Practices | Page 3 | Golden Skate

Practices

does anybody have any practice pictures or more vidoes. From the sound of things, i was going to change my prediction to Mao winning this things hands down, but rember what happened earlier in the season. he was amazing in pratcie, but as Dick Button would say, "left it on the pratice ice." I think that Miki is gonna blow her chance and try a quad and either pop it or fall with a cheat and that will cost her, beause it will throw off her mindset.
 
does anybody have any practice pictures or more vidoes. From the sound of things, i was going to change my prediction to Mao winning this things hands down, but rember what happened earlier in the season. he was amazing in pratcie, but as Dick Button would say, "left it on the pratice ice." I think that Miki is gonna blow her chance and try a quad and either pop it or fall with a cheat and that will cost her, beause it will throw off her mindset.

Tons of photos from a Chinese site, thank me first!

Kostner
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810720F44DT20070319113744.jpg
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4398/r725014686jpgx380y246siio1.jpg


Mao
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810718F44DT20070319113725.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810715F44DT20070319113705.jpg

Meier
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810719F44DT20070319113734.jpg

Nakano
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810716F44DT20070319113715.jpg

Yu-Na
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810712F44DT20070319113636.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810710F44DT20070319113626.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810707F44DT20070319113614.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810706F44DT20070319113603.jpg

Lambiel
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4038/captxvt10403180327japanjm5.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/192/captxvt10103180327japancg8.jpg

Brian
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/5133/captxvt10203180331japanib4.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3926/captxkk10303180355japantr9.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1145/captxkk10803190651japanhi8.jpg


Oda:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4674/captxvt11103180555japanic7.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9153/r2203818944ji4.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9153/r2203818944ji4.jpg

Weir
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1586/captxvt10703180511japanez4.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3841/captxvt10803190438japanpu0.jpg

Ryan
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/7623/captxvt10603180510japancj1.jpg

Buttle:
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5572/captxvt10803180508japanhc9.jpg

Takahashi
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/7175/captxvt11203180551japandp7.jpg

Evan:
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9222/r3449296706jpgx272y345stm8.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6619/captxkk10703190646japanco7.jpg

Sandhu:
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9849/captxkk11203190705japanqk7.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5505/r2160087396ra6.jpg
 
Looked to me like a "revamped" version of the Nationals program. That is, a new edit of the music with some new choreography.

Follow up. According to Pricilla Hill it is the same music, but will extesive changes to the choreography made by her and Johnny. Guess the music has grown on me, or the new choreopraphy has made the difference in impression.
 
Tons of photos from a Chinese site, thank me first!

Kostner
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810720F44DT20070319113744.jpg
http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/4398/r725014686jpgx380y246siio1.jpg


Mao
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810718F44DT20070319113725.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810715F44DT20070319113705.jpg

Meier
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810719F44DT20070319113734.jpg

Nakano
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810716F44DT20070319113715.jpg

Yu-Na
http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810712F44DT20070319113636.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810710F44DT20070319113626.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810707F44DT20070319113614.jpg

http://image2.sina.com.cn/ty/o/p/2007-03-19/U1532P6T12D2810706F44DT20070319113603.jpg

Lambiel
http://img152.imageshack.us/img152/4038/captxvt10403180327japanjm5.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/192/captxvt10103180327japancg8.jpg

Brian
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/5133/captxvt10203180331japanib4.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3926/captxkk10303180355japantr9.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/1145/captxkk10803190651japanhi8.jpg


Oda:
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/4674/captxvt11103180555japanic7.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9153/r2203818944ji4.jpg
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9153/r2203818944ji4.jpg

Weir
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/1586/captxvt10703180511japanez4.jpg
http://img237.imageshack.us/img237/3841/captxvt10803190438japanpu0.jpg

Ryan
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/7623/captxvt10603180510japancj1.jpg

Buttle:
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/5572/captxvt10803180508japanhc9.jpg

Takahashi
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/7175/captxvt11203180551japandp7.jpg

Evan:
http://img176.imageshack.us/img176/9222/r3449296706jpgx272y345stm8.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6619/captxkk10703190646japanco7.jpg

Sandhu:
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9849/captxkk11203190705japanqk7.jpg
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/5505/r2160087396ra6.jpg

thanks so much!!!! great pics. did mao get new boots? this is the first time i saw her with the tan ones. her belliman is much improved !

p.s. Stephane looks so unbelivably HOT this year. I will call him my heathcliff!
 
Follow up. According to Pricilla Hill it is the same music, but will extesive changes to the choreography made by her and Johnny. Guess the music has grown on me, or the new choreopraphy has made the difference in impression.

Thanks for the info. I was thinking that maybe it looked different because Johnny said that he hadn't yet skated it as choreographed, so it's kind of hard to tell how it's supposed to go, lol.
 
Interesting to see that the Korean press is putting Asada, Kim and Meissner first (they call it a "Three Nations War" between Japan, Korea and the U.S.), and then briefly mentions Ando and Meier as possible spoilers. They are conceding the fact that if Mao's perfect, it's highly unlikely that anyone will beat her.

And I agree 100% with them. But being the skeptic that I am, I'd even say it's Mao vs Kim with KM and Ando as possible spoilers. And funny, no one is mentioning Kostner
 
And I agree 100% with them. But being the skeptic that I am, I'd even say it's Mao vs Kim with KM and Ando as possible spoilers. And funny, no one is mentioning Kostner

I actually believe Kostner will land on the podium, possibly a bronze medal. She's definitely a bigger spoiler than Meier.
 
If the practice reports on Mao are true, oh man, I don't even want to watch this...

But yes, skaters have been amazing in practice only to let the pressure of competition unravel them...
 
I actually believe Kostner will land on the podium, possibly a bronze medal. She's definitely a bigger spoiler than Meier.

If Kostner can skate to the level of talent she really has, she'll be on the podium I think. She's inconsistent yes, but when she's 'on' she is on'!
Meier will do well I think, top five probably and could get on the podium with a really great skate. Kostner is the better skater I think but Meier is very consistent and is on a roll this year.
 
If Kostner can skate to the level of talent she really has, she'll be on the podium I think. She's inconsistent yes, but when she's 'on' she is on'!
Meier will do well I think, top five probably and could get on the podium with a really great skate. Kostner is the better skater I think but Meier is very consistent and is on a roll this year.

I debunked this huge myth that Meier is consistent when I predicted Kostner would win Euro title. Meier is far from consistent She would pop at least one jump, and average two for each competition this season. With no 3+3 in her arsenal, she'll be hard pressed to get into top 5.
 
Finally a bit

Finally a bit report on pairs' practice I found on a Chinese site:

Castile/Okolski - They were not so good yesterday and today. Today they attempted 3 twist but bad landing. 2 twist was good. Sometimes she fell out throwing jumps.
Rena/John - LP. throwing 3lo, 2a-2t were good. They tried throwing 3a 2 times but fell out.
Siudeks - LP. 3 twist was high. I love their music.
Dube/Davison - LP. 2 twist, 2a-2a seq, throwing 3s fell, throwing 3lo good. And sbs spin was gooooood. She had some problems with her jumps.
Langlois/Hay - SP. 2 twist, throwing 3lo or 3s lamded but not good landing. She is really pretty, I love her.
Marcoux/Buntin - LP. 3t-3t seq but Buntin 2t-3t, sbs 2a but Buntin 1a, 2 or 3 twist, throwing 3lo and 3s were good.
Kawaguchi/Smirnov - SP. They wore new costume. bronze and beige velvet with gold and silver decoration, gorgeous. throwing 3s was good.
Mukhortova/Trankov - Vivid red costume. They tried throwing 3lo, landed the one and fell out the other.
Petrova/Tikhonov - SP. throwing 3lo was strong!
Vertmann/Just - LP. sbs 3s she stepped out, throwing 3s good, 3t-2t. They looked so improved since European Championship.
Magitteri/Hotarek - LP. throwing 3s stepped out, throwing 2s.
Pylkina/Hogner - sbs 3s she fell, throwing 3s fell. She had some problems with jumps. But their lifts were really good and smooth. I like it.
Savchenko/Solkowy - SP. After SP they did sbs 3t throwing 3f, almost of them were good.
Volosozhar/Morozov - LP. 3t-3t seq, throwing 3s and 3lo were good. 3 twist was realy so high.
Zhangs - LP. sbs 2a-3t but she 1a-3t, sbs 3s, throwing 3s and 3lo were good. Dan struggled with axel jumps.
Shen/Zhao - LP. 3t-2t combo and sbs 2a were perfect, throwing 3lo and 3s were great as usual. But Hongbo struggled with 2a.
Pang/Tong - LP. throwing jumps were great and so easy. They were consistent. sbs 2a-2a seq and sbs 3t were good.
 
I debunked this huge myth that Meier is consistent when I predicted Kostner would win Euro title. Meier is far from consistent She would pop at least one jump, and average two for each competition this season. With no 3+3 in her arsenal, she'll be hard pressed to get into top 5.

I don't think consistent always means perfect. It just means in someways predictable. We can predict Sarah will make mistakes, but we can also predict she'll make the same mistakes at Skate America as at the Grand Prix finals. Which makes her consistent...She'll do a four/five triple performance...All of Sarah's scores are about the same...

In contrast, You have Miki/Mao/ and Kimmie whose scores have been all over the place this season...

For the record, I always thought that Sasha Cohen was always more consistent than she was given credit for (except for the Olympic games) Sasha always made mistakes. She never had a clean long program. But until the Olympic games and last year's worlds, Sasha never bombed like she did then. She always might have one fall, or a couple of wonking landings/stumbles.
In contrast to Sasha, you had Arakawa who really ran hot and cold. One year she's World Champion, the next year she places 8th, and the next year she's Olympic champion..
 
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I debunked this huge myth that Meier is consistent when I predicted Kostner would win Euro title. Meier is far from consistent She would pop at least one jump, and average two for each competition this season. With no 3+3 in her arsenal, she'll be hard pressed to get into top 5.

I don't know, I think by 'consistent' what I mean for Meier is that she doesn't implode and seem to be trouble by nerve and all those other demons etc... Yes, she pops things once in a while but she never seems to have 'bad' days and stays consistent to whatever her level of skating is that season. Which might include poping a jump and might not.
I think I didn't explain my thoughts well enough the first time, basically if you look at Sarah's results through a season there aren't many highs and lows, she stays pretty much at the same level.
 
I don't think consistent always means perfect. It just means in someways predictable. We can predict Sarah will make mistakes, but we can also predict she'll make the same mistakes at Skate America as at the Grand Prix finals. Which makes her consistent...She'll do a four/five triple performance...All of Sarah's scores are about the same...

In contrast, You have Miki/Mao/ and Kimmie whose scores have been all over the place this season...

For the record, I always thought that Sasha Cohen was always more consistent than she was given credit for (except for the Olympic games) Sasha always made mistakes. She never had a clean long program. But until the Olympic games and last year's worlds, Sasha never bombed like she did then. She always might have one fall, or a couple of wonking landings/stumbles.
In contrast to Sasha, you had Arakawa who really ran hot and cold. One year she's World Champion, the next year she places 8th, and the next year she's Olympic champion..

Spot on about Sarah, you put it much more concisely than I did :rock:
 
I don't think the ladies in question have really skated enough big comps for us to conclude whether they are "consistent" or not. I've noticed Kimmie, with the dramatic exception of Worlds 06, tends to make about 1 mistake, usually on a jump combo, in the freeskate. I've never seen a bad performance or a meltdown from her (at least in a major comp), so I'd say she's not too bad.
 
I don't think the ladies in question have really skated enough big comps for us to conclude whether they are "consistent" or not. I've noticed Kimmie, with the dramatic exception of Worlds 06, tends to make about 1 mistake, usually on a jump combo, in the freeskate. I've never seen a bad performance or a meltdown from her (at least in a major comp), so I'd say she's not too bad.

See the thing is, I think that at worlds last year, what helped Kimmie was the little fact that she could count on her toughest competition Sasha messing up. At Four Continents she could count on her competition messing up there too...

But Kimmie has not fared to well against Mao, Miki, and Yu-na this season. Don't get me wrong, I know Kimmie beat Mao at Skate America. But well, Kimmie didn't win Skate America either. She made a major mistake in the short program.. Against Yu-na and Mao, Kimmie made major mistakes in the short and long programs.

The fact is that against the three headed Asian monster, (and I mean it in the nicest way) Kimmie's not going to be able to count on their mistakes, and roll in for a come from behind victory..) At least one of the three Asian girls is going to be excellant throughout.

As for which Asian girl: Well, a part of me would say Asada is techincally the best, and I don't want to count her out especially in Japan! But well Asada has also shown cracks too. It could be really too much too soon.

However, I expect Yu-na to have a good competition. I know people are worried about her injuries about according to these reports Yu-na's landing triple/triples. Yu-na strike me as the type of skater who really gets better when the competition is better. The last two times she's faced Mao, she's beaten her on consistency alone, and I'm not so sure that this won't happen again...
 
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