Mirai posts her thoughts on Nationals

aftertherain said:

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

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karne said:

If a friend of Polina's does post here, then I would beg her to stop Polina from looking at these forums. Especially, especially, especially the ones about Nationals or the team selection. The Mirai fans have no hesitation in tearing anyone and everything apart, since only Mirai's heart can be broken, and everyone else is irrelevant.

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karne said:

If a friend of Polina's does post here, then I would beg her to stop Polina from looking at these forums. Especially, especially, especially the ones about Nationals or the team selection. The Mirai fans have no hesitation in tearing anyone and everything apart, since only Mirai's heart can be broken, and everyone else is irrelevant.

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noskates said:

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

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demarinis5 said:

To be fair I think Mirai's fans are tired of hearing about how awful we are, I know I am. I see from your posts you have no qualms about posting insults yourself about Mirai's fans.

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demarinis5 said:

To be fair I think Mirai's fans are tired of hearing about how awful we are, I know I am.

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b-man said:

I believe the discussion was on scoring potential, but if you want to talk TES, I will go there. Here are Total TES scores, SP + FS, for Boston Nationals.

Gold: 111.61
Edmunds: 103.35
Nagasu: 102.59
Wagner: 91.00

You are saying Edmunds has the highest TES score of all the ladies. That is not what the numbers show here. The numbers show Gold has higher TES here, by far, and possibly internationally as well. For Edmunds doing harder content than Mirai, it wasn't reflected much in the scores, as Nagasu's TES was within a point of Edmunds. Nagasu has some qualities both the judges and the audience appreciate which you overlook.

I agree with you that Edmunds PCS will go up with exposure to international judges, but that won't necessarily help her in Sochi. She is likely to be unfairly lowballed, as a new senior skater, in the Olympics. If she does well in Sochi, her PCS at worlds will likely go up, not for her performance at worlds, but for the performance she did in Sochi. That is the a flaw in PCS as it is praticed by judges, it is a lagging indicator of skating skills, it holds down new skaters who perform well, and holds up veteran skaters who perform poorly.

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pangtongfan said:

I cant speak for you as I am not familiar with you but many "Mirai fans" brought on the disgust towards them themselves with their refusal to let go of the Nagasu not being named to the Olympic team, and their own vitriol spewed constantly at Wagner and the USFSA. I guess now it is coming back around to bite them back, but many of them deserve every bit of it. If you dish it you had better be able to take it.

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Okay, I know there has been some heightened interest in Ladies figure skating due to the controversial nature of its Olympic team selection. So I thought it would be good to use my figure skating research skills to good use and consider one factor that my had lead to their decision.

One major component of the scoring at any figure skating event is the technical elements score, or TES. That is the score you get for executing your jumps, spins and step sequences.

In the free skate, here were the TES scores of the top four at U.S. Nationals:

Gracie Gold: 71.27
Polina Edmunds: 66.21
Mirai Nagasu: 65.62
Ashley Wagner: 58.48.

Okay, so at first glance, you say, well it's totally obvious to send the top three, look how low Ashley Wagner's score is compared to Mirai Nagasu!

However, the picture muddies a bit when you look at past international results.

Here are the technical scores for each of those four ladies at their major international events this fall:

Polina Edmunds: 61.82, 62.37, 62.95
Ashley Wagner: 58.54, 61.81, 56.06
Gracie Gold: 56.09, 55.09
Mirai Nagasu: 38.18, 57.95

Now you're probably wondering why does Ashley and Polina have an extra event. Based on their placement in what is called Grand Prix events (most skaters get two), they qualified for something that is called the Grand Prix Final. Polina Edunds qualified in the junior level, while Ashley qualified at the senior level.

Another thing to consider that as a junior skater, Polina Edmunds has one less element than the senior ladies. So if you add two points (the base value for that senior element to Polina's score, then she has an even bigger gap on the three senior ladies.

So even though Polina Edmunds does not have a considerable amount of senior experience, she has been highly consistent this season and has turned in a high technical score, which could contribute to a good showing at the Olympics.

Gracie Gold, as the champion, after a subpar fall season proven herself by winning Nationals.

So that leaves us with Mirai and Ashley. Ashley technical scores have been consistent if not super high (compared to Polina), while Mirai scores tended to swing between OK and absolutely dismal (and it's worth noting that at a recent event last week she scored 48.12).

If you look back at the previous season (2012-2013):

Ashley Wagner: 63.83, 62.91, 54.93, 61.34
Mirai Nagasu: 45.89, 56.36

Ashley has two more events due to again making the Grand Prix Final and going to the World Championships last year.

So I guess you could argue it two ways: Ashley clearly peaked in 2012 and hadn't done that well in 2013, so therefore her performance at Nationals was indicative of a downward trend. Therefore she should stay home.

But one could look at the huge swing in the technical scores at Mirai and question which Mirai will show up at the Olympics and dock her for her inconsistent record.

Obviously, the latter was ultimately the deciding factor.

As for me personally, I'm heartbroken for Mirai and loved her performances at Nationals ( I gave a standing ovation for both).

My point with this exercise to probably shed some insight into what kind of numbers the selection committee was looking at and how that might have factored into their decision.

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leafygreens said:

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

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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.

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Sam-Skwantch said:

Huh? I think her comments may have gone right over your head. She isn't trying to change the descision and she self admits that she hasn't processed the whole thing yet. What she is doing is calming down her fans and asking them to support the US team in Sochi. Indirectly asking people to support he USFSA which quite arguably isn't supporting her. This is called being bigger than your adversity and not sinking below or to it. This is pure class and admirable on all merits.

Still haven't seen an Ashley statement wishing Marai the best and/or congratulating her on her bronze.

It would have been right for USFSA to at least send Marai to worlds. I just think she is every bit as capable as Ashley or Polina and would score similar.

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Sam-Skwantch said:

Glad I'm a Julia fan!!! I also wish Marai and Ashley the best.

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Zamboni said:

Wow, if Ashley did that she would be attacked unmercifully. She would be accused of being arrogant and a mean girl because she made the team and showing up Mirai.

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chuckm said:

Yes, she was---because she was breaking in new boots.



The selection criteria was published early in the summer and skaters were being told from that point on. Certainly this was discussed in detail at Champs Camp in late summer.

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Sam-Skwantch said:

It seems to me like Marai is the one getting attacked for a fairly positive statement. Am I missing something?

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