Great news for Mira Leung!

[passion]

I think that's great news working in her favour that she has returned to Lori Nichol for choreography and has sought the advice of Kurt Browning! I don't know Shin so I can't comment on that. Oh, to get the footwork advice from Kurt! That's really great! I hope she can put the past behind her and really improve on her footwork, edges, and really take to heart his comment to put more feeling into her skating. She even said herself how nice it was to get out of Vancouver and get fresh ideas. It' about time! I'm very happy that she is finally spreading her wings beyond Mama Leung's grasp. Good luck with her new coach, too! (I wonder why things didn't work out with Jennifer Jiang).

She is not competing in Grand Prix so does that mean she debuts her new long program at nationals in January only one month before the Olympics?

[Sylvia]

I think that's great news working in her favour that she has returned to Lori Nichol for choreography and has sought the advice of Kurt Browning! I don't know Shin so I can't comment on that. Oh, to get the footwork advice from Kurt! That's really great!

Here's the link to the Leung article you're referencing: http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/...142/story.html

She is not competing in Grand Prix so does that mean she debuts her new long program at nationals in January only one month before the Olympics?

From a June 1st article on Leung that mentions that she's on the GP alternate list: http://www.windsorstar.com/sports/20...632/story.html

“Mira’s on the alternate list this year so after the top 24, countries can select skaters who they’d want to have fill any additional spots,” Mike Slipchuk, Skate Canada’s high performance director, said Monday.

“We’ll have to wait and see what happens. If you can secure yourself in that top 24 it really helps you but if you’re below it’s really hard.”

Not having a Grand Prix assignment this season doesn’t make life easy for the 19-year-old Leung, but she’ll still be in the hunt for a 2010 Olympic team berth.

[PolymerBob]

Here in th U.S., our USFSA put out a bulletin last year that stated our national championship would not be the only factor that determined our Olympic team. Four ISU events would also be considered. I think Skate Canada is just your national championship. ( It took me a while to figure out what you guys meant when you wrote "Canadians". ) So Mira just has to impress there, and she's on the team.

[amateur]

Skate Canada uses *mainly* Nationals results to determine the team, though they don't stick to this 100%, sometimes for example having a skate-off at 4 Continents for second or third spot in a discipline. This is not too common for them though, and probably even less likely to happen in an Olympic season.

This season will be interesting to watch; one of my fondest memories from the last Olympic season was of watching young Mira qualify, not only having shown up to Nationals with a new LP, but also pretty much confidently smiling her way through the whole thing (while Canadian ladies skaters are usually notorious for their nerves). Will be interesting to see if Mira can summon back some of that spirit (...and will it be enough, or will Phaneuf easily trounce her this time around?), given the way things have developed since.

[nadster]

She is not competing in Grand Prix so does that mean she debuts her new long program at nationals in January only one month before the Olympics?

Mira did not medal at nationals last year so she does not get a bye to nationals solely on that basis.

If Mira gets a GP after withdrawals come into play, Mira gets a bye straight to nationals.

If Mira gets a senior B assignment, Mira will have to compete at the senior challenge but does not have to compete sectionals.

If Mira gets no international assignments, Mira would then have to do BC sectionals as well. There were more than 4 ladies at last year's BC sectionals ( top 4 go to challenge) , so very likely she will have to compete there. She can skip the competition if there are 4 or fewer entries for the BC section but would still have to do the challenge.

As far as summer competitions go, in the past Mira has either skipped summer competition altogether or only skated her short program in the BC summer skate. If she wants to get any international assignments, she must compete both her programs this summer.

[hrmsk8ngnutt]

That's wonderful Mira is working with other people. However, it only really counts if she puts it out on the ice. She needs to show improvement in her skating and her artistry. As others have stated, she will need to skate in summer competitions. If she does well, she may get an international assignment - probably not a Grand Prix event but something like Golden Spin or Karl Schaefer. I think it's a bid odd that she didn't mention who her new coach is. Is the coach based in Vancouver?

[coolboogie22]

It's a great new

I cannot wait to see what she can show us. I think that she may be part of the olympic team if she works hard enough this year.