) and felt sad about seeing Mika like that. However, it's still much better than bombing in the individual event which matters the most to every skater. Hopefully he can come back strong like the SP at Cup of China!
OK, finally steeled my nerves and watched Misha's skate.
The jumps weren't there certainly, but I really liked the footwork and spins! Misha skates very smoothly, he's got a floating quality, I think people in other threads have been a bit hard on him to be honest. It wasn't what I'd call a disaster! I've seen skaters completely give up on their programs when they haven't been able to do the jumps and everything suffers. Misha did very well in spite of everything.
Cheering for him in the Men's event (unless he's skating the FP in the Team Event)
OK, finally steeled my nerves and watched Misha's skate.
The jumps weren't there certainly, but I really liked the footwork and spins! Misha skates very smoothly, he's got a floating quality, I think people in other threads have been a bit hard on him to be honest. It wasn't what I'd call a disaster! I've seen skaters completely give up on their programs when they haven't been able to do the jumps and everything suffers. Misha did very well in spite of everything.
Cheering for him in the Men's event (unless he's skating the FP in the Team Event)
IMO, people who complain about his PCS don’t give him enough credit for his superior non-jump elements and his overall skating skills, especially when they don’t like his program. While his jumps are beautiful when successful, it was the strength of his skating, his speed and flow, and technique on his non-jump elements that drew me to him in the first place. It’s no fluke that he ended up placing so highly as a relative unknown in his senior debut at Boston Worlds, despite starting off in the first group in the SP, with the likes of Javier, Hanyu, etc all in the last group. All the attention and pressure of expectations came fast and furious after that. Some may thrive on that kind of sudden attention (and being wired that way may make it a whole lot easier to deal w pressure), but judging from his interviews, he seems to be a rather private person and not naturally comfortable w all that being in the spotlight entails. I personally don’t think it’s a coaching issue, and actually think leaving Valentina could even be detrimental, as she is responsible for his superb technique and they have a wonderful relationship, the value of which shouldn’t be underestimated. However, it does appear that the coaching team could use better assistance in the competitive sports psychology aspect for Misha (and Stanislava as well, whom I’m also a fan of). I’m really hoping for success for Misha at this Oly, which for me doesn’t mean a particular placement but only that he skates with enjoyment and love of skating and that he himself is happy with his performances.I don't even want to imagine what would happen if he does well in individuals after a bad outing in the team event and the kind of accusations that he'll have to face.
It's not like he physically can't have a reasonable skate, and he doesn't have to be perfect anyway - as long as he reigns in his nerves and doesn't let the weight of responsibility crush him. In the FS there is time to recover after mistakes which he didn't have in the SP. I hope it helps, fingers crossed.
Misha did have a psychologist. I don't know what the situation is right now, but obviously he wouldn't have been able to bring his own psychologist with him to Japan/Korea. But the team should have a psychologist there, surely? Honestly don't know what the hell is going on there, in terms of psychological support the situation seems to be very far from ideal.I love your perspective, I suspect non-Misha fans would roll their eyes, lol, but that’s why we’re in Misha’s fan page.
