Ladies' LP | Page 74 | Golden Skate

Ladies' LP

guybrush

Spectator
Joined
Feb 26, 2010
Congratulations to Yu-na !

Mao...in fact, the silver medal is for Joannie not for you... Mao, you're a jump cheater...You just don't deserve it.

Even Ando was way better. Mao, you're such a cheat.
 

breeze

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 22, 2010
I have a hard time believing that Yu Na got anything less than a standing, roaring ovation after that perfect skate. The Canadian audiences know what they're looking at. They know the technical achievement she did, and perhaps more importantly, the mental one in overcoming the intense pressure on her. She could've skated to Ke$ha reciting the phonebook and they would've given her a standing ovation.

But I agree with your assessment of her program. It's actually my favorite competitive program of all the ladies this season. It's serene, joyful and yet has a sense of fun and flirtation (though the last two surely comes from Yu Na herself). I love the little bit of footwork sequence with the 3salchow sandwiched seamlessly in. She just floats across the ice like a watercolor brush to the peaceful yet delirious music. And yes, the music is peaceful, but it is by no means bland, it's got dynamics and rhythmic variations and color, all of which the choreography interprets beautifully. It's a very sophisticated work of art and a delightful contrast to her raucous, crowd-pleasing short program.

I'm so with you. I was so worried at first at her unusual choice of music - especially after the rousing Scheherazade of the previous season - and even after I watched it for the first time at TEB I was still feeling unsure, but then I realized that it was simply the most INTERESTING program I'd ever watched. I began to appreciate the transitions, the flow, the capricious changes in mood, the fun and the intensity. The music is extremely unpredictable - David Wilson talked about how difficult it was to edit Gershwin - and that in itself made skating to it such a challenge. There is no single way to pin down this program, it's simultaneously coy, sophisticated, even humorous. I'm both awed and thrilled that Yuna's Olympic season program was this one.


DesertRoad, I was replying to someone who didn't like Yuna's program for lack of fire. Sorry there were so many new pages so I didn't go back to quote it.
Thank you guys both for elaborating what I felt about her program much better than I did. :)
Glad you mentioned the Salchow between the footworks because from that part to the second 3Lutz is my favorite portion of the program. Not that other moments of the program is any less charming, but I think it showcases her versatility very well in a minute's matter of time.
 
Last edited:

Ren

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I really liked Mirai today too, but let's not hand out gold medal for Sochi just yet, that's just not fair to Vancouver that has just given us one of the greatest Olympics ever when it comes to ladies' figure skating :) Moreover, 4 years is a long time... nobody would have had Yuna beat Mao handily if they took a survey four years ago in Torino. I really do like some of the young skaters we saw today, and really hope they all realize their potentials.

I agree. She seems very, very promising, but 4 years is a long time and anything could happen. She has a good guide in her coach, and she has made a very good beginning. Should she endure till Sochi, though... I wonder if she will be affected by association? (i.e. training mate of "gold-stealing, un-manly skating" Lysacek and his eevil coach Frank) :D Sorry, just kidding. 'Mirai' will certainly be someone to look forward to in the 'future'. :)
 
M

mylastduchess

Guest
Congratulations to Yu-na !

Mao...in fact, the silver medal is for Joannie not for you... Mao, you're a jump cheater...You just don't deserve it.

Even Ando was way better. Mao, you're such a cheat.

O.K. here comes the idiots
 

bladesoflori

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 19, 2010
Did anyone see the medals ceremony? It was very surreal to see all three women crying for three different reasons. I enjoyed so many great programs tonight, I think this was the cleanest Olys ever! Felt bad for Mao- she looked heartbroken. She should be very proud though. She made history too!
 

bmelanie

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 16, 2008
Congratulations to Yu-na !

Mao...in fact, the silver medal is for Joannie not for you... Mao, you're a jump cheater...You just don't deserve it.

Even Ando was way better. Mao, you're such a cheat.

Oh shut up, any other Olympics and the gold would have been Mao's. She wrote history tonight with her program and I can't wait to see where she'll go from here.
 

Jasper

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 29, 2005
Actually Kim would have scored 266.08 if she skated in 2006 lol They had qualifying round which gave skaters extra 20-40 points. Mao would have scored 238.43 and Joannie 235.46. And Kimmie Meissner actually scored 218.33 at the 2006 Worlds!

The qualifying round is your free skate score factorised by 0.25... It's gone now!

Kimmie would have came 9th with her score in 2006 behind Laura Lepisto at this Olympic games!!:agree:

Well said. And this doesn't even mention that Kimmie excelled in an era of less particular judging. Her 3-3s were *always* cheated. Once the judges got tough, she didn't last. So her winning performance at 2006 Worlds doesn't hold up if we look at it under a microscope - those 3-3s would not have been ratified last season or this season or tonight. It certainly was the best performance that night in that event, but then again her biggest jumping competition came from Suguri and Sokolova. Thankfully for us, the international field is much deeper in 2010.
 

jsteam4501s

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 7, 2006
Tweaked? You say Tweaked? Did anyone with ISU or IOC actually hold a press conference and officially announce that the "Pre-Tweak scores do not count" ?

Also, Aftertherain, I have a life, and I was not addressing that remark to YOU, but to the officials and the announcers who think that a mere "tweak" is enough of a change to justify calling the pre-tweak scores meaningless, or rendering them meaningless in the official records of Figure Skating.
 

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Kim Yuna deserved to win, but why is that 228 total hyped as the world record? Kimmie Meissner scored 236 when she won 2006 Worlds. Stop calling Kim's 228 the world record!! It's Kimmie Meissner's 236 at 2006 Worlds! Get a Life! Grrrrrrrrrrrrhhhhhh!
Actually Kim would have scored 266.08 if she skated in 2006 lol They had qualifying round which gave skaters extra 20-40 points. Mao would have scored 238.43 and Joannie 235.46. And Kimmie Meissner actually scored 218.33 at the 2006 Worlds!

The qualifying round is your free skate score factorised by 0.25... It's gone now!

Kimmie would have came 9th with her score in 2006 behind Laura Lepisto at this Olympic games!!:agree:

You hear that, jsteam4501s? That's the bell 'cause you just got schooled.
 

Morning Glory

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 16, 2008
Actually it went something like this:

Mao: I'm vexed.

Interviewer: Why are you vexed? What was the most vexing thing?

Mao: I made 2 mistakes.

Interviewer: Oh. Tell us about your triple toe. What happened?

Mao: (trying to compose herself again)

Don't you think that's just nasty? :-(

Ugh. What kind of idiot asks her "why are you vexed"?

Funny, maybe I've watched the same TV program with you, but had the different impression. I didn't have negative or blaming atmosphere. Didn't you hear Yukina Ota's comment cheering up Mao? But it's OK, each person has each impression.

Actually, an extra celebrating Mao's silver has issued. Of couse I know the gold is better, but I'm really proud of you, Mao-chan.
 

gold12345

Medalist
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
You hear that, jsteam4501s? That's the bell 'cause you just got schooled.

lol. Who even cares about the scoring? It was obvious everyone was overscored tonight, probably to make sure that the winning skate would break a world record, whether it deserved to or not.
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Tweaked? You say Tweaked? Did anyone with ISU or IOC actually hold a press conference and officially announce that the "Pre-Tweak scores do not count" ?

Also, Aftertherain, I have a life, and I was not addressing that remark to YOU, but to the officials and the announcers who think that a mere "tweak" is enough of a change to justify calling the pre-tweak scores meaningless, or rendering them meaningless in the official records of Figure Skating.

I also said the qualifiying rounds were taken out = tweak, but I wasn't clear about that.

Whoopsies.
 

aurora100

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op_2klX3Nfs

Mao's interview!! the description of that post in wrong... The interviewer isn't asking that kind of question!! Mao did say that she was very disappointed with her performance though... And that's why she's crying...

Translation:

Interviewer: What was your four minutes like?? ( FS )

Mao Asada: Well... It was really... Long but short at the same time...

Interviewer: Which part of the program did you feel that?

Mao starts crying... Trying to compose herself...

Mao Asada: It was four minutes... I was thinking too much and I thought it very was long... But if I look back it was finished so quickly...

Interviewer: Before your performance, you were listening to music... ( Almost crying... ) What was going on in your mind?

Mao Asada: But, I think I did what I was capable of.. But I'm still unhappy about the performance... But I did what I'm capable of...

Interviewer:You landed all of your triple axels at the Olympic stage and did you grain any confidence because of that?

Mao Asada: Yeah... I landed two of my triple axels so that went really well but because I made mistakes in the other parts, I'm not happy about it.

Interviewer: If you look back in to the last four years, I know you had many different stages, some difficult...l... If you return back home later , what will you be thinking about most?

Mao Asada: But, the performance it self, I wasn't happy about it and the triple axesl was the only good part of the program.

Mao Asada: Thank you very much.

It took me a while to translate it!!

Thanks for this. It's obvious she is unhappy about the performance, not the color of her medal. I wish she could have a coach like Orser and a choreographer like Wilson, who cares about her being happy as a skater and design a program that uniquely fits her style. Help her get all her triples back. And do a program she loves. Then she would be unbeatable. Hopefully if she comes back she will make all those changes. She deserves to be happy.
 

krln99

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 23, 2010
I think Dick Button is a little over the top at times, but I'm reminded what he said after the pairs and I think it's apropos in applying it to Mao in this case. Where you place doesn't matter, its just knowing that you did your best and leaving the ice with your head held high. She did not do her best and she knows it. If she skated cleanly, I think she would have been mildly disappointed at finishing 2nd, but not utterly despondent like she is now.
 

chloepoco

Medalist
Joined
Nov 1, 2009
The video of the interview with Mao was heartbreaking; she is really upset with herself for having two mistakes and is not satisfied with how she skated. Wouldn't it be wonderful if Brian Orser would talk to her, as he was in the same position many years ago, and he probably, more than anyone else, knows how she's feeling right now.
 

Ren

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I like what the woman on NBC commented on ladies free skate a few minutes ago (sorry don't know her name) - "There's only one winner, but there were a lot of victories." I find it especially true for the last group of skaters. They all showed what they could do. I am saddened to look Mao disappointed because she didn't have the perfect skate, but she also wrote history landing three 3 axles in an Olympic competition.

And regarding Yuna's performance not having the 'fire', which would stir up the audience toward the end, I think her free program was designed to have more flow like water streams than fire. This is more like her Lark Ascending than Scheherazade, you don't really know when is the climax, (there's no place in the program you can clap to the rhythm of the music) but you can't take your eyes off of her until you realize the program is almost over.

Oh, thank you for putting it so aptly. I must admit I wasn't totally convinced at first of her Gershwin LP, but that's probably because the first ever skate I've ever seen from her was her Worlds-winning Scheherazade. It was only lately that I realized that, like you said, the program isn't designed to rouse the audience into clapping (like at 2009 Worlds), but it was elegant, and I have learned to appreciate the flow out of Yu-Na's jumps in time with the music. Another side of Yu-na, unearthed by Orser and Wilson.

I loved what Sandra Bezic (that's most probably who the NBC commentator is) said about tonight's victories. I hope eventually Mao will come to see that what she has done is a HUGE accomplishment, too.
 
Last edited:

Marrymeyunakim

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 4, 2009
What an idiot reporter making Mao sad like that. Like it wasn't enough of her to bear the brunt of expectation she had from Japan in the first place.

My sincere congratulations to Mao. I know that the result wasn't what you wanted, but a silver medal at the Olympics is something that 99.9% of skaters can only dream about. Be proud of your achievements and move on from here. You can only grow.
 

Iscariot

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 18, 2009
Mao asada interview is painful to watch, for me she has the same wow factor as kim, and she has everything the only problem is that Yuna just polished herself and become perfect and Mao just went behind focusing only on the 3A, thanks to the technical rules, I so hope to see them again at 2014, but with the same Wow-Mao we had before Torino
 
Top