What's interesting about Michelle's triple-triple here is the first jump didn't have much height. At 0:45 - (4:44) it wasn't a huge lift off the ice and usually means that a skater would come down too hard on the first jump and wouldn't be able to vault into another triple. However, she was able to get in that second triple . . . amazing and well done!!!
Good Lord, if only she performed like this in the Olympics it would have been a solid, undisputed Gold. The music choice, the red ensemble and the brilliant choreography.
Actually, Michelle did a great job at 1998 Olympics, her performance was classic, beautiful and womanly. Michelle was robbed. Tara's performance just like a kid, she had a incorrect 3+3, didn't deserve the gold .
Honestly, I think she's the best because of the artistry and emotion she skates with. Even if the US media is biased towards her, that doesn't change the fact that she has had many flawless performances. On the other hand, it's only right to acknowledge that there are many other exquisite skaters. No one is denying that Slutskaya is a better technical skater. (And she's sweet. XD) Skating is all very subjective, other than straight technical marks.
She looked to be in better shape here than she did at the Olympics just a month earlier. Not saying she was out of shape in SLC, just that she looks more fit here. Though nothing I think will ever compare to her fitness just a year earlier at the 2001 Worlds. My goodness I don't think I've ever seen an athlete in better shape than she was in Vancouver. So light & fit and jumping with total ease.
Yu Na popped her salchow in her '09 winning free skate at World's (to this same music). She ended up with only 5 triples and didn't do a loop at all. This is just a QR skate so Michelle didn't even need to try the 3-3, but she did and completed 6 triples over all. Very, very good.
@ellecat2: I honestly didn't realize that Kwan isn't popular at all in Russia and other countries. Is that really true? It seems that she got standing ovations no matter where she was performing. It's cool to have different favorites, but I'm surprised that you were so quick to dismiss her accomplishments. I mean, at the end of the day, the judges (all non-American but usually one, and sometimes no American judge) are the ones who have given her so many golds.
I agree, it wasn't under-rotated at all. I think some of you may be confusing the direction of her ride out with under rotation. Check it out again. Her blade clearly does not sneak around to complete any rotation.
@ellecat2: Are you serious? If I understand you correctly, you're saying Kwan is only a legend b/c of the biased US media. Okay?? Actually, I think it might be the fact that she gave so many flawless performances that touched the emotions of so many people, and routinely had audiences in tears and on their feet before she even finished skating, not to mention her consistency and most decorated skater status. Or it could be that she's a class act in every single situation.
@getrealandsee she was on top for her entire career..she stayed ontop thru hard work and dedication. PERIOD... nobody pampered her to be the best. SHE WAS THE BEST. what yall r doing is mixing your own opinions into cold hard facts....SHES ACCURATE...it got her to where she is......dont be mad....congradulate her...nobody becomes the best sitting at home on the computer, she worked.
lets just respect all these women for being strong and beautiful skaters. they work very hard to be as good as they are, and its silly to quibble over who's better.
@utubejunkiepig After the SP it was clear that the judges were on her side. She would have beaten Slutskaya with this performance and probably would have gotten all 5.9's for presentation so she might have even beaten Sarah Hughes...but it didn't matter if she beat her in the LP.
But even the technical marks are subjective on how the judge sees the skate. Especially now because a judge can reward extra point for Grade of Execution.
stop arguing.....michelles equally artistic and atheletic.... Maos atheletic, rachel flatt believe it or nots a great power skater and has amazing enerygy...caroline is caroline...lol....and sasha cohen is very artistic as well...you guys look like crazy ppl arguing about them.they r who they are
For first,it's a far better performance as it was at the Olympics. Her artistry and graceful movements are beautiful,her speed from 3:45 is amazing.Second, that even if she landed six triples, I think it's a weaker performance compared to Yuna's.Yuna's jumps are so clean,incredibly high and they are so effortless, that is absolutely phenomenal.And I think she is more musical than Michelle or any other woman skaters.Third,I don't like how the music is mixed together here.It's chaotic,not good.
@anubethc45 in my opinion mao is more atheletic than artistic...shes not exactly as fast as rachel.....her jumps r not perfect, but her laybacks and jumps have aloot more energy....which requires strength......mao is also capable of quads......which ooonnlyy to my knowledge (correct me if im wrong), rachel has never done.....i love yuna to death, but i dont think shes very much the atheletic type...keeping in mind that all of them r technically atheletes..
I hate to inform you, but you are wrong since you know very little about Mao. Most people have huge misconceptions about Japanese figure skaters being athletic, when it isn’t true anyway . Look at Mao’s slender build and compare her to Midori Ito, and you see that she’s not as much as athletic as Midori Ito has been. Midori Ito’s very much like Tonya Harding while Mao Arafat is more close to that of Sasha and Alissa Czisny . And yes Midori isn’t artistic and neither was Miki Ando before she made huge progress with her artistry. But Mao has always been artistic, not an athletic type because without her speed an fast rotations, her jumps were a bit smaller in comparison to that of Midori and Tonya. And even if Mao’s jumps are not perfect, she does have other positive attributes to make up, for that.
yah right!!!...mao is really good at jumping...take a look at her cheat triple axel which takes of on a toe pick...and she can't even do a salchow...oh yeah she is a real jumper...jumper or CHEATER?!!...hahahaha...she may have t3-3 combination....but she lacks is artistry...do you thing flinging her arms around during the footwork section of her routine is artistic?!...think again...i've seen a lot of arm flinging inside a mental institution...oh come on!!!...michelle is still the BEST!!!...
jaypz10 I see her dance in time for the music when I looked at her showcasing her artistry., in show business. During competitions, every figure skaters,, Mao included are required to include jumps in order to get more points. When Mao isn’t competing, she’s not required to do these difficult jumps. While Tonya Harding, Surya Bonaly and Midori Ito are built to do demanding and difficult jumps, Mao is slender and to compensate for what little height she has with her jumps, she has fast rotations. As you can see, she didn’t attempt a quad salchow during competition because as you see with those who are built that way to jump, Tonya Harding or Midori Ito might even try to attempt some quads.
What's interesting about Michelle's triple-triple here is the first jump didn't have much height. At 0:45 - (4:44) it wasn't a huge lift off the ice and usually means that a skater would come down too hard on the first jump and wouldn't be able to vault into another triple. However, she was able to get in that second triple . . . amazing and well done!!!
Michele Kwan had the most beautiful spiral.
Good Lord, if only she performed like this in the Olympics it would have been a solid, undisputed Gold. The music choice, the red ensemble and the brilliant choreography.
Actually, Michelle did a great job at 1998 Olympics, her performance was classic, beautiful and womanly. Michelle was robbed. Tara's performance just like a kid, she had a incorrect 3+3, didn't deserve the gold .
Honestly, I think she's the best because of the artistry and emotion she skates with. Even if the US media is biased towards her, that doesn't change the fact that she has had many flawless performances.
On the other hand, it's only right to acknowledge that there are many other exquisite skaters. No one is denying that Slutskaya is a better technical skater. (And she's sweet. XD)
Skating is all very subjective, other than straight technical marks.
She looked to be in better shape here than she did at the Olympics just a month earlier. Not saying she was out of shape in SLC, just that she looks more fit here. Though nothing I think will ever compare to her fitness just a year earlier at the 2001 Worlds. My goodness I don't think I've ever seen an athlete in better shape than she was in Vancouver. So light & fit and jumping with total ease.
Yu Na popped her salchow in her '09 winning free skate at World's (to this same music). She ended up with only 5 triples and didn't do a loop at all. This is just a QR skate so Michelle didn't even need to try the 3-3, but she did and completed 6 triples over all. Very, very good.
And Michelle had triple triple combo here.
Beautiful triple-triple! It flowed so well.
@ellecat2: I honestly didn't realize that Kwan isn't popular at all in Russia and other countries. Is that really true? It seems that she got standing ovations no matter where she was performing. It's cool to have different favorites, but I'm surprised that you were so quick to dismiss her accomplishments. I mean, at the end of the day, the judges (all non-American but usually one, and sometimes no American judge) are the ones who have given her so many golds.
I agree, it wasn't under-rotated at all. I think some of you may be confusing the direction of her ride out with under rotation. Check it out again. Her blade clearly does not sneak around to complete any rotation.
@ellecat2: Are you serious? If I understand you correctly, you're saying Kwan is only a legend b/c of the biased US media. Okay?? Actually, I think it might be the fact that she gave so many flawless performances that touched the emotions of so many people, and routinely had audiences in tears and on their feet before she even finished skating, not to mention her consistency and most decorated skater status. Or it could be that she's a class act in every single situation.
@getrealandsee she was on top for her entire career..she stayed ontop thru hard work and dedication. PERIOD... nobody pampered her to be the best. SHE WAS THE BEST. what yall r doing is mixing your own opinions into cold hard facts....SHES ACCURATE...it got her to where she is......dont be mad....congradulate her...nobody becomes the best sitting at home on the computer, she worked.
lets just respect all these women for being strong and beautiful skaters. they work very hard to be as good as they are, and its silly to quibble over who's better.
The triple flip was so beautiful here. :( And wonderful speed in that layback.
That would have give her gold at the Olympics.
The back-to-back falling leaf(s) are my favorite!
Good Qualifying Round. Did she struggle in her Short Program because heading into the free skate she was only in 3rd.
@utubejunkiepig After the SP it was clear that the judges were on her side. She would have beaten Slutskaya with this performance and probably would have gotten all 5.9's for presentation so she might have even beaten Sarah Hughes...but it didn't matter if she beat her in the LP.
I don't think it was underrotated enough to be downgraded (if it was underrotated at all).
But even the technical marks are subjective on how the judge sees the skate. Especially now because a judge can reward extra point for Grade of Execution.
I looked at it again and it wasn't underrotated at all.
1. Its Peggy Fleming and 2. It WAS clean
stop arguing.....michelles equally artistic and atheletic.... Maos atheletic, rachel flatt believe it or nots a great power skater and has amazing enerygy...caroline is caroline...lol....and sasha cohen is very artistic as well...you guys look like crazy ppl arguing about them.they r who they are
Now that I look at it again, it was indeed underrotated and very severely I might add. Way more than a half turn! Oh well at least it looked good.
For first,it's a far better performance as it was at the Olympics. Her artistry and graceful movements are beautiful,her speed from 3:45 is amazing.Second, that even if she landed six triples, I think it's a weaker performance compared to Yuna's.Yuna's jumps are so clean,incredibly high and they are so effortless, that is absolutely phenomenal.And I think she is more musical than Michelle or any other woman skaters.Third,I don't like how the music is mixed together here.It's chaotic,not good.
lilic1 have to say MK's costume and music arrangement is much better than Yuna's even it had been 7 years earlier.
@@Qacc6 I think Michelle is more musical than any other skaters.....
@anubethc45 in my opinion mao is more atheletic than artistic...shes not exactly as fast as rachel.....her jumps r not perfect, but her laybacks and jumps have aloot more energy....which requires strength......mao is also capable of quads......which ooonnlyy to my knowledge (correct me if im wrong), rachel has never done.....i love yuna to death, but i dont think shes very much the atheletic type...keeping in mind that all of them r technically atheletes..
I hate to inform you, but you are wrong since you know very little about Mao. Most people have huge misconceptions about Japanese figure skaters being athletic, when it isn’t true anyway . Look at Mao’s slender build and compare her to Midori Ito, and you see that she’s not as much as athletic as Midori Ito has been. Midori Ito’s very much like Tonya Harding while Mao Arafat is more close to that of Sasha and Alissa Czisny . And yes Midori isn’t artistic and neither was Miki Ando before she made huge progress with her artistry. But Mao has always been artistic, not an athletic type because without her speed an fast rotations, her jumps were a bit smaller in comparison to that of Midori and Tonya. And even if Mao’s jumps are not perfect, she does have other positive attributes to make up, for that.
yah right!!!...mao is really good at jumping...take a look at her cheat triple axel which takes of on a toe pick...and she can't even do a salchow...oh yeah she is a real jumper...jumper or CHEATER?!!...hahahaha...she may have t3-3 combination....but she lacks is artistry...do you thing flinging her arms around during the footwork section of her routine is artistic?!...think again...i've seen a lot of arm flinging inside a mental institution...oh come on!!!...michelle is still the BEST!!!...
jaypz10 I see her dance in time for the music when I looked at her showcasing her artistry., in show business. During competitions, every figure skaters,, Mao included are required to include jumps in order to get more points. When Mao isn’t competing, she’s not required to do these difficult jumps. While Tonya Harding, Surya Bonaly and Midori Ito are built to do demanding and difficult jumps, Mao is slender and to compensate for what little height she has with her jumps, she has fast rotations. As you can see, she didn’t attempt a quad salchow during competition because as you see with those who are built that way to jump, Tonya Harding or Midori Ito might even try to attempt some quads.
@LAX324 Yes, that's what I meant by biased; that they favor her. :)
Was she coaching herself? She’s not great here
The triple flip was so beautiful here. :( And wonderful speed in that layback.
The triple flip was so beautiful here. :( And wonderful speed in that layback.
The triple flip was so beautiful here. :( And wonderful speed in that layback.