Mirai Nagasu's future prospects

[chuckm]

I never saw the 4CC skate before. Really lovely. And lovely too was the costume. Not your usual spangles and mirabu number.

2011 4CC was nearly four years ago. We haven't seen anything even close to it since then.

Cup of Russia may be a weak field, but there are at least four ladies who have posted scores high enough to beat Mirai: Pogorilaya, Hongo, Park and Wang. And you can't completely disregard the chances of the other Russian ladies on home ice.

Mirai has to nail her SP and keep her URs to a minimum.

 

[chuckm]

Mirai nailed her SP, but she URd her combo: 3f!<+3t<, which put her in 4th place after the SP. That does not bode well for her FS where she is bound to get many more URs.

 

[Sandpiper]

I'd give her the flip. The caller was a bit harsh there, imo (though it could've gone either way... just didn't go Mirai's way today). However, there's little between the top 4. Mirai should definitely look at this in a positive light and bring it in the LP.

Another plus was her performance. Imo, she was more engaged than she was back in SA. Hopefully it carries over to the LP.

 

[fallingsk8er]

Yes!!! This was much improved over Skate America. No UR on the flip to the average viewer, unlike previous comps where it was obvious. A good score too. A few more solid performances like this and she will be back on track. Good luck to Mirai in the LP. I hope she can move up and grab a medal.

 

[gotoschool]

Mirai skated so well in her SP at the Rostelecom Cup. Her performance was my favorite. I felt her awakening on the ice with the swelling melody of Rach's Rhapsody on a Theme of Pagannini flowing through her spins, jumps, steps and beautifully balletic movements, with a smile and a flair of the arm here and there to give her performance that extra touch of poignancy and elegance. It was so moving. The Ina Bauer, into the layback and Biellmann at the end were simply splendid.

She really increased her speed and covered the ice more fully by skating to the edge of the boards and executing the intricate choreography with wonderful subtlety, so it seems to me that she should have the highest PCS. Also, I think her layback should definitely have a higher GOE than Anna because of Mirai's greater flexibility and beauty in the spin, when it is actually slightly lower. In addition, the 3F was close, but didn't seem ur'd to me, and the 0 GOE on the 3Lo seemed too low. The 3T was definitely ur'd. I noticed that one of the Eurosport commentators was really surprised that Mirai did not go into first after this performance.

 

[jenaj]

I so hope Mirai can hold it together in the long program. She even has a shot at the gold (well, maybe not--I don't want to jinx her).

 

[mskater93]

Yes!!! This was much improved over Skate America. No UR on the flip to the average viewer, unlike previous comps where it was obvious. A good score too. A few more solid performances like this and she will be back on track. Good luck to Mirai in the LP. I hope she can move up and grab a medal.

The flip was a little under in real time and with the hesitation to pick on the 3T, they went back and reviewed it. She was lucky the 3T was called < instead of << though as it was really close to <<. The loop, too, was suspect, which was why a couple judges gave her -GOE

 

[kwanatic]

^^agreed. During the replay I was worried they'd get her on the loop too.

I wish she'd have gone for an easier 3T-3T...she'd have scored several points higher had she landed that combo. At some point the gamble isn't worth the risk. That 3F-3T has yet to be ratified but she regularly gets the 3T-3T ratified and gets good GOE on it too. Why not go for that in the SP and then try your hand at the 3F-3T in the FS where there is more room to make up points if you get hit with URs? That's my thinking anyway.

That said, I thought she performed much better overall. I could see her reaching past the boards with her performance which really makes a difference for Mirai. Mirai's PCS jumped up to 28+ and was the 2nd highest of the segment (behind Anna, which I can't say I agree with). It was nice to see her perform; she gave feeling to her movements and that made the program sing much more than we've seen all season long.

It's really close at the top...less than 1 point between 2nd thru 4th and 4 points from 1st to 5th. I was impressed with Alaine Chartrand but I'm not confident she's going to hold up enough to win this. She's very prone to URs as well and, being that this is her first time leading at a GP and she'll be skating last, I don't know how she'll hold up under the pressure. Anna buckled a little under the pressure today but I think she can bounce back. Rika Hongo can score very well in the FS and so can So Youn Park, even though she's down in 7th place (I feel like she's going to make it into the top 5 somehow).

Mirai can still make the podium but, with the standings so close, she has less room for error. It's going to be an interesting conclusion, that's for sure.

PS: SO disappointed with Angela Wang. :hopelessness:

 

[iceberg]

Sweet Mirai I'm like was teary watching her SP. I agree with all of you this was a much improved and stronger SP. And the spread eagle into the 2A, exquisite! With the scores so close, she definitely has a good chance to medal!

Bravo Adam for the lovely choreography. Beautiful lyrical music always gets me. Definitely my favorite SP this season for the ladies.

 

[mirai4life]

Good job, Mirai!

 

[yuki1388]

I can see Mirai is improving .Just off the podium this time but wish her all the best in nationals
there's still 2 months to go,GOOO MIRAI!!!

P.S Could she still get the envelope while she get 4th and 6th in the Grand Prix?

 

[noskates]

Hope springs eternal.

 

[Mrs. P]

I'd hardly call 6th place "just off the podium!"

She was 6th in the FS. 4th overall.

 

[Jammers]

If Mirai cannot rotate her jumps she won't clear 110 points and that won't do it internationally or at Nationals either. I'm just afraid Mirai's best days are behind her.

 

[kalle]

If Mirai cannot rotate her jumps she won't clear 110 points and that won't do it internationally or at Nationals either. I'm just afraid Mirai's best days are behind her.

Is this not what many have said these last couple of years? But Mirai is Mirai and she still manage to "surprise" with decent skates like at COR/Nationals last season..It seems like many absolutely want her to hang up her skates but I still think she has the goods to do well when she is in good shape and rotates a bit faster (and with better precision). Like every fall, she seems slightly on the slower side which is a killer for someone like her who needs great speed into her jumps..

 

[NAOTMAA]

It seems Mirai loses speed half way through her programs and that appears to be where all the major URs start creeping in. She has suffered from this for a while now and it doesn't seem to have changed or even improved despite her programs being quite empty. Has anyone tried to time Mirai's programs to see where she really starts slowing down?

Didn't they mention Tom Z. is making her do complete run troughs of her programs and not just elements? At some point there should be some improvement in the stamina area and I would guess the jumps in the second half will improve too but who knows.

 

[AsadaFanBoy]

How did Pogorilaya get on the podium with that terrible free skate? Yes, it was in Russia (at home boost) but what about fair judging? The quality of the elements was just not there. And her spins aren't good. How is someone like Polina or Nagasu supposed to move up? Nagasu skated slowly and UR-ed jumps...and the spins were too slow too. But overall I'd say she deserved better PCS and slightly better TES.

I don't know how Pogorilaya couldn't land a good 3/3 while Edmunds landed a great one and an ok one (coc) and scored lower than Pogorilaya in rostelecom.

 

[Ruffles78]

It seems Mirai loses speed half way through her programs and that appears to be where all the major URs start creeping in. She has suffered from this for a while now and it doesn't seem to have changed or even improved despite her programs being quite empty. Has anyone tried to time Mirai's programs to see where she really starts slowing down?

Didn't they mention Tom Z. is making her do complete run troughs of her programs and not just elements? At some point there should be some improvement in the stamina area and I would guess the jumps in the second half will improve too but who knows.

Actually, with the exception of the second flip, the under rotations were at the beginning of the program.

 

[chuckm]

I heard Mirai comment to Tom that she felt "out of her body" when she was on the ice during her FS. No wonder she got such low PCS scores! She looked absolutely blank-faced throughout the program, as if she were somewhere else and was on autopilot. That is not the way to sell a program or connect with the audience.

Many of her URs were plain to be seen, especially the solo 3f which was downgraded. Mirai seemed shocked when she saw her scores. Doesn't she notice that she's not getting those jumps all the way around? Skating does take a fair degree of self-awareness. If Mirai is still in denial that she URs her jumps, then the problem will never be resolved and she will never improve.

 

[GF2445]

I think Mirai very well knows that she underrotated. I think she was shocked that her component score isn't improving.
This performance is better from Mirai, she still showed fight but time to build towards nationals--- SPEED SPEED SPEED and a quicker snap into the jump.