Asada, Kim begin road to second Olympic showdown

[pangtongfan]

Who can beat YUNA technically? If she has the jump content she did in Vancouver, skates relatively clean, she would win. I wonder if artistically she can compete with half a dozen better skaters. Jumps return to ladies via ms Kim. Jump fans should be thrilled she is back.

Yu Na has consistently had the highest PCS of any lady thoughout her career.

 

[OS]

I am optimistic that fans from both camps have matured these past years, and should be capable of watching them competing against the current crop of ladies more pragmatically. There are many new blood on the scene, and they are all worthy competitors by Sochi. Although it hasn't lost on me that their career does seem to behave like some sort weird magnetic fated Yoyo thing going on. Together, they do make the sport better and we are lucky to have them both.

I find it hugely ironic for example, Mao just had her best GP performance in 3 seasons (she missed the GPF in 2009, 2010 and last year was entirely understandable) and finally won the GPF again in 2012 in Yuna's absence. Then by some weird twist of fate, the VERY next day at a complete different event, Yuna came back after many doubted her return for almost 2 years - then proceed to break 200, highest these 3 season since she left. The difference is the reigning Olympic Champion is at a humble B event bending to the new ISU rule changes, while the new GPF winner has the new Sochi Olympic arena all by herself along with other best senior ladies of the season (minus Kostner), at the biggest Figure skating event so far to an 70% empty rink! If the skating is so amazing, why is it empty? What about Youtube interests? If I was to write a sport movie, I couldn't have written it more dramatic and starker in contrast.

Yuna herself doesn't seems so ambitious about it, she just want to ensure there are still some spots for Korea as well as become an IOC member, while Mao seems to have her sight squarely on the gold for the last 4 years. So what will happen in the next 14 months? It might be more about media sensation and the political play than themselves I fear.

In any case, I am just looking forward to great ladies figure skating again leading to Sochi, especially now Yuna is back which seems to have inspired Kostner attempting 7 triple programs again include the Lutz... this is a good thing, regardless of whatever the results. They are world champions, they should lead by example. Afterall, a sport is only good as its very bests, and what's better than an OGM OSM returning for 2nd rounds against all the odds?

 

[mary01]

Yu Na has consistently had the highest PCS of any lady thoughout her career.

I don't want to spoil the kim party here, but through her PCS has always been high, when it comes to the technical elements there was NOTHING in her layout that really stood out as exceptional, the only reason why her tech is so high is because she is gifted with big goe, which was and still is enough to cover the mistakes she usuelly makes in her program. Her technical base value is not that high and her non-jump elements are all over the place in terms of levels, so what keeps her scores high is the huge PCS and goe she receives!


the funny thing for me is that you guys seem to have forgotten the actual performance of kim due to her high score, she has alot of work to do on every part of her skating her spins, steps, stamina, flexibility, edgework........

Another thing is that some of you seem to think of Kim performance at vancouver as something unbeautable, well through she received an outrages score there, if one looks at her techical BV, once again it wasn't really that high but it once again the goe that she received that made her score alot higher.

After the vancouver games some of the flaws of COP where corrected, one of them was reducing the amount og goe, so the same performance at vancouver would not score anywhere near today!

 

[pangtongfan]

Kim deserved her very high GOEs. The quality of her jumps were much better than anyone elses, only Ito and Harding have ever had stronger jumps, and the quality of her spins and footwork were also first rate in execution. Like a well noted Mao Asada fanatic would be an objective source in evaluating Kims scores anyway, lol! If Kim were such a judges favorite she would have won both the 2008 and 2011 Worlds, both which the judges could have easily given her but didnt.

 

[mary01]

Kim deserved her very high GOEs. The quality of her jumps were much better than anyone elses, only Ito and Harding have ever had stronger jumps, and the quality of her spins and footwork were also first rate in execution. Like a well noted Mao Asada fanatic would be an objective source in evaluating Kims scores anyway, lol! If Kim were such a judges favorite she would have won both the 2008 and 2011 Worlds, both which the judges could have easily given her but didnt.

well you are free to believe that kim deserved or still deserves the huge amount of goe and PCS she receives, I didn't expect a kim-fanatic to be objective, afterall according to you Kim deserves everything nothing would ever be considered outrages in her score, no matter what she receives!

 

[OS]

I don't want to spoil the kim party here, but through her PCS has always been high, when it comes to the technical elements there was NOTHING in her layout that really stood out as exceptional, the only reason why her tech is so high is because she is gifted with big goe...
After the vancouver games some of the flaws of COP where corrected, one of them was reducing the amount og goe, so the same performance at vancouver would not score anywhere near today!

Carry on.... you are getting more adorable every time you post, clearly a VIP in the Kim's party that makes it the most lively one around. So let's see... quality of execution and performance shouldn't be important, and UR/Wrong edge means even less. Gee... no wonder it explains the poor state of ladies today.

For the record, Kim's BV during the Olympics was highest on both her SP (34.90 vs 34.40) and LP (60.90 vs 55.86) compare with Mao,
so was her TES from her SP(44.70 vs 41.50) and LP (FS: 78.30 vs 65.68) with no negative GOEs. She was clean and put on a performance of a life time. You should give credit where credit is due. Regardless of the NEW adjusted scale value due to the rules changes that seems to design repress one skater and prop another against the better judgement of this sport. She beat Mao fair and square there. Mao now has all the rules and new scale of values in her favour, let's see if she can bring it when it count. All these other talk and hysterics are pretty useless.

 

[jenaj]

Lest we forget...Yu Na lost the gold to Miki Ando just two years ago. And before that, she lost to Mao (twice) and Miki (another time). I agree she is probably unbeatable if she skates a clean short program (with the 3-3) and does nothing worse than pop a solo triple in the long program.

 

[petrenko]

Ah... It didn't mean she always satisfy this element, but she has some element basically, so she usually has great GOE

 

[FlattFan]

LOL no skater in history would beat, let alone blow away the Yu Na in Vancouver.

Kostner with a 7 triples will blow Kim out of the water.
If she skates a clean 7 triples, you think the judges will give Kim with 6 triples a win? This is Kostner, not Tuktamisheva.

 

[kwanatic]

I agree with those who see Sotnikova as the only newbie threat right now. Her consistency and confidence have taken serious hits in the last season BUT make no mistake, if she were to hit all her tricks and go clean, she'll be on that podium. To quote Scott, Adelina has everything: gorgeous lines and extension, flexibility, speed, solid edges, humongous and difficult jumps, great spins, presentation, personality and that all important spark. Yeah, she has a flutz but that's a minor issue...everything else is incredible. Her major roadblock is her nerves. If by some miracle she's able to about-face and get herself together, she'll be a gold medal threat.

Liza T has the technical content but lacks too many other things; Julia has guts but I don't think she'll be soup by Sochi; Gracie has the technical content but will need a Kwan-esque transformation to get her presentation where it needs to be to compete with the likes of Yu-Na, Mao, Carolina and the other top ladies.

It's been nearly four years but the landscape hasn't shifted much for the ladies. 7 of the top 10 finishers are still competitive or aiming to come back for Sochi:
1. Kim - Yes
2. Asada - Yes
3. Rochette - No
4. Nagasu - Yes
5. Ando - Possibly
6. Lepisto - No
7. Flatt - No
8. Suzuki - Possibly
9. Leonova - Yes
10. Makarova -Yes

Comparing it to the Torino top 10 who went on to compete in Vancouver:
1. Arakawa - No
2. Cohen - No
3. Slutskaya - No
4. Suguri - No
5. Rochette - Yes
6. Meissner - No
7. Hughes - No
8. Meier - Yes
9. Kostner - Yes
10. Gedevanishvili - Yes

 

[petrenko]

It might be if she clean her programme. I like her jump, but problem is consistency;;;;;

 

[petrenko]

When did Kostner clean her program??

 

[OS]

Kostner with a 7 triples will blow Kim out of the water.
If she skates a clean 7 triples, you think the judges will give Kim with 6 triples a win? This is Kostner, not Tuktamisheva.

When is the last time she did 7 triples include the lutz? Vid pls.

 

[petrenko]

Yes right!!!!!! She was glorious at that day!!!!!

 

[Daniel5555]

I agree with those who see Sotnikova as the only newbie threat right now. Her consistency and confidence have taken serious hits in the last season BUT make no mistake, if she were to hit all her tricks and go clean, she'll be on that podium. To quote Scott, Adelina has everything: gorgeous lines and extension, flexibility, speed, solid edges, humongous and difficult jumps, great spins, presentation, personality and that all important spark. Yeah, she has a flutz but that's a minor issue...everything else is incredible. Her major roadblock is her nerves. If by some miracle she's able to about-face and get herself together, she'll be a gold medal threat.

Liza T has the technical content but lacks too many other things; Julia has guts but I don't think she'll be soup by Sochi; Gracie has the technical content but will need a Kwan-esque transformation to get her presentation where it needs to be to compete with the likes of Yu-Na, Mao, Carolina and the other top ladies.

I just love how when you comment on Adelina you mention many good things, many not so good things, like recent lack of stability, flutz and her nerves, but those negative things are nothing; meanwhile everyone else "lacks too many other things" or whatever.
Look, all of those young ladies are pretty freaking awesome. As you said, make no mistake, if any of top ladies is to "hit all her tricks and go clean" then she'll get a huge amount of points. Potentially almost any top lady can do this, the difference between great ones and good ones lies in that great ones did so, while others yet have to do that. So potentially any of those can be a "gold threat".

I appreciate the opinion of Scott, but objectively there is nothing that definitely separates Adelina from the rest. Russia has been blessed with awesome young skaters.

As about the thread: the madness continues, part infinite... I wonder if there is at least one of journalists that has a bit of decency and took note of that both Mao Asada and Yuna Kim are sick and tired of mentioning their encounters as some sort of showdown between the two. As most of their fans are as well.

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

I just love how when you comment on Adelina you mention many good things, many not so good things, like recent lack of stability, flutz and her nerves, but those negative things are nothing; meanwhile everyone else "lacks too many other things" or whatever.
Look, all of those young ladies are pretty freaking awesome. As you said, make no mistake, if any of top ladies is to "hit all her tricks and go clean" then she'll get a huge amount of points. Potentially almost any top lady can do this, the difference between great ones and good ones lies in that great ones did so, while others yet have to do that. So potentially any of those can be a "gold threat".

I appreciate the opinion of Scott, but objectively there is nothing that definitely separates Adelina from the rest. Russia has been blessed with awesome young skaters.

As about the thread: the madness continues, part infinite... I wonder if there is at least one of journalists that has a bit of decency and took note of that both Mao Asada and Yuna Kim are sick and tired of mentioning their encounters as some sort of showdown between the two. As most of their fans are as well.

Adelina is different than the rest. She actually gets terrific marks when she isn't clean, which is usually something that only the very top skaters benefit from. She's fast, her spins are among the most difficult in the world, and she can do a 7 triple long program. Aside from her current jump problems, her total package is on par with the very best in the world, including YuNa, Mao, and Carolina.

 

[FlattFan]

When is the last time she did 7 triples include the lutz? Vid pls.

It is not as rare as a unicorn.
I know she has the potential to do it at the current moment, judging from what she did in practice a few days ago. All there, she just have to put it together.

The point wasn't loathers had done it. The point is if she does it, how wide the gap between her and the other ladies will be. I couldn't think of a single person who can beat a clean 7-triples kostner at this point in her career.

 

[Daniel5555]

Adelina is different than the rest. She actually gets terrific marks when she isn't clean, which is usually something that only the very top skaters benefit from. She's fast, her spins are among the most difficult in the world, and she can do a 7 triple long program. Aside from her current jump problems, her total package is on par with the very best in the world, including YuNa, Mao, and Carolina.

Adelina for me is already a very top skater for the reasons you mentioned, but I think that, generally, others also have something special about them. Meanwhile her jump problems at that age is not something that should be taken lightly. I mean, I don't deny that she is great, but marking her as the only potential gold threat is simply wrong, that's what I'm trying to say.

 

[petrenko]

I really hope to see her in Euro and expect that she will show her full potential.:agree:

 

[petrenko]

It is not as rare as a unicorn.
I know she has the potential to do it at the current moment, judging from what she did in practice a few days ago. All there, she just have to put it together.

The point wasn't loathers had done it. The point is if she does it, how wide the gap between her and the other ladies will be. I couldn't think of a single person who can beat a clean 7-triples kostner at this point in her career.

I really hope to see her in Euro and expect that she will show her full potential.