The "I love Shizuka Arakawa" thread

The "I Love Shizuka Arakawa" Thread

I never even knew who this girl was until 2004. Or at least I had never realized who she was.

Arakawa is currently my favorite skater in the world. She can do absolutely everything - the best jumps, the best spirals, the most expressive movements. I believe she reached an artistic height this year with her Olympic long program and I hope she stays competitive (though I doubt she will ).

Her best short program for me was at the 2004 Worlds, which she won - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ENXamFnrYME&search=shizuka arakawa

I love this music! Lots of energy from her; more upbeat than anything else I've ever seen her do.

Her best long program would be the Olympics for me -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGFI7vi0qlU&search=shizuka arakawa

I've watched that one about 30 times. Really. She is mesmerizing; the second mark should have been even higher.

I also believe those two programs have the two best outfits she has ever worn. .

Other excellent routines:

2004 Worlds Long Program - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TqWWlPj4Uos&search=shizuka arakawa

Her second best skate ever. In terms of jumps it IS her best. I think that 3 Lutz/3 Toe/2 Loop combination is in fact the MOST difficult to ever be done in competition by a woman. Correct me if I'm wrong.

2002 Tokyo Free Skate -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lVhZFRIWVog&search=shizuka arakawa

Amazing work here to music from Titanic. It's definitely a home video (the person recording the program even fails to pan far enough over at one point to let us see what looks like a perfect triple lutz jump judging by her entrance and the crowd reaction) but still a beautiful skate by her. 7 triples!

2001 Trophee Lalique -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdAmPD-N3II&search=shizuka arakawa

Another performance with 7 triples (including a 3 Toe/3 Toe at the very end of the program!) and wonderful skating. The judging here was TOTAL BS. Her marks should have been way, way higher. She didn't get more than a 5.5 in either category. Her lowest marks for this program should have been more than 5.5!!! Complete and utter trash. I've really come to love the new judging system. It has a couple tiny flaws (jumps done in combination should get a small bonus; the penalty for falling on a Quad should be a bit greater) but makes the judging process more fair and specific.

Thanks for the video links, Z. Those performances were awesome.

I saw Shizuka in person at the Winter cheesefest in 1993, when she was training with Richard Callaghan. She has such a calm and regal presence, both on-ice and off.

We will get to see her one more time at the Marshall's event next week.

MM

I love Shizuka Arakawa, my favorite Ladies skater in the triples era!

What a Lady!

The thing I like about her most is she is ALL woman. Things stop when she walks in the room. And she holds herself "high but not out of reach."

The 2002 vid took me back, thank you. Everybody had cameras there. She did free skate (spotlight) there, the cameras were rolling. Anyone have that video?

Lol, I love how you edited my post Mathman. Oops.

Here is a picture of Shizuka attending a performance of Turandot in Tokyo last week, with her date, the Prime Minister of Japan!

http://us.news3.yimg.com/us.i2.yimg.com/p/rids/20060403/i/r2005125310.jpg

(Note the Louis V. purse.)

Now THAT'S what I call a purse!!! Diva's so awesome...

I'll join the thread. I liked Shiz ever since I saw her skate her Titanic program.

So, is she dating anyone?

Any movie offers?

Any siblings?

If interested, check out these HQ pics of her from the Olympics:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13085

Johar said:

I'll join the thread. I liked Shiz ever since I saw her skate her Titanic program.

So, is she dating anyone?

Any movie offers?

Any siblings?

Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shizuka_Arakawa

http://skate.cx/shi-chan/index_e.html

http://fan.tahlmorra.net/shizuka/join.php?action=update
If you "really like her."

I saw Shizuka at the Marshall's exhibition show on Tuesday April 11. She had very short notice to get ready for this (she was a last minute replacement for Lambier who pulled out due to an injury) and her courageous but admittedly rusty performance of Turandot was still a wonderful program to see live. She is both exquisite and has such perfect skating skills that I can't take my eyes off her while she is skating. Her "You Raise Me Up" true exhibition program went much better. Most of the skaters seemed to do better with their second programs.

I was fortunate enough to see Shizuka and her agent at the airport in Greenville wating for their flight. They were incredibly generous and friendly while I'm sure I came off looking and acting like the biggest dork in the world. In this case appearance is probably reality. I even had the poor taste and nerve to ask (I don't know what I was thinking!!) if the fellow she was traveling with was her boy friend? He answered, No, he was her agent. . .Ok . . . next item.

In case she had any doubts about my fanaticism as a a fan I quickly allayed them with a recitation of how long I'd been a fan of hers -- dating back to her Titantic program leading into the 2003 Worlds in Washington DC. ( I'm not quite sure how much more I should disclose here before I risk being really properly stereotyped.) Suffice it to say I had photo ops with her at the 2003 Worlds and a wonderful close encounter of the fourth kind at Skate America in Reading that next fall which was the prelude to her 2004 World championship. Richard Callaghan was her coach then and he was also coaching Jenny Kirk and they finished 1 - 2 that year at SA, Shizuka won the SP, Jenny the Free and overall gold.

I don't know if it was a premonition or not but as I prepared for my trip home from Greenville, I wanted to be ready in case I ran into Shizuka at the airport. I had a photo I really wanted to get her to sign and a couple others of my special Shizuka moments that I knew I'd show her if she was willing & I got the chance. Well, premonitions are only proven true after the fact but here I was showing pics of me with Shizuka and Callaghan and also Nikolai Morozov who I talked with at Calgary and shared some Shizuka memorabilia with.

I was anxious to know if she was going to be at the Philadelphia Champions on Ice show -- No, she said -- as of Tuesday she had not committed to any firm dates, only that she would do some. So she'll be there when she'll be there.

She was on her way to Simsbury to work on a new exhibition program, presumedly one to use in her COI appearances. For a skater who hasn't really recovered from the Japanese media storm and whirlwind following Turino, she seemed remarkably relaxed and ready to get back into training, at least to put together a new first class exhibition program befitting the new Olympic gold medalist. I expressed the strong wish she stay in competitive skating but only because I enjoy her skating so much.

I think I managed to communicate my sincere and long time affection for her and admiration for her skating. Wednesday morning I had read in FSU Minam's translation of Japanese articles on a show Shizuka will host and is organizing to raise money and awareness of the plight of skating rinks in Japan. Just as interest is booming among the kids, top rinks are closing, including the one Shizuka began her skating career on. I gave Shizuka my approval for the project, the final hurdle she needed to insure its success. If nothing else, I impressed her agent with how current I was on his clients doing since the only published news was in the Japanese press.

Needless to say this visit with Shizuka was wonderful. I do get star struck and I had trouble not smiling for the rest of the day. Once again. I really try to look for clues from someone that they want nothing to do with me but Shizuka and her agent were extremely cordial and generous with their time and attention. I know they were both a little amused (maybe a lot amused) and Shizuka actually seemed flattered with my really genuine and enthusiastic fandom. I was discrete talking to them, I DID NOT do the screaming "Ross the intern" thing: "OMG IT IS SHIZUKA ARAKWA THE OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALIST!!" I think I might have been one of the few to recognize her "out of uniform" at 11:30 Wednesday morning at the GSP airport. I am the only one I saw approach her.

Ok, so yes, I belong on the "I love Shizuka" thread.

Agh, I can't believe the purse doesn't match her outfit. ???? Total shock.

Her life has certainly changed (as Peggy would say) since winning the OGM.

Vash

Love your post, Leon!

Leon said:

I wanted to be ready in case I ran into Shizuka at the airport. I had a photo I really wanted to get her to sign and a couple others of my special Shizuka moments that I knew I'd show her if she was willing & I got the chance.

Click to expand...

Be prepared!

seanibu said:

Agh, I can't believe the purse doesn't match her outfit. ???? Total shock.

Click to expand...

Au contraire, mon ami. A genuine Louie matches everything, LOL.

She probably picked it up in Paris at Trophee Eric Bompard. Johnny Weir, on one of his heralded shopping sprees, also visited the Louis Vuitton shop -- and bought another purse that was reportedly just like the one he came in with, so now he has two.

Mathman said:

Au contraire, mon ami. A genuine Louie matches everything, LOL.

Click to expand...

Your one lucky guy Leon - must have been great. Thanks for the information.

wonderful

Thank you so much for sharing these. I enjoyed them all. Brought tears to my eyes.

I loved reading your about your encounters with Shizuka, Leon! She's wonderful! :agree:

Mathman said:

Au contraire, mon ami. A genuine Louie matches everything, LOL.

She probably picked it up in Paris at Trophee Eric Bompard. Johnny Weir, on one of his heralded shopping sprees, also visited the Louis Vuitton shop -- and bought another purse that was reportedly just like the one he came in with, so now he has two.

Click to expand...

This would have been very nice http://www.hwbhost.com/images/a0431039985738_v1_m56577569831231582.jpg