japan team (shizuka arakawa's picks) broadcasted on the news last night
ladies short - Mao Asada
Men's short - Yuzuru hanyu
Ladies free - Akiko suzuki
Mens free - Tatsuki machida
Reminder that Team USA was planning to have a training base in Graz for the Olympics, according to Jason Brown's blog post in Feb 2013.
I suspect that Gold is there, as opposed to in Sochi itself.
I think the travel dates might be giving us some insight into who is skating the team SP.
Jeremy, Marissa & Simon all were in Munich as of Saturday morning going through processing. Z/B and Jason are set to leave tomorrow.
Gracie's been there for days and Wagner appears to still be in Cali which is making me rethink my initial prediction that Gold would skate the LP and Ashley the SP. Maybe it's been decided that Ashley should get the new-old LP out there. polina is still at home as of today.
Davis and White haven't left yet but I'm sure they're more in control of their scheduling & less micromanaged by the federation than other skaters.
It's very interesting. Gymnasts have to do this every Olympics. They have to be perfect in the team event and if they make it to the all-around they have to go and do the same thing all over again a few days later! and then again for the event finals...
The men and pairs compete the soonest, though, so I would say that Jeremy being in Sochi already is a clear indication that he will be skating the short. Hopefully that means that they'll put Jason in for the long which would make me SUPER happy!
Just read an interview with Jason where he confirms that he's attending the opening ceremony. I know that it's basically locked that Jeremy will be doing his short for the team event but can anyone give me a gauge on what Jason's participation at the opening ceremony means for his chance at doing the team free skate? Does this increase the likelihood that Jeremy will be doing both programs for the team event? I'll be so incredibly disappointed if that happens. :-( Although I like Jeremy just fine, I LOVE LOVE LOVE Jason and wish he'll get a shot at a team medal since he's unlikely to get one in the individual event.
Sigh, I hope the USFS aren't making a mistake by not using Jason. Imo, not only is his Riverdance more dynamic and a huge crowd-pleaser, I also think Jason's relative consistency compared to Jeremy should be a major factor in play. And if the USFS had any smarts (ha!), they should use the exposure + potential medal to further Jason's rapidly increasing buzz as the future of US men's skating and hopefully get more people interested. All in all, I seriously think the benefits of having Jason in the team event outweigh whatever uncertainties there might be (his inexperience, lack of jumps...um, can't really think of anything else, heh). Anyone else care to tell me why the federation would even consider not using Jason?
To rank skaters, the committee considers several criteria, including results at the U.S. championships as well as the 2013 World Figure Skating Championships and this season's Grand Prix events.
... can anyone give me a gauge on what Jason's participation at the opening ceremony means for his chance at doing the team free skate? ...
But if they don't split the men, that means they're splitting pairs and I love Z/B but I really don't think they deserve to have an Olympic medal over someone like Jason Brown. Whah whah whah.
And I highly doubt that Jason would decline to skate in the team event...it's a very big shot at a medal. You'd be kind of silly to voluntarily pass that up, especially when Jason is going mainly for experience and not for an individual medal.
ETA: If they're looking for a consistent, bank-able result, Jason is the way to go in the LP...he may not do the hardest jumps, but he is MUCH less likely to completely biff it. He doesn't really fall on jumps and typically goes quite clean. Whereas Jeremy can be really on or REALLY off depending on his mood. Much bigger chance of a low placement there.
Well what if Davis/White don't want to do both. Besides the USFSA may want to go for broke in the mens-with Abbott.
From what I've heard, Davis and White are planning to do both.
We'll see tomorrow night at 10 p.m.!!
For you, Mrs. P, 9 pm PT (= midnight ET), right??
ETA:
I have no idea what Jason's desires/expectations are ... but marching in the Opening Ceremony at his first Olympics would be a quite a wonderful "consolation prize" -- IF(??) he ends up not competing in the team event for one reason or another.
https://twitter.com/USFigureSkating/status/428590471934255104
USFigureSkating
FYI Team Event: We will announce the athletes involved in the short program at Midnight ET (10 a.m. Sochi) on Feb. 5th
Wow talk about last minute. And midnight?!
Sochi is exactly 12 hours from PST, so 10 p.m. my time.
Thanks Mrs. P!!And welcome to Golden Skate, merinheart!