Joannie Rochette, Canada's Olympic heroine who secured a bronze medal just days after her mother died of a heart attack, has been "warned" by International Skating Union President Ottavio Cinquanta that her amateur status could be revoked if she participates in an exhibition this week but skips the World Championships next week.
Really, ISU? Really?
It's a miracle that Rochette was able to perform in Vancouver two days after learning of her mother's passing, let alone win a bronze medal and significantly boost North American viewership of the Games. Is it really too much to ask that she be able to skate a final exhibition program in honor of her late mother this Friday during the "Thin Ice" TV event and skip the Worlds next week? Since returning home from Vancouver, she probably hasn't had a moment's rest and needs time to properly grieve for her loss.
The ISU should be grateful that most of the Olympic stars will be attending Worlds next week in Torino, Italy. Gold medalist Yu-Na Kim and silver medalist Mao Asada will be attending, as are men's medalists Evgeni Plushenko and Daisuke Takahashi and the top two teams in ice dance, Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir, and Meryl Davis and Charlie White.
While Rochette will no doubt be missed next week, she needs time to heal. Perhaps the ISU's (at times incompetent) big-wigs should be more focused on finding out how a third Chinese team was illegally allowed to compete at last week's Junior World Championships than Rochette's simple request to sit-out Worlds.
Let's prioritize things, Ottavio.
Showing posts with label Joannie Rochette. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joannie Rochette. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Asada prepares for final Olympic tune-up this week at Japanese Nationals
This hasn't exactly been a dream year for Japan's Mao Asada.
After winning the Japanese title last December, she was beaten by both Yu-Na Kim and Joannie Rochette at the Four Continents Championships, and placed a disappointing 4th at the World Championships.
Coming into this season, Asada seemed confident about her chances, but her performances at the Trophee Eric Bompard and Rostelecom Cup events in October were among the worst of her entire career. She could only muster up a 6th place finish in Russia, dashing any hope she had at making the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo earlier this month.
Skating fans on the Web and insiders around the world have been perplexed as to what her troubles are this season. Mao doesn't appear to be injured, nor is she completely unable to land her jumps (her practices at events this season have been stellar). Rather, the problem seems to lie with her competitive focus. Four years ago, Asada defeated World champ Irina Slutskaya at the Grand Prix Final, and though she was too young for the Torino Games in 2006, she established herself as the one to watch during this quadrennium.
Four years older, wiser, and with a World title under her belt, Asada's Olympic time has finally come, but will she be ready? The glare of the Japanese media spotlight is no doubt blinding at times, and the pressure for her and teammates Miki Ando, Yukari Nakano, Akiko Suzuki and Fumie Suguri has got to be immense. Will Mao follow in the footsteps of Midori Ito in 1992, a heavy favorite for Olympic gold yet burdened by the pressure of her home country?
I hope not, as Mao has so many wonderful qualities and is so capable of being a legitimate threat to Kim. However, her programs this season are nothing special, and they hide what makes Mao so great: her elegance, flow, speed, and clean lines.
It will be interesting to see whether she can rebound from a horrific season thus far and recapture some confidence this week at the Japanese Championships. Three Japanese women will make the trip to Vancouver, and while even a sub-par Asada is likely to go, she needs two solid performances here if she is to carry any momentum into the Games. World champion Kim has shown that she too is vulnerable this season, losing the free skate to Rachael Flatt at Skate America and the short program to Ando at the Grand Prix Final.
Mao Asada can be the 2010 Olympic champion, but not without drastic improvement. With uninspired, unartistic, and technically weak performances like she displayed on the Grand Prix Series, a medal of any color in Vancouver is likely out of the question.
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Predictions for the Japanese Nationals: (in no particular order): Ando, Suzuki, and Asada. Nakano was left off the team four years ago in a (controversial) decision, so it's heartbreaking to think that she could (and probably will) be left off the team once again in favor of Suzuki who has been having an incredible season, placing 3rd at the Grand Prix Final. Suguri, a two-time Olympian, should be a non-factor this year.
After winning the Japanese title last December, she was beaten by both Yu-Na Kim and Joannie Rochette at the Four Continents Championships, and placed a disappointing 4th at the World Championships.
Coming into this season, Asada seemed confident about her chances, but her performances at the Trophee Eric Bompard and Rostelecom Cup events in October were among the worst of her entire career. She could only muster up a 6th place finish in Russia, dashing any hope she had at making the Grand Prix Final in Tokyo earlier this month.
Skating fans on the Web and insiders around the world have been perplexed as to what her troubles are this season. Mao doesn't appear to be injured, nor is she completely unable to land her jumps (her practices at events this season have been stellar). Rather, the problem seems to lie with her competitive focus. Four years ago, Asada defeated World champ Irina Slutskaya at the Grand Prix Final, and though she was too young for the Torino Games in 2006, she established herself as the one to watch during this quadrennium.
Four years older, wiser, and with a World title under her belt, Asada's Olympic time has finally come, but will she be ready? The glare of the Japanese media spotlight is no doubt blinding at times, and the pressure for her and teammates Miki Ando, Yukari Nakano, Akiko Suzuki and Fumie Suguri has got to be immense. Will Mao follow in the footsteps of Midori Ito in 1992, a heavy favorite for Olympic gold yet burdened by the pressure of her home country?
I hope not, as Mao has so many wonderful qualities and is so capable of being a legitimate threat to Kim. However, her programs this season are nothing special, and they hide what makes Mao so great: her elegance, flow, speed, and clean lines.
It will be interesting to see whether she can rebound from a horrific season thus far and recapture some confidence this week at the Japanese Championships. Three Japanese women will make the trip to Vancouver, and while even a sub-par Asada is likely to go, she needs two solid performances here if she is to carry any momentum into the Games. World champion Kim has shown that she too is vulnerable this season, losing the free skate to Rachael Flatt at Skate America and the short program to Ando at the Grand Prix Final.
Mao Asada can be the 2010 Olympic champion, but not without drastic improvement. With uninspired, unartistic, and technically weak performances like she displayed on the Grand Prix Series, a medal of any color in Vancouver is likely out of the question.
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Predictions for the Japanese Nationals: (in no particular order): Ando, Suzuki, and Asada. Nakano was left off the team four years ago in a (controversial) decision, so it's heartbreaking to think that she could (and probably will) be left off the team once again in favor of Suzuki who has been having an incredible season, placing 3rd at the Grand Prix Final. Suguri, a two-time Olympian, should be a non-factor this year.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Shen, Zhao hit comeback trail at Cup of China
Finally, a comeback worth getting excited about.
Three-time World pairs champions and two-time Olympic bronze medalists Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China will skate for the first time in 2.5 years tomorrow at the Cup of China, the third stop on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
The sentimental favorites of so many in the skating community, Shen and Zhao are looking very strong for so early in the season. In a practice clip from Chinese TV, the pair landed beautiful side-by-side triple toe loops, a soaring triple twist and huge throw triple jumps.
The duo dominated the years leading up to Torino, winning two World titles and nearly every Grand Prix event in which they entered. Before the 2006 Games, however, Zhao suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon. Surgery and rehab followed, but their participation in the Games was in severe jeopardy. In they end, they rallied back from a fifth place finish in the short program there to take the bronze overall, a medal they also won four years prior in Salt Lake City.
The team went undefeated in the 2006-07 season, capping it off with a third World championship and a marriage proposal. They toured with Stars on Ice and performed in numerous shows, but their "unfinished business" with the Olympics has clearly led them back for another shot at the gold medal--and the chance to go out on their own terms.
Though the German team of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy have won the past two World championships, the Olympic gold medal is far from theirs yet. This is figure skating, after all, and anything can happen. If Shen and Zhao can remain healthy throughout the season, I see no reason why they can't be the top team in Vancouver. The top Russian, Canadian and American teams are either inconsistent, relatively new to the international scene, or both. The other two Chinese pairs lack the finesse and experience of Shen and Zhao. I repeat: anything is possible, especially at the Olympics.
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The Cup of China will also feature the season debuts of World champion Evan Lysacek and four-time World medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. Japan's Nobunari Oda could provide some stiff competition for Lysacek, but look for Joannie Rochette of Canada to take gold in the ladies event, with Americans Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu battling it out for the remaining podium spots with Japan's Akiko Suzuki and Italy's Carolina Kostner.
Three-time World pairs champions and two-time Olympic bronze medalists Xue Shen and Hongbo Zhao of China will skate for the first time in 2.5 years tomorrow at the Cup of China, the third stop on the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating series.
The sentimental favorites of so many in the skating community, Shen and Zhao are looking very strong for so early in the season. In a practice clip from Chinese TV, the pair landed beautiful side-by-side triple toe loops, a soaring triple twist and huge throw triple jumps.
The duo dominated the years leading up to Torino, winning two World titles and nearly every Grand Prix event in which they entered. Before the 2006 Games, however, Zhao suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon. Surgery and rehab followed, but their participation in the Games was in severe jeopardy. In they end, they rallied back from a fifth place finish in the short program there to take the bronze overall, a medal they also won four years prior in Salt Lake City.
The team went undefeated in the 2006-07 season, capping it off with a third World championship and a marriage proposal. They toured with Stars on Ice and performed in numerous shows, but their "unfinished business" with the Olympics has clearly led them back for another shot at the gold medal--and the chance to go out on their own terms.
Though the German team of Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy have won the past two World championships, the Olympic gold medal is far from theirs yet. This is figure skating, after all, and anything can happen. If Shen and Zhao can remain healthy throughout the season, I see no reason why they can't be the top team in Vancouver. The top Russian, Canadian and American teams are either inconsistent, relatively new to the international scene, or both. The other two Chinese pairs lack the finesse and experience of Shen and Zhao. I repeat: anything is possible, especially at the Olympics.
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The Cup of China will also feature the season debuts of World champion Evan Lysacek and four-time World medalists Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto. Japan's Nobunari Oda could provide some stiff competition for Lysacek, but look for Joannie Rochette of Canada to take gold in the ladies event, with Americans Rachael Flatt and Mirai Nagasu battling it out for the remaining podium spots with Japan's Akiko Suzuki and Italy's Carolina Kostner.
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