Laura Lepisto - - - 2011 World Champion? Yes or.... No?

[silverlake22]

I doubt Rochette will skate another competitive season. Ando failed to beat Lepisto this time around even with a clean freeskate. Yes, Mirai certainly will be a threat to the podium if she can repeat this season.

Miki also bombed her SP, not only did she fall but she didn't do a combination jump either, plus if her 2lo in the LP hadn't been downgraded she would have won bronze. Russian girls won't be eligilble for at least another year, and most of them not for 2 more years so that shouldn't affect 2011. Alena and Ksenia are good but I think it will take them a couple more years until they are really medal threats. Mirai def has a shot, and she usually is pretty consistent so I wouldn't count her out. If Joannie and Yuna don't compete next year, then it is very possible Laura may be the World Gold Medalist.

[chuckm]

If Joannie and Yuna don't compete next year, then it is very possible Laura may be the World Gold Medalist.

Aren't you forgetting about Mao Asada? She beat Lepisto at 2010 Worlds by more than 18 points.

There are some proposed rule changes that will benefit the ladies who attempt the harder triple jumps. The Japanese federation has proposed that ladies be permitted to do 3A in the SP as the axel jump. Another rule change would raise the value of downgraded triples. Both of these changes would put Laura at a disadvantage, especially if she continues to double intended triples.

[silverlake22]

Aren't you forgetting about Mao Asada? She beat Lepisto at 2010 Worlds by more than 18 points.

There are some proposed rule changes that will benefit the ladies who attempt the harder triple jumps. The Japanese federation has proposed that ladies be permitted to do 3A in the SP as the axel jump. Another rule change would raise the value of downgraded triples. Both of these changes would put Laura at a disadvantage, especially if she continues to double intended triples.

Yes, Mao when she is on is a force to be reckoned with, but she's not always on. Among the top competitors, she can be a bit inconsistent. She finished OTP at Worlds just last year remember, and it wasn't like she bombed at worlds either. Plus those judges seem to be REALLY tough on giving her the 3a, if it's even the slightest bit under-rotated (less than 1/4 turn) she gets a UR call without a question.

[rtureck]

Yes, Mao when she is on is a force to be reckoned with, but she's not always on. Among the top competitors, she can be a bit inconsistent. She finished OTP at Worlds just last year remember, and it wasn't like she bombed at worlds either. Plus those judges seem to be REALLY tough on giving her the 3a, if it's even the slightest bit under-rotated (less than 1/4 turn) she gets a UR call without a question.

Sure judges should be tough on calling all skaterfson UR jumps. So it is up to the skaters to fix their jumps. I thnk so much attention has been given to Mao's jumps/ Mao in the air. I think Mao is so talented that if she train her skills on ice, her on ice elements could be tough to beat. I think she will probably never be as good as Nagasu with spins, but Mao's spins are not chop liver. With her flexibility, she is already ahead of many in the spins and spirals. She has good speed, ice coverage and edge quality. She is capable of level 4 steps. She needs to train the on elements, and I do believe she can beat others on ice if not in air. Take a page from Evan's book. Having said that I don't think she will be able to defend the title, like I said earlier only MK and Kristi were able to defend a world title in recent history. Defending a world title is tough, just as the current OGM

[Bennett]

Mirai depends on callers and I still have some doubt about Oly tech callers. It's not that I support her National tech callers or want her to suffer from invisible URs that trained commentators miss in slow mo, which I find to be so nerdy. But the bottomline is that she is consistently called and the Oly was one of the very few events in which she was not called. We still need to see how well she fares next season.

[chuckm]

It's the TECH TEAM that is rough on the URs, not the judges. But proposed new rules will lessen the penalty for URs considerably. The skater will no longer get the value of a double with additional -GOE. Instead, the base value of a URd triple will be less than a triple but greater than a double, and the GOE will be up to the judges. So even if Mao gets a UR on her 3A, she will get many more points than she is getting now. Mirai Nagasu will benefit as well.

In fact, Nagasu got 3 URs in her FS at Worlds. That cost her a medal. Under the new rules, she would have gotten an additional 3.5-4 points, which would have been enough to place her above Lepisto.

[miki88]

Yes, Mao when she is on is a force to be reckoned with, but she's not always on. Among the top competitors, she can be a bit inconsistent. She finished OTP at Worlds just last year remember, and it wasn't like she bombed at worlds either. Plus those judges seem to be REALLY tough on giving her the 3a, if it's even the slightest bit under-rotated (less than 1/4 turn) she gets a UR call without a question.

Well, it's not like Miki and Joannie are very consistent either. Mirai is consistent but she has the same woes as Mao does, in that the judges tend to give her UR's.

[silverlake22]

It's the TECH TEAM that is rough on the URs, not the judges. But proposed new rules will lessen the penalty for URs considerably. The skater will no longer get the value of a double with additional -GOE. Instead, the base value of a URd triple will be less than a triple but greater than a double, and the GOE will be up to the judges. So even if Mao gets a UR on her 3A, she will get many more points than she is getting now. Mirai Nagasu will benefit as well.

In fact, Nagasu got 3 URs in her FS at Worlds. That cost her a medal. Under the new rules, she would have gotten an additional 3.5-4 points, which would have been enough to place her above Lepisto.

Well said. About Mao, there is no doubt she will be a force, however, I just find that recently, something is missing from her skating. She seems slower and less graceful to me than she did before, also not as free. I miss this Mao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmyUwtmch9w .She is still a terrific skater but she really needs to bring back those other jumps. It's almost embarrassing that the World Champion can't do a 3lz or a 3sal

[Bennett]

It's the TECH TEAM that is rough on the URs, not the judges. But proposed new rules will lessen the penalty for URs considerably. The skater will no longer get the value of a double with additional -GOE. Instead, the base value of a URd triple will be less than a triple but greater than a double, and the GOE will be up to the judges. So even if Mao gets a UR on her 3A, she will get many more points than she is getting now. Mirai Nagasu will benefit as well.

In fact, Nagasu got 3 URs in her FS at Worlds. That cost her a medal. Under the new rules, she would have gotten an additional 3.5-4 points, which would have been enough to place her above Lepisto.

I thought that rule proposal interesting, but we still need to see what happens. There have been other proposals talked about in the past that were not incorporated.

[chronos13]

Highly doubtful, especially with the rise of younger skaters (Murakami and Nagasu) and the veterans (Asada and maybe Kostner). I honestly think that her bronze was questionable, but I do congratulate her and hope that she works harder to maintain her momentum and stay on the podiums.

[berrycute]

Well said. About Mao, there is no doubt she will be a force, however, I just find that recently, something is missing from her skating. She seems slower and less graceful to me than she did before, also not as free. I miss this Mao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmyUwtmch9w .She is still a terrific skater but she really needs to bring back those other jumps. It's almost embarrassing that the World Champion can't do a 3lz or a 3sal

Hmm, a lot of people have brought up that particular program as a Mao highlight. I just think, you know, she's done pretty, gentle Chopin music before (twice!), it's good she's exploring new styles, that's how she will grow artistically. Part of the success of Michelle Kwan is that she presented an amazing array of emotions and styles in her programs, she never boxed herself into one style. I sometimes think Maofans are trying to box her into one particular style. And if she does gentle piano music programs year in year out, it's going to get pretty boring!

On that note, for Laura, now that she's a world medalist I think she needs to start working on TWO new programs every year, and not recycling one as she has done (and plans to do again for this coming season). I hate recycled programs, it so takes away from the excitement of the new season.

[rtureck]

Well said. About Mao, there is no doubt she will be a force, however, I just find that recently, something is missing from her skating. She seems slower and less graceful to me than she did before, also not as free. I miss this Mao http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmyUwtmch9w .She is still a terrific skater but she really needs to bring back those other jumps. It's almost embarrassing that the World Champion can't do a 3lz or a 3sal

About Mao's being slower and less graceful. I definitely want her to improve on speed. About less graceful, that is very subjective, and of course COP does not reward grace
I am all for world champ ,OGM and all skaters to do a full set of triple jumps. I mentioned in another thread, I feel sad that 2 consecutive olys the lady OGM does not do a full set of triple jumps in their lp, in some ways that is more embarassing, afterall they are OGMs. ( and I am a huge Divakawa fan.) I believe Shizuka was eithr loopless or saless, and Yuna is absolutely loopless. I am not too optimistic that Mao will get a real lutz, but I sincerely hope she will get the 3sal. If she gets her 3sal, she will have almost a full set of triple jumps, which at least matches Shizuka and Yuna's total # of triple jumps, considering Shiz and Yuna are triple axel less

Hmm, a lot of people have brought up that particular program as a Mao highlight. I just think, you know, she's done pretty, gentle Chopin music before (twice!), it's good she's exploring new styles, that's how she will grow artistically. Part of the success of Michelle Kwan is that she presented an amazing array of emotions and styles in her programs, she never boxed herself into one style. I sometimes think Maofans are trying to box her into one particular style. And if she does gentle piano music programs year in year out, it's going to get pretty boring!

I actully like the final version of Bells at olsy and worlds. I will even say, unless someone in the future can interpret it better than Mao, with 2 triple axels to boot, I consider it as one of her signature pieces.

I agree some Maofans are guilty of boxing her in one particular style. Gentle solo piano music is extremely difficult to skate to. And Mao is the best among current skaters to interpret that. I love Miki Ando to death, but I sincerely can not imagine Miki being able to interpret solo piano pieces. Prior to Mao, the only skaters that I think interpret do a great job with solo piano pieces are Buttle, and G and G (who can forget their moonlight sonata).

[FlattFan]

I thought her LP this year at Worlds is the best LP by a lady in recent memory. Mao presented a wide array of styles, jump contents and program layout. No one does it. I always look forward to seeing her new programs because they are always interesting.

Laura deserved her bronze because the other contenders made enough mistakes to take themselves out of contention. It's not like Laura came out of no where to win hers.
Miki bombed her SP pretty badly and was gifted with the flip that was an obvious URed.

Laura knows her problem, which is consistency. She'll work on it and hopefully become a better competitor in the years to come. Her speed is really impressive. She flew across the ice at Worlds. I even thought she was faster than Kostner.

[silverlake22]

About Mao's being slower and less graceful. I definitely want her to improve on speed. About less graceful, that is very subjective, and of course COP does not reward grace
I am all for world champ ,OGM and all skaters to do a full set of triple jumps. I mentioned in another thread, I feel sad that 2 consecutive olys the lady OGM does not do a full set of triple jumps in their lp, in some ways that is more embarassing, afterall they are OGMs. ( and I am a huge Divakawa fan.) I believe Shizuka was eithr loopless or saless, and Yuna is absolutely loopless. I am not too optimistic that Mao will get a real lutz, but I sincerely hope she will get the 3sal. If she gets her 3sal, she will have almost a full set of triple jumps, which at least matches Shizuka and Yuna's total # of triple jumps, considering Shiz and Yuna are triple axel less

I agree. And I mean, 3sal is an easy jump, if she actually CAN'T do one that's pretty embarassing (she probably can do one, maybe just not very well). Yuna attempted 3lo until last season, but ever since her junior days it's been a problem jump for her, often falling on or popping it. As for speed, Mao should work on it, but she is not that slow, it's just that in comparison to someone like Yuna she seems slow. She is much faster than skaters like Rachael, Caroline, and Alissa (all three are REALLY slow, though Rachael appears to have gotten a bit faster recently), but not speedy like Mirai and Yuna who fly around the rink. I'm glad she's working on 3-3s again, but I really hope she works on the 3f-3t rather than 3f-3lo because these days I think her 3f-3lo will get downgraded about as often as her 3a gets downgraded and so then that's taking a lot of risk without neccessarily gaining a lot. It is very easy to UR a 3lo on the back end of a combination so that is why I hope Mao works on other 3-3s.

[berrycute]

I agree some Maofans are guilty of boxing her in one particular style. Gentle solo piano music is extremely difficult to skate to. And Mao is the best among current skaters to interpret that. I love Miki Ando to death, but I sincerely can not imagine Miki being able to interpret solo piano pieces. Prior to Mao, the only skaters that I think interpret do a great job with solo piano pieces are Buttle, and G and G (who can forget their moonlight sonata).

Hmm yes I think gentle piano music is more difficult to skate to than some other styles, but several skaters have managed it quite well. I loved Kimmie's Un Ange Passe SP, it was beautiful. This year there was also Dubé/Davison's The Way We Were LP.