Sochi 2014: Women's short program
Haven't watched the free skate yet! Please do not spoil me!
Women's short program
Whoa, surprises! I was just telling people that while I love Kim Yuna, she does tend to make competitions a bit anticlimactic. Not so here! Go Carolina Kostner! I've been watching her for forever, and while she can be really great, I've seen so many instances of her losing control of jumps because she skates so fast and then the whole program goes downhill from there, so it's really nice to see her pull out this performance after she had done so well in the team skate too. Also, go Russian girl who is not Yulia L.! (not Googling spelling right now due to spoilers...)
And OH NO MAO ASADA =( =( =(. 16th =(. I feel so bad for her... Ditto Kanoko Murakami, but I feel like she has not been chasing after Kim Yuna for her entire career! Also, this is after Mao Asada had to go back and basically retool all her jumps from scratch! Oof, that was a painful season to watch.
Also, I am mean, therefore I am grumpy Ashley Wagner did so well. Gracie Gold was very nice (I've only seen her long program in Nationals), and wow is Polina Edwards at the awkward teenager growing out limbs stage. Am kind of boggled every time she pulls in to jump and manages to land them so nicely because it looks like her legs are going for miles. Thankfully the commentators have not made bad puns re: Gracie Gold's name. Poor kid.
Yay French competitor! I think outside of Robin Szolkowy, France has all the non-Asian POC in figure skating this Olympics (Mae I forgot her last name, Vanessa James (?) in pairs, Florent Amodio in men's).
Yay Chinese women's singles skater! Their pairs program has been so strong, and I feel like they're finally starting to get more talent in the singles part... I remember the Chinese guy for men's was really fun.
And Kim Yuna... how so good??? I think I was kind of expecting her not to be, just because it is so hard to come back to a second Olympics and so many skaters do stop training for a while after winning gold. Plushenko frex was not in top form in Vancouver... he was doing well and landing quads, but the quality wasn't as good as the ones in his prior seasons. But omg. Saw her 2013 Worlds performance (wow!), LOVE the "Send in the Clowns" program and just... gah! Those little shoulder dips to the music! Her face! Her gorgeous jumps!
Also super happy two other South Korean skaters made it, and it was so nice hearing that Kim Yuna wanted to compete in Worlds last year specifically to secure more spots for South Korean skaters. And apparently she mentors them and everything ♥_♥! Aaanyway, I keep saying this, but am very looking forward to South Korea's women's skating a few years down the line, when all the girls who grew up watching Kim Yuna and picked up figure skating start to compete.
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Women's short program
Whoa, surprises! I was just telling people that while I love Kim Yuna, she does tend to make competitions a bit anticlimactic. Not so here! Go Carolina Kostner! I've been watching her for forever, and while she can be really great, I've seen so many instances of her losing control of jumps because she skates so fast and then the whole program goes downhill from there, so it's really nice to see her pull out this performance after she had done so well in the team skate too. Also, go Russian girl who is not Yulia L.! (not Googling spelling right now due to spoilers...)
And OH NO MAO ASADA =( =( =(. 16th =(. I feel so bad for her... Ditto Kanoko Murakami, but I feel like she has not been chasing after Kim Yuna for her entire career! Also, this is after Mao Asada had to go back and basically retool all her jumps from scratch! Oof, that was a painful season to watch.
Also, I am mean, therefore I am grumpy Ashley Wagner did so well. Gracie Gold was very nice (I've only seen her long program in Nationals), and wow is Polina Edwards at the awkward teenager growing out limbs stage. Am kind of boggled every time she pulls in to jump and manages to land them so nicely because it looks like her legs are going for miles. Thankfully the commentators have not made bad puns re: Gracie Gold's name. Poor kid.
Yay French competitor! I think outside of Robin Szolkowy, France has all the non-Asian POC in figure skating this Olympics (Mae I forgot her last name, Vanessa James (?) in pairs, Florent Amodio in men's).
Yay Chinese women's singles skater! Their pairs program has been so strong, and I feel like they're finally starting to get more talent in the singles part... I remember the Chinese guy for men's was really fun.
And Kim Yuna... how so good??? I think I was kind of expecting her not to be, just because it is so hard to come back to a second Olympics and so many skaters do stop training for a while after winning gold. Plushenko frex was not in top form in Vancouver... he was doing well and landing quads, but the quality wasn't as good as the ones in his prior seasons. But omg. Saw her 2013 Worlds performance (wow!), LOVE the "Send in the Clowns" program and just... gah! Those little shoulder dips to the music! Her face! Her gorgeous jumps!
Also super happy two other South Korean skaters made it, and it was so nice hearing that Kim Yuna wanted to compete in Worlds last year specifically to secure more spots for South Korean skaters. And apparently she mentors them and everything ♥_♥! Aaanyway, I keep saying this, but am very looking forward to South Korea's women's skating a few years down the line, when all the girls who grew up watching Kim Yuna and picked up figure skating start to compete.
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