View from Tokyo

[sorcerer]

First of all, congratulations to Kimmie for her first GP gold and Caroline for her first senior medal !!
I am sure the Japanese skating fans, of course including me, enjoyed their performances very much.

Now Kimmie will be to Torino unless she bombs in Paris. Her Nessun Dorma had a different nuance compared to Shizuka's and that was a relief to us, oops at least to me. I also thought that if Caroline could attain height and smoothness on jumps she might well beat Kimmie.

I've been feeling sorry for Leung for all those bashings, so I'd like to send my big celebrations to Mira for her renewed skating.

And Miki.
Through various media, her Japanese fans vaguely knew her situation ... choreo coming very late from Morozov, her shoulder injury with the cartilage damage that won't be fixed without surgery (but she doesn't have the time for it now), the consequent difficulty IMO to keep her motivation, the burn-out syndrome sneaking close, the media pressure, etc.
To top these, hurting her shoulder badly in that fall in the Counter Match must have made a huge mental obstacle against her jump practices.

But she didn't run away. Slo-mo the video and we can see her taped shoulder under her dress, both during short and long.
With her physical conditions at such a bottom, Miki-fans in Japan think she showed a marvelous effort and did a very good job in Reading.
Yuka Sato did the commentations here on TV. What she said were quite objective to all the skaters, and she justly evaluated such positiveness from Miki.

Miki seems to be the most objective; she said practically the same to all the negative comments written in the posts here.
You can read one on the ISU site, and to the Japanese media she admitted after her short like, "overall I rate myself less than half of what I should be," "I made a silly mistake and stumbled...I have to be cautious about my shoulder and this is affecting my jumps. But I have to make ameliorations."

However she was obviously happy. She must have felt that she had done practically all she can do for now.

PS 1:
She made more analysis of herself in detail after the long, but that's for next time.

PS 2:
Of course, she hasn't commented on her dresses. None other than Morozov designed them himself, LOL.
I personally like much-simpler dresses, but they weren't bad either.
Yeah, a little too much maybe, ha ha, but they were cute on Miki.

PS 3:
Please remember that these posts are viewed worldwide. And English discloses what's said in it globally. It's depressing to read eccessively negative comments that don't count in the readers who favor the booed skater.
It wouldn't have been nice to say Arakawa "looked like the ***** World Champion" in her low games in 04-05 season.

 

[sorcerer]

I edited twice and came out with two new but same threads.
I never pressed the wrong button, though, just the edit button.

Would someone kindly delete the previous two same threads?

 

[krenseby]

First of all, congratulations to Kimmie for her first GP gold and Caroline for her first senior medal !!
I am sure the Japanese skating fans, of course including me, enjoyed their performance very much.

Well, sorcerer, I definitely think it's sad to see people not being able to skate at their best, especially when it's due to an injury. When a skater is very shaky/cautious/unprepared, the viewers sense the discomfort and the performance comes across somewhat the worse for it. Miki will keep on having her lows and highs, but I hope to see her in a healthier and stronger physical condition.

As for Caroline, it was obviously shocking to see her be "hazed" and picked apart for jump mistakes that other skaters get away with. Her jumps got nitpicked much more than other people's and it's really unfair. I think she should have gotten a lot more points, perhaps enough to garner a silver medal. I wonder what the Japanese media thinks of Caroline. Have there been articles written about her already?

As for Kimmie, I think her choreography is more conservative this year. I thought last year's LP was a lot better. It had spark that this year's LP does not. But Kimmie, of course, is very consistent and that's what makes her a good competitor to the Japanese ladies who often beat her. Anytime that Miki and Mao are off, Kimmie performs well enough to surpass them. (Remember how she beat Mao at S.A last year. Well now she got Miki.)

 

[BelleFilleYuna]

When I saw her smiling in k/c zone, I knew that I don't have to worry about this girl. She is poised, she is tough, and it seems she had it all figured-out.

But her shoulder, is it that bad to require a surgery?
I hope it's not since new season has just started and she has to hang in there for almost half an year to come.....

 

[iluvtodd]

Thanks for the "View from Tokyo," sorcerer!

We had a fantastic time at Skate America. It was wonderful to see a number of the skaters during the practice sessions. You also never know who you're going to meet when you walk through the concourse. That's how I got to meet lovely Yuka just before the exhibition. She's a doll. We both said, "See you at Stars" (on Ice, that is)!

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

I was unaware of Miki having a cartilege problem. Horrors! That's the worse problem in the knee. However there is much better prognosis now than ever before with the prope surgery. When I think about her skating in Reading, I can now cringe for her because I am sure she skated with pain.

I hope she gets through this season and wins medals but afterwards to have her knee problem taken care of.

Joe

 

[sorcerer]

As for Caroline, ... I think she should have gotten a lot more points, perhaps enough to garner a silver medal. I wonder what the Japanese media thinks of Caroline. Have there been articles written about her already?

The Japanese media hype Caroline a lot, alomost the same as Mirai Nagasu, of course much more than Sawada or Takeda.
Articles ... not yet.

Since I'm a big Miki fan, to avoid bias I'll only write here, if I may, personal impressions on Caroline in comparison to Kimmie.
Caro's spins are much more impressive than Kimmie's, but to me the jumps are the other way around.
What's more, the Pearl Spin is too impressive that it consequently emphasizes her relative weakness in jumps.
And since the very elegant and successfull choreo does not take advantage of her pre-adolescent charm, her childlike-ness in her jumps seems to have difficulty in fitting to the program, IMHO.
Also, Ave Maria may have required, musically speaking, softer and more feathery jumps, though too much to ask.
Lastly there might have been in the judges' minds the aspect that Bekalc pointed out, to a little extent.
When the judges' decisions are on the border, I imagine that these minor factors might have unconscious effect as downgrades, without being malicious in intention.
But overall, I preferred Caro's performance to Kimmie's. It came straight to my heart.

As for Kimmie, I think her choreography is more conservative this year. I thought last year's LP was a lot better. It had spark that this year's LP does not. ...

As a strategy, how ND works in Torino can be both ways. It might have been safer IMO to choose different music than the one already with an impressive Olympic signature done only 22 months ago. But if Kimmie loves this specific music than any other, well, love is the most important above all.

 

[Mathman]

PS 3:
Please remember that these posts are viewed worldwide. And English discloses what's said in it globally. It's depressing to read eccessively negative comments that don't count in the readers who favor the booed skater.

Or for that matter, the booed skater herself.

For some reason the anonymity of the Internet seems to excuse rudeness that most people would never use in face to face discourse.

 

[kandidy]

I was unaware of Miki having a cartilege problem. Horrors! That's the worse problem in the knee. However there is much better prognosis now than ever before with the prope surgery. When I think about her skating in Reading, I can now cringe for her because I am sure she skated with pain.

I hope she gets through this season and wins medals but afterwards to have her knee problem taken care of.

Joe

I believed that sorceror means cartilage of her shoulder, you can see Miki had tape on her right shoulder.

 

[sorcerer]

But her shoulder, is it that bad to require a surgery?
I hope it's not since new season has just started and she has to hang in there for almost half an year to come.....

I was unaware of Miki having a cartilege problem. Horrors! That's the worse problem in the knee.....

It seems that whenever interviewed, Miki doesn't hide anything, unless it has something to do with others' privacy.
To a question on her right shoulder, she recently replied (before SA) that the cartilage inside her shoulder is damaged and won't recover by itself, that she could consider surgery but has no time for that now, and that instead for the moment she is reinforcing her shoulder muscles that surrounds it using rubber tubes, also that she is taping her shoulder before getting on the ice.

Surgery is a choice, but there's always a possibility of narrowing the angle of the arm movements. (That's why Shizuka didn't get that surgery...she has a loose shoulder too.)

Joe, no need to cringe since it's not her knee cartilage that is in the information. Of course she injured her knee too, last July.
BTW a shoulder dislocation hurts a lot. I had a half-dislocation myself with my shoulder, some twenty years ago, and it still bothers me when I raise my arm very high. I had it when I goofed a S-curve on a Formula-1 simulation machine in an amusement center.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Or for that matter, the booed skater herself.

For some reason the anonymity of the Internet seems to excuse rudeness that most people would never use in face to face discourse.

Have you ever read the New York sports pages? Oh, I forgot, figure skating is different.

 

[rain]

I never think it's a good idea for skaters to push themselves through a season injured and requiring surgery. In the long run they inevitably do more damage to the injured area and decrease their chances of full recovery. It's disappointing when they miss a season, yes, but in the long run I think it's the best choice they can make. So I think Miki should bow out and take care of her shoulder now, before it become a potentially career-ending injury.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Joe, no need to cringe since it's not her knee cartilage that is in the information. Of course she injured her knee too, last July.
BTW a shoulder dislocation hurts a lot. I had a half-dislocation myself with my shoulder, some twenty years ago, and it still bothers me when I raise my arm very high. I had it when I goofed a S-curve on a Formula-1 simulation machine in an amusement center.

Tell me! The arthritus from the knee has crawled into my hips and now in the shoulder. My heart goes out to Miki. I know it first hand.

Joe

 

[sillylionlove]

Miki had the sholder taped up during every practice. I am sure it was taped up under her costumes.

 

[NorthernLite]

Have you ever read the New York sports pages? Oh, I forgot, figure skating is different.

But just because there is boorishness and pettiness everywhere doesn't mean it's acceptable.


And figure skating is different. [

 

[chuckm]

Since Miki has dislocated that shoulder several times now, surgery is inevitable at some point, or she will be unable to compete. The worst part of the program for a shoulder dislocation is the spins, and that's why Miki's final spin in the FS was only a level 1. The arm movements in the step sequence are also hard on her shoulder.

It has to be hard on her to keep competing when the possibility of her shoulder becoming dislocated during the performance is always there---and it is horribly painful when it happens. You have to give Miki credit for her courage.