Rachael and Mirai NOW! | Golden Skate

Rachael and Mirai NOW!

Joined
Jul 11, 2003
BOTH skaters did their job in Vancouver - Mirai coming close to the podium and Rachael beating out 3 other skaters for a top 10 position. Their placement scores add up to 11 and for Worlds, that means 3 Ladies in next season.

Too late to change music. but I hope Rachael puts a little more schmaltz with big smiles when skating in Torino. The SP is working out fine.

Mirai was wonderful. First time I've seen a great interpretation of Carmen without the pot-boiling story. Mirai played it sassy and kept right with the rhythms of Bizet's scores especially the ending which I call "Beat Out That Rhythm On a Drum" sung by Pearl Baily in Carmen Jones.

Who can disupt their very possible placement scores of more than 13 in Torino?
 

blue_idealist

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 25, 2006
Too bad there weren't more retirements so they'd have a better shot at a medal at Worlds. But as far as I know Yu-Na, Mao, and Joannie are all going.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Too bad there weren't more retirements so they'd have a better shot at a medal at Worlds. But as far as I know Yu-Na, Mao, and Joannie are all going.

Poo. I thought Joannie wouldn't go and then we'd have a real shot at a medal. I don't know if Mirai or Rachael will beat Miki there either, I mean, I know they are both capable of it but it depends on the judging, plus I feel like Miki always does well at worlds....
 

demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Joannie may be a question mark. Last night after the Closing Ceremony NBC did a short interview with Joannie. She was asked what were her plans for the future and she said that she was going home to be with her family and no media (she said that with a smile), then she may take a vacation in St. Lucia and she was not sure about competing at Worlds she said if her skating is good she may consider it but she was not sure.
 

UM84

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
I think Miari is NOW, Rachel didn't really wow anyone (with the exception of people on this board). Miari really wowed people with her FS and showed she is here.
 

Nadia01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
I think Miari is NOW, Rachel didn't really wow anyone (with the exception of people on this board). Miari really wowed people with her FS and showed she is here.

This.

Mirai was fun to watch, and looked very determined to do well. She really sold her LP.

Rachael was...just...meh. There was no impact. JP media covered her very briefly only b/c she's the reigning US champ, but they didn't consider her a real contender or even someone worthy of great notice.

I'm still puzzled as to how Rachael ended up winning the title in the first place. Was everyone else injured or unable to pass doping test?
 

UM84

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 21, 2010
This.

Mirai was fun to watch, and looked very determined to do well. She really sold her LP.

Rachael was...just...meh. There was no impact. JP media covered her very briefly only b/c she's the reigning US champ, but they didn't consider her a real contender or even someone worthy of great notice.

I'm still puzzled as to how Rachael ended up winning the title in the first place. Was everyone else injured or unable to pass doping test?

Judges gave Mirari under rotations on her jumps. And by doing that could of cost her a bronze medal because the judges were looking extra close at her her jumps because of the under rotations given to her at Nationals
 

cjsk8fan

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 11, 2005
As far as I know Mirai did not recieve any deductions for UR's at the Olympics. She did receive an edge call in the short program, however. But I could be wrong. Rachael recieved a couple of UR calls in the long, ironically, those looked good, it was the short program jumps that looked suspect to me.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I'm still puzzled as to how Rachael ended up winning the title in the first place. Was everyone else injured or unable to pass doping test?

Czisny and Zhang bombed, Sasha 2-footed just about every jump (and fell), Ashley fell in the SP, Mirai had 3 URs in the FS.

At the Olympics, Mirai got an edge call but no URs in the SP, and didn't get any edge calls or URs in the FS. Rachael had no edge calls or URs in the SP, but got two URs in the FS. If she had been clean in the FS her FS score would have likely been a point or two below Mirai's FS score.
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Czisny and Zhang bombed, Sasha 2-footed just about every jump (and fell), Ashley fell in the SP, Mirai had 3 URs in the FS.

Besides the mistakes of others, it is worth pointing out that Rachael delivered a seven-triple program at U.S. nationals. (Compare: 4 triples for Asada, 6 for Kim at the Olympics.)

Too bad about those underrotation calls in the LP at Vancouver. Without those she probably would have finished fifth ahead of Lepisto and Ando.
 

Nadia01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
Czisny and Zhang bombed, Sasha 2-footed just about every jump (and fell), Ashley fell in the SP, Mirai had 3 URs in the FS.

At the Olympics, Mirai got an edge call but no URs in the SP, and didn't get any edge calls or URs in the FS. Rachael had no edge calls or URs in the SP, but got two URs in the FS. If she had been clean in the FS her FS score would have likely been a point or two below Mirai's FS score.

Thanks.

I didn't watch US Nat b/c they don't show it here, so I had no idea what happened.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Besides the mistakes of others, it is worth pointing out that Rachael delivered a seven-triple program at U.S. nationals. (Compare: 4 triples for Asada, 6 for Kim at the Olympics.)

Too bad about those underrotation calls in the LP at Vancouver. Without those she probably would have finished fifth ahead of Lepisto and Ando.

Yeah, I thought her jumps were maybe a little UR in the SP, but in the LP they looked totally fine.
 

yunasashafan

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 22, 2010
Besides the mistakes of others, it is worth pointing out that Rachael delivered a seven-triple program at U.S. nationals. (Compare: 4 triples for Asada, 6 for Kim at the Olympics.)

Too bad about those underrotation calls in the LP at Vancouver. Without those she probably would have finished fifth ahead of Lepisto and Ando.

I actually enjoyed this performance of Rachael's more than any other in the last couple of years, except maybe her SA LP. In any case, kudos to her for a good job. 7th at the Olympics in such a field is not bad at all.

OT, but has anyone heard from Ando after the LP? I hope she's not beating herself up or, more accurately, I hope Morosov is not being harsh with her.
 
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Bijoux

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 8, 2004
Rachel deserved 5th place and the commentators, all 3 agreed she was undermarked, This girl is not getting the respect she deserves. A difficult, sassy SP among the best out there. She looks a bit matronly at 16 and her body type is not perfect when we all seem to expect Asian teenagers to be the norm. Dorothy respects her and who skates with more elegance than her? Give Flatt a break. She's more than "solid." Her triples were rotated.
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
I actually enjoyed this performance of Rachael's more than any other in the last couple of years, except maybe her SA LP. In any case, kudos to her for a good job. 7th at the Olympics in such a field is not bad at all.

OT, but has anyone heard from Ando after the LP? I hope she's not beating herself up or, more accurately, I hope Morosov is not being harsh with her.

Aren't Miki and Morozov like dating or something? I heard that somewhere so I kinda doubt he'd be mean. At least I hope so.
 
Joined
Jul 11, 2003
Rachel deserved 5th place and the commentators, all 3 agreed she was undermarked, This girl is not getting the respect she deserves. A difficult, sassy SP among the best out there. She looks a bit matronly at 16 and her body type is not perfect when we all seem to expect Asian teenagers to be the norm. Dorothy respects her and who skates with more elegance than her? Give Flatt a break. She's more than "solid." Her triples were rotated.
Nicely put. The body type issue could affect Rachael's scores, but I am not sure of that. It seems, nowadays slender Ladies figure skaters are in vogue or is it that slender bodies work best for figure skating. Only a Physics PHD can answer that.

The subtleties of judged sports exist and with the exception of nationality (not in this case) there are many, and certainly body type can be one of them.
 
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Dodhiyel

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 13, 2003
There are interesting posts here; thank you. For me, the most important thing regarding this subject, is that both Mirai and Rachael made the top ten. Not only that, they managed to get placements of 4th and 7th. If they can do that under Olympic pressure, it stands to reason that they may well be able to do something like that at Worlds this month, and the sum of their placements at Worlds, if 13 or under, would give the U.S. three entry slots for the following Worlds. That third entry slot means a chance for some other lady skater to compete at Worlds, so that is a good thing for U.S. lady skaters in itself. I love the idea of three U.S. ladies getting to go to Worlds next year. :)

Regarding URs and edge calls, I think that these things will happen less and less, as skaters see how much it costs them, now that such things are looked at so closely. We have already seen Mirai improve in this area; I am glad that she is with Frank Carroll, because I think he will guide her well in this respect. As for Rachael, I think she was very tired from doing school work right before the competitive event, and I therefore surmise that she may well do better at Worlds. She is obviously a very hard worker. She has said that Dorothy Hamill is helping her with what she called the "finesse" of her skating. Nobody has more finesse than Hamill, so I think that we shall be seeing better and better body line from Rachael as time goes on.
 

Andalusia

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 7, 2007
I'm not a big fan of Rachael's skating at all, but I only just saw her Olympic LP, and if it's true that both her flips were downgraded, I sure do smell something fishy going on. The first one might've been questionable (but even then, it looked no worse than the flips of some others that weren't downgraded), but the second one looked completely clean to me. I paid close attention to her landing foot, and I saw no evidence of her making the turn on the ice. Wuzrobbed!
 

silverlake22

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 12, 2009
Nicely put. The body type issue could affect Rachael's scores, but I am not sure of that. It seems, nowadays slender Ladies figure skaters are in vogue or is it that slender bodies work best for figure skating. Only a Physics PHD can answer that.

The subtleties of judged sports exist and with the exception of nationality (not in this case) there are many, and certainly body type can be one of them.

I tend to think Rachael's body type doesn't effect her scores, because her PCS were actually quite high. They gave her some questionable downgrades in the LP, but in the SP she got a fair score and it was high. If Rachael's two flips had not been downgraded in the LP her score would have been higher than Miki's and about even with Laura and Mirai. It would have been different if they gave her 117 and DIDN'T downgrade any of her jumps, because then it would maybe be a little fishy, but 117 with two downgraded triples is a very high score. I also think Rachael's LP dress is just not the most flattering, there is nothing wrong with her build, I saw pictures of her from practice and she is super fit, and according to NBC, she and Mirai are the same weight (110 lb) and Mirai is only 3cm (1 inch) taller, so really Rachael is a petite girl. The blue dress she wore for her LP last year was very flattering and I always thought she looked beautiful in it.
 
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