I've been watching the live action on Universal Sports online since 8 a.m. and have seen all of the key performances thus far. Very interesting!
Kim Yu Na goofed up in the last part of her program, again on easy elements that she should be able to do while sleepwalking! and it's doubtful that she will make the podium unless the top 3 skaters really screw up. The last group is getting ready to skate right now (10:09 a.m.) - the 2 Americans are in it, the Italian belle Carolina Kostner and the Japanese powerhouse Mao Asada - stay tuned!
10:14 a.m. - Kostner has a great presence on the ice and is a lovely young lady. She has had some problems with her triple jumps but has not fallen (a big plus) and her home country crowd is behind her all the way. Awaiting scores - there is a break right now where an advertisement would normally be but there are none so I just have to wait for the blank screen to reappear! 10:17 a.m. - score for Kostner: 115.11, puts her into 4th place. Crowd not happy about that but she will finish in the top 10.
Mao Asada now up - with 2 triple axles planned. World champion in 2008 - let's see -- she landed both triple axles (the second in combination with a double toe loop?) cleanly - still not liking that costume though. 10:23 a.m. - looks like a perfect performance to me. Commentators are already crowning her at the new world champion, stating that she landed 6 triples and Kim Yu Na landing 5. Waiting for the scores --129.50 (a few points below her season's best). She is now in 1st place, 7 points higher than Kim Yu Na. Announced at 10:28 a.m. by the commentators - Mao's 2nd triple axle was downgraded.
Now Rachel Flatt skates. Rachel had a triple/triple planned but she doubled the second jump after a problem landing on the triple flip; now she has just popped another triple. Looks discombobulated. Score: 106.06, puts her in 6th place with 3 skaters remaining, so she will be in the top 10, but is not happy with her performance.
Laura Lepisto is skating now (10:33 a.m.) -- lovely presence on the ice and nice speed. Love the costume. She doubled a triple loop (Tara Lapinski commentating said she slipped off an edge). Very nice musicality, but she popped a couple of jumps. 10:38 a.m. - waiting for scores after a short break (arrgggh). 10:40 a.m. - waiting for scores -- 114.32, puts her into 3rd place, with 2 skaters left to go.
Nagasu up NOW. Oh my - she had problems on her 2 triple lutzes and fell on her double axle, but oh my, what a performer and the got the audience behind her. So now, 10:46 a.m. waiting for scores. Commentary by Frank Carroll in the kiss and cry - you're not dead! Score - 105.08 and they knocked her to 7th place. That's bullshit. Compared to the other skaters she did not deserve to be so severely downgraded. Looks like the judges are already setting up the Russian skater.
10:52 a.m. who just fell on a triple Salchow, otherwise clean program but not overly inspiring. Waiting for scores -- 107.58, in 8th place. That's okay. I do not think she outskated Nagasu, who should be placed higher than 7th. That's just bullshit.
11:08 a.m. - I made the mistake of trying to get to the ISU page to see the table of scores. Ach. It's been 10 minutes now and the page is still downloading.
Asada wins gold - well deserved and absolutely earned at this championship. I think Nagasu has better artistry and presence on the ice, though, as do several other skaters I saw today, including a Chinese skater who had a horrid costume but skated a lovely performance -- I'll have to hunt down her name.
Kim Yu Na won silver? - Not deserved, absolutely not deserved. Shades of the old scoring system, she was propped up.
Is that Lapisto on the stand for the bronze? Yep. Oh, Johnny Weir says she was grossly overscored technically. I think he's right. He said Miki Ando should have won the bronze, so does Tara Lapinski.
I will post the top 10 scores table when I can get it to open! I don't know where Nagasu ended up.
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