- Joined
- Jul 8, 2005
Phil Hersh: 'Come back, Michelle and Sasha'
A healthy Nagasu may be America's best chance for a ladies medal in 2010
From the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan scandal to the double gold medals award in pairs skating at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the Chicago Tribune's Olympic beat columnist and reporter Phil Hersh has seen the biggest stories in figure skating unfold from the front lines. Before leaving for the World Championships, he sat down with Figure Skaters Online to answer questions from figure skating fans on everything from the judging system to the future stars of the sport.
A healthy Nagasu may be America's best chance for a ladies medal in 2010
From the Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan scandal to the double gold medals award in pairs skating at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, the Chicago Tribune's Olympic beat columnist and reporter Phil Hersh has seen the biggest stories in figure skating unfold from the front lines. Before leaving for the World Championships, he sat down with Figure Skaters Online to answer questions from figure skating fans on everything from the judging system to the future stars of the sport.
Amanda (Michigan, USA): Who do you pick as the World Champions this year? Do you foresee any Americans making the podium in any discipline?
Phil: At least one ice dance team will make the podium, especially with the defending champs gone. Evan Lysacek has a good shot, too. I would pick Brian Joubert, Mao Asada, Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy and whoever the judges want to win dance.
Aja (New York, USA): Phil, are you bold enough to pick the medalists for Worlds?
Phil: Why not? Joubert, Lysacek, Patrick Chan; Asada, Yu-Na Kim, Joannie Rochette; Savchenko and Szolkowy, Dan Zhang and Hao Zhang, Qing Pang and Jian Tong; Oksana Domnina and Maxim Shabalin, Meryl Davis and Charlie White, Jana Khokhlova and Sergei Novitski.
Samantha (Illinois, USA): What do you think Mirai Nagasu needs to do to be competitive nationally again? My second question is what are your thoughts on Rachael Flatt and Ashley Wagner?
Phil: Mirai needs to be healthy. Flatt is a marvelously consistent skater who needs only add some pizzazz to her programs to be a medal contender. Wagner showed at junior worlds she still lacks consistency; I thought she would go on from the excellent long program at nationals to be dazzling at junior worlds, but that did not happen.
Erin (California, USA): Phil, I think I might have a little bit of a difficult question for you. Why do Mirai Nagasu and Caroline Zhang receive all of the media attention when they are not as good as some of the other girls they are competing against? Both have serious jumping problems but are touted as the successor to Michelle Kwan. I practically overdosed on Nagasu and Zhang in the past couple years but I've only read one feature you have done on Rachael Flatt. I cannot recall anything that you've done on Ashley Wagner.
Phil: Nagasu and Zhang are the most talented skaters in that group, even if their results have yet to match their full potential. Even with its mistakes, Nagasu's long program at nationals still was more fun to watch than anyone else's.
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