And what of Mirai Nagasu? | Page 4 | Golden Skate

And what of Mirai Nagasu?

Nadia01

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 10, 2009
I was reading an old book by Gelsey Kirland, tiny prima ballereina with NYCB and then ABT. SScathing about Balanchine. He told her not to eat. She was introduced to cocaine and retired in 1983. She eventually came back to teach in NYC and opened a ballet school in NYC in 2010 with her husband. Her students are the skinniest people. It seems so hypocritical after how she exposed the ballet world eating disorders and people like Balanchine, her "Misha" and decried the unhealthy aesthetic that was becoming the norm. Gelsey was way to thin. She looked like a child. She really did surgery, the whole bit when it was not even the norm in Hollywood.

Ballet, FS and gymnastics have many victims.

That's true, but I also think that being thin (for females) is important in ballet because of the male dancers who need to be able to lift dancers multiple times. They don't have the kind of leverage that male skaters get w/ speed, etc. on the ice.

For ladies single, it's something else because certain body types tend to do BETTER - rotate faster specifically. Then there's the height -- shorter = lower center of gravity & more stability. Mirai's latter body is not ideal in that she's thicker than she used to be and carries more weight in her bust/shoulders. This can be said for a lot of skaters who were basically destroyed by puberty. (BTW - I'm also of the opinion that skaters who actually learned proper technique tend to survive puberty much better than those who relied on their super skinny short body to land jumps.)

I'm convinced that if Tara Lipinski's hips were half an inch thicker, Michelle would've won the gold in Nagano.
 

tulosai

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 21, 2011
That's true, but I also think that being thin (for females) is important in ballet because of the male dancers who need to be able to lift dancers multiple times. They don't have the kind of leverage that male skaters get w/ speed, etc. on the ice.

Sort of but (as someone who did a LOT of ballet growing up) just like in figure skating it is no good to be a super thin sack of potatoes. It is easier for a man in ballet to lift a 110 pound woman with sufficient muscle to help him than a 80 pound girl who basically just leaps into the jump and does nothing else. There also is momentum (mostly on the part of the woman) going into ballet lifts which does help the man. In a truly well executed lift in ballet (IMO which may be slightly biased) the woman is doing at least 60% of the work.
 

coolboogie22

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 21, 2009
What happens to Mirai Nagasu ?

Mirai seems to have lost the passion in her skating after 2011. What happens to her ? She was a joy to watch before with her sparkling and dynamic personnality :)

I don't care about her «ur» jumps from now, but I wish to see this type of Mirai this year, she was so entertaining to watch in 2010 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa2R_HqZnz4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igZAmv_kF0w

I miss this beautiful smile that she have before :cry:
 

skateluvr

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 23, 2011
I just started a 3 page thread where shes thoroughly discussed. why duplicate? mod, please merge totally similar threads, either you did not see it coolboogie or u r being a bit obtuse.
 

koatcue

Medalist
Joined
Aug 31, 2011
Country
Russia
She is boring to watch. The funniest part is she has everything to win, I.e. skating skills, spins....but she looks uninterested while skating:(
 

Selene

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 7, 2012
I don't see a future for Mirai in figure skating. She cannot rotate her jumps. She skated as well as she could in both programs in Finlandia over the weekend, but her total score was very mediocre, because of 5 URs and 2 downgrades. I don't think she's had a free skate with less than 3 UR calls in a very long time. I don't see the USFS putting her on the Sochi team. They cannot trust a skater that is so at the mercy of the technical panel as to whether her jumps get full credit or not.
 

Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
Mirai will do her best to go to sochil and then work hard to get her education. It is simple as that life will go on Sochi or no Sochi but I htink many thought she was the next US Kwan or even a Cohen. Still one great skate and she is on the podium at olympics.
 

mskater93

Record Breaker
Joined
Oct 22, 2005
Very unlikely that what her fans would consider a great skate would end up on the podium for Mirai. She had talked and talked about having fixed her UR problem, but it's never happened except for a brief period under FrankC when she was training daily with Evan.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
Mirai will do her best to go to sochil and then work hard to get her education. It is simple as that life will go on Sochi or no Sochi but I htink many thought she was the next US Kwan or even a Cohen. Still one great skate and she is on the podium at olympics.

I remember the year she and Caroline Zhang were presented to us on TV as the next big thing. They were tiny little girls, undersized thirteen-year-olds or so, and it looked pretty sure that they would be our champs after Kwan and Cohen left the scene. I still have a soft spot for them both, but I'm sorry that their weaker jump technique has been the one enduring trait from those early years.
 

tommyk75

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 19, 2004
Mirai will do her best to go to sochil and then work hard to get her education. It is simple as that life will go on Sochi or no Sochi but I htink many thought she was the next US Cohen or even a Kwan. Still one great skate and she is on the podium at olympics.


There, fixed for the truth ;)
 

b-man

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
I don't see a future for Mirai in figure skating. She cannot rotate her jumps. She skated as well as she could in both programs in Finlandia over the weekend, but her total score was very mediocre, because of 5 URs and 2 downgrades. I don't think she's had a free skate with less than 3 UR calls in a very long time. I don't see the USFS putting her on the Sochi team. They cannot trust a skater that is so at the mercy of the technical panel as to whether her jumps get full credit or not.

Early season senior B scores:
Hicks 171
Gold 164
Nagasu 164
Cain 162
Cesario 157
Lam 152
Gao 152
Zawadski 151

Sure, Nagasu has flaws. Who on the above list doesn't have flaws? Mirai's program is coming together and is much better than it was at Glacier Falls. It is likely it will be better still at NHK. You say the US Fed can't trust Nagasu The current Fed pet is Zawadski, who in 3 years has never exceeded 166 in international competition, and who was beaten by Nagasu in last years GP series, even with Nagasu's UR problem. Should the US Fed trust someone who has never scored above 166 at Sochi?
 

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
I don't see a future for Mirai in figure skating. She cannot rotate her jumps. She skated as well as she could in both programs in Finlandia over the weekend, but her total score was very mediocre, because of 5 URs and 2 downgrades. I don't think she's had a free skate with less than 3 UR calls in a very long time. I don't see the USFS putting her on the Sochi team. They cannot trust a skater that is so at the mercy of the technical panel as to whether her jumps get full credit or not.

Mirai is vying for the third spot. I don't see why the USFSA would deliberately try to keep her off the team considering previous "third spot" holders--Meissner, Emily Hughes, Nicole Bobek past her prime, etc. None of those skaters was a medal-contender and only Kimmie was seen as someone who was a future contender. This is not 2002, when there were three American ladies who were legitimate contenders for the podium at least, if not the gold medal. Didn't Mirai medal at one or two Grand Prix events last year? Her big disaster was at Nationals in the long program. But she was second in the short program. Her skating in many respects is superior to both Wagner and Gold--her spins, spirals, use of arms and body line. She has Olympic experience and would, in my opinion, be a worthy addition to the US Olympic team.
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Sure, Nagasu has flaws. Who on the above list doesn't have flaws? Mirai's program is coming together and is much better than it was at Glacier Falls. It is likely it will be better still at NHK. You say the US Fed can't trust Nagasu The current Fed pet is Zawadski, who in 3 years has never exceeded 166 in international competition, and who was beaten by Nagasu in last years GP series, even with Nagasu's UR problem. Should the US Fed trust someone who has never scored above 166 at Sochi?

I don't think it's a "trust" issue as much as her failure to skate well at Nationals. The last few years she has had among the best results on the GP outside the very top US skaters but completely bombs at Nationals. Honestly, I don't think the USFSA is too concerned who gets the 3rd spot as that person has no shot at a medal.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
I don't think it's a "trust" issue as much as her failure to skate well at Nationals. The last few years she has had among the best results on the GP outside the very top US skaters but completely bombs at Nationals. Honestly, I don't think the USFSA is too concerned who gets the 3rd spot as that person has no shot at a medal.

That's true, but does Mirai deserve a 'lifetime achievement' third spot or would it be better served if the third spot goes to an up and comer? I wouldn't be surprised if that kind of thinking has run through some heads. I am a big fan of Mirai, but she will not get any marks internationally. Whether fair or not, her jumps are watched with an eagle's eye by the caller. I understand reputations are earned, but I can't understand why Mirai got this huge reputation of UR, even now when many of her UR's are so slight, especially when others with more egregious UR's are not getting called. I just want her to skate well at Nationals and be proud of herself, and NO TEARS.
 

LiamForeman

William/Uilyam
Medalist
Joined
Nov 24, 2006
I remember the year she and Caroline Zhang were presented to us on TV as the next big thing. They were tiny little girls, undersized thirteen-year-olds or so, and it looked pretty sure that they would be our champs after Kwan and Cohen left the scene. I still have a soft spot for them both, but I'm sorry that their weaker jump technique has been the one enduring trait from those early years.

Yeah, me too. The puberty monster has a way of sidetracking a promising career. The thing is, I thought Mirai had solid technique and skated with speed whereas I don't think anyone would have predicted Caroline keep her jumps once she grew a bit and she always skated so slowly. I thought Mirai looked really good this past week, but she's just not going to get the benefit of the doubt RE UR's.
 

jenaj

Record Breaker
Joined
Aug 17, 2003
Country
United-States
I am a big fan of Mirai, but she will not get any marks internationally.

But she has done better internationally in recent years than at Nationals. She got a bronze at NHK last year, behind Mao and Akiko. She will have to earn her spot for sure, but I don't think there is any reason to hold her back if she does.
 

b-man

Final Flight
Joined
Jun 25, 2010
senior ladies FS scores 2013-2014 season:
Wagner 119 Japan Open
Hicks 117
Nagasu 110
Cesario 109
Gold 106
Cain 104
Gao 100
Zawadzki 95

And a cople other FS scores from Japan open.

Sotnikova 105
Murakami 102
 

samson

Medalist
Joined
Aug 10, 2012
The URs continue to be a beast for her. I agree with the other posters, I think she gets judged too harshly in that area compared to other ladies. It's like the technical caller is trying to hit some sort of quota in URs and downgrades. I think she has good programs this year. In the sp and lp I feel like she started to create some special moments. The spread eagle into double axel was pure delight, and everything from the final triple loop to the end of her freeskate was fast and exciting. She even had the audience into it, and you kind of got the sense that she knew that.

Her scores here were higher than last year and some of the best for a US lady so far. It's still technically the preseason, but that's worth something. Almost every US lady has a demon to overcome. The question is which ladies will rise above them. I'm hoping to see Mirai build at each event this year.
 
Joined
Aug 16, 2009
senior ladies FS scores 2013-2014 season:
Wagner 119 Japan Open
Hicks 117
Nagasu 110
Cesario 109
Gold 106
Cain 104
Gao 100
Zawadzki 95

And a cople other FS scores from Japan open.

Sotnikova 105
Murakami 102

What an interesting list! That makes me look twice at her possibilities for sure.
 
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