3 months til the Winter Olympics: Part deux/2
I already updated my status on facebook regarding the fact that Sasha Cohen will not be competing this weekend in Lake Placid due to tendinitis. :-( I was so excited at the thought of her comeback in competitive figure skating. Plus she would've posed as a glimmering beam of hope for our Olympic ladies' team. Though she is still planning on competing in January at Nationals. I am just having the hardest time finding any other American female who could medal in February. And it's not that they aren't good, because they are! But the consistency in performances just is not there. What happened to our Kristy Yamaguchis and Tara Lipinskis? It's not even only our country with the problem, it's a universal issue. When the silver and bronze medalists both make like 4 or 5 major mistakes in their programs, but still wind up on the podium, this is not a good sign. Is it just me or has ladies' figure skating gone downhill through the years? Even during the last Olympics, I wasn't impressed with the standings. Arakawa was amazing and truly deserved gold. But neither Cohen or Slutskaya did very well. Sasha fell twice near the beginning of her program and still managed to snag the silver. Granted, she did come back with a vengeance, but don't even get me started on the fact that with this new judging system you can throw in a bunch of extra jumps after the halfway point for bonus points. Extra credit in skating? Blargh... :-P Whatever happened to being judged on your overall performance?
Nevertheless, we will be sending two skaters to Vancouver in February. Even though I don't think that she did well at the last Olympics, Sasha is still one of my favorite skaters and I would love to see her given another chance. Which will depend upon the speed of her recovery, so I'm not gonna get my hops up too much in an effort to keep them from being dashed. Alissa Czisny is a favorite for the team. I honestly don't think she can pull it off. She's had some shining moments in the past and really skates beautifully, but has choked more often than she's succeeded. The 2008 Nationals brought 3 wonderful young skaters: Mirai Nagasu, Rachael Flatt and Ashley Wagner. Since then, their biggest issue has been consistency. For Mirai, her struggle has been her sense of rebellion and the fact that she has grown several inches in the last year. I can't imagine being her, having performed so spectacularly almost two years ago and then having to adjust to a longer body. She will be at Skate Canada and I'm looking forward to seeing if she brings it there. The other potential for the team is Caroline Zhang, though again, same issue as the rest. Alexe Gilles is an up-and-comer who I don't think is in the running for these Olympics, but is someone to look out for in the years to come. I really enjoyed her skating the other night! If Sasha does not end up being one of the two, I would love to see any combination of Mirai, Rachael and Ashley. If I HAD to pick two, it would be Sasha Cohen and Mirai Nagasu.
Now if we're talking who's gonna win the gold, hands down, Kim Yu-Na from South Korea. She is beyond amazing. First female to get more than 200 on the new system and I don't think she's scored any less since then. Kim is in a league of her own right now. When she won gold, she was 36 points ahead of silver medalist, Miki Ando. Normally there is roughly only a 15 point span between the 1st and 5th place, but not when Kim competes. She slams the door shut. So basically, there will be no real competition for the gold. The silver and bronze medal winners will probably have more of a fight. I'm expecting an Asian persuasion invasion and for the standings to potentially just echo Nagano: Kim Yu-Na, Miki Ando and Mao Asada. But that may change. In actuality, Miki and Mao's performances this past weekend were not all that great even though they made it onto the podium. There were several major flubs made by both. This being said, that may leave room for someone else to creep into the running. Elena Leonova from Russia has been doing pretty well and I'm already a fan of Canada's Joannie Rochette. Unfortunately, I do not foresee any of our U.S. ladies medaling. :-( Except for maybe Sasha... *keeping fingers crossed and praying*
Nevertheless, we will be sending two skaters to Vancouver in February. Even though I don't think that she did well at the last Olympics, Sasha is still one of my favorite skaters and I would love to see her given another chance. Which will depend upon the speed of her recovery, so I'm not gonna get my hops up too much in an effort to keep them from being dashed. Alissa Czisny is a favorite for the team. I honestly don't think she can pull it off. She's had some shining moments in the past and really skates beautifully, but has choked more often than she's succeeded. The 2008 Nationals brought 3 wonderful young skaters: Mirai Nagasu, Rachael Flatt and Ashley Wagner. Since then, their biggest issue has been consistency. For Mirai, her struggle has been her sense of rebellion and the fact that she has grown several inches in the last year. I can't imagine being her, having performed so spectacularly almost two years ago and then having to adjust to a longer body. She will be at Skate Canada and I'm looking forward to seeing if she brings it there. The other potential for the team is Caroline Zhang, though again, same issue as the rest. Alexe Gilles is an up-and-comer who I don't think is in the running for these Olympics, but is someone to look out for in the years to come. I really enjoyed her skating the other night! If Sasha does not end up being one of the two, I would love to see any combination of Mirai, Rachael and Ashley. If I HAD to pick two, it would be Sasha Cohen and Mirai Nagasu.
Now if we're talking who's gonna win the gold, hands down, Kim Yu-Na from South Korea. She is beyond amazing. First female to get more than 200 on the new system and I don't think she's scored any less since then. Kim is in a league of her own right now. When she won gold, she was 36 points ahead of silver medalist, Miki Ando. Normally there is roughly only a 15 point span between the 1st and 5th place, but not when Kim competes. She slams the door shut. So basically, there will be no real competition for the gold. The silver and bronze medal winners will probably have more of a fight. I'm expecting an Asian persuasion invasion and for the standings to potentially just echo Nagano: Kim Yu-Na, Miki Ando and Mao Asada. But that may change. In actuality, Miki and Mao's performances this past weekend were not all that great even though they made it onto the podium. There were several major flubs made by both. This being said, that may leave room for someone else to creep into the running. Elena Leonova from Russia has been doing pretty well and I'm already a fan of Canada's Joannie Rochette. Unfortunately, I do not foresee any of our U.S. ladies medaling. :-( Except for maybe Sasha... *keeping fingers crossed and praying*
posted by LaDonna @ 5:05 PM
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