Fumie Suguri failed to qualify for Japanese Nationals again

[Marco]

There was no less pressure on [Arakawa] in Torino; she was in a virtual tie with Cohen and Slutskaya after the SP, and Japan had yet to win a medal; it was all on her shoulders. ruled!

Well Arakawa and Suguri were within range for an Olympic MEDAL and I think honestly that's what Japan was aiming for. A medal, not the title. They got lucky however that both Cohen and Slutskaya made mistakes. With similar jumping content, it's also a testament to Arakawa's superiority to Suguri that Arakawa could win it but Suguri still had to settle for 4th behind the other 2 mistakes-ridden medallists.

[The Accordion]

Whole post I'm not trying to be critical, but let's get real with her.

[lowtherlore]

...With similar jumping content, it's also a testament to Arakawa's superiority to Suguri that Arakawa could win it but Suguri still had to settle for 4th behind the other 2 mistakes-ridden medallists.

Of all the statements made in this thread, that would hurt the most. But I think it’s true. Arakawa was a contender despite her oft-journeyman career; she never was. Her commitment to skating is admirable, but I want to see her move on.

[Jeschke]

They got lucky however that both Cohen and Slutskaya made mistakes. .

i know you spoke afterwards pro arakawa, but please, that sounds like arakawa just won because the others totally crashed.
arakwa was in almost a tie with cohen and slutskaya after the sp, and there, all of them skated clean.

in fs she made a mistake too (double loop) and won despite that and not only because she had luck that all the others failed.

[Marco]

i know you spoke afterwards pro arakawa, but please, that sounds like arakawa just won because the others totally crashed.
arakwa was in almost a tie with cohen and slutskaya after the sp, and there, all of them skated clean.

in fs she made a mistake too (double loop) and won despite that and not only because she had luck that all the others failed.

She was conservative and didn't even go for a 3/3 despite skating first out of all 3. I don't think she was going all out to WIN. I feel she was happy to settle for bronze and didn't really feel she could go higher. It totally worked out that she won but if either Cohen or Slutskaya had skated like they normally did she probably wouldn't have won.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

^ You can say the same thing about her 2004 Worlds win too. Arakawa gave a brilliant performance (her career best IMO) but had Cohen skated better in the LP or had Kwan placed higher in the QR and SP, then things may have turned out differently for Arakawa looking at the judges' ordinals.

I'm very happy that Arakawa won the Olympics and I found her to be almost a combination of both Cohen and Slutskaya, but I found her actual performances to be boring. Sometimes I think I like the idea of Arakawa being an Olympic champion more than I like her actual skate in Torino. I mean her SP was serviceable, but nothing about the choreography or musical interpretation or performance stood out other than me being surprised how well her lame LP that season adapted into a SP. Then there was her third time using Turandot but this time in an inferior version to her 2004 choreography skated much slower with four donut spins. It seems like Arakawa only won something internationally when she skated to Turandot (except that one time she won the NHK with Tarasova's jumbled Romeo and Juliet).

[ioana]

She was conservative and didn't even go for a 3/3 despite skating first out of all 3. I don't think she was going all out to WIN. I feel she was happy to settle for bronze and didn't really feel she could go higher. It totally worked out that she won but if either Cohen or Slutskaya had skated like they normally did she probably wouldn't have won.

I thought the order was Cohen, then Arakawa, and then Slutskaya, wasn't it? Regardless, I do agree Shizuka skated conservatively and left out the 3-3's she was trying on practice sessions.

[michiruwater]

Pretty sure I remember it being Cohen-Arakawa-Slute as well.

[VIETgrlTerifa]

No, it was definitely Cohen-Slutskaya-Arakawa.

I remember Slute being upset after the SP because unlike her Russian teammates in the other three disciplines, she wasn't leading the SP with a considerable margin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Figure_...ies%27_singles

[antmanb]

No, it was definitely Cohen-Slutskaya-Arakawa.

I remember Slute being upset after the SP because unlike her Russian counter-parts in the other three disciplines, she wasn't leading the SP with a considerable margin.

I think people are talking about skate order for the LP rather than positions after the SP, hence Arakawa skating conservatively with Slutskaya left to skate, she was aiming for a medal rather than the gold.

[Garden Kitty]

I hope she's skating for fun and for personal goals. I've always enjoyed Fumie's skating and her determination and I'm sure she helped inspire many younger Japanese skaters.

[Iceman]

Yes, Arakawa was in third place after the sp. Her coach advised her not to attempt a 3/3 in the long. Cohen won silver with two falls in the long I believe.

Was not doing a 3/3 then and winning the gold looked on the same way as Evan's winning his gold without a quad. I don't recall that it was.

[attyfan]

...
Was not doing a 3/3 then and winning the gold looked on the same way as Evan's winning his gold without a quad. I don't recall that it was.

It wasn't. IIRC, Arakawa's winning without a 3/3 was looked upon more as a fluke, in that the other top skaters all made multiple mistakes, rather than as a trend.

[tkaug]

if either Cohen or Slutskaya had skated like they normally did she probably wouldn't have won.

I agree with you for Slutskaya, but which performance of Cohen are you talking about? We've rarely seen her skate flawlessly and we don't call that "like they normally did". Arakawa planned a 3-3 in the SP and 2 3-3s in the FS none of which happened while Cohen didn't plan any(she had a 3-3 sequence though). If all of the medalists had skated perfectly, Cohen would have had no chance to win.

[FunnyBut]

I think people are talking about skate order for the LP rather than positions after the SP, hence Arakawa skating conservatively with Slutskaya left to skate, she was aiming for a medal rather than the gold.

I always thought Arakawa was just aiming for a medal of any color. Her country had yet to win a medal, so there was enormous pressure on her to bring something home. From several accounts she was exceeding well trained and owned the practice sessions.

[judgejudy27]

One thing to remember is Cohen actually landed 5 triples, the same # as Arakawa and still lost by over 8 points. Slutskaya landed 4, only 1 less, and the protocals show had she landed a 5th, she still would have been well beaten, and would have had to land a 6th to even possibly win. So in a way she crushed the others with similar content, even if she made less glaring mistakes than Irina's falls and Cohen's fall and near fall.

[The Accordion]

Goodness this is some serious thread drift!

[Iceman]

Goodness this is some serious thread drift!

Where did Fumie go?

[Sylvia]

Suguri's latest tweet on Dec. 16:

今週は打ち合わせ、取材などで超多忙^_^; 試合のあとで疲れてるけど何故かテンション高い

Via Google Translate:
"Tension high for some reason I've been tired after the game; extremely busy this week ^ _ ^ meetings, interviews, etc."

She's been invited to perform in a gala in Regensburg, Germany on Dec. 28.

[kwanfan1818]

She was conservative and didn't even go for a 3/3 despite skating first out of all 3.

The skate order in the FS was:

Gedevanishvili (19), SP: 57.90 (6)
Cohen (20), SP 66.73 (1)
Arakawa (21), SP 66.02 (3)
Suguri (22), SP 61.75 (4)
Meissner (23), SP 59.40 (5)
Slutskaya (24), 66.70 (2)

I think people are talking about skate order for the LP rather than positions after the SP, hence Arakawa skating conservatively with Slutskaya left to skate, she was aiming for a medal rather than the gold.

At the time, there were reports that the Federation told Morozov to have Arakawa pull the 3/3's so that she would not jeopardize Japan's medal chances.

Arakawa skated third, with Suguri, Meissner, and Slutskaya left to skate. The Japanese Fed had no idea if Suguri would come through, having dropped several places at Worlds in 2004 and 2005 after her high (until that time) of a third bronze in 2003, they didn't know if Meissner would attempt and land 3/3's -- she didn't -- and pull a Hughes, at least for a silver or bronze -- with her 2006 Worlds FS score a month later, she would have won silver by close to 6 points and have lost gold by less than 2 -- and then there was Slutskaya skating last. It could have been a USA, USA, RUS podium in some order at that point, with Japan shut out of medals in the event and in the Olympics.

Suguri didn't have content that she could pull from her program. Her FS score was just over a point less than Slutskaya's with multiple errors, and the edge there for Slutskaya was PCS, but there were only a little over five points separating 2nd from 6th in the FS, and the 4+point deficit to Slutskaya in the SP was too much for her to overcome; if her flutzes had been called, the difference would have been greater.