2022 U.S. Nationals: Senior Men's Free Skate

[Jammers]

I will just say this. The last 3 US men to win Olympic Gold medals already had one Olympics under their belt before winning in their 2nd Olympics and Nathan could be the 4th US man in the last 42 years to win Gold. In other words the USFS was ridiculously shortsighted not picking Ilia for the team.

 

[slider11]

Do you remember the music that Malinin skated to in the LP? Me neither. It's like it wasn't there. He's a great kid who can jump like crazy and good for him! But to give him such high artistry marks is nuts. His artistry will come, no doubt. I know that Jason will be a very dark horse for the Olympic podium but he provides such joy in his very good triple jumps and his superb spins, foot work and expression. Ilia can cetainly learn from Nathan Chen and Mikail Kolyada who honed their artistry after excelling at jumps.

 

[MarkinBerkeley]

I want a live stream just so the meltdowns could commence.

I'm now on team Ilia, although I love Jason. 5 great quads? C'mon, they have to send him.

 

[moonkat]

Do you remember the music that Malinin skated to in the LP? Me neither. It's like it wasn't there. He's a great kid who can jump like crazy and good for him! But to give him such high artistry marks is nuts. His artistry will come, no doubt. I know that Jason will be a very dark horse for the Olympic podium but he provides such joy in his very good triple jumps and his superb spins, foot work and expression. Ilia can cetainly learn from Nathan Chen and Mikail Kolyada who honed their artistry after excelling at jumps.

Jason podium is asking for a splatfest.

 

[lariko]

Ilia was never going to get PCS at the Olympics that would make him a contender for top 6 and beyond that it really doesn’t matter. It’s a two mark sport.

I realize Ilia skating like he did at the Warsaw Cup and then we lose really bad is best case scenario for some people but we aren’t going to fall for that.

Nobody is insured from failure. Not even Chen. There are places below top 6 that are pretty good, and it’s a vote of confidence, which secures better scores next year. The vote of no confidence that they’d rather send Brown (!), signals that USFS doubts his results, despite them being crystal-clear.

 

[dhjh811]

really disappointed that Ilia was left off the team... He's clearly the US's next big star, and gaining Olympic experience would have been so helpful for him. Worlds, gps, 4cc, etc are just not the same. He's going to be a real podium (maybe even gold?) contender for the 2026 games, so I was hoping they'd let him go to Beijing to gain experience participating in the biggest competition in figure skating
Aside from the Olympic team drama, he has lovely air position and such a pure jumping technique. How is his technique so pure??! Not at all an exaggeration to say he has one of the best picking techniques in the business.

If I were Rusfed, I'd be trying to poach this boy. Mostly just joking, but I know that if he had given two skates like that at Russian Nationals, Rusfed would not have hesitated to send him to the Olympics because of his youth and consequential lack of experience.

Why did they bother holding Nationals? He literally scored over 300 points.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Do you all know how many guys will be skating at these Olympics that are barely capable of doing a 4T much less multiple quads. They have maybe done it before but barely ever land it and while many of them are good skaters Jason is clearly a superior artist.

What is really the difference between Jason never having done a quad and Rizzo/Vasiljevs having like one easy quad and screwing it up 90% of the time? I’d rather watch Jason stay on his feet.

What they’re doing is not any better than him and by the time you factor in Jason’s PCS advantage Jason is ahead. Jason scores higher with 3F than 4T<<.

Yet people say things like they wanted Brown-less Olympics specifically. I think there is another agenda.

 

[readernick]

Do you remember the music that Malinin skated to in the LP? Me neither. It's like it wasn't there. He's a great kid who can jump like crazy and good for him! But to give him such high artistry marks is nuts. His artistry will come, no doubt. I know that Jason will be a very dark horse for the Olympic podium but he provides such joy in his very good triple jumps and his superb spins, foot work and expression. Ilia can cetainly learn from Nathan Chen and Mikail Kolyada who honed their artistry after excelling at jumps.

Chen and Kolyada had better SS than Malinin did even when they first appeared on the scene. Zhou might be a better example. But, Zhou improved a lot artistically. So, Malinin can to. There is a lot of improvements for Malinin to make. I do see why people are arguing for Malinin over Brown if we are talking about the future. He does need experience. However, I don't think the Olympics is a place to go for experience. He wouldn't place top 5. He wouldn't get the GOE or PCS needed. So, best case scenario he gets a slightly higher score than Jason. Worst case scenario he absolutely bombs. Both scenarios are equally possible. I'm sure he will get a ton of assignments next year.

 

[moonkat]

Nobody is insured from failure. Not even Chen. There are places below top 6 that are pretty good, and it’s a vote of confidence, which secures better scores next year. The vote of no confidence that they’d rather send Brown (!), signals that USFS doubts his results, despite them being crystal-clear.

It's okay we can blame the high costs of figure skating reducing the pool of talented skaters.
There's always the performances of Japanese men and Russian women to look forward too.

 

[lariko]

Do you remember the music that Malinin skated to in the LP? Me neither. It's like it wasn't there. He's a great kid who can jump like crazy and good for him! But to give him such high artistry marks is nuts. His artistry will come, no doubt.

On the other hand, nothing new will come for Brown. And, frankly, SL might be a great movie, but the music is hardly remarkable either…

 

[skatesofgold]

On the other hand, nothing new will come for Brown. And, frankly, SL might be a great movie, but the music is hardly remarkable either…

I never remember the melody of anything from Schlinder's List. It's always been this way starting with Yulia Lipnitskaya. I think it's because it's so dreary.

 

[taikwan]

Dont know about our fed, but in our chats and forums people are dying of laughter right now.

Then, by all means, you might be happier there.

 

[twirlingblades]

Chen and Kolyada had better SS than Malinin did even when they first appeared on the scene. Zhou might be a better example. But, Zhou improved a lot artistically. So, Malinin can to. There is a lot of improvements for Malinin to make. I do see why people are arguing for Malinin over Brown if we are talking about the future. He does need experience. However, I don't think the Olympics is a place to go for experience. He wouldn't place top 5. He wouldn't get the GOE or PCS needed. So, best case scenario he gets a slightly higher score than Jason. Worst case scenario he absolutely bombs. Both scenarios are equally possible. I'm sure he will get a ton of assignments next year.

Huh???? He will be 21 at the next Olympics (close to Nathan’s age now). Not sending him for Olympic experience now is basically US Feds way of saying they have no confidence in his future. It’s so ugly. I hope that Jasons 11th place finish is worth it (and I say that as someone who loved Jason).

 

[badknees]

I'm trying to think of other Olympic sports that send their up and comers just to get experience for the next Olympics.
I don't believe that's what the Olympics are supposed to be about.

 

[taikwan]

I never remember the melody of anything from Schlinder's List. It's always been this way starting with Yulia Lipnitskaya. I think it's because it's so dreary.

and so poignant especially to a Jewish lad .....like Jason. Who probably lost relatives there. So......yeah....

 

[skatesofgold]

Huh???? He will be 23 at the next Olympics (older than Nathan is now). Not sending him for Olympic experience now is basically US Feds way of saying they have no confidence in his future. It’s so ugly. I hope that Jasons 11th place finish is worth it (and I say that as someone who loved Jason).

Ilia is 17 now. He'll be 21 in 2026.

 

[skatesofgold]

I'm trying to think of other Olympic sports that send their up and comers just to get experience for the next Olympics.
I don't believe that's what the Olympics are supposed to be about.

Snowboarding sends up-and-coming teenagers all the time to the Oylmpics. They usually end up successful.

 

[taikwan]

I'm trying to think of other Olympic sports that send their up and comers just to get experience for the next Olympics.
I don't believe that's what the Olympics are supposed to be about.

That would be in any other language or sport or terms...a bullseye

 

[Pereiro]

Then, by all means, you might be happier there.

Oh, believe me, i am very happy. I am looking forward at team event, and hoping Brown will skate here. I mean our Russian men need all help they can get.

 

[taikwan]

Snowboarding sends up-and-coming teenagers all the time to the Oylmpics.

Yeah and there's such a l-e-n-g-t-h-y history in snowboarding. So many geezers participate......sure.