Poor Karolina Kostner. She just kept falling over and over in her long program. I couldn't watch after the first two, but winced every time the crowd moaned. It was much the same for that poor girl from Georgia. It was fascinating how big the gap was between the top seeded skaters tonight and the batch below. It wasn't just the flashy stuff, like jumps and spins, but the more subtle things, like transitions. Even the better of the next batch down looked lackluster and low energy because of weaknesses choreography, foot work, and transition. These elements aren't glamorous, but they make all the difference to the overall aesthetics. All the top seed skaters were brilliant, BTW, despite Ms. Asada's two little trips. Kim U-Na of Korea was mind blowingly good. I think the women are really showing the advantages of having their jump arms race in the '90's not go as far as the men's did. They never abandoned the all around quality skater ideal and I think the pay off is how much smoother the top seeders are. There was no real competition for the gold, but any of them could have taken silver or bronze, where as except for the top two, all the men were rater a mess.
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