Skate America 2012!

Dangerous_angelface, I agree with you, I dont believe that Mao let influence too much for someone, remember when everyone want she leave Tat, change her programs, her costumes, her 3 axel, etc, she always very polite did she wanted.

I am super happy for Taka, but poor Yuzuru, and yes his main problem looks is stamina, and may me nervous after that score in sp.

About the ladies I am surprised for Christina, before she was so boring, now she was wonderful, her 3t3t beautiful

polosatik wrote:

dangerous_angel_face wrote:

I just want to say one thing, even though we may be huge fans of Mao, we don't know her. We don't know what's going on in her life, what she's thinking, in which circumstances she is training. It's like Mao's weight loss around 2011 worlds, some people blamed Sato, some people blamed Weider, even though noone had a clue about how it happened. She could have completely lost appetite because of her mom's illness and the tsunami on top of that, but we had no idea about her mom's situation. And yet, some people passionately wanted to find a culprit.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, since we don't spend our days with Mao, we're very very far from having the full picture of her life. We can always say "it's because of x that Mao can't peak at the right time/ skate with more confidence", but the only people who know what's going on and what can/should be done about it are Mao and those around her.
(sorry if this was incoherent and rambling)

You're right Now she's shining and happy so I hope here bad days are over. Let's cheer for our girl together!

I basically agree, and I think her conditions are getting better and better in both public and private... As dangerous_angel_face says, we can only imagine or speculate who should be blamed for whatever happens to Mao, and that can surely be dangerous cause we'll never know if we're right or wrong.

However, I think everyone can't help worrying about what's best for her or not. So...I'm sorry, but as for Weider, I have no sympathy towards them being accused more or less for Mao's condition in the former seasons, because you can't deny that they're doing it to advertise their products afterall, thus it's very difficult for some of us to trust how much they really feel dedicated towards Mao. Plus it's their first time to support a figure skater as zarinaballerina has mentioned. On top of all this, I've actually seen the Weider team guy who was in charge of managing Mao's condition explain his methods on tv in which he said they're deliberately lowering Mao's condition beforehand in order to make her peak at Worlds. I'm no professional trainer like him, but listening to him terrified me and alot of other fans in Jpn, cause we never heard of a figure skater lowering their condition on purpose. But this trainer guy seemed so confident that it was necessary to do so, and they were already doing it when his interview was broadcasted. And as we had feared, this method of Weider's clearly didn't work out last season. So I hope you'd all understand why many of us are not that fond of the Weider team as we used to be when Mao was working with Tat. Btw, the trainer guy who was in charge last season is not the same trainer Mao was with when she first started training with Weider. This new guy...as far as I know, has not appeared in any of the Weider Mao training report programs after this lowering condition method interview. I do not know if he's still on the team.

But I agree that maybe Mao not doing so well in Worlds last season was because her mother was sick and had passed away in the end. I lost my mother this April and it took me quite a long time to get over it, although I'm much older than Mao, and my mother had lived much more longer than her's. So I know from experience how much tragedies like that can influence you. But the best way to overcome that sort of situation is to keep yourself busy, and I believe that's what Mao has been doing eversince. We got our hopes up too high cause she did quite well in Jpn Nats had a smile on her face and she seemed okay, but as Sato commented to the press then, she was definitely full of sorrow. In the first few months when someone dear to you passes away, it's so shocking you can't even believe it so you can't even cry properly. I'm just guessing here again, but I think Mao was in that sort of state during Jpn Nats. But after then, you star to acknowledge the real pain and sorrow...maybe that happened to Mao unfortunately around the time Worlds started. But after that kind of period, you start learning to let things go and just look back on the good times you've spent with the person you lost. And those memories can give you strength. I truely hope Mao has reached that stage now, as it seems she has.

And one last thing I want to say is, after seeing how better and better the young Russian girls or Ashley is becoming, at this point I can't help being worried about how Mao will be able to compete with them in Sochi. Even just watching the ladies SPs in SA made me real worried. Yuna coming back isn't much of an issue any more. Mao has so much more strong rivals now. Ashley's stability and confidence or Adelina's fantastic jumps are elements which Mao doesn't have at the moment. I think that's why some of us can't help thinking sometimes whether Mao is on the right track.

I will try to be open-minded and positive...but until I see how she does in GPS, it's gonna be pretty difficult for me not to worry.

ETA: chapis I thought Gao's SP was beautiful too!

I don't know how Weider worked for Mao but one thing I always thought a skater needs is a mental coach. I noticed that Morozov, Orser or Nagamitsu are not only skating coaches but they are also mental coaches. They spend time with their skaters outside the rink and try to check how they are mentally. I was surprised when I read Sato's interview after Mao's mom passed away that he and his wife, Mrs. Sato, had no idea that Mao's mom was very ill and wondered over a year why she wasn't showing up when her daughter was training. I am sure that Mao's not the one who will tell everybody 'hey my mom is sick and I feel very down' but I think it was up to Coach Sato and his team to check with if everything was well. I wonder if team Mao ever 'seriously' searched for the reasons of her weight loss. Weider said that her weight was OK even when Mao was at her lowest weight. Come on!!! she was really thin in the eyes of everbody.

I am not saying that Sato isn't a good coach but it just looks like he likes to keep his relationship with the skaters only on the ice. But when it comes to a top class skater, he/she need mental support outside the rink. I think Mao's mom used to do that role.

off the topic ...no...actually back to SA
just saw this on twitter...that was a cute moment~ yuruzu lean on Taka's back when taking pic
whatever happen there...they are friends and that is why i always root for team Japan

ddmm wrote:

I don't know how Weider worked for Mao but one thing I always thought a skater needs is a mental coach. I noticed that Morozov, Orser or Nagamitsu are not only skating coaches but they are also mental coaches. They spend time with their skaters outside the rink and try to check how they are mentally. I was surprised when I read Sato's interview after Mao's mom passed away that he and his wife, Mrs. Sato, had no idea that Mao's mom was very ill and wondered over a year why she wasn't showing up when her daughter was training. I am sure that Mao's not the one who will tell everybody 'hey my mom is sick and I feel very down' but I think it was up to Coach Sato and his team to check with if everything was well. I wonder if team Mao ever 'seriously' searched for the reasons of her weight loss. Weider said that her weight was OK even when Mao was at her lowest weight. Come on!!! she was really thin in the eyes of everbody.

I am not saying that Sato isn't a good coach but it just looks like he likes to keep his relationship with the skaters only on the ice. But when it comes to a top class skater, he/she need mental support outside the rink. I think Mao's mom used to do that role.

Had no idea Sato didn't know about Mao's mother being ill! Sato has so many pupils so maybe he just doesn't have the time to check on his skater's mental conditions, but I hope he'd do better on that from now on. ITA, that top skaters should have mental support. They've got lots of pressure on their shoulders for sure, so somebody needs to support them in that way. Maybe Mai can be that someone for Mao, but I'd prefer it if her coach can be the one instead. I think Nagakubo is like that to Akiko, and Morozov was probabaly a father figure for Miki.

shikure, thanks for the heart warming photo! Yuzuru always shows lots of respect for his senior skaters in interviews. They may be rivals on ice, but backstage he's probabaly like a little brother to everyone.

shikure wrote:

off the topic ...no...actually back to SA
just saw this on twitter...that was a cute moment~ yuruzu lean on Taka's back when taking pic
whatever happen there...they are friends and that is why i always root for team Japan

You can see that moment at 3:04

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OHEwcFsxePg#!

I'm one of them who bashed Weider team after Moscow Worlds. Actually, I didn't like that Mr. Makino from Weider was looking after her practice including jumps up until Vancouver. I didn't care much about her new Weider team before Moscow Worlds though, I think I blamed them for failing her peaking.

But it's not their fault nor Mr. Sato. How could an athlete supporting team work properly without knowing the athlete's situation? It may be a part of their responsibility to try to look into what's going on with her. But, if Mao wasn't willing to tell or trying to hide it, it would be very difficult for them to find out because she's an adult female athlete and people want to respect her privacy.

I knew Mr. Sato didn't know anything about her mom's illness when I read news articles on her tragedy. I can understand Mao didn't want to tell about her mother. She didn't want to get media attention and maybe her mom told her not to tell anyone. (I too think her mom's health was a part of reason why Mao came back to Japan leaving Raphael.) It might have been possible that Kumiko-sensei got much closer with Mao and detected her difficult situation. Yet, I think it's Mao who needed to tell and ask for help. Only if she trusted her team... I felt sorry for Mr. Sato too when I read an article that said he looked tiny and saddened when walking ahead of Mao in Narita Airport. He maybe sad for Mao & her family and sad that Mao didn't tell him anything.

I agree Mao needs a mental coach, ddmm. I also think Aoi has a point in her above post and it holds true to Taka too. Mr. Sato needs to lead them on to believing they are fabulous and exquisite skaters, which seems not happening. Well, I think humbleness and confidence can go together, best example is Dai. He's humble and sometimes too humble but on the ice he becomes a king with a lot of confidence and charismatic aura. Utako-sensei may have a secret on this. I would like to know it.

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

And one last thing I want to say is, after seeing how better and better the young Russian girls or Ashley is becoming, at this point I can't help being worried about how Mao will be able to compete with them in Sochi. Even just watching the ladies SPs in SA made me real worried. Yuna coming back isn't much of an issue any more. Mao has so much more strong rivals now. Ashley's stability and confidence or Adelina's fantastic jumps are elements which Mao doesn't have at the moment. I think that's why some of us can't help thinking sometimes whether Mao is on the right track.

I agree, however, I believe that Mao's confidence is slowly but surely coming back. i'm not surprised that she was cautious at JO, after the last two season that she had, and even while not skating very confident at JO, she started her season on a very good note, imo. Much, much better than in previous years. I think her lack of confidence is a result of the two bad years that she's had, and when she'll start skating good in competition her confidence will also be back.
I worry about Russian babies, or former babies, they will be a force to reckon with.

ddmm wrote:

I don't know how Weider worked for Mao but one thing I always thought a skater needs is a mental coach. I noticed that Morozov, Orser or Nagamitsu are not only skating coaches but they are also mental coaches. They spend time with their skaters outside the rink and try to check how they are mentally.

Yes, or maybe a sport psychologist, he/she could help as well. Maybe it's also a cultural thing, Mr. Sato is of old generation, so this might be a reason he's not being involved with skaters off ice. How is it looked upon in Japan if an athlete has a sport psychologist?

linglang wrote:

But it's not their fault nor Mr. Sato. How could an athlete supporting team work properly without knowing the athlete's situation? It may be a part of their responsibility to try to look into what's going on with her. But, if Mao wasn't willing to tell or trying to hide it, it would be very difficult for them to find out because she's an adult female athlete and people want to respect her privacy.

(I too think her mom's health was a part of reason why Mao came back to Japan leaving Raphael.)

Mr. Sato needs to lead them on to believing they are fabulous and exquisite skaters, which seems not happening. Well, I think humbleness and confidence can go together, best example is Dai. He's humble and sometimes too humble but on the ice he becomes a king with a lot of confidence and charismatic aura. Utako-sensei may have a secret on this. I would like to know it.

I agree, that in order to give Mao the best they should know what's going on, but I also understand why she didn't tell anyone. It's so private and also very painful.
i was just thinking today, that the whole situation with her mom also sheds light on why she cried so hard at Oly's after her LP. I think she wanted to win the gold for her mom.

I so wish she could work with Rafael again even if it's only part time. And yes, mr. Sato and the rest of her team for that matter should be telling her 24/7 that she's the best freaking skater in the world.

@shikure thanx for the pic. i watched the medal ceremony on eurosport, they were adorable! this is why I love team Japan so much. there is a true comradeship.

zarinaballerina wrote:

PochinkoPotanko wrote:

And one last thing I want to say is, after seeing how better and better the young Russian girls or Ashley is becoming, at this point I can't help being worried about how Mao will be able to compete with them in Sochi. Even just watching the ladies SPs in SA made me real worried. Yuna coming back isn't much of an issue any more. Mao has so much more strong rivals now. Ashley's stability and confidence or Adelina's fantastic jumps are elements which Mao doesn't have at the moment. I think that's why some of us can't help thinking sometimes whether Mao is on the right track.

I agree, however, I believe that Mao's confidence is slowly but surely coming back. i'm not surprised that she was cautious at JO, after the last two season that she had, and even while not skating very confident at JO, she started her season on a very good note, imo. Much, much better than in previous years. I think her lack of confidence is a result of the two bad years that she's had, and when she'll start skating good in competition her confidence will also be back.
I worry about Russian babies, or former babies, they will be a force to reckon with.

ddmm wrote:

I don't know how Weider worked for Mao but one thing I always thought a skater needs is a mental coach. I noticed that Morozov, Orser or Nagamitsu are not only skating coaches but they are also mental coaches. They spend time with their skaters outside the rink and try to check how they are mentally.

Yes, or maybe a sport psychologist, he/she could help as well. Maybe it's also a cultural thing, Mr. Sato is of old generation, so this might be a reason he's not being involved with skaters off ice. How is it looked upon in Japan if an athlete has a sport psychologist?

linglang wrote:

But it's not their fault nor Mr. Sato. How could an athlete supporting team work properly without knowing the athlete's situation? It may be a part of their responsibility to try to look into what's going on with her. But, if Mao wasn't willing to tell or trying to hide it, it would be very difficult for them to find out because she's an adult female athlete and people want to respect her privacy.

(I too think her mom's health was a part of reason why Mao came back to Japan leaving Raphael.)

Mr. Sato needs to lead them on to believing they are fabulous and exquisite skaters, which seems not happening. Well, I think humbleness and confidence can go together, best example is Dai. He's humble and sometimes too humble but on the ice he becomes a king with a lot of confidence and charismatic aura. Utako-sensei may have a secret on this. I would like to know it.

I agree, that in order to give Mao the best they should know what's going on, but I also understand why she didn't tell anyone. It's so private and also very painful.
i was just thinking today, that the whole situation with her mom also sheds light on why she cried so hard at Oly's after her LP. I think she wanted to win the gold for her mom.

I so wish she could work with Rafael again even if it's only part time. And yes, mr. Sato and the rest of her team for that matter should be telling her 24/7 that she's the best freaking skater in the world.

@shikure thanx for the pic. i watched the medal ceremony on eurosport, they were adorable! this is why I love team Japan so much. there is a true comradeship.

I think that althought it's not as common as in the US , having a sport psychologist is becoming more and more common. Here's an article that was published after Worlds 2012 where they are suggesting that Mao should maybe have a sport psychologist. It also says that Sato's daughter Yuka also had one in the US when she was a skater herself and it really turned out well.
http://right-left.tea-nifty.com/blog/2012/04/2012201242-ff64.html
Sorry, the article is in Japanese.

Yes, now that we know about Mao's mom's situation at that time, it explains many of Mao's reactions and decisions at that time. It's very sad but on the other hand, reminds me how BRAVE Mao is! I wouldn't be able to be on ice if I were her.

About the medal ceremony, I like when Yuzu takes to the podium. He has this unsual for a Japanese skater's way to salute the audience and then when skating towards the podium, he makes a turn.... I remember he did the same thing at Worlds and PatChan was laughing with Daisuke Yuzu is not a shy man.

Ken Himura wrote:

OMG Yuzuru was incredible in his SP, his jumps are amazing, obviously he has to work to in PC's and stamina... He, Plushi and Taka are my favorite male skaters, this season will be amazing

By the way, watching Yuzu's jumps I can't avoid to think why Mao doesn't go to Orser, I don't care if he was the coach of YNK, the most important is Mao's dream come reality. Maybe he can help Mao to gets back her 3A and 3-3 in a easier way, and at the same time it become easier to win in Sochi. Don't punch me guys, please, I just saying what i feel, I really want that Mao achieves her goals.

I love Swan Lake, actually I think everybody (except "haters") love it, JO video have over 450 000 repoductions, and it increase each day. I think Mao has more speed in general now and best skating skills, spins, etc., I know this is thanks to Mr. Sato, and artistically she is marvelous, I can't describe properly how I feel when I watch Swan Lake (I watch it at least once a day), she is a beautiful skater, do you remember what Morozombie said about "I Vow to Thee, My Country" last season...My concern is a about her jumps and power over ice, she needs to recover consistent and reputation, for that, she needs to skate clean, without under rotations, she needs to skate with confident and, the most important, she needs to win! This is an important season, this Worlds are very important, you know the "rule", "Who wins Worlds the season before Olympic season use to wins..." I know Shizuka was an exception, but she had an excellent jump technique. And now there are a lot or young girls with good jumps, Gracie Gold, Russian babies, and Yuna coming back, I remember to Yuna said
"Figure skating is a mental sport" and I think she is right

I'm sorry to have mentioned the posibility of Mao changing coach until see how she does this season, I just want Mao win gold medal at Sochi. For sure, no mater what happen this season or next season, I'm always cheer for Mao until she retire, I think her skating is a God bless, I think skating is not only about jumps, it's about beauty and no one can skate more beautiful than Mao

guys ashley won skate america with 127 point, gao surprised with an incredible freeskate and got silver and adelina got bronze

Gao was awesome! Harvard sure does her good.

Personally i think Ashley's score is a bit too high, though Nicki Slater completely agreed with the judges. She was great tonight and she deserved to win, but I would give her about 124 points.
Is it just me, or are her jumps, especially landings a bit weird?

Here's the protocol:
http://www.isuresults.com/results/gpusa2012/gpusa2012_Ladies_FS_Scores.pdf

I'm surprised Ashley only received -0.35 GOE for an "e" on lutz.

Now Mao, I hope you watched this, because this is what a confident performance will get you, a very high score. IMO, Mao can easily beat this, but she must skate with confidence. I can't wait until CoC to see swan lake again, though i'm watching it every day.

Ladies free program

Ashley:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9HX0_6U6L4&feature=plcp
Christina: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4zYkvTXj-I&feature=plcp
Adelina:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbMM26vOm5s&feature=plcp

you are not the only one who felt that way,ashleys landings where all very weird, i really wonder how she lands them this way, I also think that her landings on all the jumps is very similar to each other lol. i had to cringe when she did her choreography there was too much posing and too much theatre for me, the choreography content is kind of empty, and by the end of the performance i had sigh a couple of times when i saw the score. if you ask me there was a mile of difference between what gao put on the ice artistically. Gao's performance was soo moving and for me she was the highlight of this competition, so glad when i saw her score!

ballerinamao, I couldn't agree more! Posing was the first thing that came to mind when I watched Ashley's program. I'm eager to see how she'll get scored at TEB especially with Liza (hopefully healthy enough to put out some magic) and Yulia competing at the same event.
And OMG, Christina! It's like watching a completely different skater. She deserved higher PCS in both sp and lp, imo. Especially her short was stunning.

I kind of hope that haruka will be able to medal soon, she is soo elegant on the ice and also one off the few skaters i actually enjoyed watching at this competion. Gao's performance really surprised me, i think this girl is getting her nerves under control, she finally delievered fully to her potentiel. I think the standings are right, but ashleys choreography was garbage if you ask me, and i am still puzzled at her PCS, her scores have really increased a lot recently.

I wonder if we will be able to see a slow mo of ashleys jumps, because her landings really bother me, most of them look like a two foot to me, and underrotated too. I really don't want to sound too harsh but, this program reminds me alot of alenas with the one exception that alenas choreography and music somehow fit together, but the background music and the actual performance was really disconnected, the only thing that connect ashleys program with the music is her posing.

anyway I think this was a good competition, and it really reminded me how harsh figure skating is, when i saw flats score i really felt bad for her, thinking that it's only two years ago that she was the US-champion and now looking at her score and placement it's hard to believe she is the same skater from that time!

Wow, the jumps of Christina are so beautiful, are like of Carolina K. that is the only thing I like of her.
Adelina´s jumps are big, I want to see her competing with Yuna and the goes in jumps

And Ashley is super consistent, and I like her, but each time I watch her program I cant help to think in Joannie R.
Really good competition, I hope all season like that.

Wow, Gao was amazing! I loved her performance. Like someone said, it was like watching a new skater. Congrats for the silver!!
There's nothing I find appealing about Wagner's skating but she deserved to win (although not with that score), and I admire her consistency and confidence.
I'm in love with Haruka's sp (I love the movie Charade). I think she makes a good Audrey Hepburn, and I hope she'll skate it clean.

Christina! Wow! She looks rejuvenated. Love her SP and FS. Congrats on the Silver!

Adelina... how come you zayaked? Good to see you go for the 3Lz+3T, though. Hope she'll do better in her next competition.

Ashley... that's definitely better than your JO performance. Seems these kind of programs fit her well. She fought for some landings but the important thing is she landed them. Last season's black swan highlight was her spiral done to the beat of the music. I think this season it's gonna be her spins. She's on the upswing and each good performance or win is definitely improving her confidence and presence on the ice. She's going for her goals. Also, she got 63+ PCS for her JO debut. Now with a cleaner performance she got 65+.

Marlie -- I'm not into their FD yet. I really like the last part, though. Hopefully it grows on me.

-----

Regarding PCS, it seems this season (or rather in Skate America) you really need to do a clean performance. For those who are already gifted they, of course, start getting the high PCS immediately. But I think judges aren't hesitating to give them lower marks now, too, when they really don't do well. Those who do well also start to see their PCS marks improve. Of course it's gonna be an uphill battle for them but the important thing is they are getting rewarded.

It's gonna be interesting to see how the PCS thing goes in Skate Canada.

First at JO then SA, looks like they want the skaters to show they really want to win. Yuzuru did that in the SP and rewarded him for it. Ashley is showing the same thing starting from JO. Christina is looking on fire after a couple of dismal seasons. Adelina has to control her nerves. Taka is starting to deliver after his poor performances last season. Mao wants to win and I hope she'll show that winning form at CoC. A lot of other skaters are aiming for the top spot. This is the season to aim for it.

does anyone know why adelina's 3Lo-2T-2Lo was "invalid"?

I didn't watch Cristina Gao before, but to me she looks so similar to Yuna Kim, especially in her SP, her spins and spirals, her jumping technique, her corporal expression in general. Same coach/choreographer?

I don't like Ashley's FS, but she skated with confidence. I like Adelina in general, but I don't like her FS either.

I hope Mao skates very well at COC and wins, Swan Lake is the most beautiful program this season, she only needs to skate with confident, she is MAO ASADA!

princessinpink wrote:

does anyone know why adelina's 3Lo-2T-2Lo was "invalid"?

The skaters can do only 3 jumping combinations or seqiences, and they can repeat only 2 types of triples. When a triple is repeated, it must be in a combination or in a sequence. If it's not, it's marked as +SEQ, which means it's considered as a jumping sequence, it received 80% of its base value and it takes up one combo/seq slot.

Adelina was planning her second flip to be a part of 3F-2T-2L combo, but the landing on the flip wasn't good enough to tack on the rest of the jumps. Trying to save the points, she added 2T-2L to her loop... But because she already did 3Lz-3T, 2A-2T and 3F(SEQ) the whole combinations didn't count.

Ken Himura wrote:

I didn't watch Cristina Gao before, but to me she looks so similar to Yuna Kim, especially in her SP, her spins and spirals, her jumping technique, her corporal expression in general. Same coach/choreographer?

Not anymore, but she used to be with Brian Orser & David Wilson until recently. She really looked like a mini-Yuna back then (gestures, facial expressions, spins), even some of her costumes were quite similar to Yuna's. I actually thought she has started to develop her own style (in the SP at least, I haven't watched the LP yet) and kind of reminds me of Chen Lu now.

ETA: Actually, I just noticed she kept her Libertango LP, which was indeed choreographed by Wilson! Her SP was created by Mark Mitchell.


I haven't watched the competition yet, so I'll comment on the rest later.

Agree with most of you...though I'm quite fond of Ashley (know I'm minority here, but I've always thought she had potential to make top group so I'm happy she finally made it), Gao was definitely much better than her this time. I thought the only thing missing in her SP was a more difficult 3-3 combo, but other than that everthing was just divine. Had high hopes for her in FP, and she sure didn't disappont at all!

The quality of Gao's jumps are incredible. And the way she nailed all her jumps even in the latter half of her FP was amazing! She's so light and smooth so you might not get that kind of impression, but her stamina is also top level I think. She deserved more scores, but I'm quite sure the judges will start considering her more highly the next time she skates like this.

Here are some good quality vids with slo-mo of jumps in the end:
Gao https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGKAr_xSuWY
Ashley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHH8pd8228U
Adelina https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVMsLY7XZs
Haruka https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NUGl7JNZIk
Marchei https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QOWPEQ7R2ms

I think Ashley 'performed' well, but her jumping techs weren't all that good like you all say...esp in the latter half of her pro it got worser and worser. This was the problem she always had when she was a middle class skater; lack of stamina resulting in terribly bad skates in FPs. I thought she got over that problem last season becoming all muscular, but although not as bad as before, it's still cursing her.

Poor Adelina...she went for the most difficult jumps, and even after that fall she skated with all her might. Really admire her guts! All she needs is more experience.

I think Marchei chose the right music for her, but her FP seemed to lack content in my eyes...too much stoppings for posings in the first half, probabaly to keep her stamina till the end?

Aside from Gao, Haruka seemed to be the only one who didn't lose speed and stamina throughout her FP. I've always thought she's a real power skater than she actually seems. But she has to do something about those jumps...but I'm glad she didn't fall alot like she used to this time. Think that's a big progress for her.

Congrats to all the medalists! The best thing was that I think we've all witnessed a new future star being born in this competition...Gao rocks! I'm already a fan!

WOW. What a competition. Ang Christian Gao is a Harvard student?! O.O I think one of Gao's problems before was that she lacked the muscular power and that growth spurt modified her center of balance. Now that her body's developed, it's nice to see her improving and developing her own style instead of becoming a mini-Yuna. I hope she keeps this up (esp her lovely lovely air position and height) and breaks to the top 4 in the US Nationals. I'll miss her 'Yellow River' LP, though.

I'm late but... congratulations to all the medalists!

Yuzuru... please take care of yourself, or Winnie the Pooh will be after your blades!

May be Christina should to do a break in Harvard, We know what happened with Rachael, I mean the university wont move and she has real talent.