US Men Grand Prix Assignments thoughts!

[ElSoteroLoco]

I have a few thoughts/questions as to how some men were assigned. I have no problem with Nathan, Vincent, Jason or Tomoki getting two assignments! None at all with those. But I don't understand how Camden Pulkinen was assigned to two when he placed 8th at Nationals with a total FS score of 140.02. He is not a consistent skater at all, and basically only does triples (if that). But Yaroslav placed 4th and Jimmy Ma placed 6th. Why were they not assigned anything? Does Yaro still have that immigration issue? I know Skate America has that one open TBA spot. Max Naumov got one assignment which I think he should have been given two instead of Camden if anything. Max and Yaro both showed they have consistency.

If y'all can help understand the reasoning of these selections, I would greatly appreciate it. Thank you much!!

 

[el henry]

These are only my thoughts, and I can’t claim to have a great knowledge as to the selections.

As to why Camden was selected, you may need to ask the organizers of NHK and Rostelecom, as it is their decision. In principle, organizers will go down the list of skaters according to world standing. I believe that Camden is ahead of both Yaro and Jimmy in world standing.

Organizers may also want a known quantity. Although Yaro has been skating for Ukraine for sometime, he has only recently started skating for the US. He had one good comp at 2021 Nats. The fact that he was able to land multiple quads in this comp doesn’t mean that he is going to land them in any other comp. It doesn’t mean he won’t, either, it just means that there is very little data on which to make a decision. Yaro’s citizenship would only be relevant for the Olympics, and not for the Grand Prix, as he is listed as an eligible participant for the US on the ISP.

Finally, I have heard it said, although of course organizers would never admit to this, they may actually want to pick skaters who are less of a challenge to their own skaters.

 

[katmari]

There is a selection criteria for skaters eligible for Grand Prix invitations:

The Skaters are seeded and invited to the six Grand Prix of Figure Skating events based on the results of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021. Skaters/couples who have placed 1 to 6 in each of the four categories are seeded and assigned to two events. Skaters/ couples who have placed 7-12 at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships are selected for two ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events, and skaters with a top 24 Seasonal Best Scores (from either the 2019/20 or 2020/21 season) as well as those placed in the top 24 of the World Standings (from previous 3 seasons – 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21) can also be invited. If available medalists from the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships and the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final gold medalists can also be selected.

The reason Camden received 2 assignments is that he is 19th on the World Standing List and 24th on the 2019/2020 Season Best List.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

These are only my thoughts, and I can’t claim to have a great knowledge as to the selections.

As to why Camden was selected, you may need to ask the organizers of NHK and Rostelecom, as it is their decision. In principle, organizers will go down the list of skaters according to world standing. I believe that Camden is ahead of both Yaro and Jimmy in world standing.

Organizers may also want a known quantity. Although Yaro has been skating for Ukraine for sometime, he has only recently started skating for the US. He had one good comp at 2021 Nats. The fact that he was able to land multiple quads in this comp doesn’t mean that he is going to land them in any other comp. It doesn’t mean he won’t, either, it just means that there is very little data on which to make a decision. Yaro’s citizenship would only be relevant for the Olympics, and not for the Grand Prix, as he is listed as an eligible participant for the US on the ISP.

Finally, I have heard it said, although of course organizers would never admit to this, they may actually want to pick skaters who are less of a challenge to their own skaters.

LOL....i would imagine this is indeed a good part of the reason! lol. I like your style lol.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

There is a selection criteria for skaters eligible for Grand Prix invitations:

The Skaters are seeded and invited to the six Grand Prix of Figure Skating events based on the results of the ISU World Figure Skating Championships 2021. Skaters/couples who have placed 1 to 6 in each of the four categories are seeded and assigned to two events. Skaters/ couples who have placed 7-12 at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships are selected for two ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating events, and skaters with a top 24 Seasonal Best Scores (from either the 2019/20 or 2020/21 season) as well as those placed in the top 24 of the World Standings (from previous 3 seasons – 2018/19, 2019/20 and 2020/21) can also be invited. If available medalists from the ISU World Junior Figure Skating Championships and the ISU Junior Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final gold medalists can also be selected.

The reason Camden received 2 assignments is that he is 19th on the World Standing List and 24th on the 2019/2020 Season Best List.

This is very good information. Thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it.

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

Because it’s not about how they score at nationals. It’s about their international seasons best and world standings.

Camden was better as a junior and was sent to international competitions where he earned a high enough SB and world ranking points. He is younger so these competitions are recent enough to count towards the criteria.

Jimmy’s junior days are far behind him and he has had difficulty establishing himself as a senior.

I think Yaro sat out after the last Olympics in order to change countries so hasn’t competed internationally recently enough to earn the SB/WR points he needed for the GP this season. The pandemic definitely didn’t help matters as many international opportunities were cancelled.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

Because it’s not about how they score at nationals. It’s about their international seasons best and world standings.

Camden was better as a junior and was sent to international competitions where he earned a high enough SB and world ranking points. He is younger so these competitions are recent enough to count towards the criteria.

Jimmy’s junior days are far behind him and he has had difficulty establishing himself as a senior.

I think Yaro sat out after the last Olympics in order to change countries so hasn’t competed internationally recently enough to earn the SB/WR points he needed for the GP this season. The pandemic definitely didn’t help matters as many international opportunities were cancelled.

Thank you.... this all helps me understand it much better

 

[Gia_Sesshoumaru]

Yaroslav Paniot was just cleared from Ukraine recently (he had to sit out three years because he's an Olympian), so he wasn't going to be eligible to compete until this season anyway. I'm certain the Skate America host spot will be probably be going to him, though.

 

[iluvtodd]

^ I would love to see that happen!

 

[noskates]

Jimmy Ma is well-known and loved in the skating world but I just don't see him being competitive at a Grand Prix competition. He's quirky and fun to watch but very inconsistent. I think he had his best skate ever at Nats this year. I do like Camden and he does have quads but he's had difficulty with consistency. If he ever got that together he'd represent the US well.

 

[Myr]

I quite like Camden Pulkinen so I must say I am not mad about it, fingers crossed for next season!

Could I add one more question about the GP assignements (not about the US men so a bit off topic, sorry): Why do you think that Jin Boyang only received one assignment? He's a well known skater, places 7th on the season's best list and 14th on the world standings list.

 

[chuckm]

Boyang placed 22nd at Worlds 2021. That didn't help him with respect to a 2nd assignment.

 

[Myr]

Boyang placed 22nd at Worlds 2021. That didn't help him with respect to a 2nd assignment.

Vincent Zhou did not even advance to the free skate, he's in 32nd place on the season's best list and 25th in world standing so that can't be the only reason?

 

[figureskatingandrainbows]

Could I add one more question about the GP assignements (not about the US men so a bit off topic, sorry): Why do you think that Jin Boyang only received one assignment? He's a well known skater, places 7th on the season's best list and 14th on the world standings list.

Vincent Zhou did not even advance to the free skate, he's in 32nd place on the season's best list and 25th in world standing so that can't be the only reason?

My best guess is that China used their host spots for either Han Yan or Boyang and the other was automatically assigned to CoC. Neither of them would have been able to have much say in where they competed. Maybe one of them was assigned to CoC by the ISU, and so couldn't also be a host invitation and get two spots that way? Or maybe the Chinese Skating Federation didn't try to get either one of them two spots. I don't know. I think with Vincent, he was assigned to NHK by the ISU and then the USFSA used one of their host picks to have him at SkAm so he would have two spots. Maybe that was what the CSF wanted to do with Boyang, but couldn't because of the way the other skaters' assignments fell. Also, I think they were using SB lists from 2 years ago as well, and Vincent would be high up on that list, contributing to him getting two spots.

 

[snowflake]

Could be Boyang doesn't want to risk traveling. At least during the autumn. Olympics at home is his most important competition so far. We'll find out when/if we see his name show up at a 'Challenge' and/or four continents.

Seems like the US guys and others are fine with traveling around the world though.

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

Yaroslav Paniot was just cleared from Ukraine recently (he had to sit out three years because he's an Olympian), so he wasn't going to be eligible to compete until this season anyway. I'm certain the Skate America host spot will be probably be going to him, though.

I really hope that it is him that gets that host spot! I'm sure he would be so honored to finally officially represent the USA in an ISU competition!

 

[ElSoteroLoco]

Jimmy Ma is well-known and loved in the skating world but I just don't see him being competitive at a Grand Prix competition. He's quirky and fun to watch but very inconsistent. I think he had his best skate ever at Nats this year. I do like Camden and he does have quads but he's had difficulty with consistency. If he ever got that together he'd represent the US well.

I agree with this whole heartedly. I do like Camden but he's one of those skaters that I don't have much confidence in him skating consistently at this point. But, hey, ya never know as they say!