The US women are as good as anyone. maybe Japan will dominate a long time due to tiny little skaters who can whip around and turn in the air easier, men and women, but the USA skaters don't get the credit they deserve. It isn't just about medals. Flatt is doing something no Japanese skater is doing, elite skting and stanford. She was fabulous in the Olympics and it is very hard if not impossible to do the academics etc she does and compete. Lets remember Michelle got tutors at age 13 and lived at the ice rink until age 25. CoP does not allow skaters to breathe, these busy, frantic programs remind me of ice dancing in the 90's at its most awful. Now a single skate must be in perpetual, meaningless motion. We want ice dancers who can do triple jumps. Patrick Chan is so rare it's not even funny. I want men's skating to concentrate on good basics and spins and elements but I miss seeing programs from Men who looked and skated like Kulik, Stojko, Yagudin, Plushenko, and to go back, Boitano, Orser, Wylie. These jampacked programs are too busy and then we see same spins, same elements and of course more falls. jumps need time to set up to be done properly. CoP will be changed and tweaked again, because it is not bringing out the best in singles or even pairs skaters. Flow and edging and beautifully held out movements are lost in singles. I agree ice dancing is more interesting/satisfying in the last couple years, due to North American influence and marina/igor's amazing talents.
But back to singles, Ashley Wagner is very good, very much the full package. mirai is wonderful, magical. not since kwan have we seen that kind of charm. And she does a lot of elements better than Kwan. She is not a robot, so give her some time. We have seen Rachel's best I feel because she's at Stanford studying. I think she's mazing and even though her body looks matronly (no neck, sloopy shoulders) she is a very good skater who should have had 5th at The Olympics.
Mirai is not washed up, beleive in her natural talent. We have Agnes who is very good, and Alissa is elegant and a great beauty but not a confident compeititor. Michelle was an aberration. We were spoiled by her 10 year reign at or near the top. She would not be winning if she had to do what is expected of these girls. I like the majestic skating of Kostner when she is not wiping out. Tiny Takahashi and Chan have the advantage as petite skaters. As for me I miss the quad triple doubles of the Russians and the 3 quad skates of Goebel and the amazing Stoiko. I also feel, the jumping requirements should be different for women than men. I think there are very few who can compete back to back clean skate. They are the olympic and world champions that are tough as nails, have the skills...very few folks, like Evan, Yuna. I notice Van der perrin was dissed but I loved seeing the jumps and the masculine looking mature man's body. The CoP programs are busy, hectic, frenetic, everything that ice dance used to be and everyone hated it.
As for pairs, yeah there is S and S and the Zhangs are back, but no one like Sale and Pelletier, Elena and Anton since they quit and 2002 changed skating. There's gotta be something between 6.0 skating and CoP where judging is transparent. I personally feel these boards are very tough on the us ladies who deserve better. I am very critical but loved Ashley's SP. It was wonderful. Great choreography.
I love Mirai, as she is unique, like Sasha. They are artistic beings like Toller Cranston, not robots. Michelle, as grand as she often was, did not have the difficulty these skaters current have. And she was a once in a century feirce, Witt like competitor. FS is really hard, I never got far, and I was a fabulous dancer. Hardest sport there is in my opinion. It is sad there is not enough time for someone with perfect or near perfect extension to do MK's famous spiral (and get a bit of rest for the next triple jump.) It's CoP that's not quite right, not the skaters.
