4CC Ladies Free Skate

[Ambivalent]

I really don't know about that... the first time I saw Mao's FS I thought, "That is going to be special", and the first time I saw Akiko's FS I spent the rest of the day feeling inspired and excited. Yuna's FS just doesn't do it for me. The music cuts are just awful (why do you need to include that many pieces from 'Les Mis', anyway??), and the choreography is just not that inspired. It would be hard to create inspired choregoraphy for such uninteresting music cuts, but still...

That said, I think that Yuna's execution of technical elements is more polished than Mao's- so it is going to be a nail biter of a competition if both ladies bring it to Worlds!

To each their own.

My wish as a YuNa fan is for her to bring back Arirang and skate the living daylights out of it during next year's Olympic season. I love that program so much.

[SkateNater]

I'm frankly a little bit as concerned about Wagner who has had two very poor skates. My thinking though is that I get why the USFSA wants to get Gold out there because she is extremely talented-and yes has more of a future than Gao. But putting a skater out there before she is ready....And I'm not convinced Gold is ready for that kind of pressure.. Also there's the three spots situation on the line, and I'm sorry I think the entire season and frankly NATIONALS along with Four Continents here all illustrate that Gao very much is at this point right now more prepared to handle that kind of pressure.

No one is every just ready for that kind of pressure. It's either you learn to deal with it or you don't. I think this will calm the "hype" down, which may help her more than anything.

[Mao88]

LADIES FREE SKATE - RESULT & VIDEOS (Updated)

1. Mao ASADA (JPN) - 205.45 Free Skate
2. Akiko SUZUKI (JPN) - 190.08 Free Skate
3. Kanako MURAKAMI (JPN) - 181.03 Free Skate
4. Christina GAO (USA) - 176.28 Free Skate
5. Zijun LI (CHN) - 170.42
6. Gracie GOLD (USA) - 166.66 Free Skate
7. Kaetlyn OSMOND (CAN) - 159.38 Free Skate
8. Agnes ZAWADZKI (USA) - 158.99
9. Amelie LACOSTE (CAN) - 155.08
10. Kexin ZHANG (CHN) - 148.34
11. Julianne SEGUIN (CAN) - 146.58
12. Brooklee HAN (AUS) - 134.90
13. Reyna HAMUI (MEX) - 123.69
14. Chantelle KERRY (AUS) - 118.11
15. Crystal KIANG (TPE) - 109.15
16. Yeon Jun PARK (KOR) - 106.79
17. Melissa BULANHAGUI (PHI) - 106.36
18. Lejeanne MARAIS (RSA) - 105.06
19. Melinda WANG (TPE) - 96.95
20. Ami PAREKH (IND) - 88.39

[Art&Sport]

...

That said, I think that Yuna's execution of technical elements is more polished than Mao's- so it is going to be a nail biter of a competition if both ladies bring it to Worlds!

^^ I would agree that Yu Na's technical elements are more precise, but conversely Yu Na does not bother to develop toe point and more stretch. I also think that Mao has better artistic qualities in that she's better able to convey her emotions than Yu Na. For that reason, Mao captures my emotions more than Yu Na (who has more of a reserved quality). I admire Mao for her courage (especially in reworking her technique with all that entailed). I also admire Mao's heart and determination. I admire Yu Na for her technical excellence and for her strength and courage.

I wish Yu Na could work more on improving her poor layback and spirals and actually try to stretch more and point her feet, as well as open up more emotionally to fully engage with the music and with the audience. If she could do that, she'd go beyond very good to one of the greatest ever.

Akiko is absolutely amazing. Quite often, Akiko doesn't get enough respect when it comes to competing against Mao "Street Cred" Asada.

[bekalc]

No one is every just ready for that kind of pressure. It's either you learn to deal with it or you don't. I think this will calm the "hype" down, which may help her more than anything.

I disagree there are some skaters who are more ready for this kind of pressure than other skaters. I think you can kind of gage it by how said skaters are handling-smaller competitions. Gao this season has been steady and consistent. Putting out 5-6 triple programs every time. Tells me that mentally she's there.

Gracie and a lot of the other US girls-not so much. And I'm sorry it IS a problem if you put someone out there before they are ready.. Gold eventually does need to get out there and learn; however, Olympic spots are on the line, and this decision by USFSA could easily cost an Olympic spot-easily. It can also destroy someone's confidence.

And yes for all athletes there are some who maybe need some time in lower level competitions before they are ready for the bigger competitions...I know in 2008 everyone thought Sui Lu was going to make the Chinese Olympic team because she fit in her prefectly as a beam/floor specialist. But the Chinese sent Sui Lu to a couple of international competitions and even though Sui was performing well domestically, Sui completely bombed the international competitions. So the Chinese decided-not a good idea and went with another girl...Sui though came back the next quad and won several world (and even an Olympic individual beam medal) four years later. Sui was "more ready a year later"... It would have been setting up Sui for failure to put her on the team when she was showing that kind of unsteadiness before...

[Ambivalent]

^^ I would agree that Yu Na's technical elements are more precise, but conversely Yu Na does not bother to develop toe point and more stretch. I also think that Mao has better artistic qualities in that she's better able to convey her emotions than Yu Na. For that reason, Mao captures my emotions more than Yu Na (who has more of a reserved quality). I admire Mao for her courage (especially in reworking her technique with all that entailed). I also admire Mao's heart and determination. I admire Yu Na for her technical excellence and for her strength and courage.

I wish Yu Na could work more on improving her poor layback and spirals and actually try to stretch more and point her feet, as well as open up more emotionally to fully engage with the music and with the audience. If she could do that, she'd go beyond very good to one of the greatest ever.

YuNa has a bad back; always have, always will have. In terms of artistry it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer YuNa for her fire and power, and for me she emotes equally as well as Mao. Neither hold a candle to the Kween () but I feel that with Arirang Yu-Na was getting there artistically. Anyway, I hope Yuna brings life to her programs at Worlds.

Gold has beautiful, beautiful jumps but they count for little if not landed in competition. She needs to know how to compete, to be there and execute even if she doesn't feel like she's skating all that well. That's what has made Ashley so good in the past year. I'm sure you can temper nerves and reign it in. Gold could really be awesome.

[Art&Sport]

Re bekalc post: The entire selection process for men and women in the U.S. is a catch-22. I don't think USFS has necessarily handled it well, but OTOH, it's pretty much a crapshoot. I do think they unnecessarily dissed Christina at Nationals in favor of Agnes and Courtney, which was a mistake. Gracie did redeem herself in her Nats lp, so USFS apparently thought she'd crossed a threshold. One thing that might be helpful for Gracie is ignoring both her critics and all the OTT gushers.

Worlds is looking dicey for both U.S. women and men re obtaining three spots for next year. So I say, forget about any pressure of obtaining three spots and just concentrate on performing with confidence. The skaters each need to work on what's within their control and tune out everything else.

[jamie]

Really enjoyable competition. Superb standard ....although there were some slight disappointments.

I didn't feel like Mao's 2 axel/3 toe was worthy of a UR, her 3 axel was also close enough IMO.
With more practice, the flip/3loop should become stronger and fully rotated too. It was so great to see her go for such high technical quality, but as nice as her program is, I'd prefer something either more fun, or something with more detail and emotion. Still, if she continues on like this, next year she will have a real shot at that gold.

Suzuki has still yet to manage a completely clean FP, had she managed that 2 axel/3toe she'd have scored over 132 which is super. I'm not sure I'll ever see a day where she does two back to back programs with full attack and nailed elements, but that's what it will take for her to medal in Sochi.

Murakami, I see the improvements, and I love the second half of the program but the under rotations are frequent and I don't know what she can really do to fix them.

(Interesting that all of Yamada's former/current students struggle with full rotations - Asada, Murakami, Nakano, Onda)

Osmond and Gold need more time but I feel like Osmond is clearly the more promising and look forward to her maturation.

Gao is surprisingly weak at the double axel, but her flip is the best in the business right now. It's a shame she has no salchow which prevents her from doing a 3/3 in the LP. She has some glaring areas to work on (speed, stiff back and axel) but all of these things can be worked on. She is my favourite US gal at the moment and am still annoyed that there were not marked differences in PCS between her and the likes of Siraj/Hicks/Zawadski at nationals as she is FAR superior.

Li is wowzers, she just really needs a personality and her own style.


All in all, I can't wait to see how Tuk, Sotnikova and Kostner fare against these gals and Kim (?) at worlds.


The short program will be key and I'm not so sure Tuk, Kostner or Suzuki will bring it.

We'll see

[Itcaip]

Great attempt from Mao!!!

Looks like an underroated 3F-3L pays off somehow (8.50).

[koatcue]

Haha Eurosports commentators said this 4CC's put the Euro Championships to shame...and is better than many Worlds. I agree! It's been a killer competition. (Taking both the Men's and Ladies' competitions into account.)

Men were better at 4CC, no doubt...But ladies...I don't know) It was a splatfest in the free for many talemted ladies here in 4CC. I was like about Gracie and Osmond..

[jamie]

It's a little unfair to compare a program that has been allowed to develop and flourish (Mao's Swan Lake) compared to Yu-Na's undercooked programs. It will depend on how Yu-Na sells it in the end; she said herself she wasn't focussing on artistry on her outings this season. Just focusing on her technical elements.

As for Gao, I really hope she continues to improve. Her layout should be:

3F-3T
3Lo
2A-2T
3F
3S
3Lo
2A (or something to this effect).

Her Lz isn't worth it; she should put another 3Lo because that is at least a solid jump for her.

I don't think she has a salchow and her axel is abismal.

I'd leave the lutz, but work on improving the axel and as you said, put in 2 of them to allow for a 3/3

3 flip/3 toe
3 lutz
3 flip
2 axel
3 loop/2toe/2loop
3loop
2 axel/2loop

[Art&Sport]

YuNa has a bad back; always have, always will have. In terms of artistry it is a matter of personal preference. I prefer YuNa for her fire and power, and for me she emotes equally as well as Mao. Neither hold a candle to the Kween () but I feel that with Arirang Yu-Na was getting there artistically. Anyway, I hope Yuna brings life to her programs at Worlds...

What do you mean Yu Na has physical problems with her back that prevents her from developing a better layback? In any case it's her leg and foot position in the layback that are problematic, and not as much her back. How does having a bad back prevent one from developing more stretch and toe point? Definitely artistry is a matter of perception. It's all subjective. When I first saw Yu Na as a junior, I was completely taken in -- she reminded me so much of Michelle Kwan for some reason. But when Yu Na came up as a senior I was less and less enthralled. Michelle herself did not have great leg and foot position in her layback spin, but her back position and arms were always lovely and graceful. Somehow though, Michelle's layback did not seem to detract for me from her overall skating. MK actually improved her leg and foot position one season to the aesthetically classic position (see Angela Nikidinov), but MK wasn't able to sustain it, and ended up compensating by bringing her leg down into a modified back spin position.

The thing Michelle had that no one else has is some indefinable magic. It had to do with the courage to open her heart on the ice and let everyone in, and also her strong work ethic which was the foundation of her consistency. Michelle was always very in touch with her emotions and she let them show without ever holding back. It was the sum of all her parts that made Michelle great. She had good jumps and superb technique, but she wasn't the best at any one technical aspect. She just got the most out of her talent where some of her competitors weren't always able to do that, even if they were more talented in certain areas.

As far as Yu Na, I think she has improved her layback spins, and her expressiveness but she still does not fully capture me emotionally. I'm awed and mesmerized by her technical skills, but overall she doesn't grab my heart with her skating.

[jamie]

Just to point out, Mao could POTENTIALLY do

3 axel/2toe
3flip/3loop
3axel
3 loop/2loop/2loop
2axel/3toe
3 flutz
3 salchow

Insane

Where as, Kim's lack of loop/3 axel and only 2 double axels allowed waters her content to
3 lutz/3toe
3 flip
3 lutz
3 salchow/2toe/2loop
2 axel/2toe
2 axel
repeated flip or salchow

[hurrah]

Sorry to be such a fangirl, but Mao's new costume is perfect!
When I first saw it in a photo, I thought it was too feathery and glittery, but on the big screen, it's a dream.
Tat has really outdone herself this time.

[koatcue]

Interesting competition!
Mao: I love that dynamic choreography at the end of her program. And I admire her for going for a 3A *and* a 3-3 combo!
Akiko: I feel like she's making history as an amazing artistic skater. Amazing choreo and musicality, ever since her West Side Story she's brought it to the table and more. Watching her always makes me happy.
Kanako: interesting skater but I can't quite get excited about her.
Christina: glad she's the top American here; she deserves some recognition. But there's definitely some x-factor missing.

Missed Li, will have to watch on youtube later.

Gracie: wow what a meltdown. Don't understand her PCS either. NO expression at all, other than that deer-in-the-headlights. I couldn't help but remember Ashley's frustrated face as she watched Czisny practice at Worlds. Knowing that those 3 spots were gone no matter how high she placed. Hope it won't be a repeat scenario this year.
In Gracie's defense, she had a nosebleed and she looked really flushed before her program, maybe she's ill.

She was very nervous.. Her nose bleed could be out of nerves..