Michelle Kwan - better than ever?

[mzheng]

No sister and brother-in-law working with her. I presume then, her team is Dean and Morosov?

Joe

I'm sorry to made mistake in my previous post. I mean to say brother-in-law not the sister-in-law. Don't know her current team though.

Funny Joe, I got that response (her parent against the idear she works with her sister and brother-in-law) when I asked and presumed the same question as you did in earlier thread.

Back to the topic. I think MK's skating(stroking, edgeing, jumping, etc.), interpretation and performance/emotion (in another words artistry) progressed. The only thing degressed from Lori/Frank time was the choreography.

So overall I would say her skating progressed in last couple of season.

 

[Vash01]

IMO the quality of her jumps and spins has improved, but she is still not doing difficult 3-3 combinations. In fact the last time she did a 3-3 (both toe loops) was in 2002 (IIRC). I have not seen her do a different 3-3 combination. So she has regressed a bit in the 3-3 department. Her choreography has regressed too. Her footwork, passion, confidence, audience connection are all better than ever.

I don't know if that adds up to overall improvement or the opposite. I still think she has made steady improvement, and with the right choreography it could translate into a solid improvement.

Vash

 

[lavender]

Michelle's not the only one doing 3/3 combos.

 

[Vash01]

Michelle's not the only one doing 3/3 combos.

Did anyone here say that? Unless I missed that post, I did not read anyone saying that Michelle is the only one doing 3/3 combos.

Vash

 

[mzheng]

IMO the quality of her jumps and spins has improved, but she is still not doing difficult 3-3 combinations. In fact the last time she did a 3-3 (both toe loops) was in 2002 (IIRC). I have not seen her do a different 3-3 combination. So she has regressed a bit in the 3-3 department. Her choreography has regressed too. Her footwork, passion, confidence, audience connection are all better than ever.

Vash

Reports were she was practicing more difficult 3/3s consistantly this season. If things developped according to the plan, she properbaly would do one of them by National and Worlds.

 

[gezando]

Reports were she was practicing more difficult 3/3s consistantly this season. If things developped according to the plan, she properbaly would do one of them by National and Worlds.

I will settle for a healthy Michelle instead. I heard she has been struggling with some kind of back pain and injury for years.

 

[jesslily]

At the latest Cheesefest, Michelle did not do any 3/3, she even did not do a 3 loop. It seems she is not in top shape. Her spins were slow and not much variety as Irena Slutzkaya has.

 

[gezando]

At the latest Cheesefest, Michelle did not do any 3/3, she even did not do a 3 loop. It seems she is not in top shape. Her spins were slow and not much variety as Irena Slutzkaya has.

Irina is the one to beat, and I don't see anyone beating her.

 

[mzheng]

I will settle for a healthy Michelle instead. I heard she has been struggling with some kind of back pain and injury for years.

You bet. This girl just knows the limitation of her body. And knows how to pace herself. Words were she diddn' practice a lot of them relentlessly. Just that she can consistantly landed them couple of time each day in practice.

 

[cianni]

Michelle

Irina is one to beat and the judges wont let that happen from watching those inflated scores. She will win whether she should or not. So on that I agree.

 

[mzheng]

Irina is one to beat and the judges wont let that happen from watching those inflated scores. She will win whether she should or not. So on that I agree.

I agree. Subcontiously judgers setting up her well for the worlds coming to Mosco.

 

[SkateFan4Life]

Based on her performance at Marshalls, Michelle Kwan is NOT better than ever.
In fact, in my opinion, her skating has gone down a few notches. She really needs to upt the ante technically speaking, and she needs to skate with more speed and attack. Kwan looked languid and under-trained. IMHO, of course.

 

[R.D.]

Based on her performance at Marshalls, Michelle Kwan is NOT better than ever.
In fact, in my opinion, her skating has gone down a few notches. She really needs to upt the ante technically speaking, and she needs to skate with more speed and attack. Kwan looked languid and under-trained. IMHO, of course.

I somewhat agree with that assessment, although I will say that if you compare it to Campbell's it was a little better. So she's moving in the right direction, ever so slowly. However, personally, this is a song I like, and it still has not won me over yet. There is something missing IMO, and I can't put my finger on it.

 

[RIskatingfan]

Irina is one to beat and the judges wont let that happen from watching those inflated scores. She will win whether she should or not.

This is a very comfortable thought for big Kwan fans who can't or don't want to face the reality that their favorite skater can't always win everything. But the fact is that Slutskaya has been skating very well and nobody has been able to top her until now. Remains to be seen whether she has peaked already or not, because skaters can't maintain the same high level all season long. But if she skates at Worlds with the quality she has been skating lately, she will win and it will be fully deserved. I, for one, am very pleased to see a skater coming out prepared to compete, go on the ice, land those jumps and fight for the top of the podium. This is what skating needs and this is what I like to see. She's especially an example because she is doing all this while fighting a very serious illness.

If someone skates better than her in Moscow, I don't see why this skater wouldn't win. It happened already in 2000 and 2001, when Slutskaya was going as the favorite but didn't deliver. She doesn't like competing at home, because of nerves, we'll see what's going to happen.

As for the topic of the thread... some of Kwan's elements have improved and the level of performance has been very high. But the programs are uninteresting and very generic. Considering this was a skater who set the standard with the quality of her programs and gained many fans because of that too, it's not surprising that many people now aren't thrilled with the direction her choreography has taken in the past few years.

 

[Fossi]

At the latest Cheesefest, Michelle did not do any 3/3, she even did not do a 3 loop. It seems she is not in top shape. Her spins were slow and not much variety as Irena Slutzkaya has.

Please explain the variety in Slutskaya's spins. All I saw were beillmans. BORING! Get thee a new choreographer Irina.

 

[Mathman]

If someone skates better than [Irina Slutskaya] in Moscow, I don't see why this skater wouldn't win. It happened already in 2000 and 2001, when Slutskaya was going as the favorite but didn't deliver. She doesn't like competing at home, because of nerves, we'll see what's going to happen.

Actually, 2001 worlds provides fuel for anyone who wants to argue that the ISU judges conspire against Russian skaters to hold up the Americans. Going into the finale Michelle was in third, thanks to a great skate by Butyrskaya in the qualifying round. Michelle gave an outstanding performance of the Red Violin, including a triple-triple, and could not be denied first place in the free.

But all the judges had to do was place Irina behind Maria to guarentee a Russian victory no matter what Michelle did. This time, everything fell into place exactly right for Michelle.

Sort of like Sarah Hughes at Salt Lake City.

Mathman

 

[MidnightNess]

I think it's hard to say whether or not MK has improved because a lot of us are still remembering her performance at Marshalls. This season, she is doing thingsshe has not done before or *enough of* like change-edge spins, new spin positions, new spiral positions, more difficult footwork, a new combo, more choreo and jump transitions (though I have yet to see the jump transitions she's talking about) and so she's not going to be as sharp as she would usually be if she stuck what she can do best. I think once she gets the new elements down, she'll be back to her old self. I'm not too concerned with the performance at Marshalls, personally speaking. I'd rather see a struggling Kwan working hard on new and more difficult elements than stay in the box that she has been in these past few years. I mean she's only trying to do what a lot of people, both fans and critics, have been wanting to do for some time now.There is a learning curve here and I think it'll take some time. It might not be till Worlds where we'll see a completed,well-gelled Bolero. I for one am excited about this program because unlike Campbells, I finally 'get' where she's going with it program wise. The performance aspect will come.

 

[ritymeez]

Let's wait until Nationals to see if Michelle has progressed or regressed. It seems like everybody is basing their comparisons on the cheesefests to perforamaces from her National and World programs (because that is when she is really prepared).

 

[jesslily]

I have been Michelle's fan for years and our family love her. But this year she definitely can not place ahead of Irina S. Irina's spins are faster and can do a couple of more impressive positions. Not many skaters can do biellman on both legs, and can do donut spin beautifully. Comparing with the lady below Michelle, Sasha may not be consistant at jumping, but her spins are far more impresssive.

 

[soogar]

The Irina luster is wearing off for me. It seems that Irina is getting sloppier as the season progresses. At first I thought she would unbeatable, but who knows what Irina will skate like in March. In a side by side comparison to Shizuka in the GPF, I think Shizuka will be the one to beat at Worlds. I also think MK has a good shot at doing well against Irina as well.

Irina has good spins but they aren't all that. She has a tendency to travel a lot. I think Shizuka and Sasha spin a lot better than Irina.