What a ladies final -- I held my breath every time someone took the ice. Yu-Na Kim from South Korea fulfilled her destiny and won the gold with a record 228.56 points. Her free skate to Gershwin's Concerto in F will be studied for generations to come -- the choreography, the jumps, the performance -- no wonder she cried tears of relief afterwards. Yu-Na's been setting world records in the short and long at these Games so what a fitting way to cap her season. She's been noncommittal about the World Championships in late March. I say skip it -- this has been too much of an emotional ride. Enjoy the rest of the season and come back to competition in the fall. Spend time with your family. Learn to cook risotto (ask Jeremy Abbott for some tips). How can we miss if you if you never go away?
With the silver is Japan's Mao Asada who has a lot to be proud of as the first woman at the Olympics to land three clean triple axels in the short and long. She made two jumping errors in the free skate but she also gave the performance of her life out there to Rachmaninoff's Moscow Bells. She has as much artistry as Yu-Na (even better extensions on spirals!) and maybe she realized on the podium that something had to change in the future to compete with Yu-Na. Mao looked serious and a little sad receiving the silver medal and with the weight of Japan on her shoulders for so many years, I think she too should skip Worlds and just chill out for a while. Mao and Yu-Na are both 19-years-old so lots of time to figure out their life paths.
And the bronze medal, but really the gold medal for exemplifying the Olympics Games, went to Canada's Joannie Rochette (see right). Her mother died suddenly on Sunday from a massive heart attack and Joannie chose to continue competing. She nailed the short and we were uncertain how she would do in her free skate to C. St. Saen's Samson and Delilah, but we didn't have to worry. Even with her bobbles on her jumps, she went after everything and we saw her strength on the ice clear as day. Her energy was also different last night than it was for the short program. After her successful short program on Tuesday, there was overwhelming sadness about her and everyone in the audience and in TV Land (including myself) were in tears. Last night after the free skate, I didn't sense sadness really -- more triumph. And every single person was with her on the podium. What a podium finish.
The U.S. ladies Mirai Nagasu and Rachael Flatt finished fourth and seventh, respectively. I just love Mirai and she is going to look so much more polished in a matter of months. I just love Rachael and I hope she can continue to balance school and skating in the future. Miki Ando from Japan finished fifth overall and she did her best to rack up points with her jumps. At one point, commentator Sandra Bezic noted that Miki doesn't care about choreography, and Sandra wasn't kidding! It was a jumping clinic and I don't know what Miki will do in the future. She has my vote for favorite costume of the ladies (see right).
Final results for the ladies are as follows: (Note: SP=Short Program; FS=Free Skate)
FPl |
Name |
Country |
Score |
SP |
FS |
1 |
Yu-Na Kim |
South Korea |
228.56 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Mao Asada |
Japan |
205.50 |
2 |
2 |
3 |
Joannie Rochette |
Canada |
202.64 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
Mirai Nagasu |
USA |
190.15 |
6 |
5 |
5 |
Miki Ando |
Japan |
188.86 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
Laura Lepisto |
Finland |
187.97 |
10 |
4 |
7 |
Rachael Flatt |
USA |
182.49 |
5 |
8 |
8 |
Akiko Suzuki |
Japan |
181.44 |
11 |
7 |
9 |
Alena Leonova |
Russia |
172.46 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
Ksenia Makarova |
Russia |
171.91 |
12 |
9 |
11 |
Kiira Korpi |
Finland |
161.57 |
17 |
11 |
12 |
Cynthia Phaneuf |
Canada |
156.62 |
14 |
13 |
13 |
Min-Jung Kwak |
South Korea |
155.53 |
16 |
12 |
14 |
Elene Gedevanishvili |
Georgia |
155.24 |
9 |
17 |
15 |
Sarah Meier |
Switzerland |
152.81 |
15 |
14 |
16 |
Carolina Kostner |
Italy |
151.90 |
7 |
19 |
17 |
Julia Sebestyen |
Hungary |
151.26 |
13 |
16 |
18 |
Sarah Hecken |
Germany |
143.94 |
23 |
15 |
19 |
Yan Liu |
China |
143.47 |
19 |
18 |
20 |
Cheltzie Lee |
Australia |
138.16 |
18 |
20 |
21 |
Elena Glebova |
Russia |
134.19 |
20 |
22 |
22 |
Sonia Lafuente |
Spain |
133.51 |
22 |
21 |
23 |
Anastasia Gimazetdinova |
Uzbekistan |
131.65 |
24 |
23 |
24 |
Tugba Karademir |
Turkey |
129.54 |
21 |
24 |

