Does Mirai Nagasu have the talent to catch/pass Mao or Yu Na?

[olympic]

Just curious as to what people's opinions are.

Mirai has speed, great spins and spirals, almost the full complement of triples [can she do the 3s?]

What would she have to do to compete with them or theoretically move ahead of them?

For those of you who don't think so, does she have what it takes to overtake, say, Rochette?

Is she the US frontrunner with her Olympic and Worlds performances?

[El Rey]

rotate her triples

[orbitz]

Fully rotates AND lands all her triples and 3-3. Don't have a semi lapse in concentration like she did at Worlds. Get more speed and attack.

[sk9tingfan]

Get more speed and attack.

Have you seen her skate live? Because if you had, I don't think you would have made this statement. She blazed across the ice at all of her competitions starting with this year's Nationals.

[olympic]

For those of you who have posted so far, you seem to think that Mirai could catch them if she just laid it out on the ice and executed / rotated all her triples?

[oleada]

I think the judges have shown that when Mirai is on, she's among the best in the world. See the Olympics and the SP at Worlds.

However, she needs to consistently do the following:

1. Rotate her triples
2. Skate two clean programs

Her spins and spirals are already top notch.

[IceAlisa]

^^That.

To answer the question: I really hope so. That's all I can say at this point.

[miki88]

Get tougher mentally. But I fear that Mirai may get stuck in a similar situation as Joannie. Once she becomes more consistent, she may meet up with younger and more challenging competitors. And there are potentially many.

[pinky166]

Fully rotates AND lands all her triples and 3-3. Don't have a semi lapse in concentration like she did at Worlds. Get more speed and attack.

She's really fast. Mao is not very fast and yet she is still consistently one of the top skaters. I think any more speed could potentially hurt Mirai and her consistency (think Kostner). I say with a solid 3-3 and more confidence, she can surpass Mao, and maybe even catch Yuna.

[olympic]

I think it's been mentioned that she is faster than Mao and has superior spins to Mao and Yu Na.

I also think going forward, she and FC should work back in the 3sal and replace one of the 2x's if that is possible to get extra points, but I agree that she mostly needs to just skate clean and rotate all.

I won't worry about her becoming the next Joannie because I think Mirai has it more 'together' in this early stage of her career than Joannie did. FC is probably really pacing her properly for the '11 - '14 quadrennial

[museksk8r]

What would she have to do to compete with them or theoretically move ahead of them?

Yes, she can beat Mao and Yu-Na if they make mistakes.

She needs to:
1. Fully rotate her jumps.
2. Build up her consistency and mental toughness.
3. Establish a respectable resume and reputation in the minds of the judges.
4. Never believe the hype around you (in other words, don't take anything for granted and stay grounded and train hard like the champion you want to become).

For those of you who don't think so, does she have what it takes to overtake, say, Rochette?

Yes, if Joannie makes mistakes.

Is she the US frontrunner with her Olympic and Worlds performances?

She was on her way to claiming that position until her disastrous fall from grace in the Torino Worlds LP. Her potential to medal was great . . . a clean performance could have resulted in a World silver or bronze medal given Yu-Na Kim's disappointing SP outing and LP flaws and Joannie Rochette's absence. As it stands now, Rachael Flatt still has the highest recent senior Worlds finish for a US lady (5th) of those who are currently active in competition. Mirai, however, does have the highest Olympics finish for a US lady (4th). Flatt has 3 US senior medals (2 silvers and 1 gold). Nagasu has 2 US senior medals (1 gold and 1 silver). In other words, they're pretty equal stats-wise.

[chipso1]

Is she the US frontrunner with her Olympic and Worlds performances?

Yes. The new underrotation rules help Mirai, and I think it's safe to say that, after last season, she has established herself as the top U.S. lady at the moment. It will be interesting to see how Agnes and Christina develop in the next year or two, because I think they are the skaters most likely to challenge Mirai at the top. I'm not sure if Flatt and Wagner are going to be able to sustain their skating another 4 years to Sochi.

[museksk8r]

I won't worry about her becoming the next Joannie because I think Mirai has it more 'together' in this early stage of her career than Joannie did. FC is probably really pacing her properly for the '11 - '14 quadrennial

Not sure how you figure that. Rochette never had a big UR problem like Nagasu does. Yes, Mirai's spins are way better than Joannie's, but Jo's jumps are way better than Mirai's. I also think Rochette has the edge in footwork/edging/basics while Nagasu has the edge in spirals. Their speed is pretty equal from what I've seen. Rochette, of course, is way more mature too in her presentation, choreography, flow, and musical interpretation. I also think Jo makes better use of transitions than Mirai does. Performance execution probably goes to Nagasu for the way she attacks and uses her charismatic personality to show her command and joy for skating (sadly, we didn't see this in her Skate Canada LP when she mostly looked down at the ice the whole time with a cold expression on her face as if she was mad or bored).

It's tough to compare the two anyway at age 16/17. Rochette was competing under 6.0 back then and Nagasu competes under COP now at that age.

[miki88]

I think it's been mentioned that she is faster than Mao and has superior spins to Mao and Yu Na.

I also think going forward, she and FC should work back in the 3sal and replace one of the 2x's if that is possible to get extra points, but I agree that she mostly needs to just skate clean and rotate all.

I won't worry about her becoming the next Joannie because I think Mirai has it more 'together' in this early stage of her career than Joannie did. FC is probably really pacing her properly for the '11 - '14 quadrennial

Well, pacing is good but it's not just about being consistent, Mirai will also need to up her technical content because if any of those Russian girls make it through puberty, she will need it to contend with them. Also one of the reasons she was able to pass Mao in the SP at worlds was because the old rules heavily penalized an UR triple axel. With the new rules in place, Mao will be able to add another triple in addition to her 3A. Unless Mirai gets her 3-3 as consistent as Yuna's with added GOE, it's not going to be easy to surpass Mao. I also think Mirai needs a bit of the killer instinct as a competitor. It's easier said than done though. Some skaters just never develop it, while others have it a young age. (e.g Plushenko, Kwan).

[IceJunkie]

Mirai will only be 20, almost 21 in Sochi. Ironically, it seems to me that "older skaters" (18-24) are the ones that have been dominating the past 4 years. Even Mao and Yu-Na at 19 would have been considered middle-aged a couple Olympics ago. Either she will have injury problems the coming years, or her muscle strength will increase and she'll kick her UR problem. If Mirai can get her triples landed, get mentally tough (she already demonstrated she is capable of doing that at this years' Nats and Olympics) then she'll be a force to be reckoned with in the coming quad.

[Lainerb]

If she skates clean then she could be a threat for a major title under the right circumstances. However, falling from first after the short program at Worlds to 11th in the LP and 7th overall shows she has a lot to focus in terms of handling pressure.

[Polymer Bob]

The last report I heard was that Mirai was injured. We know pretty much nothing else beyond that. If she's healthy, she can certainly knock on the door of the best skaters in the world.

This coming season, I have no idea which U.S. lady, if any, will break out.

[blue_idealist]

If she landed all her jumps cleanly and Rochette had some mistakes, she might beat her unless Rochette was too far ahead in PCs. I think Mirai's style is a bit too young right now, even though I like it. She doesn't skate with a lot of maturity like Rochette does even though I actually prefer her to Rochette. I'm not sure if Mirai will be able to beat Mao or Yuna.. I think she could probably beat Mao if Mao misses jumps like she is prone to, but Yuna is usually error-free so she would probably be harder to beat. Especially overall in a competition, because even with Yuna's disastrous SP at the last Worlds she was still able to hold on to 2nd place in the competition. She would have to majorly screw up for more than like one person to pass her.

[smarts1]

If she landed all her jumps cleanly and Rochette had some mistakes, she might beat her unless Rochette was too far ahead in PCs. I think Mirai's style is a bit too young right now, even though I like it. She doesn't skate with a lot of maturity like Rochette does even though I actually prefer her to Rochette. I'm not sure if Mirai will be able to beat Mao or Yuna.. I think she could probably beat Mao if Mao misses jumps like she is prone to, but Yuna is usually error-free so she would probably be harder to beat. Especially overall in a competition, because even with Yuna's disastrous SP at the last Worlds she was still able to hold on to 2nd place in the competition. She would have to majorly screw up for more than like one person to pass her.

I have no idea where everyone gets that Yuna is usually error free... The only time she did clean performances in her whole career was at 2007 COR and at the Olympics and maybe the 2008 GPF?. She often makes a mistake or two in her LPs, but she is able to maintain her lead because of the GOE she gets on her elements.

But yes, I believe that Mirai will need to get more rotation, get a consistent triple-triple, and work on her mental toughness. And her support team really seems to be an excellent one in trying to achieve those things.

[miki88]

I have no idea where everyone gets that Yuna is usually error free... The only time she did clean performances in her whole career was at 2007 COR and at the Olympics and maybe the 2008 GPF?. She often makes a mistake or two in her LPs, but she is able to maintain her lead because of the GOE she gets on her elements.

But yes, I believe that Mirai will need to get more rotation, get a consistent triple-triple, and work on her mental toughness. And her support team really seems to be an excellent one in trying to achieve those things.

Yuna was obviously not error-free at 2008 GPF; she didn't win there. The only time she had been error-free in both programs was at the Olympics. However, her scores aren't as affected because she rarely ever misses her biggest point getter (the 3-3 combo) plus GOE advantage on her elements.