Leung is Youngest on Canada's National Team | Golden Skate

Leung is Youngest on Canada's National Team

gsk8

Record Breaker
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Country
United-States
Vancouver's Mira Leung decided to skip novice and junior ladies and go straight into senior level competition at Canadians when she was just 13. She finished...

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Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Thanks for the article, GSk8. Gosh, she skipped both novice and junior levels? I wonder if her coach worked out this strategy for her, or if she is another headstrong youngster like Michelle was at that age, jumping ahead willy-nilly.

Mathman
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
I saw her live at Nationals. My friend let me go with her. I think she is amazing. Give her some time to work on her presentation, and I think she'll blow some of today's competitors away, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her on the podium at Torino. When I saw her, she reminded me of a young Michelle, maybe even Tara...jumping all over and going for everything!
Maybe not the gold winner, but she may surprise all of us. I'm thinking she will be the one to shine in Turino though. Watch out Sasha Cohen. this girl has REAL techinical talent.
 
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floskate

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
Well along with the other pre anointed Olympic Gold Medallists for 2006 such as Kostner, Ando, Meissner, Taylor and Phaneuf, that podium is gonna be pretty crowded! Poor Sasha and Michelle clearly will struggle to even make the top 10 at this rate! :p Sorry couldn't resist.

I thought she was lovely at Canadian Nationals and obviously has a lot of raw potential, but there is no way she is going to be ready for 2006. 2010 I can see her being up there or thereabouts but she has a lot of polishing to do and her basics need a LOT of work.
 

Vash01

Medalist
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
I don't think she is the first skater to skip juniors. Oksana Baiul never competed at the world level in juniors (I don't know if she did in Ukraine or USSR). She may have competed at Novice in her country, but I am not sure.

It is good to see talented ladies skating singles for Canada. There had not been a medal contender from Canada since Liz Manley (I never really considered Josee Chouinard to be a medal contender; a top 5 skater, may be). Sounds like Cynthia or Mira may have the potential to be on the world podium sometime in the future. I am not sure about 2006, particularly if Mira is just 13 right now. Can she even qualify for the 2006 Olympics?

Vash
 

floskate

On the Ice
Joined
Nov 18, 2003
She was 14 at this years Nationals, so she's in the same boat as Meissner and Taylor in that she can debut internationally as a senior in fall 2005 so she could make it, but with probably only 2 spots available ( unless Rochette pulls a stunner at 05 Worlds which is a possibility) they most likely will go to Joannie and Cynthia. JMO
 

thisthingcalledlove

Final Flight
Joined
Sep 24, 2003
Vash01 said:
I don't think she is the first skater to skip juniors. Oksana Baiul never competed at the world level in juniors (I don't know if she did in Ukraine or USSR). She may have competed at Novice in her country, but I am not sure.

It is good to see talented ladies skating singles for Canada. There had not been a medal contender from Canada since Liz Manley (I never really considered Josee Chouinard to be a medal contender; a top 5 skater, may be). Sounds like Cynthia or Mira may have the potential to be on the world podium sometime in the future. I am not sure about 2006, particularly if Mira is just 13 right now. Can she even qualify for the 2006 Olympics?

Vash

Oksana finished 12th in Soviet Juniors back in 1992, I think...
 

RealtorGal

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
thisthingcalledlove said:
Oksana finished 12th in Soviet Juniors back in 1992, I think...

Amazing, really, that the following year she was World Champion and the year after that Olympic Champion. :eek:
 

sk8tngcanuck

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 11, 2003
Fossi said:
I saw her live at Nationals. My friend let me go with her. I think she is amazing. Give her some time to work on her presentation, and I think she'll blow some of today's competitors away, and I wouldn't be surprised to see her on the podium at Torino. When I saw her, she reminded me of a young Michelle, maybe even Tara...jumping all over and going for everything!
Maybe not the gold winner, but she may surprise all of us. I'm thinking she will be the one to shine in Turino though. Watch out Sasha Cohen. this girl has REAL techinical talent.


Fossi,

I too was at nationals this year, live! I pulled my daughter out of school and we went and watched the Q rounds then we saw the ladies LP.

I totally agree with your post. Her presentation is still lacking, but given she is only 14, i think that can be excused. I also don't think Torino is totally out of the question for her.

What blew me away about this article was her landing triples at 8! OMG - same age as my baby and mine just landed her first double, lol!

Canuck
 

lotusland

On the Ice
Joined
May 5, 2004
I too really like Mira Leung. I think she has tons of potential! I've been watching her since the days when she was coached by Karen Magnussen.

I think though, Barry Mittan should do a little better research on his subjects before he publishes. Mira didn't skip Novice or Juniors. Here is a list of her results before her Senior debut at 2003 Canadians in Saskatoon:

2003 BC Section Championships (Nov 2002)
2nd in Seniors (advanced straight to Cdns)

2002 Bratislava, Slovakia (Oct 2002)
14th in Juniors

2002 BC Section Championships (Nov 2001)
7th in Juniors (didn't qualify for Westerns or Cdns)

2001 BC Section Championships (Nov 2000)
8th in Juniors (didn't qualify for Westerns or Cdns)

2000 Mladost Trophey, Zagreb (March 2000)
4th in Novice

2000 BC Coast Regional Championships (Oct 1999)
8th in Novice (didn't qualify for BC Championships)

1999 *North American Challenge in Vancouver (August 1999)
7th in Novice
*she competed against another little whipper snapper: Beatrisa Liang

1999 Tomorrow's Champions (March 1999)
4th in Pre-Novice

1999 Western Divisionals (Dec 1998)
3rd in Pre-Novice

1999 BC Section Championships (Nov 1998)
2nd in Pre-Novice
 
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Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
Paula:

Thanks for the article! I saw this young lady last season in the Canadians and was completely blown away by her raw talent. She is like a breath of fresh air to our ladies discipline. I hope Skate Canada is not rushing her too much. We have skaters in the past with potential and who were pushed too quickly and ended up quitting. She seems very strong though and is a hard worker. Can't wait to see her skate again in the up coming season.

Thanks once more!
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
But really, what was so fresh about Leung besides her young age and perhaps the most unpolished skating I've seen in a while?
 

Fossi

Final Flight
Joined
Aug 23, 2003
Some said Lipinski was very unpolished when she won Nagano in 1998. Hm.....is this foreshadowing?
 

shine

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
IMO comparing the polish of Lipinski in 98 to that of Leung now is like comparing Kwan to Nelidina. :sheesh:
 
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Ladskater

~ Figure Skating Is My Passion ~
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 28, 2003
shine said:
But really, what was so fresh about Leung besides her young age and perhaps the most unpolished skating I've seen in a while?

Shine:

It's just refreshing to see someone so young come along - loaded with talent - heading in the right direction. It's been quite a long time for our ladies discipline to rebuild and gain so many talented young skaters. She is like a "young colt" as it were at this stage of the game, but the talent is there and can be developed. I think it's great.
 

robnic

Spectator
Joined
Aug 16, 2003
lotusland said:
I too really like Mira Leung. I think she has tons of potential! I've been watching her since the days when she was coached by Karen Magnussen.

I think though, Barry Mittan should do a little better research on his subjects before he publishes. Mira didn't skip Novice or Juniors. Here is a list of her results before her Senior debut at 2003 Canadians in Saskatoon:

2003 BC Section Championships (Nov 2002)
2nd in Seniors (advanced straight to Cdns)

2002 Bratislava, Slovakia (Oct 2002)
14th in Juniors

2002 BC Section Championships (Nov 2001)
7th in Juniors (didn't qualify for Westerns or Cdns)

2001 BC Section Championships (Nov 2000)
8th in Juniors (didn't qualify for Westerns or Cdns)

2000 Mladost Trophey, Zagreb (March 2000)
4th in Novice

2000 BC Coast Regional Championships (Oct 1999)
8th in Novice (didn't qualify for BC Championships)

1999 *North American Challenge in Vancouver (August 1999)
7th in Novice
*she competed against another little whipper snapper: Beatrisa Liang

1999 Tomorrow's Champions (March 1999)
4th in Pre-Novice

1999 Western Divisionals (Dec 1998)
3rd in Pre-Novice

1999 BC Section Championships (Nov 1998)
2nd in Pre-Novice

I too have really enjoyed Mira's skating. However, I believe the reason that she didn't get past BC Sections as Novice or Junior was because her "triple" jumps were underrotated. She only seems to be fully rotating her jumps within the last couple years. Even at Canadians 2003 in Saskatoon, most of her jumps weren't fully rotated (and she was definately a "crowd favourite" there).

I always expected that once she corrected this problem, she would be right up there with the top skaters.
 
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