Ladies - Free Program

[katymay]

You have a a point-the US is a huge country with a million zillion coaches, all at various levels of competency.

In some countries (Russia for example) coaches must have college degrees in coaching and there is probably some uniformity. (Not that it paid off for them this year).

I know one coach (Robin) tried to work with Sasha to straighten out her jumping technique and force her to do a triple lutz/not a flutz-but I guess it was too late, and the coaching relationship did not work for whatever reason.

I have seen so many little kids do what Kimmie does on the toe loop (turning foward and making it some sort of 'toe axel')-I think it is just a childhood bad habit.

 

[krenseby]

Please. Canadians have been VERY patient with Mira - it's time for her to deal with her issues. Did you read about her boasting before Worlds - and then to get a 24th (last) place? Don't you think that indicates some kind of attitude problem?

I think it indicates that she's clueless about her real strengths and weaknesses.... If you overestimate your skating ability and downplay your problems, you won't improve that much. That's her real problem. However, there's nothing wrong with wanting to finish at the top 10. Of course she would want that.

 

[Buzzz]

OMG!!! I am sooooo HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!!!! I love all three ladies medalist! WOOO-WHOOO!!!!! Rock on ladies!!!!!

 

[Mafke]

Please. Canadians have been VERY patient with Mira - it's time for her to deal with her issues. Did you read about her boasting before Worlds - and then to get a 24th (last) place?

24th is not last place. It's last place among those who made it to the LP round. But lots of skaters didn't get that far.

 

[_Ladybug_]

I woke up early to watch this live. I was terribly sad for Yu-Na when she fell. I really felt like crying. She is so painfully beautiful, her program is so amazing.
Then I was thrilled for Mao. After her amazing performance I wanted her to win so bad. Her smile and tears made my heart melt. She is a kid afterall. She achived so much.
But then Miki skated beautiful. I had a gut feeling that she was going to win and I was like "Oh no! Mao must win!". Miki was never a favourite of mine. I'm still not a fan. As her scores were coming I knew she was going to win. But as soon as she realized she had won and burst in tears I forgot the disappointment. It was a wonderful moment. I could see a young lady who as made her dreams come true after hardwork and dedication. And, for me, this should always be celebrated. I'm very happy for her. Good for her.

 

[iloveaxel]

Skate Canada

If I were the CEO of Skate Canada, I would try everything possible to persuade Yu-Na Kim to become a Canadian citizen. She'll be training in Canada anyway.


Mira is not a great skater, but all the other Sr. and Jr. ladies are even worse. They can't even do hard jumps.

 

[sk8addict]

If I were the CEO of Skate Canada, I would try everything possible to persuade Yu-Na Kim to become a Canadian citizen. She'll be training in Canada anyway.


Mira is not a great skater, but all the other Sr. and Jr. ladies are even worse. They can't even do hard jumps.

It is harder to become a Canadian citizen than it is to become a US citizen.

 

[gio]

Three medals and 5th place to Asia. This year it was an Asian dominance (not just in Ladies). But in the next few season Caroline Zhang and Mirai Nagasu are coming for the USA, and who knows maybe some still unnamed skater for Russia. And what about Elene Gedevanishvili. She certainly has the potential to become competitive.
And China, now it is competitive just in Pairs, but I'm sure that they'll find a competitive girl too.

 

[iloveaxel]

And China, now it is competitive just in Pairs, but I'm sure that they'll find a competitive girl too.

One reason that China is unable to find good female skaters since Lu Chen is because figure skating is limited to two or three Northern provices. Generally speaking, girls in these areas are much taller, less flexible than those from Southern provices. Pang, Dan Zhang, even Yan Liu are good examples.

Lu Chen's skating school is located in the very Southern city. Shen & Zhao have already signed a contract to open another skating school in that city. I'm hoping Lu Chen's school will produce another female star from China in the next 5 to 10 years.

 

[sk8addict]

hmm, wow I wake up this morning and what do I find. A disappointing but non-surprising result...I think it was bound to happen sooner or later. I always considered the Asian Armada the best in the world but it depended on who would deliver at Worlds.

That said, I do agree with the above posters' assessment of the American and Canadian ladies. This should be a wake up call to every skating nation that's not Japan or Korea.

Congrats to the medalists and a big :agree: to Rosaleen for the great worlds coverage.

Now,Now Red Dog, why disappointed? Beautiful skating at a higher tech level is all I could ask for. And the judges seemed fair. I love skating and can't wait for Caroline to join in the mix next year.

 

[iloveaxel]

It is harder to become a Canadian citizen than it is to become a US citizen.

Nope, much easier in Canada. You only need to wait for three years under normal circumstances once u get permanent resident status.

 

[sk8addict]

That is so true. and they both have short arms which hurt the artistry or at least impression of artistry sometimes. But Joannie is more expressive.

Kimmie..short arms! Come now. If she's not doing an Airplane, She's doing a Helicopter!!! She knows about the beachball. Just to childish to use it.

 

[figuristka]

I think this year have shown some of the most promising skaters technically for a long time. However after watching the Free skates of Takahashi, Lambiel, and Verner i felt the ladies i did see were not up to their level with the artistry.Yu Na Kim though is a skater that already shows her artistry is growing along with the technical.

Overall the ladies event just did not have the excitment of the Men´s. Though technically they are just breathtaking. Hope along with Yu Na Kim, Mao´s artistry improves, she already has good audience connection.Will be nice to see when they are more mature. Miki showed alot of courage but again i would have enjoyed it more if i felt she had more connection to the audience and expression.

 

[gio]

Lu Chen's skating school is located in the very Southern city. Shen & Zhao have already signed a contract to open another skating school in that city. I'm hoping Lu Chen's school will produce another female star from China in the next 5 to 10 years.

That would be great!!! After Japan and Korea, China is needed in Ladies.

 

[artsciboy]

Yan Liu

One reason that China is unable to find good female skaters since Lu Chen is because figure skating is limited to two or three Northern provices. Generally speaking, girls in these areas are much taller, less flexible than those from Southern provices. Pang, Dan Zhang, even Yan Liu are good examples.

Lu Chen's skating school is located in the very Southern city. Shen & Zhao have already signed a contract to open another skating school in that city. I'm hoping Lu Chen's school will produce another female star from China in the next 5 to 10 years.

I have to say though, after she finished 11th at the Olympics last year, I thought Yan Liu was one to watch. She had a great season of consistent 7-triple performances, but this season it was clear she was unmotivated and undertrained (and her coach admitted as much). She has a lot of positive qualities about her, and still has a ton of potential. I just wonder if she has as much drive as some of the other skaters.

 

[rain]

Like the mens LP competition I found myself somewhat underwhelmed on the whole. The best choreography of the night, I thought went to Meissner, who I think gets a bad rap on her artistry. I actually like her quite a lot. While I think Mao's SP is an artistic masterpiece, I find her LP robotic and a check list of elements, namely jumps. So while she obviously performed very well here, it didn't do that much for me. Ando was even less into her performance, though I thought it perfectly fair that she won based on the sum total of her SP and FS. While Asada did the triple axel, Ando's triple/triples were hardly chopped liver. Kim was a little disappointing. I love her program, but the mistakes did take away from the overall impression.

One thing of particular note, I thought, was the huge number of downgraded jumps in this competition. Many, many skaters got dinged in a big way.

 

[bekalc]

If I were the CEO of Skate Canada, I would try everything possible to persuade Yu-Na Kim to become a Canadian citizen. She'll be training in Canada anyway.


Mira is not a great skater, but all the other Sr. and Jr. ladies are even worse. They can't even do hard jumps.

If Yu-na were to decide to skate for Canada, she would have to wait out two competitive seasons in order to do so. There's no real benefit for Yu-na there. It's her prime skating years and she can use all the worlds experiences she needs in preparation for the Vancover Olympics. Besides, Yu-na is adored in her home country, and it sounds like her federation is supporting her skating. Yes, Yu-na trains in Canada/ and took summer camps in North America. But well, no offense, but it seems like all of Yu-na's basics came from Korean coaches anyways. Orser's job now is to just polish up her rough edges. So, I think Korea deserves most of the credit there and well Yu-na is such a draw for skating in Korea...

I think the idea of being the first Korean skater to win a world medal etc means a lot to Yu-na, and I think the whole country of Korea would feel betrayed if Yu-na stopped skating for them. She's a national treasure there.

But hey, I'm sure the Koreans and Yu-na wouldn't mind, if Canadians "unofficially" adopted her. I'm sure if Yu-na wins Olympic gold, she'll thank Canada.

 

[kyla2]

ITA with NYMK51

Totally agree with everything she said. Miki is very deserving. She has worked her heart out to improve her game. Yu Na Kim is still someone who will have to be reckoned with next year. She has so much potential to change the face of the sport like Michelle did. She is the complete package. I don't think the American ladies are going to be truly competitive for the top 3 spots for awhile.

 

[hockeyfan228]

That's a very poor rule and needs to be fixed.


~Z

Actually, it's similar to the system under 6.0, where there was a mandatory deduction (.3-.5 off the technical mark) for missing a required element.

 

[hockeyfan228]

Nope, much easier in Canada. You only need to wait for three years under normal circumstances once u get permanent resident status.

Under normal circumstances (Skilled Worker, not spousal sponsorship), to get citizenship, you need to be a permanent resident residing in Canada for three years, (or living with a Canadian spouse abroad or working for a Canadian company). Normal processing for a US citizen as a Skilled Worker takes 14-24 months to be granted. From some countries, it takes up to 8 years.

It takes forever to get a US green card under normal circumstances, even for people who hold work visas.

However, there is a provision for "exceptional" people to get green cards (and, therefore, citizenship) faster, and if a skater qualifies, then s/he's on her way. I don't see anything on the Canadian immigration site listing a similar program, but my understanding is the Canadian immigration can look at things on a case-by-case basis, expedite applications for PR, and make exceptions to the residency requirement for citizenship. I don't even think it takes a Legislative act, like it took for Savchenko/Szolkowy.