I feel sorry for Mirai Nagasu | Page 3 | Golden Skate

I feel sorry for Mirai Nagasu

merrywidow

Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 20, 2004
I feel sorry for both Mirai & Caroline but I feel we are entering an era when technique is going to be of primary concern to international judges & that's what our U.S. judges have been made aware of. Judging in figure skating goes in cycles, sometimes its the beauty & presentation skills that are more important & when they reach a certain standard then judging takes a harder look at the techniques being used & it is going to be stricter for this next cycle, for both men & women.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
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Apr 2, 2009
Country
United-States
7th was definitely too much, I had Mirai at 4th overall with Christina beating her in a narrow margin

This. Considering the generous scores handed to Ashley and Gracie I think the writing was on the wall for the others. Imo the World team was already pre-determined. The hype for Gracie by NBC even after her sub-par SP (which had her in 9th-anyone else would've been lower) made me suspicious that US Figure Skating and NBC had got together and decided who would be the 'Star' this time.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
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Apr 2, 2009
Country
United-States
Several of her jumps were clearly UR to my eye, especially the 3f she fell on and the 3lo. And as usual, she skated blank-faced, with no passion or enthusiasm. With 5 URs, the judges had no choice but to give her -GOEs, and her flat performance affected her PCS scores.

Mirai's been getting URs from both US and International judges for years. There is no doubt that she is a very talented skater, but that isn't enough. It's up to her to work hard on her shortcomings. If she doesn't, she won't make any progress and she won't be happy with her results.

So did Gracie-and she was give HUGE PCS scores of 7s, 8s, and 9s that were a joke. It was a disgrace. I've seen Juniors with better transitions and choreo too. She was held up in the SP and they wanted to make sure she got on the World team no matter what anyone else did. Mind you-Mirai didn't deserve to be on the team but she certainly deserved to be higher considering the generous scores handed to the top two. Same for Zhang, Gao, and Cesario. Even Agnes it seems didn't have a chance even had she had a clean skate. With Gracie's unrealistic scores the bar was set too high.
 

luckyguy

Match Penalty
Joined
Jan 25, 2008
The hype for Gracie by NBC even after her sub-par SP (which had her in 9th-anyone else would've been lower) made me suspicious that US Figure Skating and NBC had got together and decided who would be the 'Star' this time.

You are right. But Gold is really a good skater and she has a potential to be a star. Among the other girls only Ashley Cain has a star potential too, but she is -at the moment- not so good.

Nagasu and Zhang were stars too, but only as children.
 

chuckm

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 31, 2003
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United-States
Sashaspins, I agree Gracie's PCS scores were much too high---but so were Ashley's. The crowd in the arena would not agree that Gracie skated without passion and enthusiasm, because we gave her a spontaneous standing ovation, and she was the ONLY lady to receive such an accolade. No other lady landed the huge jumps she did, or displayed as much technical virtuosity. Her spins and footwork were good, too --- nearly all L4 (and BTW, she's received L4 for spins and L3 for footwork internationally, too).

I sense that you don't like Gracie Gold much, but give credit where it is due. If Ashley had delivered Gracie's program with the same jumps, spins and choreo, she would have scored well over 140.
 

Jammers

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 4, 2010
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United-States
Gracie just needs to project more to the crowd and not have that blank look on her face like she did for much of her LP. A new choreographer would help too. Her coach needs to get this girl the help she needs and forget Scott Brown. If and when she does all these things she will be as Sandra Bezic said formidable.
 

Sasha'sSpins

Medalist
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Sashaspins, I agree Gracie's PCS scores were much too high---but so were Ashley's. The crowd in the arena would not agree that Gracie skated without passion and enthusiasm, because we gave her a spontaneous standing ovation, and she was the ONLY lady to receive such an accolade. No other lady landed the huge jumps she did, or displayed as much technical virtuosity. Her spins and footwork were good, too --- nearly all L4 (and BTW, she's received L4 for spins and L3 for footwork internationally, too).

I sense that you don't like Gracie Gold much, but give credit where it is due. If Ashley had delivered Gracie's program with the same jumps, spins and choreo, she would have scored well over 140.

You are mistaken-I like Gracie very much and she is my new 'A Star is Born'. I'm going to be rooting for her and Ashley at Worlds and hopefully if they both do great the U.S. will earn 3 spots for next year. I think it's deserved this time with so much talent. That being said-watching Gracie in the FS she nailed all of her huge jumps and deserved the best tech scores. But PCS scores of 7, 8, and especially 9s! against skaters like Gao and Cesario who gave superb overall performances? Let's get real. Gracie had a blank expression and did not project throughout her performance. She also had awful choreo - the marching bit was particularly cringe-inducing. She only smiled sort-of after she had gotten past the big jumps. Her PCS scores were outrageous and they held her up in the SP especially. And when did I say that Ashley deserved her high PCS scores? With 2 falls she deserved much lower-but still much higher than Gracie. And others like Gao, Zhang, and Cesario deserved much higher as well. And overall I don't think Mirai, who was sub-par but not a disaster should have been in 7th overall.

If Ashley and Gracie have similar skates at Worlds we are not getting those 3 spots back. Gracie especially as a newbie will be buried should she flub the SP as she did here.

Amélie Lacoste ‏@melipetit
@mirai_nagasu You are a great skater!!!! Don't ever forget! Stay strong!
6:00 AM - 27 Jan 13​

:thumbsup: to both of these ladies.

Aww! ((Amélie)) what a lovely lovely young lady! That put the smile back on my face! :)
 
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Sasha'sSpins

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Country
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Gracie just needs to project more to the crowd and not have that blank look on her face like she did for much of her LP. A new choreographer would help too. Her coach needs to get this girl the help she needs and forget Scott Brown. If and when she does all these things she will be as Sandra Bezic said formidable.

Exactly. I was one of those looking forward to Gracie's Senior debut but I was underwhelmed by her SP and put off by the scores that held her up in that portion of the competition and the scores that set the bar too high for the others in the FS.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
It is unfortunate Mirai had the flu before the competition /during the competition that undoubtedly sapped her strength. There were so many good skates - not great thoug. Yes, natinional gifting was apparent but that happens everywhere - Japan, Canada, Russia. Most concerning was ice dance because those scores suggest D and W are by far head V and M. Outrageous - to think this year's routine for d and w wasn't even a masteerpiece. But as for the aldies mira needs to find true happiness and not worry about the world. I empathize with her but so many good, not great American ladies and two spots. mayhbe three next year. You never know in this slippery sport Mirai might come back or she might slip into oblivion never to be seen again. There are so many fans for the skater that you will find those who say retire and those who want to see them compete more. It's a tough sport if not a fickle one. Mirai was touted to be the next great one but it has not fanned out as of yet.
 

Scrufflet

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2010
Amélie Lacoste ‏@melipetit
@mirai_nagasu You are a great skater!!!! Don't ever forget! Stay strong!
6:00 AM - 27 Jan 13​

:thumbsup: to both of these ladies.

This is so touching!
How very generous and classy!
I agree totally with Olympia and Toni re the disgusting camera work, zeroing in on every tear, I fully expected the creep to follow her into the washroom!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Exactly. I was one of those looking forward to Gracie's Senior debut but I was underwhelmed by her SP and put off by the scores that held her up in that portion of the competition and the scores that set the bar too high for the others in the FS.

Looking at the SP protocals, what about Gracie's score didn't you like? The TES reflect what she did and her PCS was 4 points behind Agnes
 

Layfan

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 5, 2009
So did Gracie-and she was give HUGE PCS scores of 7s, 8s, and 9s that were a joke. It was a disgrace. I've seen Juniors with better transitions and choreo too. She was held up in the SP and they wanted to make sure she got on the World team no matter what anyone else did. Mind you-Mirai didn't deserve to be on the team but she certainly deserved to be higher considering the generous scores handed to the top two. Same for Zhang, Gao, and Cesario. Even Agnes it seems didn't have a chance even had she had a clean skate. With Gracie's unrealistic scores the bar was set too high.

I don't know where you're getting that... Agnes threw her comp away as usual. She would have been first above favorite Ashley in the SP had she not blown her double axel. She certainly had a chance. A great chance.
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
Looking at the SP protocals, what about Gracie's score didn't you like? The TES reflect what she did and her PCS was 4 points behind Agnes

ITA. Gracie trailed Agnes & Ashley by quite a margin in the PCS, and her TES was head-and-shoulders above the rest of the field (and rightfully so).
 

bigsisjiejie

Record Breaker
Joined
Nov 22, 2009
The only reason I feel a tiny bit sorry for Mirai is the unfortunate timing of getting the flu, which probably had some effect on her performance. The way things went down with the other skaters, if Mirai had just fully rotated either of those triple flips, and fully rotated the triple loop for full credit rather than downgrade, she probably would have ended up on the podium, even with her other UR's catalogued and scored as they were. However, given how Mirai has skated over the last couple of years, she's fully capable of cheating rotations even when 100% healthy, so it's hard to say that the flu made the difference in the TES. I felt in real-time, Mirai's underrotations were the most glaring of skaters in the last two groups--it wasn't even subtle and how can the tech panel/judges ignore the obvious? The jumps weren't even on the bubble where benefit-of-doubt could be given, and this was overall a relatively lenient tech panel.
 

sillylionlove

Medalist
Joined
Oct 27, 2006
Honestly its stuff like this that's makes people turn away from skating. I agree with the poster who said blah. I too was bore last night. While there were some great skates none of them had the wow factor for me. In fact I watched videos of euros and they didnt do it for me either. So many cookie cutter programs. I miss the artistry and feeling. Frankly, the television coverage really stinks and at times is downright offensive. (The camera in Mirai's face).

I would like to say to the powers that be at the only ice show in the US (if you want to call it that with 6 stops)....grab these girls before they go off and do something else. I really think that this is the end for Mirai but I would love to see her in a show!

Disclaimer....I love figure skating but lost some passion for ever since my mom died since it was something we watched and went to together. So I haven't been excited about it this year...at all.
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
I think one of the other things that makes Mirai's results so difficult is that it's clear she was training to do well here and continue on from Nationals (as any good athlete SHOULD be).

Suddenly she had a toe/toe. The one in her short here looked so solid and it's the second one she's hit this season. Plus she was training a flip/toe. Even though she wasn't putting it in this event, it seems like she was constructively finding ways to grow and build her technical content to become even more competitive within this season.

Unfortunately with a 7th place finish I don't know what international even she could get sent to. I'm really proud of the work she did this season and the changes she made. Point value wise, this fall was easily the most successful grand prix season she's ever had. And her sp here displayed the quality she still has and determination to be competitive and enjoy her skating. I would be VERY surprised if they sent her to 4CC, but maybe a smaller competition like the International Challenge Cup?

We all have our favorites out there, and she's definitely one of mine, but I'd love to see her have a chance to hit the reset button and skate without the flu.
 

ImaginaryPogue

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 3, 2009
Unfortunately with a 7th place finish I don't know what international even she could get sent to. I'm really proud of the work she did this season and the changes she made. Point value wise, this fall was easily the most successful grand prix season she's ever had. And her sp here displayed the quality she still has and determination to be competitive and enjoy her skating. I would be VERY surprised if they sent her to 4CC, but maybe a smaller competition like the International Challenge Cup?

We all have our favorites out there, and she's definitely one of mine, but I'd love to see her have a chance to hit the reset button and skate without the flu.

Wasn't she seventh last year too? Behind Wagner/Czisny/Zhang/Zawadski/Gao/Flatt, if I recall.
 
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