Mirai Nagasu Panasonic ads and her chances at the olympics | Golden Skate

Mirai Nagasu Panasonic ads and her chances at the olympics

jeff goldblum

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 16, 2005
There are three new Mirai Nagasu spots up on Youtube today. They were apparently produced in conjunction with the recent sponsorship deal which features Mirai and her family in their Living in HD campaign. They are pretty adorable and include a general practice video, Mirai skating with some 3D glasses, and a runthrough of her short program. In that order:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wv0mqvd8_M

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILvkV7WqxXU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LB9D9GeOpDk

She looks pretty good, but I have to say she really comes alive in competition. As pleasant as she is in the practice videos, she seems to have comparitively more speed in fire in competition. I hope it serves her well in Vancouver. I also hope she'll be inspired by Evan's victory in the men's event.

In regards to her doing a triple-triple in the short program, do we think she should attempt it or not. She'll have to do it much cleaner than she did in this video if she wants it to count fully, but it seems like a worthwhile risk. She is clearly not a favorite or even a contender for a medal, so I'd imagine that both she and Frank are looking for the experience factor here. That said, it seems like there's no real reason for her to play it safe. If she ends up doing it and the judges don't downgrade she might find herself rather high in the standings.

Only a few more days now.

Here's hoping our two woman team will shake things up a bit.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
The 3-3 looks decent in the video, and I'm sure in competition she'll have more attack. I say she should go for it here and play it safe at Worlds where the placement actually matters. She has nothing to lose at the Olympics and if the judges give her credit for it she'll likely get a high score. She's such a cute girl, thanks for sharing these videos! Best of luck to Mirai!
 

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
I manage to pause the YouTube vid at the right moment to see her blade touchdown before 90° on both her 3lutz and 3toe. They're both under-rotated by COP standards. :X
 

gfskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
I manage to pause the YouTube vid at the right moment to see her blade touchdown before 90° on both her 3lutz and 3toe. They're both under-rotated by COP standards. :X

You have got to be kidding! There is no way you can see that from that angle and 100 feet away no zoom.
 

Tinymavy15

Sinnerman for the win
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2006
Her 3/3 looks really good, but I wish she would just do it in the freeskate and focus on skating a clean short. Then again, she really has nothing to lose. As for underroatation, the toe looked border-line in that video. I have seen her do them much cleaner than that in practice.
 

ks777

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 15, 2003
I manage to pause the YouTube vid at the right moment to see her blade touchdown before 90° on both her 3lutz and 3toe. They're both under-rotated by COP standards. :X

some people seem to have no life.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
Her 3/3 looks really good, but I wish she would just do it in the freeskate and focus on skating a clean short. Then again, she really has nothing to lose. As for underroatation, the toe looked border-line in that video. I have seen her do them much cleaner than that in practice.

I was going to say the same thing. If she tries it should it be in the short or long? I've been thinking more and more about Mirai's SP. She actually has a pretty competitive SP when she skates it perfectly. All season long it's been a similar story - her SP leaves her high in the rankings and then her LP brings her down. I've been wondering if we might all be surprised at Mirai's standings after the SP. Depends on what others do of course, but still.
Should she risk what has actually been a decently competitive LP by trying the 3-3?
Let's say she doesn't and ends up within striking distance of a medal after the SP anyway. Let's say she's 4th. You never know. Then, does the "nothing to lose" story line change completely? Should she just try to be as clean as possible? Or maybe it doesn't and maybe she and Frank figure there's no way she'd keep her position and might as well try the 3-3.

It's interesting. Rachael's in a much more comfortable position. She already does everything she possibly can in both her programs and has only to do it and see where she ends up.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I was going to say the same thing. If she tries it should it be in the short or long? I've been thinking more and more about Mirai's SP. She actually has a pretty competitive SP when she skates it perfectly. All season long it's been a similar story - her SP leaves her high in the rankings and then her LP brings her down. I've been wondering if we might all be surprised at Mirai's standings after the SP. Depends on what others do of course, but still.
Should she risk what has actually been a decently competitive LP by trying the 3-3?
Let's say she doesn't and ends up within striking distance of a medal after the SP anyway. Let's say she's 4th. You never know. Then, does the "nothing to lose" story line change completely? Should she just try to be as clean as possible? Or maybe it doesn't and maybe she and Frank figure there's no way she'd keep her position and might as well try the 3-3.

It's interesting. Rachael's in a much more comfortable position. She already does everything she possibly can in both her programs and has only to do it and see where she ends up.

If she tries it in the LP she will have to change her jump layout, in her current layout she already has two 3t planned so by doing a 3lz-3t or 3f-3t she'd have to change her program up a bit which I'm not sure is the best idea. Plus she already has the 2a-3t planned in the LP which is valuable and risky enough I think.

As for the SP, I think there is a good possibility Mirai will be ahead of Rachael in the SP, just judging from their scores this season. Mirai got 62+ for her SP at her first competition, and her jumps have gotten smoother and steadier since and her performance quality has improved. Rachael on the other hand has not broken 60 internationally for her SP this whole season, her strength is the LP. Mirai could potentially be top 5 after the SP regardless of if she does the 3-3 or not considering Rachael and Akiko are LP skaters and Carolina, Laura, and Mao are unpredictable. Her SP score was the 4th highest this season, meaning if she goes for the 3-3 in the SP and gets credit for it, she could have a good margin to stay up pretty high in the standings going into the FS incase she gets a couple downgrades. She's not one to fall a lot either, so I think if she wants to try the 3-3 she should in the SP here. At worlds though she should focus on being clean.
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
If she tries it in the LP she will have to change her jump layout, in her current layout she already has two 3t planned so by doing a 3lz-3t or 3f-3t she'd have to change her program up a bit which I'm not sure is the best idea. Plus she already has the 2a-3t planned in the LP which is valuable and risky enough I think.

As for the SP, I think there is a good possibility Mirai will be ahead of Rachael in the SP, just judging from their scores this season. Mirai got 62+ for her SP at her first competition, and her jumps have gotten smoother and steadier since and her performance quality has improved. Rachael on the other hand has not broken 60 internationally for her SP this whole season, her strength is the LP. Mirai could potentially be top 5 after the SP regardless of if she does the 3-3 or not considering Rachael and Akiko are LP skaters and Carolina, Laura, and Mao are unpredictable. Her SP score was the 4th highest this season, meaning if she goes for the 3-3 in the SP and gets credit for it, she could have a good margin to stay up pretty high in the standings going into the FS incase she gets a couple downgrades. She's not one to fall a lot either, so I think if she wants to try the 3-3 she should in the SP here. At worlds though she should focus on being clean.

Well, I buy all this! Thanks for the insight into jump layout.

Only thing I'd add is that Rachael never did a clean SP internationally this season so we don't know what scores she'd get if she did. I think she would have broken 60 at SA for sure has she skated it the way she did at nationals.

However, I agree with you that if both are clean Mirai should be ahead of Rachael after the SP.

Well, it would be amazing if Mirai landed a 3-3 in the SP. Whether she tries it will come down to whether she does it consistently in practices just before, I think. Frank's no fool.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Well, I buy all this! Thanks for the insight into jump layout.

Only thing I'd add is that Rachael never did a clean SP internationally this season so we don't know what scores she'd get if she did. I think she would have broken 60 at SA for sure has she skated it the way she did at nationals.

However, I agree with you that if both are clean Mirai should be ahead of Rachael after the SP.

Well, it would be amazing if Mirai landed a 3-3 in the SP. Whether she tries it will come down to whether she does it consistently in practices just before, I think. Frank's no fool.

That's my thinking. And I think Rachael with a clean SP with the 3-3 should be 60-63 points but Mirai with her good spins, spirals, speed, and artistry could maybe get 65 or higher, especially if she does the 3-3 and gets credit for it. I'm really excited for the event to start, hope the two Americans bring it!
 

clonesheep

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 6, 2004
Nagasu's chance of getting a medal of any color is zero, so let's not waste our time on it. When USFSA decided not sending Ashley Wagner to Vancouver that's the end of it.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Nagasu's chance of getting a medal of any color is zero, so let's not waste our time on it. When USFSA decided not sending Ashley Wagner to Vancouver that's the end of it.

How could they have "decided" to send Wagner? The U.S. had only two spots. Rachael came first and Mirai second.
 

katymay

Medalist
Joined
Mar 7, 2006
I disagree. This is figure skating, on ICE and anything can happen. Both Mirai and Rachel stand a chance to stand on the podium. Just like any other competition, there are at least seven girls who stand a chance to medal. Mao, Miki, Yuna, Caroline, Rachel, Mirai and perhaps the Russian girl whose name escapes me. (sorry).
 

Dark-Eyes

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 18, 2010
I manage to pause the YouTube vid at the right moment to see her blade touchdown before 90° on both her 3lutz and 3toe. They're both under-rotated by COP standards. :X

Judging by how they scored Plushenko's LP, they are not calling URs at the Olympics. She should be fine!
 

gfskater

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 4, 2009
How could they have "decided" to send Wagner? The U.S. had only two spots. Rachael came first and Mirai second.

They could have "decided" because of the protocol they published for the selection process. Ashley medaled at the 2009 jr worlds, placed in two grand prix events, and made it to the grand priix finals where she placed 4th.

Here is a excerpt form the USFS document "2010 Olympic Winter Games Athlete Selection Procedure ".

To field the most competitive team, U.S. Figure Skating's ICMS will take into consideration results from the events outlined below to determine athletes who will have the most performance impact at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games. The ICMS, and the International Committee's approval process of the ICMS' recommendations, will take into consideration placement and competitive field at the following events in priority order:

a. 2010 U.S. Figure Skating Championships
b. 2009/10 ISU Senior Grand Prix Final
c. 2009 World Figure Skating Championships
d. 2009 Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
e. 2009 World Junior Figure Skating Championships
f. 2009/10 ISU Junior Grand Prix Final


So I think technically according to their published selection process, they could have picked Ashley.

Boy that would have created a firestorm!!
 
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DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
Judging by how they scored Plushenko's LP, they are not calling URs at the Olympics. She should be fine!

Really? Did Plushy UR? I'd go download the vid and check but I don't enjoy watching his skating so I'd rather not.

In general, though, the tech specialist tends to be more lenient with men and UR. In the SP, Daisuke's 3t on the end of his 3f/3t had his toepick touchdown while he was almost forward, the same kind of UR that got Yu Na at the GPF, but the tech specialist let it go. They did call him on it in the FS, though. For something that makes such a huge difference in the score, it sure is applied inconsistently. If it was up to me, I'd abolish UR calls altogether. Anything more than 180° gets ratified as a jump of that rotation, and let the judges apply the GOE as they see fit.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I disagree. This is figure skating, on ICE and anything can happen. Both Mirai and Rachel stand a chance to stand on the podium. Just like any other competition, there are at least seven girls who stand a chance to medal. Mao, Miki, Yuna, Caroline, Rachel, Mirai and perhaps the Russian girl whose name escapes me. (sorry).

Alena Leonova, and I would also argue Akiko Suzuki and Laura Lepisto (should she miraculously land all her triples in the FS) have a shot too, meaning their are 9 girls really in contention, which is similar to the men's event. Also Sarah Meier? I don't think she really has a shot given her injury but people have been hyping her up as a medal favorite. We'll have a better idea after the SP, where there could be a few surprises in the standings (Julia Sebestyen, Gedevanishvilli, etc).
 
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