Despite a brilliant skate, Japan’s Mao Asada (left) finished nearly five points behind South Korea’s Kim Yu-Na (middle), who broke her own world record in the short program. NBC pitted the two 19-year-olds’ routines side-by-side in this crazy video. So which Brian of the 1988 Battle of the Brians is Kim? Even though silver medalist Brian Orser is Kim’s own coach, the answer has to be gold-medalist Boitano. The chunky jewels on Kim’s mosaic-style James Bond dress simply come far closer to the gold hardware on Boitano’s blue military-style costume than anything on Asada’s dress ever could. But enough about that. EVERYONE rose to the occasion last night! Or more succinctly, in the immortal words of one of Scott Hamilton’s guttural spasms after someone lands a tough jump, “Owwwhh! What a night, unnhhhhh, I can’t believe it!”
Before I get into the ladies’ rankings, please join me in a hearty Canadian round of applause for your faithful PopWatch on Ice recapper Mandi Bierly, who was last spotted “performing” spiral sequences in the middle of a New Jersey Transit car midday Tuesday — eyes closed, iPod’s “Fo Shizzle My Twizzle” playlist on shuffle, hoping the train would transform into a giant bobsled and luge her all the way to Vancouver. (Update: She’s at her computer.) Top 6 finishers after the jump, and by jump I obviously mean triple lutz-triple toe. For the love of Scott, this is the Olympics! Owwhh!
1. Kim Yu-Na was just pure sexy-cool on the ice. (Watch.) After watching a bunch of biggest-celebrity-in-her-country packages about Kim that basically amounted to “the poor girl ran away to Canada due to stalkers,” I was hoping her actual routine would live up to the hype. Perhaps in the same way it’s hard to explain why she’s such a phenomenon off the ice in her home country, it’s hard to pinpoint exactly what’s so dazzling about Kim on the ice. We keep hearing that other skaters are “pure athletes” and “jumping beans,” so for me it was nice to see a skater return to the playful, somewhat sultry side of skating — ye olde “artistic interpretation” from days of yore, if you will. (Read my interview with Kristi Yamaguchi for more on the disconnect between the current and former systems.) This is ice dancing, people. I’m sorry she has the weight of an entire country on her tiny shoulders, but how amusing was that fridge commercial in German? And now, in the spirit of NBC, I’m going to abruptly end a sob-story montage about Kim Yu-Na with a harsh cut to—
2. Mao Asada is the only skater with a triple axel, and she landed it! (Watch.) Scott Hamilton was so excited: “That is as free and easy and happy as I’ve seen her skate. When do you peak? You want to peak at the Olympic Games. Nailed this.” I especially liked that Mao received an ample audience reaction during the “Here I am!” pose in her spiral sequence. (My heart breaks a little when the skaters debut the Here I Am — the most audience-connective move in a given routine — to no recognition. Not even a “should we clap now?” titter. I guess you could blame the skater, but I usually blame the crowd. If I was in the stands, I’d be on the edge of my seat for the Here I Am so I could do a standing O every time. Sometimes it’s the music’s fault, maybe?) Anyway, I truly enjoyed Mao and hope she can be as relaxed tomorrow night as she was Tuesday. If she has to skate after Kim Yu-Na, will she be able to handle it?
3. Joannie Rochette Was anyone not crying before Joannie (pictured, right) even assumed her opening position? (Watch.) The Canadian skated on home ice just two days after the sudden death of her mother, and looked so emotional on the sidelines beforehand that I worried she’d wipe out right away and didn’t know if any viewer — let alone Joannie herself — could handle a whole routine. Wrong. The girl with a rose down her back and a tear in her eye found solace on the ice and skated a routine perhaps made even more beautiful and poignant by the fact that the commentators were completely silent throughout the entire thing. Perhaps Scott felt it would be disrespectful to have his usual orgasm every time she stuck a landing. “The scores don’t really matter, do they? But this is her personal best.” Hmm. I think they matter a little, at least tomorrow? I think we’d all love for Joannie to medal.
4. Miki Ando Japan’s Ando competed in the Women’s Skate Cross last night. (Watch.) You hardly knew which crucifix to focus on — the small one around her neck or the giant sparkly one emblazoned across her sternum. Ando lost points on some under-rotated triples, but attempted plenty of them. “Ohhhhh she’s GOIN’ for it all the way!” cried Scott. Still, her 64.76 fell far short of her season’s and personal best, so I guess she was the night’s disappointment. But isn’t it pretty awesome that the night’s disappointment didn’t even fall? I hate when everyone falls; it drags down the competition’s element of sheer wonder/magic.
5. Rachael Flatt Both members of Team U.S.A. exceeded expectations and will get to skate in the final group Thursday night — seriously, quite the accomplishment in itself. This one, Rachael, is a Stanford-bound smartie. “If anyone can figure out the scoring system, she can!” joked Scott. Oh honey no. Here was Scott Hamilton’s well-prepared assessment of Rachael’s routine: “The straight-line sequence really defines this program of personality, the intricacy, the difficulty.” (I initially thought he said “sequins.”) For me, Rachael’s routine was all about a total confidence I still can’t quite fathom for an 18-year-old and legs that were roughly seven shades darker than the rest of her. (Watch.) Very proud of both of our girls…
6. Mirai Nagasu Her “Pirates of the Caribbean” routine (watch) was one of the first we saw last night, and the master spinner set a gorgeous tone for the next few hours (of televised skiing). She turned a triple combination into a double due to lack of speed. Her mom, who wore clothes with holes in them so she could afford lessons while battling cancer, looked concerned after Mirai’s routine. She had developed a bloody nose from spinning too hard. Ah, the Olympics. By the way, I love when an early-competing Olympic athlete’s chances of becoming the current frontrunner are so high as to seem like a done deal before the score even pops up. What’s that, Mirai “needs 59.23 to lead”? OF COURSE she’s going to lead! I think I get as happy as they do. It’s like a mini gold medal in their minds.
OTHER OBSERVATIONS:
- I love the instant recognition of the skaters’ faces and sort of recognizing the look and shape of their names. Turkey’s Tugba Karademir! Of course!
- The way Finland’s Laura Lepisto‘s maroonish sparkly sleeves didn’t really match the rest of her deep purple dress annoyed me at first, but then once she spent some time mid-air, the blue-violetness of the butt helped everything make more sense.
- Sometimes skate guards look like snorkels.
- I’ll let my mom, Dee Barrett, review Carolina Kostner via email: “The Italian got a little cheeky with her butt in those red panties! We, however, do not watch if someone falls — on to the next one…..so I didn’t get to see if that ever became much of a malfunction or not.”
- My mom and I are maybe a little too fixated on people’s butts.
- “The Japanese skaters received skates made of chocolate.”
*
Finally: OH MY GOD.
Does Kim Yu-Na get gold? Who did you love last night, PopWatch-on-Icers?
More ladies skating: Kristi Yamaguchi answers EW readers’ questions!
Annie on Twitter: @EWAnnieBarrett
More PopWatch on Ice:
EW’s Olympics hub
Gold medalists Virtue and Moir renew our faith in ice dancing
After watching ice dancing, does anyone else think ‘Avatar On Ice’ could be super chill?
Ice dancing original dance recap: Culture clash!
Ice dancing compulsory recap: Competition to have more tension than a night of Tango Romantica
Which is dorkier: Olympic Ice Dancing or Dancing With the Stars?
Men’s recap: Lysacek defeats Plushenko in cold war
Men’s recap: Villains, heroes, and fashion victims in the men’s short programs
Pairs’ recap: Shen and Zhao win pairs gold following collective gasp
Pairs’ recap: Good music, bad costumes, and questionable scoring in the pairs’ short programs
Great recap. I am so pulling for Joannie to medal as well. She skated fantastically. Not to nitpick, but skate covers are the leggings that cover the tops of the skates to make a skater’s legs look longer. Skate guards are what cover the blades so you can walk on non-protected surfaces off-ice.
Like most Canadians I was a sobbing mess after Joannie’s skate. So proud of her and I really hope she does well tomorrow. Medal would be great, but I just want her to be happy (well, as happy as possible given the circumstances) with herself. Yu-Na was fantastic and it really was nice to see Mao Asada’s bright smile for the first time in so long.
It wasn’t just Canadians that were a sobbing mess. My heart ached for her as I watched.
How do you not just root, root, root for Joannie? My god, most of us would be a puddle of goo in the corner, barely functional, and the woman donned her skates, her sequins and her sorrow and NAILED her performance, with a personal best, no less! The Olympic gold for chutzpah goes to Miss Rochette, hands down. If she’ll do it, there’s absolutely NO ONE else who should carry Canada’s flag at the closing ceremony, says this oh-so-proud Canadian!
But we all know Yu-Na Kim will win the gold. BTW, Annie, on the Canadian channel we viewers were informed that, upon moving to Canada, Miss Kim dropped the Korean way to present her name in favor of the North American way. That’s how she writes it now, so you may want to correct it. Can’t wait for your DWTS recaps!
Not necessarily, Evan Lysacek proved that you don’t need the big jumps to win. Joannie has as much a chance to take the gold.
tmwalkerm:
but kim has SUPER goe’s compared to the rest of the field. if at all, kim relates to lysacek’s deal about not needing the big jumps to win–asada has the triple axel (which is basically equivalent to the quad in men’s)–so a clean skate by kim would definitely beat an asada with not as well executed triple axels.
joannie i’m sorry to say is around 7 points behind kim–she definitely is a medal contender–but rationally speaking, kim and asada are the heavy gold favorites right now.
Actually, the real battle is for silver. Kim is almost a full 5 points ahead of Asada, whereas Joannie is not all that far behind Asada. The triple axel is not anywhere near quad caliber,and unless she does a triple at the end of her triple axel and providing Kim does not blow half her elements, there is no way Asada could catch her.
If Asada makes a mistake and Joannie skates clean, Joannie could easily make up the two and a half points she is behind.
A lot of people seem to be forgetting that Joannie is currently the world silver medalist and came to the Olympics with Gold expectations.
Here’s the thing about Asada’s triple axel: in competition, she lands it about 1/3 of the time (if I understood the commentators correctly). If she can land it tomorrow night, she will probably get the silver, but if she crashes, and Joannie skates clean, Joannie will take second.
i need links to videos! links so that i can go home and catch up later!
Links added
The women are the men this year, and the men are the boys – the various programs by the ladies were so much stronger and cleaner.
I don’t see how you can compare the women to the men. Maybe the women were “stronger and cleaner” but that’s because only one woman did the triple axel whereas 3 or 4 men attempted/did the quad. Plus, the top 3 men (Plushenko, Lysacek and Takahasi) all turned in strong and clean short programs, and their rankings were a lot tighter than the women’s short program. I thought the men’s competition was one of the best in a long time.
I think you’re missing the intent of the comments. I believe the point is that the ladies did incredbily well, even those without any chance of medaling, such as Turkey and Australia.
Yay! Happy to see a figure skating recap from Annie. I’m really surprised you restrained yourself on Mao Asada’s hideous outfit, however. Both the #1 and #2 ladies need to lose the chokers, but Mao’s lace was hideous. Distracted from the routine, which is the worst thing a costume can do.
It’s official. I love PopWatch on Ice. Thanks, Mandi and Annie! (PS Joannie for a medal! Even though I know it would make me dissolve into a puddle of tears.)
Me too. Popwatch on Ice is almost as good as the actual skate. Can you cover the Worlds as well?
I have watched Joannie Rochette’s performance three times now, and I have cried every single time. I’m an American, but I hope she gets a medal – what poise and grace in the face of such a personal tragedy! And Mirai Nagasu looks absolutely beautiful when she spins, nosebleed notwithstanding. Ah, the Olympics!
Joannie had already won most of our hearts before she even came to the Olympics and the whole nation now is routing for her. Its not about the medals for Joannie, its about release and finding peace within herself during this time. Its unfortunate timing but we Canadians have never been more proud. I wish her and her family all the best.
Loved all the ladies – even the lesser known skaters like Tugba and the young lady from Australia who found out on Feb2nd that she would be going to Olympics since Israel decided not to send anyone.
Tugba is actually a Canadian skating for Turkey. Her parents weren’t able to get tickets to see her compete until a good Samaritan gave up her tickets to give to them so they could go.
No, she’s Turkish and moved to Canada to train. Her parents gave up everything in Turkey and emigrated so she’d have a shot at skating.
The top 3 would have to have distastrous free skates and the US girls would have to be dead on perfect (no under rotations)for a US lady to land on the podium. Not unheard of, but the top 2 could have one mistake and still be on the podium even if the US girls are perfect.
I agree with you about the top two pretty much running away with it. However, Evan Lysacek showed that you don’t necessarily need the big tricks to win gold. Plushenko stuck his foot in his mouth saying that unless you had a quad you didn’t deserve to be there. The same thing could be said for the ladies – just because Yu-na had a triple axel doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll win. The grace and beauty of Joannie’s program could give her the edge, as long as she doesn’t make any major mistakes. The fact that she’s able to skate at all earns my respect and admiration.
Actually, Mao Asada has the triple axel.
The difference being that in the men’s competition the top 3 were less than a point apart after the short program. In the ladies, the top 2 have much, much bigger leads going into the long program, making it harder for anyone outside the top 3 – or even Joannie – to take gold. Never can tell how things will play out though.
Seriously, hilarious recap! I still can’t believe how few mistakes the skaters make. For the past two Olympics it’s been more about who can just skate a clean program. Joannie’s courage definitely brought me to tears. I still really do not understand why Kim Su-Na is scored so much higher than Mirai Nagasu.
Yu-na had more difficulty and more potential for the big points. That being said, a triple triple combination is worth more than a triple axel.
it’s about the difficulty of not only her jumps, but her connections, her speed, her footwork and her artistry. Kim Yu Na is an amazing skater and deserved every one of those points.
I admit that Yu-Na turned in a better performance than Asada, but that still doesn’t account for the 5 point separation. I didn’t think her performance was that good. These judges make no sense at all. I can see why Plushenko got upset.
It WAS that good.
I’m with sara….it was gorgeous.
Keep in mind, it isn’t just landing the jump. Was it a salchow or truple toe. Some are forwards, some are backwards entries. Inside or outside of the blade edge, etc. The harder the jump, the high the points.
Check out sportswriter Christine Brennan’s commentary on Twitter. She, too, talks about speed and other elements.
Right or wrong, the outfits are probably about 70% of the reason I tune in, and if I had an awards ceremony for last night, it would go like this:
Gold: South Korea – Kim Yu-Na
Silver: Japan – Miki Ando
Bronze: U.S.A. – Mirai Nagasu
I also noticed Carolina Kostner’s *um* outfit situation, it appeared that her body gobbled up the panties. I’m pretty sure I got a peek at her ovaries with a couple of spins.
I think they all did a wonderful job. Joannie brought me to tears. She had such poise and grace. I wish the best for her and her family.
Yeah, that was an extraordinarily touching performance, I was very emotional as well – especially when I saw the tears in her dad’s eyes at the end.
Actually, the man they kept showing and calling Joannie’s father was a family friend; NBC was given his seat assignment, but he wasn’t sitting there. Mary Carillo issued a correction on the late-night show.
Ack, thanks for the correction! Everyone I’ve talked to thought that was her dad. I guess I was being weepy for a random family friend.
Imagine how drunk you’d be if you were playing the “personal best” drinking game throughout this entire Olympics competition.
I laughed out loud at this comment. That is so true! But, add a ‘chug’ for any world record marks.