How many medals for the U.S skating team at the Olympics?

[slutskayafan21]

Well last Olympiad things stayed more or less the same after the GP events.
Kwan and Slutskaya remained the top two favorites, Hughes a main contender, Butyrskaya a sliding long shot, the one addition to the mix was Cohen as a solid but not favored contender. The men Yags and Plush remained shoo-ins for the top two medals, Buttle, Eldredge, the leaders of a wide open bronze battle race. The pairs certainly all remained the same after the GP events, as far as what was expected going to Salt Lake. Interesting the only event post-World to pre-Olympic outlook changed some was dance, supposably the most predictable event.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

Well then why predict? If it's the same skaters every year. and you have listed more than one to win in each discipline. So you are as sure as anyone else is. Again, why bother?

Joe

 

[Ogre Mage]

As a guess at this point in time barring injuries I would say

Men-1
Ladies-2
Pairs-0
Dance-0 (assuming B&A out)

The less said about the pairs the better.

It seems like this has been true for some time now.

All the talk, from the majority of Americans

What exactly is the point of this? :scowl:

 

[slutskayafan21]

I personaly feel Berezhnaya/Sikharlidze, Sale/Pelletier, and Ina/Zimmerman would have stayed around 4 more years; had it not been for the pairs scandal in Salt Lake. The first two, their bitterness, frusteration, and loss of enthusiasm is apparent to its reasoning. In the case of Ina/Zimmerman many felt they were not given their due earlier in the year, but it was still more debatable, at the Olympics they were so blatantly shafted in the final long, I cant help but think there was some resentment and hurt on their part too. It is sad, I was really looking forward to see how great they could become, they made such strides in their skating that 2002 season.

Inoue/Baldwin seem to have alot of potentialy, but cant get it together. Promising teams seem to lose fizzle and split up(Kalasevich/Parchem). It just seems like teams cant stay together long enough, or cant get the breaks they need to reach the top.

 

[merrywidow]

You started this same thread over at FSU using the aka of Davey25. As soon as the responses die down you are right there digging away at the American skaters, in particular Lysacek. Why? Are you a Troll?

 

[Mathman]

Keeping us entertained until fall, Merry.

 

[Joesitz (RIP)]

In the "I have a Feeling" thread she is praising Lysacek to the hilt. Are her threads worth reading and moreso, responding to?

Joe

 

[slutskayafan21]

Mathman, your picture of Yuka Sato is beautiful, are you a fan of her?

 

[Mathman]

Indeed I am, thanks for asking.

 

[slutskayafan21]

I wish she was on TV more often, but that is due to the reduction of the pro circuit unfortunately. *sighs*

 

[Serena]

Naturally, I'm not predicting a sweep. It's just that:

1. Tim is a black box. Sure, he's had a couple of disastarous seasons, but we know that he, as a reigning Olympic bronze medalist, has the stuff to medal.

2. Johnny - I don't doubt can pull it off. This season, he's managed to beat most of the big players in the GP except for Plushy. He is the one I'll be routing for.

3. Evan is still young, and each season brings a huge improvement for him. His LP this year almost seemed to say "Look at me! I'm no longer in juniors!". It's impossible to predict how he'll be next season, but I wouldn't count him out in the medal race.

As for everyone being on top of their game in Turin - I don't know. It certainly wasn't Joubert's intention to have a disastarous pre-Olympic season, but he had one nonetheless. So you never know (not that I'd want to see that).

*nods* I don' think you can count the men out- none of them have a lock on a medal, but the men's competition will probably be the most unpredictable- depending on how Plushenko is doing. Even if he does do well- the fight for silver and bronze will probably be one big question mark- I have no doubt that the men's event will be insanely exciting and suspenseful.

 

[Kasey]

I'll respond to this the same as I did to this thread over at FSU that you posted under the other name....I am thinking at least 2 medals for U.S. skating at the Olympics is more likely, and possibly even another one (or two!)

 

[chuckm]

I think it's ridiculous at this stage of the game to project medalists at the Olympics.

LADIES
- Irina Slutskaya has a chronic illness. When she last skated at Torino (Europeans) she seemed to have problems with the altitude and that may have been the reason why her FS was so poor. She had no problems beating Liashenko and Poykio even with her poor performance, but if she skated like that against the Japanese and US ladies, a medal might be out of reach.
- Sasha Cohen continues to have problems skating a clean FS in the major events. In addition, she has had two injuries this season alone (back and groin). This season, she's had more incidences of double-footing jumps than falls, but that can be a problem for her if others skate clean.
- Shizuka Arakawa seems to have lost her competitive fire this past year. Over the years, Shizuka has never been a consistent skater from one year to the next, so whether or not she can regain her 2003-2004 form is questionable.
This year, Shizuka and also seemed to be struggling with technical inconsistency. The 3/3s that were readily credited under 6.0 have been pretty much downgraded to 3/2s under CoP. She may have delivered the skate of a lifetime at 2004 Worlds and may not be able to recapture that moment, and she would have to to have a chance at Olympic gold.
- Carolina Kostner has never been a consistent performer, and she suffers badly from competition nerves when skating in her home country. She barely won the bronze medal at 2005 Worlds and would have to see a huge upgrade in her PCS scores to hold onto a medal.
- Michelle Kwan has indicated that she understands what has to improve to make herself competitive under CoP. But despite a truly awful QR at Worlds 2005, and a CoP-negative FS, Kwan came within .38 of medaling. Major upgrades to her skating are within her capabilities, should she decide to go ahead and compete at Torino, so she cannot be eliminated as a medal contender, perhaps even an OGM contender, if she does upgrade drastically. I think for her to have a strong chance at a medal, she must compete in the GP.

MEN
- Plushenko has had his hernias corrected, but he still has back problems and a long-standing knee injury. He is going to lose training time, but he does have a legitimate excuse for forgoing the GP and the rest may be the best possible medicine for his physical problems.
- Lambiel's quads in the Worlds FS were very impressive, but his consistency on the other jumps was not. Throughout his career, he has not been known for consistency from one event to another. We need to see how he will perform in the GP to get a handle on how he will do sans injury---and that is assuming he doesn't incur still another injury (he's had two knee surgeries so far in his 19 years)
- Joubert is coming out of a disastrous season when he had to change coaches and constantly revise his FS. His parents do not get along with his current coach, which is causing him great personal turmoil. He has got to resolve all these problems in order to have a clear head for Torino. Whether he can regain his form of the 2003-2004 season remains to be seen.
- Buttle says he is working on his quad for this coming season, but in past seasons he hasn't had much success landing the quad in competition. His 3A is only about 50% reliable as well. If other men are landing consistent quads and delivering clean programs, it is questionable whether Buttle can medal with no quad and a missed jump or two.
- Sandhu cannot be relied on to deliver a clean program with all jumps landed. Ever. His ability to medal is very questionable.
- Unless Chengjiang Li can drastically update his programs to include transitions and MIF, he is unlikely to medal unless all the other men splat badly.
- As of today, neither Weir nor Lysacek has a competition quad, although both say they are planning quads for the Olympic season. Weir is very consistent on his other jumps and can earn very superior PCS skills, and Lysacek is a fairly consistent jumper with an engaging performance personality. If either or both can show that they have consistent performance quads, they cannot be eliminated as potential medal contenders.