ZOWEE!!!
SHIZUKA: I am just thrilled to pieces for Shizuka! She's had those 3/3s for a long time and has a quality about her flow across the ice that is unrivaled, but she could never pull the artistry/presentation together. It's been coming bit by bit since the fall and I give at least some credit to the COP. Not taking a thing away from Callaghan, Tarasova, and Shizuka herself, plus the foundation provided her by her Japanese coaches, but the COP put her weak areas into clear categories and gave her and her coaches specific ways to improve them. I already cited her spirals as one example, ie, used to be weak, then with COP she and Callaghan improved them up to Level 3. But another example is her combo and layback spins. Trying to do a traditional layback witht he free leg in a turned-out, bent position just didn't work for Shizuka. She just didn't have the necessary external rotation in the hip to do it. She always had a great back position, but by straightening the free leg, problem solved. But I give credit to the COP because I don't think Shizza would have worked so hard on her spirals and spins had they not been good point earners. After all, Shizza has been on the scene since the mid-90s; didn't even make it to Worlds for several years; and in the last two years, with what I feel was a combination of the coaching change to Callaghan and this fall's experience with the COP, it's as if she found the door to her magic garden.
As for Tarasova, I think she excels at something Callaghan lacks, which is passion. IMO, it was the last thing Shizza needed to go all the way--a way to express the true passion she has within her through her skating. In many ways, Shizuka has been the Sasha Cohen of Japan. Tons of potential but never able to step up to the plate at the big competitions. She also came into this Worlds carrying a lot of pressure from having changed to Tarasova a month ago. Plus there was the pressure of being first in her Q group and second in the SP. She handled it all brilliantly. As someone said, "Shizuka skated like she really wanted it," and I think truer words were never spoken. If you look back on the relatively few ups and many downs of Shizza's career, this was a woman with a mission. She went about finding the right people to work with and solving her problems with determination, grit, and intelligence. And I LOVE her sense of humor! So refreshing! Brava! Brava! to Shizuka for her perserverance and a very well-deserved World championship. I couldn't be happier. I mean, how totally cool is it for your first World medal after all Shizuka has been through to be gold! Here's my headline: Japanese Bronze Medalist Wins Gold at Worlds! A big *mwah!* (kiss) for Shizza!
SASHA: I am so proud of this young woman! She finally did a clean long and a clean short, meaning the Q round and the SP, that were also, by all accounts, skated with great attack and passion. I know the Q round is not the same pressure as the finals, but still, two mistake-free programs at Worlds is so great for her. Of course she still had a problem with the 3sal in the free skate, still has the flutz, but no falls, and for her this is a major step forward. Her FS also lacked spark and attack, according to those who saw it live, but I'm still thrilled for her. She not only had the pressure of being first in her Q round with, if I'm correct, the highest scores of the skaters from both Q groups, and the pressure of being first in the SP, but most importantly, the pressure since '02 of being *Miss Inconsistent.* Add to that her coaching change to Robin Wagner, only to see her closest competitor from the GP series change to Tarasova a month before Worlds. A lot has been said about how the US ladies need to get 3/3s to be competitive, but this is something Sasha talked about specifically in the article, "No Holding Back for Cohen."
"Despite the strong competition, we won't be seeing a triple-triple combination in Cohen's programs at Worlds. 'I've worked on them in practice,' revealed Cohen, 'and they are coming along fine, but I don't plan on using them in my programs for Worlds.
They will definitely be a big priority over the summer.'" [Emphasis added.]
http://www.goldenskate.com/articles/2003/031204.shtml
In an AFP article about the Q rounds, "Wake-up Call for Kwan as Japanese Duo Surge to Lead," the writer says of Cohen's Q round, "The Californian produced six triples including two in triple-double combination, opting to leave out a seventh triple toeloop in a bid to give a clean performance which so often escapes her." Cohen is quoted as saying, "We took the decision to take it (the triple toeloop) out andconcentrate on giving a strong performance."
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...afp/20040324/ts_afp/fskate_world_040324185739
There's also another article, an interview with both Cohen and Wagner, which I can't locate at the moment, where Wagner says that she intentionally left out any 3/3s from Cohen's World programs because at this point, she wanted to concentrate on Sasha giving clean performances and also work with her on some basics, such as stroking and edge quality. However, Wagner also said that after Worlds, she would work with Cohen on not only 3/3s but also a quad, which Wagner said were completely within her abilities. (If anybody can recall this article, I'd appreciate the link
.)
The one thing that surprises me about Sasha's free skate are the reports that her layback spin was slower than Shizuka's and possibly slower than Michelle's. One of Sasha's strengths is her fast, clean, well-centered spins, with her layback being one of her highlight moves. However it also sounds as if her other spins were up to par. The slow layback is puzzling; the only thing I can think of is that Sasha's back may have been bothering her.
Finally, until I see it, I can't comment on the choreography. But even if "Swan Lake" was as watered down from Tarasova's versions as it was at Nationals, I'm sure it was a result of Wagner's strategy to get clean programs from Sasha and then start a rebuilding process after Worlds. From all accounts, Sasha's free skate lacked spark and had some errors, but looking at her overall performance at these Worlds, it is a quantum leap--or should I say quantum split falling leaf
--forward from her previous World performances. Plus, she's coming home with her first World medal, a silver, and beat one of the greatest skaters ever, Michelle Kwan, in the process. Sasha and Robin have a lot of work ahead of them, but I say Brava! to Sasha, too. It looks like she's overcoming those demons one by one, slowly but surely. The only other thing I hope for Sasha is that she learns to express the kind of heart that Shen & Zhao showed at both this year's World's and last, especially in their "Turandot" and "Nutcracker Pas de Deux" free skates. I know she's got it in her. She just needs to find that low door in the wall leading to her own magic garden.
MICHELLE: What more can I say? Once again Michelle proved that you can NEVER count her out. In a post after the short I said, "I'm not counting Michelle out, not by a long shot," and I meant that in terms of the gold. She didn't quite pull a Sarah, but she showed her mettle and by all accounts, won over the European crowd. BTW, Mzheng, I LOVE your coining of the term *Ice Art Run* for Michelle's footwork. That is IT! Also, how many skaters could come up after the disappointment of her Q round, the shock of the time deduction in the SP, Shizuka's stunning program, Sasha's good one, have some whackjob jump on the ice just as she is about to skate, not be fazed by any of it, and give such a great performance? One: Michelle Kwan.
As for the problems Michelle had with some of her jumps, I really think it's just part of the learning curve with Artunian and that by next season, we'll see the benefits she will have reaped by working on her jump technique. IMO, the main reason Michelle has been having problems getting her 3t/3t back and doing any other 3/3s is that the technique she learned from Frank, which though obviously great, was learned when she had a much younger and different body. With maturity and the off-ice training, the latter of which I think was absolutely necessary for her to stay in the sport uninjured, Michelle's body has become stronger overall and more muscular, especially in her upper body. This would change the biomechanics of anybody's jumps. From all I've heard about Artunian, he seems tuned into this kind of thing and seems to have the knowledge about how to work with a skater who has this unique situation--great, secure, consistent triples and 3/2 combos, but needing a change in technique in order to accommodate the increased speed and power needed to do 3/3s without pain and/or injury. I have no doubt that Michelle will have mastered two different 3/3s either by next year's Worlds or fall '05.
Although obviously this has been a disappointing Worlds for Michelle, I think it's the best thing that could have happened in terms of her quest for an OGM in '06. When you've been skating at her extraordinary level and been on top for so long, there's no substitute for *the shock of the new.* That is, no matter how self-motivated, hard working, and gifted an athlete is, there's nothing like being beaten by skaters with the kind of technical content, ie, 3/3s, that heretofore had been a threat, but one that had never quite manifested itself. Sokolova was the first to make her 3/3s more than talk in her FS at last year's Worlds, but her presentation was so inferior to Michelle's that even with two 3/3s, Michelle's win was never in doubt. Obviously this year was different. But I have no doubt that Michelle will be a stronger skater because of all this and far more likely to win the OGM in '06. Also, this kind of thing could not have happened at a better time. This gives Michelle two years to not only work on her 3/3s and jump technique in general, but also to possibly reconsider her strategy. She may decide that competing in the GP series in order to get experience with the COP will be to her advantage. Or she may not. Either way, at least now I think Michelle has a much better idea of what the competition will be like in Turin. In short, I'm sure Michelle will use this Worlds as a positive experience. Brava! Michelle, once again.
And Brava! to so many of the other ladies: Jenny Kirk, Fumie, Ando, Kostner, Irina (whatta woman!), and others I can't think of at the moment.
NOW the onus of responsibility is on several groups to keep skaters safe as they push the technical limits of the sport. One responsibility is for figure skating boot manufacturers to stop resisting changes in the boots to reduce the risk of injury for skaters. The responsibility is also on the coaches and the skaters to at least try the new boots that are available and make sure they take appropriate off-ice training very seriously. Another responsibility lies with the ISU in terms of decisions they may or may not make about limiting the number of jumps per program. For the women, it's 3/3s and quads; for the men, it's quads and 4/3s and 4/3/2s, etc. Upping the technical ante will only be good for figure skating if skaters have the equipment and training to do them with an acceptable risk of injury. Right now, I feel the risk is unacceptable.
Congratulations Shizuka, Sasha, and Michelle. What a gorgeous podium!
Rgirl
