Very rarely does a legend live up to the hype but Michelle Kwan did. I admit to being a huge Kwan fan and I always figured when I encountered her there was no way she would ever be as nice as she comes across but she was. There is also no doubt that Michelle Kwan is still the face of US Figure skating.
I’ll start with the encounter. I can’t say I met Michelle Kwan but I did run into her. I was taking one of my nieces to the bathroom when I ran across a bunch of people taking pictures of the press section and low and behold there she was. An impromptu autograph signing was in process with about 10 people patiently waiting for a signature by the one and only Kween.
Michelle being as gracious as we have always heard she is was sitting there signing for every person in line. Of course I couldn’t join in because a whining toddler was insisting on peeing so being the best Auntie ever I obliged her request to go potty.
When we came back to our seats about ten minutes later Michelle was still there signing autographs and posing for pictures with a group that had tripled in size since we last left. I think Michelle would have signed through the rest of the competition if she was allowed to but a few minutes after the USFSA.org police came and dragged her away. I think they moved her further back in press row to make sure this didn’t happen again.
I need to build a picture of exactly why this whole situation above amazed me. The press box is at least 2 feet above the last level of seating where the line formed. Michelle had to throw things down to people and stand up to smile for every single picture. This was not a planned autograph section. This was people noticing Michelle in the press box and asking for autographs. It was way above the call of duty. I should have taken a picture.
Its sad for the sport when the best attraction you have is sitting in press row and you pretty much forget that she exists (Michelle is working for Fox and that is why she was there)
I was hoping she would hand out the medals but that honor went to Nancy Kerrigan. Tenley Albright also handed out something to the medalists.
Michelle is still the star of Skating. It was evident by the standing ovation she got when she received an award during the ladies Short program (where I was all the way across the damn “Fleetcenter” )and every time her face was shown on the screen she got the loudest cheers in the building. They played a Montage of US champs and the times Michelle’s face was shown on the screen the place would erupt out of complete silence. Not to mention that the Montage was played to the song, Hall of Fame and Michelle’s picture was shown first to the words, “You could be the greatest” A tiny bit of respect and mad props to the guy that made the montage:)
Aly Raisman was in the crowd and they interviewed her. She was too far away to get any decent pictures but she also signed a few autographs. She left shortly after they interviewed her. Must have been too much of a bother to sit there and be like THE KWEEN.
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You all know the Results by now so lets get to the NON controversy. Ashley Wagner earned her spot on this Olympic team FAIR and square. She was the ONLY US women to make the Grand Prix Final where she finished third. She also won the silver medal at Skate America as well as winning the Trophee Eric Bompard.
Mirai had an amazing performance at Nationals and if we still skated under the 6.0 system I would argue she should be the National Champion but for the last 3 years she has been nothing but a head case and she did nothing to merit a spot on this years Olympic team.
USFSA.org has a criteria and every single girl competing at Nationals knows the rules. Nationals is not the only result in deciding the Olympic team. The only controversy here is why anyone thinks they have a right to change the rules because they don’t like the results.
I am not a fan of Ashley Wagner by any means but I don’t understand how anyone can argue she didn’t deserve a spot on this team. She has carried USFSA.org for the last two years and is part of the reason we even have a third spot to argue about.
Ashley was scored pretty fairly here by the judges and I have wondered out loud why they didn’t hold her up even when she made mistakes. Maybe it is the pessimist in me but I wonder if the United States Figure Skating association isn’t trying to create a controversy. Its what sells. Sadly. I hope not at the expense of Ashley because the every 4 year fans are already up in arms about this situation and the “racism” angle is being played up by certain fans. I remember what Michelle went through in 2006 and I wouldn’t put it past the powers that be to do the same to Ashley.
Here is a few articles on the Controversy. Article one is the A-Typical “facts” and Article 2 pretty much had my point of thinking (but for different reasons) If anyone should be left at home its Polina Edmunds who IMO was grossly overscored this entire competition. Mirai was beautiful to watch in person and she again got the only true standing Ovation of the night by the fans if they left Edmunds at home and took Nagasu there would be no argument from me.
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Nagasu had a great Nationals. She was beautiful to watch and my heart broke for her when I heard she wasn’t named to the team but at the same time people blaming Ashley for this decision need to get lives.
Nagasu has already petitioned whoever who is in charge to challenge the decision. She was at Nationals without a coach apparently.
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This is why I HATE the USFSA.org. (Thanks for the tweet Gigi) God forbid we celebrate all of our champions who traveled to Nationals for whatever reason. Michelle Kwan with 5 World titles at the competition. Kimmie Meissner a former world champion in the crowd and all they wanted to do was put the Olympic gold medalists on the ice to celebrate.
#Boston2014 pic.twitter.com/gjYhdrkicH
— Boston 2014 (@BOS2014) January 13, 2014
Looks like the skaters might have been told to stay quiet
Love that social media exists but we are cautioned not to write how we are truly feeling. Where is the honesty? #society
— Alexa Paige Scimeca⭐ (@lexxapaige) January 12, 2014
Gymtruthteller's Blog 
January 13, 2014 at 2:35 AM |
Michelle is and always will be the only skater that made me really feel a wonderful skate perfectly choreographed to beautiful music–move you to tears and feel lucky to witness it. I miss her so much and don’t know skating like I used to because she’s not there. Terrific to know she’s always always so gracious. I had hoped they would televise her receiving the award partially just to know that Sarah Hughes and Tara would be in the same building and know they will never be as loved or as remembered no matter how many times NBC Sports tries to talk about their golds. I agree with Ashley being on the team but unfortunately I think she’s going to feel another distraction: guilty conscience. You could see it at the press conference. Speaking of – did anyone else notice a bit of cut eye and avoidance from Polina and Gracie right after Ashley had her chance to speak? Subtle but there. Also – Ashley posted a quasi-selfie indicating it was of her and “most” of the Olympic team. Guess who wasn’t in the photo?
January 13, 2014 at 3:00 AM |
One thing I noticed last night was after the medal ceremony Ashley and Marai went one way and started talking and Gracie and Polina went the other way and did the same.
Asdley didn’t put herself on the Olympic team so I wish people would stop blaming her. A few people have told me there have been some nasty tweets sent to Ashley. So glad I don’t have twitter any more.
Someone started a petition to have Marai replace Polina already. Looks like my next blog will be titled, why every four year fans need to STOP following the sports I watch.
January 13, 2014 at 6:08 AM
I agree with Ashley being on the team and I dont follow the sport like i used to but after watching the NBC fluff with Gold she came across like Gabby/Nastia lol
January 13, 2014 at 3:28 PM
Hey GTT, I wanted to ask you something concerning the blog and the winter olympics. Could you shoot me an email (catherine.m.ryan10@gmail.com)
January 13, 2014 at 6:39 AM |
This is why I adore you. You speak the truth plain and simple. I couldn’t agree more. Why I am saddened for Mirai, I feel that Ashley was the better choice at this time. Great call as always?
PS – I forget if I ever told everyone my “K
January 13, 2014 at 6:42 AM |
Sorry posted before I meant to. That last sentence of the paragraph was not supposed to be a question…sorry.
Anyway, did I ever tell you my “Why Kristi Yamaguchi is a bitch story?” I don’t want to tell it again if I already have.
January 13, 2014 at 4:37 PM |
Tell me. I met her once (signing her kid’s book at a pet expo – and the line was embarrassingly short but of course I was in it because I was a super Yamaguchi fan…she was my “Kwan” before Kwan, if that makes sense). She was really nice but wouldn’t get up to take a picture because she had been told not to. She only did it for the mentally disabled and physically disabled, which of course I understood. Anyways. That’s my Yamaguchi story. But I want to know yours because I always understood she was a nice person.
It was funny, the announcers over the pet expo convention were announcing her name and where she was located and there were a bunch of people (including girls in their 20s) who were like “who is that?” I kind of had to laugh. I felt really old though.
January 14, 2014 at 6:47 AM
Lol. That would have been funny Sanity.
I live in SLC Utah, and was a Sr. in high school during the 2002 Olympics. I was dating a VERY rich girl at the time (her father was a movie producer) and she asked me if I wanted to go to the ladies SP with her. I was a 4 year fan at the time, and told her the I would love to go (tickets were crazy expensive and I never could have afforded to go on my own). Anyway, at some point in the SP, we decided to go and grab something to eat at the concessions. On our way to one of them we noticed Kristi at the head of one of the concession lines grabbing drinks. After she got the drinks a few people went up to her and asked for her autograph. She was signing stuff, so I figured it would be okay to ask for one too. She was about to walk away when I came up and said, “Kristi, I’m sorry to bother you…but would you mind signing this for me?” She paused and looked at me, then turned and gave a “look” to her friend/whomever she was with, then turned back to me and said…quote…”If you were sorry, you never would have asked.” She snickered with her friend, took the paper from me, signed it, shoved it back at me, then walked away.
I literally stood there for a few seconds stunned. I had NO idea what just happened. I was raise to be polite, and thought by starting the conversation that way was polite and tactful. I guess I was wrong. I remember walking away with my GF being so disappointed. Kristi was never my favorite skater, but in that moment every good thing I thought about her changed. That was 12 years ago, and I still remember every moment like it was yesterday. I could understand her reaction if i saw her in a restaurant somewhere, and interrupted her meal to ask for an autograph. That would make sense. But we were at the ladies SP and the OLYMPICS, and she was signing other peoples autographs. I realize we all have bad days or whatever, but in that moment she lost all respect for me.
The kicker for me was later in the SP, we realized that Oksana Biule (I know I’m spelling that wrong) was sitting just a few rows ahead of us. She started signing autographs at one point, so we went over. She was so sweet, she let us take photos with her, and even gave us swag that she also signed. I remember thinking, “Wait a minute, the Russian girl who is KNOWN to be a bitch…is WAY nicer than the supposed American sweetheart? Go figure.
Anyway, that is my Kristi Yamaguchi is a bitch story. 🙂
January 14, 2014 at 5:53 PM
Ah, touche! I would have loved to have said “fine, I’m not sorry to get your autograph, but at the same time you should be thankful to have fans that admire you and want it in the first place.”
I guess it could have been worse and she could have walked away and not signed anything.
BTW, I love, love, LOVE Oksana Baiul and I can’t spell her name either. But her skate at whatever Olympics it was…’94? When she beat Kerrigan who was all the rage because she was the “victim” of the Harding scandal and was wearing $20,000+ Vera Wang skating outfits…Oksana KILLED that Olympics. She literally was a ballerina on ice. Obviously too young and far too immature to get that glory all at once and had a big fall from grace after, but to this day I remember her skating and it was like magic. I didn’t want to like her because she was Russian (not a US skater) but I couldn’t help but love her. She was that damn good. I think she’s second to Kwan in my book, for figure skating. Even though her career didn’t span nearly as long unfortunately.
January 15, 2014 at 7:29 AM
Ha ha ha. I wish I was that quick Sanity. I was so dumbfounded at what she said that I totally froze. I actually wish she just would have said, “Sorry, I can’t. I need to get back…” and then just walked away. I would have totally respected and understood that. She doesn’t have to sign anything for me, BUT she also didn’t need to be a jerk about it. All it meant in the end was that she lost a fan when she didn’t need too. Oh well, it happened 12 years ago…I can probably let it go now right? LOL.
January 14, 2014 at 10:18 PM
It doesn’t surprise me to hear she is a jerk. Loved her skating but I never got the sweetheart vibe from her. Oksana needs to give Kerrigan back her gold medal but its nice to hear she was nice.
At Nationals this year one of the skaters was in the bathroom ( Not sure who she was) and she was talking to people but she didn’t look very happy to be bothered. No one asked her for a autograph or anything they just told her she did a good job. Though the old lady that said that didn’t know who she was she just asked her if she skated today and she said yes. I still remember the face so I will try to remember who she was. I think it might have been Vanessa Lamb.
January 14, 2014 at 10:22 PM
Nooooo do not give Kerrigan that gold medal. I thought Oksana deserved it all the way.
Kerrigan with that medal – her ego would have exploded to sizes I don’t even want to contemplate…she def was not America’s sweetheart.
Yamaguchi was from a rich family – spoon fed, if you will. Entitled. Some things never change.
January 14, 2014 at 11:06 PM
I am from Boston you want to be sick of Kerrigan try living here especially during 1994.lol
January 14, 2014 at 11:30 PM
I didn’t realize Kerrigan was from Boston. My apologies. Didn’t she even get a street named after her? Sheesh.
January 15, 2014 at 7:33 AM
Lol. That would have been awkward as hell. “Umm, I know you just peed…but can I have your autograph?” Im glad no one asked for one in there, that would have been weird. If I had done that to Kristi I would have understood her response. Actually, I would have been arrested for stalking her in the bathroom…but that’s a whole other story.
January 14, 2014 at 10:29 PM
To uglyfatkid–what, what? Does Oksana have a difficult rep? I’ve never heard that–I *adore* her skating and can honestly say, even back in ’94 after I saw her skate (and before Nancy started snarking on her), I was rooting for her. Her Lillehammer LP is one of my favorites on YouTube, I watch it every few months. That gangly teenager all dressed in pink with that ridiculous maribou-d ponytail–but she went out there and gave it EVERYTHING. She was simply magical that night and I feel well-deserved the gold.
Really sucks to hear about Kristi–you’re absolutely right, you didn’t interrupt her at dinner, she was at the Games, she should expect to be approached by fans. I guess it’s possible she was exhausted or something, or maybe trying to make a joke that came off badly but you’d think someone with her exposure to the public would know better!
January 14, 2014 at 10:54 PM
I think Russians in general have that bad rap of being cold and not very friendly. I believe I heard somewhere that in their culture it wasn’t really a big thing to smile – you only smile in certain instances, so they are more held back in showing emotion.
Oksana was such a magnificent skater that night; I was rooting against her until I saw her performance. Both my dad and I were begrudgingly like “yeah, she won – that’s deserved” – we wanted Kerrigan to win SO BAD. But after seeing her I got a new appreciation for her and I was sad she went on to become such a mess initially after that win.
Anyone remember Viktor Petrenko? Another Russian. I also rooted against him until I met him in person and man, SUCH a nice person. Very humble. He even took Oksana under his wing at one point while she was going through her issues…
I just can’t help but think skating was better back in the “old” days, lol. Ashley Wagner is going to be a non-issue at the Olympics – I would bet she doesn’t make podium. Maybe same for Polina. I have no clue about Gracie I don’t get her. Yeah, she’s pretty. But she skates like a horse.
January 14, 2014 at 11:03 PM
I am not a Kerrigan fan. I wanted Kwan at that Olympics. We are going to have to agree to disagree that Oksana deserved that win. She had two major errors.
January 14, 2014 at 11:29 PM
lol it was so long ago and I don’t feel like re-watching.
I wanted Kwan at that Olympics too – I’m forgetting who was there besides Kerrigan…was it Harding? She should have been removed.
January 15, 2014 at 7:49 AM
@Cee – I could totally be wrong about Oksana being a bitch, but I could have sworn it was her. I remember clips of her (or possibly someone else) yelling (and I mean YELLING) at their coach in a foreign language. The coach was a chubby woman if I remember correctly. If thought it was her, that was why I said that. I could totally be wrong though, so if I mixed things up I’m sorry. I was pretty young when she was big, so it is completely possible that I have mixed up the clips of her with combined it with some random Jenny Jones talk show episode or something. LOL
January 15, 2014 at 4:44 PM
Hahah I think Oksana was coached by a skinny Russian lady but I could be mistaken.
Maybe you’re thinking of Svetlana Khorkina, lol.
January 16, 2014 at 2:24 AM
Lol!! You never know with me. 🙂
January 16, 2014 at 3:25 PM
Yes, in ’94 we had only two places and they went to Nancy and Tonya–this was while the investigation about who attacked Nancy was still ongoing and USFSA was mulling over not sending Tonya because it looked as though she’d been involved but nothing had been proven (with Nancy out of the way, Tonya had won the national title and Michelle Kwan, a KID (she went elite behind her coach’s back IIRC and was *very* young!) took the silver. Nancy petitioned to be named to the team even though understandably she’d missed nationals and it was granted. Anyway Tonya sent a lawyer after USFSA when they were considering not sending her and they named her to the team and Michelle was on standby the whole time in case Tonya was arrested or something. I think she and her family even flew to Lillehammer? Anyway so Michelle was involved in FOUR Olympics because of that–amazing for a modern skater! I would have loved it if Michelle had been named–my ideal Lillehammer lineup would’ve been a non-attacked Nancy, an in-shape, ready-to-skate Tonya and the opportunity of seeing rising-star Michelle.
Yes, Viktor Petrenko trained with Oksana and was a big mentor. If you watch the US coverage of her LP at one point they scan to the audience and Viktor is cheering her on along with G&G (Gordeeva and Grinkov, the best pairs duo of All Effing Time). 3 gold medalists cheering on a future fourth!
February 16, 2014 at 11:34 PM |
So that story, I wouldn’t use that as a bellwether against Kristi for how she acts generally or all the time. I also wouldn’t say that she came from a rich family either. Yes, she could’ve been nicer about it and it was the Olympics so she should have expected people to be asking her. I mean former Olympians are walking all over the place at each Olympics but I wouldn’t use that story to condemn her for “this is how she acts as a person,” y’know?
February 16, 2014 at 11:48 PM
It’s also shocking to hear about that because what I’ve read and seen of her, she seems to be a nice person in general.
I should also correct my statement of bellwether, I should’ve said indicator. It’s not an indicator of how she acts generally or all the time.
February 17, 2014 at 12:29 AM
Sorry but I disagree. It says a lot about a person. There are ways to say things and then there are smart ass rude reply’s and that was just rude.
How hard is it to say, sorry I cannot? Not at all.
February 19, 2014 at 5:14 AM
I don’t believe it that she’s a mean person. I need to see more proof. If this was a history of incidents then yeah, she’s not nice, but I need to see more proof.
January 13, 2014 at 4:39 PM |
I’m worried this will blow up in Ashley’s face–that unless she skates *flawlessly* the four year fans will hound her forever. I was trying to explain to my friend who was watching that yes, typically the Nationals are the de facto trials but there is still a selection process and how Worlds complicates the process because that determines how many skaters you can send. People just don’t understand. I just hope it turns out well for her and that her Olympics are a positive experience.
On another note–guys, I love Carmen as well (it’s my favorite opera) but can we please find another 19th-century score that isn’t such a cliché? Two skaters this year, Sasha in ’02, Witt and Thomas in ’88 and I’m sure I’m overlooking 100 others.
What did you think of the men’s results?
January 13, 2014 at 4:49 PM |
Can you imagine Nastia doing what Michelle did? No, never. And Michelle is SO much more accomplished in her sport than Nastia will ever be or ever was. It doesn’t matter she doesn’t have Olympic gold – she has like what, 6 World titles and even more national titles, plus 2 Olympic medals in a sport that only rewards one per Olympics. Eat that, Nastia.
Anyways. I don’t think the heat should be between Mirai and Ashley – if Ashley was going to place in the top 4 or even (maybe) 5, that was her spot for the taking for the sake that she helped the US even have that 3rd spot in the first place. To me, it was a question between a newcomer (Polina) and Mirai. I actually think the decision was fair – on paper – because a) Polina got 2nd and showed she does not bow under pressure, and b) Mirai had her chance already. She’s not proven to be trustworthy, and she has proven inconsistency. If it’s one thing this damn sport is lacking it’s consistency, and that’s why Kwan is still the face of figure skating in the US (if not the world) because she was nothing but consistent for more than a decade.
Huges, Lipinski are one-hit wonders in my book. A blip on the radar.
Best bet is to take a non-headcase and bet on the younger generation over someone who has basically only proven the capacity to bow under pressure. Mirai had nothing to prove this nationals but in the Olympics…I can only imagine. I have this feeling to that USAFS is hoping Polina might be the next Lipinski – cuz from what I’m hearing, she’s basically a skate/jumper. I put her in the pack with Slutskaya and Lipinski then.
Gold’s spot was basically a given – they’ve been pimping her out like no other.
January 14, 2014 at 4:19 AM |
Ashley earned her spot, and I’m glad she is on the team. The real controversy is picking Polina over Mirai when Polina has NEVER skated in a senior international competition before. She just competed in her first senior event, which was nationals. Her component scores (aka the artistic scores of 6.0) jumped 15 points from what she has received in the few junior international events she has competed in, and she doesn’t have the skating skills, musicality, or presentation to support the increased scores.
The criteria used to select Ashley over Mirai was her body of work at the senior national and international level. However, the USFSA didn’t use this same criteria for Mirai with regard to Polina. Who sends a skater to the OLYMPICS for their first senior international competition? Polina has never even been to junior worlds to compete. Mirai is one of three American women to medal on the Grand Prix circuit this year – she earned bronze at Cup of Russia, Gracie Gold got silver at Skate Canada, and Ashley won gold at TEB in France and silver at Skate America, plus bronze at the Grand Prix Final. This criteria outranked the only criteria that Polina met (winning US Junior nationals in 2013 and Junior Grand Prix medals). Mirai has earned a Grand Prix medal each year since 2010, one of the few US women who can say so.
However, the USFSA has had it out for her ever since she got nervous at Worlds in 2010 when she was in first after the SP. She bombed her LP and ended up 7th overall…as a 16 yr old. After that, other skaters were propped up over her at nationals each year, which kept her from going to Worlds. See 2011 when she got 3rd to Rachael Flatt’s 2nd (highly questionably), then beat both Rachael and Alissa Czisny at Four Continents Championships two weeks before Worlds when she won bronze. Her scores would have also won bronze at Worlds that year, btw. She was sick with the flu last year during nationals and ran out of steam during her LP, finishing 7th after placing 3rd (should have been 2nd) in the SP. The year before, she’d had to drive 2 hrs each way to Frank Carroll’s new rink for coaching. 4 hrs in a car every day is exhausting, and it affected her training. She finished 7th at nationals and changed to a new coach after because she couldn’t succeed that way…and her parents wouldn’t let her move closer to the rink.
She has fought like hell to get back to this form competitively, took control of her own training between her Grand Prix events and started training in Japan. She came back around New Year’s to train on her own for nationals. And USFSA propped a little junior skater over her for the Olympics. It’s just cruel.
And while the bronze medalists in pairs and men’s were named to the Worlds team over the silver medalists (because we only have two spots in those disciplines), Mirai was not. So she is the ONLY bronze medalist at 2014 US Nationals who will NOT skate at Worlds…which is a blatant slap in the face! The other bronze medalists not on the Olympic team get to compete at both Four Continents and Worlds while Mirai only gets to compete at Four Continents. I hope she kicks ass, wins, and uses the prize money (about $20K, plus she’d qualify for a higher level of USFSA funding) to train hard and beat EVERYONE next year. I want her to pull a 2008 Memmel so freakin’ bad
It’s heartbreaking and cruel to deny Mirai not only the Olympics in favor of someone is young, inexperienced, and unproven, but to also deny her the chance to compete at Worlds to favor that same individual. The other bronze medalists are all competing at Worlds, so it would appear that her bronze medal finish should have earned her a place on the Worlds team. Unless your name is Mirai Nagasu apparently.
January 14, 2014 at 5:47 PM
Well when you put it that way…dang, I have to say Mirai got screwed royally.
So why wouldn’t her parents let her move closer to the rink, but they are OK with her training in Japan? Makes no sense. She probably shot herself in the foot politically by firing Frank Carroll (I’m guessing).
January 14, 2014 at 7:33 PM
It’s not really known why her parents wouldn’t let her move closer to the rink to continue training with Frank Carroll, but a common guess on skate forums is that it might have been a problem financially. Her family owns and runs a restaurant so money is tight. They may not have been able to afford her separate living costs along with training expenses, especially because her funding from USFSA was reduced as a result of her finishes at nationals and not going on to Worlds.
It’s also not known why her parents would suddenly be okay with her training in Japan. My guess (and I should emphasize guess) is that it was a temporary arrangement for the two weeks between her Grand Prix events that was unexpectedly successful, so they kind of gave their permission in stages. Her first Grand Prix event was in Japan. It didn’t make sense for her to come all the way home, just to go to Russia less than two weeks later. This is probably why her parents were okay with her initial decision to stay in Japan and train between events. During that time, she trained with Takahito Mura’s father, who is also his coach. He coached her to help her out and I believe she stayed with the Mura family during that time (not 100% sure). She did great at Cup of Russia and won bronze.
She is said to have argued with her coach right after this and they parted ways, but no one knows what the reason was. She seems to have really enjoyed her training in Japan and felt it was helpful, and returned to train with Coach Mura for 5-6 weeks. My guess is that since she split with her coach, had a coach willing to help train her and give her a place to stay, and had demonstrated improvement in a short time from training with said coach, that her parents agreed to a longer temporary arrangement of her training in Japan to prepare for this year’s nationals. This is an Olympic year, after all. It’s not apparent whether this will become a long-standing arrangement or whether she’ll find another coach stateside instead.
She didn’t fire Frank Carroll, it seems to have been a mutual and amicable parting. He acknowledged in interviews that the commute was the main problem and there hadn’t been any issues between them as coach and athlete. They just couldn’t make the logistics work in way that would allow her to be successful. However, Polina Edmunds now works with Frank Carroll occasionally so it is difficult to know if he stayed neutral or threw all of his clout behind Polina. Mirai was hampered by not having a powerful coach there to politick for her, most definitely.
January 15, 2014 at 8:00 AM
Who ISN’T trained by Carroll anymore? That guy seems to get around. Gold works with him now too. I don’t understand how you could successfully coach multiple people in the same devision, and NOT be biased toward one specific athlete. I get teaching a guy and a girl, cause they don’t compete against each other. But I don’t see how you could coach 2 top girls and not screw one of them over. It’s Nasita and Bross all over again. Nastia got all the attention, and Bross fell apart in the background.
January 15, 2014 at 4:48 PM
That makes me wonder if the US is just running out of good figure skating coaches. It’s not a secret that interest in being the next ice princess has waned, especially since Kween retired. You can tell just by the quality of skaters we have had in the last 8 years or so. I am hoping someone good/better is in the ranks but I doubt it. Frank Carroll is getting old and indeed he’s like Marta to gymnastics but really if there was more interest in general in figure skating there would be more money thrown at it and hence more good coaches would want to do that as their living.
You don’t see much of former ice skaters becoming coaches, that’s for sure. It’s funny – the exact opposite happens in gymnastics where it seems like almost every former gymnast either works for USAG or opens their own gym or becomes a coach…whereas figure skaters become government representatives or doctors, lol.
Or wannabe socialites like Sasha Cohen. Anyone see pics of her and Nastia at the Golden Globes – gag. Carly was there too.
January 16, 2014 at 2:26 AM
So true Sanity. And no…didn’t seem them at the Globes. Thank HEAVENS!!!
January 17, 2014 at 2:45 AM
Sometimes it can work out for direct competitors to be coached by the same coach. Look at Marina Zoueva, she coaches both Davis & White and Virtue & Moir. They’ve been the top two ice dance teams in the world for the past 5 years. She also coaches the Shibutani siblings, who are a top American ice dance teams.
The teams like training alongside their top competition because it elevates them to try to match or best each other on a daily basis. Marina has said she concentrates on bringing the best out of each team and when she’s with a team, they have her entire focus.
I definitely think it’s not something every coach could do, but it can be done. And when it works, it can really work well.
January 17, 2014 at 3:15 AM
What helps is they might be fighting for the same medals but they are not fighting for the same spot on the team. With Bross and wanna be Queenie they turned Bross into a specialist and pit her against the coach’s daughter. There is no way that was working out even if Becca is oblivious to what was going on. That girl is clueless
January 17, 2014 at 5:02 AM
Great point. That’s probably why it can work better with figure skating. A lot of top coaches coach athletes who compete against each other, but they’re often skaters from different countries. Even when there are athletes from the same country in the same discipline training with the same coach, the athletes are still competing for medals that will get them a spot on the team. (Well, until now.) Skaters skate two programs, no way to specialize.
January 15, 2014 at 7:41 AM |
@Cee and Sanity – I wish you could have met Oksana since you are such big fans. She was incredibly nice, and spent about 5-8 mins talking with us. It was really cool.
January 15, 2014 at 7:52 AM |
Sorry, I don’t know why the crap this posted all the way down here. Lol.
January 16, 2014 at 3:31 PM |
That really is super cool you met her and she even gave you swag! I would have been fangirling all over the place. Hey, at least I could chat with her a bit (I speak a tiny bit of Russian).
January 17, 2014 at 3:13 AM
Ha ha. That’s cool…I can’t barely speak English! 🙂