2013 Grand Prix Circuit

I think that we can be very satisfied, because:
1) she has the same GPs that she had in her first full senior year (as you said earlier) with the same beautiful SP that she performed perfectly there;
2) she can win all the possible GP gold medals if she wins SA;
3) she can easily beat all of her competitors.
The only ones that could pass her, if they skate perfectly and she makes mistakes are: at SA Radionova, Liza and Ashley (maybe Wagner could beat Mao even if she skates well because of the home crowd factor, remember Czisny 2011); at NHK Suzuki, Radionova and Gold... Well, she HAS to skate well, if she wants to win, she can't afford to do something like 2011 NHK SP or 2011 CoR FS, even her 2012 CoC FS could not be enough to beat an early-peaking Ashley at home... Actually, looking at her scores during this last GP season, she has to skate better than she did last year... Anyway, good luck Mao!

Mao2012 wrote:

I think that we can be very satisfied, because:
1) she has the same GPs that she had in her first full senior year (as you said earlier) with the same beautiful SP that she performed perfectly there;
2) she can win all the possible GP gold medals if she wins SA;
3) she can easily beat all of her competitors.
The only ones that could pass her, if they skate perfectly and she makes mistakes are: at SA Radionova, Liza and Ashley (maybe Wagner could beat Mao even if she skates well because of the home crowd factor, remember Czisny 2011); at NHK Suzuki, Radionova and Gold... Well, she HAS to skate well, if she wants to win, she can't afford to do something like 2011 NHK SP or 2011 CoR FS, even her 2012 CoC FS could not be enough to beat an early-peaking Ashley at home... Actually, looking at her scores during this last GP season, she has to skate better than she did last year... Anyway, good luck Mao!

I'm not so sure about easily beating others. Mao is a slow starter (but then again, the most important competitions are in the second half of the season), so she can't make many mistakes. Ashley is for sure to get a PCS boost at "Scam America", and Akiko usually skates great at NHK. IMO, I think Mao has gotten the hardest GP's.

The thing is, we all know Mao is capable of cleanly skating her programs, after all she's proven that in official practices times and times again, it's at the actual competition that she has problems with UR's and poping jumps. So here is to Mao conquering her nerves, stop thinking too much about 3A and just go for it, and bringing that confidence and fierceness that she occasionally showed us last season, to competitions.

Radionova's jumps deteriorated a bit at Jr. Worlds. She isn't jumping very high and her landings can be wild, plus, she is all legs and who knows what puberty will do to her jumps. However she is immensely likable, super-charismatic, you just want her to do well, but I don't think she'll be a factor next season. She won't have the PCS(and truth to be told, her skating can be a little bit awkward at times ,which is perfectly normal for her age).
Ashley was sick at TEB, she was not afraid of Julia. She was amazing at her GP events because she knew she can win if clean. However, when things started to get "messy"(she knew she needed more than to skate clean in order to win) she started to make mistakes(like the GPF). Skating in front of her home crowd will give her an advantage, she likes competing and will probably beat a vulnerable Mao.
I am so frustrated with all the Liza bashing, people consistently picking on her weight (I must be crazy because I seem to be the only one who thinks she is very petite. She is packaged in a wrong way and doesn't have a very definite waist line, but how can anyone think she has a weight problem is beyond my understanding). I want her to out-jump the heck out of everyone except Mao and win the silver medal. Throw a gorgeous 3Lz-3T and a 2A-3T, I would be so happy, especially since the US champion can't even do a fully rotated 2A-3T
I want Yuna to make some mistakes(not many) so we can at least imagine there will be a fight for the gold in Sochi. Imagine Caro, Yuna and Mao winning their GP events with comparable scores heading to GPF. If these 3 ladies make the podium at Sochi, we would have the most talented poidum at Olys, ever.(I mean overall)

Lady_in_black wrote:

Ashley was sick at TEB, she was not afraid of Julia. She was amazing at her GP events because she knew she can win if clean. However, when things started to get "messy"(she knew she needed more than to skate clean in order to win) she started to make mistakes(like the GPF). Skating in front of her home crowd will give her an advantage, she likes competing and will probably beat a vulnerable Mao.

To me, she looked very tense in the SP it felt like she knew she has to be perfect to beat Yulia. After all Yulia was thought to be the next great thing, so no surprise that no 3-3 Ashley with avarage spins was a bit wary of her. This is just how I saw things, since I don't know Ashley I could've just imagined it all.

IMO, IF Mao skates with minimum mistakes, in fair judging Ashley shouldn't have beaten her, but it is SA, so who knows...

Lady_in_black wrote:

I am so frustrated with all the Liza bashing, people consistently picking on her weight (I must be crazy because I seem to be the only one who thinks she is very petite. She is packaged in a wrong way and doesn't have a very definite waist line, but how can anyone think she has a weight problem is beyond my understanding). I want her to out-jump the heck out of everyone except Mao and win the silver medal. Throw a gorgeous 3Lz-3T and a 2A-3T, I would be so happy, especially since the US champion can't even do a fully rotated 2A-3T
I want Yuna to make some mistakes(not many) so we can at least imagine there will be a fight for the gold in Sochi. Imagine Caro, Yuna and Mao winning their GP events with comparable scores heading to GPF. If these 3 ladies make the podium at Sochi, we would have the most talented poidum at Olys, ever.(I mean overall)

Tell me about it! Reading posts on other forums, you would think that for those people you have to be anorexic to be considered normal. I completely agree, her costumes couldn't be more wrong for her body type. She doesn't have a defined waist line so the costumes she's been given make her look bigger and the all black (costume + tights) isn't helping either.
Her technique is insanely text book, but the judges are lowballing her on PCS, so I do see a scenario where she beats Ashley on TES but gets 58 in PCS and can't beat Ashley's (overscored) 66+.

I know Yuna is THE FAVOURITE for Sochi gold, but imagine that Mao actually manages to have the skate of her life in both SP and LP, do you still see Yuna winning? I mean no offense, but Mao's skate of her life consists of at least one 3A, 3-3 and probably 2A-3T, while Yuna has one 3-3 and I'm not sure if she still has 2A-3T. ISU would have a very hard time explaining Yuna's win in this scenario. Of course this entire scenario is built upon Mao actually producing two skates of her life. I hope though, that she will.

hmmm... No Alissa in the GP list. Do you think they'd give that SA TBA spot to her if she's ready?

zarinaballerina wrote:

I know Yuna is THE FAVOURITE for Sochi gold, but imagine that Mao actually manages to have the skate of her life in both SP and LP, do you still see Yuna winning? I mean no offense, but Mao's skate of her life consists of at least one 3A, 3-3 and probably 2A-3T, while Yuna has one 3-3 and I'm not sure if she still has 2A-3T. ISU would have a very hard time explaining Yuna's win in this scenario. Of course this entire scenario is built upon Mao actually producing two skates of her life. I hope though, that she will.

I feel that the judges would have given Mao the gold had she skated well at 2013 worlds. Had she landed the 3A and rotated the 3F in the LP she would have beaten Yuna by some margin at least in the SP. And well, she would have been, probably, closer in PCS in the LP and with a clean skate she would have won. But after Yuna once again won with 10000000000000000+ points difference and with the constant line "The Queen is back" I don't see Mao winning. Only if she is 100% clean with 8 triples (to make up for the deficit in PCS).
It would be a miracle to get the 3F-3L ratified. Even if she lands everything in the LP, she'll most likely get an "<" to her 3F-3L and and "e" to her lutz. So 2 jumping passes with negative GOE are almost a certainty. The 3A is a wild card, she might get more consistent with it by Sochi time but we don't know. However she tends to fully rotate it nowadays but messes up the landing. Her 2A-3T was marked as Ur even when it was fully rotated(like 4CC). Her 3S is hit or miss(double it) and she still didn't land 3 clean 3F in one competition. So the idea or her skating completely clean, with no "<" or "e" is simply impossible. On the other hand Yuna can do 6 clean triples in the LP, two of them being 3Lz which can get her over 10 points in GOE. Yuna can still do 2A-3T but she won't do it because the rules don't allow her to do three 2A in the LP and since she can't do a 3Loop, well, she chose the easy road, replaced it with 3S-2T.(if she did both 3Lz-3T and 2A-3T, she would repeat both 3Lz and 3T in the Lp and she would have no jump to fill as a 7th jumping pass). So she does a single 2A and a 2A-2T-2L combo only.
I don't want to sound negative, I am being realistic. The fact that she is going to throw everything in and fight with all her strength for that gold medal already makes her a champion in my book. Unfortunately COP is not her friend. Under the 6.0 era she would have been even more successful.

Lady_in_black wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

I know Yuna is THE FAVOURITE for Sochi gold, but imagine that Mao actually manages to have the skate of her life in both SP and LP, do you still see Yuna winning? I mean no offense, but Mao's skate of her life consists of at least one 3A, 3-3 and probably 2A-3T, while Yuna has one 3-3 and I'm not sure if she still has 2A-3T. ISU would have a very hard time explaining Yuna's win in this scenario. Of course this entire scenario is built upon Mao actually producing two skates of her life. I hope though, that she will.

I feel that the judges would have given Mao the gold had she skated well at 2013 worlds. Had she landed the 3A and rotated the 3F in the LP she would have beaten Yuna by some margin at least in the SP. And well, she would have been, probably, closer in PCS in the LP and with a clean skate she would have won. But after Yuna once again won with 10000000000000000+ points difference and with the constant line "The Queen is back" I don't see Mao winning. Only if she is 100% clean with 8 triples (to make up for the deficit in PCS).
It would be a miracle to get the 3F-3L ratified. Even if she lands everything in the LP, she'll most likely get an "<" to her 3F-3L and and "e" to her lutz. So 2 jumping passes with negative GOE are almost a certainty. The 3A is a wild card, she might get more consistent with it by Sochi time but we don't know. However she tends to fully rotate it nowadays but messes up the landing. Her 2A-3T was marked as Ur even when it was fully rotated(like 4CC). Her 3S is hit or miss(double it) and she still didn't land 3 clean 3F in one competition. So the idea or her skating completely clean, with no "<" or "e" is simply impossible. On the other hand Yuna can do 6 clean triples in the LP, two of them being 3Lz which can get her over 10 points in GOE. Yuna can still do 2A-3T but she won't do it because the rules don't allow her to do three 2A in the LP and since she can't do a 3Loop, well, she chose the easy road, replaced it with 3S-2T.(if she did both 3Lz-3T and 2A-3T, she would repeat both 3Lz and 3T in the Lp and she would have no jump to fill as a 7th jumping pass). So she does a single 2A and a 2A-2T-2L combo only.
I don't want to sound negative, I am being realistic. The fact that she is going to throw everything in and fight with all her strength for that gold medal already makes her a champion in my book. Unfortunately COP is not her friend. Under the 6.0 era she would have been even more successful.

( )

Lady_in_black wrote:

zarinaballerina wrote:

I know Yuna is THE FAVOURITE for Sochi gold, but imagine that Mao actually manages to have the skate of her life in both SP and LP, do you still see Yuna winning? I mean no offense, but Mao's skate of her life consists of at least one 3A, 3-3 and probably 2A-3T, while Yuna has one 3-3 and I'm not sure if she still has 2A-3T. ISU would have a very hard time explaining Yuna's win in this scenario. Of course this entire scenario is built upon Mao actually producing two skates of her life. I hope though, that she will.

I feel that the judges would have given Mao the gold had she skated well at 2013 worlds. Had she landed the 3A and rotated the 3F in the LP she would have beaten Yuna by some margin at least in the SP. And well, she would have been, probably, closer in PCS in the LP and with a clean skate she would have won. But after Yuna once again won with 10000000000000000+ points difference and with the constant line "The Queen is back" I don't see Mao winning. Only if she is 100% clean with 8 triples (to make up for the deficit in PCS).
It would be a miracle to get the 3F-3L ratified. Even if she lands everything in the LP, she'll most likely get an "<" to her 3F-3L and and "e" to her lutz. So 2 jumping passes with negative GOE are almost a certainty. The 3A is a wild card, she might get more consistent with it by Sochi time but we don't know. However she tends to fully rotate it nowadays but messes up the landing. Her 2A-3T was marked as Ur even when it was fully rotated(like 4CC). Her 3S is hit or miss(double it) and she still didn't land 3 clean 3F in one competition. So the idea or her skating completely clean, with no "<" or "e" is simply impossible. On the other hand Yuna can do 6 clean triples in the LP, two of them being 3Lz which can get her over 10 points in GOE. Yuna can still do 2A-3T but she won't do it because the rules don't allow her to do three 2A in the LP and since she can't do a 3Loop, well, she chose the easy road, replaced it with 3S-2T.(if she did both 3Lz-3T and 2A-3T, she would repeat both 3Lz and 3T in the Lp and she would have no jump to fill as a 7th jumping pass). So she does a single 2A and a 2A-2T-2L combo only.
I don't want to sound negative, I am being realistic. The fact that she is going to throw everything in and fight with all her strength for that gold medal already makes her a champion in my book. Unfortunately COP is not her friend. Under the 6.0 era she would have been even more successful.

The problem is that difficulty is simply not rewarded under COP, all the risk barely pay of even when it's succeeded. it's all about reputation, when one has a reputation of being clean, even if they don't always deliever the jumps with the same quality in every competition the grade of execution doesn't get lower, simply due to the reputation the skater has, just like the presentation score normally doesn't get lower.

The problem with Kim's layout is, with only one triple combination 3lz-3t and with only 6 total triples, and her keeping the "safer" spins, and with content in step sequence that's just enough to get the needed levels, there just isn't much room for mistakes

-she doesn't attempt the kind of tripple jump she is uncomfortable with
-she doesn't include another 3-3 combination she is uncomfortable with,
-she usually doesn't include new spins

The only risk Kim takes in her layout is the 3lz-3t, and she has attempted that combination for soo long that it has become quite solid. it's a safe and rewarding strategy that's greatly paid of for her. no wonder she keeps the same layout.

Lady_in_black wrote:

I don't want to sound negative, I am being realistic. The fact that she is going to throw everything in and fight with all her strength for that gold medal already makes her a champion in my book. Unfortunately COP is not her friend. Under the 6.0 era she would have been even more successful.

I couldn't agree more, though I still hope that somehow Mao is going to pull off a miracle in Sochi. If anyone can do it, it's her.

ballerinamao wrote:

The problem is that difficulty is simply not rewarded under COP, all the risk barely pay of even when it's succeeded. it's all about reputation, when one has a reputation of being clean, even if they don't always deliever the jumps with the same quality in every competition the grade of execution doesn't get lower, simply due to the reputation the skater has, just like the presentation score normally doesn't get lower.

The problem with Kim's layout is, with only one triple combination 3lz-3t and with only 6 total triples, and her keeping the "safer" spins, and with content in step sequence that's just enough to get the needed levels, there just isn't much room for mistakes

-she doesn't attempt the kind of tripple jump she is uncomfortable with
-she doesn't include another 3-3 combination she is uncomfortable with,
-she usually doesn't include new spins

The only risk Kim takes in her layout is the 3lz-3t, and she has attempted that combination for soo long that it has become quite solid. it's a safe and rewarding strategy that's greatly paid of for her. no wonder she keeps the same layout.

And this is what annoys the heck out of me. There should've been an area of scoring for including difficult elements. Like you said, of course you'll have a better chance at going squeaky clean when skating to a program with much easier technical content, than those who go for all the triples (except 3A) or like Mao, who's trying to pull off a program with 8 triples in it!
I'm not saying that skating mistakes free shouldn't be rewarded, it should, but so should going for a harder more risky elements. IMO of course.

Seriously, I'm starting to really hate CoP. You can fall 3 times or more and still win the world title, you're trying to break a new record and don't get rewarded for it, when skaters skate easier programs than the juniors, they get rewarded for it... I'm sorry, but this judging system is a big joke.

Quote :

And this is what annoys the heck out of me. There should've been an area of scoring for including difficult elements. Like you said, of course you'll have a better chance at going squeaky clean when skating to a program with much easier technical content, than those who go for all the triples (except 3A) or like Mao, who's trying to pull off a program with 8 triples in it!
I'm not saying that skating mistakes free shouldn't be rewarded, it should, but so should going for a harder more risky elements. IMO of course.

Seriously, I'm starting to really hate CoP. You can fall 3 times or more and still win the world title, you're trying to break a new record and don't get rewarded for it, when skaters skate easier programs than the juniors, they get rewarded for it... I'm sorry, but this judging system is a big joke.

a big joke may be the right way to describe it, COP really has many places that should be adjusted, and to me the whole presentation score could be changed for the better, maybe give an explanation to why some skater receive more in some part in PCS then others would also help, I still try to find logic in the PCS carolina and kim got at Worlds and it's just a puzzle that's unsolvable. a big part of the judging is just to subjective and leaves it up to the individual judge to judge it, and when they do, no explanation is given no specific criteria is pointed.

how can the judges disregard it when a skater falls several times and still reward the same skater with the highest or second highest PCS (like with Carolina). I remember in JO when Mao fell her PCS dropped significantly, and that just proves how the judges overlook or punish according to what they feel like, the same mistake, both times committed by top skaters but different judging/treatment.

All I have to say is when I watch Mao's step sequence I think step sequence, when I watch most of the other skaters it just looks like a few transitions thrown together with some strange pauses, upper body movement and faces. How her SS are so low I will never understand ever.

Having said that, Lena <33333 Remember that interview where she said Japan and France are her favourite places and that she really wants to talk to Mao

And Liza IS tiny, this is from my Days Plus Magazine:

But Yuna's jumps usually has a very good quality. And she can consistently do them, she was pristine perfect at practices and Worlds. She combines both the technical aspect very well(lie Carolina also does), has decent spins, good steps and very good jumps. She is very good on PCS, maybe not as good as her marks reflected but she is good. However, even if she was the rightful winner in 2013 Worlds, the point difference should have been lower. I ca't believe she was 5 points higher than Mao and 3 points higher than Caro. You can make an argument that Caro splat on her last jump, fine, take out some points on PE/EX, but Yuna's LP, as a choreographic piece, is inferior to both Caro and Mao. Mao comes alive in the second half of the performance, she flies across the ice, the music is rising, her steps are to die for and the finale is breathtaking. Caro flirts with the audience from the beginning of the program and you could say she is a Canadian based on the audience reaction and support. Once again, the steps highlight every nuance of the music, it's uncanny how good they are. Yuna goes on robot mood and takes the cake with the highest score on both Choreography and Interpretation. Yuna rightfully won the Transition mark but Mao should have beaten Caro on this.(she didn't, she lost every single PCS category to both Yuna and Caro because she tanked the SP. It was clear the judges gave her one chance and she kinda blew it. I had a glimmer of hope when I saw Yuna's SP score that they are saving the best for Mao or Caro and they are ready to crown a new Queen).
So because of the stupid scoring at Worlds, she goes into this season with a PCS deficit to Yuna and Caro. This is a certainty.
As for GOE, Yuna got 16.51 in GOE. If she deserves huge GOE on jumps, her GOE on spins, spiral and steps should be lower. She got 1.4 on steps which were good. But Mao got only 1.5 and Caro 1.9. All 3 got level 4. So on paper Mao Yuna anc Caro where almost equally good on steps. Ridiculous
Caro got 10.59 on GOE. The jumps she landed were good but her spins are mediocre. And she completely blew 2 jumping passes, otherwise she would be on par with Yuna on GOE
Mao got 3.66 on GOE. Her only visible errors where the 3A and the 3F. For the rest of the performance she didn't put a foot wrong, at least not visible.Her base value was the highest from the entire competition despite the lack of 3-3. Let's say she did the 3A cleanly, add 2.14(assuming the GOE for the 3A was 0) and she would have done the 3F-3L, with an "<", like it would have realistically happen. So instead of 3F<, if she did 3F-3L, I'll add the points she got at 4CC(8.5 she got there, -3F< she did at worlds, her score would improve by 6 points). I will take away the value of the 2L she did in the combo with 3L at worlds, because if she did the 3F-3L, she would have done a single 3Loop after, so -1.8 ). I'll leave the rest of the score alone. So if Mao went clean(as clean as she can), her TES score at worlds would 72.56. Total score: 140.97. Still 7 points behind Yuna and Yuna still won on TES and PCS. That's what I hate about COP, that it can actually justify in a twisted way why an 8 triple performance can mathematically score lower than a 6 triples performance

Lady_in_black, you are spot on. I don't think there's anyone who's doubting Yuna's win at Worlds 2013 (even the haters can't dispute that) however there are plenty of us who disagree with both GOE and (higher than in Vancouver 2010) PCS.

I really, really hope that Mao will be pristine clean in Sochi, just to see all hell breaking loose when she'll probably still loose to Yuna. if she'll manage to pull this miracle off, there isn't a soul in the ISU who could justify not giving Mao the gold. Though honestly, I refuse to give up hope of Mao actually winning olympic gold medal. Like I said, if anyone can pull this miracle off, it's certainly our Mao.
So go Mao, dont worry about anything and just go on the ice and kick major butt!

zarinaballerina wrote:

Lady_in_black, you are spot on. I don't think there's anyone who's doubting Yuna's win at Worlds 2013 (even the haters can't dispute that) however there are plenty of us who disagree with both GOE and (higher than in Vancouver 2010) PCS.

I really, really hope that Mao will be pristine clean in Sochi, just to see all hell breaking loose when she'll probably still loose to Yuna. if she'll manage to pull this miracle off, there isn't a soul in the ISU who could justify not giving Mao the gold. Though honestly, I refuse to give up hope of Mao actually winning olympic gold medal. Like I said, if anyone can pull this miracle off, it's certainly our Mao.
So go Mao, dont worry about anything and just go on the ice and kick major butt!

That's what I do too!
Although all of your facts are totally right and realistic, Lady_in_black, I'm hoping and almost trusting Mao to be epic in Sochi...
Just remember 2009/10 season. She was totally down in the Grand Prixs, no one had her in the mix for Olympic gold or even a medal. But she is our comeback queen and she's a fighter! She rotated all her 3A's there (which also no one expected!) and she was only 2 seconds of deficiency in concentration away - well not from being Olympic champion 'cause Yuna had that in her bag already - but from being near the gold! She won't let that happen again!!
I expect Mao to be foot perfect in Sochi (then it's up to the judges! If they want Yuna to win they can call "<"s and "e" where they want to and "nobody" will question it at first because Mao is known for her not perfect technique!) and I totally believe in her and her team although her season debut may not be perfect...!

I already know that I will cry at Sochi because when Mao wins there'll be tears of joy for this incredible girl for what she achieved throughout her career and for her dream and if she becomes 2nd, 3rd or lower I'll obviously cry too..! Someone like Mao just should be Olympic champion once in her career!!!

Btw, I also reaaally dislike the fact that the Olympic team event is before the single competition!! Who planed that!?!?
I imagined that skaters who didn't win gold/a medal at the actual competition would have a chance to give it all once again in the team event to have at least one Olympic medal... But like this.. they don't know whether they splash their energies if they do well in the team event! But goo Team Japan!
And gooooo Mao of course! I know you're working harder than ever!!


Sorry, I still have some problems to express my feelings into words in english.. I only have my poor German school english to build on...!

josling wrote:

Btw, I also reaaally dislike the fact that the Olympic team event is before the single competition!! Who planed that!?!?
I imagined that skaters who didn't win gold/a medal at the actual competition would have a chance to give it all once again in the team event to have at least one Olympic medal... But like this.. they don't know whether they splash their energies if they do well in the team event! But goo Team Japan!
And gooooo Mao of course! I know you're working harder than ever!!

I remember reading somewhere in GSF or FSF that this arrangement was a result of demand from US media: they want to hold the "long tradition" that figure skating events in Oly has been ended with ladies' FS...most likely for the sake of viewers' rating ...(funny! they don't even broadcast all the figure skating events live anyway... )

If Yuna wins Sochi 2014 (which I pray to GOD my darling Mao will have something to say about that), she'll become the first woman to defend her olympic title and win multiple olympic titles since Katarina Witt (hahahahah at her 1988 Olympic win.. oh figure skating.... sometimes I just wanna give up on you and your utter corruption).

And then, Yuna (Who) will be venerated even higher and called "the greatest figure skater of all time" not only by Korean media, but also by the @#$%*!% US and Canadian media, who will shove that down everyone's !@#$%^& throats (like they did at 2013 worlds with the whole "the Queen is back!" cr*p... Gosh.. did the Koreans break into the NBC studio or something? Seriously.... the whole ladies competition was just about "the Queen is back!" "the Queen is back!"... and not paying ANY attention to the fact that Mao was coming into the competition undefeated and resurging like a glorious phoenix from a bad season last year). And while everyone worships Yuna, Mao will be forgotten.. AGAIN... and that AIN'T RIGHT.

And then the Olympic team competition. American figure skating fans already believe they'll win the Olympic team competition at Sochi next year. Even Evan "no quad" Lysacek is returning back to competition mainly so he can get back on the US Team so he can win another Olympic gold medal (from the Team competition).. that's how confident they are. Well I want Team Japan to beat Team USA SO BAD - not only because I want to see the reaction on their faces when they're beaten - but also because Mao, Akiko, Daisuke, Nobunari and Miki or Kanako (depends who's getting on the team) are retiring after next season and it will be the perfect way to say bye to these Japanese stars who have made Japan a powerful force in world figure skating.

I say it is possible. Team Japan beat Team USA at the 2012 WTT. Of course every member of the team will have to turn in their best performance, but the key will be Narumi Takahashi and her new partner Ryuichi Kihara. I'm worried about them because their first season will be THE Olympic season and the judges don't know them yet. Not to mention Kihara has never even COMPETED in a pairs competition. Oh dear....

josling wrote:

That's what I do too!
Although all of your facts are totally right and realistic, Lady_in_black, I'm hoping and almost trusting Mao to be epic in Sochi...
Just remember 2009/10 season. She was totally down in the Grand Prixs, no one had her in the mix for Olympic gold or even a medal. But she is our comeback queen and she's a fighter! She rotated all her 3A's there (which also no one expected!) and she was only 2 seconds of deficiency in concentration away - well not from being Olympic champion 'cause Yuna had that in her bag already - but from being near the gold! She won't let that happen again!!
I expect Mao to be foot perfect in Sochi (then it's up to the judges! If they want Yuna to win they can call "<"s and "e" where they want to and "nobody" will question it at first because Mao is known for her not perfect technique!) and I totally believe in her and her team although her season debut may not be perfect...!

Of course I remember Vancouver . 2009 Rostelecom Cup was one of the most saddest competition I can remember, people completely wrote her off after that. And at Vancouver, after Yuna's perfect skate, she went on to nail two 3A perfectly, I actually thought she is going to do it and her mistakes at the end were almost silly and totally out of character, so she could have been perfect in Vancouver with just a little bit more luck. That is what I love about her, I see in her something I always wished I have: confidence and strength. I mean, come on, I would have left the arena after Yuna's 150 score. Maybe she didn't knew the score but she new Yuna nailed it from the audience reaction. I always tear up when I see her behind Yuna(when she went off ice), just a glimpse of her, we all knew it was over, everyone knew it but her. She believed in her chance and fought until the end. And she is doing the same thing now, even we as fans know Sochi gold is very unlikely (though we all hope deep down it will happen) but she doesn't see it this way. She believes she can do it. I wish I had at least 5% of her determination and confidence. It still cracks me up her interview after 2007 Worlds SP, when she was far behind top 3 and she said something like "I am going to land a 3A tomorrow and win". And she almost did it.

ilovethai wrote:

And then, Yuna (Who) will be venerated even higher and called "the greatest figure skater of all time" not only by Korean media, but also by the @#$%*!% US and Canadian media, who will shove that down everyone's !@#$%^& throats (like they did at 2013 worlds with the whole "the Queen is back!" cr*p... Gosh.. did the Koreans break into the NBC studio or something? Seriously.... the whole ladies competition was just about "the Queen is back!" "the Queen is back!"... and not paying ANY attention to the fact that Mao was coming into the competition undefeated and resurging like a glorious phoenix from a bad season last year). And while everyone worships Yuna, Mao will be forgotten.. AGAIN... and that AIN'T RIGHT.

Tell me about it! Yes she's amazing no one is disputing that, but also as a comentators who are suppose to be profesional and objective, give the credit where it's due, instead it was Yuna this, Yuna that. God I hope and pray that Mao is going to have an amazing comnpetition of epic prorportions in Sochi, just to see those American comentators, and canadians and also german shut the heck up!

ilovethai wrote:

I say it is possible. Team Japan beat Team USA at the 2012 WTT. Of course every member of the team will have to turn in their best performance, but the key will be Narumi Takahashi and her new partner Ryuichi Kihara. I'm worried about them because their first season will be THE Olympic season and the judges don't know them yet. Not to mention Kihara has never even COMPETED in a pairs competition. Oh dear....

To be honest I don't see team Japan winning, even getting a team medal will be hard. At Olympics there's a different competition format; one lady, one man, one ice dance and one pair, at WTT it's two ladies, two men and one ice dance and one pair per team. This is why team Japan can win at WTT but not at Olympics. They are very strong in singles, but only OK in ice dance and who knows if Narumi and her partner will even qualify for Sochi. I think the battle for the team gold is going to be between Canada, USA and Russia. They are equaly strong and weak. Though my bet is on team Russia/Canada.

Lady_in_black wrote:

Of course I remember Vancouver . 2009 Rostelecom Cup was one of the most saddest competition I can remember, people completely wrote her off after that. And at Vancouver, after Yuna's perfect skate, she went on to nail two 3A perfectly, I actually thought she is going to do it and her mistakes at the end were almost silly and totally out of character, so she could have been perfect in Vancouver with just a little bit more luck. That is what I love about her, I see in her something I always wished I have: confidence and strength. I mean, come on, I would have left the arena after Yuna's 150 score.

2009 GP was one of the saddest, even japanese fans had written her off not only for the gold medal but they also questioned whether she'll be able to qualify on the Olympic team.

Honestly, seeing the needed score to win being displayed before Mao took the ice for the Oly's free (155 ) was one of the most ridiculous things I've ever seen. I often wonder, had things been different and Mao was the one who went to Orser instead of Yuna, would she be overscored instead, and Yuna beeing in Mao's shoes?

I agree, Mao is one hell of a strong young woman. It's my biggest wish that her and her mother's dream will come true in Sochi.

^ Not to mention that rule where countries who are short one member for the team event may pull a skater from another country (so.... Yuna, Javi, and Denis are up for grabs)...... I don't like this rule, even though it gives skaters more chances to skate, it should be up to country's federation to encourage skating in their nation in hopes of having enough skaters to form a team, not the Olympic committee. I feel they are trying to accomplish too many goals with this event.

And it will be held before the individual skating events, what a stupid move. What if a skater gets injured or wears themselves out in this team event? Who would want to risk that?

helen91 wrote:

^ Not to mention that rule where countries who are short one member for the team event may pull a skater from another country (so.... Yuna, Javi, and Denis are up for grabs)...... I don't like this rule, even though it gives skaters more chances to skate, it should be up to country's federation to encourage skating in their nation in hopes of having enough skaters to form a team, not the Olympic committee. I feel they are trying to accomplish too many goals with this event.

And it will be held before the individual skating events, what a stupid move. What if a skater gets injured or wears themselves out in this team event? Who would want to risk that?

I've never heard of that rule before....

And I do agree with the fact that it would work better if the team event was after the individual events.

I read it on a forum so maybe it's not an official rule (I really hope it's not )

I honestly think it would work better if they did the team and individual events at the same time. What is to prevent them from just doing the regular schedule and, at the same time, add the points all up together for the team event? The Olympics are so team-oriented as it is, I don't see it as such a huge deal. All competitors have to qualify through individual, not team, merit anyway, so that's not a problem. Gah. I wish the IOC/ISU had brains.

helen91 wrote:

I read it on a forum so maybe it's not an official rule (I really hope it's not )

I dont think that rule is true because for an athlete to compete in the olympics they must be a citizen of the country they are competing for. For example, Yuna is a citizen of South Korea there for, Can Not compete for the Russian, American, Japanese, Italian, Canadian or French team in any event. Also, if that rule was true Narumi & Mervin would still be together.

I actually think having the team competition before the individual event may actually be better. Like in Gymnastics, the team event serves as a nice warm up to get used to the competitive atmosphear and iorn out the mistakes befor it really counts. If mao was to compete in the team event and japan just happen to win, it will give her a healthy boost of confidence going to compete for her individual event.

Asada_Rising wrote:

helen91 wrote:

I read it on a forum so maybe it's not an official rule (I really hope it's not )

I dont think that rule is true because for an athlete to compete in the olympics they must be a citizen of the country they are competing for. For example, Yuna is a citizen of South Korea there for, Can Not compete for the Russian, American, Japanese, Italian, Canadian or French team in any event. Also, if that rule was true Narumi & Mervin would still be together.

I thought that too but then they still wouldn't be able to compete for the ... individual pairs (does that even make sense?) event. Having said that, who's excited to see Mervin and Narumi's new partnerships? (I think Mervin and Natasha have the upper hand since both have pairs experience and although Natasha isn't as limber as Narumi, she's a jumper.)