Shizuka Arakawa's beautiful 3lutz/3loop(!!) and professional skaters techniques

Two big reasons I like Shizuka:

1. For her, the Olympic medal (Gold) was never an end unto itself, but a ticket to expanding interest in figure skating, especially in her home country (or something like this, please clarify or correct me if I'm remembering or interpreting wrong.)

2. She proves that you don't need to be a teeny tiny gal to be a graceful skater with reliable, gorgeous jumps.

I think she proves that you don't have to be an EITHER an artist OR a jumper. She's both. As Scott Hamilton once said about Yuna, "that's so rare."

prettykeys said:

Two big reasons I like Shizuka:

1. For her, the Olympic medal (Gold) was never an end unto itself, but a ticket to expanding interest in figure skating, especially in her home country (or something like this, please clarify or correct me if I'm remembering or interpreting wrong.)

2. She proves that you don't need to be a teeny tiny gal to be a graceful skater with reliable, gorgeous jumps.

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Agreed! And not only that, she proves that you don't need to be a young teenager to be "a graceful skater with reliable, gorgeous jumps." I believe I read somewhere that she was the oldest ladies' gold medalist in something like 70 years. Go, Shizuka! In fact, I'm sure it was one of the oldest podiums ever: the ages of the three medalists were something like 24, 22, and 26 respectively.

And Layfan, I like your point about her being both an artist and a jumper, not having to be either/or.

prettykeys said:

Two big reasons I like Shizuka:

1. For her, the Olympic medal (Gold) was never an end unto itself, but a ticket to expanding interest in figure skating, especially in her home country (or something like this, please clarify or correct me if I'm remembering or interpreting wrong.)

2. She proves that you don't need to be a teeny tiny gal to be a graceful skater with reliable, gorgeous jumps.

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I like her, among other reasons, because she took her pro career seriously. Her skating actually got better, she grew greatly as an artist and as a performer as well as contributing to the sport with her commentary. (didn't she also mentor Mao there for a while?)

FlattFan said:

As long as the system was established ahead of time, I don't see any reason why one is better than the other.
The girl who made it to the GPF had to do well in at least 2 events. (or in the case of Ashley Wagner, a lot of luck)

Yukari knew the rule before TEB and NHK. She messed up at NHK, so it's all her fault. Miki got her spot fair and square in 2010.

In 2006, Yoshie Onda placed 4th at Nationals, Yukari placed 5th, so she wouldn't be able to go in place of Miki anyway.

Nothing controversial here. Can't believe I'm defending Miki Ando. . I like Yukari a lot more, btw.

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Where did Miki finish at Japan Natls back in '05-06 season? Was it sixth? How many federations send their sixth place skater to the Olympics? And then when Miki bombed it did not make sending her look any better.

My point was that Yukari never got to skate at the Olympics but came close twice. I am not even a big Yukari fan but thought her 4th place finish at '08 Worlds was fishy.
Just saying Yukari never caught a break and the Japanese selection rules did not work out very well for her.

I remember watching Japanese Natls last season and how happy I was for Akiko - until the camera showed a shot of Yukari. Geez, she lost an Olympic spot by such a close margin it made me feel for her.

It also made me think of the Olympic motto - "Swifter, Higher, Stronger" - which never seems true to me as long as so many of the world's best figure skaters are not allowed to have an Olympic experience simply because they come from a strong federation.

Yeah, it's too bad that the "extra" skaters in a strong federation can't make some sort of arrangement to skate for other countries--the way buildings sometimes sell their air rights to other entities. As things stand, the only way this can happen is if a skater has some sort of ancestry from the country, the way Dianne de Leeuw, an American, skated for the Netherlands. Might De Leeuw have been the best-ranked figure skater to do this? She was world champion in I think 1975, and she was a top contender for gold at the 1976 Olympics. The most recent such "loan skater" I can think of is Silvia Fontana, who skated for Italy, but she was never a podium threat in a Worlds or Olympics. Unfortunately, Japan is generally not a nation of immigrants, so a fine skater such as Yukari doesn't have a chance to go this route. (Kavaguti took another path and changed citizenship...though not a lot of people would want to do this.) I loved Yukari also, though I could never get used to that leg wrap. I was always afraid she'd stop dead still in midair and drop to the ice like a stone.

Olympia said:

Curry's pro skating is very different from what you expect from pro skating. He's not really so interested in the jumps but wants to create a balletic line on the ice. It's almost like ice dancing for soloists. But if you check out his Olympic long program, you'll see that he has the whole package. You have to ratchet down your jump expectations because it's 1976, but you'll still be wowed, I think. I think the link below is the whole program, but if it's not, you can easily find it elsewhere on YouTube. He also does beautiful spins in both directions, a lost art nowadays.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z79TMsYRnEc

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Olympia, thank you for introducing this to me. I feel somewhat nervous about making a comment about someone who's considered a legend as Curry, but I honestly had goosbmps, very quiet and gradual ones that is. I think what moved me in the way it did is how every single moment is connected to the beat/ melody of Don Quixote, and how every move is so refiened and poised, nothing showy. Beautiful. I love how enthusiastic the audience is as well- What a moment.

Layfan said:

Since I'm re-discovering Shizuka thanks to this thread I'd thought I'd post this in case others are, too:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anx0qaEc0XM&feature=related

It's stunning! I love how she uses her fan. Checkout the layback spin where she holds it open against her back and how she flourishes after coming out of her double axle. Just gorgeous.

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ITA!! I loved the spiral with her fan- what a beautiful pose that is. Speaking of spirals, I'd love to see her hand-free 'Y' spiral that she did in Torino again.

mot said:

Shizuka's a truly professional skater now. As well as preserving her skills, she continues to expand her horizons as a performer. Here's her latest programme from the show in August. Who'd though she'd pull off a programme like this when she was eligible?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJpN2OURTuk

She looks stunning too - what a gorgeous dress!

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Thank you thank you thank you- As much as I claim to be her fan, this is my first time ever seeing Friends on Ice. What a sophisticated yet homey and warm show it looks, as represented by the name of the self produced show. And the cast! Ilia Kulik, Yuka Sato, Shae-Lynn Bourne Evan Lysacek to name a few. Shizuka is so humble and shows great respect to the sport of figure skating, and it really shows she wants to contribute to the field.

Shizuka introducing Evan Lysacek and his performance
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uS14rhz-Ur8

Backstage, Lysacek's speech, a cheeky segment with some sort of audience interaction with Ilia, Yuka etc. I LOVE how all the cast and audience seem to be having a ball!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlU66c71oSs&feature=related

Part II preview (to be aired in Japan sometime this month, apparently)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luA507Xc3X0&feature=related

prettykeys said:

1. For her, the Olympic medal (Gold) was never an end unto itself, but a ticket to expanding interest in figure skating, especially in her home country (or something like this, please clarify or correct me if I'm remembering or interpreting wrong.)

2. She proves that you don't need to be a teeny tiny gal to be a graceful skater with reliable, gorgeous jumps.

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:thumbsup::thumbsup:

I'm so glad you enjoyed John Curry's skating, Hikki. And deep thanks in return for the links to the program with Shizuka and the others. It's reassuring to know that, despite the pro skating drought in the U.S., there's so much really good skating out there. These days, when the world is a global village, we can all enjoy the sight of great skaters advancing the sport, in any country.

Here is Shizuka at 1995 Jr Worlds - was she 12 or 13 here?
She looks so lanky...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoabQi287Y&feature=related

I don't think Shiz fans will mind this - it is 11 year old Midori at '81 Jr Worlds.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDvM8Aynm6c

janetfan said:

Here is Shizuka at 1995 Jr Worlds - was she 12 or 13 here?
She looks so lanky...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoabQi287Y&feature=related

I don't think Shiz fans will mind this - it is 11 year old Midori at '81 Jr Worlds.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDvM8Aynm6c

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Janetfan, what a find! How adorable and amazing speed that girl had at that age. No wonder she turned out to be so good. Geez, she was probably more exciting to watch than many of the senior ladies that year

janetfan said:

Here is Shizuka at 1995 Jr Worlds - was she 12 or 13 here?
She looks so lanky...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEoabQi287Y&feature=related

I don't think Shiz fans will mind this - it is 11 year old Midori at '81 Jr Worlds.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDvM8Aynm6c

Click to expand...

Midori is indeed wonderful. The only thing I was sorry to see was that wrapped leg, which she had even then. I guess people thought that she was so good they didn't want to mess with her. If you read the commentary under the video, someone points out that she did more triples even than the boys in that competition.

It's interesting to see Shizuka. A very unsure performance that year--I can't tell what she was capable of at that time from this video. She doesn't even look like herself, with the bangs. But the other two videos, the ones from last year's show--holy hat! Can that woman skate now. That program with the fan is out of this world. She moves like a swan in flight, perfectly suited to the music. And in the other video, her Ina Bauer is a masterpiece of beauty. It isn't just how deeply she can bend; it's the way she sinks into it. Truly awesome. Clearly, gravity has no hold on this woman.

Better video including other triple triples. The 3lutz/3loop comes at the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPQun-K9rQs