Mira Leung article - she is ready for the new season!

Taan · Oct 11, 2007

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/sports/story.html?id=f6a2c56a-e326-45d8-8e23-c5f547e4aafe

McLeod, who clashed with Leung mostly over training methods, is now full of praise for what she describes as her pupil's new attitude.

"We had a good summer," says her coach. "Mira seems more willing to allow quality input from the people that she can benefit from. She's changed a lot. She's now very mature about using the whole [support] team and allowing them to assist her."

"I definitely can be stubborn," admits Leung, who opens her 2007-08 season at Skate America Oct. 25 in Reading, Pa. "But this year Joanne and I seem to be focused on the same goals. I'm excited about the season. I'm more comfortable because everything about my training has been in place. I've got all my ducks in a row."

"Mira has been working hard on her poise, by which I mean her sense of elegance, her femininity and the prettiness of each movement," adds McLeod. "And there's been quite an improvement in her flow coming out of jumps."

Leung is also enthused about her new program. She and McLeod are keeping last year's Pink Panther number for the short. The new free skate, however, is to a Rachmaninov piano concerto.

"Mira picked the music," says McLeod. "She's also a very accomplished pianist and that helps her feel the music."

slutskayafan21 · Oct 11, 2007

Interesting. Hopefully she has improved, and actually "listened" to what others suggest to her besides just her whacky skating clueless mom.

scs · Oct 11, 2007

And hopefully she has some new boots that don't look quite so hideous and require duct tape to hold them together....
I do hope she does well as she seems to have a great deal of potential, technically.

chuckm · Oct 12, 2007

Let's see Mira back up the talk with results.

McLeod has had good things to say about Eman, but that didn't translate to great results.

One comment: if McLeod now has positive influence on Mira, then why did Mira show up at the recent training camp with (again) torn tights, socks showing under the tights, and dirty, heavilly taped boots?

slutskayafan21 · Oct 12, 2007

chuckm said:
Let's see Mira back up the talk with results.

McLeod has had good things to say about Eman, but that didn't translate to great results.

One comment: if McLeod now has positive influence on Mira, then why did Mira show up at the recent training camp with (again) torn tights, socks showing under the tights, and dirty, heavilly taped boots?

Well I didnt see that footage. Some of my positive hopes from reading the initial post diminish when I hear that.

If she really is willing to listen to advice and real guidance now from someone other then her mom that would not be happening.

nadster · Oct 12, 2007

slutskayafan21 said:
Well I didnt see that footage. Some of my positive hopes from reading the initial post diminish when I hear that. If she really is willing to listen to advice and real guidance now from someone other then her mom that would not be happening.

slutskayafan

The evidence of sloppy dress that chuckm mentioned can be found here at this link

http://photos.skatetoday.com/thumbnails.php?album=68&page=2

This links to 6 thumbnails of her that you can blow up to see a full size image.

Not only are the taped boots and holey tights back, but her dresses are ill fitting as well. And she only used a plain rubber band ( didn't even try to make her band match her costume) in her hair.

Apparently someone said on the ISU board that Mira's mother likes to leave extra room in Mira's costumes so that there is room to grow in them: scratch:

Mira is 18 now, she is very unlikely to grow any further. Besides new programs demand new outfits. Also even if you keep a program for more than a year, you would like to change an outfit just to give the judges a fresh look on an old program.

This is evidence that Mira is still listening mainly to Mommy.

sillylionlove · Oct 12, 2007

She leaves extra room for them to grow in? That's crazy!! Does she think she is going to gain weight? She sounds nutty!!

astimegoesby · Oct 12, 2007

I'm just curious if those are the same skates Mira wore at Skate Canada last year? :scratch:

Aside from the armbands on Mira's SP dress and the excessive amount of flesh-coloured material on both dresses, I actually don't think her costumes look that bad...at least compared to ones Mira's worn in the past.

I don't know whether Mira still orders her costumes from catalogues, but since she's received national team funding for a few years now, you'd think by now she (and her mom) would be able to splurge for a couple of custom-made costumes each year...or at least some new boots and tights.

nadster · Oct 12, 2007

astimegoesby said:
I'm just curious if those are the same skates Mira wore at Skate Canada last year? :scratch:

Aside from the armbands on Mira's SP dress and the excessive amount of flesh-coloured material on both dresses, I actually don't think her costumes look that bad...at least compared to ones Mira's worn in the past.

I don't know whether Mira still orders her costumes from catalogues, but since she's received national team funding for a few years now, you'd think by now she (and her mom) would be able to splurge for a couple of custom-made costumes each year...or at least some new boots and tights.

Actually her costumes are custom-made by someone in Alberta. There have been disagreements in the past between Mira and Joanne M. about who should make the dresses. It was actually Mira's dressmaker who mentioned that Mira's mother wanted the "growing room" in the outfits.

Kwanford Wife · Oct 12, 2007

I have a question and hope that someone can enlighten me... Is Mira a sloppy athlete or is she simply without the financial means that support the extras that many in skating seem to feel is necessary?

I understand that she's getting funding from Canada, but if that money is needed for training expenses and she's still short, why not wear whatever to skating camp and save a few bucks vs. having them now, but needing them later?

I understand the importance of appearance in skating and I understand that many skaters don't come from wealth, yet still work it out, but I don't understand why it seems that season after season Mira's talent is always second to her hair... There just seems to be something off about that...

sorcerer · Oct 13, 2007

Mira may be underrated in North America, but in Japan she is often praised for having the right edges in jumps.
She may be very characteristic in many aspects, but there's no point in bashing her.
Why not say she'd be much better if she'd rather do this, that, so on?

Mira, keep away anything that'll mess your talent, and let your circumstance help you to be what you can reach to be!

sk8mom · Oct 13, 2007

I really believe that Mira and her handlers are keeping the look (broken down boots, holey tights, underwear showing) going just for the amount of press it generates.

Even negative attention is better than no attention to some people.

Honestly, would we spend sooo much time discussing Mira if it weren't for the costume mishaps?

nadster · Oct 13, 2007

The mainstream press does not talk that much about Mira's dress at all. They talk about the real potential she has tto do really well in the world of figure skating.

The main reason we talk about her is that we really do see her talent and she really works hard. We want to see Mira be the best she can be ( that might not be world champion).

We are frustrated with the factors that hold Mira back ; mainly her overbearing mother.

We talk about her dress because it prevents her from achieving her best. Yes the rulebook says that dress does not affect the marks but in reality it clearly does.

sk8mom · Oct 13, 2007

Well we've been talking about Mira's "potential" to deliver for what - 5 or 6 years now? We're still waiting...

It wasn't her holey tights or duct taped boots or underwear showing that put her in last place at World's last year. It wasn't that lame after the fact injury excuse either. (If she was that injured she should have just pulled out)

She's boring and painful to watch with the odd jump technique and total lack of grace. Her lack of respect to the media, the public, her coach and Skate Canada means she is either really that dense, or this is all just a publicity stunt (again). And some people fall for it.

So we will have to see what she can actually deliver next weekend.

Talk (and duct tape) is cheap.

chuckm · Oct 13, 2007

Love it, sk8mom!

slutskayafan21 · Oct 13, 2007

sk8mom said:
Well we've been talking about Mira's "potential" to deliver for what - 5 or 6 years now? We're still waiting...

It wasn't her holey tights or duct taped boots or underwear showing that put her in last place at World's last year. It wasn't that lame after the fact injury excuse either. (If she was that injured she should have just pulled out)

She's boring and painful to watch with the odd jump technique and total lack of grace. Her lack of respect to the media, the public, her coach and Skate Canada means she is either really that dense, or this is all just a publicity stunt (again). And some people fall for it.

So we will have to see what she can actually deliver next weekend.

Talk (and duct tape) is cheap.

This is true up until now. As a Canadian I can only hope for either change, or someone to surpass her for the #2 spot. One or the other will satisfy me. I cant hope for her to stay at what she is now and continue to be our #2, that would only reinforce the sad state of our womens program, something which is not really a secret in the skating world at this point.

rain · Oct 13, 2007

slutskayafan21 said:
This is true up until now. As a Canadian I can only hope for either change, or someone to surpass her for the #2 spot. One or the other will satisfy me. I cant hope for her to stay at what she is now and continue to be our #2, that would only reinforce the sad state of our womens program, something which is not really a secret in the skating world at this point.

ITA. That's the problem with Leung. She burst onto the scene with much promise (and quite a bit of hype) and has not lived up to it. I wish Canada had someone else to be in the #2 spot. And I can only think that pressure from behind would have been a good thing to make Leung seriously work on her flaws — unfortunately, there has been no-one to do that. I mean, Hawker has her good qualities (and I would have sent her over Leung last year if at all possible), but she is not pushing Mira technically and has said on and off for the last several seasons that she's on the brink of retirement.

PolymerBob · Oct 13, 2007

It seems like Mira has very muscular legs, like she's been hitting the gym pretty hard. That's a sign of a serious athlete. Maybe we'll see good things this year.

slutskayafan21 · Oct 13, 2007

rain said:
ITA. That's the problem with Leung. She burst onto the scene with much promise (and quite a bit of hype) and has not lived up to it. I wish Canada had someone else to be in the #2 spot. And I can only think that pressure from behind would have been a good thing to make Leung seriously work on her flaws — unfortunately, there has been no-one to do that. I mean, Hawker has her good qualities (and I would have sent her over Leung last year if at all possible), but she is not pushing Mira technically and has said on and off for the last several seasons that she's on the brink of retirement.

I like Hawker but she is still a mid-20s journeywomen in the end, and that is how the judges look at her. Her general scores are only very similar to Mira's, and Mira "usually" is rock solid in terms of consistency delivering, so Lesley would have to skate totally clean or close to it herself to beat her, and never quite manages that, last year coming closest but not quite. Mira probably knows all this so isnt too worried about her.

Cynthia I am not sure if whether or not she can get back to what she was. I dont think Mira is worried about her either at this point.

No promising skaters coming up really, and I dont think Samson really is not a bright prospect either IMO.

I remember what promise she looked to have when I first saw her at the 2004 Canadians. She brought the house down with a wonderful short program. I was so looking forward to seeing her develop and she hasnt anything like I hoped she would, but she has moved up and cemented herself Canada's new #2 mainly by default anyway.

astimegoesby · Oct 14, 2007

slutskayafan21 said:
I remember what promise she looked to have when I first saw her at the 2004 Canadians. She brought the house down with a wonderful short program. I was so looking forward to seeing her develop and she hasnt anything like I hoped she would, but she has moved up and cemented herself Canada's new #2 mainly by default anyway.

I've been rewatching a lot of 2004 events lately, and Mira, Cynthia, and Canadian ladies' skating in general had sooo much potential back then. After Mira and Cynthia's SPs, Rod Black even said, "Is this Canadian Nationals or US Nationals?"

Since then, Cynthia's been plagued by injuries/growth spurts, Mira hasn't progressed nearly as much as she needs to be a serious international contender, and there don't seem to be as many up-and-coming Canadian ladies as there were in 2004.

rain said:
ITA. That's the problem with Leung. She burst onto the scene with much promise (and quite a bit of hype) and has not lived up to it.

Whatever else people say about Mira, no one can deny she's a hard worker and a strong competitor, for the most part. Mira's 2007 Worlds LP is the only time I remember seeing Mira really melt down in competition.

It's just frustrating that Mira doesn't seem to have put as much hard work into fixing her skating technique and developing her artistry. Maybe Mira could still fix these things and maybe she can't, but the most frustrating thing is she (or her mom) haven't really seemed to try...and Mira's competed long enough at this level to at least know what she needs to do to take her skating to the next level.

If coming in last at Worlds last year didn't motivate Mira into improving her skating, I don't know what will...but I hope at least she has improved!

Mira Leung article - she is ready for the new season!

Taan

slutskayafan21

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