Ladies - Free Program | Page 9 | Golden Skate

Ladies - Free Program

A little sad history. This is the first time the American ladies have been swept off the podium at Worlds since 1994, and only the third time since 1969.
 
I couldn't be more delighted with the podium here. I am sooooooo happy that Miki won. I met her at SA and couldn't believe how she had improved. She was a different girl than the one we saw the previous year. For her to overcome everything, and especially the pressure of skating in Japan ... I was just overcome when she did it. I love her to pieces!
And I'm equally happy that Mao came back with such a strong LP ... this will help her in years to come. She's a fighter, for sure!
Yu-Na was spectacular in the SP, and IMO, has the best presentation of all the top ladies. Once she gets the consistency down, look out for her too.

The US ladies? They performed to the level that I have thought they were at. Kimmie is a solid skater ... technically ... and she was fortunate on a few counts. Number one ... she has no real competition within the US.
Number two ... she took advantage of a very weak field at last year's Worlds and skated home with the gold. Yes, I give her credit for skating well, but she was never anywhere near the best skater in the world, IMO. Clearly the intl judges spoke loud and clear about what they think of her. In her best SP to date ... when others had skated clean performances, they placed her 4th ... and not very much ahead of the 5th place skater who missed a jump. That speaks volumes IMO. In fact, in the K&C after her SP marks came up, she said 2nd? Yes, Kimmie, 2nd. Without the jumps, what else has she to offer? She's only adequate with spins and spirals, and her presentation leaves a great deal to be desired.

Emily? She's taken the ride as far as she can ... she will never get any better than this, IMO.
Alissa? Lovely, sweet, beautiful ... and she can't jump.

Hopefully the junior prospects will develop in the next year or so. In the mean time ... I'm going to enjoy watching the lovely ladies on the podium now!
 
Yes, it's easier to manipulate the PCSs.
The math concept remains the same for GOE; the high/low are still dropped, and it's worth giving your skater a "+3" or a "+2" that will be dropped, thus keeping the highest unbiased score in the mix. Likewise, it's worth giving your skater's main opponent a -1 or -2, in order to keep the lowest unbiased score in the mix. Or, if you're colluding, to try to ensure that a high (your skater) or low (his/her opponent) is left in, if any are selected in the first place.

If you can still stay in the corridor.
 
I couldn't be more delighted with the podium here. I am sooooooo happy that Miki won. I met her at SA and couldn't believe how she had improved. She was a different girl than the one we saw the previous year. For her to overcome everything, and especially the pressure of skating in Japan ... I was just overcome when she did it. I love her to pieces!
And I'm equally happy that Mao came back with such a strong LP ... this will help her in years to come. She's a fighter, for sure!
Yu-Na was spectacular in the SP, and IMO, has the best presentation of all the top ladies. Once she gets the consistency down, look out for her too.

The US ladies? They performed to the level that I have thought they were at. Kimmie is a solid skater ... technically ... and she was fortunate on a few counts. Number one ... she has no real competition within the US.
Number two ... she took advantage of a very weak field at last year's Worlds and skated home with the gold. Yes, I give her credit for skating well, but she was never anywhere near the best skater in the world, IMO. Clearly the intl judges spoke loud and clear about what they think of her. In her best SP to date ... when others had skated clean performances, they placed her 4th ... and not very much ahead of the 5th place skater who missed a jump. That speaks volumes IMO. In fact, in the K&C after her SP marks came up, she said 2nd? Yes, Kimmie, 2nd. Without the jumps, what else has she to offer? She's only adequate with spins and spirals, and her presentation leaves a great deal to be desired.

Emily? She's taken the ride as far as she can ... she will never get any better than this, IMO.
Alissa? Lovely, sweet, beautiful ... and she can't jump.

Hopefully the junior prospects will develop in the next year or so. In the mean time ... I'm going to enjoy watching the lovely ladies on the podium now!

:rock: Yeah ~ what she said! :thumbsup:
 
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One other issue, why do the Americans have so many technique problems? Were they always there? Is it the COP that is showing are weakness? All these down graded jumps should not be happening. We have had all the world champions & Olympic champions in the world. Why is our techniqe being judged so badly? If you have 5 triples planned and half of them are downgraded, you should have just stayed home.
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Yes yes and yes. CoP is a great little equalizor. Even if Sasha and Michelle (uninjured) could compete now I do not think they could up their jump levels. This is a far eastern domain now and will continue to be because of the work ethic.
 
Not to be the skating historian here, but one more little tid-bit. This is the first all-Asian podium at worlds - ever - in any of the 4 events.
 
Between pairs and singles, three Asian countries (China, Japan, SKorea) racked up a massive 6 medals (including two golds).

Who was the first skater representing one of these countries to win a world medal? Was it Emi Watanabe back in 1979?
 
The Japanese audience must have gone crazy to have Ando and Asada finish 1-2. Nice job to both ladies.

Looks like the pressure got to Kim in the LP. With two deductions it looks like she was lucky to have such a huge lead in the short to still place above Meissner, who had two consistent performances.

A huge congradulations to Rochette for her big comeback. Finishing 5th in the free in this field is quite a feat, and good for her to pull herself up to 10th and keep those two ladies spots for Canada for next year.
 
I'm happy that Joannie has succeded in saving the spots for Canada. I was impressed that during her interview she said she will fight back for top 10 to save the spots for Canada and keep her head high. She did it.
 
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hmm, wow I wake up this morning and what do I find. A disappointing but non-surprising result...I think it was bound to happen sooner or later. I always considered the Asian Armada the best in the world but it depended on who would deliver at Worlds.

That said, I do agree with the above posters' assessment of the American and Canadian ladies. This should be a wake up call to every skating nation that's not Japan or Korea.

Congrats to the medalists and a big :agree: to Rosaleen for the great worlds coverage.
 
Joannie & Kimmie are actually very similiar to me. Sometimes in their performance they just look stiff in the upper body.

That is so true. and they both have short arms which hurt the artistry or at least impression of artistry sometimes. But Joannie is more expressive.
 
Well done to all the women in what was the best competition for Ladies for many years, so much depth now.

Well done to Joannie and Valentina who had really good skates and also to Meier and Poykio for hanging on to top 10 finishes. I wish I saw all these routines but the ski jumping put a big spolier for the ladies free on eurosport. :mad:

congrats to Ando well deserved and for Asada and Kim.
 
Carolina Zhang got silver at nationals but won jr. worlds.
Miki Ando got silver at nationals but won worlds.
Coisidence I think not.
If Mao really wanted to win worlds she would have let Mike won nationals.
(JUST JOKING)
I believe the american women and men need to go back to basics over the summer. IMPROVE their TECNIQUE and ARTISTRY.
 
and the gold medalist is..............ROSALEEN!!!!!! Thanks so much for all of your hard work.

Congrats to the medalists - while a splatfest for a long while, it was a very exciting one!!! Miki gets a special congrats - but so too does Mao for bouncing back from a disappointing short, and Kim for fighting injury, earning an amazing sp score and staying with the pack in the long.

I really think Kimmie deserves huge congrats too - she skated very very well, and got her own pb in the short. That is really terrific. Who knows if she will ever surpass the talent of a Mao or Kim - what we do know is she will have a fabulous work ethic and tough competitive nerves, so she can't be ignored or counted out.

I feel sad about Rochette and Kostner...

Can't wait to watch tv tonight.!!!!
 

The judges gave Mao a -3 across the board for her 3Flip/1Loop in the Short Program. WTF??? That's totally uncalled for. Nothing was wrong with the landings on either jump. I assumed the judges just decided to grade for lower on the remainder of her elements because of the mistake but, no, they were actually just IDIOTS.

She would have the World Title if it weren't for that.

~Z
 
The judges gave Mao a -3 across the board for her 3Flip/1Loop in the Short Program. WTF??? That's totally uncalled for. Nothing was wrong with the landings on either jump. I assumed the judges just decided to grade for lower on the remainder of her elements because of the mistake but, no, they were actually just IDIOTS.

She would have the World Title if it weren't for that.

~Z

I think in the SP, you are required to do at least 2-2 or 3-2 and Mao only did 3-1. therefor the -3 deduction.
 
Uhhh, no. That's not how CoP works. She already lost points for popping the Loop. GOE scores are about the quality of that element in isolation ONLY.

~Z
 
The Japanese audience must have gone crazy to have Ando and Asada finish 1-2. Nice job to both ladies.

Looks like the pressure got to Kim in the LP. With two deductions it looks like she was lucky to have such a huge lead in the short to still place above Meissner, who had two consistent performances.

A huge congradulations to Rochette for her big comeback. Finishing 5th in the free in this field is quite a feat, and good for her to pull herself up to 10th and keep those two ladies spots for Canada for next year.

Yu na said in an interview that it wasn't pressure. She said that her injuries have really hampered her training time, and when she got into the long her legs felt heavy. She said that hurt her confidence. Because of the injuries she just wasn't at her top form, and well it caused her to lose energy...

I don't think these results are necessarily a wakeup call.. It seems to me that everyone knew the three best skaters in the world were:Asada, Ando, and Kim (In any order). But well Korea doesn't really have much of a program after Yu-na, although I suspect that will be a changing. The US also has some very talented up and coming juniors in the junior circuit more so than Japan.
 
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