Agnes & Mirai | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Agnes & Mirai

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
I looked it up, Mirai gets envelope B, tier 1 next year, as either 2nd to 4th at Boston Nats, or as 1st Alternate to Olympics and World's team.
Agnes, with her 6th and 7th in grand prix events, 4th in a senior B, and 11th at Nationals, goes from envelope B this year, to apparently not qualyfying for any funding next year, not envelope B or C.

This is correct. Mirai gets envelope B which is frankly the best she could have hoped for.

As far as I can tell, Agnes does not have any funding from USFSA, no. This is going to be really rough for her.
 

kwanatic

Check out my YT channel, Bare Ice!
Record Breaker
Joined
May 19, 2011
It is not 2010 any more. Mirai has a different body and unfortunately she no longer skates with the expression and enthusiasm she had four years ago. Even at 2010 Worlds just a month later, she was a completely different skater and the Vancouver Mirai was already gone.

It's unrealistic for Mirai fans to expect a reincarnation of the 2010 Mirai. No matter how hard she trains or how good a coach she finds, her body is completely different and so is her outlook. She can certainly improve her skating deficiencies (URs, stamina issues) but she has to want to express some kind of personality on the ice, something that she has seemingly been reluctant to do for the past four years. Technically correct skating alone won't help the sagging PCS scores she's been receiving from ISU judges. She has to show that she is fully invested in her skating and even feels some kind of joy in it, or she'll never get the high PCS scores she used to get back in 2010.

She showed a spark of her 2010 self at nationals this year, which was part of the reason her being left off of the team was so sad.

But I do agree that unless she wants it, it won't happen. Mirai can't decide to skate like she wants to win once every four years...she'll never get anywhere like that. Just imagine if she'd given that amount of energy and determination to her performances from the 2010-2011 season to now. She'd probably have won nationals a few more times and been a world medalist.

She's dug herself into a hole but she can get out of it if she works. She needs to continue to work on her jumps (which were much better at COR and nationals) but most importantly she needs two great programs and she needs to perform them, not just skate them. If she can do that with a modicum of consistency, her scores will start to rise. She's capable of getting scores necessary to be competitive but she's coming from behind, having been one of the promising stars who fell off and never quite got back. Mirai has missed her easy train to the top (which was the 2010-2011 season when the world stage was open for her) so know she has to fight.

If she wants it bad enough, she can make it happen. I don't know if she wants it bad enough yet. Hopefully doing well at nationals and then being left off of the teams has lit a fire under her and now she's ready to prove herself. We'll see...
 

flying camel

Medalist
Joined
Nov 16, 2005
Maybe she should stay with Tom. She needs the technical help he can give her. Plus she would be around friend Agnes. Why Not!
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
Maybe she should stay with Tom. She needs the technical help he can give her. Plus she would be around friend Agnes. Why Not!

Maybe Nagasu already plans to return to Tom Z in the near future. Maybe not.

But for now, he presumably is going to Japan with Max Aaron for Worlds.
And then Nagasu will be traveling in April and May for the Stars On Ice tour.

We'll have to stay tuned for further developments, as they say ... ;)
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I think next season will be do or die for both of these ladies. They are close enough to see the mountain. Can they get to the top, or will they stand still and let the new kids on the block push past them?
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
Country
United-States
I think Polina has already pushed past Agnes to be honest. Agnes has not only stood still the last couple years but she's going backwards.
 

fairly4

Medalist
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
no they are underscored,

why. like caroline zhang their ur's and edge calls aren't overlooked. just look at this & past Olympic winners.

what vassilov said cant tell the truth about skaters.

why bother downgrading or marking things off.
hey why bother having computers they aren't used anyway because if was judges & technical callers could see everything.

why high definition the mistakes become glaring and bigger to the (natural) eye.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Tom Z would be a disaster for Mirai. He cares nothing about presentation, and Mirai's lackluster presentation holds her back almost as much as her URs, if not more.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
She showed a spark of her 2010 self at nationals this year, which was part of the reason her being left off of the team was so sad.

But I do agree that unless she wants it, it won't happen. Mirai can't decide to skate like she wants to win once every four years...she'll never get anywhere like that.

I think another thing is that Nagasu had a similar arc in 2010 - don't forget, she really struggled in '09 and managed to pull herself together in time for 2010 Nationals to place 2nd (many thought she deserved to win). Even though Wagner had a better GP and went to the GPF, Nagasu got the nod as USFS stuck with 1-2 for Vancouver. I suppose many thought it might be the same in 2014 - despite Wagner having a stronger overall season, Nagasu's triumph over Wagner at Nationals would get her to Sochi just like it got her to Vancouver 4 years ago. Tough situation altogether...honestly, I was going back and forth as to whether she deserved to go to the Olympics or not. But Wagner was more decorated and had more sponsors/NBC promotion this time around...odds were not in Nagasu's favor.

This might be a chance for Nagasu to pull a Sotnikova and show USFS that they were wrong to "cast her aside" so soon. I think this year's Nationals showed that (like I expected) she is still very much in the mix - she just needs a coach who can guide her, motivate her and improve her. If she comes back next year, wins Nationals and shows she can compete with Gold as the US' best, then sky could be the limit for her. She just needs to put in the effort - year-round, not just at pre-Olympic nationals. Seems like that's the message they gave her when they chose Wagner/Edmunds over her for the Olympics.

_____________________

As for Zawadzki, any word on whether she is continuing on or has retired? I know she was in a tough spot financially...such a low finish at Nationals might mean she would have to go back to qualifying for Nats the old way/no GPs?
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
This might be a chance for Nagasu to pull a Sotnikova and show USFS that they were wrong to "cast her aside" so soon. I think this year's Nationals showed that (like I expected) she is still very much in the mix - she just needs a coach who can guide her, motivate her and improve her. If she comes back next year, wins Nationals and shows she can compete with Gold as the US' best, then sky could be the limit for her. She just needs to put in the effort - year-round, not just at pre-Olympic nationals. Seems like that's the message they gave her when they chose Wagner/Edmunds over her for the Olympics.

Mirai beat Gracie at 2015 Nationals? NOT going to happen. Mirai was the best she's been in years at 2014 Nationals and Gracie beat her by 21 points. Gracie is still developing and improving under Carroll, while Mirai still does not even have a coach.
_____________________

As for Zawadzki, any word on whether she is continuing on or has retired? I know she was in a tough spot financially...such a low finish at Nationals might mean she would have to go back to qualifying for Nats the old way/no GPs?

Agnes is #20 on the ISU World Ranking list. She might get passed by a few skaters at Worlds, but I think she still might be top 24 at season's end. Getting a GP might depend on whether USFS submits her name for invitations. Mirai is #23 on both ISU and SB lists and might get bumped from both, but will probably be submitted for the GP.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Mirai beat Gracie at 2015 Nationals? NOT going to happen. Mirai was the best she's been in years at 2014 Nationals and Gracie beat her by 21 points. Gracie is still developing and improving under Carroll, while Mirai still does not even have a coach.

While a valid point, don't forget that Gold will go into those Nationals as the DEFENDING CHAMPION and as Wagner found out last year, that's an entirely different kind of pressure than what she's used to dealing with...nothing can be ruled out.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
Country
United-States
Wagner won her first US championship in 2012 and successfully defended her championship in 2013. What made Wagner nervous this year was Olympic pressure. Of course it didn't help that Gold was nailing everything in practice while displaying a new calmness and confidence.

If anyone is going to pose a threat to Gold, it isn't going to be Mirai, it will be Polina.
 

SeaniBu

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 19, 2006
no they are underscored,
.
I will never be convinced that they only score based on the individual program, they extend the score given to represent the season and "fortitude " of the skaters. JMO but likely counts for 2% of a score the final score - are they still doing the qualify in between the s.p and the Long?, i.o.w as they might say to themselves "how have they been doing. example might be Ashley going to Olys despite nationals (without question) per se :)
 

noskates

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 11, 2012
I think this was the do or die year for Agnes. And that ship sailed...................

Mirai. Who knows. I don't see her beating Gracie and I don't see her beating Polina. But with her you just never know.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Wagner won her first US championship in 2012 and successfully defended her championship in 2013.

...falling twice in the process, and later blaming it on pressure...she claimed it was the "hardest thing [she'd] ever done" or something to that effect. The only reason she won is because Gold tanked the SP hard...(and Wagner received some "score padding" in FS, IIRC)

I think we know by now Wagner does not do well under pressure. But how about Gold? She has a shaky past, but jury will be out on "Gold v2.0" as we move forward. Curious to see how it shakes out.
 
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