Yuna Kim

[jaylee]

I didn't say it was "listening" to the music - rather her ability to produce that varied motion through her skating skills was second to theirs (and nobody else's). That's her technical aspect. If you disagree, you disagree.

Well, you're tying her technical ability to her musical interpretation ability. So yeah, I disagree.

I'll quote my edit above: Also, you note that Yu-Na varied her skating flow/speed depending on the music/programs, but say it's less than Michelle or Mao ever did...and that is puzzling because neither Michelle nor Mao were especially known for their variation of flow/speed. That is why Michelle sometimes lost against Irina and even Sarah Hughes and why Mao lost out to Yu-Na and Carolina Kostner. Takahiko Kozuka's father, after Mao's 2010 Worlds win, congratulated Mao on the win but noted that she lost the PCS component, and pointed out that it was because of the difference in variation of speed and a skating skills issue. I think he literally called Mao's speed monotonous...Mao's fans were not happy about that...

What you said just doesn't make any sense with what was observed from the time, and what the scores and results reflected. Yu-Na was known for her speed and variation of speed and flow, and Michelle and Mao were not. And I saw them all live. If you saw them live and have a different opinion to offer, feel free. (By the way, I also disagree with some other underlying assumptions in your post -- top skaters should demonstrate a variety of speed/acceleration within the program and ideally the music has the proper highs/lows to showcase this. But that doesn't mean that if you skate to a soft, slow piece of music that you should never be accelerating within the program due to musical interpretation requirements.)

If you disagree with me and with Takahiko Kozuka's father and numerous other commentators from the time period that Mao and Yu-Na performed live, fine. If you have some other evidence to offer to backup your opinion, feel free to share. But regardless of that I don't think Yu-Na's fanfest is the right place to post about how Yu-Na is second to them.

 

[jaylee]

Well yes. A part of it - interpretation is based on technique, how is it not? Doesn't mean I consider her overall interpretation inferior to theirs, just a part of it. Anyway, I would need to see more compelling arguments than those to consider her skating skills on par or better than theirs.

LOL. Actually, the burden is on you, not me or anyone else, to provide the compelling arguments. You haven't offered any compelling arguments at all. Did you see them live? If Mao's skating skills were superior, why did the PCS numbers not reflect it for the vast majority of their career? Can you cite any commentary from experts of the time? (Or even experts of today?) I've offered supporting details in these areas, and you have just offered your opinion, no actual supporting detail at all, and it's counter to the perception and the results of the time. You don't even acknowledge the criticism / praise that was said at the time, so perhaps you're not familiar with it. If you don't know why Takahiko Kozuka's father's opinion is credible and honestly carries more weight than my opinion, yours, or anyone else's on GoldenSkate/Youtube/Twitter, I recommend looking him up and finding out exactly what he said in 2010. But the way you dismiss that and everything else makes me doubt that you are even open to any perspective that disagrees with your own.

Look, I am a huge Michelle Kwan fan and I think she has superpowers of her own. I greatly relished the Yu-Na and Mao rivalry and am familiar with many, many details of it. I am all for honest exploration and discussion, and happy to share what I learned from being a fan of the time -- a fan who sought to educate themselves on the strengths and weaknesses of all skaters, and appreciate what they all brought to the table. So while this discussion is obviously not going anywhere, for those who are curious and open-minded, I encourage them to do their own research. I'm happy to share facts and my perspective as a Yu-Na fan and a skating fan of multiple decades, and I do my best to offer a sincerely honest argument with supporting details.