Maybe she can pair up with the japanese skater, Ryo Shibata, who placed last at cup of china. Maybe Fumie can throw him around and becomes the first woman to lift and throw a man.
Maybe she can pair up with the japanese skater, Ryo Shibata, who placed last at cup of china. Maybe Fumie can throw him around and becomes the first woman to lift and throw a man.
Well many of us casual fans have on time said "it is really time for so and so to retire." Why should we care as well? I guess judges can be fans too just like us, they are human, and they are certainly far from biased or emotionaly involved in the skating and its cast of characters I am sure.
Well the irony is that some of us old fans of Fumie don't like seeing her skating go down the hill or her being kept off the Japanese Worlds Team.
Now, I don't mean that I want her to be put on the Japanese team despite her losing to Nakano. No, I am fine with Japan sending its best-performing skaters to Nationals. It's the emotional aspect of not seeing Fumie at Worlds that's troubling. Yes, it's fair that she doesn't get to go, but don't expect me to be happy about it.
I think there is one too many "yets'" in the title of this thread, along with a "to" that should be a "may," LOL.
Suguri has missed only one Worlds in the last 6 years. I don't think that record merits a "yet again".
(But it looks like Nakano -- the only lady so far to land a triple Axel this season -- mean business.)
Two problems:
1. Fumie's normally consistent jumps are no longer consistent.
2. Her programs this year are horrible.
Maybe these things can be fixed for next season but I think it's just too late for her. TBH, I don't even want her to make the next Olympic team at the expense of Nakano. Fumie got two Olympic trips and she's done a lot for Japanese figure skating with her 3 World medals. Please move on to show skating and let the other girls experience their turn.
... if Kwan started skating again and came back to the US nationals with a very COP friendly program and a triple-triple, would people say "Hey she's stealing younger skaters' Worlds spots, she should go away!" I doubt it. Thing is, if you win a Nationals medal, it really doesn't matter what age you are.
I don't think she'll steal her competitors' Worlds or Olympics spots. No need to force anyone into retirement. Let skaters compete and results speak for themselves. Heck, if Kwan started skating again and came back to the US nationals with a very COP friendly program and a triple-triple, would people say "Hey she's stealing younger skaters' Worlds spots, she should go away!" I doubt it. Thing is, if you win a Nationals medal, it really doesn't matter what age you are.
Since Michelle was skating very well (including winning a world title) after 2002 and people in the US were saying at that time that "she should go away and give the younger skaters a chance", I would not at all be suprised that there are poeple in Japan saying the same thing about Fumie.
Michelle was still skating very well like you said though, she came 1st, 3rd, 4th at her final three worlds so she was always still comeptitive enough to continue pursuing her goals. Fumie's time appears to have passed, her skating is not going to improve as an eligible skater at this point, all she can do is try and fight regression which has already started, and yet improvement is neccessary since were she is at now (in an already regressed state of course) is not where she needs to be in order to be competitive enough for it to be worthwhile to continue. She is already at the point she has to hope for someone to mop up the ice just to make it to worlds ever again, and that is assuming one of her best possible competitions at this point. How is continuing into her late 20s in amateur skating, when she already been reduced to needing Nakano to drop bombs on the ice to have a hope for the 3rd spot to Worlds, worthwhile at this point?
Yeah, but if you really want to know why it's worthwhile for skaters who have little hope of making their Worlds team to continue skating, you would probably not get any satisfactory answers from many skaters. Think of Bebe Liang. Think of Nikodinov, Kwiatkowski, and Corwin who went to nationals year after year without making the Worlds team? Why did they skate if making it to Worlds was going to be so difficult and the odds were very much against them? Who knows. In the case of why Fumie keeps on going, the same answer applies as well: Who knows.
I see your point but Kwiatkwoski, Nikodinov, Corwin, had not won 3 world medals, been no lower then 7th at worlds 6 years straight, won a GP final, and been top 5 at the Olympics two times in a row. I would just think it would be harder for a skater of Fumie's achievements to handle with what her competitive situation is practically speaking right now.