Why Yukari Nakano had the best long program

[Matt]

Nakano SHOULD have won the free skate-her only weak points being the footwork and spirals. Nakanos spins were the best in the competition.

Looking at the protocol sheet, Nakano's spins were actually judged better than Kostner's, or at least got higher positive GOEs

As for the spiral, Nakano's edge was a heck of a lot stronger than Kostner's. Kostner almost put her foot down on the final position of her spiral sequence and still managed to somehow get a +1.00 GOE (same as Nakano)

 

[Kinga]

But, my goodness, that program (YN) was magical! The last time I felt such a thrill while watching a performance was Arakawa in Dortmund.

I totally agree!! She was the only one who was sparkling (her and Sarah Meier in SP). She was so natural... So full of pure joy. So not : 'lets do this and that to earn more from CoP'... I must say that I am missing beautiful programmes in ladies competition since Michelle Kwan, Cohen and Arakawa left... I am not thrilled with 2006, 2007 and 2008 performances... Mao is a good skater, but for me, all her programmes look almost the same. There is no magic... Her steps, although technically great, lack the variabily depending on music. Are just well learned... Her body moves look almost artifical through the sequence. Almost too intense, a bit exaggarated.
I have similar feelings about Kostner - she has a great flow, but she is not an artist to me. Again, no magic...
Yukari Nakano was magic! So, who cares about stupid leg wrap! Especially that she did a clean programme. (Asada's fall, although bravely recovered, did disrupted a choregraphy much more than YN wrap)

So - it is great that it is possible in mens competition to win without a quad. But it is a pity that it seems impossible to win without 3-3 in ladies..... (I hope Sarah Meier will learn 3-3!)

 

[Tinymavy15]

Watching her skate, I knew that flip would be downgraded, but never suspected the triple axel. Oh well. At least, she is happy with her placement. I also thought she had the best speed of the night.

I am stunned how happy she looked after her score went up. She must have had some inclination of how everyone else skated. Could anybody really be that accepting? If that was me i would not have been happy.

Sorry, after watching the ABC footage, I see only allowable cheat-i.e. 1/4 on the landing of the triple axel.

Dick had it right when he said the problem was Kostner being propped up. Kostner should have fallen to 5th.

Kim was not her usual self-her skating was slow and lacked energy, even her usual textbook jumps were not up to Yuna par. Nakano SHOULD have won the free skate-her only weak points being the footwork and spirals. Nakanos spins were the best in the competition.

I agree with you.

Nakano should have won the freeskate, and but come in just behind Mao overall. Yu-na should have gotten 3rd. I see no reason why Kostner was held up like that. Her lead after the SP was very small, so that could not have been the reason. Not only were her jumps sloppy, but she looked a little lost and not crisp and sharp in the footwork. Her belliman is embarrassing, she should really find a better position.

 

[fumie_fumie]

Kim was not her usual self-her skating was slow and lacked energy, even her usual textbook jumps were not up to Yuna par. Nakano SHOULD have won the free skate-her only weak points being the footwork and spirals. Nakanos spins were the best in the competition.

Yes, she just fizzled out in the second half of the program. Slow, unfinished positions in spins and a lot of travels in the centre, a few under-rotated jumps and sloppy looking turns in step sequence. She wasn't her usual self that night. It looks as though she had a stamina issue. I still can't believe that she came first in LP with that performance.

 

[ks777]

my highlight of this year's worlds is Yukari. I love her SP. I think I watched it more than 5 times already.

 

[Skye]

Yes, she just fizzled out in the second half of the program. Slow, unfinished positions in spins and a lot of travels in the centre, a few under-rotated jumps and sloppy looking turns in step sequence. She wasn't her usual self that night. It looks as though she had a stamina issue. I still can't believe that she came first in LP with that performance.

Yu-Na came in first because nobody else (except Yukari who was dinged for ur) stepped up to skate better than her. She was definately lacking stamina due to injury, but I can't agree with the judges that her performance was so bad to be only 3 points ahead (with virtually the same PCS) of the mess Kostner presented.

 

[Ms.Anthrope]

Yes, she just fizzled out in the second half of the program. Slow, unfinished positions in spins and a lot of travels in the centre, a few under-rotated jumps and sloppy looking turns in step sequence. She wasn't her usual self that night. It looks as though she had a stamina issue. I still can't believe that she came first in LP with that performance.

I think YuNa definitely had stamina issue and the fact that she was given painkiller shot right before the LP also had something to do with her fizzling towards the end of her program. She also changed her spin to save energy for other elements, and she looked so relieved at the end of her program. I think she's a fighter, and the fact that she could skate at this level considering her condition is amazing.

I hope that the Japanese officials acknowledge what an amazing talent they have in Nakano. Her leg wrap is still ugly to me and I hope she works to minimize the wrap on her jumps, but I do love her spins. So fast, centered and beautiful to watch.

Nakano had a very audience friendly & energetic choreography that was easy to enjoy, and I think the style fit her well. Hope she stays and fights for her place on Japanese team until 2010. Oh, I do think that her 3A was UR & property downgraded. Her 3A looked prerotated to me and sort of reminded me of Lysacek's 3A technique in the LP.

 

[GoldMedalist]

After watching all performances again and giving my own grades, I would have placed them as:

SP:

1. Asada
2. Nakano
3. Kostner
4. Kim
5. Meier
6. Rochette

LP:

1. Nakano
2. Asada
3. Kim
4. Kostner
5. Rochette
6. Meier

Overall:

1. Asada
2. Nakano
3. Kim
4. Kostner
5. Rochette
6. Meier

 

[Skye]

I hope that the Japanese officials acknowledge what an amazing talent they have in Nakano. Her leg wrap is still ugly to me and I hope she works to minimize the wrap on her jumps, but I do love her spins. So fast, centered and beautiful to watch.

Nakano had a very audience friendly & energetic choreography that was easy to enjoy, and I think the style fit her well. Hope she stays and fights for her place in Japanese team until 2010. Oh, I do think that her 3A was UR & property downgraded. Her 3A looked prerotated to me and sort of reminded of Lysacek 3A technique in the LP.

ITA, Yukari has improved so much the last few years and my heart went out to her when she looked so happy in the KnC even though she placed off the podium. It amazes me that this girl, at age 22 is still going for the 3A and has a better consistency of the jump than anyone else, including Mao. I often wonder why the Japanese media shows little interest for her, as she is a very beautiful both on and off ice.

 

[Mafke]

my heart went out to her when she looked so happy in the KnC even though she placed off the podium
I often wonder why the Japanese media shows little interest for her, as she is a very beautiful both on and off ice.

In some cultures people smile in order to not burden others with their sadness.

I also hope the Japanese media and public wake up to Yukari, the most dynamic performer they have.

 

[fumie_fumie]

I was a bit miffed after reading a previous post that said something to the effect that "Yukari was happy when the marks were out, because she knew that she had some serious technical flaws in her program and she got new SB despite of this".

She was trying very hard to comfort her coaches, Ms. Fumiko Sato and Mr. Nobu Sato. You can read from Fumiko Sato's face that she had a hard time holding it.

 

[PolymerBob]

Why was Yukari so accepting of her scores? Because of two things folks ......
sportsmanship and class.

Two things no judge on Earth can take from her.

 

[christinaskater]

I loved Yukari even more! She's such a sweetheart

 

[Kinga]

Why was Yukari so accepting of her scores? Because of two things folks ......
sportsmanship and class.

Two things no judge on Earth can take from her.

10/10
She is just great. Not only a beautiful skater, not only beautiful woman, but also a woman with class.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Yukari did a wonderful SP and LP. The audience showed their appreciation. The scores didn't reflect what one would expect from the 6.0 system. However, CoP covers a lot of territory, and it would be nice, if there were a panel of judges not officiating in the cometition over a round table discussing skaters like Yukari's possible under scoring. It would not solve anything but at least it would be aired out publicly. But the ISU does not want the public to know.

Joe

 

[Bennett]

I am stunned how happy she looked after her score went up. She must have had some inclination of how everyone else skated. Could anybody really be that accepting? If that was me i would not have been happy.

I feel that Yukari might have been happy because of the much better PCS than she used to have gotten. She said sometime this season that she had been working on it. So I am really glad for her that she finally got good PCSs here. Although I wasn't a big fan of her SP, I really loved her LP here. The choreo was fantastic and she delivered it with such a joy and happiness.

I suppose that under the 6.0 system, Yukari may have deserved at least bronze and perhaps not a medal for Caro. But I think Caro really deserved her medal under the current system because none of her jumps were downgraded and had a much higher base value than anyone else (64.28; versus 58.51 for Yuna, 56.40 for Mao, and 53.63 for Yukari). Yukari's biggest point-getter (3t-2t-2r) had a base value of 7.48 in contrast to Caro's 11.00 (3F+3T+2Lo). Yukari unfortunately underrotated 3a and 3f, which ended up earning only 2.24 and 1.4, respectively.

Despite the unclean landings, Caro's skating skills are generally much better than Yukari's. Caro also has very good posture and stretched line. Her interpretation was getting really gorgeous this season although it was not delivered too well here at LP.

Since Yukari tended to have low PCSs, I feel that her PCSs (59.3. 7.50 7.21 7.61 7.32 7.43) here were as just high as they could go up. So I would like to heartily congratulate her on that. Perhaps next season she will get higher PCSs. But at this point of time, I think it just right.

Even if Caro had gotten greater deductions for the unclean landings (say 2.0 for each) and received more modest PCSs, perhaps Yukari couldn't have won over her because Caro had led SP by 3 points.

 

[Skye]

But I think Caro really deserved her medal under the current system because none of her jumps were downgraded and had a much higher base value than anyone else (64.28; versus 58.51 for Yuna, 56.40 for Mao, and 53.63 for Yukari).

If Yukari's 3A and 3F were downgraded properly, I cannot see why the technical panel chose to neglect the under-rotation in Kostner's 2A+3T. Does she get the benefit of doubt because she usually has fully rotated triples? Kostner's component scores were also too high considering how bad all her jumps (and spirals and spins, but we all know judges don't care as long as the levels are high) were. Kostner's TES would have been at least 3 points down with the downgraded 3T, and her PCS should have been another 2 points down reflecting the sloppy performance overall. That would have still put Kostner on the podium ahead of Yukari due to her lead in the short program, but at least created much less conspiracy theories.

 

[saltypig]

Yukari has won over lots of fans at this year Worlds (even those who dislike her leg wrap). I especially loved how she reacted to her scores in the Kiss and Cry.

Hopefully what happened at this year's Worlds will push Yukari to train harder and make it to the podium at next year's Worlds and at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver! Go Yukari!

 

[Bennett]

If Yukari's 3A and 3F were downgraded properly, I cannot see why the technical panel chose to neglect the under-rotation in Kostner's 2A+3T. Does she get the benefit of doubt because she usually has fully rotated triples? Kostner's component scores were also too high considering how bad all her jumps (and spirals and spins, but we all know judges don't care as long as the levels are high) were. Kostner's TES would have been at least 3 points down with the downgraded 3T, and her PCS should have been another 2 points down reflecting the sloppy performance overall. That would have still put Kostner on the podium ahead of Yukari due to her lead in the short program, but at least created much less conspiracy theories.

That's a good point. I agree that Caro's jump(s) could have been downgraded. So could Yuna's 3S.

 

[leon]

I was in the Scandinavium Friday and reacted as many did to Yukari's free skate.
On some days and for some skaters the sum of the points are far greater than the whole. On some days and for some skaters the sum of the points are far less than the whole. It is sad when it works one way for one skater and the other way for another on the same night and with the same panel.

My dream would be to do away with computerized scoring, slow motion and video replays; find a few honest men and women we could trust and allow them to miss details but to score programs as best they can from what their imperfect human eyes see and their hearts perceive. I prefer error to bias and art to mathematics.

All this crawling round on our knees chasing after ants is just going to get us all stomped on by the elephants we miss.

This really is supposed to be on topic. I felt Yukari not getting a medal was the greatest injustice in skating I have witnessed under any system at any time in figure skating. I am trying to be civil . . . A sloppy program is a sloppy program, a great program is a great program and numbers and medals will fail to persuade me otherwise.