Bradie had a clean Team SP and the highest result in the individual competition, so I would hardly call Mirai the only one who did something great just because she landed her triple axel. Bradie could have done better, but this was her first Olympics or Worlds, unlike the others (and beat them). I don't think any of these ladies are lazy BTW. Not sure why you are raging.
Three answers to this.
1. Nothing Bradie did is remotely comparable to Mirai's doubly historic accomplishment in the team event of landing the beautiful 3A as well as completing the first clean 8-triple program by a senior lady anywhere. Anyone who thinks finishing 9th instead of 10th gives Bradie some kind of edge over Mirai is honestly not seeing straight. They both finished badly. They both began well. But only one is going down in the history books.
2. Being at her first Olympics is often an advantage, not a disadvantage, because of youthful strength and ignorance. Lipinski, Baiul, Hughes, Kim, Sotnikova, Zagitova were all at their first Olympics, for heaven's sake. Bradie isn't even that young. So no points for that excuse.
3. I can't speak for
@bardtoob but from reading this thread what I *think* she was "raging" about (more like being sarcastic in my reading) is the unfairness of putting most of the blame for US ladies' disappointing IE on the shoulders of the one US lady who had the Olympic SOHL and made history and, yes, brought home the bacon, ie a medal, with a clutch skate in the TE. Had she skated worse--as she was generally expected to--and Carolina better, the Shibs might not have been able to make up the ground, at least that was my impression while following the event and FSU's PBP experts in real time.
I don't think #bardtoob really means Bradie and Karen are lazy, only using the logic that if 3A, 8-triple Mirai is going to be considered an underachiever, then by golly the other two have to share the same disgrace because there is no significant difference in how they performed in the IE. If anything, it can be argued that those two should have done better because they either didn't skate in the TE at all or when they did, didn't have the kind of technical or medal pressure on them that Mirai did, nor did they have to deal with the time and pressure of the media extravaganza that followed Mirai's achievement. I.e., they could have skated better being under the radar, but they didn't.
I don't necessarily agree with that analysis and I'm not sure
@bardtoob does either since ai think she was speaking rhetorically. I'm just trying to point out the logic or illogic at work.
Myself, I don't think Bradie represents a shocking decline in US ladies' skating, she just had an uncharacteristic pair of skates and IMO needs a new coach with a lot of attention to PCS and packaging if she wants to fight for the podium internationally. As for Karen, I'm puzzled. She does seem to be in decline for reasons unknown, but given how great she's been in the past, maybe it's something she'll work through.
I think Mirai's overall performance is getting overshadowed by her disastrous post-IE interview as much as her weaker IE skates. I'm really hoping she can get past them both, remember what she achieved, get a ton of rest, and train for Worlds far from any cameras.
Sorry for the long post. I am having a bit of trouble letting go of the Olympics! It was fun if overwhelming and angsty at the end.
