I think if she lands all her technical content, then yes, she deserves to be at least on the podium and if skaters like Mao,... don't hit well she could win gold. But with so many double jumps as this year I wouldn't want it.
I think if she lands all her technical content, then yes, she deserves to be at least on the podium and if skaters like Mao,... don't hit well she could win gold. But with so many double jumps as this year I wouldn't want it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS6DQUNghjU
what a nice interview about her world bronze,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2j0T...eature=related
time: 3:12
Q: What do you have to work on to be at the level of Mao and Yuna?
A: It's all about the consistency. The Asian girls are beautiful skaters and very hard to beat but I think we have many good skaters in Europe and I think we're getting there.
Laura is such a doll. Too bad all the questions are for the Asian girls. Laura was just sitting there, bored. Poor girl.
She's a big hero in Finland though, she was always kinda in Kiira's shadow because of Kiira's foxiness, but now she's getting the attention herself, she even had a reception with the President of Finland a few weeks back!Originally Posted by FlattFan
And I think her answer to the question does have a point, many of the most exciting skaters in the junior ranks are coming from Europe (especially Russia).
Yuna's translator was awful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Probably not yet. Maybe in 2 or 3 years? If she keeps progressing. But I think Joannie is so close to get the title. If Yu Na retires, in the next season I think it'll be between Mao and Joannie.
Last edited by jian10; 04-10-2010 at 01:40 AM.
I do not think a program with a 3T/3T and one 3Z should ever be able to win a World Championship. Even if Laura had done all her triples, they were of the easier variety (loop and salchow). Laura does an easier SP than the other ladies (3T/3T, 3Lo, 2A), and even though she fell out of her 2A and put two hands down at Worlds, the judges gave her a huge 64+ score anyway. IMO, it was her inflated SP score that allowed her to win bronze.
Laura is inconsistent at best, anyway. She has a less than 50% success rate on the lutz, and has no flip. In the early season, she was not landing 3T/3T, and even watered it down to 2T/2T at one GP event. At 22, she is unlikely to expand her technical repertoire.
I just don't see Laura on top of the World podium, and if she somehow did make it there with her limited technical ability, it would be a sad day for figure skating.
In 2008-2009, she competed at Nebelhorn, Finlandia, Cup of China, NHK, Europeans, Worlds and the Japan Open. In 2009-2010, she competed at Finlandia, NHK, Skate Canada, Europeans, Olympics and Worlds. That's a total of 13 competitions, and she landed the lutz at 6 of them. That's less than a 50% success rate with the lutz.
Meanwhile, most of the ladies who have a lutz attempt three per competition: one in the SP and two in the FS. Laura only tries one in the FS. Right there, it shows that she doesn't have confidence in her ability to land it in competition.
I also find Laura a little on the stiff side. And yes, a bit wooden, too, when it comes to her choreo and interpretation: she does a tight, reserved tango rather than an fiery Argentine tango.
In a nutshell: the judges like Lepisto because she is European, and most of the judges are European. They wanted a European skater on the World podium, because there hasn't been one there since 2008, when Kostner won silver (also a very controversial placement).
IMO, Lepisto gets over-rewarded rather frequently for technically deficient performances. She is pleasing to look at and has elegant costumes, but that should not make her "more equal" than other skaters.
But I think she has a chance, I don't under estimate that judges bestow gifts. Yeah, I think her world bronze was a gift
I felt sad in the past 4 yrs. In consecutive olys comp the OGM in ladies did not land the full set of triple jumps (3A not counted). I love Shizuka, but she was either loopless or saless in 06, andYuNa is totally loopless.I just don't see Laura on top of the World podium, and if she somehow did make it there with her limited technical ability, it would be a sad day for figure skating.
BAck to topic, I think it is possible, not likely. YuNa will retire. It is difficult to defend a world title, Ithink only MK and Kristi have done that in recent history. So that leaves Ando, Joannie, and Nagasu to challenge Laura for gold
Last edited by rtureck; 04-10-2010 at 01:49 PM.
Ando, Asada and Rochette could all push Lepisto off the podium next season. Nagasu could be a threat---if she can control her nerves. But Laura will also find challenges from other Europeans: Kostner is not quite done yet, and Makarova is a new threat, along with the younger Russian ladies.
Interesting, and I agree with your technical analysis - but I find Laura fast, graceful, animated and very expressive on the ice. Sort of the total opposite of "stiff and wooden."
The "Euro" bonus is talked about alot - I guess just like we hear about the USA, Canadian and Russian bonus. What's next on the horizon - the Japanese bonus?
Sometimes I think there are trends in skating. Watching Yuna and Mao this year it is not hard to see that judges seemed to prefer Yuna's style and programs over what Mao was presenting.
We could also see that ISU judges preferred Mirai's style and programs over Rachael at the Olympics and Worlds.
I think it is not too far off to suggest that ISU judges favored Laura's style and programs at Worlds over Miki's. I know I certainly did - and I like Miki, but not her programs so much this season.
I think there is still something intangible - even more than just "subjective" - that effects scores at the biggest international events. Laura seemed to be offering the style of skating that appealed to the judges at Worlds. Maybe technically her programs were not the most difficult, but she did skate with alot of grace and flair. The judges preferred her and gave her bronze over Miki and Cynthia.
I can understand how fans have disputed Laur'a bronze medal. But calling her stiff and wooden does not seem to be a very realistic appraisal of her skating. Nor does it help explain her medal.
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.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and it's an opinion, not fact. What looks "graceful, animated and very expressive" to one person may appear stiff, robotic and wooden to another.
It's pretty bizarre that CoP is supposed to award the tangible aspects of skating and do so quantitatively, and then a skater wins a bronze medal based on the "intangible" and "subjective", with only 3 triple jumps and good but far from exceptional spins, footwork and spiral.
Apparently, the only thing that kept Mirai Nagasu off the podium was her attempts to do triple jumps. Maybe if she had settled for mostly doubles, she could have scored a silver medal over Asada. After all, Mirai is graceful and she does have exceptional spins and spirals.
Ugh. That's depressing. I don't even want to hear about how close she might have been...
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks