re. Kimmie's triple axel: First of all, the only time I ever saw her do one was at the Portland Nationals, and if the other attempts she made at them in competition looked anything like that, one could debate as to whether she actually has/had the thing at all.
That being said -- Kimmie herself said it was her decision not to work on the axel this season as she wanted to concentrate on being more consistent and making her overall program and presentation better, it being an Oly year and all. It certainly paid off. IMO, she showed a lot more maturity in her skating than she did last season, and even the improvement she made between Nats and Olys was quite impressive. No, she's not Sasha, but she too has her own precense out there that is getting stronger all the time. Sasha, for all her mishaps, has a unique style all her own and because of that it seems a bit odd to compare her to Kimmie, whose style is so different.
What I can see coming, tho, especially if Michelle drops out of the picture, is the old "artist vs. athlete" thing coming into play among the US ladies, like Zayak vs. Sumners, Thomas vs. Trenary, Harding vs. Kerrigan, and Lipinski vs. Kwan. We haven't had much of that the last few years with Michelle and Sasha going head to head.
