequence and also mindful of how close they were in the sequential twizzles as well, which is a positive feature for the judges in regards to giving a higher grade of execution. And I'm referencing the differentiation between the three American teams, but also I have to be mindful of the competitors in this event who were all against, so many of them were against each other at Skate America. And it was the rhythm dance which was the less competitively successful performance for Lea and Artem. Their free dance pulled them up to fifth place. See how it affects them here. And some of this content that would be treated to on the slow-mo playback, just transitional content, and yet great use of different body movement and blade movement. Here part of the choreo rhythm sequence to boost the grade of execution. A wonderful example of the range of flexibility and strength required to achieve a difficult feature. And their coach Elena described them to me as an incredibly hard working couple, amazing people. 71.86. Lea satisfied that that is okay as they move into second place.