Mirai Nagasu, the 2008 senior ladies U.S. Figure Skating Champion, held a press conference this past Wednesday to promote the 2009 AT&T U.S. Figure Skating Championships. The event officially begins tomorrow at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. This season, Mirai placed fifith at Skate America and eighth at the NHK Trophy. I cannot begin to imagine the level of expectation on this 15-year-old as the defending U.S. champion. She's also been dealing with a right foot injury so the topics ranged from her foot, to her growth spurt, to going through adolescence for the whole world to see.
I attended the teleconference and really felt the 15-year-old in Mirai, but also the maturity within her in order to be in her situation going into Nationals. Below are excerpts from the teleconference, with some minor edits. I'm the one who asked about the Japanese Nationals. I'm always curious if skaters are friends off the ice and because Mao sent her a congratulatory note last year after Mirai's win, I wanted to know if they had formed a friendship. Mirai is also extremely popular in Japan, in part due to her Japanese heritage, so her answer was interesting to me. (Photo at right, Mirai at Rockefeller Rink in NYC after winning 2008 U.S. Championships)
How she has been preparing for the U.S. Championships since her last competition, NHK Trophy, in November...
After NHK, I sat down and really discussed what was going on with my foot. I went to Palm Springs, one of the best doctors, to see what was going on. He gave me exercises to strengthen the muscles around the pain. So I've been doing those. And I've added some off-ice training into my schedule so that I could strengthen my muscles to prevent further injury. I've also done less flips and Lutzes in my practice sessions, so I've lessened the stress on my injuries. Hopefully going into Nationals, I'll give it my best shot and do the best I can.
Whether she believes foot injury could be related to her growth spurt the past year...
I definitely think that the foot injury could be related to my height difference because two years ago, I was only 4'11" but now I've grown to 5'3" approximately. And my muscles have longevated so my body muscles haven't kept up with what I need for my height. So my injury on the top of the right ankle, we thought it was a bone ___, but I think it's a pinched nerve. When I took MRIs and x-rays, there were no, there's nothing wrong with my bone, they're perfectly fine. So there's just a little fluid but hopefully I can get past it and do well for Nationals. Is there anything you can't do as a result? It was bothering me on my flip and Lutz but this past week before Nationals, I've been practicing them and getting them back under control, because I really wanna do my best at Nationals. You grew four inches in one year? Pretty much because probably since last year, I grew about an inch. But this year, I really shooted up in height.
Whether that affects balance issues with her jumps...
Well, I didn't really think it would make a difference to me, but it really has. It's just really weird when I'm skating. Two years ago, I couldn't see over the wall, but now I can see way above the rink wall. So "A", that feels weird. I didn't really notice it, but it's been there. I got confused about where I should look at when I'm jumping. I used to pinpoint my eyesight right where the wall ended. But I was still pinpointing that point when I grew taller so I was leaning a little bit too forward, so I was having trouble with my jumps. They're getting a lot better. I'm getting used to the height difference, so it's getting better.
Whether this has affected her speed...
I do work on my speed a lot, so I love doing crossovers and just skating around. I don't think it's been affecting my speed that much, but it has affected my jumps.
Whether she watched the Japanese Nationals and contacted Mao Asada after Mao's win...
I really don't have any contact info of Mao, so I couldn't really congratulate her. But I do congratulate her for her win and I wish her the best of luck at Worlds. I didn't watch Nationals for Japan but I did hear about it. I was really surprised when I heard that Yukari Nakano won the short program, I was even more surprised after the long results. [Mao placed second in both the short and long programs but won the title overall.] Definitely anything could happen, and I'm gonna take that prospect and I look forward to going into the U.S. Championships.
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