Johnny Weir on Rachel Zoe Project TONIGHT
Johnny Weir fans: Don't forget to watch him on Rachel Zoe Project tonight at 10pm Eastern on Bravo.
Shen and Zhao Wedding on Ice
by LauraS on Sep 7, 2010 8:04 AM EDT
2 comments
The long-awaiting Shen and Zhao wedding on ice was last weekend. Here is some video of the extravaganza. The event featured Johnny Weir, Alexei Yagudin, Mao Asada, and others, including Evgeny Plushenko (you have to watch this. I'm not sure if it's a new or old program of his, but it's fantabulous footage).
Mao Asada Names New Coach
by LauraS on Sep 7, 2010 8:00 AM EDT
3 comments
Mao Asada has named a new coach - Nobuo Sato, according to Universal Sports. Sato is the father and former coach of Yuka Sato, and the coach of Takahiko Kozuka. If Asada picks up anything by just sharing a coach with Kozuka, then this move will have already been worth it. I think Sato is a good choice and fits Asada's bill of wanting to stay in Japan - and have a coach who's actually around! Also, it gets rid of the question of Brian Orser coaching Asada, so no more scandals on that front.
Updated: Yu-na Kim to Train in Los Angeles
by LauraS on Sep 6, 2010 9:20 AM EDT
6 comments
UPDATED: Kim will be training at East West Ice Palace this month in the run-up to All That Skate in LA on Oct. 2 and 3rd. If she likes conditions, she might stay. This, according to the Los Angeles Times. Well, East West, you have about a month to win Kim over!
Less than a week after news came out that Olympic champ Yu-na Kim would be training in Shae-Lynn Bourne's rink in Canada, comes this week's news that Kim will be training in Los Angeles at East-West Ice Palace, where Michelle Kwan trained, according to Korea Herald.
As for who is coaching Kim? That tidbit was not included in the article. Among the many coaches to choose from at that rink: Peter Oppegard, Michelle Kwan's sister, Karen Kwan-Oppegard, and Naomi Nari Nam. Mingzhu Li used to work there as well, but she has signed on to coach the Chinese team and it is unlikely she is available at Ice Palace.
Evan Lysacek May Skate at Nationals
by LauraS on Sep 2, 2010 3:02 PM EDT
0 comments
Olympic gold medalist Evan Lysacek has not ruled out competing at the 2011 Nationals, according to The Chicago Tribune. Lysacek gave an interview this morning in which he cleared things up:
Clarifying his situation in a Thursday morning interview with the Tribune, Olympic figure skating champion Evan Lysacek said he will not compete any more in 2010 but left open the possibility of skating at the 2011 U.S. Championships and trying for the 2014 Olympics.
Lysacek said his chances of being ready to compete at nationals were ``50-50.''
The article goes on to report that Lysacek has been working a bit with Frank Carroll and that the skater is still in good shape. He also says that he may want to compete in Sochi.
I'm actually surprised; I thought Lysacek might skip the whole season and then kind of drift off into the nonretirement sunset, but it sounds like he isn't sure. He's obviously very competitive, so I'm sure it will be hard for him to miss a season of skating. Lysacek says he has left room in his schedule at the end of the year so that he can train for Nationals, just in case. I don't really expect to see him at Nationals..unless the other offers stop coming in.
Kim Changes Training Venues
by LauraS on Sep 1, 2010 9:22 AM EDT
2 comments
Yu-na Kim changed training venues in Toronto, according to Chosun Ilbo. Per the site:
Kim Yu-na has moved from the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club, where she had been training for four years, to the Granite Club in Toronto.
Shae-Lynn Bourne works at Granite Club, and she is choreographing Kim's short program this season. Kim is still a member of the Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club.
The Worth of a Coach
by LauraS on Aug 31, 2010 7:37 AM EDT
17 comments
One of the most difficult things to do in sports is to figure out just how valuable a coach is. The Brian Orser/Yu-na Kim situation reiterates that difficult question, particularly with the revisionist history going on. Many are saying that Kim saved Orser's career by choosing to work with him (without acknowledging that, obviously, Kim saw something in Orser worth working with) and others think that Orser is taking all the credit for plucking Kim from obscurity, even though she was already on the skating radar when she went to work with Orser. How much credit should a coach get?
In team sports, it's a common thought that a coach gets a bit too much credit when a team does well and a bit too much blame when a team does poorly. Individual sports have a different dynamic, though. The skater is out there on his or her own, the game plan depends entirely on them, and they will often take all the blame when anything goes wrong. If a skater switches from coach to coach, we tend to assume the skater is fickle rather than blame the coach (or at least, I am guilty of that).
Still, you have to think there is a reason that Frank Carroll, Nicolai Morozov, and others so consistently produce champions. But it must also be acknowledged that not every skater they work with goes on to the ultimate successes in the sport. You have to concede that both Yu-na Kim and Adam Rippon made great strides after working with Orser. But there is no way to know how they would have done had they chosen other coaches as they matured (although Rippon was working with Morozov prior to Orser and not doing as well). It is also obvious how influential Tatiana Tarasova has been on Mao Asada's skating; not necessarily for the better. And this isn't even getting into the strictly choreography side of things.
I guess with each skater/coach relationship, it's a different situation. It's almost impossible to say what might have happened had Kim not worked with Orser. As a Yankee fan, I don't give all the credit to former coach Joe Torre for the team's dynasty in the late 90's...but I do feel awfully appreciative of the guy whenever I see him on television. And even though things ended terribly between him and the Yankees, I don't feel a need to bash his accomplishments or contribution.
It's obvious how important a coach is to a figure skater - but how do we measure just how important? And how important was Orser to Kim? Or Frank Carroll to Michelle Kwan, John Nicks to Sasha Cohen, etc.? Please comment if you have any thoughts.
Update on Mirai Nagasu
by LauraS on Aug 27, 2010 3:06 PM EDT
4 comments
While I have been under a rock, Mirai Nagasu has been nursing a stress fracture.
Nagasu will not be competing in the Japan Open team competition in October due to the stress fracture, per Kyodo News.
Icenetwork has a nice little story on Nagasu about what she is up to and how she is following Frank Carroll to Lake Arrowhead to train and she will be back on the ice stroking and getting down to business in September.
Nagasu has also shockingly broken the "cardinal rule;)" of skating and announced that her programs will be to "Witches of Eastwick" for the short and "Memoirs of a Geisha" for the free skate. Even though she is not competing for a little while, she announced the music awhile back. So.
I hope Nagasu has a quick recovery, but most important is that she's ready for Nationals and Worlds. I am excited about her short program; I could do without yet another Memoirs of a Geisha program, though.
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Mao Asada Names New Coach
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Shen and Zhao Wedding on Ice
by LauraS 6 days ago
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