Ando out of GP - No coach | Golden Skate

Ando out of GP - No coach

russell30

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Japan's two-time world figure skating champion Miki Ando has pulled out of this year's Grand Prix series citing insufficient conditioning after she failed to find a new coach, officials said Tuesday.

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Butterscotch17

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 26, 2012
All the hype about her coming back to competition and now this. *Sigh* Poor Miki...I hope she finds a coach and gets everything figured out soon.
 

Macassar88

Medalist
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
It's weird because you'd figure that as a two time world champion, she wouldn't have trouble finding a huge list of candidates. I guess that many of them were either too busy or didn't gel with her. Such a pity.
 

janetfan

Match Penalty
Joined
May 15, 2009
If she really wanted to skate she doesn't need a coach. Hmm...

hmmm.......if she really wanted a coach they would be lined up around the block.

This announcement makes me a little sad - but points to other reasons - which Miki has every right to keep to herself.

Hope she will be happy - with or without competitive skating.
 

Trewyn

Medalist
Joined
Dec 10, 2008
All summer I had a feeling this would happen, so I'm really not surprised.
But how does she go from here... Will she compete at Japanese Nats?
 

heyhey

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 31, 2011
Personally I don't think Miki has anything to prove - and if the motivation is not there or if she hasn't found the right training environment - she should go ahead and skate in shows etc. Sometimes I think as fans we forget how lonely figure skating can be for the athletes....
 

mary01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 20, 2011
Go the Kwan route? We saw how that worked out for her...:rolleye:

well this route worked for Mao, she won her first world title without any couch and even the second was without a couch since tat never was really there to couch Mao, heck she never wasn't even beside her at the most important competitions. so i think that in the end it depends on what kind of skater miki is!
 

clairecloutier

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 27, 2003
All summer I had a feeling this would happen, so I'm really not surprised.
But how does she go from here... Will she compete at Japanese Nats?

I'm not surprised either. I'm not sure if Miki really wants this comeback or not. I'm certain any number of high-level coaches would be more than happy to take her on, if she were interested and flexible regarding location.

Speaking of coaches, what is Yu-Na Kim's coaching situation? Has she hired anyone yet?
 

lavender

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
After Michelle no coach scares me but Michelle did win Nationals without a coach so there's that. However, I still think a coach is necessary even if it's part time.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
You need a set of eyes to correct the little things that become falls at the most inopportune times.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
After Michelle no coach scares me but Michelle did win Nationals without a coach so there's that. However, I still think a coach is necessary even if it's part time.

Michelle won Nationals because she was head and shoulders above everyone else in so many ways. Her reputation also helped: the judges knew that she was respected by international judges, whereas Sarah and Sasha were still relatively new. By contrast, in Japan Miki is one of several equally talented and experienced skaters. It won't be as easy to win her Nationals, I think, especially if she isn't as motivated to train as Mao and Akiko have clearly been.

And, as you point out, even the best skater needs a coach, even if it's just part time. Remember Michelle's fall in the Olympics? Someone once commented that little irregularities can creep into your skating that only another eye can notice. Maybe if Frank had been putting Michelle through her paces, that unsureness of take-off and/or landing would not have happened.
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
I feel so bad for her. She's a wonderful skater and if in her heart she wants to compete then she should be out there, but there must be many other factors at play that we're no privy to.

I wonder what this will mean for her spots in Cup of China and France. It definitely creates some breathing room IMHO at COC. That event will still have Kiira, Mao, Julia and Mirai. France too will be left with Julia, Eliza, and Ashley as "heavy weights" in the field.

I hope it's not crass to be thinking about this already, but I wonder who might benefit from this. My guess would be Kaetlyn Osmand and Mirai Nagasu. Send Kaetlyn to China and Mirai to France. It would be a wonderful experience/opportunity for Kaetlyn to get to travel abroad and compete out of North America on the senior level, and could be a really great chance for Mirai to keep building momentum.
 
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