2013 Worlds Ladies FS

Yuna talks about what it's like to get 3 spots for Korea:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbCa06i9_k#t=02m05s

It clearly means a lot to her. I think she really enjoys mentoring her "little Korean skaters"

neraiselle said:

And you don't think this is an opportunity to add depth?

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Well hopefully it turns out that way. Usually it doesnt though.

I was there tonight.

It was such...a wild and crazy night.

Early on, impressed with Liza, Adelina, and especially Zijun Li who had the first big standing ovation of the night. She was absolutely darling.

So sad for Akiko today.

When the final group came on, the crowd got really excited.

Kanako had the second best performance of the night for me. Great program, great performance, and though the single axel was an obvious error, it was still terrific.

Not sure how many people watching it online/televised realized, but Kostner had a bloody nose and there was a looong delay before her name was called as she was holding her nose trying to stop it. She was dripping blood throughout her performance onto the ice (some of the ice girls afterwards were trying to scratch it out), and that's why she was holding her nose during the camel spin.

Anyway, one by one, in the final group, each skater had some error that marred the performance--Kostner with her pop and last second fall; Kanako with her popped axel; Mao's error on the flip and triple axel (this was more obvious than in the SP); Osmond and two falls; Ashley and her freakish fall in the footwork. So by the time Yu-Na came on, it was like...is Yu-Na going to win by default? How will she win it? With a mistake or two?

But no, she was perfect. So calm, so lovely, so smooth. Every jump landed was smooth as butter. It was gorgeous. And with every jump, people got more and more excited. And by the time she was in her final spin, people had started to stand up. Everyone was standing once she hit her final pose. The atmosphere was electric. It was wonderful, and I had an amazing time. Congrats to all the skaters.

Also: delighted that Ashley and Gracie got three spots for the US! I was reallyyyyyy worried for Ashley after that fall on her footwork.

My favorite performances of the night: Yu-Na, Kanako, Zijun
Honorable mentions: Elizaveta, Gracie, and Adelina

ks777 said:

so that means they have no depth.

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The reason why there are so many talented skaters 'who have depth' in US or Japan or Russia is not because they are born that way but because figure skating is relatively popular and supported in the country. For Korea, by having one brilliant skater, they can send more skaters and it might cause more and more 'naturally talented' young children to join this sport. And all those young skaters can grow from experiences in those big events. So I think there's a point in the rule.

ks777 said:

I am sorry but I'd rather see Russia get 3 spots than Korea.

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It's totally childish to display this level of jealousy over the 3 spots Kim earned faire and square. If you wanted 3 spots for another country, they should have just skated better instead of now accusing other skaters to have taken away their spots. That's ridiculous. Korea earned them as much as any other country would have earned them with good placements.

Gymfan15 said:

Thanks for the link to the medal ceremony!

That's cool that they had a live choir there to sing the anthem. They must have prepared a bunch of the top tunes beforehand...imagine the scrambling if Denis Ten had won last night?

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I'm sure someone could formulate the existence of the choir as evidence of the Choir Conspiracy

I can see the up and down sides of Yuna having qualified 3 Korean skaters for the Olympics, but overall I think it's pretty cool. (Would that Australia could produce a Yuna! Lol)

ks777 said:

so that means they have no depth.

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Weren't some of those skaters in question to young to go to Worlds last year, so how is their fault. There are minimum qualifications for worlds, I believe there may be so for the Olympics too.....

I say kudos to Kim for showing up here, she could have come back for the Olympics only like many other comeback people. Hecks its not like Kim even has to worry much about making her Olympic team.

But she choose to compete here and earn some spots for the others.

Oreo said:

Medal ceremony!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yM0jRlg7sw0

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Thanks so much! This is grand. I love the sung anthem.

I'm also pleased to see Kostner smiling so broadly. That's very nice and sportsmanlike. She looks as if she's happy with everything she's done and not moping about winning silver instead of gold.

Mrs. P said:

Eh I don't agree. As I said, I think SoYeon Park and HaeJin Kim have a lot of promise. They didn't do that well at Jr. Worlds, but given their weird situation of having to skate WELL after their warm out due to the nuances of Milan's arena (i.e. the organization sucked) I'm not surprised that it didn't fare well with them.

Yuna basically gave these young girls the opportunity to get key experience. They have the goods -- SoYeon is a beautiful skater with great posture, musicality etc...and HaeJin is a little firecracker.

Also as I noted earlier---the burden for one skater to get three spots is VERY high. In fact, has any other skater managed to get three spots in the past? I honestly don't think so....

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Ditto. We need to remember that Korea is not a big skating country, at least not until Yuna came around. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but there's practically no, or was no, infastructure to really support athletes in their continued growth. I mean, Yuna herself had to find coaching elsewhere because she wasn't able to get what she needed at home.

There are Olympic-level skaters in ALL countries, but what separates the successful from the unsuccessful is a strong support network and opportunity Yuna has made HUGE inroads in giving Korean skaters so much of that, and thanks to her, it will be possible for the talented skaters of her country to get the support and experience they need in order to succeed on the World level.

It's a continuing cycle. Athlete does well, earns support and visiblity for their sport. That in turn attracts more athletes, and those athletes attract better coaching. Those athletes do well, and the cycle is perpetuated. It's hard to get it started, but once you have a solid system in place it's easy to continue.

Look at gymnastics. Successful countries used to be confined to just a few. Then the Soviet Union fell apart and the talented coaches started migrating. Bela Karolyi moved to the US, Mary Lou became a star, and gymnastics BOOMED in the US. More coaches and gymnasts did well, the gymnasts became coaches themselves, and are now coaching the next generation of Olympic champions. The USA became extremely strong and have been able to establish a strong support system so that when the "foreign imports" retire, they will still have many talented coaches left to foster the next generation.

And look at Australia. They weren't really anything special in gymnastics until Sydney got the '00 Olympics and put out offers for a head coach to start developing their program. Peggy Liddick answered the call and Australia went from basically an un-known to having a team medal at Worlds and a World Champion, among other things. Because of that, more kids are doing gymnastics in Australia and their program is continuing to thrive.

It can work the other way too; Romania and Russia suffered a setback when they lost coaches and funding after the Soviet Union fell apart. But they have been putting their programs back together and because of their recent successes, they're starting to get more support at home which means better results down the road.

Sorry, this post is way long, but I had to ramble!

gold12345 said:

Tough break for Russia. There remains too much of an emphasis on getting a wide variety of countries into the field as opposed to truly all the best skaters. Russia has 3 high quality ladies who could make or come close to the final warmup group on any given day.

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ITA. I've argued this before. It might be better if there was a senior B tour that was more developed structured and meaningful where talented skaters could work on developing and gaining experience. The most talented could work their way to the top senior level where skaters should be able to rise on talent and not based on country affiliation. That's the way it's done in some other sports, but I know fs is a different sport. Still it is mired in the 19th century and hasn't adapted to changing times and to the tremendous talented depth among skaters today.

I too wonder what it was re Ashley? Maybe the nerves killed her leg strength by that point in the program? I was hoping Ashley would return fully to the form she had when the season began. This fp is so great for her style of skating. I wonder if she's gonna go to WTT or rest up and start preparing for next season? Still, Ash is a fighter and she didn't give in. Wow, there are so many storylines for next season already. It was wonderful to see how Gracie has matured over the course of this season and how she's learned to control her nerves and to begin developing more expression. She has a long way to go, but if she could just work with someone on dance training, core strength, posture, and expressiveness, she could be truly amazing combined with her ice coverage and superb technique.

Li of China is a marvel. She's still immature, but her talent shines. She does need to receive more polishing and training on the basics, and maybe develop more height, because her quick rotations are fabulous. She also needs to mature carefully without being thrust into the pressure spotlight too soon and get worn down like some of the Russian ladies.

About Yu Na, once again, it was seeing the emotion in her face at the end of her performance which really touched me. She seems to be a shy, reserved person which means that it doesn't seem to come natural for her to share emotion through movement. I do think it was a good program for her which highlights her technical strengths, but I always wish she would have gotten help just learning how to point her toes. It would make her look so much more fantastic on her jumps with just that small touch. Watch the gorgeous air positions of skaters like Carolina who point their toes and keep their legs tight and stretched during rotations. Yu Na has improved her spins but they have always been the weakest part of her skating.

But once again, I salute Yu Na -- she achieved Queen status in my eyes with her amazing come back. She did her duty for her country and I hope she will move forward and be happy in life.

Mrs. P said:

Yuna talks about what it's like to get 3 spots for Korea:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSbCa06i9_k#t=02m05s

It clearly means a lot to her. I think she really enjoys mentoring her "little Korean skaters"

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I understand that but the Olympics only comes every 4yrs. Some really good skaters won't make it just because they happened to be from the US, Russia or Japan. I just want to see the world's best at the Olympics.

I am not blaming the Korean jr skaters at all. All I am saying is that one skater placing in the top2 earns 3 spots is weird. I am questioning the rules.

ks777 said:

I understand that but the Olympics only comes every 4yrs. Some really good skaters won't make it just because they happened to be from the US, Russia or Japan. I just want to see the world's best at the Olympics.

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We would all like to see the world's best at the Olympics, but YuNa earned her country three spots fair and square. I feel for the Russians, but they couldn't do what was necessary to retain their three spots.
Plus, figure skating is very new to South Korea, so their up and coming talents will most likely be very very young. I suppose the rise in popularity would have started in around 2005 or so when YuNa was on the junior circuit. That leaves about 7 years for new skaters to emerge onto the competitive scene, but we have to remember that figure skaters tend to start skating very early.

ks777 said:

I understand that but the Olympics only comes every 4yrs. Some really good skaters won't make it just because they happened to be from the US, Russia or Japan. I just want to see the world's best at the Olympics.

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So you have a problem with national selection for 2 or 3 spots for worlds too? Because that's the same principle applying there. A lot of A class skaters from Japan will never go to worlds because the field is so deep. So what do you want to do? Exclude the minor countries from the event?

ks777 said:

I understand that but the Olympics only comes every 4yrs. Some really good skaters won't make it just because they happened to be from the US, Russia or Japan. I just want to see the world's best at the Olympics.

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I too would rather see the third Russian lady as opposed to the second/third Korean, second Canadian, etc. On the other hand, the rules are laid out. Russian skaters have been successful for the past three seasons at getting those spots. They could've got them this year. They didn't.

ImaginaryPogue said:

I too would rather see the third Russian lady as opposed to the second/third Korean, second Canadian, etc. On the other hand, the rules are laid out. Russian skaters have been successful for the past three seasons at getting those spots. They could've got them this year. They didn't.

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Eh. I really like SoYeon Park. I know she isn't as technically good as Julia Lipinskaia, but she has way better musicality and flow in her skating. And she does have a 3S-3T combo, so it' snot like she's some B skater.

ks777 said:

I am not blaming the Korean jr skaters at all. All I am saying is that one skater placing in the top2 earns 3 spots is weird. I am questioning the rules.

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The Russian girls had every opportunity and all the talent in the world to win three spots, but they squandered it.

Re the questions about 3 spots for Korea, what exactly is the rule? Is it that one skater must come in first place to win 3 spots?

In any case, if Korea gets to send three skaters next year the combined placements of two must equal 13 or they go down to 2 skaters the following year. If the two don't reach a certain limit, then they'll be reduced to one. Will Yu Na come back to the rescue then in 2017?

I always felt I would like to see the best 30 or 40 athletes, or however large the field may be designated as, in any given event (and that goes for all sports, summer or winter). Even if it was 35 Americans or 35 Soviets if those were the 35 best I would want that to be the field. I personally am not a fan of the restriction rules per country and other qualifying methods. I was not charmed like many were by the infamous Eric the Eel swimmer at the 2000 Olympics, who could have potentially drowned had there not been lifeguards galore around the pool, while World class athletes capable of winning medals were left off as they just missed out with 2 per country max per event and finishing 3rd or 4th at their Trials competition. I am not charmed by athletes I could beat at that they are doing with both legs and both arms tied (and believe me I have no illusions I am an Olympic athlete) with ease being at the Olympics, just because they happen to be from a country undeveloped in a sport. I think there should be different levels an subcategories of competition that gives any country a chance to participate and work their way up until they develop athlets worthy of competing at the World and especialy Olympic level.

Eclair said:

So you have a problem with national selection for 2 or 3 spots for worlds too? Because that's the same principle applying there. A lot of A class skaters from Japan will never go to worlds because the field is so deep. So what do you want to do? Exclude the minor countries from the event?

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I am not following your question.