Point taken, the 163 was not a good performance. But compare with Gao, 154 and last at GPF, 164 at TEB, or Agnes- 166 at Rostelcom, 158 and last American (even without Wagner) at four continents, 160 at NHK which was 16 points behind Mirai head- to- head. Those substandard scores should also be major concerns to US Federation.Mirai gave a similar performance at CoC (1 UR in the SP, 3 in the FS) and ended up in fourth with 163.46, behind Mao, Kiira, and little Julia L. That's too much of a discrepancy for the US federation's comfort, as that score at Worlds would have put her behind Suzuki, in 13th. Meaning no disrespect of any sort, but I think Mirai had an easier time at NHK due to her popularity with the audience.