Four Continents (4CC) 2012 - Colorado Springs

CM of Mao
https://youtu.be/_C7P9tVqaec
CM of Dai
https://youtu.be/h4twCKtOb_4

ETA: overall
https://youtu.be/xGMR-e8BuYY

Jeremy withdraws from 4cc but looks like he will go there.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120203/SPORTS17/120203053

I am so excited! Hi shikure!

i am sooooooooo excitet i can't even decribe how excitet i am!

I'm so excited!

GO TEAM JAPAN, especially MAO!

I can't wait! I hope Mao is ready to show the world what she's made off and who is going to be the one to beat at Worlds!

I just had a thought about Alissa not being asked by USFSA for 4CC... Her last 2 events were far from stellar and I actually think they just made a very smart decision. They're hoping she can rest a little while also avoiding pitching her against two of her main rivals (Mao and Akiko) before Worlds. If Alissa went to 4CC and skated like she did at GPF and Nationals against these 2, obviously it would hurt her scores/reputation going into Worlds. By not going, she's still seen as a front runner because even though Ashley is the national champion, she doesn't really have much reputation to battle it out against the japanese girls. I'm hoping it will come in due time though, if Ashley can continue to skate with the kind of determination she showed this season. And please, someone, look at her jump landings!!! No more two-footing! Look at her protocols from Nationals... she had -GOE on almost every jumping pass. This ain't cutting it internationally.

Thank you, shikure Too bad about Jeremy, but it's better for him to rest and peak at worlds. And I wish him & his step-dad a healthy year- that must have been so scary for him and his family at nationals.

chiyori wrote:

If Alissa went to 4CC and skated like she did at GPF and Nationals against these 2, obviously it would hurt her scores/reputation going into Worlds.

I agree. I also think USFSA are caring for Alissa on a mental and emotional level. If she were to perform poorly at 4CC she might take it too hard. This way, she has time to regroup and prepare before worlds.

If Mao skates like she is capable of skating then I think she can easily win this event!

can't wait 4CC We definitely spent too much time without Mao!!

chiyori Akiko won't be at 4CC, the federation is sending Kanako instead

My first thought at hearing about Jeremy's withdrawal was that they are playing it safe (not letting Jeremy compete against Chan and Dai and probably getting crushed in the process), but then the news about his step dad came out... I hope everything will turn out fine and that we'll see a great Jeremy in Nice.

skating_fanatic IMO, if Mao skates like she's capable, she wins every event.

I'm curious to see what kind of score Mao will get, if she skates clean. The scores Alissa and Caro have been receiving all season long , with a clean skate, Mao should break 200 points.

Hi, guys! It's been a while...again.

Has anyone found any news on Mao yet concerning 4CC? The competition is about to start in a day or two, but I can't seem to find anything in the Japanese press! Has she even arrived in Colorado Springs yet? And this situation is totally the same with Dai, and the other Japanese skaters entering 4CC...where is everybody now!?

Considering the altitude difference, they should all be there already in order to adjust to the oxygen concentration. I know that in Skate America 99' Yag was worried about skating in Colorado Springs, because he had never trained in a place with similar high altitude, but he was able to perform well because he was in very good condition himself. So I hope that would be the case with Mao and all the other skaters too, but I'm still worried that there's been no news of them arriving there or when they're planning to arrive there.

Plus I'm so disappointed Jeremy won't be there...hope he can make Nice though. But maybe in a way it's better he won't be competiting with Pattie before Worlds. Pattie trains in Colorado Springs, so of all the skaters, he should have no problem with the altitude thing, and I think that makes him one step ahead towards the middle of the podium this time compared to the others. And should he merit from this and his scores go waaaay high again, the judges might be biased that he is the 'one and only' who nobody can beat before Worlds. I don't dislike Pattie that much like I used to, but I do think that the judges are being too sweet on him.

Btw, does anybody know where I can see the competition live on the net?

hi pochi. *waves*

someone on GS has said that Jsport4 will carry it live, and CCTV 5 is supposed to, although the times for CCTV doesn't match up with actual time of events. fuji tv will carry and is accessible via keyhole, but supposedly not live.

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/showthread.php?36117-TV-coverage-of-4CCs&p=614001#post614001


if you'd like to have a look-see

hope all is well with you.

p.s. icenetwork in the u.s. and universal sports in the u.s. will also offer live online, but not free, and maybe not available outside the u.s.? someone in france was saying she hated paying full price and not getting anything but u.s. nationals, though, so maybe icenetwork is an option???

probably when the competition happens, people will post whatever link they can find for the rest of us.

I don't think any of european channel will broadcast 4CC so don't really get why we can't watch it on ISU channel :/ it's ridiculous.

Okay the lack of news is almost suspicious!! 0_0

I know they are keeping the media off - But shouldn't we at least know if they left or arrived?
I miss Mao and I really want her to skate flawlessly!

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

Has anyone found any news on Mao yet concerning 4CC? The competition is about to start in a day or two, but I can't seem to find anything in the Japanese press! Has she even arrived in Colorado Springs yet? And this situation is totally the same with Dai, and the other Japanese skaters entering 4CC...where is everybody now!?

Exactly why I came here to check up on updates. I'm happy that the media isn't bugging the skaters, but at the same time I want to know how Mao's doing!

I'm just guessing that we might get some news tomorrow evening or wednesday morning Japanese time. Mao leaving on last minute again...oh no..

i'm really worried about the fact that her leaving this late it, makes it alot harder to accustem herself...

ballerinamao, I agree with you. It's not just the time difference this time, but altitude difference as well.

I know she likes to come to competition as late as possible, but this time it would benefit her, if she'd come a bit sooner. (imo)

Does anyone know if Mao is planning on doing the triple flip-triple loop combination and/or the triple axel this week at Four Continents?

skating_fanatic wrote:

Does anyone know if Mao is planning on doing the triple flip-triple loop combination and/or the triple axel this week at Four Continents?

Here is the only article I've found so far on Mao and 4CC,

http://www.jiji.com/jc/zc?k=201202/2012020600754&rel=y&g=spo

and all it says here is that she has avoided her 3A for a while now, but during official practice at Nats, she had succeeded jumping them with quite a high rate, and she's been quoted saying then "Just a bit more, and I'll be able to jump them perfectly". The article has no recent quotes from Mao, it's just written in the sense that there's a chance she'll be going for a 3A in 4CC, because there aren't much strong rivals entering, and that it'll be the perfect chance for her to try it out to prepare it for Worlds. Btw, it says nothing about her 3-3 combo, nor when she'll be heading off to Colorado at all. This article is just written mostly on assumption and analysis, to raise our hopes for Mao at 4CC, so there's really no 'news' in it.

Btw, just found out that ISU sight has started a live streaming service for events ( http://livemanager.eurovision.edgesuite.net/isu/pay/index.html )...but you gotta pay! And I was willing to pay, but then I found out that this service is not available for residents in Japan!

Thank you Pochi

So we know for sure that the press doesn't bother Mao unnecessarily... I wish I could get to know something more, but probably we have to wait untill 4CC to see how Mao is doing

I don't know how about 3A, but it seems very possible she will try to do 3-3 combo, don't you think? If she does it in ex program, it looks like she feels very comfortable about it.

Icenetwork tweeted "Kanako Murakami is interviewed by Japanese TV at the Colorado Springs airport." If Mao was with Kanako at the airport, she surely would be interviewed too ... so she probably hasn't arrived yet ...

IIRC, Yaginuma-san said on a Japanese TV about 4CC several weeks ago that skating speed tends to increase at high altitude. I just hope Mao will be able to cope with differences caused by high altitudes. As many have mentioned above, I hoped Mao would have arrived the venue earlier this time. But, it seems it's not happening.

I hope Mao feels confident and comfortable with her jumps now. I'm ambivalent about 3A. I think 4CC is a good place to try it at competition before worlds, but I don't want her to run risks, not for winning or losing but for avoiding risk of injuries.

Guys I think you're overreacting. Mao has a professional team, who knows her health and her condition. So I'm sure they're doing the best for Mao and stop being crying babys, please

europeanfan wrote:

I don't know how about 3A, but it seems very possible she will try to do 3-3 combo, don't you think? If she does it in ex program, it looks like she feels very comfortable about it.

I have the opposite impression about what Mao will be doing in 4CC...cause Mao said that 'next time' she will include a 3A right after Nats. I was thrilled to see Mao do a 3-3 in her EX, but that sort of came out of the blue, so I'm not sure if she felt comfortable about doing it, or whether it was quite a challenge for her. And, although I wasn't able to notice it, some say it was URd. So maybe her 3-3 isn't completed yet...But I really have no idea which will come first; the 3A or the 3-3. It would be great if she completed both, but with the altitude problem and her mother passing away, it maybe too much of a burden for her to try both or even one of them at the moment.

But I'm sure she's aiming for a pro with at least one 3A and 3-3 in both SP and FP, combined even with her 2A-3 combo (it wasn't the other way around was it?), and single Lutz and Salcows so she'd be including all the jumps...for Sochi Olys!

I have a feeling she'll be jumping either a 3A or a 3-3 in 4CC, and I have the impression it'll be a 3A more than the latter. But I may be getting that impression just because the press keeps on asking her about her 3A and not so much about a 3-3. Still, they're both important, Mao knows it, so we'll probabaly be seeing her go for both in the near future.

polosatik wrote:

Guys I think you're overreacting. Mao has a professional team, who knows her health and her condition. So I'm sure they're doing the best for Mao and stop being crying babys, please

Okay, polosatik I'll take your advice and try not to worry. But just remember...it was those professional team people who overlooked Mao dropping weight too suddenly last season. I do not completely trust them, not just yet...

I also feel Mao will go for the 3A instead of the 3-3.
The 3-3 was UR and needs further readjustments, while the 3A (according to pratice vids during Nationals) seems ready...

But then again - the 3A is not just a jump which can be perfected with practice - It is a very difficult jump and if Mao is not ready yet...she might not go for it.
We all know the trend - She messes the 3A at the start and her jumps after that suffer...
Hopefully, she'll be able to bring back the 3A and add power to her 3-3 - The jumps were slow and weak - and she'll lose points for that...

Anyone knows the official practice hours?

MaoChan756 wrote:

.
We all know the trend - She messes the 3A at the start and her jumps after that suffer...

I don't think it works like that. She's mentally very strong (remember worlds in 2008? ). but sometimes she's just not ready to execute her jumps perfectly. I suppose it's case of condition, not mind (with one exception - 2011 worlds, but I also don't believe it was a fault of unsuccessful 3A).

Well... I don't know which jumps she wants to do, but even if she doesn't go for 3A or 3-3, I'll be happy to see her on the ice.
Nationals was a loooooooooooong time ago... I definitely miss her skating