Day 1: Team USA in Trouble

To keep 3 spots for the Olympic team, the placements of the top 2 men cannot excede a total of 13. Thanks to Seerek at FSU for these combined standings:
1 Stephane LAMBIEL SUI 38
2 Evgeni PLUSHENKO RUS 37.975
3 Brian JOUBERT FRA 33
4 Stefan LINDEMANN GER 32.5
5 Johnny WEIR USA 32.195
6 Evan LYSACEK USA 32.13
7 Jeffrey BUTTLE CAN 32
8 Chengjiang LI CHN 31.9
9 Sergei DOBRIN RUS 31.7
10 Samuel CONTESTI FRA 30.82
11 Ivan DINEV BUL 30.705
12 Daisuke TAKAHASHI JPN 30.13
13 Min ZHANG CHN 30.12
14 Kevin VAN DER PERREN BEL 29.92
15 Timothy GOEBEL USA 29.78
16 Emanuel SANDHU CAN 29.725
17 Andrei GRIAZEV RUS 29.535
18 Sergei DAVYDOV BLR 29.375
19 Gheorghe CHIPER ROM 29.25
20 Frederic DAMBIER FRA 28.48
21 Kristoffer BERNTSSON SWE 28.21
22 Karel ZELENKA ITA 27.9
23 Jamal OTHMAN SUI 27.075
24 Roman SEROV ISR 26.89
25 Viktor PFEIFER AUT 25.48
26 Vakhtang MURVANIDZE GEO 25.07
27 Ari-Pekka NURMENKARI FIN 24.83
28 Trifun ZIVANOVIC SCG 24.07
29 John HAMER GBR 23.775
30 Zoltan TOTH HUN 23.35

If Weir withdraws, that leaves Evan and Tim to combine for 13, which could be risky.

In pairs, to keep 2 spots on the team, O&L (now in 14th) and I&B (now in 12th) must have combined placements of 28. Right now, their combined placement is 26. O&L are looking like the new Scott and Duhlebon, so they could sink even lower. I&B were last years new S&D, so they could sink as well.

Why would Johnny Weir withdraw? Is he injured? Did something happen during the QR?

I thought all this talk about Johnny withdrawing was from a simple picture that made it appear he was grimmacing as he left the ice. I haven't seen the picture but I heard he was putting on his skateguards (which would explain being huddled over) and the grimacing could just be the face he happened to be making. I've seen photos of skaters midjump that made me wonder what I was looking at. I don't think anyone should jump to any conclusions over a picture.

eyria said:

Why would Johnny Weir withdraw? Is he injured? Did something happen during the QR?

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He re-injured his left foot and had it injected to make it numb before the QR.

Johnny is not planning to withdraw.

It's Way too Early to Make Predictions

The are only four points between the 3rd and 19th spots for the men, so really everyone from 3 through 19 could easily be vying for a medal. Pairs does look a little more dire, but the men's competition seems wide open.

The USFSA article makes it sound as though Johnny is planning to see how his ankle feels tomorrow and Wednesday. He is hoping it gets better by the SP.

Link to USFS article: http://www.usfsa.org/event_story.asp?id=29263

Johnny says he didn't want to withdraw from the qualifying round becuse of his memories of 2003 US Nationals. He said he wasn't "that kind of person," -- to withdraw because of injury if he could possibly help it.

It's quite telling that Plushenko did not attempt a quad in his qualifying program.

Mathman

Mathman said:

It's quite telling that Plushenko did not attempt a quad in his qualifying program.

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I noticed that too. Hmmm....

Mathman said:

It's quite telling that Plushenko did not attempt a quad in his qualifying program.

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Telling of what? I think I'm missing something here.

Plushenko is also skating with injury...


I don't think we have too much to worry about it with the guys....


and I don't think one bad skate at Worlds gives Katie and Garrett the new "title" of the "new S/D" that's just stupid... They'll bounce back in teh long. They're awesome.

Unfortunately this isn't O/L's first trip to Worlds, it's their third consecutive trip. They just never seem to be able to have a good skate at an international competition. :banging:

Tonichelle said:

and I don't think one bad skate at Worlds gives Katie and Garrett the new "title" of the "new S/D" that's just stupid... They'll bounce back in teh long. They're awesome.

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It's definitely not one bad skate at Worlds. Third consecutive worlds, third year they bombed.

As of now I am not too worried about the US men. I will be shocked if Weir doesn't place in the top five. I am if anything excited due to Evanj'sd placement as of now. I do hope timmy is able to move up to the top ten.