JonnyCoop said:Brasseur & Eisler, Shishkova & Naumov, Eltsova & Bushkov, Meno & Sand, Kovarikova & Novotny, Rahkamo & Kokko, Lillehammer. Who CARES how many years (especially in the case of R/K) you've been putting the time in and working your way up to get your way into Olympic medal contention? Let's bring the pros back and place them ahead of you. You want an Olympic medal, surely you can wait around another 4 years..... :sheesh: :sheesh:
Rahkamo & Kokko didn't deserve an Olympic medal. Even though T&D came back and were placed ahead of them, R&K were actually a little lucky to stay ahead of Moniotte & Lavanchy, as they had a fall in their FD. (And I really like R&K, especially that La Strada free dance.) Yes, I know the situation might have been different (mindset etc) if T&D hadn't been there, but we'll never know that. You just make it sound like the pros came back and were just placed ahead without deserving to - which wasn't the case for any of the returning pros at all, IIRC. T&D were not held up - many thought they were held down. G&G and M&D were the two best pairs in the comp, and came top 2 deservedly. Kat Witt wasn't held up at all, and neither were the men who made mistakes in the short - and they weren't held up in the free either, although they all skated much better than they had done in the SP.
Punsalan & Swallow, 92 Nationals. I thought the unwritten rule was supposed to be, you send the best team possible to the Olympics, so therefore manipulating results at Olympic year Nationals is permissible to get the best team. So why didn't they hold up Punsalan & Swallow in 92? Defending National champs, an impressive 11th in their first Worlds, and yes they made a mistake in their free dance but SO WHAT? Mistakes have never been overlooked before? And they send Mayer & Breen instead?? What a waste of an Olympic berth. And to make things worse, this set a trend for leaving Punsalan & Swallow, arguably our best dance couple, at home for several seasons so once they finally got to go to Worlds again, they pretty much had to start moving through the ranks all over again. I've always felt that if they'd been sent to Albertville, their career would have turned out much differently.
So it's ok to hold up your favourite skaters if they make a mistake? The rules are that the best skater should win the national comp, and the national champion should go to the olympics, or whatever. Obviously it's very hard luck if someone loses their place because they amde mistakes at the crucial moment, but that's sport. While the country obviously wants the best team for the Olympics, if they make the rule that the national champion gets the place, then the national competition should be fair. If the skater/team perceived to be the best isn't the best on the night, then they shouldn't just be held up. It's unfair on everybody, and means the competition will be largely predetermined.