Mirai posts her thoughts on Nationals | Page 8 | Golden Skate

Mirai posts her thoughts on Nationals

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Where did you hear that Wagner was ill?

Anyway I'm not sure why people continue to make excuses for her when it was Wagner herself who admitted to letting the pressure get to her...she does not have a history of clutch performances unfortunately. When she skates well, it's either a lower-profile GP event or expectations don't exist (2012 4CC for instance).

Oddly enough, if Wagner just hit that 3-3 in the SP I think she would have managed 3rd even with the same mess of a FS. Or if she fell just once instead of 2x. Figures, right?

But she has gotten so much fanfare, sponsorship and attention for someone who hasn't even stood on a world podium. This includes the unprecedented decision to "break from tradition" to put her on the Olympic team. She says she's had to work/scrounge for everything, and that's been true for the most part...but even she has to admit that she's been the recipient of a couple of really generous gifts lately...I hope she can prove people wrong in Sochi - for her own sake.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Illness affects everyone differently. Caryn Kadavy got a case of the flu at the 1988 Olympics and had to withdraw. Alexei Yagudin got sick at the 1998 Olympics but skated anyway in the LP - and did not perform well. It's great that others were able to overcome the flu but that is not always the case. I remember Caryn saying in an interview at Calgary that she couldn't even lift her head off the pillow she was that sick. Mirai has rhinitis - that can make her prone to get sick at the most inopportune times. It's a large part of the reason that she tends to sniffle through her whole program. She's had nosebleeds too as she did during the SP at the 2010 Olympics. Ashley was sick too just before Nationals - it's not just boot issues that were bothering her. And you saw how she skated.

Ugh I have non-allergic rhinitis. It's the worst! Sinus infections all the time until I finally got surgery. Rhinitis can mess with your head too, make you dizzy ect and environmental conditions can aggravate you pretty badly. Hope she has a netty pot on stand by!
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
This is exactly what my non-skating husband observed and I agree. With so much at risk, why not have 2 pairs of working skates?

Then what would you do when BOTH pairs unexpectedly broke down or got damaged? Professional skates are very, very expensive---upwards of $10,000 a pair, and can take a month to make. No skater would put themselves in a position where he/she had NO skates right before a competition.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Ugh I have non-allergic rhinitis. It's the worst! Sinus infections all the time until I finally got surgery. Rhinitis can mess with your head too, make you dizzy ect and environmental conditions can aggravate you pretty badly. Hope she has a netty pot on stand by!

If Mirai has chronic sinusitis that causes her to be ill at every competition, then she should have the surgery. I had sinusitis so bad I could hardly breathe at night, was constantly blowing my nose and used a box of tissues a week. I finally had the surgery and now feel like a normal person again. It's outpatient surgery and the recovery period is no more than a week.

If Mirai doesn't have the surgery, then it's hard to excuse bad performances due to a chronic condition that is easily remedied.
 

Icey

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 28, 2012
Then what would you do when BOTH pairs unexpectedly broke down or got damaged? Professional skates are very, very expensive---upwards of $10,000 a pair, and can take a month to make. No skater would put themselves in a position where he/she had NO skates right before a competition.

You wouldn't have two pair the same age and of equal use, so that would diminish the likelihood that both would break down at the same time. Skaters have some idea as to how long a pair of skates last. Say for you it is a year and half. Then after you have used a pair for a year, you get another pair which you break in gradually while still using the old pair until they break down. Part of the issue is this is an Olympic year and it is in the skaters best interest to at least try to prevent that kind of mishap. I would be interested to know how man skaters started breaking in a new pair of skates a few weeks before the most important athletic competition event of their lives. Some seem to want to believe that such problems are not avoidable. I believe there are ways to greatly minimize it happening. This, of course, might fall through as the best laid plans often do, but it does decrease the chance of that happening. Ashley herself made several other statements which indicate the skate issue, which I believe she has never mentioned, as being a minor part of her unfortunate skate. Are her skates still an issue or are they throughly broken in for her Olympic skates?
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
If Mirai has chronic sinusitis that causes her to be ill at every competition, then she should have the surgery. I had sinusitis so bad I could hardly breathe at night, was constantly blowing my nose and used a box of tissues a week. I finally had the surgery and now feel like a normal person again. It's outpatient surgery and the recovery period is no more than a week. If Mirai doesn't have the surgery, then it's hard to excuse bad performances due to a chronic condition that is easily remedied.

It depends on how serious it can get. Any sinus surgery should come after all else fails. I was sick with sinus infections for 9 months straight before I agreed to it. My problem was my nose didn't run it just backed up into my head. Competitive athletes also travel/fly a lot it's a lot easier for them to catch viruses/colds ect.

Even though I am soo much better after my surgery, environmental factors can still cause my nose to swell and become aggravated and there isn't much doctors can do about it. Some people, even though we don't have an allergy ( I passed a 76 shot allergy test with flying colors) we are sensitive to certain things like perfume, dry air ect. All I can do is netty, steam showers, and rinse my nose with saline. Ahh the plight of sinus suffers:(
 

ks777

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
If Mirai has chronic sinusitis that causes her to be ill at every competition, then she should have the surgery. I had sinusitis so bad I could hardly breathe at night, was constantly blowing my nose and used a box of tissues a week. I finally had the surgery and now feel like a normal person again. It's outpatient surgery and the recovery period is no more than a week.

If Mirai doesn't have the surgery, then it's hard to excuse bad performances due to a chronic condition that is easily remedied.

I don't understand the hate you have for Mirai. Did she do something to you personally? I mean you come to every Mirai thread and trash talk about her over and over and over and over.. why hate her so much? Mirai never bad mouthed anyone after the US nationals. I am sure she knows why she wassn't chosen.
 

desertskates

Medalist
Joined
Nov 19, 2013
I think Mirai was just being honest and taking time to thank her supporters, and to also wish her teammates well. Nothing wrong with that. She put her feelings out again nothing wrong with that. I am psyched to know she will compete. Love the determination and fire!

Agreed. and I think that she had to say something, anything, about all the fuss to put it to rest for herself. She deserves that much.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I think Mirai's response was real and honest. For the most part, I like Mirai and her skating, but I think the USFSA made the right call by leaving her off the Olympic team. She placed 10th at an event that is (for most competitors there) a consolation competition with a rather weak ladies field. This proves why the USFSA did not want her on the Olympic team.

I know Mirai says she was sick at 4CC (and since I'm not her doctor), I believe her. Though it seems like the last few seasons that Mirai has skated poorly, she says it was because she was sick. At the same time, there have been other skaters that have competed (and got better results) while having something more serious than a cold. Evan Lysacek going from 10th to 4th at the 2006 Olympics after having been in the hospital, Hongbo Zhao coming back to top form after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon or Maxim Shabalin competing the last three or so years of his career with severe osteoarthritis in his knees. Just a few examples that come to mind.

Someone mentioned Shizuka earlier. She competed in Nagano, missed Salt Lake City and won Torino. Coming back to the top after some dismal seasons can be done. I believe if Mirai can get a coach (someone like Frank Carroll), start training seriously, fix her UR issues, get consistently decent/good results for a few seasons, she can likely rebuild her reputation with the USFSA and judges. It would be very difficult, but I don't think it's an impossibility.

I think Mirai needs to really decide what she wants. I am not thoroughly convinced not that I matter she knows who she is or what she wants. At least on the surface muost of us would agree we have seen waning interest and she has to deal with her body type. I still do not see a lot of stretch in her artistry - american princessy yes but yeesh we have had tonnes of th at for years - Trenary , Cadavy, Fratianne, Sumners, Kirk, Chin, Cook, Yamaguchi, Cohen, Flatt but she has yet to distinguish herself really. Less talk and more action on the ice.
 

TrishaG

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
If Mirai has chronic sinusitis that causes her to be ill at every competition, then she should have the surgery. I had sinusitis so bad I could hardly breathe at night, was constantly blowing my nose and used a box of tissues a week. I finally had the surgery and now feel like a normal person again. It's outpatient surgery and the recovery period is no more than a week.

If Mirai doesn't have the surgery, then it's hard to excuse bad performances due to a chronic condition that is easily remedied.

I also have non-allergic rhinitis and have been evaluated to see if I'm a candidate for the surgery. I am not. Not everyone with non-allergic rhinitis is a surgical candidate. In order to have the surgery, you need to have atypical sinus anatomy such as abnormally small sinus cavities, sinus polyps, or a deviated septum. My sinus anatomy is completely normal so it is not an option. Surgery would only make things worse. It sucks because I get sinus infections all the time. I'm on three daily medications to keep my sinuses as much under control as possible. Trust me, I would love to have a simple out-patient procedure to remedy this. But I can't and I'm hardly the only one in that situation.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
I also have non-allergic rhinitis and have been evaluated to see if I'm a candidate for the surgery. I am not. Not everyone with non-allergic rhinitis is a surgical candidate. In order to have the surgery, you need to have atypical sinus anatomy such as abnormally small sinus cavities, sinus polyps, or a deviated septum. My sinus anatomy is completely normal so it is not an option. Surgery would only make things worse. It sucks because I get sinus infections all the time. I'm on three daily medications to keep my sinuses as much under control as possible. Trust me, I would love to have a simple out-patient procedure to remedy this. But I can't and I'm hardly the only one in that situation.

That's awful. I only have the small sinus cavities (they are the size of a 6 year old and I'm 31) the were able to remove skin and bone for drainage, which was a major relief. I was operated on for over 2 hours and recovery took 10 days. I really feel for you, I was on antibiotics for weeks at a time, those and steroids really take a toll.
 

Memelah711

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
Illness affects everyone differently. Caryn Kadavy got a case of the flu at the 1988 Olympics and had to withdraw. Alexei Yagudin got sick at the 1998 Olympics but skated anyway in the LP - and did not perform well. It's great that others were able to overcome the flu but that is not always the case. I remember Caryn saying in an interview at Calgary that she couldn't even lift her head off the pillow she was that sick. Mirai has rhinitis - that can make her prone to get sick at the most inopportune times. It's a large part of the reason that she tends to sniffle through her whole program. She's had nosebleeds too as she did during the SP at the 2010 Olympics. Ashley was sick too just before Nationals - it's not just boot issues that were bothering her. And you saw how she skated.

I didn't know Mirai had rhinitis. I was under the impression that she just had a simple cold or sniffles. Thank you for clearing that up for me! Also, I didn't know that was the cause of her nosebleed at Vancouver, I had always assumed it was because of the altitude :think:
 

TrishaG

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 12, 2014
That's awful. I only have the small sinus cavities (they are the size of a 6 year old and I'm 31) the were able to remove skin and bone for drainage, which was a major relief. I was operated on for over 2 hours and recovery took 10 days. I really feel for you, I was on antibiotics for weeks at a time, those and steroids really take a toll.

Thank you, MK's Winter. I can't imagine having such small sinuses! I'm glad the surgery was able to fix that and it worked for you. It really sucks having to be on antibiotics all the time, not to mention my normal daily meds. But I try to keep it in perspective. Annoying, frustrating, and inconvenient as it is, I am lucky that it isn't anything life-threatening or physically disabling. There are many people in the world dealing with much worse, and I'm aware of how fortunate I am not to be in that situation. There is a lot of research being done for sinus issues because it affects about 10% of the US and there's major money to be made with new treatments, medications, or procedures. Hopefully, they'll figure out something in the future that will work for me.

That being said, I've never been an elite athlete and can't imagine having to deal with non-allergic rhinitis while being one. Mad respect to Mirai and any other athletes out there dealing with similar conditions.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
I don't understand the hate you have for Mirai. Did she do something to you personally? I mean you come to every Mirai thread and trash talk about her over and over and over and over.. why hate her so much? Mirai never bad mouthed anyone after the US nationals. I am sure she knows why she wassn't chosen.

I do not hate Mirai. I admired her as a young skater and thought her tremendously talented, and have been disappointed to see her development stall after the Vancouver Olympics.

Since 2010, we've seen Mirai have a good performance followed by one or more not-so-good ones. Illness has been offered as an excuse for many of the off-efforts. If there is a common underlying cause for the illness, it only makes sense to investigate a possible remedy.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
Thank you, MK's Winter. I can't imagine having such small sinuses! I'm glad the surgery was able to fix that and it worked for you. It really sucks having to be on antibiotics all the time, not to mention my normal daily meds. But I try to keep it in perspective. Annoying, frustrating, and inconvenient as it is, I am lucky that it isn't anything life-threatening or physically disabling. There are many people in the world dealing with much worse, and I'm aware of how fortunate I am not to be in that situation. There is a lot of research being done for sinus issues because it affects about 10% of the US and there's major money to be made with new treatments, medications, or procedures. Hopefully, they'll figure out something in the future that will work for me. That being said, I've never been an elite athlete and can't imagine having to deal with non-allergic rhinitis while being one. Mad respect to Mirai and any other athletes out there dealing with similar conditions.

You have a great outlook I admire the positivity! I have 4 kids and it got to the point where I had to do something because the longer I had an infection the longer I was down and out.

I wonder how Mirai deals with plane rides. I went to Florida and had such a time with sinus pressure and swelling after my flight. I live outside of Philadelphia and receive air quality alerts from the Weather Channel. When the air quality is bad i stay indoors. Some of the competitions that elite skaters compete in are cities with pretty bad air qualities at times. That has to be difficult. I noticed a lot of people in Tapei we're wearing the surgical masks.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
I posted my interview with Jeri Campbell, the skater who was the Olympic alternate to Debi Thomas, Jill Trenary and Caryn Kadavy at http://www.facebook.com/SkateGuard. She offered her own commentary on U.S. Figure Skating's decision and a few words to Mirai:

"In 1988 we still had figures along with the short program and the free skate event. Being that it was an Olympic year and our event was televised live, they had an enormous amount of TV commercials in between each skater. Back then we didn’t have the IJS judging system, so there was no 5 minute re-warm up before you skated. You had to get out there after waiting around for an hour and try to lay down 4-6 triples in your program. Needless to say, I had never been through that before, and I was not mentally prepared for it. Sometimes you have to live through something to really know how crazy the pressure is, and I think I can safely say I experienced it once in my life. After all was said and done, I was 4th after figures, 4th after the short, and 5th after the free skate. My combined points put me in to 4th place overall. The top 3 finishers went on the Olympics, and I was the alternate. For me it was fair and square. I never expected any different outcome for the Olympic team. I look back and think it was an incredible life experience. As for Mirai Nagasu, I wish nothing but the best for her. She has done a lot in the last 4 years since she finished 4th place in the 2010 Olympic Games. She competed in 12 international competitions. She won ten top 4 finishes at those competitions. She has also competed in 4 U.S. National Championships, winning 2 bronze medals. She produced 2 strong programs at Nationals this year. She understood very well the pressure cooker that she was under, and she dealt with that pressure like a seasoned competitor. I think she should be very proud of her body of work. She has shown us that little girls who win medals early in life can grow up, change, go through struggles, evolve and come back fighting harder than ever. She has shown us what being an athlete looks like."

Nicely said. I wish Jeri lots of luck; such a wonderful attitude; no bitterness because Trenary, Thomas and Kadavy all benefitted well from skating - just one spot. The onlhy thing I disagree is back then the skaters were hardly laying down 4 to 6 triples. They might try for four the top and other than Ito doing more really a couple of tirples is all one would see clean and most of them the garbage triples (toe loop and salchow). I believe Manley did the lutz and loop but Witt only did the garbage triples. Mirai, I hope finds her mojo and what she wants to do and goes for it. What is done is done with the olympic decision now she needs to decide how seriously she trains to substitute for Olys and world's and does she want to go on after this year. I think she is a wonderful skater but I pray and hope she doesn't put her entire life into skating and winning an Oly medal or whatever. She is worth something regardless - I think Jeri Campbell is a great example of that and I have no idea really who she is.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
Joined
Apr 2, 2009
Country
United-States
Where did you hear that Wagner was ill?

Anyway I'm not sure why people continue to make excuses for her when it was Wagner herself who admitted to letting the pressure get to her...she does not have a history of clutch performances unfortunately. When she skates well, it's either a lower-profile GP event or expectations don't exist (2012 4CC for instance).

Oddly enough, if Wagner just hit that 3-3 in the SP I think she would have managed 3rd even with the same mess of a FS. Or if she fell just once instead of 2x. Figures, right?

But she has gotten so much fanfare, sponsorship and attention for someone who hasn't even stood on a world podium. This includes the unprecedented decision to "break from tradition" to put her on the Olympic team. She says she's had to work/scrounge for everything, and that's been true for the most part...but even she has to admit that she's been the recipient of a couple of really generous gifts lately...I hope she can prove people wrong in Sochi - for her own sake.

I read in one the threads (can't remember if it was here or FSU) that Wagner had just gotten over the flu or a cold during Nationals or just before. And I'm not making excuses for her - I was just pointing out that Nagasu isn't the only skater whose gotten sick or been sick just before or during competition.

Ugh I have non-allergic rhinitis. It's the worst! Sinus infections all the time until I finally got surgery. Rhinitis can mess with your head too, make you dizzy ect and environmental conditions can aggravate you pretty badly. Hope she has a netty pot on stand by!

I'm sorry this condition affects you too! I'd never even heard about it until someone mentioned that Mirai had it on FSU some time ago. I had noticed she sniffles a lot too when she skates but I had no idea it was likely do to this condition.

I don't understand the hate you have for Mirai. Did she do something to you personally? I mean you come to every Mirai thread and trash talk about her over and over and over and over.. why hate her so much? Mirai never bad mouthed anyone after the US nationals. I am sure she knows why she wassn't chosen.

I've been wondering this too about certain posters in this forum and others. They're the same ones over and over again, never with a single positive thing to say about Mirai (and certain other skaters). All are Negative Nellies, all of them seem only interested in bashing, trashing, or bad-mouthing Mirai (or other skaters) and are just bound and determined to throw a wet blanket over everything, even fan threads. :frown:
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Perhaps they don't "hate" Nagasu, they are frustrated by Nagasu. I certainly have been since 2009 since she can't seem to focus her energy, training, and mind to do what she is certainly beyond capable of doing consistently. She appears to be on a path of self-destruction in this sport (she is her own worst enemy, moreso than even Czsiny). :disapp:
 

aussie_SKATES

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 13, 2012
Skater Boy, Jeri is correct in stating that the top skaters from US Nationals were trying to lay down 4-6 triples in their free skates. I had no idea that the top group's final preparation was disrupted and broken up so much by a constant stream of television commercials.

I remember watching the event when it aired a week later on Australian TV.

Listen to Peggy Fleming's commentary prior to Debi's, Jill's and Caryn's free skates, and she lists right off the top the number of triples they were planning. I have included the links for you below.

Jill was planning 6, and Debi and Caryn were planning 5 each. Jeri was planning four.

While I am puzzled you use the term 'garbage triples' for the toe and the sal, (what triple jump isn't hard), Thomas was planning the loop as well as the 3toe/3toe, Trenary the flip, loop and her signature one foot axel/triple salchow, Caryn the loop repeated, and Jeri the lutz (which she had landed at the 1987 Olympic Festival.

Other skaters at 88 Nationals like Tonya Harding, Kristi Yamaguchi and possibly Nancy Kerrigan were also including the triple lutz as well. Only the previous year, Cindy Bortz landed a triple lutz to win the junior world title.

It's hard enough to maintain focus, but those circumstances 'skating live' would make it almost impossible. I now understand why the top three had some trouble skating their absolute best. As Ashley Wagner showed us last month, Nationals is still the hardest competition in the skating season. There is so much on the line, especially in an Olympic year.
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Perhaps they don't "hate" Nagasu, they are frustrated by Nagasu. I certainly have been since 2009 since she can't seem to focus her energy, training, and mind to do what she is certainly beyond capable of doing consistently. She appears to be on a path of self-destruction in this sport (she is her own worst enemy, moreso than even Czsiny). :disapp:

Well, that summed it up for me!
 
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