Ladies - Long Program

[blue_idealist]

Apparently Midori Ito had anorexia when she made a comeback in 1996, and that's partly why she skated so badly.

[silverlake22]

People keep talking about Miki's age and how she's too old to stick around for Sochi but I think people are forgetting she's a year younger than Carolina and 6 months younger than Alissa... If people think those two will be fine for Sochi, why not Miki?

[lowtherlore]

People keep talking about Miki's age and how she's too old to stick around for Sochi but I think people are forgetting she's a year younger than Carolina and 6 months younger than Alissa... If people think those two will be fine for Sochi, why not Miki?

Exactly. It's definitely doable for all three ladies and I can totally see Miki competing in Sochi.

[bibi24]

People keep talking about Miki's age and how she's too old to stick around for Sochi but I think people are forgetting she's a year younger than Carolina and 6 months younger than Alissa... If people think those two will be fine for Sochi, why not Miki?

I think mileage is also a factor in addition to age. Miki just seems to have been around longer than others.

[Krislite]

For all those people saying that Yuna should have tried out her new programs at earlier competitions, they pretty much got their wish. When she arrived in Korea after the gala, Yuna strongly implied--but did not officially confirm--that she will skate at next year's 4CC and Worlds. (By this I mean she denied competing at next season's GP, but acknowledged she should do at least one competition before Worlds and mentioned the possibility of 4CC.)

There you have it.

[rossdale]

For all those people saying that Yuna should have tried our her new programs at earlier competitions, they pretty much got their wish. When she arrived in Korea after the gala, Yuna strongly implied--but did not officially confirm--that she will skate at next year's 4CC and Worlds. (By this I mean she denied competing at next season's GP, but acknowledged she should do at least one competition before Worlds and mentioned the possibility of 4CC.)

There you have it.

What a great news?? I believe 4CC will be hosted by one of US cities... Do you know where it would be?? I want to see her!!!

[Krislite]

What a great news?? I believe 4CC will be hosted by one of US cities... Do you know where it would be?? I want to see her!!!

It will be held in Colorado Springs, which is only a couple of hours away by flight from L.A. (her training base). That short distance is probably why she's more inclined next year.

[Spun Silver]

Oh my goodness. I may actually be able to go. I would love to see Yu Na in person - and too many others to list.

[EricRohmer]

Yuna, please bring back 2A-3T(with 3Lo) in next competition. haha.

2A-3T at LP warm-up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hThNn...layer_embedded

[ayayukiituka]

ETA: Are there any interviews of Mao? I'd like to know how she's feeling.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ex_EqXIZ0 This's a part of TV program. Her comments are only in Japanese available,but you can see nice hug with Ms.Yamada. Her comment is like "It was not my best,but I was relived that FS was over anyway. I tried to skate with heart so that people could be into my skate."

[wonderlen3000]

I was not one who thought Miki would win. I thought it would come down to a battle between Yuna and Mao. I was wrong about that and Miki delivered the goods with a very clean SP and a very solid LP. The others made more mistakes.

I am happy for Miki who has been a terrific skater for many years. She is also an exceptionally nice young lady and a most worthy two-time World champion.

I can add that the Japanese skaters came to Moscow with heavy hearts. I think they handled themself with dignity and grace and Japan, along with skating fans from all over the world are proud of them.

ITA. Lets be honest!! Of the trio, who has the best chances of winning??? Mao is reworking on her jump techniques and she is a few rotations away from either being on the podium or off. @ 4CC she has 5-6 jumps errors and extended season means extral toll on the skater body. We know Mao being on the podium will be a miracle.

Kim hasn't compete the whole season and no matters how great you are, first competition jitters are always there, even if you have a nerve of steel. Clearly the nerve got better of Kim that night and she doesn't utilize the extra competition opportunity to finetune her programs full potential.

Ando been skating all season, loose weight and has the motivation. She is clearly trained the best and competed the most of the trio. In the end the skater with the most training and competition experience prevail.

[FlattFan]

I just got a chance to look at the score sheet, and Kim's visibly under rotated 3Sal-1T got no negative GOE? Does anyone not have a problem with that?

[Blades of Passion]

It wasn't underrotated more than 1/4 and had a transition directly into it, which is what I think threw her off to begin with: the timing of trying to execute it in competition. -1 GOE would have been fair but a 0 isn't outrageous.

[Kwanford Wife]

That's not a question any of us can answer because we don't know enough about the circumstances and degree of injury.

Now please see the thread about "HEART."

Rachael skated with a painful injury and surely tried to do her best. She is one tough cookie
That is enough to gain my admiration.

I thought long and hard before replying to this - well, 30 seconds anyway - and I totally and completely disagree on the topic of competing with an injury. Its simply a stupid thing to do. I was all about Michelle getting her shot in 2006 and that was wrong. Encouraging athletes to compete injured is wrong. No one knows their body better than a athlete, amature and pro alike, and they know when to let it go and they never want to but sometimes the grown ups need to shut it down - esp young athletes. Where was Team Flatt?

And no, I'm not talking about medals, MiRai, national pride or three spots. I'm talking about being responsible to the kid paying the bills. We ask so much of these kids - that we need to also say no to them. Rachael has been off all season and yet she continued to skate. Are we surprised that whatever is ailing her finally said "enough."

I'm sick of this "heart" conversation. That's not heart, that's madness. What exactly are we doing to these kids and their young bodies? I speak from experience. My 13 year old son is plays soccer. This past fall, he tweeked his groin - nothing serious, but he should've sat out and rested. But he has so much "heart" that his coach, trainer, dad and I decided that we'd let him play with the promise that he'd "take it easy." Needless to say, he took a hard shot, pulled his groin and was out for four weeks. That night, my husband and I looked at each other and wondered if we had been smokin' crack all week.

Now, does my kid's soccer season compare to skating at the World Championships? Heck no. But parents, coaches and support staff need to wake up and get real about the long term damage that "sucking it up" and "competing with heart" actually mean: young athletes with shorter careers because someone didn't have the sense to say enough.

Rachael can be a tough cookie - all the skaters are tough cookies. But she should've been a tough cookie from the stands and chatted with Tara Lipiniski about the importance of long term health vs. short term gain.

[FlattFan]

It wasn't underrotated more than 1/4 and had a transition directly into it, which is what I think threw her off to begin with: the timing of trying to execute it in competition. -1 GOE would have been fair but a 0 isn't outrageous.

It was more like 1/2 a turn underrotated. Take a closer look. Had anyone not get -GOE for single toe combo?