Not much talk about Wagner who was buried in 6th and placed the lowest of the contenders.
Where does SHE go from here? Is she done? Will she ever make it on another World team?
Not much talk about Wagner who was buried in 6th and placed the lowest of the contenders.
Where does SHE go from here? Is she done? Will she ever make it on another World team?
Did you actually watch the competition? She was the absolutely clear winner. It had nothing to do with judges prefering a woman. She outskated shaky Rachael and bizarre-mistakes Mirai by a mile. There was no sneaking onto the podium. There was no way for the judges to make any other choice.Originally Posted by Andalusia
I think that may be the most hilarious jumping picture I've ever seen. Thanks for the laugh!
Congrats to Alissa on her second US title. The US judges have always shown a preference for having a champion who's a woman, and really, in the field she was competing with this year, Alissa's maturity really does stand out. I think if she continues with a string of middling to almost clean performances, she may sneak onto a couple of podiums here and there, but I do think she'll be overtaken come Sochi.
I doubt Alissa will stick around until Sochi. Just glad she's finally having a great year.
I think it's possible that if she doesn't get sick at the wrong moments next year she will improve. Ashley just didn't look nearly as well trained this year as last year. But she's always had technical issues. She's a very fine skater but no wow.
I wonder if she another skater who needs to revisit her basics. In the jumps anyway.
Yes it really was! I've never even seen her do it in practices any of the times I've had free time and been rinkside. Very, very important to hit that combination with this scoring system.
I would have scored Wagner as 3rd in the LP here. She needs to stop imploding in the SP.
You've misinterpreted my post. I've no doubt Alissa deserved to win. I'm just saying that, yes, the US judges would prefer a mature performer as champion, and if it could go either way between a pipsqueak and an adult, the judges would go with the latter. That's why Michelle Kwan has won so many US titles when the judges could have justifiably gone with a younger upstart on occasion.
And when I say sneak onto podiums - let's face it, Alissa's technical content is weak compared to many other elite skaters, and if they were to go clean (or almost clean), it's debatable whether or not Alissa would be left in the dust. This is especially true internationally. Alissa has to rely on mistakes from others (and she ain't exactly Ms. Consistency herself) and count on going clean or almost so (up until recently, this was a rarity) to have a chance at "sneaking" onto a podium.
Ashley's plight moving forward is almost as hopeless as Caroline Zhang at this point. Even if she had skated cleanly in both programs she probably would have finished 4th at best, possibly lower. Gao and Agnes are even over her already, and will probably stay that way given how young they are.
I am SO HAPPY for Alissa tonight. After being a SashaFan, and worrying about falls, and also a KimmieFan, an then worrying about her falls, and I was always an AlissaFan, and worrying about HER falls....... I was starting to think I was a JINX!!! Michelle totally spoiled me. I never had to worry about her. Seriously, I don’t believe in that stuff, but still......I had to wonder. Why do I pull for Alissa that much? Besides her general wonderfulness, she answered TWO of my emails. The last one was, of all nights, this last Christmas eve, and because the holidays are a bit of a tough time for me, that just totally touched my heart. Just a couple sentences, but still! Alissa, you are a class act!
I am so thrilled, delighted and any other word that fits that category about Alissa. My heart was in my throat, just like it was when Michelle skated. Alissa was fabulous.
How man of these Ladies will we see agan?
Some of them have been around in Regionals and Sectionals for several years. I get the feeling that attrition will happen, and that many will disappear. For the most part, the skaters in the field were at their best but time is running out for them to break into the elite class.
Although the top 6 skaters are not the Kwan/Cohen/Kirk of yesteryear. I don't see a World's winner here. Time could be running out for them also. There wll always be an American champion but it doesn't seem to me that she will be on top of the Internatonal Set.
The one saving grace for America's future is, in my opinion, Yasmin Siraj. I would send her to 4CC just to check her out.
I believe Yasmin is too young to go to 4CC this year. I suspect she will be named to the Jr. Worlds Team though. She definitely doesn't look as though she's reached puberty or full height, so it might be premature to call her "the one saving grace for America's future." I presume you are speaking only of America's figure skating future.
The ladies, ice dance, and pairs teams for Worlds, 4CCs, and Junior worlds have been announced via Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/USFigureSkating
So Mirai yet again lets her nerves control her when she is leading. Not going to Worlds might be the best thing that happened to her. She needs a wakeup call and start talking her skating more seriously. Frank was not happy with her. "you gave it away" Love how Frank doesn't mince words.
Any videos yet? Please?
Yasmin only named as an alternate for Jr. Worlds. I think USFS made a mistake on this--Yasmin should be going. Also on Zawadski--she's already the reigning silver medalist. I'd be sending her as one of the direct 4CC pick instead of to Jr. Worlds again. Lam vs Hicks--tossup but Hicks has no exposure in front of intl judges, whereas Lam won a JGP medal in her only appearance this season.
Who knows why USFS would rather just go straight roster rather than use executive discretion and put actual thought into their selections....bah! Now we'll see who decides to decline and which alternates will end up going.
Last edited by bigsisjiejie; 01-30-2011 at 09:27 AM.
CONGRATULATIONS to Alissa U.S. Nationals Champ!!!!! Thrilled for her. Out of the top three ladies she was the only one who skated like a champion. Very nice to see a gold medal performance actually win the gold medal.
Loved Christina G, Agnes Z and Jasmine (the young lady from Boston) I thought they were terrific.
Neither Mirai or Rachael skated a clean program. No surprise that Rachael came out ahead.
As Serious Business said in an earlier post Rachael has a good jump strategy.
Her team knows how to compensate and win and Rachael is a tough competitor.
Mirai needs to address and work on getting her nerves and emotions under control.
That said I was very sad that she did not make the team. I was rooting for her to come in 2nd.
Poor Caroline, not much to say about her performance. I felt sorry for her.
I heard that Agnes was chosen to go to Junior Worlds (U.S. is smart).
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