Happy birthday Satoko!
I had the pleasure of watching her live at Worlds and although her FS was pretty rough it was good to see her winning another World medal and to watch the medal ceremony. That doesn't happen often.
I thought the bronze medal here was a great reward for all the hard work she's done this season. Looking back to her Sayuri at THE ICE where she could barely do double jumps, and then NHK Trophy where a lot of people were saying she had no chance of going to the Olympics, it's been a miraculous season and an inspiring comeback story.
Regarding Satoko on video vs Satoko live:
- Her jumps weren't any better or any worse live, it was a case of what you see is what you get. They certainly didn't distract me in a negative way or anything. I can confirm she does get off the ice, contrary to popular belief
- Her skating skills are sublime. While not the fastest or most powerful, she was the only one who gave me the impression that she was flying across the rink. It almost felt like her feet weren't touching the ice at all and she was just floating like a sparkly blue hummingbird
Which is also the reason why her super fast rotational speed is endearing.
- She's a great story teller. In the past I've seen people say all the details in her choreography or interpretation aren't as noticeable live but I noticed everything and my seat was pretty far up. The way she uses her arms and hands is just beautiful and that made her stand out from the rest.
- As I said in another thread, the audience was very loud during the last group. Carolina was leading after the SP and the Italian fans were cheering all the time. While a supportive audience is generally great, I thought they made too much noise and the skaters could barely concentrate. I was observing Satoko in the 6 minute warm up and she had a lot of trouble with her jumps - a couple of shaky UR 3Lo attempts, some doubled 3Lz and 3F and ironically a clean 3S... so I was prepared for a rough program.
On the news about the 3A: she was already practicing it after 2016 Worlds, probably with the plan of including it this season for the Olympics. I remember posting about it here back in 2016 and the news getting the usual sarcastic comments. After all the injuries and almost a year away from the ice she stopped attempting it. But the fact that she wants to challenge it again makes perfect sense to me; after all it was work in progress 2 years ago and she was actually very optimistic and excited about it. So as long as she keeps taking care of her body, why not? Is the 2A-3T not the best jumping pass she does in her programs? I don't think 3A or even 3A-3T is impossible. If there's anything I've learned in the past 12 months, it's the fact that Satoko can make the impossible possible.
Congratulations also for the Worlds bronze and for lovely performances there. Love both of your programs of this season.
