- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
Add Adelina to that list. She has huge jumps and great technique also.
State of American Ladies: 2012-13 Season
- Thread starter R.D.
- Start date
Add Adelina to that list. She has huge jumps and great technique also.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
I just watched Mirai's Cup of China LP last night . . . disappointing. She stayed upright through the program. But that was the best you could say about it. The performance level and spark were missing, as noted by Tonia Kwiatkowski on UniversalSports, and there were so many URs. Her speed was better but still not where it should be. The whole program was just so generic, so flat.
I've held out hope for Mirai for so long, but time is running out. This year is critical, and it's passing her by already, without any notable success. There's a lot of parity and so many contenders now on the ladies' side; Mirai needed to do well this season internationally just to keep her name in the ring.
Unless she can improve significantly by Nationals, and I don't really expect that to happen, I think she should probably consider retirement after this season. At this point, skating is probably a net financial loss for her family; I can't imagine she's earned much money at all the last couple seasons. And if the Olympics aren't realistic, it's a genuine question whether it's worth continuing. I think Caroline Zhang, Rachael Flatt, and Alissa Czisny are all facing the same question.
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Not to turn this thread into a debate about the system but this is touching on another thing: TV (in the US at least) needs to do a MUCH better job explaining and analyzing these things so that viewers are not so confused about a result. For NBC, that means a new broadcast team (no more Hamilton/Bezic, they're 6.0 folks), a new approach (more analysis, perhaps at the expense of fluff/backstage footage?), and perhaps more graphics (something like the jump checklist ESPN used at one point).
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I think Alissa, and to a lesser extent Mirai, could do the show/pro circuit. Alissa does everything amazingly well besides the jumps. Mirai can sell an upbeat number like her SP and she could do well with programs like that.
Her FS last season was flat too. The last time I ever saw her truly enjoy herself was at the Vancouver Games.
However, I would stop well short of saying she should consider retirement. You have to remember, she's only 19 at this point. Even if she misses 2014, 2018 would not be out of the question if she wanted to keep going. The only thing that could stop her is a career-ending injury, which may or may not happen.
Thankfully there might be other skaters who may rise to the occasion, so we may not really NEED a prime Nagasu like we did in the past. The ones sticking by her now seem to be mainly her true fans.
Personally, I still won't count her out, but from what I saw at COC, it really depends on if she can clean up those URs. But that wrap on her jumps can't be helping things. I'd probably have her as a Wild Card at this point.
- Joined
- Aug 27, 2003
You make a good point here. 19 is very young to retire, especially these days.
But if Mirai's going to continue, she needs to rediscover that excitement and joy she had in Vancouver, otherwise it doesn't seem worth it, she's just slogging through. I wonder if taking a year off might help.
Adelina has huge jumps but problematic landings. That is not good technique. She has no flow out of her jumps. If you want perfect technique, look at Kostner's.
- Joined
- Nov 22, 2009
No, you're not the only one.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
If she misses 2014, that means she will have gone 6 years without winning a national championship (assuming she doesn't win this year) and 4 years without making Worlds (if she doesn't win silver this year). I don't think that's a recipe for extending a career beyond 2014.
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2009
Well Alissa continued despite being a favorite to make both the 2006 and 2010 Olympic teams and missing them, only winning her first National title in 2009, and not making it to Worlds for the first time in 2007, then not again until 2009. So if she was inspired to continue all these years there's no saying Mirai couldn't do the same.
tell that to Miss Wagner, who, after bombing at 2008 worlds, didn't make it again for 4 years. She was never higher than 3rd at nationals before this year. Heck, she wasn't even on the national podium in 2011!
But Nagasu has to be willing to take risks & embrace the unknown, like Wagner (and Czisny for that matter) did in turning things around. She will need to make a serious move in order to fix her problems and emerge as The Contender.
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2010
I see your and RD's point. I just question her motivation and willingness to work hard to get back to somewhere she's already been.
Thing about Nagasu is we won't see her again UNTIL Nationals, so it's tough (for me) to say. Had she been credited with at least a couple more of those jumps, she would have won a medal. Like I said above, I think she's in Wild Card territory. Not too sure what to expect from her.
We'll be seeing Zawadzki's debut in Russia this weekend, along with second showings from Gold and C. Zhang. At least for the latter two we should know what trajectory they're on and folks can begin to think about their early predictions for the Nationals.
Don't know about 2006, but 2010, she definitely wasn't a factor. Nobody forgot what she did in 2009 W then. Her PCS were terrible the entire season, just to make sure she's not near the podium.
In 2010, the sure bet was Flatt. The other would be either Sasha or Mirai. Ashley was a wild card.
Aha! That's a key difference right there. Wagner and Czisny are motivated, I'm guessing, in part by the Olympics. Neither have been and would like to go. Nagasu, OTOH, has already been to the Olympics and just missed out on a medal- so unless she really wants an Olympic medal in Sochi I can understand perhaps a slight lack of motivation in comparison.
I saw a bit of determination in her at COC, though. I think she'll be fine.
Yes, Flatt was all but a sure thing. But I actually had Wagner and Nagasu as the primary contenders and Cohen as the wild card...
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2012
You're absolutely correct about Ashley's stellar season last year. It's great that the US has a clear leader now, who can be relied on to turn out clean programs nearly all of the time, and the USFSA wouldn't just give her those benefits
. I'm just wondering how she'll stack up at Nats when the pressure will be on to repeat her first place finish.Give Gracie some time. She's only been to one major int'l competition as a senior and, as we saw, it wasn't that she lacked the ability. If she can overcome her pre-program jitters, I'm thinking we'll see the same consistent, reliable star who wowed the junior judges; she's still my prediction for that second Worlds spot. I need to watch more of Mirai before I pass judgement on her, but I don't think that Christina is better than Gracie, at all. She lacks both the consistency and the support from the federation, and overall, she possesses very little of a "wow-factor" to set her apart from the rest of the field. Her medal at SA was very, very surprising and hinged mainly on Sotnikova's mistakes.
I would also count out Alissa (injury), Caroline (consistency and general unknownness), and Agnes (same reasons as Caroline), but after Osmond's win at SC, I've been a little more cautious about dismissing skaters. We've yet to see Agnes or Alissa perform at their GP events.
Early, early, early predictions for Nats:
1. Ashley Wagner
2. Gracie Gold or Mirai Nagasu
3. Gracie Gold or Mirai Nagasu
4. Alissa Czisny
5. Christina Gao
6. Caroline Zhang
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More on that after her appearance at Cup of Russia this weekend
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2012
Agreed, but I'm not betting on her.
