Article: Miki Ando says "heart and mind" not in unison anymore | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Article: Miki Ando says "heart and mind" not in unison anymore

What bothered me about Miki while watching ESPN was the lack of motivation. When she fell, she didn't get up quicky (maybe hurting) as did Meier and Kostner who also had falls.

Joe

She said in a interview she cut her leg in the warm up
 
I could see that at Skate America that Miki did not look that happy. There were so many Japanese fans and media there that the pressure must have been great.

I guess it must be hard with all the Japanese women to have to fight all the time to keep your spot.
 
Miki is one of only two japanese ladies to win both junior world and senior word. She is the only lady to land a quad in competition. She landed seven clean triples to win worlds. She is determined enough to correct her lip problem. Her style is not pleasing to everyone, but no one can take her many, many accomplishments away from Miki. She has gone through hard time, with death of her father and grandmother. I don't understand why some people are so harsh to her when so many people are creating excuses that don't even exist for mediocre skaters.


What was her lip problem?

I like her but she looks miserable when she skates, as if it were the last place she wanted to be.
 
who are the japanese ladies that's more talented than Miki? Maybe Mao is more talented than Miki but I don't know any others.

I personally think Akiko Suzuki is very talented, much more so than Miki, so is Nana Takeda. But if you are talking about competitive results, they of course haven't been able to match Miki.
 
What was her lip problem?

She used to take off flip on the outside edge. She corrected it (but this correction eventually affected her lutz. She fell on her lutz twice at her NHK LP performance).

I like her but she looks miserable when she skates, as if it were the last place she wanted to be.

I didn't think her miserable, but I did wonder if she wanted to be there.
 
I personally think Akiko Suzuki is very talented, much more so than Miki, so is Nana Takeda. But if you are talking about competitive results, they of course haven't been able to match Miki.

Yeah, but that's not what this is about. Of course, Miki isn't some skater who will never be outmatched in talent or anything. She's your ordinary run of the mill skater who worked hard on her jumps and attempted to learn consistency (She has skated perfect programs before, so good for her.)

But, as someone else said, most skaters, whether they are the most talented or not and no matter how "replaceable" they are, do deserve our respect. Heck, I am still a bit upset that Fumie seems to be having a lot of trouble lately, but I am glad that Fumie is keeping at it unlike Miki who seems to be rather dispirited.
 
I personally think Akiko Suzuki is very talented, much more so than Miki, so is Nana Takeda. But if you are talking about competitive results, they of course haven't been able to match Miki.

I don't know much about Akiko Suzuki because she seems to have had health issues for a long time, which prevented her from competing. Considering her age (22 yrs old), however, it may be difficult to have a real blossom like Miki did.

I agree that Nana Takeda is very talented. She is such a joyful skater. But she is about the same cohort with Miki and doesn't have a consistent 3F yet. I don't think that she will be the favorite.
 
Yeah, but that's not what this is about. Of course, Miki isn't some skater who will never be outmatched in talent or anything. She's your ordinary run of the mill skater who worked hard on her jumps and attempted to learn consistency (She has skated perfect programs before, so good for her.).

Considering that Miki started skating when she was 9 years old, and by the she was 13 was doing incredibly well on the International Junior States, I think Miki's quite talented.
 
Akiko Suzuki is yet to polish her style. She is not much better than any semi-successful junior skaters who can land a few jumps at this point. I won't say never, but she cannot replace Miki as of right now. Takeda is Japan's very own Emily Hughes. She can consistently land easier jumps but always has troubles with more difficult ones. She has that huge smile though. I personally believe Japanese media played a big part in Miki's lack of motivation. She got way too much attention before she win anything in senior level, and then she didn't get attention she deserved when she finally won. After her dramatic victory, whom did the media choose to gaga? Their new darling Mao Asada and Korean Yuna Kim. If they don't want her, I'm sure there are federations out there that will be glad to have her.
 
I personally believe Japanese media played a big part in Miki's lack of motivation. She got way too much attention before she win anything in senior level, and then she didn't get attention she deserved when she finally won. After her dramatic victory, whom did the media choose to gaga? Their new darling Mao Asada and Korean Yuna Kim. If they don't want her, I'm sure there are federations out there that will be glad to have her.

I agree. I even doubt if Miki wants any attention. She seems to be rather introverted.

At the same time, a difficult part is that the skater has to go through financial difficulty if she/he is not hyped. For example, Yukari seems to receive much less attention, which may be a good thing. But she doesn't have sponsors. Miki and Mao are funded very well thanks to the publicity that acknowledges their achievements.

Why do I work? The answer for me is pretty simple. To make a living.

Currently, Miki is hired by Toyota for her skating. So doing competitions is her job that entails responsibility. It's actually hard for her to be questioning why she is doing competitions as long as she is receiving funds from the company for her competitive skills and activities. If Miki can at least think of any other alternative career paths, it is going to be another story and can be a relief for her.

ETA: Another after thought.
I feel that the reason why Miki is receiving less attention after the Olympics may be partly due to her (seemingly) exclusive appointment with Toyota that started after the Olympic year.
 
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She is an arm flapper, telescopes her jumps, doesn't skate with any connection to the music or audience and never skates like she is enjoying it.



Dizzy

I belive you meant to say telegraphs her jumps.


I saw this on Sunday on TV. watcing it got me so upset. Yes, i have seen Miki have some bad performances and tough times, but it was almost as if sh ehad no energy. I would have said that she was ill, but after seeing practcie tapes of her doing a beautiful quad and 3/3's with no problem... i think that competeing is the main problem here. Even in the Short she looked weak and the program looked watered down. I say somthing is up. Fumie had a bad skate at Cup of Russia after skating very well in practice sessions. Mao, while better at her last event is having lutz probelms, only landed on 3/3 the entire competition, has no, 3/2/2 and seems to have lost that joy.

I think that no skater can realisticlly succed for an extened period of time in Japan. Girls of 11, yes 11 are expected to have at least one triple. I know a gilr who is 10 years old and returning to her home country of japan soon. She leaves the ice in tears everyday becasue she dosen't have a conistant 2 axel. She knows she will be "behind" her peers in japan. sad. just sad.
 
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I know a gilr who is 10 years old and returning to her home country of japan soon. She leaves the ice in tears everyday becasue she dosen't have a conistant 2 axel.

Miki didn't even start skating until 9, right? And yet by 15, she had a quad! You should remind this 10-year-old girl of that fact. If she really loves skating, then she shouldn't give up.
 
Miki didn't even start skating until 9, right? And yet by 15, she had a quad!

right. I think that Miki has been under more presssure because if this. She was in a constant race to catch up, and when she had the jumps, her spins and spirals were behind, and then kids like Mao and Nakano were rising... and she felt like she needed to keep practicing the quad to keep up, even though she in injured.... the list gets longer.
 
She is an arm flapper, telescopes her jumps, doesn't skate with any connection to the music or audience and never skates like she is enjoying it.

I do however feel that Japan has many, many talented skaters among the ladies who are much more talented than Miki.

Dizzy


HA HA, please don’t make me laugh. :rofl: More talented than Miki ? What a joke. Especially the part about she doesn’t connect with the music. If anyone connects with the music, it is Miki Ando. When she’s on, she is the most emotional and expressive.

Although she had an off night, Miki is an absolutely amazing talent.

Her hands, arms and fingertip movements are very detailed, precise, balanced and artistic.
The artistry she presents is very refined, there is alot of finesse.

As Oleada posted

"She's having a bad time right now, with injuries and lack of motivation, but if anyone can come back from it, she can. She's done it before."

Yes !!!!!!!!
 
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