US Figure Skating Championships 2012

shikure wrote:

https://youtu.be/MuQAoG0Cfyw the other version of D/W
https://youtu.be/ioKceCGk-ZA Shibutanis

finally! shibutanis' short dance is up.

shikure wrote:

https://youtu.be/MuQAoG0Cfyw the other version of D/W
https://youtu.be/ioKceCGk-ZA Shibutanis

Shibutanis look great. Looking forward in seeing them at worlds, though I don't think they are going to medal this year...

KariDebate wrote:

here is caroline's performance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5WjkUWP_ZA

WOW. That was a big technique change! I was really sad when she laid low these last few years, but I'm glad she's much better now. I agree with the commentator: no hammer on the 3F, but slightly UR on the 2nd 3L in the 3L-3L. I believe she needs to improve her axel technique [*reminds me of Christina Gao's axel technique*], she still has lot of work to do to get to the top level, but you know that feeling when a skater is relieved to have put a good performance after a good few months of hard work? I guess she got a taste of that... What else can I say? I salute her awesome edge control [Backward outside windmill into left foot lunge back in 07 SA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8K9WaZKbhJA], and spins. She did a camel-lay-over spin and brought the pearl (though not as extended as before) spin back at nationals this year. Her new coach [Peter Oppegard] seemed to have worked with her well, and maybe being Yuna Kim's training mate [they work with the same coach and at the same rink, right?] helped. In short... she's improved.

There is going to be an interesting free skate in the ladies and ice dance division. I'm excited!

^I agree. A week ago I never would've imagined that Caroline would outskate Mirai like back in her junior days. I know I'm going to be so nervous for her long program though, I really hope that she doesn't fall apart like at Skate America.

As for Mirai, I'm really starting to lose my last small shreds of hope. The good news for her is that she's better as the attacker coming from behind then she is as a defender, but the bad news is that her long program this year has so little attack in it

I'm actually happy that Agnes is in first, sure she isn't very graceful when compared to Alissa and she has some truly awful spinning positions, but when her jumps are on, they are ON and I think that brings some excitement to what would have otherwise been a predictable top five.

Poor Rachael. The judges have given her a loud and clear message and she will likely never make another world team again. I'm no particular fan of her skating but still it's a little sad to see someone fall so far down the ranks while still so young, but her time is passed.

I'm eager to see how Ashley's blackswan scores against Alissa's valse triste...

well i have never been a fan of rachel either but i just dont understand why so many people think she is finished, i mean she is still really young and could still make alot of changes.. and she compared to others doesn't fall three times in the same program... I find it really shocking when people call a skater doomed when the skater still has the jumps and spins! i could understand it the other way around!

OMG Maia and Alex's SD is awesome!! I don't know if they have more speed or if it's just more cleverly put together than the previous version, but their enthusiasm really shines through. You can tell they just love it! Did Maia grow a little again? I went back to their Worlds programs last season and I thought she was up to Alex's chin/mouth area... Now she looks closer to his eyes. Anyway, love the purple dress, the speed and the toe-pick latin dance sequence. Alex looks dashing in his skin tight shirt too!

I'm very happy to see Agnes pulling it together for the SP. Hope she can deliver just as good in the free. Would love to finally have a US champion with JUMPS! Big, in your face, textbook perfect JUMPS. Her lutz really is to die for. And I don't feel her spin position are awful at all, ElleluvsL... she spins a bit on the slow side but she's taller and looks like she has a bigger build than most other skaters so that's logical. Of course, she's no Alissa, but who else is... I like her layback. The 2nd position is a bit awkward (air cutter with bent knee... I hate bent knees on laybacks!!) and might not be Alissa/Mirai level, but it's fine. Her camel looks a bit weird because her quad muscles are really developped. She would be better off with a regular camel, with upper body facing the ice or forward instead of a layover because her line is awkward ... but I've seen much worse. And I feel like her I-spin is a beauty, leg held close to the body with pointed foot and all, compared to most skaters whose legs are so freaking long they have to flex the foot in order to pull the leg closer and it looks more like an uneven triangle than an I.

And I'm thrilled for Caroline!! I couldn't believe my eyes when I went on GS for the scores. 60+!!! Wow! How good that must feel for her... I hope she can deliver in the free as well and show everyone just what commitment, perseverance and hard work is all about. Go Caroline!!

I'm very disappointed for Mirai. She looks like an empty shell of what she used to be out there. No spunk, no speed, no fun... I hope changes are coming for her, because obviously, something isn't right.

And Alissa gets saved by her spins again. Good for her, though I still feel she should be behind Ashley (not really a fan of her but her SP is a lot of fun and she's really worked on her presentation... She's not storming down the ice through hurried, sloppy jumps and spins anymore). Alissa's SP (and FS) is mostly crossovers, long jump set up, graceful pose or arm movement, smile with your eyebrows up to your hairline, more crossovers, etc. Last year's programs were so much better...

JEREMY!!!! I can't stop watching his SP... There's no one in the world at the moment that can pull that kind of performance. It was simply awesome!! I hope he has a fantastic FS and kicks everyone's butt! His FS's a beauty

So, Davis and White won the FD with something ridiculous, like a 114, and the Shibutanis managed to get a 106. Internationally, I don't think their scores would have been quite that high, but it was still great to watch.

^ ITA

chiyori wrote:

And I don't feel her spin position are awful at all, ElleluvsL... she spins a bit on the slow side but she's taller and looks like she has a bigger build than most other skaters so that's logical. Of course, she's no Alissa, but who else is... I like her layback.

I guess it's the spins like this one 2:35 minutes into this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cQt5CpJ9U8
so exaggerated and unneccesary looking IMO, that color my perception of her spins. I guess I prefer classic Kwan era spins to newer variations but I still like her and her Rhapsody in Blue lp...

Anyways, I just watched the free dance. The shib sibs were alot of fun to watch and Maia is looking more grown-up than last year, they both are in fact

I had COMPLETELY forgotten that Tanith Belbin and Charlie White were dating, so when Andrea Joyce brought it up in an interview I was like WHAT and then "oh yeah, that's right..."

ElleluvsL wrote:

^ ITA

chiyori wrote:

And I don't feel her spin position are awful at all, ElleluvsL... she spins a bit on the slow side but she's taller and looks like she has a bigger build than most other skaters so that's logical. Of course, she's no Alissa, but who else is... I like her layback.

I guess it's the spins like this one 2:35 minutes into this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cQt5CpJ9U8
so exaggerated and unneccesary looking IMO, that color my perception of her spins. I guess I prefer classic Kwan era spins to newer variations but I still like her and her Rhapsody in Blue lp...

Anyways, I just watched the free dance. The shib sibs were alot of fun to watch and Maia is looking more grown-up than last year, they both are in fact

I had COMPLETELY forgotten that Tanith Belbin and Charlie White were dating, so when Andrea Joyce brought it up in an interview I was like WHAT and then "oh yeah, that's right..."

Aaww I can't see the vid... YT says it's blocked in my country I hate this stupid geoblocking on YT... What's the point?

Anyway, I don't know what that particular spin is, but I agree with you about Kwan-era spins. Of course, they were a lot easier overall, but I hate seeing skater put difficult positions they can't master in their programs because of points. I understand, but I hate it.

"Our" Armin sitting at 3rd after Short Program!

Quoting icenetwork... "A recent coaching change and move to Colorado Springs seems to be paying dividends for Armin Mahbanoozadeh, who skated a clean, crisp program to Led Zeppelin's "Kashmir" that included a brilliant triple flip-triple toe combination and triple Axel, as well as four Level 4 elements. He sits third with 80.66 points."

For those of you who weren't able to see it on NBC here is the great fluff piece they did on Ashley Wagner: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljW31Q5ltqI

Does anyone have a live stream for the free skate?

http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2012/68266/results.html

Yay for Ashley! 2012 US Champion! Held it together and did enough to put pressure on the following skaters, who proceeded to shoot themselves in the foot. I really hope Alissa can tighten up her landings and her 3Lz for Worlds because that was really messy. On every landing, even the somewhat clean ones, I was like "eeek!" After that performance, I was actually hoping for Agnes to beat her, but yeah... she's not really known for her consistency. I would actually have had her behind Zhang overall.

And I'm so excited for Caroline!!! What a major comeback! I hope they send her and Agnes to 4CC so that she can get some exposure again and measure herself up. I'm sure she would do very good. She looked very confident out there and even though I felt she was slower than in the SP, she wasn't as draggingly slow as before. That 2A still needs some work, but she nailed them both and her 3F is soooo much improved!

Can't wait for the men's free tomorrow!

http://www.ilive.to/view/24291/NBC you may try it for men event.
I just watched ladies' here.

shikure wrote:

http://www.ilive.to/view/24291/NBC you may try it for men event.
I just watched ladies' here.

Yep NBC broadcasts the men's free from 3PM EST tomorrow.

Hope you guys can watch it!

Thanks Jtsmith1 for the link for the Ashley fluff. It was very interesting to see that right before I watched the freeskate. I have to say, Ashley has really earned my respect and nomatter what happens in the years to come, she'll always have this moment to remember. Also it was so sweet to see her comforting Agnes after her flawed performance. It showed me a whole other side of her.
While I haven't always liked her attitude or things that she has said in the past, she's shown that she's not just about talk, she has the talent and focus to back it up. I have to admire that.

Mirai talks alot as well, saying that she's America's best hope for the future and all, but watching her long program almost made me want to cry for all the wrong reasons...but oddly enough I'm still holding on to hope that next year will be better and maybe being off the podium will knock some sense into her like it did for Ashley last year.

I wanted Alissa on the world team from the beginning, so that she could continue to silence her critics, so I'm pleased with her second place, although it looks like regaining a third world team spot for next year is going to be pretty unlikely...I hope I'm wrong though.

Speaking of being wrong, Rachael proved that there's still spunk left in there and maybe she's not over after all...good for her.

And I'm so glad that Caroline gets to stand on the podium on the fourth place spot, just like she did in her first nationals. It's like she's starting over again

Christina Gao made fifth for the third year in a row. I wonder when or if she'll break through...

Some vids were posted in this user's account: https://www.youtube.com/user/myintelssdrocks

Agnes Zawadski:
(SP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EDXes2wemQ
(FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz64xQgZeIQ

Ashley Wagner
(SP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ljW31Q5ltqI
(FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ci_dWZqZNzM

Alissa Czisny
(SP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1_F74oi8QI
(FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE7xY5UKZQM

Caroline Zhang
(SP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58POty8hbwg
(FS) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzUF_l0Qw50

Mirai Nagasu
(SP) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjDYkNu7rLk

Shibutanis
(SD) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-uSpl0fludU

Davis and Whites
(SD) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPbrMWctGRs
(FD) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMt6i58j--A


I want to see Jeremy, Adam and Armin's SP...

http://www.usfigureskating.org/Story.asp?id=47717&type=media
they have already announced the assignment for most of segments before men event finish

so happy for caroline to get an assignment, she really deserves it, after all the hard work she has doe, this will give her hope and probably make her feel like all the hard work was worth it...

ballerinamao wrote:

so happy for caroline to get an assignment, she really deserves it, after all the hard work she has doe, this will give her hope and probably make her feel like all the hard work was worth it...

agree with you and she even lose some weight. it's really hard to keep working so hard and manage to lose some weight at the same time.
hope she can be stable and keep improving those technique except spin--> she got all 3 from all judges for last spin:)

chiyori wrote:

http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2012/68266/results.html

Mirai is in 7th place?! What the heck happened? I hope she'll take this as a wake up call, and change her training situation, either go to Frank full time, or go to someone else.

though i'm not a fan of ashley (her bitchy attitude and her cheesy short program this year ) i'm glad she's going to have a slot for the world championships. i just don't trust mirai and rachael anymore.

well people keep talking about ashley's cheesy attude? what has she done or said to be cheezy?

zarinaballerina wrote:

chiyori wrote:

http://www.usfigureskating.org/leaderboard/results/2012/68266/results.html

Mirai is in 7th place?! What the heck happened? I hope she'll take this as a wake up call, and change her training situation, either go to Frank full time, or go to someone else.

I don't think she CAN work with him full-time. He has too many students. She should just switch to Arutunian and Baranova full-time and rent an apartment in Lake Arrowhead so that she isn't so tired all the time.

ballerinamao wrote:

so happy for caroline to get an assignment, she really deserves it, after all the hard work she has doe, this will give her hope and probably make her feel like all the hard work was worth it...

I agree, and I hope that she gets grand prix assignments again as well...and like shikure,I also noticed that she looks alot more fit this season, almost like she did when she first skated in senior nationals, you can tell she's really worked hard to get back in competitive form.


Why isn't Alissa going to 4cc though? According to icenetwork, she really wanted to compete there.