luenatic
March 27th, 2004, 08:18 AM
Y'all know what happened before Michelle started. A crazy guy went out to the ice, slowly took off his clothes and skated around. The security guys tried to catch him but not too successfully. The crazy guy was on skate, the security were on leather shoes!
For a moment, Michelle didnīt know what happened. Both the crazy guy and Michelle were skating together on the ice. I had a picture with the 2 of them together on the ice. When I get back to the States, Iīll upload it for y'all to see. Itīll be a while though.
Anyhow, we found out that Michelleīs protest didnīt work. There was a notice posted in the arena saying there were 3 different sources confirmed that MKīs SP time was 2:42. Oh well. Life goes on.
Since ABC will show the LP soon, I wonīt spend much time to describe the program here.
Slutskayaīs performance was not her usual self. Her combo spin was better tonight.
Suguri was great. She was fast and the jumps were good. The usual flutz, but thatīs doesnīt matter, really. Too bad she doubled her salchow. Otherwise, it was a world class performance. If she did her 3S, Iīd put her in front of Sasha.
Rochette from Canada did a wonderful job. She had 2 3/3 sequences: 3F/step/3T and 3T/step/3S. Not real combination though.
On to the last group,
Arakawa skated first. I think her 3S/3T was cheated on the toe. Youīll have to watch slo-mo to find that out. But her 3Z/3T/2loop was great to watch. Wonderful skate and standing O all around. She looks relax during her performance. It looks like she was having a great time out there, smiling and relax. Rare quality.
Sebestyen was next. Since Arakawa skated so great, Julia just had to deal with the pressure. She first popped her Salchow right in front of the judges. But she pulled herself together and finished the program with 5 triples. Her 2 lutzes and the Flip were great. Lots of spring. Textbook perfect.
Then Sasha came out. Skated around for a minute before taking her position. Right from the beginning, you can tell Sasha was stiff. Both her flutz and flip landings were stiff. For the first 2:20, all she did was jumps and crossover. Since her jumps were not hugh and flowy tonight, the audience were kind of underwhelmed by her performance tonight. Her spiral got lots of applause. If Fumie were on the last group, I think the judges would put Fumie ahead of Sasha again. Standing O from US fans and some USSR fans.
(Note: Through out this competition, there is a group of people cheering and waving the USSR flag for all the Soviet/former Soviet/Soviet turned whatever countries-related skaters.)
While Sasha was waiting for her mark, MK was on the ice. After Sashaīs mark was announced, I saw the crazy guy taking off his clothes on the ice! After he skated on the ice with Michelle for a minute, the security urged Michelle to get back in behind the gate. Thank goodness that guy wasnīt armed or posed danger to Michelle. I donīt know how could he get passed all the security??????
After they took the guy off the ice, Michelle went back out and saw a piece of green plastic on the ice. She pointed it out and the referee? asked the little girl to go out and pick it up.
Once the ice was cleared, MK took her position and started her program. Before my report on her LP, let me tell you her 6 minutes warmup. :b
I was watching MK only during the 6 min warm up. These are the jumps she did: 2A, 3T, 3S/2T, 3F, 3Z/2T, 3loop (saved landing), 3S/2T. So basically, she did all her jump once and thatīs all she did. She didnīt even repeat any more jumps. No spins, no spiral, no nothing. Just all the jumps once. I noticed MK pre-rotated her left shoulder for her loop take off during warm up, thatīs probably why the landing was not as good.
OK, LP time. Her LP was good. She landed most of her jumps. Slight travel (very slight) on combo spins. She doubled her last lutz. Other than that, great performance. The audience were captivated by Michelleīs performance. Standing O all around. The second standing O (and the last one) tonight.
Ando was very nervous. She wasnīt having fun at all. She was tensed all around and I think that affected her performance. She wasnīt performing tonight, she was there to execute her jumps.
Kostner was great in the beginning. But she was obviously tired after half of her program. 3Z was a nasty fall. Straight line footwork was slow and tiring. 3S was a mess at the end.
Thatīs all folks.
Tomorrow is gala. I wonīt have much to report.
Thanks iloveskating for being my reporter!
Cheer from Dortmund.
For a moment, Michelle didnīt know what happened. Both the crazy guy and Michelle were skating together on the ice. I had a picture with the 2 of them together on the ice. When I get back to the States, Iīll upload it for y'all to see. Itīll be a while though.
Anyhow, we found out that Michelleīs protest didnīt work. There was a notice posted in the arena saying there were 3 different sources confirmed that MKīs SP time was 2:42. Oh well. Life goes on.
Since ABC will show the LP soon, I wonīt spend much time to describe the program here.
Slutskayaīs performance was not her usual self. Her combo spin was better tonight.
Suguri was great. She was fast and the jumps were good. The usual flutz, but thatīs doesnīt matter, really. Too bad she doubled her salchow. Otherwise, it was a world class performance. If she did her 3S, Iīd put her in front of Sasha.
Rochette from Canada did a wonderful job. She had 2 3/3 sequences: 3F/step/3T and 3T/step/3S. Not real combination though.
On to the last group,
Arakawa skated first. I think her 3S/3T was cheated on the toe. Youīll have to watch slo-mo to find that out. But her 3Z/3T/2loop was great to watch. Wonderful skate and standing O all around. She looks relax during her performance. It looks like she was having a great time out there, smiling and relax. Rare quality.
Sebestyen was next. Since Arakawa skated so great, Julia just had to deal with the pressure. She first popped her Salchow right in front of the judges. But she pulled herself together and finished the program with 5 triples. Her 2 lutzes and the Flip were great. Lots of spring. Textbook perfect.
Then Sasha came out. Skated around for a minute before taking her position. Right from the beginning, you can tell Sasha was stiff. Both her flutz and flip landings were stiff. For the first 2:20, all she did was jumps and crossover. Since her jumps were not hugh and flowy tonight, the audience were kind of underwhelmed by her performance tonight. Her spiral got lots of applause. If Fumie were on the last group, I think the judges would put Fumie ahead of Sasha again. Standing O from US fans and some USSR fans.
(Note: Through out this competition, there is a group of people cheering and waving the USSR flag for all the Soviet/former Soviet/Soviet turned whatever countries-related skaters.)
While Sasha was waiting for her mark, MK was on the ice. After Sashaīs mark was announced, I saw the crazy guy taking off his clothes on the ice! After he skated on the ice with Michelle for a minute, the security urged Michelle to get back in behind the gate. Thank goodness that guy wasnīt armed or posed danger to Michelle. I donīt know how could he get passed all the security??????
After they took the guy off the ice, Michelle went back out and saw a piece of green plastic on the ice. She pointed it out and the referee? asked the little girl to go out and pick it up.
Once the ice was cleared, MK took her position and started her program. Before my report on her LP, let me tell you her 6 minutes warmup. :b
I was watching MK only during the 6 min warm up. These are the jumps she did: 2A, 3T, 3S/2T, 3F, 3Z/2T, 3loop (saved landing), 3S/2T. So basically, she did all her jump once and thatīs all she did. She didnīt even repeat any more jumps. No spins, no spiral, no nothing. Just all the jumps once. I noticed MK pre-rotated her left shoulder for her loop take off during warm up, thatīs probably why the landing was not as good.
OK, LP time. Her LP was good. She landed most of her jumps. Slight travel (very slight) on combo spins. She doubled her last lutz. Other than that, great performance. The audience were captivated by Michelleīs performance. Standing O all around. The second standing O (and the last one) tonight.
Ando was very nervous. She wasnīt having fun at all. She was tensed all around and I think that affected her performance. She wasnīt performing tonight, she was there to execute her jumps.
Kostner was great in the beginning. But she was obviously tired after half of her program. 3Z was a nasty fall. Straight line footwork was slow and tiring. 3S was a mess at the end.
Thatīs all folks.
Tomorrow is gala. I wonīt have much to report.
Thanks iloveskating for being my reporter!
Cheer from Dortmund.