Would Michelle Kwan have won if she skated 2010 Nationals

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Given her skate in Seoul this past Fall, do you think it would have won or landed her on the podium of this 2010 Nationals.

She did her 3x3, improved her spins, and of course, her one and only style.

 

[n_halifax]

To me, that's a no brainer. I think Michelle could have easily walked away with this title. But it's hard to say then too - CoP requires such a cookie cutter type of demonstration that perhaps even Kwan might struggle with the kind of choreography and transitions so focused on by this system.

 

[DesertRoad]

When did she do a 3/3 in Seoul? From what I've read and seen, she did no jump more difficult than a 3toe, and even then she had some difficulty. Her extensions and edging was far below what they were when she was competing. If she had competed in Spokane, given how the judges gave no quarter in PCS, Kwan would've finished out of the top 10.

 

[R.D.]

Not necessarily. I think she would have placed similar to Cohen (but with stronger overall performances). Their time is up, time for the new generation to take over as they proved last night.

 

[Layfan]

Michelle was gorgeous but she most certainly did not do a 3x3 in Seoul. If Michelle were doing 3x3 she'd have attempted a comeback for sure.

 

[Mathman]

I think Michelle would have had to put the rest of her life on hold and do nothing but train, train, train to get herself into the mix. These days, she has other fish to fry.

In her exhibition skates in Korea she did only two jumps, 2A and 3T. In the two performances together, she landed three out of four successfully. She did not show a loop, flip, or Lutz. Her spins were nicely done, but without the difficult changes of position expected by the CoP.

Still, this is Michelle. This is Nationals... :

Cuchulain stirred,
Stared on the horses of the sea, and heard
The cars of battle and his own name cried;
And fought with the invulnerable tide.

 

[Tonichelle]

oh dear lord... not even 24 hours after it ended and we're once again discussing MK???

I don't even know why it surprises me!

the Michelle Kwan of 2006 and beyond would have had as many problems as Sasha, IMO... but I'm nto sure teh USFSA wouldn't have kept her off the team so easily. I mean they let an obviously still injured MK on the team in 2006.

 

[Layfan]

oh dear lord... not even 24 hours after it ended and we're once again discussing MK???

I don't even know why it surprises me!

the Michelle Kwan of 2006 and beyond would have had as many problems as Sasha, IMO... but I'm nto sure teh USFSA wouldn't have kept her off the team so easily. I mean they let an obviously still injured MK on the team in 2006.

Yes, that's Michelle for you. Still the biggest star. If Michelle had skated the way Sasha did no way they would have put her on the team. But Michelle, if she got back to her level of 2004-1005, probably would have landed her jumps while lacking the technical difficult that Rachael and even Mirai had. Not just in jumps but also in spins and transitions. It would have been interesting indeed to see what they would have done with her.

 

[R.D.]

The problem I have with a question like this is that it assumes so much. Suppose Kwan didn't attempt the comeback because she knew she wouldn't have had enough time to prepare? Thing is, we don't know and will never know.

 

[Tinymavy15]

No. Unlike Sasha she has not even been skating in shows, and athough she skated well enough at the Korea show in August she was obviously nowhere near the level she needed to be at for Nationals. The Media around her would be even worse than with Sasha, and Michelle never really figured out CoP like Sasha did in 2006. I could not imagine that she would have placed anywhere above 4th.

 

[MKFSfan]

I'm with RD...I think Michelle's competitive fire stirred when she was at Worlds 2009 and she had the itch to see if she could do it. Rumor had it she did indeed get all her triples back and the USFSA officials that were brought in to assess her programs were very impressed by what she was doing-enough to propose extending an invite to SA. I truly believe Michelle gave it a shot and realized her hip would not have held up to the rigorous training needed to win Nationals and that is why she bowed out. She would never have come back just for the sake of competing; anything less than contending for Gold would be failure.

 

[Olympia]

Ehhh, why would she have wanted to come back? She's done all that. Why start at the bottom when she has new adventures to look forward to? She's worked for two Secretaries of State and is going to graduate school. When she feels like skating, she's welcome in any ice show or exhibition in North America and Asia. Why on earth would she want to drop everything, buy a year's supply of Ben-Gay, and spend her days counting turns in her spins and hoping that jump analysts don't downgrade her? Phooey on that, anyway. If we want to see Michelle skate again, we can tune in to YouTube. Let her get her M.A. in peace. One day we'll probably get to watch her sworn in as Secretary of State or something. Stay tuned!

 

[DesertRoad]

Uh, she actually did want to come back. That's why she went as far as to choreograph and train an SP and LP. But then she realized she couldn't cut it and so she didn't try.

 

[museksk8r]

No.

 

[n_halifax]

Olympia - very well said...

I think Michelle at her weakest still would have that extra something to keep her in contention. If she had chose to come back, I think it would have been a lot like Katarina coming back during the 1993/1994 Olympic season - her technical chops may not have been as 'up there' with the then-current crop of skaters but that certainly didn't take away from her spirited, mature programs and she still ended those Olympics with a top ten finish.

 

[Olympia]

Yeah, you're right; I know she gave it a try. But I think she figured out that behind one door were all the things I mentioned--grad school, the ear of Condi Rice and Hillary Clinton, and so on, while behind the other door were months of grinding training (which she'd already endured for years--why repeat herself?), probably a stringent diet, the aforesaid year's supply of Ben-Gay, maybe a flare-up of the hip, and a bunch of strangers with magnifying glasses scrutinizing her landings.

I'd have loved to see her short and long programs, but I think she made the right choice.

 

[Fossi]

I dunno. The programs I seen on youtube of MK....she skated much better than Sashe even tho Sasha has been performing for years with SOI. Michelle might have pulled it off with a huge lead in the SP. Who knows?

 

[antmanb]

I just can't wait for US nationals 2018 and i predict someone will still start a thread "if Michelle Kwan had competed would she have won".

I'm as big a Kwan fan as the next person (except possibly if the next person is KW) but with a double axel and a triple toe she'd have been lucky to get out of regionals and sectionals let lone win nationals. In 2006 she was too injured by ramping up the training for the Olympics, why anyone thinks her body would withstand that pounding now with another four years away from the ice is truly beyond me.

Ant

 

[herios]

I just can't wait for US nationals 2018 and i predict someone will still start a thread "if Michelle Kwan had competed would she have won".

I'm as big a Kwan fan as the next person (except possibly if the next person is KW:laugh) but with a double axel and a triple toe she'd have been lucky to get out of regionals and sectionals let lone win nationals. In 2006 she was too injured by ramping up the training for the Olympics, why anyone thinks her body would withstand that pounding now with another four years away from the ice is truly beyond me.

Ant

I wanted to say something similar. For how long MK fans will keep bringing her back into the discussion about active athletes.
She has ended competitive skating basically 5 years ago (Turin attempt doesn't count), and she has MOVED ON with her life.
She is almost 30 years old, and people have other things to do in life, than to torcher their bodies, with triple jumps on the ice.

 

[chrissy51]

I agree, let MK rest in peace in her retirement. We can enjoy her shows and go on with our lives