Yuka Sato and Mirai Nagasu skate at Detroit Christmas tree lighting | Golden Skate

Yuka Sato and Mirai Nagasu skate at Detroit Christmas tree lighting

Joined
Jun 21, 2003
So, Santa Claus came to town yesterday complete with big doings at Detroit's outdoor public ice arena. Featured headliners were Yuka Sato and Mirai Nagasu. There were also local skaters from the Arctic Edge rink, including a synchro team.

Yuka Sato :love: has still got it. From what they showed on TV she didn't do any jumps, but skated beautifully in a routine featuring a scarf. I half expected her to break into "A Hatful of Stars" (inside joke for those who remember with fondness all the cheesefests and pro competitions of the late 1990s.)

Mirai did some jumps (I think she did two double Axels) and a variety of spins and moves in the field. She looked to be in top shape.

I have to fault the TV coverage. They had to get in interviews with every corporate CEO who donated money, and this took precedence over showing the actual skating. Oh well, the bills have to be paid.

Mirai gave an off-the-wall interview. The TV anchors did everything they could to coax her into giving a pep talk to young skaters to follow their dreams, aim for the moon, etc. ("What do you want to say to all the young skaters out here who dream one one day making the Olympic team?") But Mirai basically kept saying, sometimes your dreams come true, sometimes they don't. :laugh:
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
So, Santa Claus came to town yesterday complete with big doings at Detroit's outdoor public ice arena. Featured headliners were Yuka Sato and Mirai Nagasu. There were also local skaters from the Arctic Edge rink, including a synchro team.

Yuka Sato :love: has still got it. From what they showed on TV she didn't do any jumps, but skated beautifully in a routine featuring a scarf. I half expected her to break into "A Hatful of Stars" (inside joke for those who remember with fondness all the cheesefests and pro competitions of the late 1990s.)

Mirai did some jumps (I think she did two double Axels) and a variety of spins and moves in the field. She looked to be in top shape.

I have to fault the TV coverage. They had to get in interviews with every corporate CEO who donated money, and this took precedence over showing the actual skating. Oh well, the bills have to be paid.

Mirai gave an off-the-wall interview. The TV anchors did everything they could to coax her into giving a pep talk to young skaters to follow their dreams, aim for the moon, etc. ("What do you want to say to all the young skaters out here who dream one one day making the Olympic team?") But Mirai basically kept saying, sometimes your dreams come true, sometimes they don't. :laugh:

At least Mirai was honest!

Yuka does still have it, and she can still jump. ;)
 

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
So, Santa Claus came to town yesterday complete with big doings at Detroit's outdoor public ice arena. Featured headliners were Yuka Sato and Mirai Nagasu. There were also local skaters from the Arctic Edge rink, including a synchro team.

Yuka Sato :love: has still got it. From what they showed on TV she didn't do any jumps, but skated beautifully in a routine featuring a scarf. I half expected her to break into "A Hatful of Stars" (inside joke for those who remember with fondness all the cheesefests and pro competitions of the late 1990s.)

Mirai did some jumps (I think she did two double Axels) and a variety of spins and moves in the field. She looked to be in top shape.

I have to fault the TV coverage. They had to get in interviews with every corporate CEO who donated money, and this took precedence over showing the actual skating. Oh well, the bills have to be paid.

Mirai gave an off-the-wall interview. The TV anchors did everything they could to coax her into giving a pep talk to young skaters to follow their dreams, aim for the moon, etc. ("What do you want to say to all the young skaters out here who dream one one day making the Olympic team?") But Mirai basically kept saying, sometimes your dreams come true, sometimes they don't. :laugh:

Sounds like Mirai is becoming a realist! I brought in the holidays watching the 2008 Nationals, which I attended. A short 11 years ago.....where did they go?
 
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
I brought in the holidays watching the 2008 Nationals, which I attended.

What a crazy competition that was! In men's, the winner was determined by the rounding convention in place. When you add up a bunch of decimal numbers, should you add first and then round the answer to the nearest hundredth, or should you round each number first and then add. With one convention, Lysacek was the winner, with the other it was Weir.

The strange thing is that the software that did the calculating was not programmed to follow the exact written ISU rules (even though, as I understand it, the software was provided by the ISU).

In ladies, the 1st, 2nd, and 4th place winners were all too young to go to worlds. The USFSA sent the bronze medalist (Ashley Wagner) and 5th place (Bebe Liang) The 6th place skater (Katrina Hacker) should have gone (in those days the top three were almost always automatically chosen), but the 7th place lady was 2006 World Champion Kimmie Meissner, who the USFS felt had a better chance to place well at worlds.

Rachael Flatt (2nd at U.S. Nationals), Caroline Zhang (4th) and Mirai Nagasu (1st) all went to junior worlds and swept the podium, 1, 2, 3.

In ice dance, the team of Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates got 4th in seniors, while the junior podium was Madison Hubbell & Keifer Hubbell, Piper Gilles and Tim McKernan and Madison Chock & Greg Zuerline. A lot changed in 11 years indeed!
 
Last edited:

CoyoteChris

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 4, 2004
What a crazy competition that was! In men's, the winner was determined by the rounding convention in place. When you add up a bunch of decimal numbers, should you add first and then round the answer to the nearest hundredth, or should you round each number first and then add. With one convention, Lysacek was the winner, with the other it was Weir.

The strange thing is that the software that did the calculating was not programmed to follow the exact written ISU rules (even though, as I understand it, the software was provided by the ISU).

In ladies, the 1st, 2nd, and 4th place winners were all too young to go to worlds. The USFSA sent the bronze medalist (Ashley Wagner) and 5th place (Bebe Liang) The 6th place skater (Katrina Hacker) should have gone (in those days the top three were almost always automatically chosen), but the 7th place lady was 2006 World Champion Kimmie Meissner, who the USFS felt had a better chance to place well at worlds.

Rachael Flatt (2nd at U.S. Nationals), Caroline Zhang (4th) and Mirai Nagasu (1st) all went to junior worlds and swept the podium, 1, 2, 3.

In ice dance, the team of Emily Samuelson & Evan Bates got 4th in seniors, while the junior podium was Madison Hubbell & Keifer Hubbell, Piper Gilles and Tim McKernan and Madison Chock & Greg Zuerline. A lot changed in 11 years indeed!

Interesting about Evan...Wiki just said he won the free skate so he won the comp.....dont forget the Shibs! They were on the rise.....
While I was hooked on comps after SA Spokane 2002, I really didnt start going to them till Nats Spokane 2007, after I retired in 2004. Those were heady days for me....2007 through worlds and nats in Boston...great times, great comps....lots of wonderful people to meet....lots of favorite interesting skaters....I remember Yasa Nechaeva and I were watching Jason Brown practice on the secondary ice in that convention center in Boston and I remarked how much I liked him, and she said, "Yes, but he will eventually have to cut off his hair...." We laughed....so many good memories. I am looking forward to going to Nats San Jose again...

Emily, where ever you are, I hope you are happy....and can explain to me how a negative interest bond is a good investment. ;)
 
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