She said she is aspiring to be like Carolina Kostner, saying that after competing against Kostner who is amazing as she wins on her program components, Mirai is working on that part of her program, concentrating on her musicality and overall presentation. But Kostner does have a triple/triple combination.Originally Posted by Jammers
I think the wins of both Mirai and Caroline at such early ages has really hurt them mentally later on. They just weren't prepared for the backlash that would follow once they had a misstep.
It's more then that. Some athletes have that mental toughness like Michelle Kwan or Tara had but then you have the Carolina's and Mirai's who are sometimes fragile mentally. All skaters get nervous but some fight back when they make mistakes but as we've seen from Carolina and Mirai when they make mistakes it sometimes snowballs and they seem lost. For instance at the Olympics in 2010 Carolina had a look on her face of being totally out of it.
I'm not speaking of Kostner, I'm speaking of Zhang. both US champs way too early, way before puberty, they have a crappy go of it once that does hit and they just really give up. Kostner fought for it a heck of a lot longer. Kostner and Csziny have mental weakness at competition as well, but I think it's entirely different to what Nagasu or Zhang experience(d).
Thanks for the update-I missed it, is there a transcript of this teleconference somewhere online?
You can read article on teleconference at http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/archive/features/Nagasu%2011Jun2012.htm
For some unknown reason the above URL, which is correct, won't connect,
so I tried http://www.iceskatingintnl.com/ and got it.
Lynn's version of this teleconference (you know where it is) focuses more on the hilarious moments of Mirai's LOL quotes which I loved and got me into a laughing fit.
Zhang's problems were she hit puberty and her body changed drastically and she had awful jump technique which should have been taken care of when she was younger. Her coach should have been fired for allowing her to jump with that godawful mule kick.
Mirai is a delightful personality, however, bouncing around from rink to rink with no one coach in control of her training, is IMO no way to win a championship title. She is easily distracted by whatever catches her interest at the time. She is very talented but desperately needs direction and discipline. Under her current training conditions, I doubt she can make the World Team, but I wish her well in San Jose.
While I agree that her training circumstances are far from optimal, I wouldn't underestimate her or count her out. She has skated brilliantly after looking scared before.
I used to be pumped for Nationals- I dunno, this year I'm not feeling the anticipation quite as much as perhaps I should. Maybe the state of our ladies is finally beginning to take its toll on me...
My concern is not that she is "scared" or "nervous", but rather that she is undertrained. She only sees Frank 2 times a week. And I'm sorry but Raphael A. may be fun to work with but is no disciplinarian.
Maybe she needs a variety of perspectives? Who knows, each skater's needs are different
I know what you mean. I find myself hoping that Alissa...doesn't fall too many times. I hope that Mirai...holds herself together through two programs. I hope that Ashley skates better than she has in the past, that Rachael isn't quite as awful as i think she might be, that Caroline Zhang can find a way to have one decent skate before she's through, that Vanessa Lam or Yasmin Siraj or Gracie Gold or Agnez Zawardski, or somebody takes the bit in her mouth and makes a run.
But probably not. :(
Those of us who know Mirai do not think her current training cirumstance is the best situation for her, but it is what it is and we wish for the best.
It's not a good sign that we are halfway to Sochi now and are still stuck with the same skaters from before the last Olympics. Usually the US has some new young skaters to challenge and take over heading into the next Olympics. Instead we still have Mirai, Rachael, Ashley, Caroline and Alissa who quite frankly haven't gotten it done. It's not good that the favorite heading into Nationals is someone who's competed as a Senior at Nationals since 2002. Let's hope that someone next year makes the leap to Seniors and takes the baton and wants to be the one leading the way.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks