2014 Olympics: Asada vs. Kim

[Mao88]

Great performance by Mao Asada in the Grand Prix final. Superb return to form. Some technical frailties remain, but at least she is moving in the right direction. Her score of 196.80 from the 2012 GPF is, as far as I can recall, the highest ISU recognised score since MiKi Ando's winning 2011 4CC score of 201.34 (correct me if I am wrong)?

Good comeback by Kim Yu-Na too as well at the NRW Trophy. She is the Serena Williams of the figure skating world. Does't matter how much time she has off, like Serena, she just seems to be able to return and perform as though she had never been away.

What is clear is that if Mao and Kim are able to return to the kind of form they were in at the 2010 Olympics, nobody else currently competing would be able to beat them. At best, Kostner, Wagner, Suzuki, etc would be competing for the bronze.

Until recently, I thought we were heading for a sub-standard Olympics ladies competition with Kostner and Wagner as the main competitors. However, the performances of Mao and Kim have shown that that may not be the case. Hence, can Mao & Kim return to their 2010 form and produce another epic battle for the Olympic title?

[sky_fly20]

a more appropriate title would be battle of the veterans
the ladies will have veterans vying for the podium
Carolina, Yuna, Mao, Akiko etc.

a bit sad for me none of the new girls have that much chance more likely 2018 is for them
Julia, Gracie, Liza they don't have much reputation so highest could be a top 5 finish

[Mao88]

a more appropriate title would be battle of the veterans
the ladies will have veterans vying for the podium
Carolina, Yuna, Mao, Akiko etc.

a bit sad for me none of the new girls have that much chance more likely 2018 is for them
Julia, Gracie, Liza they don't have much reputation so highest could be a top 5 finish

One of the newbies could do a Sarah Hughes, but I doubt it. 2014 will most likely be too soon for them (not enough time left to get their PCS up, and they all seem to be battling growth/confidence issues). 2018 is more realistic. Nevertheless, should that be the case, then at least we get to see them compete for an extra quad, as should one of them win the Olympics, then they may do a Baiul/Lipinski and simply retire from competition

[Skater Boy]

It could be Yuna and Mao but Mao still has jump problems. You have to factor in Wagner, Suzuki, Kostner and perhaps a Russian baby ballerina. should everyone tumble watch Korpi take a bronze. But I hope not her marks for pcs are astronomically generous imho. she's good but she is not that good and her jump content is significantly weaker than the other contenders. or pretenders.

[pangtongfan]

a more appropriate title would be battle of the veterans
the ladies will have veterans vying for the podium
Carolina, Yuna, Mao, Akiko etc.

Lets be real. If Yu Na is in the kind of shape she seemed to be in, in only her season debut someone like Suzuki is NO threat to her whatsoever. For that matter neither is Carolina if she is only doing the jumps she was at Worlds last year. Mao meanwhile is managing huge scores without even impressive jump content, which is bad news for the others, especialy the likes of Suzuki and lutzless Kostner. So OP is right, if Kims first return back and Maos progress or any indication, those will be the only two battling for gold, unless Wagner continues her improvement spike and the super consistency she was starting to show. Wagner is more of a threat for Sochi tan either Suzuki or Kostner I think too, although we have to see how Kostner comes back to know for sure, but with Kim coming back and Mao standing up her programs enough to get huge scores again, she had better plan on putting the triple lutz back in her programs.

[cosmos]

I doubt it. I don't think it was Mao's great performance except the last minute. She is being held up by judges. We will see who are going to be main contenders of YuNa at at the beginning of next season.

[sky_fly20]

Lets be real. If Yu Na is in the kind of shape she seemed to be in, in only her season debut someone like Suzuki is NO threat to her whatsoever. For that matter neither is Carolina if she is only doing the jumps she was at Worlds last year. Mao meanwhile is managing huge scores without even impressive jump content, which is bad news for the others, especialy the likes of Suzuki and lutzless Kostner. So OP is right, if Kims first return back and Maos progress or any indication, those will be the only two battling for gold, unless Wagner continues her improvement spike and the super consistency she was starting to show. Wagner is more of a threat for Sochi tan either Suzuki or Kostner I think too, although we have to see how Kostner comes back to know for sure, but with Kim coming back and Mao standing up her programs enough to get huge scores again, she had better plan on putting the triple lutz back in her programs.

well Mao hasn't had that much progress on her jumps she is still reworking it, but she gets huge scores but I wonder how it will impact Mao's score once Yuna competes at Worlds who looks in great shape, Lutzless Kostner we can see how teh scores are comparable now with a 3 Triple/4 Triple jump Mao can outscore her best. Yuna is still miles ahead of the rest

I badly want any of the new girls to be a contender at least by bronze
Julia has been hampered by injuries and delayed her momentum, Grace has a bit of consistency issues and Tuk suffers from very low PCS scores

[aftertherain]

Everyone seems to like to forget that Kostner only watered down her jumps last year because of an injury. They also like to forget that she has landed 3/3 and 3/3/2 in the past and very well could have regained them.

[jiggs]

Everyone seems to like to forget that Kostner only watered down her jumps last year because of an injury. They also like to forget that she has landed 3/3 and 3/3/2 in the past and very well could have regained them.

Thank you!

I saw her land perfect 3f3t and several 3lz in practice at Europeans in Sheffield in January. Of course, pulling them off in competition is a different thing, but she is definitely still able to land those jumps.

[FSGMT]

If Yu-Na is back to her 2010 shape and the nerves don't play against her, with her PCS at the moment she would be practically unbeatable: she's the only one in the world who's able to receive +2 in every element and 9s! Only Mao with this jumps AND the 3A can be a treat to Yu-Na, without it she's not a Gold contender, with her UR jumps and edge calls. Then, the Bronze could be a battle between Akiko, Wagner and Kostner (Yes, she's still able to land 3F+3T and 3Lz!), I think that Lipnitskaya is really not at the level, nor Tuktamysheva or Sotnikova: the first doesn't have the PCS, Liza is weak in her spins and Adelina doesn't have the consistency, only Gold among the young girls could be a factor I think...

[sky_fly20]

If Yu-Na is back to her 2010 shape and the nerves don't play against her, with her PCS at the moment she would be practically unbeatable: she's the only one in the world who's able to receive +2 in every element and 9s! Only Mao with this jumps AND the 3A can be a treat to Yu-Na, without it she's not a Gold contender, with her UR jumps and edge calls. Then, the Bronze could be a battle between Akiko, Wagner and Kostner (Yes, she's still able to land 3F+3T and 3Lz!), I think that Lipnitskaya is really not at the level, nor Tuktamysheva or Sotnikova: the first doesn't have the PCS, Liza is weak in her spins and Adelina doesn't have the consistency, only Gold among the young girls could be a factor I think...

Julia scored a 188+ at Finlandia, she did almost clean FS
she was hampered by 3 injuries this season, if she gets back in top shape next season, dont count her out

[FSGMT]

Julia scored a 188+ at Finlandia, she did almost clean FS
she was hampered by 3 injuries this season, if she gets back in top shape next season, dont count her out

Yes, but even if she lands 7 triples like last season (but don't forget that she has still to face puberty) her PCS would be at least 8-9 points lower than Mao, Yu-Na or Kostner: the best she can score (but there's always the home inflation, we don't have to forget that the Olympics are in Russia!) is around 125, Ashley, Mao, Yu-Na and Kostner are all able to do better. She could fight for a place in the top 5, if she's in perfect shape, I think.

[l'etoile]

I personally hope Mao would get her problems(I almost said ****) under control and be like 2006-2008 season again when she and Yuna were literally back to back. If then, this can only do wonders for the sport. Well, maybe not fandom-wise though.

[adamanna]

Why are you people even talking about Kostner? As much as I loooove her as a performer - but she absolutely cannot hold the pressure. And the fact that she managed to win Worlds, with Leonova for silver - that just indicate how poor that competition was. So poor that finally Kostner was confident for once. If she returns to competitive skating (which I doubt), she will certainly fall at least three times at the Olympics.

Hence, can Mao & Kim return to their 2010 form and produce another epic battle for the Olympic title?

I think they will produce!! There's just no other contenders. Wagner needs more strong technical content. Liza needs a choreography (I don't understand why in Russia only pair teams have decent choreography in their programs), Julia needs musicality, maturity and also choreography. Murakami's lutzes and flips scare me, I don't think that technique is going to hold under pressure and nerves. I think the battle is surely going to be between Kim and Asada.
As for technical content of Asada's skating - I believe in her ability to gain it back. For Olympics, she will be motivated!

[FSGMT]

Why are you people even talking about Kostner? As much as I loooove her as a performer - but she absolutely cannot hold the pressure. And the fact that she managed to win Worlds, with Leonova for silver - that just indicate how poor that competition was. So poor that finally Kostner was confident for once. If she returns to competitive skating (which I doubt), she will certainly fall at least three times at the Olympics.
I think they will produce!! There's just no other contenders. Wagner needs more strong technical content. Liza needs a choreography (I don't understand why in Russia only pair teams have decent choreography in their programs), Julia needs musicality, maturity and also choreography. Murakami's lutzes and flips scare me, I don't think that technique is going to hold under pressure and nerves. I think the battle is surely going to be between Kim and Asada.

She actually will: next weekend, Golden Spin of Zagreb.
And, the thing that Russian pair teams have good choreography... (cough... Morozov... cough)