Mira Leung | Page 4 | Golden Skate

Mira Leung

Iloveaxel seems to be overlooking the fact that plenty of skaters have come back after seasons of injury, illness, coaching problems, etc., and made it to the World's podium. As for Joannie Rochette being "too old" to medal at World's, sorry, I'm not buying it. Consider Todd Eldredge, Maria Butyrskaya, Shen & Zhao, to name just a few "elderly" skaters who have done it. It all depends on who does what at the event.
 
Iloveaxel seems to be overlooking the fact that plenty of skaters have come back after seasons of injury, illness, coaching problems, etc., and made it to the World's podium. As for Joannie Rochette being "too old" to medal at World's, sorry, I'm not buying it. Consider Todd Eldredge, Maria Butyrskaya, Shen & Zhao, to name just a few "elderly" skaters who have done it. It all depends on who does what at the event.

I'm not saying she's 'that' old. But her lack of any meaningful progress over the past two seasons coupled with new comers such as Yu-Na Kim, Mao, come-back Miki, and other future spoiler Caroline Zhang etc, Joannie will be lucky to hang on to top 6 if her jump consistency is still as bad as this.

In my opinion, it's very very difficult to change the consistency problem, I won't hold much hope for Joannie.

With regards to Cynthia, get those jumps back before we talk.
 
I too would like to know more about the Ignore feature, beyond the one that I control in my own mind! The word "troll" has come to mind a few times while reading this thread.... Perhaps not feeding the troll would help?
 
Go to your user control panel (User CP) and then under "Misc" there is the "Buddy/Ignore" list link... click on that and then you can add names to buddy and ignore lists

I *believe* that is the feature Tigger is talking about. :)
 
I'm not saying she's 'that' old. But her lack of any meaningful progress over the past two seasons coupled with new comers such as Yu-Na Kim, Mao, come-back Miki, and other future spoiler Caroline Zhang etc, Joannie will be lucky to hang on to top 6 if her jump consistency is still as bad as this.

In my opinion, it's very very difficult to change the consistency problem, I won't hold much hope for Joannie.

With regards to Cynthia, get those jumps back before we talk.

I still think you're writing Rochette off prematurely. Arakawa and Slutskaya both overcame consistency problems, and from what I've seen this season, just about all of the top women in the world have faltered at one competition or another. Ando's meltdown at the GP Final, for example. Rochette is capable of delivering the goods. She's had a tough time keeping it together from one competition to the next, and that's disappointing to see, I admit. Still, it's not as if we're talking about someone who has consistently failed to realize her potential (Onda, Volchkova, Nikidinov).

I have no opinion on Phaneuf; I have not seen her skate since the 2004 Grand Prix.
 
Anyway, your whole argument is just another reinoforcement of my 'loser' theory on Canadian skaters...


As if any further proof was required - you are a disgraceful poster with nothing but personal putdowns of skaters and posters or blindly over gushing praise...you're not worth debating with.

Ant
 
Mira & needed improvement

Mira has improved her presentation at this year's Canadians. I also noticed an improved spiral sequence in the short program

However many technical issues remain. She skates too slowly and her jumps have neither height nor distance. 3-3 combinations will be impossible for her as she gets no flow out the first jump in her combos. I think she might if others make mistakes squeak into the bottom of the top 10 but realistically she will not get any higher until she fixes those technical problems.

I agree with your fixes for Mira, but to my eye there's more that needs attention. Others have mentioned that her basic stroking and posture are still an issue. And need I mention her posture as she approaches jumps?

We can hope that these are all issues that Joanne plans to address after Worlds. Perhaps they're even the reason why she dropped Mira last spring.

Phaneuf has done really well considering she hasn't competed for 2 years ( and couldn't even train jumps this summer) and it was accompanied by a huge growth spurt. The triples that Phaneuf landed had far more height and distance with good run out. And Mira can't even lick Phaneuf's skates in terms of speed, line and presentation.

I agree here as well. Phaneuf now has a fire in her belly. Given another year to get her skating to where it needs to be she will be a contender. Hopefully Mira and Joannie will skate well enough to earn 3 spots next year. My prediction is that Joannie will be in the top 6 but Mira will be outside the top 7 giving Canada only 2 spots again. Having said that I don't expect that any of the other ladies would place any better this year, so it will be fitting if Mira's placement this year keeps her from attending Worlds next year.
 
As if any further proof was required - you are a disgraceful poster with nothing but personal putdowns of skaters and posters or blindly over gushing praise...you're not worth debating with.

Ant

That's a little harsh, don't you think? Maybe when Iloveaxel grows up she/he will be more capable of forming opinions based on fact rather than emotion.
 
There is simply something disturbing about all of the Mira-Is-Ugly chatter and we hate iloveaxel... Maybe its because I agree...

Mira is a good little skater that needs a makeover... its as simple as that. If she were pretty, we'd all be talking about how wonderful she is...

Joannie has been held up as a great skater who has all the talent to win... yet she falters...

And both are ok, I suppose, but I do think that if we focus soley on skating it is quite clear that Mira has a future in the sport, espcially if someone takes her to Elizabeth Arden's for an afternoon... but that if Joannie doesn't get those wonky mistakes worked out she will continue to hover around 6-9th place at the world level...

Which is an easier fix? A makeover or jump consistency? Which is proof that Skate Canada isn't doing its job?
 
Kwanford, now that MK is out of the picture you are the soul of good sense. :biggrin:

Don't start with me missy... :p :p

I've always been the voice of reason in a world gone crazy... its not my fault everyone wasn't smart enough to realize that :bow: :bow: Michelle Kwan :bow: :bow: is the Greatest of All Time...

Plus, as you know, in the US image is everything & the USFSA would've gotten that child a makeover years ago or not let her skate...

It simply sucks that Skate Canada allows this to happen... I don't care how difficult the mother is...
 
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At the exhibition gala Mira was first to skate after the flood. She fell on 2 triple flips...both were severely under roted 1/2 turn on one of them( we could see the markings on the ice). Her lutz is almost like a triple salcow..just have a look at it in slow motion.I will say that she looks wonderful with her bangs gone. She is actually quite attractive.
 
At the exhibition gala Mira was first to skate after the flood. She fell on 2 triple flips...both were severely under roted 1/2 turn on one of them( we could see the markings on the ice). Her lutz is almost like a triple salcow..just have a look at it in slow motion.I will say that she looks wonderful with her bangs gone. She is actually quite attractive.

Add to that, she seemed to glow and looked SOOOOO happy at the end of her freeskate. She was quoted in the Province as everyone was telling her how much better her skating was, how she looked so good, etc., etc. This is what she said in the Province (or at least they quoted her as saying) "The new look was just a general big improvement in everything. Everyone said my skating, my jumps, my image has improved so much. Everything wound up contributing to the final package." So I think she's starting to see the benefits of listening to the advice she and/or her mother had seemed to fight against for so long.

And no one is saying MIra is ugly. There is a difference between saying someone is ugly (which they can't help) and the way they present themselves. The way she PRESENTED herself at Skate Canada was the problem, not her face. She had underwear showing, holes in her tights, duct tape on her skates. I mean, the people on the Canadian broadcast even had a little chat about the duct tape on her skates. People seem to be simplifying everything into "Mira is ugly" when that's not the case. It's about being neat and tidy.

And I honestly believe if Mira was as gorgeous as Katia Gordeeva and walked out there with the same underwear, holes and skates, she'd get just as much flack because THAT was the problem, not her looks.
 
I don't really know Mira, of course, but since we started getting into gender and sexuality issues on the Lund thread, I wanted to add my 2 cents here. People talk about gay men in figure skating all the time, but I've never seen anyone talking about what it's like for a woman who specifically does NOT want to present herself as desirable to men, for whatever reason. I was like Mira as a teenager, right down to how I dressed, and I was not neat, deliberately, because it was my way of deliberately not being "feminine"--there are all the stereotypes about how long women spend choosing clothes, getting dressed, styling hair, etc, and I didn't like those steretypes, and I wanted to live my life as someone who could do anything, no matter how rough, no matter how dirty or sweaty, and not care about what it did to my appearance(or actually liked what it did to my appearance.) People judged me for it then, and on occasions I tried to change, but each time I did it felt fake, like I was acting a role, and it was a distraction.

What if, instead of the makeup, makeover, etc, Mira got a really short haircut and wore pants on ice, if that's what she wants to do? Again, I don't know her, or what she really likes. People assume a lot when you're a woman--at least when you're a gay man there are signifyers that people pick up on, but women are assumed to be straight under almost all circumstances short of outright coming out, and then ostracized by both other women who are uncomfortable with it, and by men, who are equally uncomfortable with it, and there are so few women like that that it is hard to find people who relate to you and will even be friends, much less love you. (Speaking from my experience--sorry if this is overgeneralizing).
 
My initial reaction when I saw her at Skate Canada was that she looked more like some kid from from a poor family who'd put on last year's costume and the skates she'd had for the last five years to compete at a sectional event rather than the current silver medalist competing at a senior international event. So I think some of the criticism about how she presents herself is justified.
As for her style, her performance in the long program looked rather crude. I don't think she pays enough attention to the details of her choreography; there were a couple of spins where she didn't hold the positions long enough; where other skaters sail into their jumps, she seems to grind along on the ice and then muscle the jump, without a lot of flow coming out. Hopefully she'll be able to fix these things.
 
I dressed like a 'tom-boy' growing up... still do to some extent...

never been into the barbie wannabe thing. (never was into barbie period)
 
Well, if she doesn't want to be a girly girl on the ice, fine, go for it. A unitard would be great for that - provided it fits properly, doesn't need mending, and isn't worn with a ratty-looking pair of skates. I don't think every female skater needs to be tarted up like a Vegas showgirl.
 
There's tomboy and then there is inappropriate to the sport. Inappropriate is granny panties showing, ripped tights, duct tape on skates, There have been many ladies who aren't girly girls in this sport (myself included!), but you still have to understand that it's part of your presentation. When my skates are really beat up, it's time for a pair of over the boot tights (new or fresh without runs and holes!), a dress with full PANTS, etc. For a living, I am a manufacturing manager and hold and engineering degree, but I KNOW that I need to make sure my panties are not hanging out and my tights are tidy.
 
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