- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
Your comments.
Ladies from TV
- Thread starter Joesitz (RIP)
- Start date
Wow. It's not too often that a skater goes to the olympics, then misses the next olympics, but comes back for the next olympics after that. Katarina Witt did it, and now it looks like Elena Sokolova will be doing it as well.
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2003
Yeah Idle - Elena S. was on at Euros and looking determined throughout. She's going for that silver medal intorino.
Irina was at her best. She is dynamite when she is on. A first rate competitor.
I don't know what the fuss was all about with the Georgian girl. She's a work in progress and a lot of work will be needed.
Sarah Meier looks v. competitive.
If Kostner could skate the second half of her program the way she skates her first half, I contend she would win the Olys and continue the heritage of teenager wins.
Joe
Irina was at her best. She is dynamite when she is on. A first rate competitor.
I don't know what the fuss was all about with the Georgian girl. She's a work in progress and a lot of work will be needed.
Sarah Meier looks v. competitive.
If Kostner could skate the second half of her program the way she skates her first half, I contend she would win the Olys and continue the heritage of teenager wins.
Joe
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2003
Ok, I really enjoyed watching Elena Sokolova skate last night.
I also like the Swiss skater very much.
Carolina Kostner, while having a very nice first half of a program, struck me as being too fast and out of control in the second half of her program. Her spins seemed sloppy and her jumps...well, I just guess I wasn't as impressed with the 2nd half as I was with the first half.
And I didn't see the Elena G "she's all that" stuff going on.
And can I just say that I do not like Irina's LP music choice? Other than that, her program looked okay. It is what it is.
I also like the Swiss skater very much.
Carolina Kostner, while having a very nice first half of a program, struck me as being too fast and out of control in the second half of her program. Her spins seemed sloppy and her jumps...well, I just guess I wasn't as impressed with the 2nd half as I was with the first half.
And I didn't see the Elena G "she's all that" stuff going on.
And can I just say that I do not like Irina's LP music choice? Other than that, her program looked okay. It is what it is.
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2004
To be honest Elena Sokalova (even though I don't care for her skating) won the FS. Irina's, program just looked really lacking to me and not near as strong as earlier in the GP season. I love the first half of Carolina's program, but then she loses me. Not just missing jumps, but her power and feeling to the music slows down. Sokalova was on and she had a lot of energy going for her. I think she should have won.. Olympics and Worlds will be interesting..lol
My Tivo shut off before I could see Irina 
, but I thought Sokolova skated better than I'd seen her. You could tell as soon as she finished how thrilled she was. I'm still not on board with Carolina. I think she has amazing speed and big jumps, but she wasn't able to hold it all the way through. Her outfit has GOT to go. It's hideous! 
, but I thought Sokolova skated better than I'd seen her. You could tell as soon as she finished how thrilled she was. I'm still not on board with Carolina. I think she has amazing speed and big jumps, but she wasn't able to hold it all the way through. Her outfit has GOT to go. It's hideous! 
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2003
I normally don't care for Sokolova's skating, but she was definitely on and she had the skate of her life (at least since the 2003 worlds). She is going to be one of the contenders for the podium if she skates like this in Torino. Her flip is just awful though; she is so much on the outside edge that it is not a flip at all. Other than that, she was great.
Irina looked good but I have seen her skate better (who can forget worlds 2005? She was better at COR). She had a problem on the triple flip- too much adrenaline may be? She even missed catching her foot on her Biellman spiral; I have never seen her miss that. So there were a couple of mistakes. Still, she was the best IMO. When Irina skates, I really want to watch. I never get bored. Her triple lutz was so high- just awesome! BTW I loved her Totentanz SP. Great choice of music for her- taut, powerful, fast.
I too did not understand all the gushing over Elene G. Hopefully she will develop and make it to the world podium. It is nice to see skaters from smaller countries make it.
I totally agree with Joe about Carolina. If she skates the second half of her program the way she skates the first half, she will win the OGM. She has always struggled in the LP. I don't know if it's a stamina issue or a concentration issue.
Sarah Meir skated quite well- the best I have seen from her. For a Swiss skater, however, her spins seem quite ordinary.
Vash
Irina looked good but I have seen her skate better (who can forget worlds 2005? She was better at COR). She had a problem on the triple flip- too much adrenaline may be? She even missed catching her foot on her Biellman spiral; I have never seen her miss that. So there were a couple of mistakes. Still, she was the best IMO. When Irina skates, I really want to watch. I never get bored. Her triple lutz was so high- just awesome! BTW I loved her Totentanz SP. Great choice of music for her- taut, powerful, fast.
I too did not understand all the gushing over Elene G. Hopefully she will develop and make it to the world podium. It is nice to see skaters from smaller countries make it.
I totally agree with Joe about Carolina. If she skates the second half of her program the way she skates the first half, she will win the OGM. She has always struggled in the LP. I don't know if it's a stamina issue or a concentration issue.
Sarah Meir skated quite well- the best I have seen from her. For a Swiss skater, however, her spins seem quite ordinary.
Vash
Vash01 said:
I think it was both, she definitely lost concentration after the fall, therefore the mistake on the spin. But it was also a stamina issue: she was dead tired at that point partly cause she's not in top shape yet (she's supposed to peak in 3 weeks time) partly cause she's been bothered by bronchitis since Nationals.
- Joined
- Feb 5, 2004
Vash01 said:
On the Eurosport coverage they were obviously using a camera in the corner where Irina did her Lutz with the board door open (like the kind that Midori Ito jumped on in 1989!) so the camera angle really showed you a more ice level view of her Lutz/loop combo it was really high. Her lutz usually looks really big regardless of teh angle but seeing this one from closer to ice level relly did show you just how big her jump was.
On Sokolova's bad outside edge on the flip...it is really severe to the point where on the BBC when Robin Cousins was commentating on the replay of it he thought it was the solo lutz!
Ant
I agree that Irina didn't have the fire and power that made her early season skates so spectacular. IMO, one of two things could be going on: In '02, Irina also came out guns blazing at the beginning of the season, doing 3/3s all over the place, and skating with both great skill and a smoothness that she often lacks. Her LP was "Tosca." Then she gets to the Olympics in the ugliest costume she'd worn all season and skating as tight as me in my Jr. High jeans.
Oly '02 was before Irina's vasculitis and pericarditis were diagnosed so I wonder if those diseases were creeping up and making it difficult to maintain her endurance throughout the season, especially under the heavy-duty pressure of the Olympics. An athlete with an kind of chronic illness is going to have a tough time under stressful situations and learn how to pace herself going into big competitions.
OTOH, maybe Irina just choked in '02 SLC. All season prior to the Olympics, especially with Michelle firing Frank and Lori in August, a lot of people were doing the same chant we saw earlier on the boards (not just GS): Just give the OGM to Irina now. But if you look at Irina's entire career, she has always started out like gangbusters and then putters out by the time Worlds comes around, except when her vasculatis, etc. really flared and she was finally diagnosed. It's not that she would do bad at Worlds; she just wouldn't do as well as she had done for most of the season prior to Worlds. BTW, the other exception was when Irina had her "dark years" when her body changed around '97/98 and she didn't get herself together again until fall '01, IIRC.
The other possibility is that Irina is purposely conserving her energy so as to not blow in all prior to the Olympics. I hope this is what she is doing. Irina doesn't need to win every competition with "try to top this!" performances. She does, however, need to pace herself so she has the endurance and energy she needs for the additional stress of the Olympics. Again, especially with a chronic health problem, this is crucial.
So I'm not particularly concerned that Irina isn't skating up to the grand slam level she was earlier. My concern is why this is happening. If it's part of Irina's strategy in order to have maximum energy and endurance at the Olympics, great! :chorus: But if she's trying to skate through the roof at every event with the results being that she's simply getting sloppy and losing the beautiful power she had all autumn, then I'm concerned. I've seen it happen to Irina before and I would really, really hate to see her Irina go through it again. She should know better by now.
Just my guesses as to why Irina's skating isn't as strong as it was earlier in the season. She could also be suffering the effects of her illness and medication. This is the first season, AFAIK, that she is skating the whole thing on Prednisone. That stuff could take the wind out of Seabiscuit.
As for Sokolova, she's very inconsistent, but you never know, she could be the "Sarah Hughes" of these Olympics, except for being a little older than 16.
Rgirl
Oly '02 was before Irina's vasculitis and pericarditis were diagnosed so I wonder if those diseases were creeping up and making it difficult to maintain her endurance throughout the season, especially under the heavy-duty pressure of the Olympics. An athlete with an kind of chronic illness is going to have a tough time under stressful situations and learn how to pace herself going into big competitions.
OTOH, maybe Irina just choked in '02 SLC. All season prior to the Olympics, especially with Michelle firing Frank and Lori in August, a lot of people were doing the same chant we saw earlier on the boards (not just GS): Just give the OGM to Irina now. But if you look at Irina's entire career, she has always started out like gangbusters and then putters out by the time Worlds comes around, except when her vasculatis, etc. really flared and she was finally diagnosed. It's not that she would do bad at Worlds; she just wouldn't do as well as she had done for most of the season prior to Worlds. BTW, the other exception was when Irina had her "dark years" when her body changed around '97/98 and she didn't get herself together again until fall '01, IIRC.
The other possibility is that Irina is purposely conserving her energy so as to not blow in all prior to the Olympics. I hope this is what she is doing. Irina doesn't need to win every competition with "try to top this!" performances. She does, however, need to pace herself so she has the endurance and energy she needs for the additional stress of the Olympics. Again, especially with a chronic health problem, this is crucial.
So I'm not particularly concerned that Irina isn't skating up to the grand slam level she was earlier. My concern is why this is happening. If it's part of Irina's strategy in order to have maximum energy and endurance at the Olympics, great! :chorus: But if she's trying to skate through the roof at every event with the results being that she's simply getting sloppy and losing the beautiful power she had all autumn, then I'm concerned. I've seen it happen to Irina before and I would really, really hate to see her Irina go through it again. She should know better by now.
Just my guesses as to why Irina's skating isn't as strong as it was earlier in the season. She could also be suffering the effects of her illness and medication. This is the first season, AFAIK, that she is skating the whole thing on Prednisone. That stuff could take the wind out of Seabiscuit.
As for Sokolova, she's very inconsistent, but you never know, she could be the "Sarah Hughes" of these Olympics, except for being a little older than 16.
Rgirl
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2003
Rgirl, I am always interested in this business of pacing onesself and trying to peak at the right time, etc. Setting aside Irina's health challenges, if an athlete competes only 4 or 5 times per year, do they really have to hold back so as not to squander their best stuff too soon? Would it really be a bad strategy to try to skate your best at the one event that you have in October, then again in the one event that you have in November, etc.?
When you were dancing on tour, were there times when you blew off the Wednesday matinee so you wouldn't be too worn out on Saturday night?
OT, but that is one thing that I really admire about SOI. The cast really takes to heart the idea that, even though they have to do four more shows in the next five days, this audience is only going to see this show.
Mathman
When you were dancing on tour, were there times when you blew off the Wednesday matinee so you wouldn't be too worn out on Saturday night?
OT, but that is one thing that I really admire about SOI. The cast really takes to heart the idea that, even though they have to do four more shows in the next five days, this audience is only going to see this show.
Mathman
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2003
Rgirl,
I too noticed that Irina is always strong in the first part of the season and tapers off toward the end. I am hoping that she will regain her energy in Torino. Michelle is very good at pacing herself and peaking at worlds (or at least she was, until the ill fated - for her- 2005 worlds). On second thoughts though she often peaks at the US nationals and just a notch lower at worlds. Irina, OTOH seems to peak much earlier in the season. The only exception was worlds in 2005, when she skated her best performance ever. I would love to see her give that kind of performance in Torino. When she is on she is probably the most exciting skater in the world.
Vash
I too noticed that Irina is always strong in the first part of the season and tapers off toward the end. I am hoping that she will regain her energy in Torino. Michelle is very good at pacing herself and peaking at worlds (or at least she was, until the ill fated - for her- 2005 worlds). On second thoughts though she often peaks at the US nationals and just a notch lower at worlds. Irina, OTOH seems to peak much earlier in the season. The only exception was worlds in 2005, when she skated her best performance ever. I would love to see her give that kind of performance in Torino. When she is on she is probably the most exciting skater in the world.
Vash
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