2010 Olympic Preview to Ladies Figure Skating | Page 4 | Golden Skate

2010 Olympic Preview to Ladies Figure Skating

Justafan

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 18, 2005
The only way Rachael Flatt wins a medal is if the other skaters implode. They would have to have very bad skates for her to have a chance. She needs to work on her presentation, posture, spiral...........

Anything is possible at the Olympics....how many world class skaters don't have Olympic Gold for example? You just never know how nerves, distractions etc. will affect someone's performance. Just as you never know how those same factions might spur someone to have the skate of their life.
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2006
Re: Rachael's return to the US before the competition, I now see that Mirai is doing the same thing, giving the unavailability of ice time as the reason. So, apologies to Rachael for calling it a weird decision.
Nagasu will go back to Los Angeles on Sunday because there is little practice ice available here for the women until the end of this week. She returns to Vancouver on Friday.
http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-olympics-nagasu14-2010feb14,0,7391866.story
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Rachel's chance for a gold medal is pretty slim because she has more things going against her than for her. First, it is not really correct to compare her with the other upsets of past years. Tara was reigning world champion, so her upset over Michelle wasn't shocking considering that she beat Michelle a few times before. Sarah's upset was surprising but she was the 3rd ranked skater going to the Olympics and she just needed Irina and Michelle to falter, which they both did fortunatley for her. The similar case was for Arakawa who was expected to take home bronze. Unfortuantely for Rachel, the ladies' field is especially deep and there are too many strong contenders vying for medals. I think the sparkle of hope at Skate America is a bit misleading because not all of the top contenders were at that competition. At the Olympics, if Yuna faltered then some of the other contenders may take the lead not giving Rachel that chance again. If Rachel manages to medal, then I believe we'll be looking at a bigger splatfest than last Olympics because the odds against her are just too great.
 

sidwich

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2010
Re: Rachael's return to the US before the competition, I now see that Mirai is doing the same thing, giving the unavailability of ice time as the reason. So, apologies to Rachael for calling it a weird decision.

I think this has always been common with the Ladies event at the Olympics. It's just so late in the Olympic schedule that most of the Ladies either go home or (if home is too far) find closer training facilities to camp out and train in peace for the week. In one of the funnier instances, part of why there are so many pictures of Michelle Kwan training at SLC in 2002 is because all the other ladies went home in the interim period. Kwan had also planned to go back to Southern California to train, but instead found herself with the practice ice all to herself so she stayed.
 

UM84

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
I think the ladies comp is more open then people think. All of the ladies are going to be under the pressure of keep with Yuna, and will attempt stuff they normally wouldn't. They only way this would change is if Yuna goes very early and doesn't get really high scores
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
I think the ladies comp is more open then people think. All of the ladies are going to be under the pressure of keep with Yuna, and will attempt stuff they normally wouldn't. They only way this would change is if Yuna goes very early and doesn't get really high scores

From what I saw in pairs, it seems the judges are going to keep the scores fairly close in order to make the competition to be decided in the LP. The only lady who may attempt more is Miki with her changed layout. Rochette will try to be as clean as possible and Mao is keeping her layout.
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Anyone know if the Japanese Ladies are in Vancouver? Was YuNa at the Opening Ceremony?
 

Chloe JH

Spectator
Joined
Feb 3, 2010
Yuna is still in Vancouver. She'll be arrive at Vancouver this Friday.
I heard Mao has a jinx of having good result if she trains in Japan before competition and enters competition country in a hurry. So Mao will stay in Japan until this Friday even though there's nearly 17 hours time difference between Nagoya and Vancouver.
 

chiocciola

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I think it's evident
YuNa, Mao, Miki, Akiko - whoever's cleaner, but definately Yuna and canadians are going to be overscored.

I love Mao - I think she'd the most gifted lady I've ever seen but it's not only a matter of talent, but more of selfconfidence.
 

SXTN

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 5, 2008
yuna will win a medal ---> definetely.. the only question is what colour it will be..... i think it will be gold... she has learned her lesson the last two competitions where she struggled a bit and now she has had two months to prepare .. she's a strong competitor...

she only needs a strong short ( which should not be a big deal), going into the free with a 5-10 point lead and then rely on her pcs which will be at least 5 points higher than for the other ladies...

i really believe it's almost impossible for her not to take home the gold medal.... all the other ladies just don't have the consistency and stamina to battle her ( hit me if i'm wrong)... and those who have ( akiko, rachael) don't have the reputation to be really counted in ( reflected in rather low pcs)...

I'd say:

1st yuna
2nd mao, joannie, miki or whoever
3rd suprise finish ( like kostner finally landing 4-5 triple jumps cleanly or rachael maybe)
 

ryoko

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 16, 2010
I think it's evident
YuNa, Mao, Miki, Akiko - whoever's cleaner, but definately Yuna and canadians are going to be overscored.

I love Mao - I think she'd the most gifted lady I've ever seen but it's not only a matter of talent, but more of selfconfidence.

Yeah, I can definately see where your logic comes from. :laugh:
Praise mao all you want- leave kim ALONE.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
yuna will win a medal ---> definetely.. the only question is what colour it will be..... i think it will be gold... she has learned her lesson the last two competitions where she struggled a bit and now she has had two months to prepare .. she's a strong competitor...

she only needs a strong short ( which should not be a big deal), going into the free with a 5-10 point lead and then rely on her pcs which will be at least 5 points higher than for the other ladies...

i really believe it's almost impossible for her not to take home the gold medal.... all the other ladies just don't have the consistency and stamina to battle her ( hit me if i'm wrong)... and those who have ( akiko, rachael) don't have the reputation to be really counted in ( reflected in rather low pcs)...

I'd say:



1st yuna
2nd mao, joannie, miki or whoever
3rd suprise finish ( like kostner finally landing 4-5 triple jumps cleanly or rachael maybe)

Um Miki and Yuna's PCS was almost the same at the GPF and Joannie's PCS is usually not that far behind, so it's not a given that Yuna will score at least 5 points higher than everyone. Also, from the GPF results, I feel the judges will not want to widen the gap too much based on the SP. And you saw that in the pairs even when Shen/Zhao were the obvious favorite.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
The only way Yuna won't have a big margin after the SP is if Mao has her 3a-2t ratified and Miki does 3lz-3lo and has that ratified, and both those are big ifs. Yuna will be one of a handful of ladies to do a 3-3 in the SP and that boosts her TES by about 5 points (base value and GOE) and THAT is where she will build up the margin. Yuna's PCS are high but not so much above the other ladies, her huge scores come from her GOE mostly. A 3lz-3t by Yuna is good for about 12 points (10 points base value and +2 GOE), whereas the ladies doing 3lz-2t will get between 5 (if given and edge call) and say 9 (if given +1.7 GOE and great). Mao's SP is do or die because a 3a<-2t is worth 4.8 points and won't get good GOEs because it's downgraded. Carolina with a 3f-3t though could be close to Yuna's score though, and if Mirai tries a 3-3 and gets it ratified she could get a high score too (judging from what she got at CoC with a 3lz-2t). Rachael and Akiko will be kept down in the SP and will do better in the LP and pull up. If Mao has her 3a UR, Miki doesn't do the 3-3, Joannie makes typical SP mistakes, and Carolina has shaky jumps, Yuna has the gold medal in the bag.
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
The only way Yuna won't have a big margin after the SP is if Mao has her 3a-2t ratified and Miki does 3lz-3lo and has that ratified, and both those are big ifs. Yuna will be one of a handful of ladies to do a 3-3 in the SP and that boosts her TES by about 5 points (base value and GOE) and THAT is where she will build up the margin. Yuna's PCS are high but not so much above the other ladies, her huge scores come from her GOE mostly. A 3lz-3t by Yuna is good for about 12 points (10 points base value and +2 GOE), whereas the ladies doing 3lz-2t will get between 5 (if given and edge call) and say 9 (if given +1.7 GOE and great). Mao's SP is do or die because a 3a<-2t is worth 4.8 points and won't get good GOEs because it's downgraded. Carolina with a 3f-3t though could be close to Yuna's score though, and if Mirai tries a 3-3 and gets it ratified she could get a high score too (judging from what she got at CoC with a 3lz-2t). Rachael and Akiko will be kept down in the SP and will do better in the LP and pull up. If Mao has her 3a UR, Miki doesn't do the 3-3, Joannie makes typical SP mistakes, and Carolina has shaky jumps, Yuna has the gold medal in the bag.

How will Joannie measure up if she skates a clean SP with some hometown boost? I think Miki has to try the 3-3 or else she won't have a chance at the gold.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
How will Joannie measure up if she skates a clean SP with some hometown boost? I think Miki has to try the 3-3 or else she won't have a chance at the gold.

If Joannie is CLEAN, she will be up there. 65-70 I'd guess. But she tends to make mistakes in the SP, so it will all depend. Miki got a 66+ at the GPF with a 3-2 and a level 1 layback so if Mao, Joannie, and Carolina have glitches in the SP she will still be in the medal hunt without the 3-3 i'd guess, she is a stronger LP skater as well.
 

wonderlen3000

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 8, 2008
IS the skating order for the ladies SP drawn yet??? I'm curious to know who will be in what group. Do they go by the world ranking or the ranking from the world championship last year???
 
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