Guts. Whatever you may want to say about her, she does have that quality in spades.Originally Posted by Mathman
Guts. Whatever you may want to say about her, she does have that quality in spades.
I really do admire these athletes for their discipline and amazing will.
Ashley didn't skate that badly. She fell twice but she did not give up ; she skated the program though the last miute was obviously hard.
The way people were talking about Ashley's FS, I was dreading watching it. But I agree with Skater Boy that was not a terrible skate. Far from her best, but she kept pushing through the end, even though she was clearly in pain for the last minute. And she had guts to keep going.
And as for Ashley's PCS, it did go down from 64 in TEB to 62 here.
I just finished watching the Ladies FS. Mao's FS was WOW and her step sequence at the end was really beautiful.
It was so nice to see her smiling and so happy in the K&C. She has been through so much and I am glad she is
skating well and back on track heading into the Olympics.
Congrats to Mao, Ashley and Akiko!
I think what shows Ashley is a fighter and a good competitor, and that this was a fluke rather than her being a headcase or headed down that path, are the mistakes she made. She fell on the salchow early in the program, then nailed the jumps directly following, she hit all her hardest jumps, the two flips and the lutz, and with the loop she knew she needed in combination, the mistake came after landing the loop, and she came back to land a 3f after such a hard fall at the very end of the program, that's gutsy and a lesser skater would have doubled it or fallen again. I for one am not that concerned. Further, there were no pops, and an early mistake did not seem to affect her for most of the rest of it until that late fall.
Well adrenalin is a natural analgesic, pain often really sets in a few hours afterwards- but yes I agree it was a nasty fall...good on her to finish the program.
well, only time will tell whether it was a "fluke" or not. Yes, she was a fighter, but the mistakes did happen in the first place. One cannot be perfect all the time, of course, but it's all about delivering when it counts most.
Ashley's pcs is a joke. Suzuki has much stronger skating skills than Ashely with blazing speed and huge amount of ice coverage.
Finally got around to watching Ashley's skate. Oh my, that was such a nasty fall on the 2A!
I admire that she fought through that program and didn't give up. I feel like a lot of skaters don't have the determination she has after they make a major mistake.
Even a few of my favorite skaters-- top ranked ones-- when they fall, they just get up, sigh, skate around for two seconds, and then decide to give up; and they finish the program using their raw talent rather than relying on a mixture of determination and talent. So it is wonderful to see that she fought through that program !!
Well, I still loved Ashley this competition. She has intensity, her spins are fast her jumps are high her choreo is terrific and she performs every single note of music. I know she's not some phenom who came out of nowhere with prodigy skating skills or a signature jump or whatever but I feel she has been top rate this season. She has been the skater whose performances I want to rewatch this season. I sure hope she recovers from her LP here and that she is brilliant at nats and worlds.
I haven't been able to watch Mao properly as the youtube feed I got had no music. But I did watch her SP and was very happy for her. Still, I have to admit that Ashley's SP did more for me. She was faster and just more commanding. In any case, I have enjoyed watching both of these skaters this season so thanks to them both and I hope they do well for the rest of the season.
Still have to watch the other four.
Withdrawal of Ashley Wagner (USA) from Exhibition Gala [ISU media advisory]:
Ashley Wagner (USA) has withdrawn from the Gala Exhibition at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final due to injury. According to the medical bulletin, Wagner sustained an injury to her left hip and right knee resulting from a fall during the Free Skating.
http://isu.informz.net/ISU/data/imag...er_ExhGala.pdf
(Sorry if my post is redundant -- have not read the whole thread. ETA: I don't know whether her gala withdrawal is something new for the thread -- I am aware that her injury already has been discussed above.)
Last edited by golden411; 12-08-2012 at 08:21 PM.
It's the difference between being US #1 vs Japan #2, and was #3 for a while before Miki left. Yes, I know Akiko beat Mao at Worlds last season, but Mao is still pretty much always Japan #1, and though it is changing now and Kanako's UR problems seem to be growing, the difference in status between Akiko and Kanako is not that large. Akiko's PCS not being higher is for the same reason Kozuka or Oda's PCS is not higher. Ashley didn't have great PCS until she was US number 1 and started winning lots of medals/competitions.
Uh-oh. I hope she recovers soon! Now I don't want to watch her free skate.
Thoughts:
- Mao was as beautiful as ever. I am sorry to hear that she may have been more solemn/sad at this skate for the memory of her mother. Deserving victor.
- Ashley - oh, as another poster said, I too am not a huge fan of her as a skater BUT that truly was a terrible fall on the 2A and she is a very brave girl. I hope she is OK. And yes, the reports made her overall skate sound worse than it actually was.
- I wish Kanako Murakami had found some way to squeeze into this competition. I found myself missing her and imagine that her inclusion would have made the event better.
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