Was Mirai Nagasu screwed over by the USFS?
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Just wanted to say I love Agnes's last few years' costumes much more than Gracie's.
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I have not read every post or comment in this thread. I do feel USFS acted in its best interest by choosing wagner over nagasu. It was a complicated decision but someone is always crying at Nationals, tears of joy or defeat. I do not know what comment he made (frank) re her work ethic. When I spoke in one of the many mirai threads, I did talk about what was reported here, from Mirai herself. A couple years ago, she was spending 4 hours a day in the car getting from home to her rink with Frank. She gained weight, and was not skating well. Her body did change but she seemed to make it clear her training regimen was suffering. She did not seem to want to leave home to be closer to Frank, or perhaps her parents did not want this. We all know multiple stories of skaters who left home to get the training needed. If one wants to bee at the top of the heap, in skating, it is usually a lot of sacrifice, even for rich girls. So it seemed Frank was in the desert and I don't think any of us know if mirai had a sponsor to help her live near Frank. It seemed he was willing to continue coaching her. I could be wrong. Maybe Frank let her go. Who knows really. So my impression was she was not willing to move closer. perhaps it was money the family could not part with. Frank was clearly the kind of coach that nagasu needed. Whatever happened, she peaked at age 16 in Vancouver. Perhaps this split with Frank for whatever reason was the fork in the road that led to mediocrity from this originally special skater. If Mirai simply did not wish to leave her parents home, it could look like a work etic things.
I wrote before I was a big Mirai fan, and loved her two Vancouver skates-great like at Nationals. In a sport where Plush left home at 10 to train with Mishin, and Yuna left korea to be surrounded by great Canadian talent, it seems one must grab the opportunity to get the best, sand frank carroll is among the best. It was during this year of commuting to Frank where Mirai's training went south due to car time, gained weight, triples got harder, etc. I may have this all wrong. This was from many threads about Mirai here on GS so it could all be poppycock.
At any rate, I and many people have truly know victimization, discrimination, loss. It is another fork for Mirai in the road. She must decide at 20 where her future lies. I AM surprised the thread title has not been changed. I am sure it was a very close and difficult decision for USFS. I could see where they might have named her to team, and let Polina be alternate. But clearly they have more faith in the three they named. Mirai likely was having motivational problems. I think what demoralized Mirai the most is that to skate freelyand with spark and vivacity, one has to think about performance. It seems her career was ruined by inability of Mirai, once body changed and weight gained, to fully rotate the triples. Slo mo, =urs and edge calls. I love her skating and don't care so much about 100 percent rotation. Mirai's gala skate shows what beautiful artistry she has. At 20, she is definitely soup. I personally hope she is not reading these "Marai wuz robbed threads" because many times, she seemed disinterested, disengaged, skated without emotion.
We are all a bit confused, as only mirai knows what has really happened in her head over 4 years. She showed up at nationals they say, focused, with a gleam in her eye, practiced well, and skated better than she had in a long time. In a world full of people victimized in many ways, I do notthink Mirai is one. Her family clearly deeply loves and sacrifices for her. A top coach took her on. She is a US Champion with a good record in the US, An Olympian who narrowly missed the podium in Vancouver. One huge thing that separates her from Ashley is that Ashley has always tried, and has tried to max any oppty come her way. maybe this is just perception. But we all must realize we speculate here all the time on why skater x did not live up to our expectations.
I said once before and will say again, because I feel they made the right self serving decision for the team aand individual medal hopes. that all these insiders really KNOW Mirai, all the history after all these years, and made this decision with MUCH knowledge of who Mirai is as of this week, her potential/her issues as well as Ashley's. As a fan of both skaters, and an outsider who only knows these two from a skating board, and what I have observed of them in front of cameras, USFS did what felt right to them.
Nancy Kerrigan was victimized by a whacker. the use of 'screwed' here is inappropriate I think, and should be retitled. Mirai when she looks back a few years hence, maybe from her college dorm? or some show she is doing, will realize she accomplished a great deal more than 98% of skaters who ever made it to Nationals and will be grateful for all that. From my seat, she has been blessed. She still has her gift. Who knows the next chapter? IT seems folks like Mirai more than Ashley (fans on this board = "folks.) Even a petition with 5,000 fans signed for her. She csn skate in shows or go to school, or work, or coach. She has many options. This is sad for up fans as we feel split between two great American skaters, but it isn't greek tragedy. Not sure why Mirai had no coach, but that clearly did not help. Was that her decision? Sorry to be so long, but want to give a measured perspective.
And to end, it does seem like USFS does not treat their former champs so great these days as a general rule. Why did we not see Flatt's last LP? I surely wanted to, as well as Zhang's. And also Agnes LP. She was widely regarded as the 3rd u lady if she skated cleaner than usual. Only those in Arena got to see these skates, good or bad. They should have shown snippets of them, esp given their history as champions, to let the viewing audience who has followed them have a chance to see them one last time. Aggie may go on, I don't know, but given all these low ball scores, it seems everyone is getting reality pink slips. They are supposed to be genteel and classy-figureskating, the USFS. While Mirai was not screwed, USFS seems to be getting tougher even on our lady champs when they are ready to move on. Good luck to all. I will remember them fondly.
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I agree with Skateluvr. I mentioned this before in this thread but we were told that Mirai had spent some months working with Doug Ladret in Arizona. Perhaps that accounted for her determination and good skates this Nationals. Mirai was not screwed over!!!! We all have decisions. Mirai, for whatever reason, did not move closer to her coach. I don't know if it was finances or her parents not wanting her to leave home or what - but I do see that as a significant decision in her life. For whatever reasons she seemed to have lost focus the last couple of years. I do hope she continues skating and finds a coach and an environment where she can thrive. Her exhibition was really beautiful.
As for Rachel Flatt's last LP, I'm guessing you meant you didn't see it televised? We were in the arena and it was very emotional. She got a wonderful standing ovation and was clearly touched by the outpouring of admiration from the crowd. She had a beautiful dress on and looked great. Unlike many other skaters, Rachel has alot to look forward to in her education and from all accounts is doing very well at Stanford. I wish her much luck and happiness in the future. -
As for Rachel Flatt's last LP, I'm guessing you meant you didn't see it televised? We were in the arena and it was very emotional. She got a wonderful standing ovation and was clearly touched by the outpouring of admiration from the crowd. She had a beautiful dress on and looked great. Unlike many other skaters, Rachel has alot to look forward to in her education and from all accounts is doing very well at Stanford. I wish her much luck and happiness in the future. -
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You don't know what Mirai's family's finances are. It is possible she wasn't training as much as she should simply because her parents could only afford just so many hours on the ice, etc. Per her official bio on USFSA's site she trains 15 hours per week while other elite skaters train upwards of 20-30+ hours per week. Who knows? You have no way of knowing that Mirai didn't 'buckle down'. That implies that Mirai was lazy or just didn't want to take the bother of working hard. I'll say again that neither you nor anyone else not close to Mirai can possibly know what conditions she was training under these past couple of years. Her frankly so-so choreography alone speaks volumes to me. If I had to take a guess I'd say that the Nagasu's simply can't afford top-notch coaches or choreographers anymore. But that's just a guess. One thing is certain - Mirai's family isn't very wealthy, they own a sushi restaurant where Mirai waitresses and unlike her compatriots Wagner and Gold, Mirai doesn't have major sponsors to help underwrite her skating costs.
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