Who will get the GOLD?? Yuna Kim, Marai Nagasu, Caroline Zhang..or..??

[paulmpianist]

Well this is quite hard to predict. I like all three of these skaters.. Yuna Kim, Marai Nagasu and Caroline Zhang. Things can change a lot in a year and I might get whacked for picking these three to top the podium, but they're probably a pretty good bet.

Yuna Kim looks pretty good. Mirai Nagasu looks pretty absent and Caroline Zhang, I guess I'm a bit ignorant as to why she hasn't been too visible lately.

There are always big risks about picking favorites. In 1994 all the talk was about Kerrigan and Harding 1-2 for USA and then Oksana Baiul came out of nowhere to take it away.

If I was going to pick one today.. I think it would have to be Yuna Kim. But I think they are all winners. This sport is so beautiful. I think all three are winners because they are so gracious. Its more important.


I wish I could get some music in there.
I remixed their programs with some compositions of mine.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A91rBoe7GCw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYwEDY85jJM


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07FWM5Ar0VE

I've been around some rinks where it seems like someone put a witch pill in the water.

[montanarose]

I'll resist the opportunity to get into a discussion with you as to the relative merits of Zhang and Nagasu vis-a-vis other skaters.

Having said that . . . do you also refer to male skaters as "boys?" And, what about all the other "girl" skaters -- who actually QUALIFIED for the World Championships this year :bow: -- such as Joannie Rochette, Rachel Flatt, Miki Ando, Mao Asada, and Elena Leonova? What are they, chopped liver? :lol:

I agree that Zhang and Nagasu have incredible talent and potential but, hey, they ain't soup yet! And please knock it off with the demeaning "girls" stuff, unless you also call Patrick Chan "boy." :roll:

Oh, by the way, this is NOT an appropriate topic for the On Ice Skaters forum; please consider re-posting it elsewhere. Thank you.

[paulmpianist]

Gosh Montana.... I had no idea it was demeaning to call one of those ... those....types of people the g-word. i'm really confused. I guess its hard to hide what an ugly person I am. I did say ooops however. So that should count for something. I actually work with lots of those types of people and I'm not sure what to call them anymore.
O and thanks for the gracious welcome. i'm new here. I didn't know it was demeaning to refer to those teenagers as girls. "knock it off."??? From the looks of your post... how am I supposed to know which food group they belong? This is all new to me.
Can i get you a nice bottle of Silver Spring water?

[TiggerTooSkates]

Gosh Montana.... I had no idea it was demeaning to call one of those ... those....types of people the g-word. i'm really confused. I guess its hard to hide what an ugly person I am. I did say ooops however. So that should count for something. I actually work with lots of those types of people and I'm not sure what to call them anymore.

I think what she meant is "girl skater" sounds a bit patronizing. I don't offend easily - you have to be going some to really offend me - and even I think it sounds a bit so. I certainly wouldn't call the Men's Junior Champion (Ross Miner, I think) a "boy skater" any more than I would call Rachael Flatt a "girl skater" (even though at his age, he's not a 'man', really).


While I'll agree they're not "women" (meaning - for most of them - in the adult sense of the word), "girl skater" (which I know isn't what you said) might be going a bit too far the other way. I do like the way they call it "ladies' skating", even if it's a little archaic.

Funny, though - it's "women's gymnastics" - a good chunk of the time anyway. Just realized that.

I know you meant nothing by it, and as I said, I am ANYTHING but PC.

And at 36, if I'm called a 'girl' within the right (or should I say wrong) context, unless the person is old enough to be my grandparent/parent, I admit I might be a bit offended.

But the fact is - at their age - I agree - they're girls. :)

[hanca]

I think you are being a bit harsh on her, Montanarose. Not everyone on the forum is a native speaker, and the language differences in every culture may make something sound patronising even without intending to.

Whereas I can see why "girls" may sound a bit weird for native speaker, in my language for example we don't call ladies figure skaters "ladies" (damy) but "women" (zeny). In other countries they may have different official name for this category.

Also, when I am in a group of women (now I mean generally, not skating related), in my country if I would need to address them informally, I would call them "girls" (no matter that they may be over 40 or any age actually.) For example at work, towards my coleagues- "hey girls". When addressing them formally (if I was a politicial and had some formal speech) it would by "Ladies and Gentlemen".

[Schmeck]

While I would love to see Zhang succeed, she needs to fix her horrible lutz and flip entrances and skate with a little more speed before she's Olympic podium material.

If only we could combine the best of Zhang and Flatt - Zhang's spins and spirals are to die for, Flatt has the jump consistency. To me, neither one has the total package (Flatt skates well, rather flat) and I think there's probably at least 5-6 skaters world wide who have a better potential to be on the podium next year than these two ladies.

Oh, BTW, when you look at the results, it's MEN and LADIES.

[icedancer2]

Yes skating has held on to the "Ladies" moniker - I like it - and I especially like it when they are not little teen-age girls, but rather "Ladies".

I think Kim Yuna will take it but Joannie and Allysa will not be far behind (at least in my book, these are ladies).

In US Figure Skating we drop the "girl" after Juvenile level - after that they are Men and Ladies. Period. Despite their ages.

icedancer2 - not particularly offended at ever being called a girl, wincing at the term "Ma'am" and prefering "Doctor" at that point.