Championship Ladies FS

Yay for Mirai

silverlake22 said:

If her 2a-3t isn't getting ratified she should just turn that into a 3t-2a sequence as it will get her the same amount of points and shouldn't get DGed as easily.

Click to expand...

Not the same amount of points. 2A-3T is a combo and 3T-2A is a sequence. Sequences only get 80%.

janetfan said:

It's official - it will be Rachael and Mirai for the Olympic team

Click to expand...

Yaaaaaaaaaay!! Although sad for Sasha and very sad for Ashley.

janetfan said:

It's official - it will be Rachael and Mirai for the Olympic team

Click to expand...

Awesome. ALWAYS knew it would be the top 2 no matter what. There were still some people saying in other forums, oh they'll let Sasha go anway or Ashley should go, she made the GP final. But I never believed the federation would do something like that, and I'm glad they didn't.

So happy for Mirai!! you go girl!

Umm...Rachael is robotic. Hey, not taking away from her 483920482 AP classes. Good for her on that. But skating is skating, and her skating is robotic and lacking of beautiful lines/posture/positions whatsoever. Its like saying Caroline is flexible.

I love how the us made a big deal about how they weren't going to just select the team by order. At the end of it all they do. hahaha.

I seem to agree mostly with R.D. (former Red Dog).

First of all congratulations to Rachael Flatt for winning her first US nationals. Her SP was indeed special and with great character and guts with a 3-3. While I admit that the LP was not up to the ethereal Rachmaninoff it was skated to, it was well choreographed and of high technical quality. She is like Pluschenko with the spins--not necessarily pretty compared to others but able to work COP to get the levels. As her 5th place from last year's world and close loss to Yu-Na in Skate Canada show, she is formidable and brings a welcome bit of stability to the Olympic team.

Mirai quickly dispelled the not-another-Carmen feeling with a wonderful performance that was admittedly more engaging than Flatt. However, the technical caller was rightly strict today (see the protocols, LP finishers 6-12 all have downgrades as well), but it is encouraging to she her improve her URs. I don't know if she can fix these more before Vancouver, but I have high hopes for the future. On the other hand, if URs remain, she will be the next Yukari Ota.

I enjoy Wagner's fire and willingness to go for it technically, but her moves always seem unfinished to me. Too bad she apparently did not want to be considered for 4CC.

Sasha. Sigh. Always a SP skater to start, the long layoff certainly did not help in developing the stamina necessary to successfully complete a LP. All but one of her jumping passes had negative GOE, and she appeared slow on the spins. Perhaps the calmness she displayed all night long was more like resignation to this happening. Kudos for the attempt though.

Gao certainly appears to have a good foundation, but ran out of steam at the end. That can be fixed, but I hope she develops some presentation skills.

All in all as good a ladies' competition as could be expected. Bring on Vancouver.

Still awaiting the patriarchal pair of Mathman and Joesitz to weigh in. Also, did Nadine end up going to Spokane?

insecureedge

daisies said:

Not the same amount of points. 2A-3T is a combo and 3T-2A is a sequence. Sequences only get 80%.

Click to expand...

Are you sure about that??

As strong a team as we could hope for. Too bad there isn't a 3rd spot for Ashley, though.

miki88 said:

I think this event definitely shows that CoP is confusing and does not always yield fairer results! Under 6.0, Flatt would not have won over Mirai! :no:

Click to expand...

My twin 14 year old nephews who are NOT figure skating fans (they're more into Shaun White) for the first time watched the entire event with me because this is the first time they've watched an Olympic Trials before. They are completely confused and they do not understand why Mirai did not win.

One of them said 'the blond girl' (Rachael) 'she looks clunky out there-she jumps but it's like she can't dance or skate smooth like Sasha or Mirai.' They both (naturally) think Sasha is 'beautiful' 'gorgeous like a movie star', 'she looks younger than some of them', 'she looks like a ballerina but she can't jump.' 'she did great the other night but looks too weak to jump in this longer one', 'Too bad'.

They both have known Sasha these past 4 years 'from Shaun. He liked her'. Both knew who Michelle Kwan was too. 'From the Olympics-like Sasha'.

They both think Ashley should be ahead of Rachael because 'she moves better, looks prettier skating than 'the blond girl'. They both think 'Mirai could skate, dance, and jump better than anyone else. 'She was the best one-she should have won'.

This from two kids who have never before watched an eligible skating event in their lives. As perhaps some other potential fans who may have wandered onto NBC and stayed on to watch. :

Sasha Cohen the Rock Star has left the building.

And we have AT LEAST two young, confused would-be fans who don't have the first clue why one skater beat a clearly superior one. Sigh. :disapp:

R.D. said:

I can't believe what people are saying about Flatt. Damn, I really hope she just goes out and knocks 'em dead at Olys. And who knows...if the stars are aligned that night...just MAYBE a dark horse for the bronze medal???

Click to expand...

Well, maybe now you can understand why it was irritating that some people were so rude about Sasha.

rallycairn said:

Tell me. We sure do like to eat our own in the U.S., don't we? Rachael is definitely a COP skater, and she knows how to skate within the system. With some exceptions such as PCS scoring being too consistent within skaters and used kind of like the old artistic mark, and things like very big names getting UR's not called, COP is a check-off-your-boxes, count-your-rotations type of system. Weir called it like mathematics instead of skating, Sasha mentioned not liking that aspect of the SP herself just yesterday. There's not a score for "it" or "wow." Rachael checks off her boxes. They may not be the same boxes as skaters who don't have the jumps but do have the spirals or the spins or whatever, but she checks enough of them and she's the winner.

She got 5th at Worlds last year, the best performance by a U.S. lady in a couple of seasons. No reason to expect it will be too much different this year; in fact, with the U.S. title she may be even more confident than ever, plus she's continued to improve each season. She actually finished ahead of Mao in the freeskate at that one GP event -- have any of our other ladies beaten one of the big guns like Mao or Yu Na in any phase of any competition? I don't think so, if so please do let me know if I'm misremembering. Anyway, I think we have every reason to believe she'll represent the U.S. respectably if not dazzlingly at Olys/Worlds. And that may be all we can hope for at this time.

All the poor girl's done is skate solidly for 3 years running ...

Click to expand...

Yes, you are misremembering. Alissa AND Ashley beat Mao in the SP at Rostelecom Cup of Russia. They also beat Mao in the LP at the same GP.

Agnes Z.

This girl is going to be a STAR. Her scores would have given her fourth place in the free skate and fifth overall. Wait until next year...she could certainly be a factor.

cornell08 said:

In an ideal world the team would be Mirai,Ashley and Alissa-- with Sasha, Caroline, Bebe as alternates.

But at least Mirai gets to go. I love you ladies! And Gao and Dobbs, they are adorable.

Click to expand...

Really, cornell, you wouldn't even put Flatt, who again finished 5th at last year's Worlds, as an alternate? Liang before Flatt, you truly think Flatt should place that low? I mean, Bebe has some good qualities and I like her skating, but has she ever had results like Flatt, or at least has she had them recently? Poor Rachael should just hang up her skates, if she should never have placed above 9th or so at US Nats.

Don't mean to get personal here, cornell, but c'mon -- Flatt's so bad she shouldn't even be an alternate?

In my ideal world, truly, Flatt and Nagasu go. Oh, wait, they are!

PS Thanks, Phoenix!

cornell08 said:

Umm...Rachael is robotic. Hey, not taking away from her 483920482 AP classes. Good for her on that. But skating is skating, and her skating is robotic and lacking of beautiful lines/posture/positions whatsoever. Its like saying Caroline is flexible.

Click to expand...

Wrong. Saying Caroline is flexible is a fact, saying Rachael is robotic is an opinion. No matter how many people agree with you it's still just your opinion. Believe it or not, there are people (myself included) who disagree.

rallycairn said:

Tell me. We sure do like to eat our own in the U.S., don't we? .....

She [Rachael] got 5th at Worlds last year, the best performance by a U.S. lady in a couple of seasons. ....Anyway, I think we have every reason to believe she'll represent the U.S. respectably if not dazzlingly at Olys/Worlds. And that may be all we can hope for at this time.

All the poor girl's done is skate solidly for 3 years running ...

Click to expand...

ITA.

insecureedge

AHAHAAHAHAHAHAHA

MIRAI JUST SAID (paraphrased) "Im looking forward to getting alot of free stuff....cuz asians are cheap and like getting free stuff"

basically

<3 her. Such a charming character.

rallycairn said:

Really, cornell, you wouldn't even put Flatt, who again finished 5th at last year's Worlds, as an alternate? Liang before Flatt, you truly think Flatt should place that low? I mean, Bebe has some good qualities and I like her skating, but has she ever had results like Flatt, or at least has she had them recently? Poor Rachael should just hang up her skates, if she should never have placed above 9th or so at US Nats.

Click to expand...

Everyone's ideal skaters are different, yo. Just because Flatt is your ideal skater doesn't mean it has to be hers/his.

janetfan said:

I loved Christina tonight and was watching with friends who are not into skating. There favorites were Mirai and Christina

Click to expand...

Actually me, too. The friend I watched with actually skated growing up but she has not been an avid watcher lately til I got her into it this season. (I had to explain to her who Kim Yuna is.) She was also most impressed with Mirai and Christina. Ashley, too.
It's true that Christina could use a little more polish but that will surely come. I was very, very impressed and I'm glad U.S. skating has her. Someone said she was like the young versions of Michelle and Mirai. I agree. Only I think that's a compliment and I think she could make the same improvements on presentations that Michelle and Mirai did.