The Inevitable Mirai Thread

i'm still stunned that mirai was snubbed for the world team, too. and that exhibition has me bawling. a million depressions right now.

Mirai's gala performance was just beautiful! She will rise above.

Myla said:

This petition is pointless, the process of selection is clear, they do not rely on only one competition. It would be stupidity if they did this. That's ok the Nationals is a very important competition, but they already selected people who hasnt even competed Nationals, like Michelle Kwan in 2006, based on her previous results. Skaters like Ashley, 2-time Nationals champion (the two past ones), 4th and 5th at last worlds and earned the 3 spots, cannot be forgotten because of a single competition. And she has done well during the 2013-2014 season, it's not that she didnt do anything during these previous months. I think the USFSA already has a number of skaters pre-selected before Nationals, based on the results during that season. Of course they would be in doubt between one or two and then use the Nationals to clarify and see who is ready or not. What seems is that Ashley and Gracie Gold were locks for the team, despite their positions, but of course, a 10th place, wouldnt put them in there. But a 4th, 5th place wouldnt be so far, since it would be some details that would make a difference on that day.

HOWEVER, I would send Mirai, but instead of Polina, not Wagner. To me, Polina is such a young, inexperienced girl who still needs to be more mature to handle the pressure of the Olympics. I think she will be the 3rd American there. It was nice to see her skate, but not so graceful and delightful as Sasha Cohen was at her age when was sent to the Olympics. Polina, God willing, will have better seasons to come, and I think she will be at her peak in the next years, she is not completely ready now to face the Games. She would be sent to Worlds instead, then get more experience and maturity.

That is what I think, but maybe we'll have many surprises in February.

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I agree with you about Polina, I think they are putting to much pressure on her and I think she was overscored at Nationals, I can just tell she's not ready for the games and I don't know but I think the main reason they picked her over Mirai is because of the Russian babies and the U.S wants to rival that but Polina has like zero senior experience and Julia and Adelina have been in the senior circuit for about 2-3 years plus they also medaled in Junior Worlds something that Polina hasn't done yet. Polina is fresh out of the junior circuit without any international experience and I think she needs to go to Junior Worlds before she goes to Senior Worlds but the decision has already been made and I have to respect that. I can't even believe that Mirai can't go to Worlds it's just unbelievable they are putting way too much pressure on Polina like she's only fifteen let her improve on her skills first this is ridiculous that a mature skater like Mirai who can perform under pressure very well is getting nothing It's gonna be so hard for me to get over this. :disapp:

tulosai said:

I don't care what anyone says or thinks, she really is SUCH a beautiful skater and person.

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Well said. One thing I cant stand in people, famous or not, is arrogance. I have met some skating folks who are very full of themselves. There is a difference between being proud and being arrogant. Mirai is beautiful inside, and out, as well as on the ice. There are some past skaters who were incredible. I would not walk a block to see them perform for free now. But I love standing in the concourse watching Mirai sign autogaghs and talking with her fans .

auga said:

How was Mirai robbed? They are very clear on the fact that medal placement does not guarantee you a spot on the team. One swallow does not make a summer. They have to consider who is likely to do better at Sochi, and Ashley has been the leading US lady for about 3 years now and developed her skills, while Mirai has languished and gone backwards in many respects.

Even when Mirai is clean, she loses to skaters who aren't clean. That's her problem - no one else's.

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Not mention the fact that she doesn't have a coach. She made it quite easy for the USFSA to make this decision.

riceplate said:

Get your box of Puffs ready

Mirai's exhibition:
http://youtu.be/-5d8nygK2nk

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No Puffs, but my Kleenex will work just fine.

OH MY GOD! I'm having horrible flashbacks to Michelle's "Fields of Gold" EX in 2002 in SLC. I hardly ever cry over figure skating anymore but this is heartbreaking...

Figure 8's said:

If they want to maintain the 3 spots, they won't sent Marai. Ask yourself, what has Marai done for US Figure skating lately? I feel bad for Marai but she has had so many chances already and has never stepped up.

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Yep. And I say that as someone who is not at all an Ashley fan.

Petition for Mirai : http://www.change.org/petitions/u-s...-patricia-st-peter-send-mirai-nagasu-to-sochi

just heart breaking

travelbug said:

Aww
snip

ETA: What was that music she was skating to at the Gala? Anyone know? (I'm sure someone does...LOL)

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Mirai was skating to "On Golden Pond". If you want to have a real cry, watch that movie. The loons on the lake (Squam Lake in New Hampsire - fabulous place!), estranged father/daughter, great actors, beautiful scenery, etc., along with that beautiful music...it's just one of "those" movies. Have a big box of tissues by your side!

kzarah said:

Just want to say that Mirai was screws and Ashley Wagner will be a poor representation. Even a clean skate in the short program will not put her in the top six. Mirai would make the top 8 at least. What a shame. However Mirai is an alternate event that Ashly is injured.

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Very unlikely. Mirai is not a top 8 skater at all. Especially with this poor choreography. She would need to be completely clean, with no underrotations, and have a lot of other skaters fail to get top 8.

ugh I'm so sad

If we're going to take the 'body of work' argument for why Ashley should go over Mirai, then why is Polina being sent? She has essentially no senior experience. And if we're keeping Polina because she 'earned it' with her second place finish (which is also based on the assumption that those scorings were accurate and fair, which...heh.) then Ashley shouldn't be sent because she simply didn't deliver at Nationals. I think from either way that you look at it, the logic doesn't work and Mirai should be on the team. Personally, I've never really liked Ashley's skating but I don't actually have a problem with her being put on the Olympic team because over the last few years, she HAS been doing well. What I do have a problem with is her replacing Mirai instead of replacing Polina, who I don't really foresee being the wunderkind USFS seems to think she'll be. The Olympics is NOT the place to test a greenhorn like Polina. I'm all for seeing what potential Polina has but we're sending this conspicuously junior skater as our representative to go up against the best of the world at the Olympics? Polina's jumps were nice but every other element in her performances were just not on that world-class senior level.

Also, I was at all the events and at the exhibition, and let me tell you, nobody captured the hearts and the unanimous support of the audience like Mirai did.

Can anyone clarify the time deduction? I assume she went long - but by how much. I doubt she could hear the music over the ovation - that seems unfair to me

clayray3290 said:

If we're going to take the 'body of work' argument for why Ashley should go over Mirai, then why is Polina being sent? She has essentially no senior experience. And if we're keeping Polina because she 'earned it' with her second place finish (which is also based on the assumption that those scorings were accurate and fair, which...heh.) then Ashley shouldn't be sent because she simply didn't deliver at Nationals. I think from either way that you look at it, the logic doesn't work and Mirai should be on the team. Personally, I've never really liked Ashley's skating but I don't actually have a problem with her being put on the Olympic team because over the last few years, she HAS been doing well. What I do have a problem with is her replacing Mirai instead of replacing Polina, who I don't really foresee being the wunderkind USFS seems to think she'll be. The Olympics is NOT the place to test a greenhorn like Polina. I'm all for seeing what potential Polina has but we're sending this conspicuously junior skater as our representative to go up against the best of the world at the Olympics? Polina's jumps were nice but every other element in her performances were just not on that world-class senior level.

Also, I was at all the events and at the exhibition, and let me tell you, nobody had captured the hearts and the unanimous support of the audience like Mirai did.

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Wow, I think that was the best post I have read all year. Intelligent, articulate, and absolutely correct. Well done!

ivy said:

Can anyone clarify the time deduction? I assume she went long - but by how much. I doubt she could hear the music over the ovation - that seems unfair to me

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One of the TV commentators said "one second" over time.

I don't know why everyone is making it out to be such a controversy that Ashley made the team. If you look a the selection criteria, Ashely is clearly the first pick for the team and Gracie clearly the second. If there is any controversy it is in picking Polina over Mirai. Other than Nationals, the only competition used for selection that Polina competed in was 2013 JGP which is the lowest weighted competition and she only finished 4th. Even though the current Nationals is weighted the most, I think the fact that they finished so close and the fact that Mirai competed in 3 of the other competitions (all with more weight than Polina's one) that she should have been picked.

Has Mirai accepted the Four Continents bid?

Here's a fancam of Mirai's gala: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSxzN3Aga9g

You get a better view of the opening standing ovation.

clayray3290 said:

If we're going to take the 'body of work' argument for why Ashley should go over Mirai, then why is Polina being sent?

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I fear it's because there is a huge difference between Ashley's skills and Mirai's skills...but not that much difference between Mirai and Polina, so they opted not to violate the medal order even further. Polina's tech content is hugely above Mirai's. And as for PCS, it pains me to say all this, as I was once a Mirai fan based on her flow, her grace which, while not quite pure and balletic in the way of Mao, Sasha, or Alyssa, seemed easy and natural. But she just hasn't evolved since 2010.

Last year, I was dying for her to make the worlds team. The year before, extremely so. This year, I realized I didn't particularly care - because, I suppose, I finally realized that she is just not going to do anything at worlds/Olympics. She's not the girl who in 2010 was medal potential. She's lost the jumps. And after four years, you would have expected her skating skills to improved, and her other PCS qualities. But they haven't. I honestly cannot say that Mirai has better SS than Polina, a brand new debutante still on the junior circuit. That's quite telling. You'd expect girls younger than her to beat her in TES, but not to beat or come close to her in PCS. Even clean at CoR, Mirai's score was low due mainly to poor PCS, and it's not just one event, there's a trend of Mirai earning these scores for years, clean or not.

A clean Ashley would have beaten Polina. Mirai just isn't in Ashley's league, a statement which would have pained me to make 2 or 3 years ago, but it's true. I used to just think Mirai was struggling mostly because of a confidence problem or concentration problem (or as Dave Lease says, insufficiently directed training), accentuated by growing out a little. I used to think she could just "get it together" mentally, work on her jumps, and things would be all right again. But it's not just mental focus or rotation problems, it's that she hasn't developed as a skater since 2010. Looking at her skating, I can't say what she has worked on in all this time. People always said she had potential, and I thought that too and loved for her it... but potential doesn't transform into brilliance by itself. In many ways, she seems to have gone downhill even after skating clean: her speed was low, the choreography just wasn't there, there were too many rest points, and she's lost the quality to perform that she so clearly had in her Pirates Olympic programme.

Emotionally I would have sent Mirai, but logically, Polina is the better choice. Yes, it is a massive step-up for her from JGP, but we don't have any evidence she will perform worse than Mirai has over the last four years. It'll give her experience, and sadly it does seem like Mirai is the past. Polina did outscore Mirai, after all, and unfortunately Mirai does not have a glittering resume to brandish that would fortify her case against the newbie. There's a gulf between Ashley and Mirai in terms of skating talent; not so much between Polina and Mirai, and clearly not enough for them to go against the medal order a second time. Had Mirai come 2nd, I think she would be on the team. She didn't.