on GS's Home Page.
She does workout both on and OFF the ice. It's not just old ballet. It's weights and aerobics. And full time High School.
With this program is she headed for Gold? at Campbells? at Skate America?
at TEB? and US Nats?
What about Sasha? Mao? Ya Nu? Rochette?
Expectations are high for this teenager. Maybe too high.
Joe
Are you referring to the article that takes you to the US Olympic team page? I've seen that one before (and posted it), it was in the Baltimore Sun earlier.
Sometimes you kind of cruise along and then strike it big. Kimmie strikes me as one of those who wants to win more badly than anyone but either can't or won't show it. I think the next couple of seasons will be the real test for her. Of course expectations are high- she's proven herself at Worlds and set the bar high for herself and everyone else. People are going to expect her to do really well since she has now shown that she can "do it".
Off the top of my head I don't remember who Kimmie will be competing against at any of those competitions. I'd say she has the potential to medal at any and/or all of them. Sasha, if she does show up at Nationals I think she will flop like always. She's wasting her time with acting and then thinks she can waltz into Nats and win it? I don't think so. I think Kimmie has the heart, the mentality, the drive, the determination, and the ability to win. I'm sure she knows that she won on technical merit at Worlds, and because the pre-determined favorites didn't bring their best, and that she will need to improve on the presentation aspect of her skating. I think she can do it. She also has the pressure of going in as world champ, who knows how she'll respond to that? She doesn't seem the type to be overly affected by it but time will tell for sure. Mao, who knows. She looks to have grown since last year and I don't know how that will affect her. Also, there is a lot of pressure on her I'm sure, it will be interesting to see how she handles it. I could see her medaling at worlds, and gold is certainly possible. Yu Na, I can't comment on because I haven't seen enough of her to know. I think she, too is under a lot of pressure. I think we could be possibly looking at a disasterous year if all these young ones come in laden down with pressure, we could see meltdown after meltdown. Or we could see each one step up to the task and show us their very best. I'm very interested to see how it all plays out.Originally Posted by Joesitz
Last year the young ones were the ones to step up to the plate. They were all in a no-pressure situation.
This year the young ones are the best remaining in a veteran-empty field. Suddenly for many of these folks it becomes a high-pressure situation. I don't think we'll see the same carefree attitude from many of them, Mao included.
As for Cohen I don't remember her saying she would show up at nats at all. I'd be surprised if she did. But as always I think she'll underestimate her competition (like she did at Worlds) and find herself clinging to the podium behind a surprise finisher or so.
USFS website has an article up stating that Cohen has registered for Nationals. She has not come right out and said that she will definitely be there, but she is keeping the possibility open. I'm not leaning one way or another in terms of whether of not I think she'll show up, but Campbell's might give us a better idea. If she skates poorly there she may decide to take the rest of the year off. If she skates brilliantly (not likely, but who knows?), perhaps that will motivate her to get back to serious training for Nationals. If she does show up to Nats, I think she'll come in with the attitude that it will be a cake walk, assume that she has no real competition, and wind up disappointed yet again.
ok, so I guess she's at least considering going to nats. But from the way she sounded this spring I don't think she's gonna go. I don't think she has the resources nor the energy to be really well prepared for 2007 nats, so she COULD go but I wouldn't expect much of her in that regard.
It's a new era now and I think she'll get left behind.
This assessment of what would make Sasha go to Nats may be right. But she would hardly look on it as a "cake walk" after getting creamed by Kimmie at Worlds (after publicly declaring that the field was less than challenging). She knows she doesn't have a triple axel and rarely does 3/3's. She knows she loses competitions in the LP. I think she knows exactly what she's up against and will make decisions and train accordingly.
who is "she", Meissner or Cohen?
Well, both know what they're up against. But I was referring to Cohen.
Meissner has never won a national title so I expect her to go all out for it. She did last year, so I expect the same from her this time around.
Cohen already has a Nat title; it depends on whether she would want another one or just would want to get on the podium for another shot at Worlds.
I doubt Sasha would think going to Nationals would be "cake walk" after the way Worlds went for her. I imagine that she will see how the Cheesefest goes, how her competitors do in the GPS and what off-ice opportunities come her way. Nicks said he spoke to her last week and was the opinion a year off may be good physically, but history shows it's not easy to make a comeback. That, to me, shows Sasha is leaning towards a year off but unsure if she should do it. I think if she was taking the route Michelle did, limited competitions, she would just skip the GPS.
I also think Sasha's body probably won't hold up under more streneous training-mainly training for 7 triples, 3/3's, and she is taking that into consideration as the new batch of kids come roaring up. So, exploring other options while she's still in the afterglow of her OSM, and at the top of her sport may be a wise choice. She will always have skating to fall back on, eligible or pro, so why not see what's out there?
Like Kwan, I think Cohen's demise will be her mind wanting to do something her body can't.
Does that mean you think Sasha WANTS to continue competing? I would think she does as she does not have the resume she hoped to have, but sometimes it seems to gets distracted by outside opportunities that affect her skating. Not that I think Michelle wants to skate/compete/win more than Sasha. I've always felt skating was all Michelle was interested in, which is why i think it's greta she's giving college her full attention, for the year anyway.
I get that Michelle's body gave out on her before her mind acknowledged she wasn't healthy to go for it, but "demise" is such a negative word. Michelle has nothing to prove, OGM or no OGM. There are those who say she should've retired in 2003, "at the top of her sport." For me, anything after that was the cherry on top of a perfect sundae and she earned the right to dictate when enough was enough, no matter what her body was telling her.
Kirk Wessler is such a wise fellow:
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/090806...BBPP.073.shtml
Good for Michelle Kwan, the figure-skating queen who enrolled as a full-time student at the University of Denver. ... Kwan says she hasn't determined whether to return to competition, but there will be many pundits who encourage her to hang up the skates. ... I say she should do whatever makes her happy and let the naysayers flit in a snit.
I never said that I think Cohen wants to continue. Remember, I was the first one predicting her to retire as soon as possible, even though she claims she wants to be at another Olympics. Not going to happen- the Olympics part, that is. Even if she really wants it to.
MK seemed to have several peaks in her career, the latest one being 2003. Then her "demise"- sorry, can't think of any other word here- came when she wanted to make another run at an OGM but her body could no longer handle the competitive strain. I think the same thing will happen to Cohen. She already seems brittle so I think it's only a matter of time before she simply can't skate any more. I say she's doing the right thing (looking for other opportunities). I absolutely despise wannabe actresses or singers- think Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan, but if one REALLY wants to do that, knock yourself out. You just have one new enemy.
P.S. that Kirk fellow sounds like an MKF poster.
Last edited by R.D.; 09-09-2006 at 01:07 AM.
"I think Kimmie has the heart, the mentality, the drive, the determination, and the ability to win. I'm sure she knows that she won on technical merit at Worlds, and because the pre-determined favorites didn't bring their best, and that she will need to improve on the presentation aspect of her skating. I think she can do it."
ITA. Occasionally I get a 'buzz' about a young skater, the feeling that they're going to be around for a while and make a substantial mark. I had it with Kwan in 94 and Slute a few years later. Not every young skater I've gotten that feeling about has made it but OTOH I can't think of any skater who has made that long-term impact that I haven't had that feeling about by the second competition I've seen them in.
At Turin, Kimmie was (in terms of coverage) the fourth of the US ladies (after Cohen/Kwan and Hughes and I noted how mechanical her presentation was and how she was trying to get to the level of the not overly sophisticated by any means choreography as opposed to just expressing it. (I think the genius of Nichols is that she gave Meissner choreography that was _just_ out of her reach at this stage, the kind she'd learn from rather than be overwhelmed by).
By worlds, I noticed how much better (though still rough) her execution was. In other words, she'd obviously learned a thing or two at the Palavela and had seriously _worked_ between Turin and Calgary. I remember somebody here writing that she was _studying_ the veterans at Turin trying to figure out how she could beat them.
Lots can happen to prevent her from continuing at the Calgary level but I definitely got that Kwan/Slute vibe from her. She likes competing for its own sake and will do what it takes to progress and do well over the long term (in other words: her goal isn't to win a big competition or two and retire). I don't think she's going to up her jump content (because... why?) and I don't like her toe-axelish toe loops but I think her presentation skills will improve a lot (over time).
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