2008-2009 World Ladies Long ** Spoilers **

[MQSeries]

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Mao: Fall on the second 3A :( I was rooting for her to do well. I'm suprised she didn't have a 3lz or 3sal in her LP. Need to include that next year for the points.


Miki: Wow, what a powerhouse. Program much better than the Giselle earlier in the season. I think Morozov could still do so much more for her choreography-wise. Nice performance for her.

Holly Crap - Mao is most likely off the podium :(

[MQSeries]

Yu Na: Such gorgeous jumps. Deserving of this year's World title. I do wish the final SLF could have flow and flew down the ice more to match the music. She striked the same ending pose that Michelle did in her Schez program. Hah!


MK: Nice to see her commentating. I think she would look better in a sportcaster jacket and white blouse. The evening dress looked kind of out of place standing next to Bob Costas and Dick Button.

1. Yu Na 207.71
2. Rochette
3. Ando
4. Asada

I wasn't that impressed with Rochette's performance.

[MQSeries]

Koster: Poor thing. Wonder if she was injured. I haven't seen anyone with such a meltdown performance since Latitae Hubert- the human zamboni - in LilliHammer.


5. Flatt
11. Czisney

Only two spots for U.S. women at Vancouver. Very odd to have the current U.S. woman champion not make the U.S. TV coverage.

[Schmeck]

Kim and Flatt both got no credit for last spin - invalid element on judges' scores - why?

[MQSeries]

In Flatt's case, the last spin had to be a change foot spin to receive credit.

[waittoskate]

Miki Ando seemed so tight between jumps and just wondered if she might be hiding an injury?

[dbny]

Yeah, without counting points, I would have put Ando ahead of Rochette. Rochette just does not inspire me. A bit wooden.

[doubletoe]

Kim and Flatt both got no credit for last spin - invalid element on judges' scores - why?

In the Senior freeskate, the skater must do (1) a spin with no change of position (change of foot optional), (2) a spin with a flying entry and (3) a spin with a change of position (change of foot optional). Each spin can only fulfill one of the three requirements; no spin can do double duty.

YuNa Kim did a flying sitspin, a combination spin with no change of foot, and a combination spin with a change of foot. Since the flying sitspin could satisfy either the single position spin or the flying spin requirement but not both, one of her combination spins needed to be either a flying spin or a spin with no change of position. Since her final spin was neither of those, it received no credit.
It's a bummer, since that was the one worth the most points (and getting credit for it would have put her over the 210 mark!). It's just ridiculous that at that level nobody checked to make sure the spin fulfilled the balanced program requirements. Earlier in the season, she was using a flying entrance for her combination spin with no change of foot, so she was fine. No idea why she changed it.

Rachael Flatt did the exact same thing. She did a flying camel, a combination spin with no change of foot, and a combination spin with change of foot. The final spin got no credit since it was neither a flying spin nor a solo position spin.

Yeah, without counting points, I would have put Ando ahead of Rochette. Rochette just does not inspire me. A bit wooden.

8O?! Maybe you'd feel differently if you saw her skate in person. Miki Ando did a great job, but having watched both of them in practice all week and watching them from the first row at Worlds yesterday, I have to say Joannie Rochette was absolutely brilliant! My respect and admiration for the quality of her skating has gone from great to huge.

BTW, yes, Miki Ando has an injury to one of the muscles in her left thigh. She had it wrapped.

[Isk8NYC]

Watched the ones that didn't make the airwaves at universal sports this morning.

Candice Didier (France) took some fall - that's going to hurt for days. She took a few minutes, then picked up the program where she left off. Bravo!

[Artemis]

Yeah, without counting points, I would have put Ando ahead of Rochette. Rochette just does not inspire me. A bit wooden.

Joannie was a little bit tighter than usual, but still well deserving of her placement. And BTW, Ando did actually place higher in the LP, it was Rochette's lead after the short that kept her in the silver medal position.

I'm so thrilled for Yu-Na. She's my ideal of a perfect skater, and I could watch her all day. I love the explosive power of Mao's jumps too, but as a complete package I think Yu-Na has a slight edge. I was so happy to see it all come together for her after a couple of injury-plagued seasons. And so happy for Brian! Seeing him sitting besider her in the kiss&cry and the interview afterward, he looked like a proud papa.

I'm also thrilled for Joannie. Although she's been really on for most of the season I thought there was still a good chance nerves would get the better of her. And they did to a small degree, she didn't have the flow on the landing of her jumps like she usually does, but it was still a great showing.

Roll on Vancouver!

(BTW, I was down at the venue yesterday, and I'm excited already.)

[dbny]

8O?! Maybe you'd feel differently if you saw her skate in person.

That's entirely possible. I was never a fan of Todd Eldredge for much the same reason, until I saw him live in SOI one year. Then he wow'ed my socks off.

[doubletoe]

Watched the ones that didn't make the airwaves at universal sports this morning.

Candice Didier (France) took some fall - that's going to hurt for days. She took a few minutes, then picked up the program where she left off. Bravo!

Poor Candice had a terrible day from the start. I don't know why, but she was crying as she got off the practice ice that morning. And of course it was a terrible fall she had in the LP, hitting the boards and injuring some area right around her right hip bone. She fell again on a jump later in the program and grabbed the same place in pain as she got up. As soon as the program was over, she doubled over in pain again. Poor girl! We all gave her a big standing ovation when she finished.

[Isk8NYC]

From what I saw on TV, it looked like she also hit her shoulder and head on the wall. I couldn't believe that the cameras zoomed in while she was showing her coaches the sore hip. She had pulled the dress bottom, way, way up. The camera crew deserves a swat on the back of the head for trying to zoom in on that area. Someone must have realized it and told them to cut it out. Hopefully, they packed her with ice quickly after the scores.

I was so proud that the audience gave her such cheers for returning and even just the camel spin she started out with. I think that was a great display of sportsmanship. You all deserve some applause of your own.

Sounds like you had a great time, doubletoe.

[Skittl1321]

From what I saw on TV, it looked like she also hit her shoulder and head on the wall. I couldn't believe that the cameras zoomed in while she was showing her coaches the sore hip. She had pulled the dress bottom, way, way up. The camera crew deserves a swat on the back of the head for trying to zoom in on that area. Someone must have realized it and told them to cut it out. Hopefully, they packed her with ice quickly after the scores.

I was so proud that the audience gave her such cheers for returning and even just the camel spin she started out with. I think that was a great display of sportsmanship. You all deserve some applause of your own.

Sounds like you had a great time, doubletoe.

On the Universal Sports feed when they were zooming into her while she was lifting her dress up you hear a cheer in the background. Those who were there say that the crowd was chanting "turn off the cameras" that cheer is when the feed turned off from the jumbotron. Unfortunate they didn't leave her alone for the internet feed. Her coaches did do a good job of blocking the cameras.

I can't believe she went out back out there. That was a horrible crash into the boards, the way her head crumpled into her. I had no idea there was a 3-minute injury timeout rule. Do you just pick the program back up where you were? It was hard to tell, since her music played for quite awhile before she began to skate again.

[Artemis]

I had no idea there was a 3-minute injury timeout rule. Do you just pick the program back up where you were? It was hard to tell, since her music played for quite awhile before she began to skate again.

I think the skater gets to choose whether they start the program from the beginning or from the point of the fall.injury, but I'm not 100% about that.

It applies to equipment malfunction too. Remember Tonya Harding's broken boot lace? Only in that instance they bent over backward to show that they weren't descriminating against her ... and actually made the next skater skate, then Tonya came back after her. Which threw the next skater (Josée Choinard) for a loop and screwed up her timing. :frus: I don't think they'd allow that these days.

Anyway ... I'm always amazed when skaters take a big hit and get back up. Don't tell me it's a sport for wimps!

Another amazing one I saw this season was Craig Buntin & Meghan Duhamel. During a move her blade cut his hand, quite badly. They had a time out while he was bandaged, then picked up and kept on going. The toughtest thing, they said afterward, is that Meghan gets queasy at the sight of blood, so they had to keep her occupied while they attended to Craig. And it was not a minor cut -- it must have been terribly painful every time he lifted her. And there was blood on her dress at the end.

[thumbyskates]

Do you just pick the program back up where you were?

Yes, they start playing the music from wherever the coach or skater tells them to, and technically they could start skating whenever the wanted, but they will be judged from the point of the fall (ie: everything up to the fall, including the fall, counts as is).

There is a three minute rule and had she gone over, she would have been disqualified.

[thumbyskates]

Looking at her report card it also appears that she received a 2.0 deduction for interruption "in excess". She didn't miss any elements, but did receive two invalid elements on her r.c. for repeating (ie: Zayak rule).