Ladies' LP | Page 72 | Golden Skate

Ladies' LP

Toby1Dawg

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 16, 2010
I'm really so so sad for Mao, not because she didn't win gold, but because of how disappointed she looked on the podium.

Mao of 2008 was one of the best skaters I've ever seen under both systems. I hope she rediscovers that Mao again and bring her back in time for the next Olympics!

Mao has to get back to skating like Mao and not like a Russian. She has to get her other triples back, get a real tech coach (maybe Arturian will take her back or Callahan/Eldredge) and get a choreographer that highlights her strengths. It's sad that we didn't get to see what makes Mao special, except the 3axels. Yuna was the best tonight! Mirai is the real deal!
 

jeanettetan

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
I agree with you. There's a buoyant quality to Mao's skating, and a charm to her persona on the ice. And what courage! You could see her just plowing through that program--"I'll show them!" Wonderful as YuNa is, Mao is also splendid. I'm glad to hear that Japanese fans are cheering her up rather than criticizing her. There's nothing to criticize. Kurt Browning and Michelle Kwan, each among the greatest skaters in history, don't have an OGM. Browning doesn't have an Olympic medal of any color. So what? They're still heart-stopping, and so is Mao. I hope she's able to rise above whatever disappointment she feels, as she rose above the nerves and the memory of a tough season to wow us all tonight.

i feel the same!
 

screech

Final Flight
Joined
Jan 23, 2005
Has anyone mentioned that Joannie would have been second had she not skipped her last double axel? :)

I was thinking that same thing. She probably could have done it too (and it would have helped cover her step out on the first axel). I thought the same thing for Jeff in 2006 - if he hadn't doubled his loop and maybe gotten a bit of +GOE on his usually awesome triple loop he would have had silver - same kind of thing here for Joannie to the same music!

Maybe Canadians who skate to Samson & Delilah are doomed to make 1 minor error that has them miss out on the silver.

Oh so proud of her though. Such an amazing skate for such an amazing, strong and beautiful person.
 

pshla

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Sh*t. That's not good. Didn't they crucify Miki after Torino? Please tell me they're not going to treat her as bad as that.

From what I see, it's nowhere as bad yet. I don't think Mao will get as much criticism because she won a silver at least and put down 3 beautiful triple axels (funny because I don't think there are a lot of men who can do that). Then again, there was more expectations for Mao than for Miki......
 

pshla

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
NO ONE is comparing them? Why don't you examine the last 20 pages of this thread before you make that statement.

How about we end this already?

Tonight belongs to Yuna, Mao, Joannie and every other skater who worked their bottoms off to be on Olympic ice. Let's devote the discussion to them instead!
 

miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Why is there a Yuna vs Michelle thing going on here? I thought there was a separate thread for this......
 

pokky_oc

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 25, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op_2klX3Nfs

Mao's interview!! the description of that post in wrong... The interviewer isn't asking that kind of question!! Mao did say that she was very disappointed with her performance though... And that's why she's crying...

Translation:

Interviewer: What was your four minutes like?? ( FS )

Mao Asada: Well... It was really... Long but short at the same time...

Interviewer: Which part of the program did you feel that?

Mao starts crying... Trying to compose herself...

Mao Asada: It was four minutes... I was thinking too much and I thought it very was long... But if I look back it was finished so quickly...

Interviewer: Before your performance, you were listening to music... ( Almost crying... ) What was going on in your mind?

Mao Asada: But, I think I did what I was capable of.. But I'm still unhappy about the performance... But I did what I'm capable of...

Interviewer:You landed all of your triple axels at the Olympic stage and did you grain any confidence because of that?

Mao Asada: Yeah... I landed two of my triple axels so that went really well but because I made mistakes in the other parts, I'm not happy about it.

Interviewer: If you look back in to the last four years, I know you had many different stages, some difficult...l... If you return back home later , what will you be thinking about most?

Mao Asada: But, the performance it self, I wasn't happy about it and the triple axesl was the only good part of the program.

Mao Asada: Thank you very much.

It took me a while to translate it!!
 
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jeanettetan

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Mao has to get back to skating like Mao and not like a Russian. She has to get her other triples back, get a real tech coach (maybe Arturian will take her back or Callahan/Eldredge) and get a choreographer that highlights her strengths. It's sad that we didn't get to see what makes Mao special, except the 3axels. Yuna was the best tonight! Mirai is the real deal!

i hope she goes back to lori
 

DesertRoad

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2005
And regarding Yuna's performance not having the 'fire', which would stir up the audience toward the end, I think her free program was designed to have more flow like water streams than fire. This is more like her Lark Ascending than Scheherazade, you don't really know when is the climax, (there's no place in the program you can clap to the rhythm of the music) but you can't take your eyes off of her until you realize the program is almost over. And I find it extremely attractive, which I don't see much from other skaters. Now that's an opinion from her fan, but I just wanted to say that I think a program can be still very gorgeous with less powerful music.

I have a hard time believing that Yu Na got anything less than a standing, roaring ovation after that perfect skate. The Canadian audiences know what they're looking at. They know the technical achievement she did, and perhaps more importantly, the mental one in overcoming the intense pressure on her. She could've skated to Ke$ha reciting the phonebook and they would've given her a standing ovation.

But I agree with your assessment of her program. It's actually my favorite competitive program of all the ladies this season. It's serene, joyful and yet has a sense of fun and flirtation (though the last two surely comes from Yu Na herself). I love the little bit of footwork sequence with the 3salchow sandwiched seamlessly in. She just floats across the ice like a watercolor brush to the peaceful yet delirious music. And yes, the music is peaceful, but it is by no means bland, it's got dynamics and rhythmic variations and color, all of which the choreography interprets beautifully. It's a very sophisticated work of art and a delightful contrast to her raucous, crowd-pleasing short program.
 

gracefulswan

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
Wow! They just showed the English NBC version of her long. Cool. Sandra did call it as one of the greatest Olympic performances, and I do agree with that. I'm glad there was not TOO much gab throughout her routine. Now there's a nice montage on TV of her.
 
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aurora100

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 3, 2009
I think Yuna retires for sure, I think Mao will be around as long as her body allows her to

Yuna will retire and Mao will stay and Mao will get beaten again and again by Akkiko, Mirai and all the other young ones, unless she learns that she has to bring more than triple axels into the Olympics.
 

amateur

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Has anyone mentioned that Joannie would have been second had she not skipped her last double axel? :)

Yeah I noticed that.... my impression (fwiw) was that she was behind her music for a big part of the middle of the program, (this happens to her fairly often, and I think I could see the tension of that in her face). So when her 1st 2a was just slightly wonky, and with the nerves and the pressure to catch up to the music, she seemed to just let it go, and it was the difference for the silver medal - this assuming she would have landed it well, though.
 

DragonPhoenix

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 12, 2007
Congratulations to all the medalists !!

My impressions.

Miki was absolutely gorgeous.

Loved her beautiful, elegant performance, even her fingertips movements were delicate and detailed.
Although I enjoyed her SP as well, and her costume was beautiful, she seemed a bit tentative with that performance.

Yuna had two great performances, and I like her facial expressions. Her 3 3 is always huge and fantastic. Her jumps were great. Strong performance.
My favorite of her programs are still Danse Macabre and Tango de Roxanne.
Love those programs.

Loved Mao‘s LP . Her performance was very strong, her jumps were spot on, her triple axles were fantastic. For her SP I wish she would do a program like her her Nocturne program, I miss that one, because I think it fits her style better. Either that or maybe adapt her tango exhibition that she did a while ago into a competition program.

Mirai had two wonderful performances. Loved both of them, especially her LP. Wonderful sense of style. Great detailed hand and fingertips movements. Love her skating, and her sense of humor. Her future looks very bright.

Joannie was brave to go ahead and perform after the tragedy with her mother. Her jumps looked very solid.

For ice dancing -

Loved Kokhlova and Nivitsky' Free Dance. A lot of fun. Jana especially is such a talented artist.

Not impressed at all with NBC skating coverage.

Most annoying -

Sandra Bezic and Scott Hamilton's really annoying and biased commentary.
 
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miki88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Yuna will retire and Mao will stay and Mao will get beaten again and again by Akkiko, Mirai and all the other young ones, unless she learns that she has to bring more than triple axels into the Olympics.

Can some people just stop with the Mao criticism for one night? :sheesh: And she did bring more than the triple axels into these games.
 

Moxie

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
I love Yuna's LP this season. It's understated but powerful at the same time and very, very elegant.
Certainly it helps that Gershwin is one of my favorite composers. :D
 
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