- Joined
- Jun 16, 2010
This is true (about Mao)... but I think many think the overwhelming favourites for the podium are Kim, Mao and Kostner, particularly with their PCS advantage over the field. Suzuki can garner good PCS but she's one of those skaters that her PCS actually reflects her performance/skate (I know, what a concept!) instead of being able to rely on good PCS even with errors. If she goes clean, she can really put the pressure on Kostner and Asada. The Olympics is about skating clean, and it's not something that Kostner and Asada are known for, so the judges might be inclined to reward a clean Suzuki. Even Murakami who is prone to UR's might end up placing well if her program "looks" cleaner.
Even if she were able to beat one of Mao or Kostner somehow, there is also Wagner, the Russians, Gold, and her remaining teammate (whomever that would be, presumably Murakami) to worry about as well. All skaters probably more favored than she is at this point, especialy after her 11th place at Worlds. That is without even getting into the dark horses like Osmond, Li, Korpi, etc... A medal is a huge ask for her at this moment, and it wont be an automatic neccessarily even if she beats Mao (which probably means Mao had a bad skate and lost to some of these others too, and thus no guarantee Suzuki is above all these others to get a medal).