Monday, August 23, 2010

This and That



Yu-Na Kim and Brian Orser have reportedly parted ways. David Wilson is serving as Yu-Na's coach for the time being. He is also supposedly choreographing her new free skate. The Korean press has not revealed many details, but we will likely hear some sort of comments in the next few days. Many doubt that Yu-Na will actually return to competition this spring. She has a busy slate of shows and campaigning for an Olympic bid ahead of her. This change is also curious, as Wilson and Orser work out of the same rink. The split is also a possible signal that Gao is now Orser's main priority as far as a senior female student. His primary loyalties are now to Gao and Rippon. Tickets for Yu-Na's 'All Skate LA' went on sale today.

Caydee Denney and Jeremy Barrett have curiously switched coaches to John Zimmerman and Silvia Fontana, who also work in Florida. They is a brand new arrangement and very curious, as John and Silvia have almost no track record as coaches. The press release cited part of their decision being what 'good competitors' John and Silvia were. Um, unless Silvia's family is as connected as rumored or has some pull with Ottavio, this is beyond curious. John was the scattered weak-link in both of his successful partnerships. Surely he won't be teaching any side-by-side jump technique.

The ISU has ruled that since Plusheno did not file an appeal for his eligibility within the 21 day period allotted, their ruling is final and the king is dead! He will not be competing in Sochi.

Gymnastike spoke to Kelli Hill about the 2000 Olympics and the differences between then and now.

Tiger Woods' divorce was finalized today.

The Junior Grand Prix kicks off in Courchevel, france this week. The field for the junior ladies is especially exciting with Yasmin Siraj, Polina Shelepen and Nina Jiang.




The women's 3 meter preliminaries took place at the Youth Olympics. Liu Jiao continues to be the HBIC.

Kristiene Gong's winning program from the Glacier Falls Summer Classic.

Rachael Flatt's program.

18 comments:

  1. It's hard for Orser to train Yu-Na when she's constantly traveling and doing shows. That coaching "change" to Wilson makes complete sense.

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  2. Is it possible that Denney/Barrett do not want to share a coach with Evora/Ladwig, who also want to win Nationals this year? I imagine that could be awkward, but then again, Barrett's girlfriend is Evora, so how awkward could it really be?

    Other than that, why would you leave Peterson for people who have really never coached before only days before you have to show your programs at Champs Camp? Hope things have remained amicable amongst the people involved.

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  3. I hope Yu-Na goes to Morozov for pure WTF factor.

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  4. Honestly, I don't think Yuna needs a coach anymore-- she just needs someone to create programs for her.

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  5. I just can't make it through an entire Flatt LP. She's so boring...

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  6. Google translate wasn't very reliable. Apparently what the Korean article actually said was that Yu Na will continue to contract with David Wilson, which means as her choreographer, so she's likely going pro.

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  7. yu-na's coaching change is a true WFT moment. I have no idea what she is thinking.
    Whose idea was to to use for Christina to use the Kween's signature music. I never saw any body use Salome after 1996, and with good reason. Gao's lutz wasn't even close and it looked like she had a few cheated jumps. lovely 2 axel, 3 toe.

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  8. Tickets for All That Skate LA go on presale at 11 AM Wed, according to Ticketmaster.

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  9. Kwak Min-Jung was also reported to have part ways with Brian Orser.
    Tracy Wilson was reportedly fired too.

    I have no idea what's going on…

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  10. Did Lori choreograph Gong's programs. She's always trying to recycle her glory days with Michelle. It's hard for me to watch any of these so so skaters skate to the music that Michelle uses. It just makes me turn them off midway through their program and look for Michelle on youtube. Yu na will probably go pro. Just a feeling. Also I can't get through Rachel's program. Don't they know how boring she is. She can't skate to music like that. She has to skate to upbeat music to remain slightly interesting (maybe).

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  11. no David Wilson did the Michelle Kwan knockoff. Such a comparison dosent help the girl. At all.

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  12. First of all, it's Kristiene Gong, NOT Christina Gao.

    Second, the program was choreographed by Phillip Mills and Tamara Kuchiki...it's the same FS she had last season.

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  13. Disappointing how immature Orser and Yuna are acting right now. I know there is a language barrier there, but is there a reason why they didn't discuss this in private? It's a shame to see a coach-student relationship sour like this so quickly. And it could have been totally preventable if they had both acted like adults and discussed this in private!

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  14. Would you please stop to tell a lie, B? I know exactly what's going on now and this is what I've DECIDED.

    (her twitter)

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  15. There is no huge language barrier between Yuna and Brian. If you've ever seen her in interviews, you would see that her English is not bad....

    BTW, the Twitter seems bogus.

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  16. Thanks anonymous at 9:21.

    to...12:09... Who mentioned Gao? It says Gong right there.

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  17. Anonymous @ 10:48 said it was Gao, not Gong, which is incorrect. Anonymous @ 9:21 said Wilson was the choreographer for Gong's "Michelle Kwan knockoff," which is also incorrect.

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  18. Phillip Mills did the long for Kristiene Gong, Tamara Kuchiki did her short this year.

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