Championship Ladies FS

[Phoenix347]

Seriously, why ppl here kept saying Rachael beated Yuna in LP portion, Mirai was first in SP at skate canada,or Alissa beated mao in SP, blah blah, it is the overall competition that counts that's why they have both SP and LP. You can't be do switch off the previous day , comback suddenly turn on and then think you are capable of winning against Mao and Yuna?
Let Rachael and Mirai prved in international scene they cold deliver both SP and LP and actually finla BEAT the great Asian skaters that's how you called "Beat".

Ashley and Alissa did beat Mao overall at 2009 Rostelecom Cup of Russia. Admittedly, it was one of Mao's worst performance in years (150.28 points.) However, it will be hard for Flatt and Nagasu to beat Yuna and Mao at the Olympics. They'll also find it hard to beat Ando and Rochette there, too. Flatt will have problems with PCS and Mirai will problems with UR calls and PCS. Even Lepisto and Kostner will be a challenge for them.

[bekalc]

I couldn't agree more.

Let me tell you, as Rachael skated, the audience got more and more excited and we rose as one when she had finished and let out a huge cheer!

The audience loved Mirai too, but was content with Rachael's win.

Just because we want Mirai to fully rotate her jumps doesn't mean she will. What looks good to us is not the criteria. If the USFS tech team spotted Mirai's URs, then the ISU judges will ding her for them too (as they have done in both Mirai's GP events). That is something that Mirai must work on to take full advantage of her excellent spins, spirals and expressiveness.

Exactly. I'm tired of hearing how unfair it is that Mirai gets the scores she gets. Mirai has issues with her jumps. These issues need to be fixed and dealt with. It takes a lot of work to master doing clean triple jumps. And its also harder to land a clean triple jump. The skaters who land clean triples deserve to be rewarded for them. Period...

And as for the spectator sport about skating, I think that there are currently skaters who combine the technical and the artistic aspects of this sport really well Yu-na, Mao, Rochette, even Ando has spectacular jumps that can make you go wow!

I think its a good thing that the USFSA judges are finally cracking down on the UTRs. This will ensure that the coaches start teaching their young skaters how to jump correctly, even if it means a little more time. Look at the difference right now between Christina Gao and Caroline Zhang. There is only a one year difference... The US commentators said it really well about how Gao was hardly looking like the USA's next big hope at 13 ala Zhang. But she's clearly being regarded as that as now. Whereas Zhang is clearly going downhill. The difference between the two, Gao clearly had coaches and not just Orser who taught her how to jump correctly. It probably took her a little more time to develop this excellent technique but now that its there she can likely have a longer career.

[Moxie]

You know, Sasha may have had a messy LP but I'm still really glad she came back for one last competitive hurrah. My opinion of her even improved because it couldn't have been easy to come back knowing you weren't consistent even in your prime. And she handled herself very well in that interview w/ that awful Andrea Joyce.

How sweet are Sasha and Mr. Nicks?? But I think he drilled it in her head too much that she needed to stay on her feet -- at the detriment of her performance. She was nowhere close to her usually dazzling self.

[bekalc]

Originally Posted by Mathman
I think the problem is that most people who saw the competition thought that Mirai skated circles around Rachael.

And that really is the problem. When I go to a hockey game I don't know the blue line from the rings of Saturn, but I know what a goal is and I know that if you score more of them than the other guy then you win.

Yes, the skaters, federation officials, technical callers and the like know all about levels and deductions. But by the same token you can';t blame the first-time audience member or television viewer who just shrugs and says, that was baloney, I'll never watch that sport again.

Or maybe what was "baloney" was Scott and Sandra not talking about Mirai's history of underrotating her jumps from the beginning. I think that most first time watchers would actually agree that its important that the jumps be rotated... That it wouldn't be fair for someone to get full credit for a glorified double. When I was watching I was sitting there telling my mom I don't know what Mirai's scores are going to be like, she tends to underrotate her jumps. So Mom wasn't up in arms when Rachael won.

[Mathman]

^ Well, we can't settle this question on a message board. Instead, people will vote with their remotes. We'll see what happens.

[rtureck]

That is not the case.


Mirai got an edge call on her lutz in combo, and got downgraded on her 2A+3T, her solo 3Z and her solo 3T. Kirby commented during her skate that a review would be made on several of her jumps. BTW, Mirai has had a UR problem dating back to the year she made her debut on the JGP.

I totally agree, and I am a huge Mirai fan. I hope she has time to fix her problem before the olys.

Kirby had mentioned the wrong edge and two-foot on Sasha's 3Z+2T in the SP, but the official caller chose to ignore Sasha's flutz at that time.

LOL, I am not surprise tht the official caller chose to ignore Cohen's flutz. A Cohen comeback placing second in the sp is good for media attention,

Rachael Flatt has to be respected for her superior technical skills, nerves of steel and incredible consistency.

And guess who is her skating idol.

She has worked hard over the past three years and has corrected her flutz as well as concentrating on other areas that need improvement, including speed and spins. Maybe her spins aren't top-level, but they are miles better than they were two years ago.

I like to see her improve on her speed for olys

[ks777]

I finally got to watch Rachel and Mirai's FP. I fell asleep twice during Rachel's. I thought her 3-3 looked underrotated.

As for Mirai, she was great but her last jump was underrotated. I couldn't tell if other jumps were underrotated or not. All I can say is that her landing has gotten so much better!!

[Phoenix347]

And guess who is her skating idol.

Who is her skating idol?

[aftertherain]

Who is her skating idol?

That's what I wanted to know...

[kandidy]

[QUOTE=ks777;457716]I finally got to watch Rachel and Mirai's FP. I fell asleep twice during Rachel's. I thought her 3-3 looked underrotated.
[QUOTE]

At last someone thinks like me.

[bigsisjiejie]

Well, I just had my first chance to watch the LPs from the delayed west coast feeds. With benefit of already knowing the results and where the downgrades and edge calls were, I tried to focus on Mirai's jumps to see what I could see (no slo mo opportunity yet tho).
--looks like the ! call on the first lutz combo was correct
--second combo, 2A + 3T, 3T looked clearly underrotated to me in real time
--3Z #2 that was downgraded, I couldn't see the underrotate
--final 3T looked really close, I thought landing only slightly short of rotation but still within the allowance...tech caller must have seen more.

[Layfan]

NBC didn't show the jumps in slo-mo though. I was just a bit surprised at the result but I guess I'm not up in arms about it because I don't really have evidence that shows that the result should have been otherwise.

That pretty much sums up the way I feel. I thought Mirai had won but when she didn't and it turned out her jumps were under rotated, I thought okay, I can see it even though I'm not convinced. Maybe the point difference between them shouldn't have been so vast, I dunno. Still, judging from all the remarks on this forum Flatt is not a skater who excites a lot of people. She needs to work on that. But Mirai needs to work on her jumps. Whatever, they both skated great and it's awesome they made the team. Also, Mirai doesn't seem at all unhappy with the result so I guess she understands why she was in second.

[inside edge]

Maybe some of you don't like Rachael Flatt's spins and spirals, but she got L4 on three of her four spins, L3 on the other, and L3 on her footwork. The only negative GOE she got was on her 3F+3T---which Kirby said was rotated but had a stepout (hence the -0.71 GOE). All of her other jumps and her spins and footwork got +GOE. She received no edge calls. Kirby made no negative comments other than on the 3/3.

Ashley got an edge call on her lutz and -GOE on two of her jumps. Kirby mentioned the wrong edge on the lutz and commented on those jump landings.

Mirai got an edge call on her lutz in combo, and got downgraded on her 2A+3T, her solo 3Z and her solo 3T. Kirby commented during her skate that a review would be made on several of her jumps. BTW, Mirai has had a UR problem dating back to the year she made her debut on the JGP.

As much as the audience loved Mirai's performance, there was great cheering when her scores were announced and Rachael had won (and by a large margin). I like Mirai's skating too, but she MUST rotate all her jumps. ISU judges have been very tough on Mirai for her URs, so USFS tech teams have an obligation to be as accurate as possible, or else it would be unfair to the other competitors who ARE rotating their jumps.

Sasha was just a mess, and her lack of training showed. She just didn't have the muscle memory or the stamina to get through a 4-minute program with spins and footwork. That isn't surprising considering the fact that Sasha has really had only a few weeks' practice on 3Z, 3F and 3L. She also had a flutz and 2-foot problem even in her best years, and that hasn't been corrected. Kirby had mentioned the wrong edge and two-foot on Sasha's 3Z+2T in the SP, but the official caller chose to ignore Sasha's flutz at that time. In the FS, Sasha did get an edge call on her opening lutz (and the 2T was again two-footed). Sasha received -GOE on every jump, and Kirby noted that each one was a bit off and would be reviewed. She also received only L1 on her step sequence because she didn't do enough turns. Sasha didn't even get her usual very high +GOE on her spins. In the past, she usually got all 2s and 3s, but here the GOE was mostly 1s with a few 2s and 0s, probably because Sasha lacked energy and speed. When you look at her protocol, it's amazing that she scored as high as she did.

thanks!!!

[carolinefan177]

It's the PCS score that mostly puzzles me (and I think that deserves to be contested). I'm happy with the results of the competition, a little surprised at the weirdness of the technical caller (the fact that he didn't catch Sasha's wrong edge take off in the sp...Also, contrary to what some people are saying, the triple toe on the back end of Flatt's combo looked about as close to rotation as any of Mirai's UR jumps), stunned at Rachael's FS score, but, in the end, I think we have a decent team.

It's funny that we all are making such a big deal out of it though; Mirai seems pretty happy.

[Nadine]

Well, I've been gone all day (no, lol, didn't make it to Nationals), and came back this evening just in time for the Ladies Final at 9PM PST.

I noticed my predictions yesterday were right except for 1-2 were switched, and I can see why, though Mirai Nagasu IMHO deserved 1st place, the judges finally gave it to Rachael Flatt this time (after two 2nd place finishes these past two years despite Rach being the most consistent & being the highest place finisher at Worlds). Seems like they want to send her to the Olympics with as much support as possible, which should work wonders on her confidence level -- it'll go from very good to astronomical!

The Final was, once again, mediocre IMHO. I wanted everybody to skate their best and may the best one win. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. But cheers to 1-2, and also 3-4.

Lol, now I'm not so bummed about not getting Nationals tickets, instead my mind is on Olympic Mens Final tickets!