Flatt out with injury | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Flatt out with injury

pangtongfan

Match Penalty
Joined
Jun 16, 2010
True, the only sure thing right now is Ashley. The 2nd spot for Worlds is fairly open now, although Flatt was never going to factor into that regardless. However I do think the U.S women are stronger than 2010 as a whole and this will be proven when they regain 3 spots for the first time since 2008, something they couldnt even do in very weak fields in both 2011 and 2012 (this years Worlds field will be much stronger, thats a given). They atleast now have a clear leader (Ashley), very promising up and comers (Gao, Zawadzki, Gold), and solid veterans with proven potential to challenge the Worlds best (Nagasu, Czisny, though I think Czisny is probably done as a threat). In 2010 they had nobody that they could have confidence in except for Flatt, and she was capable of easily doing 7 triples every performance, triple-triples, and skated with some semblance of speed and presentation.
 

ForeverFish

Medalist
Joined
Aug 21, 2012
True, the only sure thing right now is Ashley. The 2nd spot for Worlds is fairly open now, although Flatt was never going to factor into that regardless. However I do think the U.S women are stronger than 2010 as a whole and this will be proven when they regain 3 spots for the first time since 2008, something they couldnt even do in very weak fields in both 2011 and 2012 (this years Worlds field will be much stronger, thats a given). They atleast now have a clear leader (Ashley), very promising up and comers (Gao, Zawadzki, Gold), and solid veterans with proven potential to challenge the Worlds best (Nagasu, Czisny, though I think Czisny is probably done as a threat). In 2010 they had nobody that they could have confidence in except for Flatt, and she was capable of easily doing 7 triples every performance, triple-triples, and skated with some semblance of speed and presentation.

Ashley is still untested as a defending champion, as someone else on this forum mentioned earlier. We don't know how she'll perform under pressure from the federation and her own high expectations, but if all goes well, she has that first Worlds spot for sure.

Between Christina, Gracie, and Agnes, Gracie has an 80-85% chance of getting the second spot, assuming that all three skate their best. The other two lack the wow-factor that Gracie brings to the ice in terms of spunk and pomp--she's technically brilliant, and her artistry has improved tremendously since last season. She also gets the most support from the federation as of now, which will have a significant impact on who gets picked.

I don't expect Alissa to fully recover from her injury by early next year--at least, not enough to make a serious bid for the Nats podium. That leaves Mirai, who will be a formidable challenger to all Worlds hopefuls. She didn't perform too well at Nats last year, which leads me to expect that she'll rally to try and outskate the less experienced Gracie.
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Agreed--up until 2010, there were only a handful of consistent American ladies. Now that's all changing with the arrival of the massively talented Gracie Gold, Alissa Czisny, Mirai Nagasu and, of course, Ashley Wagner.

let's see:

Gold is untested/new to the scene

Czisny is injured

Nagasu is on the rebound

so...that leaves only Wagner.
________
ETA:
Ashley is still untested as a defending champion, as someone else on this forum mentioned earlier. We don't know how she'll perform under pressure from the federation and her own high expectations

That was me...and this is the perfect quote to end this post. ;)
 
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Skater Boy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 24, 2012
This is kind of sad but I can tell many on this board think Flatt's time has come and gone. I do hate to say this but I think we might not see her again. With school the injury and if she doesn't keep up the conditioning there is a tendency to put on weight and lose some of that flexibility it will be hard for her to rise again. Though I do see her in the 4 to 6 range at US Nationals and even top three if everyone bombs. But it means she will go into the Oly year with the penultimate season a wash now.
 

Buttercup

Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 25, 2008
It is silly to think things would ever be how they were in 2010 for her. She is a full time college student who can only practice as much skating as she can fit in, healthy or not, her body has changed significantly since and is no longer condusive to great jumping and now makes her skating look extremely heavy at the best of times. Furthermore she was the darling of the USFSA who she has lost major support and status with and probably burnt bridges irrepairrably with the 2011 Worlds fiasco, and she was then by default their best option as the only consistent skater they had then. None of that is the case now, it is a whole new World compared to 2010 for her.

I wholeheartedly disagree her decline is solely based on injuries. I predicted after the 2011 Nationals (where she wasnt injured) that would be the last time we ever saw her make a World team barring a miracle. Her fall since has been even more dramatic than I predicted, but I could see it coming a mile away all the same.
Christina Gao is a full-time student at a top university and seems to be doing fine. I think the issue with Rachael is physical - her body maturing, the injuries - and trying to work through the injuries rather than taking the time off to heal has led to poor results and the gradual loss of support from her federation, something that no skater can afford. But the physical issues were the antecedents to the loss of federation support.

I wish her all the best; she had some good achievements over the years and seems to be in a good direction in her life.
 

russell30

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 14, 2004
Unbelievable, I cannot believe she took part in Skate America, I would have made the announcement before the season started. Rachael could have made the injury worse....

I think here competitive days have now ended, Rachael peaked 09 and 10 season. Other skaters are coming through now and Ashley has taken it to another level in the US.

I wish her the best in her educational endeavours, education is the most important, Rachael should concentrate on that now....
 
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demarinis5

Gold for the Winter Prince!
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 23, 2004
Wishing Rachel a full recovery. Is this the same injury she had at Worlds last season?
 

FSGMT

Record Breaker
Joined
Sep 10, 2012
:frown: But I think it's the best thing to do, I wish her a full recovering and being back next season in good shape!! :yes:
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
Glad he took a broader look at things rather than use the piece as an opportunity to pick on Rachael some more. It was a pleasant surprise. He does have a decent analysis over who can be the No. 2 lady in 2014. (I guess he's assuming that we won't gain the third spot for now...)

This wasn't very nice: "One can only hope Flatt, a Stanford sophomore, will stop for good rather than risk long-term physical damage in an ill-advised attempt to try for a second Olympics." One thing about Flatt I have to admire is that she really did overachieve. At hear peak she delivered so many clean performances that she didn't leave the judges many opportunities to deduct points. The other skaters can learn a lot from her as far as handling pressure and delivering clean skates, so I hope she remains involved in skating somehow.

I also disagree with Hersh that Mirai isn't in the mix for spot #2. There is so little depth behind Ashley that it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone relatively unknown like Angela were to grab that spot. Mirai is definitely in the picture.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
This wasn't very nice: "One can only hope Flatt, a Stanford sophomore, will stop for good rather than risk long-term physical damage in an ill-advised attempt to try for a second Olympics." One thing about Flatt I have to admire is that she really did overachieve. At hear peak she delivered so many clean performances that she didn't leave the judges many opportunities to deduct points. The other skaters can learn a lot from her as far as handling pressure and delivering clean skates, so I hope she remains involved in skating somehow.

I also disagree with Hersh that Mirai isn't in the mix for spot #2. There is so little depth behind Ashley that it wouldn't surprise me at all if someone relatively unknown like Angela were to grab that spot. Mirai is definitely in the picture.

No, that definitely wasn't nice at all, but to be honest I expected the whole article to be some sort of grievance over all the wrong Rachael did in figure skating considering the disproportionate abount of time he spent criticizing her for "tibiagate" at the 2011 Worlds.

He did at least acknowledge her achievement somewhat.

Hersh tends to make broad generalizations about skating, so I take them with a grain of salt.
 

Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Unfortunately, given the current look of things, that's probably a safe assumption to make.

I'm still exercising caution when talking about Wagner- I STILL think she's far from a done deal. Maybe it's pessimism on my part, or seeing the ups and downs (and injuries!) of so many skaters before her- but...you know, if she happens to not do so well at TEB, what's everyone going to think? (yes, bandwagoners, I'm looking at you :p )

Nagasu is still very much in the picture. If there is anyone currently in the mix that I have the least amount of confidence in, it is Czisny. And I refuse to drink the Gao kool-aid even after SA.

Given your profile tagline, I would expect no less. ;)
 

R.D.

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Argh, you beat me to my edit...I didn't want to drag this one OT...
 
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Mrs. P

Uno, Dos, twizzle!
Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 27, 2009
Sorry! :(

Anyway, yes, I'm glad to keep this to the ladies thread!
 

drivingmissdaisy

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 17, 2010
I'm still exercising caution when talking about Wagner- I STILL think she's far from a done deal. Maybe it's pessimism on my part, or seeing the ups and downs (and injuries!) of so many skaters before her- but...you know, if she happens to not do so well at TEB, what's everyone going to think? (yes, bandwagoners, I'm looking at you )

I think Ashley is a safe bet to make 2013 Worlds. She has done enough since last year's Nationals (4CC, Worlds, SA) to get a spot even if she bombs at Nationals. Even when she gets nervous, she has the ability to at least lands jumps on 2 feet, and her PCS is high enough now to compensate for the errors. Two girls would have to have the skate of their lives in both the SP and the LP, and Ashley would have to completely bomb, for her not to finish in the top 2. And then the USFSA would have to look past her great recent results to put those 2 girls on the World team. I don't see all of those things happening.
 

Nigel

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 21, 2006
It is silly to think things would ever be how they were in 2010 for her. She is a full time college student who can only practice as much skating as she can fit in, healthy or not, her body has changed significantly since and is no longer condusive to great jumping and now makes her skating look extremely heavy at the best of times. Furthermore she was the darling of the USFSA who she has lost major support and status with and probably burnt bridges irrepairrably with the 2011 Worlds fiasco, and she was then by default their best option as the only consistent skater they had then. None of that is the case now, it is a whole new World compared to 2010 for her.

I wholeheartedly disagree her decline is solely based on injuries. I predicted after the 2011 Nationals (where she wasnt injured) that would be the last time we ever saw her make a World team barring a miracle. Her fall since has been even more dramatic than I predicted, but I could see it coming a mile away all the same.

I disagree. When an athlete has had chronic leg/foot injury issues, and I don't care what sport we are talking about...tennis, running, soccer, baseball, basketball, etc.... it affects "real time" training, strength and conditioning, cardio...you name it, esp when it involves your legs and feet. Flatt has acknowledged leg/foot issues since the autumn of 2010. If you are trying to train but compromised due to leg/foot issues, a huge part of your time is spent doing recovery, and if that includes minimizing real training time and for skaters, that is on ice training, that compromises building speed on the ice, choreography, spins, jumps...just about everything. And, if you can't put full effort into training, it shows up. And, I don't think she competed "injury free" at 2011 Nationals....I suspect, because of the chronic nature of what she has gone thru for several seasons, that she was able to compete managing the pain, as many athletes do on a daily basis. You make it sound like a fall from grace from USFS. And, I also disagree with that. USFS would not have used her to promote 4CC in Colorado Springs if that was the case. There were plenty of other skaters they could have reached out to, but they chose Flatt.
 
Joined
Mar 11, 2011
I guess her injuries are really holding her back and it's understandable that you can't do the proper healing when you run so many things in life at once. I hope she recovers well and comes back strong.
 
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