State of U.S. Ladies' skating 2016-17 | Page 82 | Golden Skate

State of U.S. Ladies' skating 2016-17

I don't think if it "counts" to include skaters in the friend demographic because skaters are "diverse," ie, made of up whites and Asians. I think figure skating has a proportionally high number of Asians since the Michelle Kwan and Kristi Yamaguchi's days.

Gymnastics has Amy Chow, and that was 15 years ago. I can't think of any more, but I only watch every 4 years. Half Asians are more popular for some reason.

Just going to include in my post the video that shows Polina's diverse friends ... white and Asian kids ....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7j2wrH_UfY&feature=youtu.be
 
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It is arrogant of her to say that she doesn't under rotate jumps and that those accusations are better suited for other skaters or claiming that her flip is on the right edge when it clearly isn't. These are all statements released in print interviews or things she's said in teleconferences on IceNetwork.

And (un)fortunately, people are humans and will judge her (well or poorly) for her personal and political leanings as they will for any other skaters like Ashley or Gracie. This attitude isn't exclusive to figure skating or even sports at all. It's human nature. As long as it doesn't creep towards harassment, I don't see a problem with discussing something an adult shares on social media.

proof? I have seen one televised video where she said that she thought she performed well after being asked about her under-rotations, if memory serves me correct.
 
proof? I have seen one televised video where she said that she thought she performed well after being asked about her under-rotations, if memory serves me correct.

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v37121445

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v47540183

I've only listened to each once early last year so I can't tell you at what point she's asked this. These conferences are gems though. She'd actually be a fun, feisty, and borderline betchy personality to support (in all the right ways! I love me my sassy Butyrskaya and all those crazy ice dancers of the late 90s and early 2000s) even with all her edge calls and under rotations if her programs weren't so bland.
 
http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v37121445

http://web.icenetwork.com/video/v47540183

I've only listened to each once early last year so I can't tell you at what point she's asked this. These conferences are gems though. She'd actually be a fun, feisty, and borderline betchy personality to support (in all the right ways! I love me my sassy Butyrskaya and all those crazy ice dancers of the late 90s and early 2000s) even with all her edge calls and under rotations if her programs weren't so bland.

thanks for posting these.

i still do not see any hint of arrogance in what she says....I've listened to 1/4 of the first video and most of it...on the second video, i've listened halfway, the videos are long by the way. But in the second video, at the 7:20 mark, she said that if she does two clean programs, and other girls did two clean programs and she's not on the podium, then she's not going to be disappointed and understands it's a competition...she also said she doesn't want to be on the podium if she doesn't skate well, and she hopes that others who don't skate well aren't on the podium either...that it should be about who skates the best, and not political in who has the titles going into the competitions...."it's a competition, we're all working really hard...it hurts the same for everyone." I think this was right after her Nationals lost to gracie gold, and I think she was preparing to go to worlds, but a foot injury happened, right? I don't recall her at worlds 2015, in which evgenia M. won, right? The rest of her talking is all about feeling confident leading up to the next season. That's a great attitude to have, isn't it? That's a champion mentality right there, nothing arrogant about it.

I was trying to find the old video of her where after a competition, I think it was a 2014 grand prix comp, a reporter lady said to her she must have been disappointed at prior competitions/or that she struggled....something like that, and she responded that she thought she performed well at prior competitions. I guess some fans just wanted her to acknowledge that she didn't perform well just because judges didn't reward her well....but how does that translate to being an arrogant kid? by simply disagreeing with the reporter that she did have a good season.....she did not say I am the best, or I should have been on the podium because I skated better than others, etc.

Thank you...gosh, I've spent too long defending this amazing girl. I need to go to bed and prepare my thanksgving turkey tomorrow. Peace.

update: actually, that second video was the 2015 worlds teleconference, so it was way before she lost the 2016 nationals to gracie gold.
 
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I listened to the second teleconference. Toward the end of it, she's actually asked about meeting Obama and she describes it in detail--how enthusiastic he was and surprised by how young she was. She called it a "wow moment"--nothing snarky. I'd expect the election made her think about meeting him, so she posted the picture with the wave emoji.

Anything else isn't apparent.

Anyway, hope she skates well in Zagreb and has a great costume for the long. Some more speed and fully rotated jumps would also be good. Oh and a few of her delightful twizzles.
 
The problem is that we have not seen Polina skate for almost a year. I would say Polina was a safer bet but we don't know that Polina is the same skater. Look at Elizaveta Tuktamysheva from the last two years One season she was unstopable and very reliable. The next season she did not make it to worlds to defend her title. Polina is around the same age Liza was when she started struggling - we need to see the Polina of today, not make assumptions based on Polina of the past. She could be the same old reliable Polina, or she could go the way of Liza and so many before her and struggle for awhile.

Luckily we will get to see her at Golden Spin soon. And with Mariah is competing this week. Mariah has a great track record this season. I want to see if she can keep the momentum up.

I definitely would not count her out of the running though. It seems like everybody is so sure of Mariah yet Mariah has a smaller number of international assignments and reputation with judges. Don't get me wrong, I like Mariah much more than Polina as a skater but I think Polina has a mental edge on a lot of skaters. Liza is a different case; they have different body types and compete in different fields. Russia is a special case; up until nationals Elizaveta was regularly getting 180-200 total scores while Polina's highest score internationally is 187.

These senior Bs tend to have really inflated scores but I can't wait to see how the Americans will compete. The field is not as deep as Russia but mistakes are extremely costly.
 
Yay! Great for Ashley for adding Zagreb to her lineup after her lackluster showing in China! I think that shows a great mindset and determination to put out two great programs before Nationals. I have no doubt she's working hard to get her jumps in top form and is probably happy for the chance to remind people that she is a current world medalist.
 
At this point Polina is a big question mark. What level is she at right now with her training and injury? Does she even want to compete at this level anymore? Or are we all speculating about nothing and she'll come out at nationals ready to win? She has a lot of talent but has noticeable weaknesses too.

Mariah is Someone else I am really interested to see at nationals. I hope she can capitalize on her medal at Skate America because she has so many wonderful qualities. If she can stay confident and consistent this might be her year.
 
Surprised to see Ashley doing a senior B, and pleased. Wonder if she's feeling some extra pressure to prove herself with Mariah Bell in her rink (assuming Mariah's training is going very well)? Her outing at CoC was bad, but still, based on competitive results this season, it's not as if anyone is breathing down her neck for the National title.

Anyway, good for her. She's clearly taking the pre-Olympic season seriously.
 
Ashley should just pray that Shin Amano is not the TS at Worlds 2017, and in the meantime, she has to work harder at getting her jumps all the way around instead of relying wholly on her performing ability.
 
Ashley should just pray that Shin Amano is not the TS at Worlds 2017, and in the meantime, she has to work harder at getting her jumps all the way around instead of relying wholly on her performing ability.

Is she relying wholly on her performance ability to get jumps fully-rotated? don't think one is related to the other. I think like anyone else she wants to rotate those jumps and she just fell short (way short) of them this time.
 
Ashley should just pray that Shin Amano is not the TS at Worlds 2017, and in the meantime, she has to work harder at getting her jumps all the way around instead of relying wholly on her performing ability.

After CoC I wondered if he had watched worlds seethed at how many skaters he thought got away with underrotations and made it a mission to get back at them. Because... wow. I don't believe I've ever seen a competition where everyone but one (I thnk) person got a < call.

But still I'm happy that Ashley has a December competition again. Two of my favorite performances from her happend at the GPF. It's like she starts to peak around that time. I'd love to see her knock it out of the park just before nationals.

But I would like SOME positive news about Polina. So many withdrawals and no vids of her on ice. I have idea what to think.
 
Is she relying wholly on her performance ability to get jumps fully-rotated? don't think one is related to the other. I think like anyone else she wants to rotate those jumps and she just fell short (way short) of them this time.

I think he means relying on her artistry to earn her placement in the event. I don't believe that she has rotated the second triple of a 3/3 this season, which is hugely problematic because, even if she nails everything else, one < in the SP and two < in the LP (plus a likely edge call on the Lutz) will make it difficult for her to medal at a Worlds not in her home country. Elena and Anna also looked primed to close the PCS gap against Ashley.
 
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does golden spin take place at the same time as the grand prix final? just want to know if a US lady at the final is 100% ruled out now or not :(
 
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