Mirai posts her thoughts on Nationals | Page 5 | Golden Skate

Mirai posts her thoughts on Nationals

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
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All Marai did was show up to US Nationals and skate an amazing skate. Now she shows class by supporting the US FS team and people jump all over her. I don't understand the hate. :head scratch:
 

flyushka

Rinkside
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Jan 16, 2014
This is very harsh but I agree that she could have waited until the end of the competitive season to make any longer statement than the brief one she gave from Boston. Especially given the focus on the future nature of the statement. Put that out when this chapter is fully closed as a new quad is beginning. Dredging up the whole thing now when Ashley is trying to leave for Sochi and put Boston out of her head just feels kind of thoughtless. And like I said before will win her no points with USFS

She posted her thoughts on her own facebook account; it wasn't exactly broadcasted on CNN or on the front page of the NY Times. Maybe she just wanted to put her friends at ease and let them know she was doing all right, while also lending support to the girls going to Sochi and giving an update on her own training status for her role as an alternate. If USFS starts holding skaters' facebook statuses against them, this sport has bigger problems.

As for whether her 4CC result proves she didn't belong on the Olympic team, she apparently was sick and worried about being able to get through her programs, which leads to underrotations. And, let's see how the girls do at Sochi before giving the selection committee any pats on the head.
 

jenaj

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United-States
Sweet Jesus on a Stick, people, have a sense of humor.
I personally like Mirai's skating.
However her showing at 4CC clearly shows that it's best she stays off the US Olympic team.
Sorry if I offended folks.

It shows no such thing. One bad competition result doesn't mean the next one will be bad. Shizuka Arakawa finished 9th at 2005 Worlds and won the OGM in 2006. Lu Chen finished 23rd or thereabouts(!) at 1997 Worlds and won a bronze medal at Nagano. It isn't surprising that Mirai's heart wasn't in competing at 4CC's--a definite B-level event, despite attempts to pitch it as otherwise--and she was also not feeling well. And if you're really sorry, just say you're sorry.
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
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Australia
Personally, I think her statement about being "confused" about why she was left off the team absolutely proves the USFSA right. It's also a pretty foolish thing to say publicly because if she STILL doesn't understand her issues then they were absolutely right to leave her off. If she doesn't understand the problem she's obviously not doing any work to fix it.

flyushka, she didn't under-rotate at 4CCs because she was sick. She under-rotated at 4CCs because that's what she does. All the time.
 

aschiutza

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
It is much easier for someone "outside" to see the problems. But she is inside, she has worked many years for this moment, she was close, so yes, if i were in her place i would be also confused. It will take some time till she will see this from other point of view, i think is normal when someone has put so much in it and so many emotions.

I also think she has the right to feel like she feels and to write about. I am tired for so much PR in the amerocan media, i like when someone shows more from himself. I think it could help sportives in general to show more form their dissapointment, to be free to express this polite, like Mirai did.

But we in Europe, we are used to say more from the negative things in the media, look at the russian for example ;).
 

drivingmissdaisy

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Feb 17, 2010
It isn't surprising that Mirai's heart wasn't in competing at 4CC's--a definite B-level event, despite attempts to pitch it as otherwise--and she was also not feeling well.

Her 4CC LP was not bad at all to the naked eye. Had she skated like this at Nationals it probably would have scored around the same her LP there did. It's just that the particular technical specialist in Boston did not call many < which certainly would have been by an international panel. For me there was no substantial difference in between her LP in Boston and at 4CC, which makes this judging system even more frustrating because one's placement can vary between 5 and 10 places depending on how strict the caller is, which is stupid.
 

b-man

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
I think the point is that judges at Nationals overlooked some TES (namely UR) that they won't internationally. Polina's TES scores were pretty comparable to her international scores.
Well, Rostelecom was international, and Nagasu got a total of 1 UR call, including SP and FS. And if you think there was a generous controller, you should note Murakami got 4 UR's in the same competition. I am not good at calling UR's, and rely on the controllers. I think the judges in Boston in large part judged what they saw on the ice. And there is no guarantee in Sochi there will be a strict controller. At big competitions, advertisers, fans, TV networks like to see big scores and world records. It is very possible a generous controller will be in Sochi.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
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Dec 27, 2009
Well, Rostelecom was international, and Nagasu got a total of 1 UR call, including SP and FS. And if you think there was a generous controller, you should note Murakami got 4 UR's in the same competition. I am not good at calling UR's, and rely on the controllers. I think the judges in Boston in large part judged what they saw on the ice. And there is no guarantee in Sochi there will be a strict controller. At big competitions, advertisers, fans, TV networks like to see big scores and world records. It is very possible a generous controller will be in Sochi.

Still, even at that competition, Mirai's TES at Rostelcom for her FS was 57.95 vs. 62.95 for Polina from JGPF. And that's with one less element, so if you add the BV of the SpSq (2.00) to that TES, you would be at 64.95, which is super competitive for a senior lady.

Polina's TES in her JGP as been: 61.82, 62.37, 62.95, so she's pretty consistent technically.

It's totally possible Mirai could score 65 at an international competition, but her international record this season doesn't indicate that: 38.18 (NHK), 57.95 (Rostelecom), 48.67 (4CC).

While Ashley hasn't been at all cylinders this season, her TES has seen that huge up and down as Mirai did this season: 58.54 (Skate America) , 61.81 (Trophee Eric Bompard), 56.06 (GPF)

Gracie's TES this season in the GP: 56.09 (Skate Canada), 55.58 (NHK). And that was with sub par performances.

For the record, I loved Mirai at nationals and gladly gave her a standing o at both her performances. However, if the committee were looking at these TES numbers, I can see a little better what went into their decision.
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
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Feb 27, 2012
... It's really time to let this go. ...

If you are referring to Mirai and her statement (as opposed to GS members and their comments in this thread), please consider this perspective:

Mirai trained for FOUR YEARS with her eyes on Sochi. And she posted her statement -- including her support for Wagner, et al. -- not even two [ETA, correction: three] weeks after her bronze at Nats and the USFS announcement of the Olympic team.​

As I pleaded before, let's give her a break. It is way too easy for one of us to say that she should be ready to "let it go." If our own flesh and blood were in her situation, I think we would instinctively grasp that it will take more time for her to completely wrap her head around everything that happened in Boston.

At the same time that the Olympians are all over social media and traditional media sharing their understandable excitement, Mirai -- like so many Sochi hopefuls -- is wrestling with the reality that she is staying home. Talk about salt in a wound.
I am not criticizing the Olympians. Of course they should look forward to Sochi with the joy that Mirai herself experienced in 2010. But "letting go" of the Olympics cannot be easy when many of your friends are focused on little else but competing at the Games. And when many millions of people are looking forward to attending and/or viewing the events.

I already posted Jeremy Ten's tweet from yesterday in the social media thread, but it is apropros in this one too:

Jeremy Ten ‏@j3r3bear
So much goes into preparing you for when you make an Olympic team. But nothing prepares you for what happens when you don't. #SadButTrue
3:25 PM - 30 Jan 2014
https://twitter.com/j3r3bear/statuses/429032556026003456
 

noskates

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Joined
Jun 11, 2012
Golden, I was referring to GS members! We've all been hashing this over and over for almost 3 weeks now and there's no viable solution. You have the people that think Mirai got robbed. You have the people that think Ashley was the best choice. You have the people that are tearing Polina's Nationals skates apart to the point that one of her friends actually posted and said posters were being mean. You have the people that are doing research and posting results on a daily basis for further rehashing. Unless people just enjoy the heck out of arguing and more arguing, nothing that is said is going to make any difference. For many reasons Mirai was not chosen to go to Sochi nor was she chosen to go to Japan. The decision was made - right or wrong - and it isn't going to change! I can only imagine what Mirai has gone through and truly how hard it must be to see others preparing for Sochi. I think it was very brave of her to post her feelings on her Facebook and very considerate and professional of her to wish the Olympians well. I would guess that took a lot of inner strength to do. It just seems to me, and my opinion only, that Mirai has to move on and decide now how she's going to use this experience. If she still has the fire in her gut then she'll find a coach, stay with that coach, and work her butt off before the next competitive season starts and prove the selection committee should have picked her. Or she can feel sorry for herself and wallow in what might have been. I am not minimizing the impact of the decision on Mirai's life or her skating career. I just hope she picks to fight. But I think everyone around her needs to let it go including GS members. Well, unless you just like to argue :unsure:
 

leafygreens

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
I think the actual content is fine but the timing (i.e. approximatly less than 2 days before most of the team departs for Sochi) will not make USFSA happy. I'm sure they want all the coverage to be Go Team USA, which is understandable. Mirai putting out a longer statement throws them right back into the post-Boston controversy.

IF that is true, then that's the USFSA's problem. They deserve the bad press, because it was their decision to break tradition.

Is Mirai supposed to be a mute? What she said is tame compared to how most athletes would feel. Mirai deserves to be heard if she chooses, whenever and wherever she pleases. At this point, she really has nothing to lose. Mirai may not be going to the Olympics, but she holds the cards.
 

leafygreens

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
We were also told by a coach sitting behind us at Nats that in meetings the skaters had been told the selection would not necessarily depend on where you ended up at Nats.

This goes along with fan reports that Ashley was performing badly in nationals practices, and the USFSA needed to start covering their behinds ASAP.

Why were skaters only told in meetings at nationals? Shouldn't they have been told prior to the whole season so they can work a lot harder at GPs, etc? By "telling" skaters I mean drilling it into their heads at summer camps that every competition now counts, not posting a file on the website with no fanfare.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
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Feb 17, 2010
Why were skaters only told in meetings at nationals? Shouldn't they have been told prior to the whole season so they can work a lot harder at GPs, etc? By "telling" skaters I mean drilling it into their heads at summer camps that every competition now counts, not posting a file on the website with no fanfare.

Why are you assuming skaters first heard of this at Nationals? Oh yeah, because otherwise you can't go on about how poor Mirai was cheated by not having the knowledge that she should skate well more than once this year. I'm sure Mirai blew off her GPs because she thought they weren't going to factor in. :rolleye:
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
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Dec 27, 2009
Why are you assuming skaters first heard of this at Nationals? Oh yeah, because otherwise you can't go on about how poor Mirai was cheated by not having the knowledge that she should skate well more than once this year. I'm sure Mirai blew off her GPs because she thought they weren't going to factor in. :rolleye:

I'll go back to Jason Brown's dialogue with Arsenio Hall here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8TxW84W6QbA#t=0m54s

So Jason knew there was a possibility that he might be bumped for someone else based on the criteria. It doesn't sound like he just found out about that at Nationals...
 

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode
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Australia
Why were skaters only told in meetings at nationals? Shouldn't they have been told prior to the whole season so they can work a lot harder at GPs, etc? By "telling" skaters I mean drilling it into their heads at summer camps that every competition now counts, not posting a file on the website with no fanfare.

...are you suggesting Mirai was slacking off during the GPs? Because that seems kind of anti-fan, rather than a fan.

Anyone who suggests any of the skaters were slacking off during the GPs is mad.
 

MK's Winter

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 9, 2009
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!
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
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Dec 29, 2013
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United-States
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!

I completely agree!! :clap:
 

aftertherain

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 15, 2010
Golden, I was referring to GS members! We've all been hashing this over and over for almost 3 weeks now and there's no viable solution. You have the people that think Mirai got robbed. You have the people that think Ashley was the best choice. You have the people that are tearing Polina's Nationals skates apart to the point that one of her friends actually posted and said posters were being mean. You have the people that are doing research and posting results on a daily basis for further rehashing. Unless people just enjoy the heck out of arguing and more arguing, nothing that is said is going to make any difference. For many reasons Mirai was not chosen to go to Sochi nor was she chosen to go to Japan.

Been away from the board for two weeks to avoid this whole mess--when did that happen?
 
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