Closing the Gap Without Winning a Medal
Hi everyone! I found this interesting read in the NY Times today, and found they had it on the web as well. It's just what the headline sounds like: for the first time since '64, an American woman did not medal in figure skating. Bolded for the tl;dr crowd
By JERÉ LONGMAN
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The Olympic medal ceremony for women’s figure skating brought the rarest of sights. For the first time, the South Korean flag was raised, in the gold medal position. And for the first time since 1964, the flag of the United States was not raised at all.
For the first time since 1964, the medals ceremony for women’s figure skating did not require the participation of an American.
For too many years, American officials clung to the fortunes of skaters like Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen, and others did not have a sufficient chance to develop. For some, the timing was wrong; Kimmie Meisner won the 2006 world championship, but her career flamed out before this Olympic cycle.
At first, the Americans were also resistant to the technical demands required by the new points-based scoring system. Finally, they began to come around, and though the United States’ women did not win a medal at the Vancouver Games, they received some heartening news as Mirai Nagasu, 16, of Arcadia, Calif., finished fourth.
Although it is way too early to make predictions for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, given that bodies and interests and health can change, Nagasu would have to be considered among the favorites at this point.
“She has a freshness about her skating, a joy,” Brian Orser, who coaches the gold medalist Kim Yu-na of South Korea, said of Nagasu. “I know the style of Frank Carroll, the way he teaches - beautiful line right through to her smile. It’s real and it’s refreshing, and I like that.”
Despite Nagasu’s encouraging finish here, with Carroll as her coach, the Americans should be sobered by what occurred in the women’s competition. Skaters from South Korea and Japan have won the two most recent Olympic titles and the last three world championships, taking 10 of the 15 available medals in those five international competitions.
“The American ladies are a little behind the curve, because the international judging system was not accepted by our country in the very beginning,” said David Kirby, a coach from Dallas and a technical expert for the International Skating Union, the sport’s world governing body.
The old 6-point system was scrapped after the judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. It was replaced by a points-based system that requires enhanced technical skill. Each performance becomes a kind of scavenger hunt as skaters go from jumps to spins to footwork, and back to jumps, trying to score enough points to win.
“Everything counts now,” said Dorothy Hamill, the 1976 Olympic champion. “It’s not a free program anymore, it’s a long program. Every change of edge, every change of direction, every position, every jump, every spin, counts, and it’s really much more physically demanding.”
Before Vancouver, the last time the American women did not win an Olympic medal came as a result of tragedy. Eighteen members of the United States figure skating team died in a plane crash en route to the 1961 world championships in Prague. Coaches like Carlo Fassi of Italy and John Nicks of England went to the United States to help rebuild the skating program, but it was not yet fully reconstructed by the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Peggy Fleming, then 16, finished sixth, four years before she won the gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
One of those who died in the 1961 crash was the legendary coach Maribel Vinson. One of her students was Carroll, whom she had been urging to leave skating to attend law school. If Vinson had not died, Carroll said the other day, “Who knows, I may have done something else.”
Instead, he remained in skating and after 10 Olympics, one of his skaters, Evan Lysacek, won a gold medal at the Vancouver Games. He also began coaching Nagasu, who won the 2008 national title as a 14-year-old, then struggled through a growth spurt in 2009 before regaining her form and her love of skating this season. She was second to Rachael Flatt last month at the national championships.
With a teenager’s irrepressibility, Nagasu said, “I’m here to show myself and others I’m the future of the U.S.A.”
Many thought Nagasu had won a second title at nationals, but the judges downgraded three of her triple jumps for lack of three full rotations. She seemed to have corrected the problem by the time the Vancouver Games arrived. There was little pressure on her, and Nagasu seemed buoyant during her practices before the short program.
“She has absolutely nothing to lose,” Carroll said of Nagasu then. “For me, this Olympics is a setup for the next one. She’ll be 20 years old, a perfect age, four more years of maturity. She is a lovely, lovely skater. She has Olympic champion potential, the way she moves. She has personality, guts.”
Her potential medal chances disappeared early, though. Nagasu reduced a planned triple-triple combination to a triple-double in the short program. Her nose also began to bleed during her performance, and she finished in sixth place; Flatt was fifth. Nagasu expressed disappointment but joked that at least she did not fall.
“She didn’t quite have that spark,” Carroll said.
As the last performer in the free skate, though, Nagasu gave an elegant performance that drew her up to fourth position. Flatt struggled with her jumps and artistry and dropped to seventh.
“I think I learned a lot at my first international competition,” Nagasu said. “It was my first time being in the final warm-up. It was a great honor and stressful as they say, but I was able to beat the pressure.”
Now will come four years of honing her skills according to the scoring requirements. Carroll, 71, is not a big fan of the system, arguing that it detracts from the artistry of skating, but concedes that if he does not follow its mandates, “I’m a dinosaur.”
Kirby, the technical expert, said: “I really do think the country is finally on board. They realize this bus is going forward with or without us. We better get on board.”
SOURCE
By JERÉ LONGMAN
VANCOUVER, British Columbia - The Olympic medal ceremony for women’s figure skating brought the rarest of sights. For the first time, the South Korean flag was raised, in the gold medal position. And for the first time since 1964, the flag of the United States was not raised at all.
For the first time since 1964, the medals ceremony for women’s figure skating did not require the participation of an American.
For too many years, American officials clung to the fortunes of skaters like Michelle Kwan and Sasha Cohen, and others did not have a sufficient chance to develop. For some, the timing was wrong; Kimmie Meisner won the 2006 world championship, but her career flamed out before this Olympic cycle.
At first, the Americans were also resistant to the technical demands required by the new points-based scoring system. Finally, they began to come around, and though the United States’ women did not win a medal at the Vancouver Games, they received some heartening news as Mirai Nagasu, 16, of Arcadia, Calif., finished fourth.
Although it is way too early to make predictions for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, given that bodies and interests and health can change, Nagasu would have to be considered among the favorites at this point.
“She has a freshness about her skating, a joy,” Brian Orser, who coaches the gold medalist Kim Yu-na of South Korea, said of Nagasu. “I know the style of Frank Carroll, the way he teaches - beautiful line right through to her smile. It’s real and it’s refreshing, and I like that.”
Despite Nagasu’s encouraging finish here, with Carroll as her coach, the Americans should be sobered by what occurred in the women’s competition. Skaters from South Korea and Japan have won the two most recent Olympic titles and the last three world championships, taking 10 of the 15 available medals in those five international competitions.
“The American ladies are a little behind the curve, because the international judging system was not accepted by our country in the very beginning,” said David Kirby, a coach from Dallas and a technical expert for the International Skating Union, the sport’s world governing body.
The old 6-point system was scrapped after the judging scandal at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. It was replaced by a points-based system that requires enhanced technical skill. Each performance becomes a kind of scavenger hunt as skaters go from jumps to spins to footwork, and back to jumps, trying to score enough points to win.
“Everything counts now,” said Dorothy Hamill, the 1976 Olympic champion. “It’s not a free program anymore, it’s a long program. Every change of edge, every change of direction, every position, every jump, every spin, counts, and it’s really much more physically demanding.”
Before Vancouver, the last time the American women did not win an Olympic medal came as a result of tragedy. Eighteen members of the United States figure skating team died in a plane crash en route to the 1961 world championships in Prague. Coaches like Carlo Fassi of Italy and John Nicks of England went to the United States to help rebuild the skating program, but it was not yet fully reconstructed by the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Peggy Fleming, then 16, finished sixth, four years before she won the gold medal at the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France.
One of those who died in the 1961 crash was the legendary coach Maribel Vinson. One of her students was Carroll, whom she had been urging to leave skating to attend law school. If Vinson had not died, Carroll said the other day, “Who knows, I may have done something else.”
Instead, he remained in skating and after 10 Olympics, one of his skaters, Evan Lysacek, won a gold medal at the Vancouver Games. He also began coaching Nagasu, who won the 2008 national title as a 14-year-old, then struggled through a growth spurt in 2009 before regaining her form and her love of skating this season. She was second to Rachael Flatt last month at the national championships.
With a teenager’s irrepressibility, Nagasu said, “I’m here to show myself and others I’m the future of the U.S.A.”
Many thought Nagasu had won a second title at nationals, but the judges downgraded three of her triple jumps for lack of three full rotations. She seemed to have corrected the problem by the time the Vancouver Games arrived. There was little pressure on her, and Nagasu seemed buoyant during her practices before the short program.
“She has absolutely nothing to lose,” Carroll said of Nagasu then. “For me, this Olympics is a setup for the next one. She’ll be 20 years old, a perfect age, four more years of maturity. She is a lovely, lovely skater. She has Olympic champion potential, the way she moves. She has personality, guts.”
Her potential medal chances disappeared early, though. Nagasu reduced a planned triple-triple combination to a triple-double in the short program. Her nose also began to bleed during her performance, and she finished in sixth place; Flatt was fifth. Nagasu expressed disappointment but joked that at least she did not fall.
“She didn’t quite have that spark,” Carroll said.
As the last performer in the free skate, though, Nagasu gave an elegant performance that drew her up to fourth position. Flatt struggled with her jumps and artistry and dropped to seventh.
“I think I learned a lot at my first international competition,” Nagasu said. “It was my first time being in the final warm-up. It was a great honor and stressful as they say, but I was able to beat the pressure.”
Now will come four years of honing her skills according to the scoring requirements. Carroll, 71, is not a big fan of the system, arguing that it detracts from the artistry of skating, but concedes that if he does not follow its mandates, “I’m a dinosaur.”
Kirby, the technical expert, said: “I really do think the country is finally on board. They realize this bus is going forward with or without us. We better get on board.”
SOURCE