Ladies' SP

[vlaurend]

Mirai looked as though she took off two-footed. I'm glad I'm not imagining it.

There is no deduction for leaving the free foot on the ice until takeoff because it is not really being used for the takeoff, just for positioning. It's pretty much impossible to take off from both feet and still have the alignment over the right hip that is needed to fully rotate and land the loop jump.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Are you kidding?! Kimmie Meissner is a former World Champion!

and for Eddie Lee, the correction was made to the post within a half hour.

Joe

 

[Eddie Lee]

and for Eddie Lee, the correction was made to the post within a half hour.

Joe

Joe--you're the best....Need more posters like you!

 

[ChrisH]

It looks like Caroline's skates were missing for a while.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/cs-080229figure-skating-mirai-nagasu,1,6286033.story

Because the sharp blades aren't allowed in the carry-ons? Something tells me that Caroline isn't a real threat to hijack any planes. She won't need to travel to the LA Worlds, but for Vancouver , she might want to make arrangements to prevent a repeat of that.

I imagine that the off-ice practice wasn't too bad as Caroline could still work on her leg power? In any case, judging by her short program presentation, Caroline needed to work with a gypsy dancer and she didn't, hehe. I do like her short program choreography, but Caroline has neglected it ever since Skate America to focus on her technical skating. She was probably able to work (off-ice) on her free skate presentation, though, as she has plenty of experience with ballet dancing. Caroline will likely need her best technical and presentation skills to repeat as the junior champion.

 

[PolymerBob]

Please, no Kang, no Tisluk, no Szmiett. I will be very blunt today. Any berth given to any of the skaters mentioned in your post should be considered wasted.

Very well, whom would you like to send?

 

[Andalusia]

I downloaded Caroline's and Mirai's SPs off of fsvids.net, and I have to say, the picture quality is great, but there are two audio tracks of the music playing during the performance which are not in sync, and that is a bit jarring.

It becomes obvious when watching the two performances side by side that Caroline really needs to work on her speed. I know it's been mentioned a dozen times before, but it really hit home for me when I watched both girls' SPs consecutively. I feel like Caroline has improved in almost all aspects of her skating except in the speed department. Her 3-3 looked lovely here, and her footwork was performed with more gusto and flair this time around. However, she is still ponderously slow, especially when she does the spread eagle into the double axel. Mirai, OTOH, seems to gain speed easily without looking as if she's straining to do so...in fact, she seemed fast as soon as she started stroking after the opening poses. I don't know enough about skating to know how she manages that, but whatever it is, that is what Caroline needs to tap into! Otherwise, Mirai will always win over her if they are both clean, because Mirai has speed on her side.

Off to download Rachael Flatt's SP now.

 

[zephyrskates]

i just watched mirai, caroline and rachael performing their SP on youtube.
here are some of my thoughts:

i will put caroline ahead of mirai. i love mirai, but speed is not everything. aside from speed, i found that caroline's program was better than mirai's. there was a maturity to caroline's program that i adored. it may also be due to my dislike of gershwin's composition. however i can see why the judges placed mirai higher than caroline. after all they are still skating in junior worlds, and it is likely that maturity is not the be all and end all.

reading the article here at goldenskate.com, the author said that mirai received a deduction on her lutz. i am worried that getting penalized for a wrong edge take off on her lutz twice now (US nationals and here) can play mind games in the future.

rachael. she's a good skater, but i did not connect with her. it may be different in person or in TV, but there was something missing when she was skating.

overall i am impressed and excited, and i hope they can make history by sweeping the podium.

 

[ChrisH]

It becomes obvious when watching the two performances side by side that Caroline really needs to work on her speed. I know it's been mentioned a dozen times before, but it really hit home for me when I watched both girls' SPs consecutivel ... Otherwise, Mirai will always win over her if they are both clean, because Mirai has speed on her side.

Comparing their SPs and FSs at Nationals, it was clear that Mirai is faster. However, the difference is much greater in the SP. In the FS at Nationals, Mirai skated slower than she did in the SP and her program included 2 stops. IIRC, Caroline's FS only had 1 stop. Here, Caroline dropped the stop as part of the 30 seconds she cut out of her program. So Mirai has struggled with her jumps and has been slower in the FS. Perhaps they're related => Mirai is better when she attacks her programs. She needs upbeat music and choreography.