Just because your favorite was not selected for Worlds does not mean the Judges got it wrong.
No matter how the US World team is selected, there will always be disgruntled fans who are mad that their favorite skater didn't get the nod.
Most countries use their Nationals as the selection criteria (or did, until the ISU minimums entered the picture). Canada and Russia are some of the only major federations who waffle and add other post-Nationals criteria. I don't see why the US needs to follow their example.
Cool!
The biggest question I have is the use of the standard deviation. Consistency by itself is not especially to be valued unless you are consistently good.
Interesting, though, how consistent Wagner's scores have been, considering that she has mixed some really good skates in with some bad ones this season.
So this doesn't account for events such as Nationals and 4CC? Another thing is that certain GP events are way harder than others. For example, Gao would have easily placed top 3 at Skate America, but it would have been difficult for her to place top 3 at TEB.
At SA: Wagner 188, Gao 174, Sotnikova 169, Marchei 159
At Rostelcom: Korpi 177, Gold 175, Zawadski 166, Murakami 166
At NHK: Asada 185, Suzuki 185, Nagasu 176, Li 174
At TEB: Wagner 190, Tuktamysheva 179, Lipnitskaia 179, Gao 165
Also, does this bear in mind that Gao was actually a replacement for Lipnitskaia who withdrew at the GPF? I technically wouldn't count her 3-point bonus for having made the GPF (where she performed poorly anyways). I also wonder how the results would look if you dropped each woman's poorest showing (so Gracie's SC skate, Gao's TEB skate, and Mirai at CoC). It would certainly benefit Gold, whose SC performance skews her off the World team. Then again, it wouldn't take into consideration Gao beating her at 4CC either.
They really should do the whole - winner goes to Worlds and the 2nd berth is decided at 4CC. Gao deserves to go, but I think if they skated their bests, Gold has more potential to place higher.
Just because your favorite was not selected for Worlds does not mean the Judges got it wrong.
I like Nat'ls and 4CC being used. Not sure about the GP series.
What I like about using 4CC is that:
-It rewards skaters doing well at the end of the season
-It uses an international panel, more like Worlds
-It makes 4CC more important
Of course any skater can do great at 4CC and tank at Worlds - there are no gaurantees.
To me the bigger problem is tying Worlds to the nationality of the skater. I want to see the top 30 skaters (or 40, or whatever number) at Worlds - regardless of where they are from.
It's interesting to me that for the ladies, they overlooked the steady, consistent skater (Gao) in favor of one that was inconsistent but has higher scoring potential (Gold), however in the men's event, the steady, consistent skater (Miner) is on the team despite popping open a 3a at Nationals, and neither of the guys who are more inconsistent but have higher scoring potential (Abbott and Dornbush) are on the team.
Most? I'd be interested in actually checking it out.
I like Nat'ls and 4CC being used. Not sure about the GP series.
What I like about using 4CC is that:
-It rewards skaters doing well at the end of the season
-It uses an international panel, more like Worlds
-It makes 4CC more important
Of course any skater can do great at 4CC and tank at Worlds - there are no gaurantees.
But in this case, as in almost all cases, the skaters who are on the world team are the skaters who finished first and second at Nationals. The judges didn't choose the team -- and neither did the technical panel -- they just scored what the skaters did during their two programs. The numbers added up and produced results.
So the judges had zero reason to think about scoring potential or consistency. They didn't know when they assigned scores for the long program who the numbers they had control of and the numbers they didn't have control of would combine to put into second place overall.
And, of course, the panels for the men's and ladies' events were not the same people.
And then the International Committee -- not all of whose members are judges or technical specialists and certainly not on the panels at Nationals -- decided to send the silver medalists to Worlds because that is what they have traditionally done and there was not a compelling reason to break tradition. (The gold medalists were guaranteed assignment to Worlds by rule.)
If you are going to add additional criteria, it needs to be clear to the skaters who are going. For example, after Nationals was over, Gracie Gold was given a 4C's berth and a Worlds' berth. Christina Gao was given a 4C's berth and was told her season would be over unless the unforeseen happens and there's a need for the second (third?) alternate to go to Worlds. This information changes how you train for that 4C event (like it or not, this is true as a skater cannot be at 100% peak for EVERY event) - if it's part of the selection process, it means you have to be full, ready to go for that event. Also, if a skater has to peak for Nationals and then peak for 4C just a week or two later and then peak again for Worlds, the chances for injury increase.
But, as long as we're talking hypotheticals and ideals, I'd want to go somewhat further. Qualification for the World Championships should have nothing to do with nationality. All skaters who earn qualifying scores in sanctioned competitions should be invited to Worlds regardless of the country of their citizenship. I'd be fine with allowing all countries' national champions to go, too, regardless of earning qualifying scores. But no one should be prevented from competing at Worlds because they are from a country with a deep field.
Now, that's a point I hadn't considered, and it's very important. A skater might not realistically be able to peak for both Nationals and 4CC and then be expected to peak again for Worlds. (Gee, I hope that explains Daisuke at 4CC.)
That would be interesting. I imagine that for the majority of ISU members there is not much of a choice to be made at all. They have one skater who is the best, and that's the one they send.
Further, I don't think [Ross Minor] was penilized enough for the 1a...
The USA is the only major federation which uses only the results from Nationals to pick their Worlds teams. Canada, Russia, France, China and Japan all use other competitions to finalize decisions (4CC or Euros usually), with Japan guaranteeing a spot to anyone who medals in the GPF. Most countries only have one spot on their national teams so the champion goes. I'm not sure what Germany does, but they're the only other major European skating power.
In the case of Russia, Canada, and France, they do not seem to have any well-defined and consistent procedure for selecting the world team. To me, it seems like they just play it by ear each season and send the person that, for whatever reason, they think has the best chance to do well.