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top 10 for Kwak?

Basics

On the Ice
Joined
Oct 8, 2009
According to an article, she injured her hip/back when she fell on triple Lutz in SP. you know, she's very tiny.

She said she fought through the LP with the pain. hope it's not that bad.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
According to an article, she injured her hip/back when she fell on triple Lutz in SP. you know, she's very tiny.

She said she fought through the LP with the pain. hope it's not that bad.

Aww, poor girl. I'm proud of her for not falling! I honestly think jetlag had a lot to do with it. I mean, she flew from Vancouver to Korea (maybe twice?) to Toronto to Italy over the course of like 3 weeks? That has got to be tough. At least now she can rest and heal and come back strong next season. I'm sure Orser can turn her into a rising star, I mean look what he's done with Christina! It's ok Min-Jung, almost everyone made a lot of mistakes here, your success at 4CC and the Olympics won't be forgotten! I'm not taking her results/scores here too seriously just like those of Mirai, it's been a long season. This was MJ's 8th competition!
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
So will Kwak go back to Canada now to train or will she take some time off in Korea first? Anyone know. I really hope her injury is not bad! Good for her for fighting through her 8th competition of the season, I really hope those URs she got in the LP were due to her fatigue and hip hurting and don't become a habit for her, I don't think she's been dinged with them before. Will she compete on the JGP or SGP next year, anyone know?
 

Figure88

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
I think at Worlds she was very tired. Based on how most people skated at this event, I think everyone was very tired and clearly it effected their skating. Worlds was kind of a splatfest. So while she didn't wow me here, I think she still has potential. I just think it might take her a little longer to become competitive, but I do think she has it in her. She had a bad competition here but that doesn't erase the promise she showed at 4CC and the Olympics. I tend to think Brian will do a good job with her. She's not likely to ever be a Yuna, but very few people can be an Olympic champion anyway. I look forward to seeing her next season and I'm trying not to take her results here too seriously, twice she scored about 55 points for her SP and over 100 points for her LP so I think that is really where she is at now, which is pretty good for someone who just turned 16.

From what I've seen of Kwak so far, I kind of agree - she doesn't really strike me as a skater with great potential. She's extremely awkward for a skater of her age -- compare her to Yuna at 16 or even Mirai. She also doesn't seem to have the competive spark in her eyes that you see in the very top skaters. I saw a documentary of her and another skater-- she's a very nice girl though.

It's really kind of depressing if you think about the current state of Korean figure skating. All the potential skating talent has been sapped into short track, which is really Korea's national sport. I did read an article that the number of registered figure skaters doubled from about 150-300 since Yuna's 2009 World's victory, so there is some hope that Korea can produce another Yuna soon, but in reality it probably won't happen by the next 10-20 years.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
From what I've seen of Kwak so far, I kind of agree - she doesn't really strike me as a skater with great potential. She's extremely awkward for a skater of her age -- compare her to Yuna at 16 or even Mirai. She also doesn't seem to have the competive spark in her eyes that you see in the very top skaters. I saw a documentary of her and another skater-- she's a very nice girl though.

It's really kind of depressing if you think about the current state of Korean figure skating. All the potential skating talent has been sapped into short track, which is really Korea's national sport. I did read an article that the number of registered figure skaters doubled from about 150-300 since Yuna's 2009 World's victory, so there is some hope that Korea can produce another Yuna soon, but in reality it probably won't happen by the next 10-20 years.

The reigning Korean national ladies champion is 12 years old so I'm not so sure about that, she has all her triples at age 12 so she may have quite a future ahead of her.

I don't know about Kwak, I like her skating but I feel like I'm in the minority. Yes, she is awkward but so are most 15 year old girls. She has the highest TES in the SP at 4CC this year too! I tend to think Orser wouldn't agree to be her coach if he did not think she had potential. I think we need to wait a couple more years for her to grow up and see how her skating develops before we can decide about her. I always have things for the underdogs though, not everyone is phenomenal at 16 but that doesn't mean they won't be great later, look at Joannie! At any rate, she is adorable and I hope to see her on the Grand Prix next season!

One other thing, when Orser talks about when Yuna came to him when she was 16, he mentions how she could do so much technically (3-3s, etc). Yuna was already a star when she started training with Orser, and through working with him she became an even bigger star. Where Kwak is a little awkward and not as technically strong as Yuna was at that age, if Orser can turn Kwak into a great skater it would be a very impressive accomplishment, showing just how great a coach he is. Yuna was the junior world champion when she came to Orser, it was no surprise that she became Olympic gold medalist 4 years later. I believe Orser is a great coach and if Kwak continues to improve in these coming years it will reinforce this idea even more. I always likea good underdog story.
 
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Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
The reigning Korean national ladies champion is 12 years old so I'm not so sure about that, she has all her triples at age 12 so she may have quite a future ahead of her.

I don't know about Kwak, I like her skating but I feel like I'm in the minority. Yes, she is awkward but so are most 15 year old girls. She has the highest TES in the SP at 4CC this year too! I tend to think Orser wouldn't agree to be her coach if he did not think she had potential. I think we need to wait a couple more years for her to grow up and see how her skating develops before we can decide about her. I always have things for the underdogs though, not everyone is phenomenal at 16 but that doesn't mean they won't be great later, look at Joannie! At any rate, she is adorable and I hope to see her on the Grand Prix next season!

One other thing, when Orser talks about when Yuna came to him when she was 16, he mentions how she could do so much technically (3-3s, etc). Yuna was already a star when she started training with Orser, and through working with him she became an even bigger star. Where Kwak is a little awkward and not as technically strong as Yuna was at that age, if Orser can turn Kwak into a great skater it would be a very impressive accomplishment, showing just how great a coach he is. Yuna was the junior world champion when she came to Orser, it was no surprise that she became Olympic gold medalist 4 years later. I believe Orser is a great coach and if Kwak continues to improve in these coming years it will reinforce this idea even more. I always likea good underdog story.

I just rewatched Kwak's short program from Worlds again this afternoon and in hindsight, while it was not the best of programs, it was a program of a good skater who had a bad day as opposed to a OK or not so good skater who couldn't do much more. Her spins and spirals were solid and she was smart enough to add the 2T to the 3S. If you look at the the protocals, the fall on the 3Z was the only element she got -GOE on. She got all level fours except on her footwork (level 2). And after rewatching this program, I don't agree that she doesn't have the competitive spark in her. It took such a spark to fight through the SP. She could have given up after the 3Z, but she didn't. And Orser knew it. (You can hear him say "You were smart to add the double toe after the triple salchow!" after she came from the ice).

That said, Silverlake, I'm joining you in the minority to root for this girl. Yes, she may not had the raw talent that Yuna had at 16, but she clearly has some talent.
 

Figure88

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
^^Uh...have you compared her to skaters her age such as Mirai or Rachel? They are so far ahead of her and they are not even the top-level skaters. I was also speaking from the standpoint of having seen a nearly 2 hour Korean language documentary on her, which provided an in-depth coverage of her life as a skater. From it, I got a very good idea of her personality--she seemed like a very cheerful girl, but not particularly serious about figure skating or anything else. Hence, why I had thought she had lacked the "competitive spark".
 
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Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
^^Uh...have you compared her to skaters her age such as Mirai or Rachel? They are so far ahead of her and they are not even the top-level skaters. I was also speaking from the standpoint of having seen a nearly 2 hour Korean language documentary on her, which provided an in-depth coverage of her life as a skater. From it, I got a very good idea of her personality--she seemed like a very cheerful girl, but not particularly serious about figure skating or anything else. Hence, why I had thought she had lacked the "competitive spark".

That's my point, I'm not going to compare her to either of them or Yuna. Their (MJ vs Mirai or Rachael) training/coaching situations are not comparable and that plays a big role in how they develop. And as I mentioned earlier she clearly didn't have the raw talent that Yuna does, though MJ does have talent.

As others said, she could be a late bloomer. I know this is a sport where you peak before the age of 20, but there are great examples of people who really came into their own later. Joannie Rochette was in 17th place in her first Worlds, when she was 17. She won her bronze at the age of 24.

All I'm saying is there's something about her I like and I think she has the potential to surprise.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
That's my point, I'm not going to compare her to either of them or Yuna. Their (MJ vs Mirai or Rachael) training/coaching situations are not comparable and that plays a big role in how they develop. And as I mentioned earlier she clearly didn't have the raw talent that Yuna does, though MJ does have talent.

As others said, she could be a late bloomer. I know this is a sport where you peak before the age of 20, but there are great examples of people who really came into their own later. Joannie Rochette was in 17th place in her first Worlds, when she was 17. She won her bronze at the age of 24.

All I'm saying is there's something about her I like and I think she has the potential to surprise.

First off, Mirai is a year older than her and Rachael is a year and a half older than her and have been skating/competing for much longer than Min-Jung, who is just starting out. I believe I read somewhere that she only started skating when she was 9. That being said, seeing someone like Rachael Flatt be able to do so well in the sport despite not having really big jumps, an ideal body type, good lines, spins, or spirals shows what hard work can do in this sport. MJ has a lot to work on but she does have a lot of things going for her such as:
1.) Her spins/spirals/flexibility - among the best of all ladies and it's reflected in the level 4s with +GOE she consistently gets on her spiral sequence and spins

2.) Her body type/line - I know this shouldn't matter but the fact that she is thin, willowy, and likely to stay that way even as she matures is a plus, she looks nice out on the ice and added to her stretched positions it makes for a good image

3.) Her jump technique is pretty good - I know she had UR issues at Worlds but she can do all the triples and has a true lutz and if you watched her performances at 4CC or the Olympics you will see that she is capable of landing nice, light rotated triples

4.) She has a good coach now (Orser) who has helped so many of his students (Yuna, Adam, Christina) improve tremendously and is caring about his students. I wouldn't be surprised if she showed great improvement under him very quickly.

5.) She appears to have a good attitude. When she does well, she is happy, when she is not doing so well, she fights through her programs. At Worlds she hurt her hip when she fell in the SP and was in a lot of pain during the LP but she still went for everything. Even though most of her triples were downgraded in that program so her score was low, she at least attempted and landed the jumps, which is most important. Being so tired and in pain she could have easily bombed, fell a lot, popped all her jumps, but she didn't do that so I think it shows she has good fight.

An article came out a few days ago and she seems incredibly insightful and intelligent, aware that she is different from Yuna and that Yuna was much better at her age. She is just starting out though, and thanks to Yuna she has the chance at the age of 16 to get out there at competitions like 4CC, Olympics, and Worlds and learn how to compete. Plus if you're going to compare her to Mirai, compare her to Mirai last year, most of Min-Jung's scores this year have actually been better than those Mirai was getting in the 08-09 season. Also, likely MJ is through her big growth spurt so won't be hampered from those types of issues from here on in. I personally think she has a lot of potential, her FOI program was lovely, and will be rooting for her in the future. It's just too early to count this girl out. GO MJ :agree:
 
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