I feel sorry for Mirai Nagasu

[Layfan]

Who can she go to? Frank C couldn't seem to be able to do much for her, and I'm not sure who else can give her the guidance and help she needs to be successful.

I don't know. Maybe Yuka Sato if Alissa retires. Maybe she should move to Canada and grab Brian Orser. She'd probably have to move to find one of the top coaches and I'm not sure she's willing to do that.

I don't agree that Frank wasn't able to do much for her. In 2010 he worked miracles with a girl who been having two years of difficulites. He completely turned her skating around. After the Olympics, she wasn't able to get the fire back. But her awesome year with Frank to me proved that Mirai is one of those skaters who definitely needs strong guidance. Course, you have to be open to it too - I'm not going to say one way or another about that because I don't know Mirai and have never laid eyes on her in person. But we all saw in 2010 what she was capable of with a great training program.

[mskater93]

I caught 4 in real time (3T, 3Lo, 3F, 2T) without totally focusing on it and you know she just HAD to know it deep down that it was not going to be good.

[Layfan]

I caught 4 in real time (3T, 3Lo, 3F, 2T) without totally focusing on it and you know she just HAD to know it deep down that it was not going to be good.

You could tell that from her wretched expression at the end of the skate. She was shocked at how bad the scores were but she knew right after the last note that she wasn't on the world team and probably not on the podium.

[Icey]

I don't think Mirai is open to leaving home and I am not sure her family can afford to send her elsewhere. Maybe a summer with someone like Krall, working only on jumps, is a possibility. The ur calls at Nationals were really in line with those she got earlier this season at Cup of China, for example. So I don't buy into their being some message to her from the USFSA. She had the message long before nationals. Seemingly, not much progress, if any, was made in addressing that, if, indeed, it was addressed. Maybe it is a problem that, for whatever, reasons is not solvable for her.

[CoyoteChris]

Just watched the clip....of course my seat was right next to the kiss and cry so I saw Mirai but now that I see Ashley's reaction to Mirai's score, I would say that it was classy. It looked that like she had sympathy for the agony of defeat for my poor Mirai. And then she did smile and who wouldnt? Mirai only fell once and looked better than the tentitive falling Ashley. Ashely just realized she did win even after a crappy performance. I saw nothing mean here. Did I see very poor sportsmanship at the event? You bet I did. But not here.

Just watched that video clip. I don't think it's a smirk. More like a grimmace that she won in such an unideal fashion. I think she wanted to win with a clean program. Ashley thrives on competition and winning by default seems so unsatisfying, you know?

[yunasashafan]

Just watched the clip....of course my seat was right next to the kiss and cry so I saw Mirai but now that I see Ashley's reaction to Mirai's score, I would say that it was classy. It looked that like she had sympathy for the agony of defeat for my poor Mirai. And then she did smile and who wouldnt? Mirai only fell once and looked better than the tentitive falling Ashley. Ashely just realized she did win even after a crappy performance. I saw nothing mean here. Did I see very poor sportsmanship at the event? You bet I did. But not here.

I agree. Actually, I thought she was smiling (who wouldn't, she had just won) until she caught Mirai's picture on the side screen. Then the smile disappeared and she appeared sympathetic to Mirai's pain. I thought she was very classy.

[Olympia]

Just watched the clip....of course my seat was right next to the kiss and cry so I saw Mirai but now that I see Ashley's reaction to Mirai's score, I would say that it was classy. It looked that like she had sympathy for the agony of defeat for my poor Mirai. And then she did smile and who wouldnt? Mirai only fell once and looked better than the tentitive falling Ashley. Ashely just realized she did win even after a crappy performance. I saw nothing mean here. Did I see very poor sportsmanship at the event? You bet I did. But not here.

I was thinking of you so close to the kiss and cry and wondering how difficult it was for you during Mirai's moment there. She didn't try to hold in her feelings but was totally upfront about being devastated. Were you there during the men's programs too? Jeremy looked to be pretty close to Mirai's reaction. These are the moments when it must be exceedingly difficult to be right there in the arena as kids crash and burn. It's tough enough watching on TV.

[eyria]

I am sorry for Mirai, but I think her placement was correct. The UR calls shouldn't have been a surprise to anyone, least of all her. She's been getting called on URs consistently throughout this season, last season, and really much of her career. Almost the bigger problem, to me, is the near-complete loss of any joy or emotion in her skating. She performed that long program like a robot. Yes, I know she was sick. But come on. This is Nationals. Pull it together (or withdraw). Just look at Richard Dornbush--he also was sick recently, but still managed to put out a quite decent performance in the long and didn't check out of his music and program the way Mirai did.

And, sorry to say, I cannot really sympathize with her reaction in the kiss 'n cry. You know the cameras will be on you when you're in the K&C at Nationals. It's just the way it is. You have to be prepared, for both the good and the bad. Mirai just let herself get carried away--as she has before--and I have to admit I felt for her coaches, having to drag her off before it got any worse.

[Scrufflet]

I was thinking of you so close to the kiss and cry and wondering how difficult it was for you during Mirai's moment there. She didn't try to hold in her feelings but was totally upfront about being devastated. Were you there during the men's programs too? Jeremy looked to be pretty close to Mirai's reaction. These are the moments when it must be exceedingly difficult to be right there in the arena as kids crash and burn. It's tough enough watching on TV.

I was really taken aback by all the looks of misery backstage. Very little joy among the women, even the winners. The men didn't look thrilled either.

[nevergonnadance]

She's so talented, but, and I don't know the cause, despite having a charming personality she just finds a way not to succeed. I don't know what she's dealing with or if it's simply her mentality. I may be a poor fan for bailing on her. I will always be willing to see her come back - it's just frustrating when she appears to "allow" herself only to get so far and then it unravels.

[fairly4]

no, why should i, she got way too high of score in free skate should have been 10 points lower and shouldn't have finished 7th.
she is still being held up. should have finished 12th.

[Tonichelle]

I will say, though, that her reaction was a whole lot easier to watch than when Johnny had his melt down in 2007.

[mskater93]

Did I see very poor sportsmanship at the event? You bet I did. But not here.

Can you elaborate?

[Layfan]

Just watched the clip....of course my seat was right next to the kiss and cry so I saw Mirai but now that I see Ashley's reaction to Mirai's score, I would say that it was classy. It looked that like she had sympathy for the agony of defeat for my poor Mirai. And then she did smile and who wouldnt? Mirai only fell once and looked better than the tentitive falling Ashley. Ashely just realized she did win even after a crappy performance. I saw nothing mean here. Did I see very poor sportsmanship at the event? You bet I did. But not here.

Thanks for your on-scene perspective! Very interesting.

[mskater93]

She's so talented, but, and I don't know the cause, despite having a charming personality she just finds a way not to succeed. I don't know what she's dealing with or if it's simply her mentality.

She seems to not be internally motivated to train correctly. She had talked in the 2010 season that Evan Lysacek's work ethic and training methods really rubbed off on her at their rink and she trained harder on the sessions they skated together because he spurred her on to run her programs, do double run throughs and really do her absolute best and give 100% effort at every moment. That was the one year she really had it together once she started to physically mature. Maybe she had too much success too early in winning nationals at 14 and has just felt she doesn't have to work hard because she has all that talent. She mentioned in an interview before 2012 Nationals that on the days she was at her old rink in Artesia, she slacked off in training a bit (not her exact words, but it was certainly implied). This year, with her team, I wonder if she worked as hard as she needed to or if she still felt "big fish, little pond" when she was at her rink. While I feel bad for her that she was affected by Nationals Flu-a-palooza this year, I can't help but wonder how well trained she really was and how much better she would have been healthier during the LP given her propensity to under-rotate jumps when under pressure anyway. I guess we won't know...