Michelle Kwan wins eighth US Figure Skating Championship

[joeybee12]

Figured there were too many damn football fans on here tonight!

Although I have to admit I am RELIEVED the Patriots won! Hate to go 0-2 tonight.

Anyway, Michelle was sensational.

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. She OWNS the Nationals

so why does she clam up at the Olympics? Someone get her a good sports psychologist.

[joeybee12]

2. I know--bad nerves there, but she is cool as ice at the nationals...

...as well as the World championships.

[Darth_Kitten]

20. We have skaters here who are AWESOME internationally.....

but somehow haven't been awesome at nationals. :shrug: I don't know......

[Karenina]

3. Anybody got pix?

?

[mouse7]

4. Is she continuing to train for the Olympics?

I thought she was retiring.

Excellent. I'd love to see her finally get that Gold.

Can you imagine being in training to stay at world class level for the number of years Kwan has? Wooooow.

[joeybee12]

5. Although she hasn't said she's definitely aiming for 2006, she has hinted

at it by saying things like she can't imagine NOT going.

Amazing competitor--never finished lower than second at the nationals--I think she has two silvers and eight gold.

[VelmaD]

8. Hate to be pedantic...

but Kwan finished lower than 2nd at her very first trip to senior Nationals back in 1993 when she was 12 or 13 years old. Every year since then she's won or been 2nd.

I'm kind of a skating nut and Michelle is my very favorite (I have every program she's ever done at Nationals or Worlds on tape) along with Alexei Yagudin. No one will ever be as good as her at US Nationals. Tonight was magic. Right up there with 1998.

[joeybee12]

16. Are you sure...I thought she was still in the juniors that year, and

the infamous 1994 she came in second, but didn't make the team because Nancy didn't skate, but they gave her a slot on the Olympics anyway.

Anyway, that's what I recall them always saying--never finishing lower than second.

[VelmaD]

25. I'm sure...

I have it on video tape. Just double checked at the USFSA website - in 1993 she came in 6th at Senior Nationals. She never even won Junior Nationals - she was 9th at Juniors in 1992. Wowee.

I also remember hearing the great story about her taking the Senior level test without Frank Carroll's knowledge and him being irked and working her like a dog so she wouldn't embarass herself at her first Senior Nationals.

[joeybee12]

31. Just read an article, and it said she medaled at 11 straight, so that

means 1994 was when the medals started--I must have heard the commentator wrong.

[nini]

6. I LOVE HER

I've been following her since she started skating at a local rink here in my home town. What a class act she is.

I'm so proud of her style and grace every time she takes the ice.

[Piperay]

13. Yup, I'm another

local (same town) who is very PROUD of her! :hi:

[Awsi Dooger]

7. Yeah, but I missed Sarah Hughes

She's put skating on hold, perhaps for good, and is now a freshman at Yale.

All the young gold medalists -- Oksana Baiul, Tara Lipinski and now Hughes -- bolt so early that it really makes you appreciate Michelle Kwan's longevity and class.

Sorry, I'll never believe in Sasha Cohen until she completes one major event without tumbling on her skinny ass.

Whoops, a reference to a skater gal's physique. Last year on the night of the US nationals I got ambushed by all the DU feminists after suggesting that figure skating was obviously terrific exercise for shaping feminine legs. After watching tonight, how right I was!

[VelmaD]

9. All those young gold medalists bolt...

because their bodies catch up to them. They can get away with crappy jump technique when they're young and teeny but eventually it catches up with them.

An example is Lipinski. She hasn't been able to do a triple jump any harder than a salchow in years while Kwan can still go out and do 2 triple lutzes in her long programs and nail them every time. The difference is Lipinski had awful technique and it eventually gave her serious hip problems. Kwan has proper technique so she's still doing the hard jumps and having no physical problems with them.

[Awsi Dooger]

10. I was sick when Lipinski beat Kwan in Nagano

There have been some references in this thread that Kwan chokes at the Olympics, but that's not entirely accurate. In '98 Michelle skated clean, just not nearly as dynamic or flawless as her long program at the nationals, one the best women's performances ever. In the Olympics she was probably judged against that effort as much as vs. Lipinski, who was more confident and energetic that night but not necessarily better, especially considering the presentation aspect.

Kristi Yamaguchi is very elegant and earned the gold medal in '92, but people forget she won despite a fall in the long program. Kwan, unfortunately, did not have that margin for error vs. teammates who put forth their all-time best effort in the Games.

Lipinski was all bones, and I agree her technique was obviously flawed. But Oksana had great choreography and was the best I ever saw at that age. I'm not sure she would not have progressed similar to Kwan, with different priorities and minus all the off-the-ice stuff.

Last year Sarah Hughes was an excellent second to Kwan at nationals, but was definitely struggling with the more mature figure, just one year after Salt Lake City. I'm not surprised she has apparently retired.

Sasha Cohen is still a twig, yet blows too many key jumps in the clutch.

[Ellen Forradalom]

15. Kwan worked through the changes of puberty

I remember reading, around the time of Tara Lipinski, that Kwan was struggling with relearning jumps because of her maturing body. Looks like her perseverance paid off.

[Printer70]

11. She sucked and didn't deserve it

Screwed up a simple double axel. What the heck is that? The next contestant did two triples in a row, flawlessly, and got a lower score. And she actually had poise and personality. Kwan won on "brand recognition".

[joeybee12]

17. I'm sure you weren't watching the same competition as we all were

...Kwan dind't miss anything last night, so I don't know where your comment is coming from.

[VelmaD]

28. I think they're talking about the short program

And I know exactly why Kwan got a higher score. She held onto that double axel and didn't take a severe deduction. Plus the judges have proven time and time again that they will not mark a triple toe-triple toe in the short program higher than a triple-lutz-double toe. This is a fact that Amber Corwin (the skater after Kwan I believe) has refused to acknowledge despite years of doing that combo in her SP and ending up 5th or 6th. Her other problem is that her solo triple lutz does not flow directly out of her footwork - she has a long edge going in and takes a deduction. Plus Kwan skates faster and with better posture and has better spins and spirals and footwork - all of which go into the marks. It isn't all about jumps.

I'm not saying I don't like Corwin, I admire her perseverence, but there are legitimate reasons Kwan beats her and most everybody else even with small mistakes.

[Piperay]

12. YIPEEEEE

Michelle Kwan is from my home town and her family used to own a restaurant here, I am always happy for her when she wins. :bounce: :party: :bounce: :-)

[Cheswick2.0]

14. That was one of her best performances ever

I hope she does go to the olympics again. She was simply brilliant. It also doesn't hurt that she skated to the music of my favorite Opera, Tosca. The main theme she used was "E Lucevan La Stelle" my favorite aria of all time. It is the tenors big aria before he is executed. He sings about his love for Tosca.
Two cellos also play the theme as a duet in one of the Entre Acts. The aria is a standard on almost any tenor's greatest hits album. I happen to love the way Pavorotti sings it, but many people prefer tenors with heavier voices.

[joeybee12]

18. She always chooses great music, too...

She knows what works well for a dramatic effect in presentation.

[Darth_Kitten]

19. since we are talking figure skating.....

You should have seen the men's skating here in Canada. Unbelievable!!!! (the top 2 performances), these guys landed EVERYTHING!!!
Pairs skating was pretty awesome as well.

Congrats Emanuel Sandhu!!! ;) Grand Prix Champion and now Canadian champion!!!
(didn't know we had figure skating fans here!!)

[joeybee12]

21. Sounds better than the US Pairs--guess they fell all over the place...

...although the men's final was better than the short program.

[Forkboy]

22. What a waste of perfectly good hockey ice

:evilgrin:

[joeybee12]

23. Boo, hiss on you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They should just move hockey to a boxing arean anyway!

[HuckleB]

24. Great performance.

Cohen looked wonderful, too, excepting those two mistakes. Without those, I suspect Kwan goes home with silver. Great competition.

I suspect we'll find a way to get tix for next year's competition in Portland.

[VelmaD]

26. I disagree about Cohen...

just losing because of the falls. I found her presentation very flat last night. The falls didn't help with that - but I though tshe looked flat before she started falling. Whereas Kwan was skating with fire and emotion. That straight-line step at the end of her program last night was stunning. (Thank you Alexei Yagudin for bringing footwork back to skating.) :-)

[HuckleB]

27. Cohen's presentation was brlliant.

It was about elegance. She skated a very different style than Kwan. "Fire and emotion" aren't the be all end all of skating. There's far more to it than that.

[VelmaD]

29. I suppose...

we're gonna have to agree to disagree. Sometimes I find Cohen elegant but last night I just thought she seemed flat.

I like her skating and would like to see her pull herself together. The thing I really remember from watching last night was that she didn't look confident when they showed her with her coach right before she took the ice and I got worried for her and was just waiting for the inevitable fall. When it didn't come right off the bat I was hopeful that she had her head together and was going to make it a contest and was really sad when she fell.

[joeybee12]

32. Yeah, I think she was hesitant, and that showed in the presentation...

...I almost feel sorry for her, because she's getting older and soon those jumps will not come as easy. The way the young girls jump these days it's hard for them to keep it up when their bodies mature.

Still, I was rooting for Michelle, and, quite frankly, I don't think Sasha will be her competition in 2006--she'll be 21, and if she doesn't break through big this year at the World's, it ain't gonna happen.

Didn't notice any up and coming US skaters--wonder about the other parts of the world.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

30. Michelle Kwan is the best

:)